Mississippi Bound

Outdoors in October!

2011-03-29T10:17:00.006-05:00

The kids love playing outside. Swinging seems to be the group favorite! Below, Jake is being a sweet big brother and pushing Ali in her swing. Jake and Ali have a very special relationship. They seem to get along the best, at this stage anyway. Not that Mari does not have a good relationship with them. They really all three play well together and get along well. At this age, Mari prefers to play with me more than her siblings though. They grow and change so fast, so I am enjoying that while it lasts as tomorrow it might be a completely different dynamic!

The yard and house in October.

Rub a dub dub...

2011-03-29T10:07:00.002-05:00

...three babies in the tub. We don't normally bathe them all together, but on this occasion they were being rinsed off from eating something or other (can't remember now) and they all love bath time. Normally we put Ali in first, then add Mari and let them play together before bathing her, then we get Ali out and let Mari play while I get Ali ready for bed (James actually bathes them, wonderful father that he is:) and then Jake goes in by himself and bathes himself (heavily supervised as he likes to forget he has to wash his hair). Jake is perfectly capable of bathing, drying himself off and dressing himself for bed. Mari can do everything but bathe herself, but she is close. They both can brush their teeth (although I do it after they are done, to make sure it is done correctly). It is amazing how fast they grow up! Now if I can teach them to do housework...

Ali at 7 months!

2011-03-29T09:39:00.003-05:00

Here is Ali modeling her hat from Mrs. McNearny and some shirts Uncle Robert, Anne-Marie, Marianne and Shona sent her. Such a happy baby!

Wow!

2011-03-11T12:52:00.002-06:00

Well, I realize it has been almost 5 months since I posted. It seems like life just keeps speeding up. The kids and I are officially on Spring Break now, so one of my goals over the next week is to get caught up on here. I realize probably no one checks this anymore. I am grateful that my mom updates hers so frequently so that those family that don't see the kids every week, can stay current with what they are doing and how big they are growing. It is so much easier to upload pictures to Facebook, although the blog has a sense of more permanence and is organized better. I really don't do the blog for other people though. Well, that is misleading, I do it to make a record--that is what logs were intended for--of life as it happens. It started out being about my Teacher Corps experience and when the kids came along it seemed like a good idea to do for them. Once I am through with school and they are a little older and I have more free time, I hope to print this all off and make a scrapbook out of it. So for now, I don't do it for others, but I hope that one day it is something I can pass on to my children and if I am lucky enough, grandchildren. Jake and Mari (hopefully Ali will follow) enjoy seeing pictures of when James and I were there age, so hopefully this will be something for their children to enjoy!

7 months old!

2010-09-28T15:19:00.003-05:00

Today marks 7 months since Ali's birth! I can't believe how fast it is going by. She is growing up so fast. The pictures I am posting were taken this morning (after breakfast that is why she is between outfits she got food all over the first one). I have been trying to catch a certain face she makes when she is laughing for over a week now and I finally got it here. Of course, she would have to not be wearing clothes when I finally catch it, but it is one of those things I never want to forget about her time as a baby, so here it is for the sake of posterity.

Here she is playing with a teething rattle that was mine as baby (Mari also played with it). Still no teeth, if she is like her siblings her first one will appear a day or two before she turns 8 months old. Her eyes are still blue with some yellow in them like mine and Mari's and her hair is the same color Mari's is at the roots.

Sleeping arrangements

2010-09-28T15:16:00.003-05:00

Mari still comes and gets in bed with us every morning sometime between 1-4 a.m. Ali sleeps in her crib from about 10-10:30 until between 1-3 a.m. I took this picture a few nights ago, because it is just too funny some of the things Mari brings to our bed with her. Once or twice James has sent her back to her room to get a different toy because the one she brought was too noisy or too big. Jake still occasionally shows up for cuddles shortly before 6, but most mornings he would prefer to sleep in.

Soccer

2010-09-28T14:59:00.006-05:00

Jake started 4-year-old soccer this last week. In these first group of pictures their uniforms weren't in yet. I thought the first picture is funny, because neither one of them were excited about having their picture taken. I can't believe they are at that stage already.

These two pictures are from his second game. He is wearing his uniform in them.

Helping James study.

2010-09-28T14:46:00.003-05:00

James is studying around the clock 7 days a week for his engineering licensing exam at the end of October. He studies at the breakfast table before leaving for work, at lunch on his lunch break, after dinner upon arriving home and then again once the kids are in bed. Here is Mari studying her math like her Daddy one morning,

She also commandeered one of his scratch sheets of paper, decorated and displayed it on the fridge.

If you look closely at the picture below, you can see where she got into his notebook and "helped" him work a problem with orange crayon.

She helps him most mornings, but sometimes Ali gets to help him too (like when I have to go to the restroom).Here is Ali helping her Daddy study.

Four years ago, Jake was the one helping his Daddy study for his Fundamentals of Engineering exam (the FE is the first test in a two test series, the one he is taking now--the Principles of Engineering or PE, must be taken after working under a licensed engineer for 4 years and passing the FE, which he did). Hopefully, he will pass the first time (like last time) despite all the help the kids and I manage to give him.

Up, up and away!

2010-09-28T14:12:00.006-05:00

Ali has been crawling for a while now, but I have been in sort of denial about it. However, on the 14th of September (exactly 6.5 months old) she pulled up to standing all by herself. Ever since, she has been all over the place!

We have had to start using the baby gates again to try and keep Ali safe (and me sane). She loves trying to climb them already.

Ali doesn't spend much time in the crib, but I took these picture of her pulling herself up in it before we lowered it.

Above, Ali is blowing rasberries on her arm while admiring herself in the mirror on her toy jumper.

She is such a happy girl! I love her big gummy smile.

Belated Fathers' Day trp to the zoo.

2010-09-28T13:42:00.004-05:00

Above, Mari and Nana looking at fish in the aquarium.
Last year, for Fathers' Day, we were supposed to go the zoo with my parents. We found out on Fathers' Day that we were expecting Ali, and with the heat we decided it wasn't a good idea to go at that time and my parents took a rain check. We decided to go over Labor Day weekend as that way we could go on a Sunday, which wouldn't interfere with the coffee house schedule and James would still have Monday off, so it wouldn't affect his study schedule (he is studying for his engineering licensing exam which is at the end of October). The temperature was only in the low 80s and it was perfect weather for going to the zoo. We had a lot of fun. Last time I went with my parents, Jake was a baby.

Above, Mari and I in the aquarium; below, Ali has a wee talk with Nana.

James, Jake, Mari and Papoo rode on the train.

Ali looking thoughtfully at the Komodo Dragons. Daddy, Jake, Mari and James enjoyed seeing them as well.

We took the double stroller for Jake and Mari, the infant stroller for Ali and the Moby wrap for Ali. Ali ended up in all three at some point as you can see from this picture and some more further down.

Halfway through, we took a break and got some ice cream and played at the playground.

Mari loves the Giraffes, and below you can see Ali loves the Moby wrap. Without it, I would not be able to go grocery shopping with all three of them.

