Artwork

What do you do with your children's art work? I am one of those moms that cherishes every line of scribble. My mom was really supportive of our art and the best pieces got professionally framed and hung in the hallway. With the babies in preschool, art is starting to become a staple in their take home folders. Our fridge is covered and I've started covering one of the walls in our kitchen. Call it tacky but I'm so proud of these little artists! I know I cannot hang every piece they create, so I'm trying to decide what to do with them. Any good ideas?

For now, I've snapped pictures of each piece.

Emma Cate stamping on paper towel

Emma Cate Painting with Wheels

Holden coloring transportation

Holden painting with wheels

Holden's Handprints

Baby #3 Week 15

We had a really fun week! We took the babies to the nature museum on Saturday because it was rainy and yuck outside. We had a blast chasing the kids around. Such a fun thing to do at this age. We followed up with a picnic at Freedom Park. Luckily the weather cleared up a bit.

We spent Sunday morning at the Pumpkin Patch with my whole family. So sweet to see the babies running around and kissing pumpkins! I even got some down time hanging out at my parents house Sunday afternoon while the babies slept. 

Other fun news, my sister Allie got engaged! Woo Hoo! Let the wedding planning begin! 

The week was a lot of fun! I was off on Monday and got to play stay-at-home mom for the day. I can't wait! I wonder if the novelty of dropping my kids off in yoga pants will wear off quickly next year? I also got to drop them off for the first time at their other preschool on Thursday morning. So much fun! I'm picturing next year, dropping them off and then running/running errands with my new sweet little baby! I am excited that the twins will be in preschool and I can have one-on-one time with Baby #3.

I have a doctor's appointment in a week and a half and from that point, we'll schedule my anatomy scan! I don't know if I can wait that long to find out what Baby #3 is! I'm thinking I should go in next week for an elective ultrasound just to get a peak!

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Friday, October 25th, 2013

How Far Along: 15 weeks

Size of baby: A navel orange

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Still up 3.5 lbs from pre-pregnancy. Not really gaining any weight yet but I didn't with the twins at this point either

Maternity Clothes: Yes and as the weather is getting colder, I've determined I need more. My maternity shirts from last time are still too big and I'm just not really a fan of them. I'm going to get some regular tops that will stretch with this belly!

Gender: Still boy.

Movement:  None this week but my stomach is getting harder and I can definitely feel something there!

Sleep: Still sleeping really well. I've started to wake up in the morning because I have to use the restroom. Ugh! 

What I miss: Sushi! I want some sooo bad!

Cravings: Candy, which is funny because I craved the same thing at this point in my pregnancy with the twins! Love that I have these weekly posts to compare!

Symptoms: Morning sickness has mostly gone away but I had a random bout this morning. Just feeling sleepy. 

Best Moment this week: Allie getting engaged!

your baby's the size of a navel orange!

The average fetus at 15 weeks weighs 2.5 ounces and measures 4 inches -- and his proportions are becoming even more normal, since his legs now outmeasure his arms.

Things to remember

So all of my saved posts got all jumbled and I will have to go back and fix that.

Since I stopped doing the monthly posts I realize I haven't written as much specifically about this kids. Just skip this post if you aren't into hearing how my almost 16 month olds are doing!

Emma Cate
You can say mama, daddy, dogeee (doggie), bana (banana), and ba (ball). You sometimes call me Aw-knee but we're thinking you are trying to say mommy. It's funny because it sounds a lot like Anni. You also say mun-knee (sounds like money) but we think you're trying to say hungry. You are a happy little girl most of the time. We've been dealing with a little sickness and when you're sick, you are sooo clingy. You only want mama or gigi. Daddy is just not cutting it for you. Sometimes you'll only go to gigi or cry when she leaves.

You LOVE the dogs and squeal when they come in your room to wake you up. Your favorite game is to play ball with them. They run up and down the hall and you chase them and scream at the top of your lungs. Speaking of, you love to scream. You scream sooo loud and then giggle until you cough.

