Losing her 1st Tooth

Catherine lost her first tooth yesterday! It has been a little bit wiggly for a few weeks and on Thursday she noticed that it was leaning sideways. With a little bit more wiggling, it came right out! I feel all sentimental. It means she's growing up. I remember when she got that baby tooth; it was a long night of crying! And now it's gone!! She sure does look cute with her toothless grin.

Such a small little tooth--this is in her hand.
We had a little dilemma about the tooth fairy because Catherine and Will were having a slumber party in the basement with Jay last night. So she made a note with arrows and put it on the stairs.
My mom made her this cute tooth fairy pillow for her birthday the other week (Just in time!). It was great to hang it right on the door and has a little pocket for her tooth. The tooth fairy left her a dollar. She was surprised because she only expected a penny :)
We figured it was good for the tooth fairy to come last night, because if it had been tonight the tooth fairy and Santa may have bumped into each other!

Visit with Santa

We took the kids to Chick-fil-A on Tuesday night to see Santa.

Catherine hopped right up there and was very excited to see Santa. She decided that day that the one thing she wanted to ask Santa for was a Barbie. Unfortunately Santa's elves have been finished Christmas shopping for quite some time now, so it may be a Christmas miracle if a Barbie shows up.

This is the first year that Will would sit on Santa's lap and didn't freak out. He still was a little timid and didn't really want to talk to Santa. The only thing Will wanted to ask for is a shaving kit, so he and Santa talked about how Santa doesn't shave too much these days.
Anna willingly sat in Santa's lap but she refused to look at him. I don't think she quite knew what to expect. And who knows what the sweet girl wants for Christmas!-- probably anything that Catherine and Will get since she seems quite intent on taking their toys these days.
Merry Christmas, Santa!

Kids and Christmas

Christmas with kids can be an interesting struggle. As Christians, we want the focus to be on the birth of our Savior Jesus. Of worshipping His glory and His majesty and the wonder of it all. But then there's also all of our cultural celebrations of Christmas--Santa, gifts, cookies, family traditions, travel, etc. Trying to do it all is enough to make anyone (or at least me) exhausted by Christmas morning. How do I balance this? How do I teach my children to keep their eyes on Jesus while also going to ChickfilA to see Santa?

A few articles I read this year suggested getting rid of anything Christmas that does not specifically point to Christ--no Santa, perhaps not even a Christmas tree. Or if you do a Christmas tree, it should only have the Jesse ornaments on it. While I actually understand all of their arguments and it sounds fine, something in it seems lacking to me to completely bypass the cultural celebrations too.

Today I read this article: "Of Kids and Christmas"

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/of-kids-and-christmas

I highly recommend reading it. It is one of the best perspectives on engaging Christmas with all its hustle, bustle, materialism, and chaos while still keeping Christ the focus. And it's written by a mom with 5 small children. I figure she can relate. So I thought I'd share. Merry Christmas!

Great Anniversary Weekend

Jay and I will celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary this Wednesday.

To celebrate, just the two of us headed to Asheville this past weekend. We spent part of our honeymoon there and it's always a special place for us to go and relax.

We went to the Grove Park Inn and had lunch in the Great Hall. We walked around

and looked at the gingerbread houses and Christmas trees. (They host an amazing Gingerbread House competition every Christmas. Truly amazing what these people can make.) Then we sat in the rocking chairs, read our books/magazines, and Jay even took a short nap.

Then we went to The Cove (Billy Graham's conference center) for the Andrew Peterson

"Behold the Lamb" Christmas concert. We had dinner there, went to the concert, stayed the night, and had breakfast the next morning. We love AP's Christmas album. I listen to it year round and we've always wanted to hear it in concert. It was great. I highly recommend checking out if you aren't familiar with it. It tells the Christmas story in the context of the whole Bible and how Christ was the fulfillment of what was promised in the Old Testament. True and celebratory!