Choices and Decisions

2010-09-28T13:35:00.008-05:00

At certain stages, I have thought each of my three children would be my last child. It was such a shock when we found out we were expecting Ali and I had already started making peace with the fact that I probably would not ever have another child. We were more than content with Jake and Mari and we were both a little scared at making a willful choice to have another child as we knew it would be risky for me and the baby. Ali has been a little miracle and I am so glad she is in our lives. It seems like twice the gift to experience being the mother of an infant again and I treasure it perhaps more (if that is even possible) than I was able to with Jake and Mari because I know it will never happen for me again. The next time I hold a baby that is related to me, it will either be a cousin's child or a grandchild (if I am lucky). Everyone tries to tell you how much your life is changed by having a baby, what no one warns you (or at least no one warned me) is the emotion involved in knowing that the baby stage of your life is coming to an end.
It doesn't seem to be something James is going through at all. Making a permanent decision was easy for him. I guess, as a young child life is so open-ended and especially as a girl, you dream of the big events in your life--your career, your wedding, your husband, your children, etc. In the past eight years so much of my life has gone from open-ended to concrete. While I am more than content with my decisions and have many, many things to look forward to, it is a strange feeling. It seems like it has passed so quickly and for the first time in my life, I am not feeling young. Now that I have some major life events behind me, the realization that these events are in my past, not the present and no longer something to look forward to is setting in.
It has been a really introspective year. We have experienced changes in our life and seen changes within our families in the last year. In addition, James just went to his ten year reunion and I attended mine last year. You see how much other people and their lives have changed and realize how much time has passed. Ten years no longer seems like a long time, I guess no matter how much time we have on this earth, it will pass quickly. I think I have led a full life thus far, and don't plan on slowing down, but it has given me pause and made me reconsider my priorities. There is the saying that on one's deathbed one never wishes they had spent more time at work.
One of the things I was most worried about Missing the last semester of my Ph.D. program was that it means I will still be taking classes when Jake starts Kindergarten and I know how much more complicated it will make life then. Also, I thought we would be more settled by this point. I have always hoped that my children would be able to graduate from the same school system that they start Kindergarten in as I feel stability is very important for children. There are so many things that we have no control over, but this happens to be one that we do.
We originally settled on Tupelo. James works in Saltillo, the schools are good and there are lots of entertainment and educational opportunities. It is fairly close to quite a few major cities and not too far away from either set of grandparents. However, while it is close to James' work it is not close to mine and once the kids start school James will be the only one in the proximity of their school. I am the one with the more flexible schedule and so it makes more sense for the kids to go to school close to where I work.
When I taught in Fulton, I drove over from Tupelo and my mom met me at the school to pick up Jake and keep him and then I went to my parents' house after school and picked him up and drove back to Tupelo. It was less complicated than it is now and it worked well. I am teaching an online course at ICC in the hopes that when I am through with my Ph.D. I can get on fulltime there in Fulton. Starkville is about the same distance from Guntown as it is from Fulton, so it wouldn't make much difference in my commute to Starkville if we moved to Fulton. My parents have been a huge help to me in keeping the kids when I have to go to class or work and this will just make it easier for both of us. If I have a late class, my mom can pick the kids up from school. It eliminates a lot of the headache that I have now of keeping it all straight, who goes where when and who is picking who up.
It makes me nervous being out of town while they are at school. If something goes wrong or someone gets hurt, it takes me over an hour to get back to Tupelo. James' job is not very flexible and he is impossible to reach sometimes. It will ease my mind considerably to have my mom so close to help out. Despite the delays, there is an end in sight as far as my treks to Starkville are concerned. Once I am done with school, and hopefully on fulltime with ICC, I will be working in Fulton and that will make life even easier.
Also, there are many people in Fulton who remember Carrie. I don't often get the "are you an only child" question there because they know who she was. It would be nice for my kids to experience other people who knew her. It will help me to convey a sense of who she was to them.
After months of discussion we have decided to put our house on the market sometime in December or January. Once it sells, we will move into an apartment and build a house on land we recently looked at and hope to buy after Christmas. James will have to commute to work, but that is all he will have to do differently. He won't have to worry about being home at a certain time or picking kids up, etc which he currently finds stressful as he is not very conscious of time and sometimes forgetful. We have considered many other options and combinations of options, but we both have agreed this is the best option for us for the next 18 years. I don't feel that I can be the kind of mother that I want to be and work at a four year university with the added responsibilities. The past 8 years have gone by so quickly, I can only imagine how quickly the next 18 will go. Once Ali graduates high school, 18 year from now, I will be 46. That is still young enough to focus more intently on my career. I do not think I will regret taking a job at a community college, if it means that I am more free to spend time with my family.
It feels so strange though as our original plan did not even involve staying in Mississippi. It is surprising how much our lives have changed since the almost five years ago when Jake was born. But, it has been a pleasant surprise and I am certainly very happy with how things have turned out thus far.

Pictures from the backyard.

2010-09-28T13:00:00.005-05:00

After three years of hard work, our back yard has been drastically transformed. It is prettiest this time of year. These are some pictures I took of the flowers and some butterflies.

FOOD!

2010-09-28T12:42:00.004-05:00

We recently started Ali on solid food. She loves it. She has taken to it much better than Jake or Mari did at this stage. Here she is pictured feeding herself a rice cereal biscuit. She gets so excited about it, it is too cute!

Preschool

2010-09-28T11:51:00.003-05:00

Jake and Mari posing for a picture at the preschool open house.

Nana came to help me juggle all three of them. It was a good thing she did as there ended up being a mix up and I had to fill out the paperwork for Jake again.

Jake and Mari having fun in their classrooms.

The preschool requests that we send the kids with tote bags instead of back packs because it is easier for the teachers to put the kids papers, etc in. You are also supposed to have their names on it as well, so I made these bags (as well as one for Ali). All three bags have the kids real names on them (as that is what they will go by at school). Jake has cars on his, Mari has butterflies on hers, and just to be fair, I made one for Ali that has dragon flies on it. Butterflies were Mari's nursery theme and Dragonflies are Ali's.

6 months old!

2010-09-28T10:22:00.007-05:00

Ali turned 6 months old on August 28th! We celebrated by eating cupcakes at lunch (Ali did not get a cupcake of course). Jake and Mari are really excited about birthdays, other people's not just their own, and so we got her a gift and threw her a little party. She is such a lucky little girl to have a brother and sister who are so excited she is part of their lives. At her six month appointment she weighed 20lbs 6 oz and was 29 inches tall/long.

The many faces of little Miss Ali!

As you can see she has smiling and laughing down pat!

Trying to call her Daddy at work, just like her sister!

As usual, Ali is happy to be the center of attention! When she hears other children cry, no matter what mood she is in, she instantly starts fussing louder as if she is competing for whatever attention the others may be getting.

She seems to already understand the concept of presents!

All of us!

2010-09-28T10:06:00.003-05:00

We tried taking a group picture with the tripod and timer function on the camera one morning before we left for church, but Jake wasn't taking the request to seriously. He is getting more and more difficult to photograph. When we got home and changed clothes, I showed Jake the pictures (he was making faces in the others) and explained to him how I just wanted to take a nice picture. He thought about it and apparently felt bad, and told me to get the camera out and take pictures of him, Mari and Ali all together and put those on my blog. So I did:)

The Little Red Hen

2010-09-28T10:02:00.002-05:00

The preschool that Jake and Mari are attending this year (first year for both of them) is affiliated with our church. This summer they had a music camp for the incoming 4 and 5-year-olds. On the last day of the camp they performed a musical rendition of the story "The Little Red Hen." Jake seemed to really enjoy himself. He played a pig in the story. You can see him above and below wearing a green shirt.

Water Valley class of 2000

2010-09-28T10:00:00.003-05:00

James' 10 year class reunion was this past summer. It was held at Taylor Grocery. We had a lot of fun. It was strange for me to be around so many people who have known him at a different stage of his life than I do. I have met a few of them before. I knew some from Ole Miss and two of them, Jeremy and Josh, came to our engagement party in Oxford. It was nice to see some them again, and meet the others for the first time.

Mari reading!

2010-09-28T09:56:00.002-05:00

Mari keeps telling me she is too big for books with pictures in them, she wants to read books like Mama. I took this picture of her reading a book she got down off the bookshelf. She kept pointing to the "ABCs" and telling me all the letters she found.

Miss Mess

2010-09-24T15:51:00.003-05:00

Naptime is the most troubling time at our house. Jake does not take naps, but he doesn't act out as a result. Mari needs to take a nap, as she is really fussy when she doesn't but she and Ali aren't exactly on the same naptime schedule. Some days it works out that they both magically fall asleep about the same time, but most days not. The older two seem to think it is a game to wake up Ali when she does fall asleep and as Ali likes me holding her when she sleeps, Jake and Mari occasionally get into mischief while Ali sleeps. Mari more so than Jake:) This is one such example of Mari's handiwork. I am still cleaning toothpaste off the wall. Even though I have cleaned it several times, it keeps coming back with a white cloudy film.

Front Porch in July

2010-09-24T15:45:00.003-05:00

I took these pictures of the kids and then got James to come out and take a picture of me and Ali.

Zoo in July

2010-09-24T15:24:00.007-05:00

We ate lunch and played at the playground before we left.

We were glad to see the elephants back on exhibit. We have missed seeing them the past several times we were there.

Jake had a speech and language evaluation at the Boling Center at the UT Memphis in July. We have not been to the zoo since Ali was born as she is still so little and it is so hot. We got done by 9:30 and so we decided to go for an hour or so until the heat got unbearable and then headed to see James' sister Cheri. Officially this was Ali's first trip to the zoo! The last time we went, was her due date exactly one week before her birth. As you can see from the pictures, we had a lot of fun!

Swim lessons

2010-09-24T14:48:00.003-05:00

Jake and Mari took swim lessons this summer. The two week course taught them water safety as well. They loved it! I knew Mari would, but was worried Jake wouldn't as he is more cautious than she is. He did really well though and even enjoyed jumping off the diving board. It didn't hurt that his instructor was a young attractive female. He talked about Miss Maggie for weeks!

Mari and Miss Maggie.

Jumping off the diving board!

Jake and Miss Maggie.

Posing with Ali before they got in the pool.

Ali seemed to enjoy watching them.

