ELK

A couple years into dating, Rhett and I started talking about "the future."  We got to talking about children--how many, when to have them, and what their names would be.  We settled on the name Emery Lynn for a boy early on in those discussions.  Rhett is actually Everett Laverne (the third!) but we are not French royalty and decided that he would be the last one in this line.  However, we could keep his initials, ELK, and honor our grandfathers, Emery (Rhett's maternal GF), and Lynn (my paternal GF) at the same time.  Obviously, we had no idea whether or not we'd ever have a boy, but it was fun to talk about all the same and we both hoped we would.

Fast forward to last summer, when I was still going through my never-ending fourth miscarriage.  It was a real low point and it seemed like we'd never have another child, much less a boy.  Emery Lynn was something I was starting to let go of.  And then, of course, things have a way of happening, all for the best.  You can't see it when you're in the thick of the hard times, but really, each event is woven into God's big, beautiful tapestry of life.

After being surprised and elated upon finding out we were expecting in June, I went on to have a normal pregnancy very similar to Cate and Charlotte's.  Of course, I was on Lovenox, and my mind was consumed with an all-time high amount of stress, worry, and anxiety...and that, my friends, is saying something.  But, in my head, I was pretty positive we were having another girl because of the similarities to the others.

On the date of my scheduled c-section, June 5, we went in around 10:30am to prep for a noon surgery.  It was SO SURREAL to be at the hospital, waiting on the doctor.  Once she got there, she told Rhett that he would be the one to call the sex.  Rhett got suited up and they took me back to the OR a little while after 12pm.

I had to get the spinal done without Rhett (wahhhhh!).  I forgot how quickly the medicine works and a minute later I could feel nothing from the chest down.  Soon enough, Rhett came in and the doctors began their work.  I felt TERRIBLE and very exposed and so nauseous.  I remember thinking "I am not doing this again!"  They gave me some packet of oils to sniff which helped and when I heard the doctor yell out "One minute to baby" things got really real!

My doctor yelled "Stand up, Dad!" and Rhett jumped.  Then he looked down at me and said "IT'S A BOY!!!!!!!!!!!"  I said, "No, it's not!" and he repeated "It's a boy!!!"  I cried, the end.

Emery Lynn entered the world at 12:43pm on June 5 and it still hasn't all totally sunken in that I have a son.  We are so happy, grateful, and amazed.

Cate and Charlotte came to visit later in the afternoon.  As we've done with all of our babies, Rhett has changed into a colored shirt, pink for the girls, blue for Emery, once we've gone back to our room.  Cate knew this and was rushing into the room to see what color Rhett was wearing.  She later told me she could barely sit still on the car ride to the hospital because she couldn't wait to see if the shirt was pink or blue.

Both girls love their baby brother very much.  Cate loves him HARD.  Like, as if he's her baby doll who can be lifted by the arms.  Charlotte is much more gentle and even though she originally said she wanted a sister, she is so happy with a brother and tells me all the time, "I don't want Emery to grow up ever!  I want him to stay a baby forever!"

Here are some shots from our first couple of weeks of us at home with our sweet ELK:

House Tour: The Girls' Room

We are just a handful of days away from my c-section (how did that happen??!?), and Rhett and I have been working steadily for the past month+ to get our house in an almost settled state before the baby arrives.  We weren't going for perfection, but we've gotten through a bunch of projects and made a good number of purchases to help fill in our new home.  The projects have been suuuuch a nice distraction to get me away from my crazy pregnancy anxiety and they've made us really love this house.

Since we can't have all of our friends and family over to see the house, I figured I'd do a few posts on some rooms that we've completed (for now).  

