Happy Turkey Day!

Such a cute picture, sadly out of focus

Gardner, Annah, Liam and Perry

Happy Thanksgiving. I would like to take a minute to remind myself of all of the things I am thankful for...it is far too easy to get caught up in the day-to-day hassles and loose sight of what is really important in life. Just a few minutes ago, I was running back and forth between Annah and Liam's rooms trying (in vain) to get them both to go to sleep already! I found myself getting increasingly more and more frustrated that they would not, or could not, just close their eyes. I am exausted, why aren't they? But then I realized how lucky I am am to have these two children in the first place. There are plenty of people out there who would jump at the chance to have kids, even if that meant getting no sleep, rare showers, and zero alone time. I am so fortunate to have two happy, healthy (and absolutely adorable) children. Tonight might not be easy, but this too shall pass. So this Thanksgiving, I am most thankful for my family (immediate, extended, and four-legged), friends, my home, and all that I have been blessed with. I am truly fortunate for all that I have.

Raking Leaves with Daddy

Today was a gorgeous day and Will was home, so he set out to rake up all the leaves in the front yard. Truthfully, his plan was to get all the leaves in the front, sides, and back yard, but the front and one side took 3 hours, so that was all that got finished. Annah has been waiting to rake "leabses" with Daddy since it first got cool outside, and she was pumped! We are all covered in leaf pieces but we had a great time jumping in the piles. Liam was not such a fan (I think they were a little to itchy for him this year), but he loves to be outdoors. Got some great pictures of the kids.

The Cup

No, not The Cup, The Colonial Cup. For anyone who might not be from here, the Carolina Cup is "The Cup." It is a steeplechase held usually the weekend before Easter and is one big party. My kids are not allowed to go to The Cup until they are 21 (or in college at the very least). At the same racetrack though there is the Colonial Cup. It is also steeplechase held right around Thanksgiving and is a much more family oriented event. Lots of kids, a petting zoo, Jack Russell races, some drinking but nothing like it's sister race. (As an aside, I did manage to get myself in a fair amount of trouble at the Colonial Cup my sophmore year in high school and this is why my kids are not going without me until college!). At any rate, Mom and I took Annah and Liam to Camden to watch the ponies. It was a little chilly, but otherwise a gorgeous day with not a cloud in the sky. I think Liam enjoyed his first horse race and Annah has always loved going. Will chose to go to the Carolina game instead. One of these days we are going to get him to like horses! Maybe once Liam is a trainer for a Derby winner, we can get him to go too! :)

Happy Half Birthday, Liam

All the activity really wore Belle out! (Very lady-like too)

Happy half birthday, my Little Man! It is so hard to believe that 6 months has already gone by. It scares me a little that time will continue to go so fast. Before I know it, you will be crawling and walking and on and on! You are the snuggliest and happiest baby I have ever seen and I love you to pieces! At Liam's 6 month well check up he is out-pacing Annah at a bizare rate. He is 16 lbs 14 oz (Annah weighed 17 lbs at a year) and 27.5" (Annah was the exact same length at 9 mos). He is 90th %ile for height and 25th for weight. Sadly, if he continues to grow at this rate, my dreams of my son being a jockey are pretty much over. Maybe he can be a trainer instead. They tend to do better for themselves (and it's not so dangerous too). Whatever he chooses will be fine, as long as he is happy. We had the most awful nurse ever at the doctor today. I am normally so pleased with the nurses at Sandhills, but today was sub-par at best. We were waiting forever after we saw Dr DuBose and he was getting hungery, so I thought I would go ahead and nurse him while we were waiting. This has happened before, and they will usually say something like, "Oh, I'm sorry. I'll come back in just a minute. Just stick your head out when he's done." Not this nurse. She just set her stuff down and said "Lay him down and hold his hands." No "How are you?" Nothing! No"I'm sorry to do this to you." NOTHING! She is totally in the wrong profession. The morning ended up better. Laura and Jacqueline were also at the office this morning so we went to Starbucks and had a coffee (and an adult conversation) before we had to go get the girls from school. Here are a couple pictures of my 1/2 year old little buddy

Another Day...

My little KA legacy. Will said he looked like he was on his way to a chapter meeting!

Chillin' in Mom and Dad's bed, watching toonies (aka cartoons)

The after

The after

Before...I had no idea it was this long, until I saw the picture!

Same stuff, different day! Today Annah played hookie from school. She had a half day, and when you only go to school for 3 hours, there didn't seem to be much point in loading everyone up, just to turn around and do it again as soon as it was over. So we took it easy around the house this morning. Then went to get Annah a much needed haircut (it had been almost 9 months, so it was definately in order). She was not crazy about the idea and said she wouldn't look like a princess without her long hair. Fortunately Hair Doodles gave her a new do that we are both happy with! (Check out the pictures) Liam, in typical Liam fashion, just went with the flow. A short visit to Rosie and Poppa's and then home to make dinner so I could make it to Bible Study. We will do it all over again tomorrow!

Welcome

Seriously, is this the cutest little boy ever, or what?!

Tub Time

Belle, who seems to believe the bouncy seat is her bed (even if Liam is in it!)

Sweet brother and sister!

OK, after much prodding for not having a blog, we are now bloggers (is that a word?)! Pretty slow weekend around here. Gardner and Perry came over to play this morning and now we are taking it easy. Liam will be six months old this week. I cannot believe how fast he is growing up. It seems like it took forever for Annah to be six months, and I swear Liam was just born yesterday. He is sitting up (kind of) and always smiling. I knew I was lucky before, but it gets better and better every day! Annah and Liam took their first bath together the other day. Liam had a pooopy diaper, so I said to Annah (who was already in the tub), "Annah, Liam poopied in his pants, after I clean him up, can he get in the tub with you?" To which, my sweet little girl replied, "He is my daddy's son!" Seriously, I have no idea where that came from. I have not known Will to poop in his pants on a regular basis, but I almost wet my pants I laughed so hard. That kid cracks me up all the time. Anyway here are a couple pics to get us started...

Sarah