Santa struck!!!

Christmas was soooo fun this year! Libby loved Santa, and has been talking about him incessantly. Santa set up a tea party with the little table and chairs that Gran sent for Libby and Lucy. He also set up a castle complete with a royal family and doll house furniture! Libby played with it for at least an hour and a half without speaking! (If you know Libby that is amazing!)Santa had a little trouble setting up the exersaucer for Lucy - but it was worth it! She absolutely loves it!!! Christmas is so much more fun with children! I look forward to the years to come with our beautiful girls! Below is a pic of Libby playing with all of her new loot!

Libby "helped" Daddy make sugar cookies for Santa on Christmas eve. Check out the matching aprons that Libby made!

Here is Lucy playing in her exersaucer. I thought that she would be to small for it still, but she really surprised me! She was pushing on the floor with her feet and making it bounce and turn. She also figured out how to push the buttons to make the music and lights play. I was pretty amazed! We were not fully prepared for the morning because we ran out of video tape about 5 minutes into everything! Oh well - I'm sure we will have those memories forever!

We went to Granny's on Christmas day for a late lunch. Libby got to open MORE presents, which was fun! Christmas will keep on going a little longer too, because we have Christmas with the Henson's Saturday, and the Miller's on Monday! It should be a fun week! We are leaving Sunday for Virginia. I am so excited to spend some time with my family. We will post some pics of our time with the Miller's when we get back. Hope you all had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!!!

Cooking with Memom

Life has been pretty busy (as usual) around here! Matt has had several catering events that have required him to travel to Crossville. We all went with him for one of them so the girls could spend some time at Memom and Pop's house. They offered to watch the girls for us one night so we could go out for our first date in goodness knows how long! It was really nice to enjoy a meal that was not interrupted by breastfeeding or the demands of my high-strung 2 year-old (she gets it honest)! We awoke the next morning to a huge breakfast prepared by Memom and Libby. It was such a treat!!!

Christmas has been so much fun this year! Libby is really getting into everything from Christmas music, to trees and ornaments ... and of course SANTA!!! She has been surprisingly good with the presents under the tree. She hasn't opened any of them yet! She has been busted sneaking quite a few candy canes off of the tree and devouring them - plastic wrapping and all! Hopefully the plastic is not toxic!!! Christmas has a whole new meaning when you have your own children to share it with. Here is a pic of Libby making gingerbread cookies with Daddy.

I am so thankful for my family. Sometimes I wonder what I did to deserve such a supportive husband and healthy, beautiful children. I am afraid at times that it may be too good to be true! God has blessed us. If I could change one thing about my life it would be that my family move closer. I feel as though I have missed watching my siblings grow up. Maybe one day that wish will come true. We are planning on going up to see them the first week of January. I can't wait!

Well - I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas this year. Keep checking for pics - I'm sure there will be some good ones when Santa comes!

Libby loves to "help" in the kitchen, which make her and Memom a perfect match. Memom loves to cook as much as Matt, and has much more patience with little hands around! Here is Libby helping make biscuits. She literally had flour from head to toe! I'm not quite sure how it ended up on her hiney!

Here is a picture of Libby attempting to play in the snow. Matt had to gather all of the snow off of the car to make one snowball! She was so bundled up that she could barely move!

This is an outfit that Pop could not resist getting for Lucy. Libby insisted on wearing it even though it is made for an infant! It is made like a little sack, so Libby just put it over her head and walked around for at least 20 minutes!

PINK EYE and Christmas pictures!

I just got both girls down, so I thought I would post another entry! Matt is out of town doing a catering event, so I will be alone with the girls this weekend. He did at least take the dog!!!

This has been quite a week! I'm sure that most of you have seen the pictures of Libby's first bout of pink eye! This has really thrown my plans of having Christmas pictures made! She started the antibiotic drops last Monday, which helped a ton! We were so surprised that no one else in the family got it because it is really making it's way around. Much to our dismay Libby got it again after we finished the antibiotics, then Lucy got it the next day!!! Now I have to hold down a 2 year-old and a 3 month-old for eye drops 3 times a day!!! As if my days weren't difficult enough already!

Here is a pic of Libby's eye the first time around in case you didn't see it!

We had to go ahead and get the pics made on Thursday despite the red eyes though because they would not be ready in time (which they may still not be)! That was an interesting sight! I tried to brave the portrait studio alone with the 2 girls ... big mistake! The photographer was trying to bribe Libby with candy, which just made the situation worse! Libby kept trying to leave the set to find the candy. Lucy was screaming her head of the whole time too - needless to say the pics were not that great! Oh well!!!

