Four months old

Well, Caroline went to her 4 month check up this morning. We found out she currently weighs 16 lbs 1 oz and is 26 inches long. She's still around the 95 percentile in both weight and height. I love all her little rolls. Anyway, she's has TWO new teeth (both bottom middle) that have just popping through the gums over the past two weeks. It amazed me when I felt the first one since Jack didn't get his first tooth until he was 6 months. She's sleeping better and is overall a really sweet little baby. 

Life with a 3 year old

While I was working the other day, I noticed that the house was extremely quiet so I thought "hmmmm... why is Jack so quiet?" When I went to go check on him I found him in the bathroom, standing up on his stepstool looking in the mirror and drawing on himself. He was covered in green crayon. While you only see the green crayon on his face, it was actually everywhere - even his stomach and on the back of his neck. I have no idea how he got it back there. Luckily it did wash off but it left his skin with a tinge of green for a few days. Crazy kid.

Our boy is a genius. He did this alone while I was getting ready one morning. I was amazed to come out and see this put together without my help.

Random picture of Caroline. She keeps scratching her poor little face despite my attempts to keep her fingernails short. This picture makes her look kind of serious, but really she is such a cheeseball.

Three Years Old

He's concentrating really hard on blowing his candles out.

Well, Jack is officially 3 years old. His birthday was actually last Sunday but I'm just getting around to posting. It's crazy that he's already three. Seems like just yesterday we were walking around Bangkok waiting for him to make his arrival. We had a 'low key' celebration - as the plan is to eventually go to a 1/2 year birthday party (since that would be in June versus December). Jack received all kinds of goodies. I'm not sure if our gifts to him were among his favorites (a new carseat and a portable potty) but you wouldn't know it gauging from his expressions as he opened each gift. This kid loves presents.

A few of his favorite things to do these days (as a three year old): Read books (always), Tell stories (if you start telling him made up stories he will say 'one more' until you cut him off), Play with his toys making up conversations between them, Puppet shows, Puzzles, Hide and Seek (although he's always a little too scared to come find you by himself), and Swinging outside. A few of the things he dislikes: Wearing a jacket/coat, Bedtime, and letting Henry take a bath (in the washing machine). 

My Beautiful Children

Jack has really been into wanting to hold Caroline lately. I thought these few shots were really precious. 

Thanksgiving Road Trip Part 2

Celebrating the 3 December Birthdays (Mike, Nana, and Jack)

Denise and Caroline

Would it be Thanksgiving without Mexican food?

Nathan, Jack, Denise, and Nick

Mike, Nathan and Jack

Papaw, Caroline, Nathan, Jack and Nana (Papaw did a great job coaxing Caroline to sleep - as you can see)

It was hard to pack up and leave when the week was over. It's so nice to be around family these days. Caroline hasn't been sleeping as well as she did on the trip (think the entertainment wore her out) and Jack keeps asking when we're going to go on another trip. Thanks for the great fun and the gifts!! We really had a wonderful time.

Thanksgiving Road Trip Part 1

Caroline wasn't used to the cold weather.

Jack fought the wearing of this blue parka (he hates coats) but realized quickly that it was necessary once we were inside the display.

Jack actually looking happy in this picture. Not sure how long this smile lasted... maybe 2 minutes??

The cool Aquarium restaurant in the mall. This was a bigger hit than Grinch's Who-ville. This girl and Jack were discussing which fish was which character from Nemo.

And of course mall Carousels are always entertaining.

So, for Thanksgiving we met Nathan's family in Nashville for BirThanksMas (Birthdays/Thanksgiving/Christmas). We had a great time hanging out and seeing a few of the sights. We went to see the Grinch's Who-ville which was made entirely of ice. It was literally 9 degrees inside the building that housed the ice sculptures. They gave us parkas which turned out to be a nightmare since Jack has a huge coat aversion. So, he basically screamed the entire time. He did think it was cool for about 5 minutes and then he became too cold and was grumpy again. A bigger hit for him was the Aquarium restaurant we found in the mall. Lots of salt water fish/creatures and a place where you could pet/feed stingrays. This was more his speed.

Visit from Nana

He was so excited about seeing Nana.

Our little girl (who I think looks a bit like Nathan)

Super Nana!

Nathan's mom came to visit the Friday before Thanksgiving and spent a few days with us before we headed to Tennessee. It was great to have her help with the kids and on the 11 hour road trip. I think both kids enjoyed the attention. And while Jack loves all his relatives, he sure does have a special place in his heart for his grandmothers.