July 4th Weekend

2010-09-24T14:12:00.004-05:00

Years we have babies normally consume all of our vacation time and extra monetary resources so no vacation this year. Another big time sink for me is school and for James is our house. We were having issues with water collecting at the base of the house and soaking into the bottom layers of wood. Poor James spent his July 4th holiday (plus several days of vacation from work) to remove the rotten wood, replace it, add some more insulation and seal it against water. He also had to add some concrete to angle the slab footing so water runs off of it instead of sitting there like it has been doing since the house was built 8 years ago. Not fun and not cheap. The joys of adulthood and home ownership:) In any event, the kids and I have been having fun. As you can see, Ali can "swim" around on the floor and has started blowing raspberries (Jake calls them blueberries). She is quite mobile and can roll/scoot to basically anywhere she wants.

Jake really dotes on Ali and she loves Jake's attention.

I put Mari in time-out (at our house that means she has to sit in the front hall) and she pulled down all my shoes and played with them before falling asleep. All of this before her three minutes were up!

This picture is just so typically Mari, I couldn't resist posting it.

June 2010

2010-09-24T13:32:00.007-05:00

Ali at play!

Ali is starting to get the hang of toys. She is almost four months old in these pictures and you can see she is growing and changing so fast. She loves playing with these collapsible mesh balls that we bought for Jake and Mari as stocking stuffers at Christmas.

All three of my babies!

Ali has lost almost all of the beautiful long black hair she was born with. It is growing back in a color and texture similar to Mari's. I still think by the time they are teenagers they will all three have basically the same color hair.

I sent Mari to her room for acting out continuously and she fell asleep almost instantly.

Ali loves bouncing!

Mari thinks babies should take pacifiers. Here she is trying to force Ali to take one. It wasn't as successful as it looks in the picture. None of my kids have really taken to a pacifier, which is fine with me. I think it is just one more bad habit we won't have to break later.

In case you can't tell, Mari is a little on the bossy side:)

Excuses, excuses...

2010-06-03T15:40:00.002-05:00

I realize I have not updated this in two months! I tried on at least two occasions and had issues with the computer (blogger still seems to not like pictures from my laptop-tells me they are corrupt for some reason) or the internet has been uncooperative (they have been redoing some of the cables in our neighborhood the past month and so we have had some unannounced internet and cable outages). Mostly we have just been really busy! Since the last time I updated James has had a birthday, we celebrated Easter, my gran arrived from Scotland and we celebrated Ali's baptism into the church. We have also had a lot of family stuff we have been dealing with all while trying to adjust to life with three children under five. Just in the past two days Mari has had a rock removed from her nose and and a CT scan (unrelated). We were lucky that James was able to remove the rock without having to take her to the ER, but it was large and I am not sure how he managed to remove it. Mari's ear was protruding again and so I carried her back to the pediatrician and he did blood work and ordered a CT scan just to make sure it wasn't mastoiditis again. This happened last June as well and the ENT said it just looked like an inflamed lymph node was pushing it out and that is was only a coincidence that it was her same ear that was affected by the mastoiditis last March. They have no clue why it is happening but thinks it just might be more prone to movement now due to the mastoiditis and drainage from her allergies is causing it to protrude which is why it doesn't happen in the winter. James and I were relieved but sort of laughed at the fact that she has had two x-rays (unrelated incidents) an MRI and a CT scan all by the age of 2.5. She is our emergency room kid. Jake is way more cautious than she is. I have no idea what Ali will be like in a few more months. It is kind of consoling that they can't all be alike in some ways:)
Jake turned 4.5, Mari turned 2.5 and Ali reached the three month mark this past week. Ali is a happy baby on the whole, although she does have her fussy moments. She smiles and "talks" to us often. She has started reaching for toys and scooting around on her behind (sort of like the backstroke on dry ground). She seems quite opinionated already and seems to have clear expectations of how she should be treated. She does not like to be put down! Despite starting life smaller than Jake and Mari she has caught up to Mari's same age measurements and her hair seems to be falling out (not a lot, but she now has less hair than when she was born) and she looks very much like Mari at this stage. I still think she looks a lot like James but James thinks she has a Schuchs nose. I think she looks more like me than Jake or Mari did at this stage, but I think she looks my like James than like me. I see a resemblance to my baby pictures from her nose up, but she has the same mouth and chin as James, Jake, and Mari and she and Mari share James' head shape. She also still has blue eyes like me, as do her siblings, despite their daddy's brown eyes although there is still time for that to change and she is beginning to get yellow in her eyes like Mari did at this same stage. Jake seems to enjoy being a big brother a second time round a lot more than he did the first time. He and Mari like helping me by making faces and talking to Ali when she is in the swing. James and I are splitting bedtime duties at the moment. I feed and put Ali to bed while he reads with Jake and Mari. Jake helps James read and seems to do well with sight words. He and Mari will both start preschool at our church this Fall. Jake will go half-a-day MWF and Mari will go half-a-day MW. It seems to be a very good program and it is accredited by the state. His birthday is after the cut-off for Kindergarten and so he won't get to start that until next year even though he will be 5 at the end of this November.
Even though I took a semester off from my Ph.D. courses and teaching/research position at MSU, I agreed to teach an online class for a local community college this past semester. It got a bit overwhelming as Ali arrived during mid-terms week and so I had a lot of grading to do. That finished first week of May and I am now completely off for the summer. This Fall I return to MSU although my course load will be light as I only have the last three required courses that I missed this past semester (they won't be available again until Spring 2012) and two more electives to take. I am going to take a class called Functions and Methods of Research in Education and some research hours. At the moment I am really enjoying not having anything to do except play with Jake, Mari, Ali and of course James! James is preparing to sit his Principles of Engineering exams which is for his engineering license. In order to be a licensed engineer you have to pass your Functions of Engineering exams and work for five years under a licensed engineer, before you submit letter of recommendation, certain documentations of experience, etc and then take this final test which is all he has left to do. The test in in October and so he will be pretty busy studying over the next few months. We are busy but happy and hopefully it won't take me two more months to post new pictures!

Ali joins the church!

2010-06-02T22:30:00.003-05:00

Above is a picture of my side of the family at Ali's christening. My mom posted the ones of James's family on her blog as they were on her camera. Pictured are my parents and my Grandmother McLean (Gran as I call her or GG Mc as the kids call her) who lives in Scotland but is here currently visiting us all.

Above are James' parents and sister Cheri sitting with Ali, Jake and I. Below are my parents, Mari and Emily. James's uncle Phillip, aunt Leslie and cousin Emily made it to the Christening along with James's parents and then we met up with James's sister Cheri, aunt Yvonne and Uncle Don, cousin Kris and his wife Christy and sons Hayden and Caysen at the restaurant for lunch.

Fun in the sun!

2010-06-02T22:00:00.003-05:00

We have done a lot of work on the yard in the three years we have now been in the house and so here are some updated pictures of what it looks like as well as us enjoying the fruits of James labor!

Fussy Face!

2010-06-02T21:54:00.004-05:00

I take so many pictures of the kids smiling that when Jake was little my grandmother asked if he ever fussed. I took a picture to prove that he did and we did the same for Mari, so here is the obligatory proof that Ali fusses sometimes!

No Mari!

2010-06-02T21:50:00.003-05:00

I think one reason Ali sleeps so well at night is because her naps during the day are always interrupted. Here she is startled awake when James scolds one of her siblings (I am guessing Mari). As you can see she soon settles down again, but it seems to be great sport at our house to see who can wake Ali up the quickest.

Ali "talking"

2010-06-02T21:37:00.007-05:00

Ali loves to coo and babble at us. In these pictures she was conversing with Jake and my mom.

The three monkeys in May

2010-06-02T20:37:00.006-05:00

Ali trying to eat her hand and Mari preparing to eat lunch at my parents house on Mother's Day.

Ali has good control of her neck and back and already enjoys standing in the bouncer.

Two sisters!

As you can see, everyone loves to give Ali kisses as she is just so adorable!

All three monkeys.

Jake was playing in the front closet and found this winter hat which he put on. Ali loves watching the faces he makes at her, but as you can see in the bottom picture, she seemed sort of confused by the hat.

Ali at 2 months

2010-06-02T20:18:00.005-05:00

Ali is mostly a happy baby as you can see!

The picture above is of Ali's reaction to the band-aid from round one of her two-month old vaccinations (we spread them out over a period of time instead of getting them all at once). She apparently shares my sensitivity to latex/bandage adhesive.

As you can see in the picture above, Ali has discovered her feet.

Fishing at Papoo and Nana's

2010-06-02T16:49:00.006-05:00

We took the kids fishing at my parent's house. Jake and Mari both love fishing.

Ali seems to be having a good time as well!

