Emery's and Oliver's "Nest"

The nursery is done, all of the clothes are washed, and we are ready for babies!!  I have to show off our DIY nursery... the bedding, curtains, changing pad, etc. sewn by me; the painting and hanging of everything done by the proud Daddy!  We are still waiting for the closet doors to be painted and hung, but Daddy will get to them soon I'm sure!!

2 cribs... WE'RE HAVING 2 BABIES!!

I can't get another thing in their closet, and Kaleb's huge closet in his room is full of more of their clothes!

My inspiration for the bird nursery... found this fabric on fabric.com and everything else fell into place!

Melissa

Christmas 2012

We had a very quiet Christmas this year just the 3 of us.  It was truly great to be in our own home to celebrate Christmas, but we really missed being with our families.  We went to Christmas Eve Mass at our church for the first time ever, and we then just enjoyed our time together at home.  After mass, we skyped with my parents, Mawmaw & Pawpaw, so they could see Kaleb open his gifts from them.  Then Christmas morning after he opened his gifts from Santa and us, we skyped with Kirk's parents, Mawmaw and Pops, while Kaleb opened his gifts from them.  We did the same later that afternoon with my Brother and Sis-in-law and their kids, and then later that evening we got to Skype with Kirk's cousin Catherine, her parents, husband and kids.  What did we do before Skype?  Kaleb's commentary while opening gifts on Skype was quite humorous.  He would yell " I love it, I love it!" before he even knew what it was.  After each gift, he liked to say "thank you" and "Merry Christmas!"  It was quite adorable if I may say so myself!

Our weather forecast was for a white Christmas, and I was pretty excited about that.  Being from Mississippi, we never even really experience a cold Christmas, much less white.  Unfortunately, we got the cold temps and the wind from Winter Storm Euclid but not one snowflake.  We had a good Christmas despite the lack of snow. 

We wanted a good picture of Kaleb at church and a good family photo, but he was too wound up to stand still.  We did have a pretty fun photo session of action shots though!

Our sleeping pups cuddling on Christmas Eve.

Coming down the stairs Christmas morning!

Santa brought him a new Chuggington Interactive Railway set!

Digging into our stocking!

Modeling our new monkey backpack!

Karaoke from MawMaw and PawPaw... one of his favorite gifts!

Even Lucy and Bruno got goodies from Santa... Lucy had to hide under the table to enjoy hers!

Another of his favorites... his art easel from MawMaw and Pops!

Thanks Aunt Laura and Uncle Charlie for my aquarium!

He loves to sit and watch his fishies!

Lucy wants her space back!

Kaleb got his very own flashlight in his stocking... smart Santa... this was a highlight of the morning!

We hope you all had a blessed Christmas and we wish you a very Happy New Year!

Melissa

A Christmas Visitor

Our friend D'Lisa who was in the PhD program with Kirk at MS State is from Missouri about 3 hours from us.  She is still finishing up her work in Starkville, but came to Missouri to spend the holidays with her family.  Usually, about the time she's headed this direction, we are headed to Mississippi to see our friends and family.  This year, since we were unable to travel for Christmas, D'Lisa got to come to Wichita to see us while she was in the area.  We spent the 2 days visiting and eating good food mostly, which is what the holidays are for right?  Kaleb had a great time with "My Lisa" as he calls her, and we had a good time catching up with her as well!

Kaleb had fun showing off his toys!

Of course, he never misses an opportunity to flirt!

Anyone who will partake in puzzle time is a friend of Kaleb's!!

Melissa

Our First Snow of the Year

We caught the edge of the winter storm that's blasting through our region right now and got a light dusting of snow overnight last night.  Kaleb has never seen snow.  His first winter he was too young to notice, and last year, the only snow we got came down while Kaleb and I were in Mississippi for a visit.  Kaleb has been talking about snow since the first time I put a jacket on him this season.  He was pretty excited to wake up to find snow everywhere this morning.  As I said, we just got a dusting, but it was enough to make him pretty excited, so we bundled him up and he played outside with his daddy for a little while.

Daddy taught him to throw snowballs!

He brought me a snowball to the back door so I could throw one too!

Now we are ALL inside enjoying a warm fire!

Melissa

Exploration Place

We took Kaleb to the Exploration Place Tuesday morning.  We thought we were going for some sort of holiday lights exhibit, but sadly, I read the website wrong (or they worded it wrong on their calendar), so we just enjoyed the regular exhibits.  It was our first time going, so it turned out to be a good time for the 3 of us.

Kaleb got to fly a real airplane!

The view behind Kaleb is supposed to be the Arkansas River.  I'd say "drought" is an understatement.

The dry Arkansas River.

Kaleb sailing his pirate ship.

We had WAY too much fun with this curved mirror and my baby bump.  The pictures don't do justice what this mirror did to distort my pregnant body!

Melissa

32 weeks!

We went to the doctor yesterday for our 32 week checkup.  The babies are doing great, and Mommy is hanging in as best she can.  I've had some pretty rough nights this week, and my muscles and joints are really protesting all of this extra weight I'm carrying around.  I'm trying to find a happy medium between resting for me and the babies and having energy to enjoy the holidays with Kaleb.  Resting is going to have to be the bigger priority from now on I believe.  When Dr. Lowden measured me at my appointment she laughed when she told me I am measuring 41 weeks!!  That's why I'm struggling so much these days!! But I can handle it... I am thrilled to be able to carry these babies this long.  I have had such a fear of preemies, and I am super thankful that my body seems to be doing what it needs to take care of them!  

I don't have much of an update on Emery's feet, and unfortunately, we won't have any more information until she's born.  We do know that we will use the pediatric orthopedic department at Children's Mercy in Kansas City to take care of her.  We've gotten several recommendations for Dr. Olney and his staff there.  Our doctor is having all of our records and sono pics sent to them so that when she arrives they will be ready to get us in for evaluation and treatment.  Otherwise, we just wait.

Meanwhile, this guy is getting pretty excited about being a big brother to "Emmy & Ahver!"

 

And he loves his Lucy!

 

Melissa

Santa Claus

We took Kaleb to see Santa at "Lights on the Lake" at Heartspring last weekend.  They have an outdoor light display that you drive through to get to the building to visit Santa.  Kaleb really enjoys looking at Christmas lights and likes to count the Christmas trees, snowmen, etc.  We weren't sure if we'd get him to sit with Santa without one of us, but he surprised us and did OK.  It's a scared smile, but better than no smile huh?

This is a picture of a picture so the quality is not fabulous.

Next year should be very interesting with 2 10 month olds and a 3 year old in Santa's lap... I can't wait!!

Just for Fun!

Some of my fave pics from the past week or so...

Stealing some kisses during puzzle time!

This kid is a "puzzler" like his mama!

My mantle!

Baking Christmas Cookies... Looks like Kaleb has a bottle of beer next to him.  That's just his telescope.  A pirate should never leave his telescope behind!

Yes... I'm large and lounging in my pjs, but I adore this picture.  Kirk captured a pretty sweet moment I think!

This fella has finally beat pneumonia... Bruno is one old but tough dog!

Peek-a-boo in the bath tub!

Happy Monday folks!

Melissa