The first room we finished was the girls' room.  Rhett and I really, really wanted them to feel settled and excited about their new digs.  I'm a terrible decorator, and we couldn't do a ton with their room in Northern VA anyway because we were just renting.  So, we hadn't purchased too many things to make their old room nice.  Here, I couldn't afford to go out and buy all new stuff, so I did what pretty much everyone else in America has to do and I used what we had to furnish the room plus some family hand-me-downs.  Rhett did give me a little house decorating budget though, so I was able to make a few purchases.  I utilized fancy retailers such as Target and Home Goods to make it all work.

Here is the room:

Walking in...

...and even further in 

Toys/books

Beds

The color on the walls is Sherwin Williams White Dogwood.  It is a pale pink, and it ended up working surprisingly well in the room (and I say surprising because I solely relied on Pinterest--I didn't even test a paint sample on the wall).  It's enough color without being overpowering, which was my fear in painting an entire room pink.  We used the girls old drapes and curtain rod from Pottery Barn Kids (sorry, I didn't get a good picture of those).  Their window is super low and small, and the drapes are massive, so we hung them high and wide and thankfully it makes the window look much bigger.

I got new crystal lamps from Home Goods for the dresser and Cate and Charlotte love them.  Thankfully they can turn them on themselves which I never really thought about, but is a HUGE help.

We also put an old Pottery Barn Kids shelving unit and a book rack from One Step Ahead in to tame some of the clutter.  Rhett proudly hung a Carolina pennant near the toys so the girls don't get too disillusioned seeing all of the Texas A&M gear here.  It's EVERYWHERE.

The beds were my grandparents' and they are old and perfect.  It makes me smile that we have them.  I ordered new white on white monogrammed duvets and shams from Pottery Barn when they had a big sale a few months ago.  I also used some pillows and storage benches from their old room.  My mom stitched needlepoints for both girls, and those appear over their beds.  They also have a hand-me-down nightstand with an old white lamp, the greatest clock in existence, and Cate's Russian dolls on it.

The room has been great so far and the girls are so happy to share.  When one has to go to bed before the other, they are sooooo sad to be by themselves.  I'm sure there are many hours of lost sleep from sharing, but the girls love being with each other so much, I could never split them up.

Hope you like the room--I think the girls do!

Texas

Yee haw--we are here in Texas and loving it!  Everyone is still adjusting, and we are still organizing the house, but so far, so good.  Here is a quick recap of the past few weeks:

The girls and I bid farewell to the boys--Rhett, Homer, and Major--a few weekends ago as they trekked from VA to TX in my Suburban.  Our vet made it clear that Homer was not to fly and if we did put him on a plane, he would likely have a heart attack (!!!).  So the plan was made for Rhett to drive the three days to Texas with the dogs.  Rhett kept threatening to make a "Free Westie" t-shirt and let Major out somewhere before the Texas border, but somehow my little buddy made it--phew!  They stopped in Roanoke and Nashville before making a 12-hour drive to Texas, and they all seemed a little keyed up when they got to the house.  But, everyone made it.

The girls and I had it a little easier--we flew.  The plan was to stop in Charlotte, NC and have a nice layover so we could get lunch and meander over to our gate.  That was before the Charlotte airport SHUT DOWN for an hour in the middle of our flight, so we circled forever before finally landing.  I then had to haul my girls and everyone's suitcases and backpacks--they wouldn't carry them for more than five minutes and I had no time to argue--we had to get to the complete opposite side of the airport before our second flight took off.  But again, everyone made it.

Everyone's favorite in-flight activity--movies!

Our stuff arrived off the moving van a couple of days after we got to TX and we began the great unpacking.  Cate started school the day after that.  She was definitely overwhelmed at the size and volume of her new school since she was used to being at her little Kindergarten program with nine kids and two teachers.  Her new school has 20 kids and 1 teacher with a "humongous" (her word) cafeteria and gym.  But, Cate made a new friend quickly who also happens to live in our neighborhood, and it's been pretty smooth since then.  Her new friend is named Devon and he is apparently "so cute" and Cate "loves him."  I also witnessed them holding hands in school--poor Rhett is not thrilled about that.  Regardless, the girls LOVE the fact we can walk to school and they take every opportunity to do that.

