What a Night!

We had a very interesting night last night. It started out pretty well. We went to Chick-fil-A to see Santa and have dinner. Catherine loved seeing Santa, even though she couldn't think of anything to ask him for for Christmas. She finally came up with "decorations"--not sure what that's supposed to mean. She had the "Birthday Buckaroo" horse with her from her preschool. Each kid takes it home for a night on their birthday and writes in a journal about what they do. She was excited to take him to see Santa.

Will was a fan of Santa in theory, but not in person. He kept saying that he wanted to see Santa, but when we walked up, he completely freaked out. Jay was holding him, but he was shaking and crying and truly terrified. You would have thought we were handing him over to a kidnapper or something. He did however like the candy cane Santa gave him. He ate it after dinner and wanted another one. We told him that to get another one he had to see Santa. You could tell this was causing a really big dilemma....he really wanted the candy cane but did not want to see Santa. He decided to skip the extra candy cane :)

So we got home from Chick-fil-A and about 5 minutes later, Will fell and hit his head on the brick fireplace. He had a very deep gash, about an inch wide but very deep. I was pretty sure we needed stitches, so we all headed to the ER. (Yes, this is our 3rd ER visit in 6 months.) The ER was crazy busy. Apparently Catherine did not handle the stress of Will bleeding and other sick people very well. As we were checking Will in, I look over and she started throwing up in the middle of the floor. Great. This was getting interesting! So 4 hours, 5 stitches, and 2 throw up buckets later, we headed home at 11:30pm. Catherine's reaction was really quite interesting. Within a couple of minutes of Will finally getting his stitches, she perked right up and started talking and was completely fine. I think she really was very worried about him. I'll spare you the details of keeping a 2 year old still to put 5 stitches in his head, but let's just say that it is not an easy thing for a mommy (or daddy) to handle. I did pretty well, didn't even cry, but it was not a memory I will forget. Poor Will. But what's a boy without a few battle scars? Thankfully today he seems okay. We just have to go back on Monday to get the stitches out.

These are the things that make me feel like a legitimate parent! We're all about making some memories.

More Happy Birthday

These are pics from today, Catherine's actual birthday. I really can't believe she's already 4 years old. I know that sounds cliche, but really...wasn't she just a 6lb 3 oz baby who surprised us by coming 2 weeks early? Wasn't she just born during the ice storm and we couldn't even go home for a week? Didn't she just learn to walk and talk? Wasn't she bald for a long time? Sometimes I have to look back at the pictures to remember her from the early years. I love how interactive she is though now. We have so many fun conversations, often about very real and serious things. She loves to help and is gaining lots of independence. She is a wonderful big sister and loves babies. She has such a sweet spirit and is already learning what it means to love God and know that He loves her.

Our big 4 year old in all her Christmas red

With one of her big birthday presents from Mimi and PopPop, a baby stroller she's been asking for weekly since this summer.

On her big girl bike from Mommy and Daddy. It's a little cold to ride outside right now, but we'll practice downstairs and in the garage from now until spring.

Will loved the birthday activities too!

Happy Birthday, Catherine! We are so thankful that God made you part of our family.

Princess Birthday Party

Catherine is 4 years old today! We celebrated by having a Princess birthday party yesterday with some of her friends. They all wore their fanciest princess dresses and jewels.

Here's the birthday princess!

Playing princess bingo--it went fairly smoothly (once Jay learned the names of the princesses to call out) and everyone won flower bracelets.

They each decorated a princes placemat with stickers and jewels to use at lunch. They took turns one by one showing everyone their placemats and describing their princess gowns. We then had lunch and cupcakes.

So many silly princesses! We had a great time and love that Catherine's friends came to celebrate with her.

Catherine's Dance Lessons

We got a chance on Tuesday to observe Catherine's dance lesson and see all that she's been learning this fall. It was so much fun to watch 8 little girls in their leotards and tutus. They really have learned a lot. Catherine definitely knows more ballet terms (in French) than I do. This has been a great activity for her and she's enjoyed making some new friends too.

Many thanks to my friend Taryn for the photos since I forgot my camera that day.

A Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great Thanksgiving celebration this past weekend. We were in Union on Thursday for lunch with the Wilburn family at my Aunt Patsy's. It's a small crowd, only about 40 to 50 people! It's fun to see lots of cousins and extended family that we don't get to see often. We headed to Mama Belk's for dinner that night (a more manageable group of only 20 people). We drove down to the beach that night and spent the weekend with Jay's parents. It was great to have a few days to relax before the December rush begins.

Last week Catherine's class had a special Thanksgiving feast and celebration on Tuesday. The girls were Indians and the boys were pilgrims. They sang some cute little Thanksgiving songs and poems. They each walked in and were introduced on their own while the teacher read what they're thankful for. Most kids said they were thankful for things like "mom, dad, Jesus, etc". Catherine, however, was thankful for her clothes. That's my fashionista :)

On a separate note, but something we are very thankful for, Will is done with speech therapy! He had his 6 month evaluation a week or two ago and scored much better. While he still is slightly behind for his age, it's only 2%-5% behind, which is close enough to be in the "normal" range. He was also evaluated by an ENT last week for any structural abnormalities of his mouth and throat and he had his hearing checked. Everything looked great with both of these, so he is offically done now. We are so thankful for the progress he has been making and how hard he is working to learn and use his words.

Sweet Baby Ultrasound

We had our ultrasound today and were so excited to see our growing new baby. He/she looks great (no, we didn't find out if it was a boy or girl) and weighs approximately 15 ounces. It's so exciting to see how God develops a little one. We can't wait to meet this little person in about 19 more weeks!

Princess Parties and Baby Showers

Catherine has had lots of fun at some friends' birthday parties recently. At one party, all the princesses got their hair curled and fingernails painted. At the other party, they got "all fancied up" and had a wonderful tea party. It's so cute to see her have so much fun as a little girl. And she is so girly, that she loves every minute of it.

I've also had lots of baby showers lately. We had one 2 weeks ago for my friend Haley, who is expecting her first baby (a girl) in about 3 weeks. Haley is one of my best friends from growing up and it was fun to celebrate with her.

Last weekend we had 2 showers for my sister Kelly as she and Kevin get ready for baby Jasper. On Saturday night, we had a shower at the hunt cabin--you don't see many dads in camo opening baby presents :) On Sunday, we had a shower for her church and our family. We are so excited to have another boy coming to the family.