Carlyn

my papaw (maternal grandfather) passed away this morning. we are all grieving his loss. i think this is going to be a sad Christmas :( i am really sad that we did not get to see him before he died. he had not seen pearl yet, and we were leaving in just a few days to go see him. please pray for my family.

Little miss Pearl Carolee went for her 4 month check up last week. She was 14 lbs 12 oz!! she is such a big girl. I love all of her fat rolls. Baby fat is so cute!! I wish everyone could see her squishy little legs. she is such a pretty little girl. I think she some how gets prettier every day. She is still a mommy’s girl, but she loves james and luther too. Luther can get her to laugh more than I ever can. She thinks he is hilarious. she is finally back to taking naps in her crib. She has been napping in the swing for the past 2 months. But she has been doing much better the past week and has been falling asleep on her on in her crib and actually staying asleep. But, she has giving up sleeping through the night. She has a cold a few weeks ago and has only slept through the night twice since. I am not planning on starting solids until she is 6 months old, but I did end up having to give her a few spoons of prune baby food this week. She had not pooped in 6 days and was beginning to wo...

i am so excited about all of the Christmas festivities in our area. we have already been to a Christmas party at the science museum and a Christmas parade. we got all of our Christmas decor up this week too. i think the reason i am excited, is because it is so fun to see Luther enjoying everything this year. this is his 3rd Christmas, but the first one where he really understands and is enjoying the festivities. we have been reading the Christmas story and singing lots of Christmas songs. Away in a Manger is his favorite. he can almost sing the whole song all by himself. he actually sings it, a bit off key, but i guess he gets that from is daddy. hehehe!! we have plans next week to go to a Christmas concert and a Christmas celebration at the art museum. i am glad to have a reason to get out of the house and to have fun things to do indoors since the weather has taken a turn for the cold. Our church had parent's night out last night. James was actually off, so we got to go on a da...

These are some pictures from thankgiving that i love!!

well, we couldn't believe it. james called on wednesday evening as he was getting off work and said he finally had his schedule for the month and he was going to be off the next day. the next day!!! Thanksgiving!! WOW, what a surprise!! Thank you God !! what a special thanksgiving blessing :) so, he headed straight here to my parents house. i almost let luther stay up to see him but at 9pm i finally decided i better put him to bed or he might not have such a great thanksgiving (his normal bedtime is 7pm). james got here on wednesday night and got to stay until thursday around 4:30pm. it was so awesome to get to spend thanksgiving with my whole family. luther was so happy to see his daddy. he insisted that james do everything for him all day long. that was fine by me!! pearl was happy to see her daddy too! well, i just has to share my happiness.

luther, pearl and i are all at my parents house this week. poor james is at home working himself to death. i really cannot explain how horrible this new job has been for us. not only is he working about 80 hours a week, the work environment is a very differcult one. i feel so bad for him, but by the time he gets homes i end up fussing at him because i am so tired and so irritated that he is never home. it has been good to be at my parents house this week and kinda reflect on our circumstances and what i can do to make things better. james has tried to be so positive about his job but he sounded so sad last night when i talked to him. i think it seems even worse to him since that is all he is doing right now is working. he said that at least he usually has us to come home to and that to look forward to. i did make him a thanksgiving dinner before we left, so at least he has good food to come home to. everyone keeps asking me to explain his schedule, so i will try. he works 2 days that a...

aren't these the cutest pictures ever!!! i love my babies :)

so i just found out that wearing your baby in a sling or any kind of carrier that attaches to your body is actually called "babywearing" “Babywearing” simply means holding or carrying a baby or young child using a baby carrier. Holding babies is natural and universal; baby carriers make it easier and more comfortable, allowing parents and caregivers to hold or carry their children while attending to the daily tasks of living funny i have been doing this for years and did not know, but anyways. it is international babywearing week ( http://babywearinginternational.org/pages/babywearingweek.php ) so i thought i would post some pics of me "wearing" pearl. i took these last weekend. i was doing house work wearing pearl, and looked down and she was sound asleep holding her little foot. it was so cute. james was at work so i took them myself in the mirror. i kept trying different angles trying to capture the cuteness. NOTE: for you babywearers out there, i know pearl is...

i added a new link to the left. Videos of Pearl!! i have already added a few, so go check it out.

my family came up for veteran's day yesterday since everyone was off. we had a fun time together!! mom took these picture on my front steps. i thought they were so cute. we had to let luther play with candice's hat to keep him happy.

here is a link to more pictures from our beach trip: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068846&l=89f66&id=57504677

where is aunt vanna??? mcwane Luther, mommy, vanna & pearl- can you guess who is who?? pearl really took to aunt vanna fun at the zoo vanna, james' sister, came to visit the week of luther's bday. james had to work until midnight every night that week, so she was lots of help to me. we tried to do something fun everyday. we went to the zoo, mcwane and the splash pad. we had a blast!! luther and pearl love their aunt vanna.

Luther is 2!!! he had a great time at his choo choo birthday party. we had a big family party at our house. a lot of the family that came had not been to our new house or seen pearl before. we all had a great time. luther loved playing outside with all of his grandparent, aunts, uncles and cousins. the weather was just perfect. luther sang several songs for everyone right before he opened his presents. after the first 2 presents, he realized what was going on and just kept chanting "more presents." he opened almost every present right by himself. he got lots of fun toys and handsome clothes. i made him a choo choo train cake and he was very excited about it!! i think he said "choo choo cake" a million times that day. he was so cute swaying to the music as we all sang him happy birthday. then he blew out the candles just like a big boy!! we grilled out hamburgers and hot dogs for dinner while luther played with all of his new toys. it was such a fun tim...

i haven't posted in a while and that is unlike me. what has been going on?? well mostly i have been in denial about what has been going on in our lives in the last few weeks and didn't want to write about it, because that made it more real. here is the story. the hospital where james was doing his residency this year went bankrupt and closed. they gave the staff no notice and no pay. we were actually on our first day of vacation at my parents when it all went down. poor james was trying to find a new job over the phone. the hospital had been having some major financial problems, but at the last meeting they had the week before our vacation, the staff was told they would remain open at least until the end of the year. it is very hard to explain but finding a new residency positions is not like finding a new job. residency is part job and part training. you can't just go anywhere and there are a very limited number of spots. we have friends who have lost a residency spot and ...

luther's reaction when he caught a fish at the water table Bethany & Luther riding the cow James & Pearl playing the piano Pearl and the big white catfish this sand table at mcwane is fun!! hurricane Luther making waves luther and daddy changing a tire we have had a very fun week. james was off, so we got lot of activities in while daddy was around to help. on monday morning, pearl and i had our first mother-daughter shopping trip. james watched luther and pearl and i went to the most amazing consignment sale. we got lots of fall and winter clothes for luther . (pearl has enough hand-me-downs to last until she is 12) we also found some great baby items for our church. our church was blessed with 4 little girls with in about one month(one was pearl). so they needed several things to entertain all of these little ones. i got luther a few toys for his birthday too. then it was on to the doctor's office for pearl's 2 month appt and luther's 2 year a...

coolest dude at the park!! we have had lots of sickness over the past 3 weeks. luther started it one weekend. i got it then next weekend and then james got it then end of this past week. pearl has had it sometime in between. james started his ER rotation this week, but only made it one day before he had to call in sick. mom came for two days to help me out when i was still feeling bad and james was on call. well, james is now on the mend and there is no one else to get sick. so, hopefully this is all over with.