Lucy seems to finally be getting over her colic. She is almost 14 weeks now, so it is about time! I have been trying to get her to sleep in her crib (as opposed to in our bed), which has been a struggle. We have been having to let her cry some, which is never easy. It has been paying off though because she has slept through the night in her crib the last 4 nights in a row!!! She is becoming so much fun! She smiles and gives us this little belly laugh that will just melt your heart! She is my little cuddle bug, and I am so thankful for her. Here is a pic of that sweet little smile!

I PASSED MY BOARDS!!!

Things have been crazy but good around here! Matt has been busy entertaining the girls so I could study for boards. All of the hard work payed off because I passed! I am officially a Pediatric Nurse Practitioner!!! I took them on the 26th, then we left 2 days later to visit with family and friends. We went to Opelika first and spent the night with Gran. She absolutely loved playing with the girls. We had a great time visiting with all of my family. Then we headed to Atlanta to visit with some friends. We spent 4 nights there, and we had a blast. All of my friends are having kids now, so it was nice to get all of them together. The trip was nice because we got to all get away together as a family and relax. The girls did great in the car. Lucy slept most of the way, and Libby watched her Santa DVD at least 12 times.

She is so excited about Christmas this year. We went out today and got our tree. Matt put on a Santa hat with a beard and Libby was going CRAZY! She was saying "here Santa... here is an ornament," and "Santa, I want to sit in your lap!" The tree pics will be posted later! I have included a few pics from our trip - enjoy!

This is a picture of the girls at Granny's for Thanksgiving. They are wearing matching outfits from my Aunts Debbie, Sherri, Beverly, and Kim, and Gran. The looked so cute! Sorry I couldn't get this pic turned around!

Here is a pic of Libby playing with Gran

Lucy loved Gran! She just smiled and cooed her little heart out!

This is Libby dancing with my best friend Karen's daughter. They had a blast together!

Libby and Mary Beth (Jenny's daughter) had fun in the tub together!

This is Libby and Reese - my friend Kelley's daughter.

Here is a pic of us getting ready for the game - too bad Ainge blew it!

Halloween pics

Sorry it has taken us so long to post some new pics! Life has been crazy around the Henson house. I started back to work and Lucy is in the height of a terrible colicky period. I am also cramming to take my nurse practitioner boards in 8 days! We have managed to have a little fun though - and we have some cute pics to prove it. Libby is doing great - she is as hilarious as ever. She loves her little sissy, and doesn't even seem to notice the incessant crying.

Libby and Lucy enjoying some floor time together.

Libby as a ballerina for Halloween

Lucy sporting Libby's hand-me-down pea in the pod costume.

The family all together on Halloween.

Libby "helping daddy" make brownies.

Daddy days

Today was my first day alone with the girls. Kelley had a doctors appointment and needed to run some errands. She begins orientation tomorrow so the true test for me will begin. Today went well aside from the minor issues Libby had with me giving Lucy a bottle. Anything but my undivided attention is unacceptable for her. After weeks of searching we got a new digital camera today; thanks to great big mom and big dad. Its perfect for little movie clips so we will give it a shot. This video however will require a little explaining. Two of Libby's favorite things are running around naked after a bath and dancing. Mix those two things with a video camera and the Internet and this is what you get... Hope no one calls the department of children services on us!!...

Fall is here!!!

It's finally starting to cool off and things are pretty crazy around here. The zombie-like trance that comes with having a newborn is a whole different ballgame with a two year old. Kelley has fall fever and the seasonal clothing change out has us up to our ears with gigantic Tupperware. She also has post baby workout fever that I have been doing a good job of hiding from. Libby has been blossoming into quite the little daddy's girl thanks to breast feeding. We carved the pumpkin this week and spent a fair amount of time working on our silly faces and our Halloween scary faces. As much as it makes me sad to see her turning into a little girl, she is becoming more and more like a little friend.

Practicing with the pumpkin

Silly/Scary face!!

Scary face!!!

Silly face!

Visit from the Miller girls!

We had such a nice weekend! My Mom and Sister came down for a visit, and it was so nice to spend some time with them! It is so hard having your family far away. Saturday morning we took the girls to watch Tennessee Tech's homecoming parade. As you can imagine, Libby had a blast. I think that she views the band members as some type of super heroes! She gets very shy if one so much as looks in her direction! She loved them though (when the weren't looking). She has been working on perfecting her marching and drumming skills ever since!