A fish caught Mari unaware and took off with her pole. If you click on the pictures above and below you can see it disappearing.

Papoo to the rescue.

An exhausted Mari passed out in the swing!

Ali and her Daddy

2010-06-02T16:41:00.003-05:00

I think Ali looks a lot like her Daddy. I took these pictures of him and her one Saturday morning before Jake and Mari woke up. Ali definitely loves her Daddy already and recognizes his voice and reacts to his presence. When he comes home from work she fusses until he gives her some attention as well.

Tupelo Balloon Festival

2010-06-02T16:21:00.004-05:00

Tupelo held its first ever balloon festival. I really enjoyed going to the one in Natchez as a child and I was glad to get the chance to take the kids. It wasn't just fun for the kids, James said he had never seen a hot air balloon in person. This was very small compared to the Natchez festival. James and I hope to take the kids to the Natchez festival this October.

Ali looked as if she enjoyed herself as well.

Family portraits

2010-06-02T16:08:00.004-05:00

Our church scheduled photographers to update our church photo directory. We had to have a family portrait done or I otherwise would not have signed up to have professional pictures done just shy of 6 weeks after having Ali. It is still shocking for me to see pictures of myself with all the baby weight. I feel like I have been loosing baby weight every other year here lately! At least this is the last time. These two pictures of us didn't turn out to badly though and we ordered the ones of the kids as he did a great job with them.

The photographer couldn't believe that she was only a month and a half old. She did so well!

I think Jake and Mari show a resemblance to each other at this stage and I have been curious to see if Ali will as well. From this picture, I can already see a strong resemblance in face structure between Ali and Mari.

I can't believe how big he is now!

Mari looks so grown as well.

Easter at my parents house.

2010-06-02T15:32:00.006-05:00

We took our chocolate bunnies with us to Nana and Papoo's house so that the kids could have them for dessert.

Jake sweetly gives one of his eggs to Ali.

The girls take a nap with Nana.

Hunting eggs at church

2010-06-02T15:24:00.004-05:00

"Quick Daddy! Where is my bag?"

The kids hunted eggs during Sunday school. We took Ali and just stayed for the egg hunt. So this was also Ali's first visit to church although she never left my arms.

Mari is quite good at hunting eggs now as you can see.

Easter Morning

2010-06-02T14:23:00.005-05:00

The kids' Easter baskets: Mari's on the left, Ali's in the middle and Jake's on the right. We spent the same amount on each child, but it looks like Mari got more because her book wouldn't fit in her basket.

Jake really enjoys his rabbit puppet.

Mari was really excited to get a pair of "flop flops".

Ali really seemed to like her stuffed bunny as well.

Coloring Easter eggs

2010-06-02T14:12:00.004-05:00

James and I enjoy decorating eggs (although this year, I mostly just held Ali and watched). It isn't a waste of eggs either as James actually eats the eggs after the kids find them (we carefully monitor the total amount of time the eggs were not refrigerated).

I should have gotten some pictures of the final products, but after taking these pictures of the dieing process I put down the camera and helped the kids put stickers on them. We had lots of fun. I can't wait until Ali can participate!

Hunting eggs at James's parents house.

2010-06-02T13:46:00.004-05:00

Jake and Mari spent the Friday night before Easter with James' parents and the James, Ali and I went to pick them up and watch them hunt eggs the next day.

Jake is a pro at egg hunting by now, but this was really Mari's first year to get the hang of it.

James and his dad hide some eggs for James's cousin Emily and Mari even tried to help Emily find her more difficultly hid (she is 9 after all) eggs.

All in the family.

2010-06-02T13:24:00.006-05:00

People have a variety of opinions about who Ali looks like. I posted these pictures of James and I as babies/children and Jake and Mari when they were younger so that you can see the resemblances (or lack thereof) between us all. Above is a picture of James taken by the hospital staff before he was discharged.

The picture directly above and the one directly below are me.

Above is Jake, Mari is below (I think she looked just like her Daddy here).

Jake at one month old above and one month old Mari below.

Above, Mari at one year, below Mari at two.

Jake at one year (above), three years (below) and four years old (below that).

Above me and my cousin Jared with our great grandmother Ruth Schuchs when we were around two years old.

James and I as toddlers. I think it is obvious who is who!

Ali at one month old!

2010-06-02T13:02:00.004-05:00

Here Ali is demonstrating her "Mr. Burns" hands like the character on the Simpson's does when he is plotting.

Above Ali looks at her dragon fly mobile. All three kids have used the same basic nursery furniture with alterations. Jake used this pack-n-play with a bee mobile that I made, for Mari I made butterflies and now dragon flies for Ali.

Ali likes playing with toys in her crib. So far that is all she does in her crib (although she is a good sleeper).

Both of my girls come get in bed with me/us every morning. Jake generally sleeps later than the rest of us these days, but some morning he comes and joins us as well. Don't worry, I don't leave Ali unattended next to her siblings as it looks in this picture. I am always holding and usually nursing her.

Ali is all smiles in the morning and was very excited to see me and Mari. Mari was still sleepy and not terribly excited about me taking her picture, but she generally is happy to see and talk to Ali.

Let's go fly a kite...

2010-06-02T12:23:00.005-05:00

We went to the Natchez Trace Parkway to find a nice open (power line free) area to fly our kite. We ran into some friends from church, Andy and his son Daniel who is the same age as Jake, who were out for a walk. They helped us play with the kite for a while. It was nice to get out of the house and enjoy the nice weather.

Every time I asked Jake and Mari to smile for the camera they turned the other direction and pretended to read the signs. Jake made up a nice story about what all the signs said.

Happy 28th Birthday James!

2010-06-02T12:18:00.005-05:00

Jake and Mari were excited to see their Daddy in the birthday hat! Mari insisted that we have birthday cake and ice cream so I baked a red velvet cake for him and decorated it with homemade cream cheese icing as it is the only kind of cake he really likes (aside from cheesecake). James and I are now the same age until my birthday in mid July.

A few of my favorite things...

2010-06-02T11:35:00.005-05:00

I took these when Ali was only about two or three weeks old.

Daffodils are my favorite flowers! I bought these daffodils two years ago to decorate for the lunch following Mari's christening so they are extra special to me.

Jake, Mari and Ali in March

2010-03-22T12:20:00.003-05:00

Ali has the most precious little feet!

Mari enjoys some cuddles with her daddy and Ali.

James supervises a Jake, Mari and Ali sandwich.

Jake and Mari playing with a shoe shelf that James is building.

Mari enjoying the bumbo chair. This was hers when she was a baby, but she couldn't use it for long as her legs were so chubby she couldn't fit in it for very long. Her legs have gotten longer and thinner along with the rest of her and she now fits in it better than when she was an infant!

Jake playing outside and "helping" James clean up the yard.

Jake and Mari showing Ali how to play with her toys.

Up close with baby Ali!

Ali's birth announcement

2010-03-22T12:18:00.002-05:00

James and Isla-Anne Schuchs Carr of Guntown are pleased to announce the birth of a daughter, Alice Anne Carr, born February 28, 2010 at Gilmore Memorial Hospital in Amory, Mississippi. She weighed seven pounds, 10.2 ounces and was 20 inches long at birth. James is a mechanical design engineer at FMC technologies in Saltillo and Isla is an adjunct instructor and Ph.D. student in the political science department at Mississippi State University. Alice is a welcome addition to big brother James, age four, and big sister Marion, age two.
Grandparents are Larry and Ann Carr of Water Valley, and Mike and Alison Schuchs, of Fulton. Paternal great-grandparents the late Dick and Marion Carr of Water Valley, Mary Stark or Farmersville, Louisiana and the late Luke Stark. Maternal great-grandparents are Lennie and Nan Schuchs of Natchez, Mississippi and Marion McLean and the late Bill McLean of Dunoon, Scotland, UK.

Ali's birth and the first week of her life!

2010-03-22T12:13:00.002-05:00

Thanks to our doula Toni Hill for taking these pictures!