Then we headed back to Union to pick up our kiddos. Thanks to my family for watching everybody. It was so nice to be away that I didn't even take my camera out of my purse. That's unusual for me but I think Jay appreciated it! There's nobody else in the whole world I'd rather spend time with than Jay, and we relish our time when it's just the two of us.

Happy Anniversary! Here's to many, many more years.

They are so cute when they sing

On Sunday night, Catherine's choir at church sang in the children's Christmas program. The picture below shows about 1/2 of the choir, so there are maybe 20 kids or so total. Sitting halfway back in the sanctuary, I could hear Catherine singing above all of them. And she was so dramatic with her hand motions. She took the whole thing very seriously and loved it. She especially liked singing "gloria in excelsis deo" and said that she gets so carried away, she doesn't know when to stop singing!

Today at school, Catherine and Will had their Christmas program. Catherine's class performed the nativity scene (which is often called the "activity" scene at our house). Catherine was the announcer, in the form of a horse from the stable. She did a great job reading and singing.
Will's sweet class sang songs about bells--Ring those Bells, Jingle bells, and one more I can't currently remember. They made bell shirts with their handprints. He was so excited to be in the program like Catherine and sang so loudly and proudly. (He's in the middle of the front row, in case you can't find him the excitement below.)
Catherine's class then each had 1 letter of Merry Christmas and had a description of Christmas for that letter. Catherine was A--A is for the angels who sent messages from above. Our sweet girl does not have stage fright. She spoke loudly and clearly and I think loves being in front of people.
Then they all sang "We Wish you a Merry Christmas".
Super sweet to watch them sing. I always feel so proud when they do things like this. I guess that's just what mommies are supposed to do.

Catherine's Birthday Party

Catherine will be 6 tomorrow. To celebrate, she invited a few friends over on Saturday to have a fancy tea party for lunch.

We set the table with the Christmas China and roses. Catherine made each person a place card with their name.

The girls all wore their prettiest party dresses. (Will of course wore his suit.) They got all fancied up in Mimi's (Jay's grandmother) jewelry. Catherine has her entire jewelry box full of costume jewelry.

They looked beautiful with their earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and brooches.
Even Jay got a little dressed up :)
Jay and I served them lunch. We had fruit, veggies, and sandwiches and Pecan Pie muffins for dessert.
Sweet Catherine had a great time!

She enjoyed opening her gifts from sweet friends.It was a wonderful way to celebrate her birthday!

Going to his office

Will is still in his fashion phase of dressing up like a real daddy. We have now added a real suit coat to his ensemble. He also has learned how to tie his tie by himself. Isn't he handsome?

Happy Thanksgiving at the beach

The last few years we've gone to the beach for Thanksgiving. It is really great to have a few days away before the busyness of December. The kids love being there, nobody stresses about cooking a big Thanksgiving meal, and we just hang out. This year it was especially nice to have some help on days when I wasn't feeling well.

The first day we were there it was pretty warm and we enjoyed some time out on the beach. The water was freezing, but that didn't seem to stop Will!

They have a really cute Thanksgiving parade each year. Everyone decorates their golf carts and passes out candy. This was the only pic I got of the parade this year because my camera battery died. Catherine is holding her birthday present from Mimi and PopPop--an American Girl doll. She has named her Adrienne and is thrilled!
On Friday night, Wild Dunes has their annual tree lighting event. They also have out a huge gingerbread house for the kids to decorate. Mostly the kids end up eating the candy instead of putting it on the house, but that's okay.
It's always nice to have a little break at the beach.
And now we're into December.....Christmas, birthdays, and an anniversary, so lots to come!

FAQ so far

We've only known about expecting twins for a few days, but we've had lots of fun telling family and friends this past weekend. Everyone is so excited (and surprised). I am amazed by how many people say, "Oh, I always wanted twins." Even though I am happy about it, I can't say it's something that I necessarily hoped for or even thought of as a real possibility for us.