In the morning, you are normally always still asleep when we come in your room and after a few minutes of rubbing your eyes and rolling around you jump up quickly and scream to be taken out of your crib. You haven't been a great eater recently. You love bananas and Special K though. If I have a bowl of Special K you will screech until I give you a bite. Its crazy how much you love it. You also love the smoothies that Gigi brings me every morning.

You love socks and shoes. That is your favorite thing to bring me. You know the difference between your shoes and Holden's. You don't like to keep your shoes on your feet if you are in the car or stroller. You'd rather have them in your hands. You are a MESS at diaper changes. You squirm all over the place and I break a sweat just getting you into a diaper. You are one strong willed child. You love to wear "bow-bows" but also like to take them out. You'll pat your head when we ask you where your bow-bow is.

bow-bows and boo

You are walking all the time but you do it with straight legs. You are too funny to watch. Your face has so many expressions. You've got a great stink eye and another look call the bulldog where you furrow your brows. Your excited face is priceless! You are doing well at preschool and love the kitchen area and dolls. You've chilled out with the biting. You have a stuffed Boo dog that you are obsessed with. You love flashcards (We haven't pushed these on you I promise. We had a set that were either Daddy's or mine from when we were little and you love them.) You like to kiss things, especially Mommy's baby (my tummy). You are quick to give Holden a kiss and even quicker to push him out of your way. You are a feisty one! You are great a picking up and love to gather all the blocks and put them away. You like taking things out of containers and putting them back. You wave goodbye with a limp wrist and blow the sweetest kisses.

You love to play outside and pick up "nature". We have to remind you not to put things in your mouth. You are a climber but careful not to fall (unlike your brother). You don't like to sit in my lap often. You prefer to be carried around and will cry if I try to sit. You like water and sweet tea. You have a ton of teeth coming in and you've handled it all like a champ. You like birds and trucks and point to them when we are outside. You LOVE being chased and tickled under the chin. You have the sweetest giggle. You still have your left dimple. We are working on your eating. You don't like a lot of foods. You will eat things if they are offered to you on a fork and we are working on using a fork. You hate veggies and most meet and will eat some fruits and most cheese. You've recently decided you don't like applesauce or pouches which makes my crazy when I'm trying to sneak veggies in!

Every night is a struggle to get you in your night time diaper and pjs. You cry and wiggle then run away laughing. You can do "prayer hands" when we say our prayers at night and its the sweetest thing. You go to bed so easily and are such a good sleeper. You nap once a day from 1 or 2-4 or 5.

Holden
You are a forced to be reckoned with! But at the same time, you are the cutest, sweetest, most loving little boy ever. You are generally SOOOO happy. You aren't much of a talker, more of a shrieker, but we're working on that. You can say daddy and we've heard a mama once or twice. Occasionally we think we hear some other words like cracker and all done but you haven't repeated those much.

Your teeth are killing you. You've got a ton of molars coming in. You've been a drooly mess. A few minutes after ibuprofen and you are our smiling boy again. You have lots of favorite things. You get so excited and your feet stomp quickly and we call it your happy feet. You love being fed most of the time and will try to climb into your high chair from the floor. You love to eat most anything but your absolute favorite is mac and cheese. You will put down an entire package! You are good with fruit pouches too, making it so easy to feed you. You've recently started using a fork and are so excited when you are able to stab your food and bring it to your mouth.

You love to climb and have recently scaled the barracade we had up between the family room and kitchen. You love to get into the dogs' water bowls and pour water all over the kitchen floor! You are curious and adventurous. You love the outdoors! When we leave the house you walk out to the front porch and point to all the pumpkins. You have a favorite pumpkin and always lean down to give it a kiss. You LOVE to kiss things! You examine every leaf and love learning about your environment. On our walk to the car (or anywhere outside) you always find a stick to pick up. You love some sticks! I have to remind you to keep them out of your mouth. You are so into cars, buses, and trucks and as soon as you hear one you stop and wait for it to drive by us.

You are a great car rider and get into your seat so easily! Such a nice break from your fit throwing sister. I had the privilege of dropping you at preschool today and you walked right in like you owned the place! You love cars and trucks. Pushing your dump truck around is your favorite thing. You are such a little boy.