I went into labor 7 a.m. Saturday the morning of February 27th. The contractions were frequent just not terribly intense. James took Jake and Mari outside and I read a library book to take my mind off the contractions as I didn't feel well enough to go outside. This went on all day. We called my parents to come get Jake and Mari and texted our doula Toni to let her know it was probably going to be sometime the next morning or later that night. I figured I would have another long labor, but this one was my longest yet (if you don't count the 5 weeks of contractions 10-13 minutes apart with Jake, but I only count labor as contractions 8 mins apart or less). After I thought they were getting intense enough that I was having concentrating, around 10 p.m. that night, they let up to 10 minutes apart and so we decided to stay home and nap in between until they picked up again to 3-5 mins like they had been. I have had long labors with Jake and Mari and so this was not a big surprise. Around 1:30 they picked up with a vengeance, but I still felt it wasn't time to go in yet (I am restricted to the bed when I go in for monitoring since I was VBACing so I wanted to stay at home as long as was comfortably possible). We decided to head to the hospital around 4:30 a.m. as it is an hour away. James was trying to put everything back in the car/double checking to make sure we had everything and I hit transition labor just in time for the car ride:( That was the longest most painful one hour car ride of my life. As soon as I got there, around 6 a.m. they started hooking up the monitors and immediately had trouble picking up the baby's (well now we know Ali was a her, but we didn't then) heart rate. They starting freaking out and paged the doctor and said we had to get her out NOW. I asked if that meant another c-section still not realizing how serious things were, I just thought she was in a funny position or something. They said since I was almost 7cms dilated the doctor would probably try to break my water first and see if that didn't complete dilation so that I could get her out as that might be faster at this point. Dr. Chaney came running in, I was so relieved to see it was the same doctor as delivered Mari. They baby's heart rate seemed to do better when they laid me on my right side (strange as left side is normally better I thought) but was still dropping into the low 60s when I would contract. Dr. Chaney did a fetal scalp monitor. When he came back out I said shouldn't that have broken my water and he said your water has already been broken. I told him it hadn't and then we started having deja vu from my emergency section with Jake (misdiagnosed water breakage 10 days prior to labor finally setting in left him in the NICU for a week and me with an emergency section from a uterine infection). It was immediate chaos. They started prepping me for the section, one person trying to prep me for surgery while another started the IV and another was cathing me. There was not time for a spinal so I had to be put under again and James was once again not allowed to be present. It all happened so fast that luckily I didn't have a chance to get scared or realize how scared they were. Dr. Chaney later told me he thought I had ruptured and was loosing her. I started getting scared when he angrily asked the nurse where in the world the NICU team was and then said, we don't have time, we are going to have to start without them. I realized it must be pretty serious then, but then the anesthesia took over. The nurse said the last thing I said was please hurry up and get her out safely. She was surprised when James told her we didn't know the gender because she is sure I referred to the baby as a girl. Alice Anne Carr was born at 6:30 a.m. Sunday, February 28th less than 30 minutes after we got to the hospital. She was 7lbs 10.2 oz and 20 inches long. Quite a few nurses commented that she looks big for her birth weight, but since I didn't have an IV during labor, I was told that can result in a smaller baby than if I had an IV. James got to hold her in the hallway after she was born and she only had to stay in the nursery for three or four hours for observation. Dr Chaney said she was fine after they got her out, but that she had an unusually long cord and thinks she may have been getting tangled in it or it was somehow getting pinched during contractions causing her to go into distress (I was having long, strong contractions starting in the car). She had passed the meconium but because my water broke it didn't really have much place to go and just stuck to her instead of her inhaling or swallowing any. It was not an ideal birth, but I am just so glad she is here safely and that I never have to personally go through any of it ever again!
Although her birth weight was a pound an a half below Mari's she really favors her older sister a lot, just a less chubby version of her. She is a delightful baby. She is quite content to eat, make diapers, sleep and stare up at us during her waking moments. She has a head full of black hair and big blue eyes! She looks like a blue-eyed version of her daddy, but then again so did Mari at this stage. She makes the cutest little noises at us but hardly ever cries. She loves riding in the car and seemed to enjoy riding in her bassinet for her trips down the hall to the nursery twice for tests/observation. She would suck on her pacify and her eyes would get really big like it was so exciting. We were lucky that even after her eventful arrival they allowed her to room in with us after a few hours of tests observations right after birth. Her daddy heard her first cries from the door outside the OR and was able to hold her in the hall before they wheeled her off. It seems strange for us to now have three children together and have only been present/awake for the actual birth of one of them, but I am so fortunate to have three healthy, happy children and so I am not really complaining. Jake and Mari are intrigued by “the baby” as they still call her. Mari especially so far, she really loves sitting with me and gently rubbing Ali's head and legs. I never thought she would have taken to the new baby so well or that she would be so gentle. Jake is full of advice on why the baby is hungry, what the baby wants, what the baby says, etc. They are both taking to their new roles much better than I expected.
We were able to leave the hospital on Tuesday evening and but Thursday we went back to the doctor for an appointment and picked up food and food poisoning on the way home. Soon after going to bed Thursday evening I woke up with stomach cramps. At first I thought it was just pain/cramping associated with after pains from child birth or c-section but then the fever/vomiting/diarrhea hit. I was so worried it was an infection or something from my c-section but then a few hours later James joined me (thank goodness for two bathrooms upstairs). I know it sounds horrible now, but I remember telling him I was so glad he was sick too as it meant it wasn't something wrong from surgery:( I couldn't hold down any of my pain meds and let me tell you that vomiting so soon after a c-section without any pain meds is the worst feeling I have ever had. We called my parents to come get Jake and Mari and my dad brought us some meds, ginger ale and ginger snaps. That helped a lot. My fever was around 101 when my doctor's nurse called to check on us. I told her what was going on and they (my doctor was standing right next to her when she called) decided to call in some phenergen (enough for me and James) and told me since he was sick too and that I didn't feel I had injured my incision that I could stay home as long as I could hold down fluids after 12 hours. That helped tremendously and I was finally able to hold down ginger ale and pain meds YAY! It took awhile to get over it (three-four days) and made for a really rough week. I think it set me back a few days on my c-section recovery as well, but this is now week three and I feel almost back to normal. I just have to remember not to do to much (it is hard to remember not to lift certain things, carry certain things, etc).

Alice Anne Carr born 02-28-2010

2010-03-02T20:12:00.005-06:00

Alice Anne Carr "Baby Ali" finally made her appearance following an emergency c-section at 6:30 A.M. Sunday morning, February 28th. She was 20 inches long and 7lbs 10.2 oz. She was at least one week late, but possibly a few days more than we thought. We are so glad she is here and that she is safe. It was very a terrible deja vu experience (Jake was an emergency c-section after a long natural labor) and luckily it ended better than his did. I am fine, she is fine. A few hours of observation for her and then they released her to room in with us as Mari was allowed to do (no week in the NICU like Jake). I will write about it all later. I am still exhausted after 23 hours of labor and the surprise surgery, but am recovering well enough to be released early. We got home a few hours ago. Jake and Mari check her out just minutes after I get to meet her for the first time as well.

Jake seems very proud and Mari is very sweet (so far) and intrigued by Baby Ali!

James and I are happy our family is now complete! It feels strange to have not known her before as she is fitting in so well already.

So much hair! She looks like a smaller version of Mari. Her hair is also longer, but then again she had three more weeks to grow it as Mari was two weeks early and Ali was at least a week late.

She wore the same outfit home as Jake and Mari did. We both look very excited about coming home!

We are off to bed! I will try and write more about her birth later.

Fingernails, toenails, full moons and other miscellaneous things!

2010-03-02T20:00:00.002-06:00

Baby Ali was born with the longest fingernails I have ever seen on a baby. She also has all these little scratches on her very wrinkly hands and feet and they said this was from being a late baby. I took a picture before very carefully trimming them.

James went outside Sunday morning to take a picture while I was in labor as we went into labor with Mari on a full moon as well and took a picture of it then as well. It is a commonly held belief that more births occur around a full moon.

I painted Mari's toenails for the first time on Thursday night. She was so proud, she keeps pulling off her shoes and socks to show people. Here I took a picture of our toes together as they are the same color.

Baby Carr #3 the Grand Finale update

2010-02-24T21:40:00.007-06:00

40.5 weeks belly shot above, and below the only ultrasound picture from our appointment today. It is the baby's leg, the face was too low to see. I guess something is better than nothing though!

James took these last four pictures on my due date this past Sunday. Jake and Mari had just come in from playing outside and Mari was about to take a nap. They are in various states of undress as that is how they like to be when left to their own devices.

James went with me to our first overdue appointment this afternoon. We had an ultrasound to check the baby's size and biophysical functions and then met with our doctor. The baby is estimated to be 8lbs 14 oz and my amniotic fluid level was 8 which is the lower level of normal, but apart from that the baby seems really healthy. My doctor is so surprised that I made it to my appointment today. She said she has been checking the hospital every day to see if I had shown up in labor yet. She is going to let me go until next week and we went ahead and scheduled a date in case baby does not come by then. I am really hoping that s/he will make his/her appearance before then, but I am comfortable with my doctor's reasoning and our plan. Since I had a successful VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean) with Mari, they are willing to let me VBAC a possible 9lb baby this time (Mari was 9lb 3.2 oz even though she was projected to only be 8.5lbs) and even attempt a light induction before performing a repeat c-section. What will happen is that if I don't have the baby by Monday, May 1st at 6 p.m., James and I report to the hospital where Dr. Chaney (who delivered Mari) will come by and attempt a Foley induction (details of a Foley induction can be found here). It sounds incredible painful, but better than a c-section. If that does not work then Dr. Lacey (my doctor) will come by and break my water in the morning and then if that doesn't work, after a few hours, she will give me a little bit of pitocin (she said a .5 dose, which is an extremely light dose) and if that doesn't work then I will have a repeat c-section. Either way, we should have a baby by the end of March 2nd. There is a full moon on Sunday night, Feb 28th and I went into labor with Mari on a full moon, but either way I have made my peace with it. This baby has been an shocker from literally the moment we found out and has defied many odds to get this far. I am just relieved on some level that an end is in sight, but I still would obviously rather to go into labor on my own.