First day!

Charlotte and I have found a little playground one neighborhood over, and we usually stop by on the way home from school.

Charlotte in her happy place :)

We very much like our house, even though, to us, it is pretty "Texas."  Rhett kindly gave me a decorating budget, which allowed me to paint a good chunk of the house ahead of time, and take away some of the Texas elements that I didn't necessarily love.

Giddy up--we're home!

The girls' room was the first thing to be settled.

Part of MY decorating budget was a new TV--funny how that happened?!?!  Not sure I wanted to account for that.  Rhett and Cate hooked it up for me, so that did help on installation costs though.

We've found the Target, Home Goods, a church, and a good pizza place, as well as a decent grocery store (RIP my visits to Wegmans--sooooo upsetting they don't have them here).  I also visited my new OBGYN who was refreshingly well versed in Lovenox.  Below is a picture of what I looked like last week.  At this point, I'm scheduled for a c-section on June 5 which is less than four weeks away.

It's so surreal to type "less than four weeks" when I'm talking about a new baby, and it also makes me realize how much I have left to do!  But I am pausing to enjoy our new (for now) normal, with wide, tree-lined streets and nice neighbors :)

Ahhhh...

Grateful

It has been so long since I've had any updates, I know!  A few weeks ago I started an insanely long blog post detailing all of my medical history over the past eight or so months but I immediately trashed it because what is more boring than someone else's medical issues?  Hahaha, not much I say!

The wonderful, awesome, terrifying, happy, scary, thrilling news is that we are expecting #3 in June.  The other wonderful, awesome, terrifying, happy, scary, thrilling news is that we are moving to Texas in less than two weeks--a few months before we expected to go.  We've closed on our house and we're already underway with a few updates.  Huzzah!

The girls are psyched because we have a pool--they don't yet realize that most people have one--so they think we are livin' large in Texas :)

I'll try to post more updates after we move and as we get closer to June.  There is so much to look forward to and be grateful for.

What We're Loving Lately

Hi there!  Long time, no post.  I figured it is time for a "what we're loving lately" write-up:

1. Me Reader
For her birthday, Rhett and I got Charlotte the Disney Princess Me Reader, an electronic reader (like a tablet) that reads any one of eight books to her.  We also got a Disney Jr. set from friends.  There is a symbol on each page of the books and when you press the correct character and symbol on the tablet, the reader tells you what it says on the page.  Both girls LOVE the books and, oddly, the voice on the Me Reader.  I love the fact that I can eat a bowl of Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Stars while someone else reads to them.  It's outsourced parenting at its finest!

2. Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate Stars
I'm going to be honest and say I hide these from my children because they are too good to share.

3. Back to Basics for Skin Care
I was at the dermatologist a couple of weeks ago and, at the end of my appointment, received some recommendations on skin care.  Are they recommending the latest $100 eye cream and $150 moisturizer from some insanely expensive brand?  Nope!  My dermatologist's practice recommends Cetaphil cleanser and cream moisturizer.  A friend of mine who goes to the same practice also said they like Neutrogena Rapid Wrinkle Repair.  I was shocked!  I've bought a $50 eye cream or two but I won't again.  For now I'm sticking with Cetaphil and Vaseline!  The Cetaphil cream moisturizer has been especially awesome as a body lotion.  Apparently the cream is a better and longer lasting moisturizer--who knew?

4. Cooking with Kids
A sweet friend gave Charlotte a princess-themed cookbook for her birthday and it has been so fun to use with the girls!  The recipes are actually good and...drumroll please...they are trying new things!  We're going to bring it to Salem for Christmas so we can make a couple of treats for Rhett's family.

5. Cate's Stocking
After eight months of stitching, and two months of my mom prepping and sewing, I finally completed Cate's needlepoint stocking.  Ta da!