The only time you are unhappy is when you wake up and want to get out of your crib. You cry first thing in the morning but only for a few minutes. As soon as you get out of your crib you are a happy boy. You love to walk over to Emma Cate's crib and give her a kiss through the bars. Sometimes you reach your arms up because you want to get in the crib with her! You love Emma Cate although sometimes you are a little aggressive when you show her how much you love her. :) You also LOVE your dogs but boy do you scare the crap out of them! You like to chase them with toys and aggressively hug them. They run when they see you coming!

You adore being chased and will run around the kitchen island giggling like a mad-man! You also love to run up and down the hall. You are a good listener and it amazes me with the directions you are able to follow. You play well independently but like for me to be in the room. In the middle of playing, you will stop, look up, find me, and run over for a big hug and then go right back to playing. I can't say that I mind it.

running around the island

You love to sleep and are out the minute you hit your crib. You are surrounded by lovies when you sleep and love to pull them up by your face. You are a great snuggler when you are tired and love to watch tv in my lap. You also LOVE to read books (especially Hello Mr. Wuf). You'll bring me the book and them climb in my lap to read it. You also LOVE to dance. Any music that comes on makes you move your feet. You've got the happy feet dance down as well as the head bang and hip shake. I love to watch you dance and love how much you enjoy music. I think back to your newborn days and how we used to make you dance and sing to calm you down during your "witching hour". Maybe you've inherited my love for music! You are such a joy to us and making raising a boy so much fun. I hope you always keep your sweet, low-key, fun-loving personality!

Baby #3 Week 14

This hasn't been a really eventful week. Same old stuff. Kind of tired. A little sick at times. Its funny that week 14 from the twins' pregnancy was pretty much the same! We've got big plans to work on the playroom this weekend and are getting ready to move the guest room downstairs. 

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Friday, October 18th, 2013

How Far Along: 14 weeks

Size of baby: size of a lemon.

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up 3.5 lbs from pre-pregnancy

Maternity Clothes: Still the pants. Tops are normal.

Gender: Still guessing its a boy.

Movement:  Not this week!

Sleep: Like a baby! Just not getting enough of it! I need to go to bed earlier

What I miss: Pumpkin beer and wine!

Cravings: Japanese 

Symptoms: morning sickness, and tired. 

Best Moment this week: Hanging out with the babies much more than last week!

Your Baby: Week 14

Your adorable little fetus is busy with thumb sucking, toe wiggling, and (not so cute but equally amazing) making urine and breathing amniotic fluid as the liver, kidneys and spleen continue to develop. Lanugo (thin, downy hair) is growing all over the body for warmth

5 on Friday

I think this is one of my favorite link ups! I love finding new blogs to read.

1. I attended a fun little Charlotte blogger meet-up last night! I went by myself on a total whim. I am not a person that is friendly by nature but I needed to get out of the house and making gold bangle bracelets sounded like fun. It's crazy how much I've grown in recent years and how much more comfortable I feel in new/awkward situations. We had so much fun at On a String bead shop. They stayed open late for us to make our jewelry. I met some sweet girls and can't wait for the next meet up.

The whole group. Thanks to April for organizing!

all our new jewels!

loving my new bangles

2. I am READY for this weekend. My students have been CRAZY this week. They will not stop talking. I've written more demerits this week than I have during the entire year. 

3. I made THIS tomato sauce that I read about on Mariel's blog. It is seriously amazing. No cheese needed. This is my go to weeknight meal but I would definitely serve it for a dinner party to. It is that good and that easy. I served it over frozen Whole Foods organic tortellini. 

4. I am so into designing this new playroom after seeing this blog. We have similar spaces in the basement (although we aren't going to be using all of our space for kids like she did). When I was growing up my mom always made sure we had a huge playroom filled with great stuff. My mom is a preschool teacher and our playroom was set up like a preschool. It was over-the-top and like mother, like daughter, I plan to do the same thing for our kids. I LOVE the sensory boards and discovery bottles. She has great ideas too! I can't wait to be a full-time SAHM and do all of this fun stuff with my toddlers!

these are NOT my pictures or my children. They are from Fun at Home with Kids. I'm pretty obsessed with her blog now!