Ready and Waiting

2010-02-16T21:41:00.004-06:00

The baby, being a smart baby in the tradition of smart babies, has had the foresight to prepare presents for Jake and Mari to receive when they come meet him/her at the hospital. I ordered these "Big Brother"/"Big Sister" shirts, but had to make the one for the baby to wear when they come to see him/her for the first time. Okay, so I didn't HAVE to make anything, but I am bored and running out of things to do! The kids are also getting a book on being a big brother/big sister and I made them each a photo book with pictures from when they were newborns to try and ease them into the whole idea of what a baby is and to show them that they were once a baby as well. I gave them the photo books early as (a) they LOVE looking at pictures of themselves and (b) I figured it coulnd't help to prepare them as early as possible.

A close up of Jake's above, and a close up of the baby's below.

A close up of Mari's shirt above.

Went to my DR appointment today and everyone (and I do mean everyone from receptionists to nurses to my DR, to another DR I know and saw in the hall) were shocked and surprised to see me. I heard "I never thought I would see you today" too many times. My DR even chuckled a congrats and said told me I was in uncharted waters as I have never been this pregnant before. Still no idea why the baby hasn't come yet. My DR offered to induce me as EVERYTHING on my end is ready (dilated, effaced,etc) but I am a romantic and want the baby to choose its day. I am in perfect health so DR is okay with letting me go until March before we do any interventions. I have limited options with a VBAC (Vaginal Birth After Cesarean), but she can break my water and give me a light dose of pitocin to try and get labor started since I have had a successful VBAC with Mari the risk of rupture with pitocin is diminished. We have all been sick for the last week and so I am actually glad the baby has not come as it would have been miserable to be in labor with the upper respiratory crap. James is still lingering with his, and I want him 100% better before exposure to the new baby. We are keeping the kids in isolation which is very hard, but I can't risk them getting sick at the moment. So my DR thinks I reach 40 weeks this Sunday, my due date (not based on the ultrasound, but other factors as James and I both traveled a lot the end of May, first of June and there are limited windows of conception for us if that makes sense) puts me at only 38 weeks and 2 days as of today, but still that is the longest I have ever been pregnant! My DR still doesn't think I will make it to March, and I have contractions every day for periods of time, but then they go away. Jake did that to me for 5 weeks though, so I know it means nothing much in the grand scheme of things. I am back to saying I will have a baby before our anniversary (March 8th). James keeps teasing me and telling me I should give up pregnancy for Lent.

Picture explosion!

2010-02-15T22:05:00.002-06:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to update my blog. I have tried several times and been told my files were corrupt. It seems blogger has issues with my laptop and so I have had to try and transfer all my photos over to my ancient desktop (a few months older than Jake) and it has issues with my laptop as well, so I was having to send them via e-mail. I do not know what is wrong with my laptop. In the end there were several photos from Christmas that I couldn't recover:( I had some of the posts saved since the last time I updated in December and November, just waiting on pictures to fill in the gaps.
Anyway, I am still pregnant, headed to the DR tomorrow. If I make it all the way through tomorrow without having this baby it will officially be the longest time I have ever been pregnant. It has also been my easiest pregnancy, so I am really not complaining. I just am really excited about meeting this new little boy or girl!

Snow!, Again.

2010-02-15T21:28:00.003-06:00

It snowed again last night and later this afternoon. It has gotten to the point where I say, "Look it is snowing" and they ignore me. We did go out for a brief amount of time as Jake wanted to make tracks in it. With the little dusting we got, that is about all you can do with it.

Back inside, changed out of cold and wet clothes, snuggling after a bath.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2010-02-15T21:24:00.003-06:00

It took lots of pain and endurance to get this one shot (and about 120 not so nice shots), but here is our Valentine's Day picture. The kids had fun making cards for their Daddy, grandparents and great grandparents and decorating the envelopes with stickers. I think they favor each other more in this picture than any other I have noticed. I am so curious to see what Baby 3 will be like!

9 months pregnant now!

2010-02-15T21:18:00.004-06:00

I have never been big on belly/maternity pics, but since this is the last pregnancy I thought I better do some in case one day I regret not doing it (I am trying to make sure I can close this chapter of my life with no regrets). I think this one turned out well. I am calling it "Baby 3 feels the love".

Indoor Fun!

2010-02-15T20:53:00.003-06:00

When the weather is not nice for getting outdoors (most of this winter so far) we occasionally go to the indoor play area at the mall. Here are some pictures taken in January that show Jake and Mari getting some energy out at the indoor play area.

She was dancing, in case you are wondering about the face she is making in the above picture.

All worn out. Mari fell asleep in the car on the way home and gave me (Isla) and the new baby (still in utero) lots of great cuddles during her nap. Jake watched a movie, but he hardly ever takes naps (unless he is sick).

More snow!

2010-02-15T20:46:00.003-06:00

It snowed again. While we still haven't had a large accumulation at once, it has definitely snowed more times this year (in our area) than any other in the kids short lives. Unfortunately we haven't had enough to build a snowman, or make snowballs or snow angels. I am afraid the novelty of a little bit of snow only goes so far.

Christmas and Grandmother and Granddaddy's

2010-02-15T20:38:00.002-06:00

Unwrapping presents.

Christmas at Nana and Papoo's

2010-02-15T20:24:00.004-06:00

It snowed Christmas morning at Nana and Papoo's house!

Mari insisted on going outside (without shoes), but quickly came back in...

Unwrapping presents.

Christmas at our house!

2010-02-15T19:19:00.006-06:00

With all the cookies we have been consuming in the name of the holidays, Jake kept asking if we could make cookies. So this year when we made cookies for Santa, we made them completely from scratch, even the colored icing sprinkles. Jake and Mari helped at each step and had lots of fun! Above, Mari is adding the dry ingredients and Jake is stirring the wet ingredients. Below, Mari is stirring all the ingredients together while Jake is shaking some sugar and food coloring in a plastic container to make colored sugar sprinkles.

Close ups of the colored sugar making process and the dough stirring process.

We refrigerated the dough for several hours and then when James came home (and after dinner) we began rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies into shapes.

Above, the first batch goes in the oven and below, once out and cooled, the decorating begins.

Above, a close up of a James and Mari collaboration and the three below are the ones we picked out to leave for Santa (along with a Sam Adams and a carrot for the reindeer/Christmas cows--according to Mari).

Presents under the tree, right after Santa left.

The kid tornado hits the living room!

Mari loves straws and they both got some crazy straws in their stocking, but Mari preferred to pretend they were glasses.

Nesting!

2010-02-15T18:46:00.003-06:00

We live in a small 3 bedroom house, which I love! It is only about 1300 feet but I cannot imagine trying to clean a bigger house at the moment. It has been a challenge to figure out how to fit five people in three rooms. When Mari came along we put her crib in our room (for about the first year) and let Jake have the larger of the two small bedrooms with a double bed to sleep in and we put all of Mari's toys and clothes in the smaller room that we had been using as an office. Soon it became apparent that Jake and Mari would prefer to sleep in the same room, so we moved the toys to what was Jake's room and the bed and crib to what was then Mari's room. Now, even though we don't know the gender of the baby, we feel it will be easier/safer for the baby in Mari's room (no Lego, cars with wheels that are choking hazards). So, we have set up the crib in our room, moved the double bed back to Jake's old room and slowly worked to make a baby safe toddler bedroom (gender neutral) for Mari and the baby (minus the crib) and give Jake his own big boy room (Mari's old room). Jake's new room is the smallest bedroom, but he was a toddler bed so he still has plenty of room for his train table and many other toys! Both rooms have to be painted (Jake's a slightly darker shade of green and Mari's another coat of the existing brown only with a eggshell finish to make it more durable) and redecorated. Also, as Mari ends up in our bed every morning sometime between 2-3 a.m. and Jake likes to come cuddle if he wakes up in time, we decided to get a new bed for our room (upgrading from Queen to King-sized). So, it all starts with Jake's room! Above, James' painting supplies, the old shade and the new shade below.