Saturday afternoon we spent watching the Tennessee - Georgia game. Matt cooked a big pot of chili, and we had a blast!

Sunday we all went to the park and capped off the night with Matt's homemade spaghetti and meatballs - yum yum!

I was so sad when the had to leave this morning - and Libby was too. She broke down in tears saying "I wanna go to Big Mom's house!" My sister Megan spent the whole time entertaining Libby, and she has really missed the extra attention today. Libby was saying "come on Lucy lets go to Libby's playroom" today! I guess she was thinking it was worth a try!

GOOOO TENNESSEE!!!

Megan and Libby

Mom and Lucy

Matt making the chili

Busy week!

Hi everyone!

We have had a busy week already! We decided to be brave and go to church on Sunday. Libby went in the nursery, but we took Lucy into the service with us. She only cried once - but of course it was right in the middle of a prayer!

Yesterday we took a trip to Nashville to meet up with the East Nashville crew again. We all went to the zoo and had a blast! Lucy stayed in the baby Bjorn the whole time, and Libby ran in front of the stroller we brought for her! She was so excited she couldn't sit still. She kept saying "come on... let's see more animals!" I think that the indoor area with the fish and reptiles was her favorite. She is really into fish and frogs right now. Her second favorite was probably the Lorakeets. Matt bought some of the nectar so she could feed the birds. We forgot our digital camera, but we managed to get a few pics with a disposable. I will be getting those developed soon!

Today was the teddy bear picnic at the library. They have a story time everyday, and this week they told "Going on a bear hunt." After the story was over everyone went outside to the park for a picnic. It was a beautiful day, and Libby had a great time. Lucy was once again went with the flow in the baby Bjorn. When we got home I got to take my first nap in over a week! Lucy actually let me sleep for 45 minutes while Libby was napping - praise the Lord!

Here is a pic of Lucy sleeping with me in the bed this morning.

Lucy passed out after watching the Auburn - Florida game - WAR EAGLE!!!

Lucy snuggling with daddy on the couch

Libby begged me to take her picture after her bath tonight - she's becoming quite the little ham!

Playdate

Our old neighbors from East Nashville came for a visit yesterday. Libby had a blast despite a few sharing issues (especially among the baby dolls)! I guess that should be expected among three 2 year-olds and a 3 year old! It was so good to see our friends, and Libby had so much fun that she took an almost 3 hour nap after everyone left. Little Lucy slept through most of the visit, but she was still a hit.

This is Grayson holding Lucy

Libby and Mia

Libby and her "balls"

Lucy trying out big sissy's princess chair - Libby was not at all happy about this! She made sure that Lucy knew that was "MY PRINCESS CHAIR!!!"

I finally caved and gave Lucy a pacifier! She loved it for about 15 minutes, and now I can't get her to take it anymore! I guess she figured out that it was a hoax!

Postpartum and tired!!!

I discovered today that 3 hours of sleep, postpartum hormones, a constantly hungry 2 week-old, and a 2 year-old that refuses to take a nap are not a good combination!!! I burst into tears as soon as Matt walked in the door from work. Luckily, he knew just how to save the day and took us all out to watch Tennessee Tech's band practice (a favorite pass time of Libby's). A little fresh air was just what we all needed!
Libby managed to make us all laugh marching around in her ballerina slippers (that she had a tantrum over not taking off before we left).
She spent most of the day in her "princess ballerina" costume - so I just had to grab a quick shot! She is so much fun despite being 2!

Visit from Sam and Julie

Uncle Sam and Aunt Julie stopped by for a quick visit yesterday on their way back to Mississippi. We all went out and had lunch. Libby certainly appreciated the extra attention!

Princess panties and Dr's appointments

Lucy had her 2 week Dr's appointment today, and she was perfect - as we already knew! She weighed 6lbs, 14oz - 10oz gain since birth (25th percentile)! Her length was 19 1/2 inches (50th percentile), and head circ 13.4 cm (25th percentile). She's a been eating like crazy!
Things are still going well with big sissy, too! She is sporting her princess panties in her princess chair in the picture above! She also loves to cuddle with "baby Lucy" on the boppy pillow.
My mom left Thursday, and my dad came down. They decided to take turns since the kids all had to stay in VA for school. Dad leaves Sunday and I will offically be on my own. Dad rode his motorcycle down, and Libby has been having fun trying on the helmet.
The daily routine seems to be getting a little easier - as long as I can manage to nap when Libby does!