5. These two crack me up. All of the time. They are sooo funny. I got to spend one morning with them this week and had so much fun. They are so happy in the morning. I am working on a HUGE update post about them. 

Holden waking Emma Cate up

My little stinker ready for school

girlfriend LOVES her puppy

this guy cracks me up. he LOVES his blue hair from his Halloween costume

target trip

  

we collected acorns for her preschool class and they loved playing with the acorns.

I know this is a suffocation hazard. I was with her the whole time. promise.

their FAVORITE book. Hello Mr. Wuf. Makes mommy and daddy so proud.

Wanted Baby #3

Going through our home and baby stuff, I've decided there is actually a lot that I need to get prepared for baby #3. We've decided to keep the twins in their nursery and in their cribs because they convert to toddler beds. We're changing the guest room into the nursery, the office into the guest room, the man cave into the playroom and our downstairs eating/craft area into a sitting room/tiny bit of a man-cave. I've got a lot of furniture to buy, sell, and recover.

I'm sticking with a grey theme for the baby's room. I want a Jenny Lind crib (thank goodness they are pretty inexpensive), an antique dresser to refinish and a nice rocker. We used hand me down gliders for the twins' room and I really want an upholstered rocker for this baby's room. I'm looking for something like this.

I love that this chair is neutral and classic and you can change the rocker into stationary feet for when you are done with the nursery. I'd probably cover it in one of PB's cheaper fabrics knowing that it will go in a nursery and I'll be able to have it recovered when we use it in a different room.

I've decided I need a new diaper bag for kid #3. I'm pretty much in love with this one but with that price tag it will not happen. not even in my dreams.

Its hard to believe that things have changed in the 16 months since the twins were born but there is already a new monitor out that I want! It hooks up to an app on your iphone (which would be sooo much better for me because we always lose the monitor or forget to charge it). I think that's it for most of the gear. We're pretty good on everything else. I'm sure I'll be stocking up on monogram things ( gowns, boppy cover, blankets, lovies, etc.) as soon as we know the name. 

Baby #3 Week 13

First trimester is officially over! This week has been crazy! It's fun reading the posts from the twins pregnancy and comparing. I had so much more time on my hands then! I was rereading the 13 week post from the twins and noticing that I had already scheduled a gender reveal party (and had invites made)! I'm not sure what the plan is for our gender reveal for baby #3. We are definitely finding out. I learned from my first pregnancy that I bonded soooo much with the babies after learning more about who they are. I think this time around, we'll just have some family members over for dinner and maybe do a box full of balloons or something similar. Something a little more low-key :) It appears that if we wait for the normal anatomy scan around 18 weeks, we'll find out around my birthday. We may decide to go to a private place again because that was sooo much fun seeing the babies in 3D and getting a little movie of them to show everyone. 

We've started to talk about the nursery a little bit and I know that we're going to do a traditional jenny lind crib and grey walls. The rest we'll decide when we learn the gender. We're going to keep the twins in their nursery and convert our guest room for the little one. We're also making our office into a guest room and converting our basement from man cave to playroom. I'll have a lot of furniture up for sale soon if you're local!

Now onto this week. We had an ultrasound on Monday, October 7th. The baby was 12w 3d and measuring at 13w. The twins measured big in the beginning too so I'm not giving it much thought. Our screenings came back with great results. This little baby is a mover! It was all over the place. It's amazing how much more you can see when there is only one in there! We discussed delivery options and I'm learning towards scheduling a c-section around my due date (just in time for spring break).  My last c-section was a pretty easy recovery so I figured why not?

These week was insanely busy. We had practice every night for cheer and I am so thankful to my family for helping out with the babies. During one of the practices I SWEAR I felt the baby move. It was crazy! I know I'm not supposed to feel it this early but oh well! 

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Wednesday, January 11th, 2012

How Far Along: 13 weeks

Size of baby: Baby is the size of a peach

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up 3.5lbs from pre-pregnancy. I was down a pound from the last doctor's visit and they want to make sure I'm eating enough. It's hard to keep food down so I eat tons of high calorie ice cream to keep my calories up :) ha!