Mari helps tuck Jake in his new bed. I must note however, that he still prefers to sleep in the double bed with Mari every night (only spent one night in his new bed), but he does love playing with toys in his own room. I still have a lot of work to do with wall decor, etc. I will try to post an update with pictures when it is all finished!

Christmas with James' extended family (Carr-Hunt families)

2010-02-15T18:28:00.004-06:00

I think you can tell by the look on my face how tired I am. It is always harder chasing Jake and Mari around someone else's house than our own relatively baby safe domain.

Jake and Mari opening gifts.

Mari actually took these two pictures. She is fascinated with my camera and I let her sit in my lap and point it and push the buttons (I had one hand on it the whole time).

Mari and Caysen (James' cousin Kris and his wife Christy's youngest son).

Cherub Choir Christmas performance

2010-02-15T18:16:00.002-06:00

The Cherub Choir perform throughout the year, but their main performance is with the older children as part of the annual First Presbyterian Tupelo Joy Gift Program. Next year Mari will join Jake and the other Cherubs, but for this year she got to sit in the balcony with us (James, myself and both sets of our parents). Afterwards we all headed to the fellowship hall for, you guessed it-more cookies!

When the cherubs first came out there was some very excited "Jake!, Jake!" from the balcony and Jake kept telling people "That's my sister Mari". They both were so excited to see each other! It is amazing what an afternoon apart will do for siblings (Jake had to go to church early to practice). Luckily, they quieted down in time for the singing to begin.

Christmas Card Photo Shoot!

2010-02-15T18:01:00.004-06:00

So much cuteness! It was hard to choose, but the last one was the winner! It is amazing what these two will do for some M&Ms and a promise to go visit Nana and Papoo after church!

Kicking off Christmas!

2010-02-15T14:45:00.008-06:00

I try very hard to separate the Thanksgiving and Christmas Holiday seasons, in addition to not letting Jake and Mari's end of November birthdays get lost in the mix. At our house you won't see Christmas decor until the weekend of the Reed's Christmas Parade/Mid-Way Marina Lighting of the Boats and fireworks. It is normally the first Saturday in December and we spend a packed day going and kicking off the Christmas Season and then go home and then pick up a tree on the way home (which we decorate the next afternoon after church). Here we are at Reed's Annual Christmas Parade, where it was freezing. We go stand out front of our church which is along the parade route and that way we can take the kids in for bathroom/cookie/hot chocolate breaks. Jake preferred to stay in his chair unless they were throwing candy.

Jake and his stash of parade candy.

Mari is constantly in motion as you can see.

She loved dancing to the music the bands played.

This year, FMC technologies (where James and my father work) decided to do a family friendly Christmas party during the day instead of an adults only one at night (I am sure it was cheaper too). So we went by there after the parade for a picture with Santa (above) and to make some arts and crafts. They also had cookies and Christmas movies which we stayed for until Mari started getting sleepy.

James helps the kids with their crafts, while I take pictures.

Mari bossing her Daddy around and Jake proudly displaying some MORE candy that FMC Santa gave him.

After this we went home and took naps ate some non-candy food sources and headed to Fulton for the Mid-Way Marina Lighting of the boats and fireworks.

We see another Santa at the Marina, but once again Mari is not so sure...

The boats...

My parents, James, Jake and Mari standing inside the giant light tree.

Then we went to Carrie's Coffee House (not pictured as I was too tired, my mom has some pictures of the event on her blog) and then went home.

The next evening we decorated the tree. Whew, it was enough to wear me out! Also not pictured is a trip to cotton plant that we took (near New Albany). It is a display of lights and inflatable that you can walk through and I just didn't get any good pictures of it this year (although I have in years past if you look in the archives).

Third Trimester

2010-02-15T14:35:00.003-06:00

Baby Carr #3 alias "Grand Finale"
These pictures were taken at 30 weeks.

Everything looks good and we are all excited about little brother or sister who is set to arrive in Feb. The baby is measuring about a week ahead, which is small in comparison to Jake (measured 5 weeks ahead) and Mari (measure 2-3 weeks ahead). I really think this is going to be our smallest baby. My doctor has been teasing me about my babies getting smaller as usually it goes the other way. I am hoping a smaller baby means a quicker and easier delivery!

Also taken at 30 weeks. Jake and Mari and baby bump.

My favorite time of year...

2010-02-15T14:26:00.002-06:00

I love Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for this year. I have two great children and a third baby on the way. I love my job (well the university part not the community college online course I have picked up this semester). I love my classes. I am still crazy in love with my husband. I have a great relationship with my parents. We have access to recreation and entertainment (and shopping). I have a comfortable house and too many things. I am really and truly blessed. I often find this time of year a time of reflection, but with so much going on this year it is more difficult than the many before. I almost think this season is harder on my physically this year, just starting my third trimester with Baby #3, than it has been in previous years (even with having newborns twice during the holiday season). I hope I have more energy next year, as I am going to need it. I love the age Jake and Mari are at now. Everything is new and exciting and yet they (Jake at least) can remember a little bit of the year before so they have the anticipation factor as well. I am sure memories we make this year will be some of the most cherished ones if I am fortunate enough to make it to old age (with brain cells left). Happy Holidays everyone!

Thanksgiving in Natchez (more birthday)

2010-02-15T14:14:00.004-06:00

We spent two days in Natchez over the Thanksgiving break. Above and below, my cousin Kati giving Jake and Mari some birthday gifts.

Mari knows what to do with a microphone and Jake and Papoo battle it out with some nerf swords.

Jake falls out of a bag (he was climbing in and saying "surprise") and Mari is rocking in a rocking chair that belonged to her great great great grandmother Ruth Junkin Foster.

Happy Birthday Jake and Mari!

2010-02-15T13:45:00.005-06:00

Mari celebrates her second birthday with a Shaun the Sheep cake, while Jake celebrates his fourth birthday with a monster truck cake.

Jake climbed into the high chair to get a closer look at his cake. My mom made both cakes.

Jake chccks out the presents while Mari tries on the "birthday hat" that GG Mc sent us a few years ago.

Surrounded by birthday presents.

Jake couldn't wait on everyone else (some people where late) and dug into his cake with his hands. Most of us chose to eat Mari's cake for this reason:)

After the party was over, Mari shows off some of her new dress-ups!

101 Dalmatians

2010-01-01T15:40:00.004-06:00

Jake and Mari both love the Disney movie "101 Dalmatians" and wanted to dress up as Dalmatians for Halloween. The mascot at Mississippi State University (where I am working on my Ph.D. and working) is a dog and the bakery there makes dog biscuit shaped sugar cookies. The kids didn't like wearing the head pieces to their costumes at first, so I promised them some of the dog treat cookies if they would wear the hats.

Carving the Jack-o-lanterns

2010-01-01T14:51:00.006-06:00

James, Jake and Mari draw off the faces before the carving begins.

Jake models the silly face he is attempting to draw on his pumpkin.

Mari wants a sheep (of course) and James draws a sheep face on hers for her much to her delight.

The finished products: from left to right, Jake's, mine, James' and Mari's.

A trip to the pumpkin patch.

2010-01-01T12:11:00.009-06:00

Just like last year, we headed to the Pumpkin Patch at the Tupelo Buffalo Park to pick out some pumpkins. These first two pictures are on the hayride to the hay maze (well actually corn maze this year) you walk through to get to the pumpkin patch.

Jake and Mari both enjoyed the bouncy castle and we ran into Todd, Emily and Lucas while were there. Lucas is the boy in the striped red/black/grey shirt in the bouncy castle pictures.

Carrying our pumpkins! James was nice enough to hold mine while I took pictures and then I ended up carry Mari's for her, while he carried his and mine the rest of the way back to the car. It was still easier than last year, when I had to carry Mari and her pumpkin:)

These are a little out of order, but here we are deciding on which pumpkins we wanted to take home.

Jake and Mari putting some teamwork into lifting a larger pumpkin than either one of them could carry by themselves.

Mari carefully inspecting the pumpkins to find just the right one!

Jake carrying his pumpkin, at first it looks as if he is going to throw it!

Mari finally found one she likes!

Mari and I making out way through the corn maze.

John and Angela's Carr Family Reception

2010-01-01T11:18:00.005-06:00

James' brother John and his fiance Angela eloped in September and then each family threw them a "welcome to the family" party. These are pictures from the groom's side of the family gathering in Water Valley a few weeks after the elopement (October 17th).
I tried to label the people pictured as best as I can for people in my family (since more of them look at this than people in James' familly) so they know who people are, since they haven't met many of them. Above, from left to right is the back of James' mother's head, then going clockwise around the table are his brother John, sister-in-law Angela, his sister Cheri, a friends of John's Mike Tatum and his family.
James' uncle Don (married to paternal aunt Yvonne) on the left, Tim Weeks and his mother, James' great aunt Kay (his paternal grandmother Marion's sister). James' dad Larry can be seen standing in the back ground.