We've gotten lots of questions. So here are the few answers we have to anything at this point:

1. Q: Do twins run in our families?

A: Not really. Jay's aunt has a set of fraternal twins, but I don't see how that would impact my fertility. My aunt (dad's half-sister) has a set of identical twins, but again I don't really see how that would be a connection.

update: my aunt told me tonight that my great-grandmother had a set of fraternal twins (girl and boy) and that she thinks they may be a couple more sets on that side of the family history, so maybe there is a connection??

2. Q: Do we know for sure if they are fraternal?

A: It was pretty clear to the ultrasound tech and dr that they are fraternal twins. There are two completely separate sacs and separate placentas, so we are pretty sure they will be alike as siblings, who just happen to be born at the same time. (Some of our kids have had strong resemblances to one another as babies, and even now, so it should be interesting to see how much they look alike.)

3. Q: Will we find out if they are boy/girl?

A: Good question! We usually don't find out the gender. I think this time I could be persuaded to know in advance. It might help me feel a little more prepared. But Jay is still holding strong that we shouldn't know. So we'll see....

4. Q: Where will we put everyone?

A: Catherine and Anna will share a room. Will will stay in his room. The babies will share a room. We'll just have to find an extra crib and rearrange some things in there, but I think everyone should fit.

5. Q: Am I getting a minivan?

A: Jay, Catherine, and Will desperately want a minivan. I was all set to cave and get one when we found out that we were pregnant. But now I'm not sure a minivan will be big enough! We need to explore our options.

6. Q: How is Jay taking all of this?

A: Surprisingly well! He has put his "game face" on and is ready to go! We both have felt a great sense of God's peace about it. The whole situation feels like something so much bigger than us that God has planned that we're just along for the ride.

7. Q: How am I feeling physically?

A: I always get very sick. With each pregnancy I have gotten sicker than the last. So when at 4 weeks I was nauseated 24hrs/day, I just assumed that it was because it was pregnancy #4. Now I know that it's even more so because of really high hormone levels for two. But by week 5 or 6, my doctor put me on some strong medication to control the nausea and vomiting. It is helping a lot; not totally eliminating it but making it manageable. The sickness may last a little longer than the usual 12 weeks, but hopefully will taper off soon.

I think that's about it for now. If you have a question, feel free to ask. I don't know that I'll have an answer, but you can ask!

I go back to the doctor on Jan 3 and will have another ultrasound then. It will be exciting to see how much they have grown (and to confirm that this is real!)

Big News!

Last week at the beach (for Thanksgiving) we told the kids we were expecting a new baby. We were all out playing in the sand and waves and I wrote it in the sand for Catherine to read out loud.

Her reaction: "Whatever!" She thought we were kidding and ran off to play. When we told them to come back, and that we were serious, they were very excited.

Yesterday I went to the dr for my first OB appt. They always do an ultrasound to confirm the due date. Imagine our surprise when this is what we saw:

That's right--there are 2 babies!!! As soon as the ultrasound tech pulled it up on the screen, before she could even say "Oh", I saw it. I just couldn't believe it. I started nervously laughing and shaking; Jay was pacing around the room. We were both so surprised! Thankfully both babies look very healthy and had good strong heartbeats. Now that I know there are two of them, I already feel very protective of both of them and want them to be part of our family.

Catherine and Will are so excited. Anna has no clue what's going on, of course. But, Lord willing, we'll be welcoming two little babies into our family some time next June.

I've had lots of people tell me yesterday and today that we'll be great parents for twins, to have 5 kids ages 6 and under. I have to be honest. I don't feel prepared or capable of that! That's a really big task for someone. I keep thinking back on something I read in a devotion a week or two ago about how God often puts us in circumstances in our lives that highlight our weaknesses so that He can show His strength. I definitely think this is one of those circumstances! It will surely be by His strength and His grace that we manage. But since He seems to be giving us double blessings these days, I'm counting on double the grace and strength!!

We really are excited, a bit nervous, and still surprised. But we are so thankful for God's blessings to us!