Maternity Clothes: Just bottoms still

Gender: Boy- Heartbeat was 153 on Monday

Movement:  Maybe I'm crazy but yes! Just once though!

Sleep: I'm sleeping ok. Starting to wake up after some crazy dreams but I did this at the same point in my pregnancy last time. I'm tossing and turning more.

What I miss: Energy! I feel tired all of the time. Looking forward to the calm week ahead.

Cravings: Still definitely the crunchy. Hashbrowns, sorbet, Special K, Icees 

Symptoms: Still sick! Ugh! My boobs got sore and gigantic overnight! I was hoping I'd avoid this symptom! Last time this happened at 8 weeks so I'm glad I got a few more weeks without them. Sleeping on my tummy is uncomfortable.

Best Moment this week: Seeing our baby during the ultrasound and learning that it is healthy and developing normally. Best news to this mama's ears!

Baby #3

We posted this picture on facebook (the official announcer of pregnancies...) on Saturday with the caption reading:

Beginning in April 2014, we're switching our defense from man-to-man to zone! 

We're so excited for baby #3's arrival! 

So the cats out of the bag! We're expecting another little Carroll in April. I am so excited and so exhausted at the same time! Man, things are different this time around! I'm running late to an ultrasound appointment and wanted to get this post up. I've been keeping up (mostly) with weekly pregnancy posts like I did with the twins and will have those posted along with a bit more of Baby #3's (our affectionately creative nickname) story soon!

Baby #3 Week 12

Yay! The first trimeseter is almost over! Hopefully that means that morning all day sickness will soon be gone! We're getting ready to announce to the world that we're having a baby! We probably would have done it sooner but we just haven't had a chance to take our "announcement" photo. This week has been incredibly busy and I'm so ready for things to calm down! 

We went to a wedding in Southport and Jay's cousin totally called me out about being pregnant in front of a ton of their friends at the rehearsal dinner. He commented that I wasn't drinking very much of my "gin and tonic". I shot him a look and told his wife to tell him to shhh! I told her (in private) that we were pregnant but not telling anyone and to let him know so that he didn't say anything during the wedding the following night. 

Pregnancy Highlights:

Today's Date: Friday, October, 2013

How Far Along: 12 weeks

Size of baby: The size of a plum

Total Weight Gain/Loss: Up 4 lbs from pre pregnancy

Maternity Clothes: Yes for all bottoms. I can still wear dresses. I've brought out some maternity tops even though I don't really need them. They are good at covering these giant maternity waste bands though! 

Gender: Still thinking boy

Movement:  Not yet! But my stomach is getting harder

Sleep: I'm still soooo tired

What I miss: Eating good food

Cravings: Anything crunchy. Soft foods and my stomach do not agree.

Symptoms: Morning, afternoon, and evening sickness. I feel sick a lot! My nose is like a hound-dog! I think I get sick because my sense of smell is soooo strong. Any odd smell sets my stomach off. Eating at McDonald's was too much for me! 

Best Moment this week: The anticipation of getting to tell everyone. 

your baby's the size of a plum!

The average fetus at 12 weeks is about 2.1 inches long and .49 ounces. Now that she's got pretty much all her parts, her main job is to keep on growing.

Family Pics

***I can't beleive I forgot to give credit to our awesome photographer, Carrie Scruggs Photography. These pictures were taken at Anne Springs Close Greenway in Fort Mill.  It's such a cute location with miles of trails and tons of hills for the little ones to run. We'll definitely be coming back as a family to do a little more exploring!

A few weeks ago we had our final session to round out our baby package from our family photographer. She has been a joy to work with and I love how all of the pictures turn out! We definitely invested in this project but I am so happy we did! We had 5 photo shoots over the past 15 months and have great pictures and lots of canvases hanging throughout our house. We've been trying to create a picture wall in our family room for the past few months and now that we've gotten these pics back I am super motivated to get it done!

love how the one with Emma Cate and Jay is adorable and Holden looks like he hates me!

blowing kisses