From left to right, James' aunt Leslie (married to paternal uncle Phillip pictured far right and mother of Emily pictured below), cousin Christy and her mother-in-law Yvonne, cousin Kris (son of Yvonne, married to Christy) and Phillip.

Jake and Mari (of course) playing with James's first cousin Kris and his wife Christy's children Hayden (age 5 as of today) and Caysen (who will be 2 on April 9th). James' first cousin Emily (who had recently turned 9 in this picture) and James' dad are looking on in the picture above.

Jake enjoys his half of my chocolate cake and then hits the stage with Mari and the other cousins to burn off some energy.

Above is the extended Carr/Hunt/Mills/Weeks family picture and below are James' parents, his mother Ann holding Mari and his father Larry holding Jake, from left to right are myself (and still unamed Baby Carr three), James, his sister Cheri, new sister-in-law Angela and brother John.

A more updated picture.

2009-10-11T21:14:00.006-05:00

Me (21 weeks pregnant with Baby Carr III), Mari (two months away from two), and Jake (two months away four).

Jake and Mari help James put together a shed!

2009-10-11T20:50:00.002-05:00

Jake was "reading" the directions:)

Mari did actually help, she was exhausted from helping so much. I just didn't get a good picture of her helping as I was working on a paper.

2009-10-01T09:47:00.001-05:00

New Orleans (Saturday night and Sunday)

2009-09-07T14:28:00.009-05:00

New Orleans at night, taken along the river walk near our hotel.

Jake and Mari really liked the trollies!

Mari did not want to go to sleep. Finally, after we all laughed at her antics long enough, she at least quit crying.

The next morning, Jackson Square and Cafe Du Monde beignets.

The Aquarium of the Americas.

You can see more of Baby Carr number three sticking out in the picture above and below. I can feel s/he moving quite a bit now and it is not really comfortable to carry Mari on top of him/her but she doesn't understand. At one point Jake was really lagging behind and I threatened to carry him and he said no, I don't want to hurt the baby. I felt really bad for him (James was carrying Mari and I was just going to switch with him and there really is NO way I can carry Jake) as he obviously was tired of walking, but he was more worried about hurting me and the baby. He finally agreed to ride in the stroller and was content there most of the time, Mari not so much.

Jake liked looking at the sharks and below I took his, James' and Mari's picture in the shark jaws.

They both loved the "Nemo" tank that had "Dori" fish and "Nemo" fish.

James petting the rays.

Jake and Mari having fun on the indoor play equipment at the aquarium.

Mari "petting" the (nurse) shark.

At this point you can see Mari had enough so we headed home.

Jake really liked the Lake Ponchatrain Causeway (24ish mile long bridge).

Taking a nap for part of the way home!

Ship Island (Saturday)

2009-09-07T13:04:00.010-05:00

Two sleepy children woke up very confused as to why we were in the car and how they got there! Luckily, they were not fussy for long, we fed them breakfast in the car and told them we were going to the beach and they quit fussing (for the most part).

All three babies on/in my lap. Jake and Mari loved the boat ride!

Above you can see dolphins rolling through the water. Jake is sure they are dolphins, because dolphins don't eat people (his words). I guess if they had been eating a person, that would have made them sharks. Although, he did see sharks the next day at the aquarium and they weren't eating people?!? He gave the woman at the shark petting pool a good laugh though, when she asked him if he wanted to pet the shark too (Mari was attemtping to pet the shark at this point) and he replied that "No, its to scary, they eat people".

Jake proudly showes off the shells he collected.

Mari playing with the sand (she was working on a sand castle with me, but I didn't get a picture of it because Jake tore it down, while I was getting the camera).

If you click on the picture above, you can see Jake asleep in the beach chair. Mari really enjoyed the water, but Jake was happier on dry land. We did make him get in the water (I held him) to make sure he just wasn't scared of it, and he just really preferred to sit in the chair and eat his food or look for shells.

More Mari playing with sand and Jake taking a nap!

Above, Mari and her Daddy enjoying the water. James was sitting down, it wasn't deep although it looks like he is up to his chest in the water. Mari really liked being splashed by and riding the waves.

Unfortunately, James' phone (it is less than two weeks old) went for a swim as well. Here it is drying to dry off on the beach.

Jake was taking such a good nap (below) and Mari was starting to get over excited, so we decided it was nap time for her as well. She took a nice nap while I went and got James some more food/drink. They really did have good hotdogs at the island snack bar.

After some more fun in the sun and water, it was time to catch the 2:30 boat back. We could have stayed until 4:30, but I was worried about over exposure (sun burn, which I ended up being the only one who suffered from it and it was because I was putting it on everyone else and forgot to put it on my own back/one shoulder, but even mine wasn't bad and is already gone).

Above, the kids throwing a fit about leaving the island. You can see the old Spanish fort in the back ground. We didn't even attempt to tour the fort, but we had more than enough fun with just the beach.

Jake and Mari are excited about getting to eat another hotdog (on the boat) and about being back on the ship.

Jake slept on the trip back and Mari should have, but she didn't give up the fight until we got in the car. Instead, Mari made friends with the baby in front of us.

Mini Vacation!

2009-09-07T11:13:00.001-05:00

Last night we got back from our mini vacation. We have had a hard year with me working full time on my first year of Ph.D. courses, Mari being in the hospital, James having to travel for work and then the stress of the bad ecomony on his work environment with lay offs, cut backs, etc. Also, now, just when things are starting to look up at James' (and Daddy's) work and I was starting to see the end in sight with my course work we are surprised by Baby Carr #3! Needless to say we wanted to take the kids somewhere where we could all relax and have fun, that wasn't too far away and that we could do without cutting into James remaining vacation days so he can be off with us some at Christmas (Mari being in the hospital, and she and Jake being sick ate through a lot of vacation days for him). We decided to plan a trip to Ship Island, which is a national sea shore off the Mississippi Gulf Coast (boat leaves from Gulfport) and then to the Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans (among other New Orleans attractions weather and attitudes permitting). Labor Day was the best time option we saw, but we were really worried about weather (that is kind of peak hurricane season). We decided we would just do it and I am so glad we did. Despite forcasts of thunderstorms we did not encounter many problems with the weather at all. We got rained on leaving the aquarium, but apart from that and some heavy rain while driving, the weather was beautiful! We could not have asked for better beach weather! New Orleans was a little too hot for a four month pregnant woman pushing a double stroller (although James helped a lot with the pushing when I got to hot/tired). We will definintely do both again. We just might try New Orleans again when the weather is cooler, like one December or when I am not pregnant! Mari is a good age for traveling now, but I do not anticipate taking any long trips for awhile with the new baby. Maybe by next summer we will all feel more adventurous again! I love the group picure they took as we boarded the boat to Ship Island as it really captures out live right now! The kids are in pajamas because we put them in the car at 3:30ish so we could get down to the coast at a decent hour and so that they would sleep in the car and not be too fussy! I am carrying their shoes, while James is carrying them because we were incredibly lucky and arrived JUST in time to catch the first boat (9AM) instead of the noon boat we anticipated leaving on. We decided to go straight to the marina and check to see if they had room on the boat (it never hurts to ask) because we figured if they were under capacity they would probably not leave on time, waiting for possible last minute travelers. We were in luck and ended up being the last to board the boat! They were so nice about it, the man in the background saw our car tag and realized we when he realized we had driven straight there, he even helped me unload our stuff (and carry it) while James got the tickets! I am a strategic packer and so we were able to jump out of the car with what we needed and on the boat in about five minutes (kids included). We dressed the kids on the boat! Jake and Mari had a good time, Mari more obviously than Jake, but I think Jake walked more than he normally would and so that is part of why he was a little fussy (Mari had the luxury of being carried a lot of the time). I was worried that he did not enjoy the beach very much, but when he realized we were going home (he started recognized the road around West Point) he cried and told us to turn around, he wanted to go back to the beach and the trolleys. Tons of pictures to follow, of course! I will divide them into Ship Island/boat/car ride down and New Orleans/trip home.

Cherub Choir performance at Genesis Sunday

2009-08-16T22:20:00.004-05:00

Jake is on the left, the third row from the front.

Although he sang in every practice, he did not actually sing when he got up there. He did smile and looked very please that all eyes were on him and the other cherub. He told me he likes being in the big people church because it is pretty and that is why God likes to live there (so I guess he is sort of learning something in Sunday School). Oh well, we will sort out his theology when he is older.