You can't tell in the picture, and allow me to geek out over needlepoint for a sec (who am I??????), but I got to use some really cool threads and stitches on this.  Oh my gosh, did I really just say that?  The point is, this is the first needlepoint project I am really proud of.  Charlotte and I already have our eye on her stocking canvas.  We just have to wait for the after-Christmas sale.  It's a Noah's Ark design with a purple whale (favorite color), a zebra, and an alligator (favorite animals).  We love it!

Loving Three

When Cate was approaching her third birthday, I looked upon the day with some dread.  Three seemed like such an "in-between" age.  Turning two meant stepping completely out of the baby phase and leaving total dependence behind.  Four seemed O-L-D and like the first step toward Kindergarten.  But three?  What was great about turning three?

As with so many things with regard to parenting, I was just flat-out wrong and had to learn with experience.

Three is awesome!  It's my favorite age so far.  Three means being able to articulate real feelings. Three is rapid learning of ideas and concepts.  Three is moving toward independence, but still total faith in your mom and dad.  Three is complete sweetness without any of the "mean girl" stuff that is sure to come later.  Three is huggable.  Three is kind.  Three is counting everything.  Three is telling jokes.  Three is making your parents laugh out loud.  Three is funny.  It's good to be three.

Now that Charlotte is three, she is able to answer the birthday questions that Cate has done for the past few years:

Favorite Color :: Purple
Favorite Toy :: Elsa Barbie
Favorite Fruit :: Strawberries
Favorite TV Show :: Paw Patrol
Favorite Movie :: Minnierella
Favorite Thing to Wear :: Purple sparkly dress from Yaya
Favorite Animals :: Zebras and Alligators
Favorite Song :: Let it Go
Favorite Book :: Frozen
Best Friends :: Cecelia and Emma
Favorite Snack :: Pretzels
Favorite Drink :: Lemonade
Favorite Breakfast :: Pancakes
Favorite Lunch :: Grilled cheese
Favorite Dinner :: Noodles
Favorite Game :: Chutes and Ladders
Favorite Thing to do Outside :: Swings and slides
Favorite Holiday :: Halloween
What Do You Sleep With At Night :: Little Minnie and Pink Blanket
What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up :: Minnie Mouse

Love you, Charlotte Angel!

Filling Our Time

And just like that, it's mid-October and it feels like the year is drawing to an end.  In many ways, I will be happy to close the books on 2014, but we've had tons of fun too, and this fall has been just great!

The girls LOVE school.  Love is actually an understatement.  Cate told me that she wants to live at school, as in, be in kindergarten all the time, every second of every day.  Charlotte cries on Thursdays and Fridays when she doesn't have preschool.  So, I guess my job here is done??!?  While it's a little sad they're so attached to school, it's also totally wonderful.  I'm so happy that they are happy.

We've done all the fall "things" like going apple picking and visiting the pumpkin patch.  The girls have been invited to a bunch of parties, one of which had a special guest appearance by none other than Queen Elsa from Frozen.  I'm not exaggerating when I say it was one of the top three greatest moments of Charlotte's life, just behind 1) Being Born and 2) Seeing Minnie Mouse at Disney on Ice and smiling so brightly that I immediately burst into tears.

This is so random, but I've also tried a bunch of really good recipes lately that were so delicious I feel like I need to tell the world about them.  Go make these NOW:

Southwest Salad with Cilantro Lime Dressing
Homemade Cheez Its
Kale and White Bean Soup (use canned beans--the dried ones make me gag)
Banana and Chocolate Chip Muffins (skip the walnuts, cinnamon chips, and butter rum/coconut flavoring)

My other project has been making Halloween costumes.  Cate decided on being a Monarch butterfly (??!?) but she wanted to be one that was pink.  Charlotte jumped on that bandwagon faster than you can say "wings" so I've been working on some custom costumes at home.  I still have to make some tutu skirts but the wings are done.  Here is a preview:

I hope everyone has been having a fun fall!  We've been trying our best to stay busy :)