Happy 2nd Birthday Charlie!

In the hospital 1st Birthday YesterdayToday Charlie turns 2! We had a small family yesterday with my parents. We all had a good time celebrating Charlie's big day and I of course took a bunch of pictures.

As soon as my parents got here, Charlie and Macy ran into together as they were running around the house with excitement for my parents coming, so that is why Charlie has a nice fat lip in all the pictures.

Charlie (and Macy) enjoyed opening his gifts.

He was excited over a soccer ball we gave him (he LOVES balls) and jumped up immediately to go to the tile to throw the ball around.

He knew what just to do when he got his birthday cake and even blew both of them out without any help!

And lastly here is a picture of dad and Seth putting together Charlie's new Thomas the Tank Engine Train Set, which proved to be the hit of day. The kids (and Seth) enjoyed playing with it yesterday afternoon.

Merry Christmas!

We had a great day today! The kids of course were excited about all the presents, and we were able to go to Seth's parents for Christmas with them and and great meal! I took a ton of pictures, but here are just a few.

The kids ready to open gifts: Macy with a gift from Grammy and Papa:
Emma is obviously thrilled with her new gym:

Charlie with a new car toy:

The kids in front of some of their presents (Someone from church gave us the kitchen set and football toy box a couple days ago because their kids out grew it, so it was nice to have something big to put under the tree, especially since it was free!):

At Grandma and Grandpa's house:

Seth thought it would be fun to make a cake together for Christmas. Didn't we do a good job!:And finally a family picture: Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Shopping Texas Style

Rudolph Cookies

In this month's Family Fun Magazine, they had an idea to make Rudolph cookies. It looked like something fun for the kids and I to do, so that is what we did this afternoon. Today is Seth's day off, so he joined in on the fun too.

Smiles

Emma is 6 weeks and 2 days today. It has flown by! This last week she has started smiling real smiles! I mangaged to get a picture of one today.

Happy Birthday Seth!

I know I am not doing a very good job blogging lately, but I figure I have a good excuse. I will try to get caught up this week. This is late, but on Thursday was Seth's 31st birthday! We celebrated going out to eat on Tuesday and then on Thursday the kids and I made him a cake and Seth opened up his presents.

Catch Up Post

Sorry for the lack of posting the last couple of weeks. We are all doing well and Emma has been a great baby for us! Even the nights are going well! I think I was dreading it so much (the lack of sleep) that it hasn't been that bad at all. Below are a few pictures of the last couple weeks.

The kids and I made "turkey hats" for a craft project one day. Here they are showing them off:

My parents and sister with her family came for Thanksgiving at our house. My mom did all the the cooking, so that was really nice not having to worry about any of it! Here are the kids, they really enjoyed playing with Andrew:Dad with John Nathan and Emma:We celebrated Andrew's birthday and Charlie loved the cake and especially the blue icing:We made our first trip to church this past Sunday, I tried to get a few decent pictures, but failed:

Charlie in his fancy church clothes that my sister gave to him while they were here:And last but not least, Macy modeling her new dress (she is hiding a princess umbrella behind her back, she wanted it to be in the picture, but I told her she had to put it behind her back):

Seth's family also came into to town, but I failed to get any pictures of them! (Seth's familiy, Please email the ones you guys got.)

2 Weeks Already?!

The last two weeks have flown by! Emma continues to do well; she had her two week check up this morning and is already over her birth weight by 4 oz! That was great to hear and she is also a really good sleeper at night, so she has been really easy for us so far.

We had a good week this last week. I turned the big 29 and my mom came down for the week to help out with Macy and Charlie which was a huge help. She took them out every day for outings, so it was nice to be able to take it easy and the kids really enjoyed having her to play with.

I tried to take a picture of the three kids this morning, this was the best I could do: Oh well..

One Week Old

We have been home 3 days and so far things have gone pretty smoothly. We took Emma to her first checkup this morning and thankfully he said everything looked great! She has gained an oz a day since we left the hospital and he said she is doing "fantastically". Other than a few frustrating nursing moments, she has been a very easy baby and even sleeps really well at night.

Macy and Charlie are adjusting to having a new sibling. They both love to hold her and have done pretty well to the changes (except for a few random meltdowns).

Special thanks to Seth's mom who came and took care of the kids and house while I was in the hospital. The kids had a good time and I knew they were in good hands. My mom is coming tomorrow to stay for a few days and we are very much looking forward to having her here and help out!

Finally, here are a few pictures from the last few days. Here she is coming home from the hospital. A women at Seth's parents church made this bonnet for her. It is to be worn coming home from the hospital and then saved until her wedding day as hanky for her something old. Seth and I thought she kind of looked like a pilgrim:Taking a snooze:Macy was reading to Emma (she was buried somewhere under those blankets):And a few I just took:

Still in the Hospital

But we are going home tomorrow when they make us. I have enjoyed having the nurses take care of everything and the nursery nurses are really good about taking her to let me rest in the day and sleep in the night. Emma continues to do great! She is even gaining weight now! The doctor thought she would loose another oz before she started gaining, so we were happy to hear that she had gained when they weighed her last night! She has been a great eater and taken to nursing like a champ. Other than one of my 26 staples (I will have a LONG scar) popping out and being a little sore, I continue to feel good as well. I am sure I will post more pictures tomorrow when we go home.

Hospital Pictures

Go here to see the different pictures, there should be a few different ones.

Picture of the Day

Emma had her picture taken today for the hospital website. It won't be posted for a couple days, but we tried to re-create it (the photographer's is much better). She continues to do great! We think we may get to stay until Friday morning and take advantage of everyone taking good care of us.

Proud Big Sister and First Friend

Macy loves her new little sister! I love this picture that Seth took of the two of them. Also this is Emma with her new friend, Grace. (Emma is on the right). She is the daughter of our friends at church and they were born on the same day. We thought there was a chance we would pass each other in the hospital, but didn't expect them to have the same birthday!Today has gone well. Emma has been eating and sleeping great and enjoying all the visitors we have been getting. I also feel great and am enjoying having the nurses take care of everything!

Announcing..

Emma Sue McDowell!

Sue is Seth's mom's middle name and his sister's middle name is Susan and we just liked the name Emma. I am feeling MUCH better today, so here are a few pictures.

I am trying to figure out the webcam, so I will post that in this entry when I do.

Alright, to get on the webcam, go to http://fmc.careviewcom.com , click visitors

enter your name and 254648, enter and select request permission. We have to be logged in too, so we have to know when you want to get on, our room phone number is 214-407-5559. I am not sure how good of a camera it is becuase we can't see what you are seeing. SO if you want to see the baby, just give us a call!