Reindeer Hokey Pokey

Here's Emma performing in her preschool Christmas Program Last night! She's the one with her arms up in the air (the only one :-) They sang the Reindeer Hokey Pokey and were so cute! Anna really enjoyed watching her sister, pointing saying wow and oooh! She especially loved one of the 4-year old classes rendition of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer with a 3 ft Reindeer that's nose lighted up and head moved! Emma was so excited she couldn't stop jumping up and down, even while she was singing :-)

Christmas Cards

Hey guys. . .this is a small request. We need your address! If you didn't receive a Christmas Card from us last year it was because we didn't have your address! Also if you have moved since last Christmas we would like you to send us an email with your new address. We want to make sure we get everyone! Our email address is livingstonsnc@yahoo.com.

My Little Roadsters

I thought this was a great picture!

(an early Christmas present from Uncle Josh)

Nutcracker

Saturday we went to the Nutcracker at Memorial Auditorium in Raleigh. When I say we, it means all 5 of us along with my parents and Diana. We went last year and Emma had a good time so we thought we would go again. Emma did great, a little fidgety and talkative towards the end. Anna's second trip was much like her first, she slept most of the ballet except waking up a few times pointing and saying "oooh" and "wow". Lizzy pretty much slept too. It's amazing to me that those ladies and gents can walk and perform on their toes! Here are a few shots we took!

Family Update. . .

I haven't been on here much in the last few weeks, so here's an update...

Anna took her first steps last Saturday November 11th, three to be exact. She's taken one or two more steps a few times this week and three more today. She is by no means "walking", but is slowly on her way. She is doing very well balancing herself, it's the forward progression that is lacking. She is so funny and loves to make people laugh!

Lizzy laughed for the first time a few days ago, it sounded like a squealing noise, but it was an attempt to laugh :-) She is also very happy, smiles a lot and cooes often. She is an excellent sleeper just like her sisters were and has adjusted her own schedule to her big sisters'. She has begun putting herself to bed around 9:00 or 10:00pm and getting up a bit earlier than Emma and Anna at 5:30am.

Emma is so excited about Christmas. Just about everything she sees on TV, in newspaper ads or at the store she says she wants it for Christmas (or her birthday). She is quickly becoming obsessed with wanting and expecting presents at Christmas. We have to remind her daily the true reason why we celebrate Christmas.

Jody and I are the same. . .gearing up for the Holidays at church and the many Christmas parties and plays coming up! I'll try to get our Christmas cards out a little earlier than mid-January. . .

2 Months Old!

Lizzy turned 2 months old on Saturday! I can hardly believe a little over 2 months ago she was in my belly kicking around! She went to the doctor this morning for her 2 month check-up and did awesome! She was 9lbs 8oz and 21 inches long (still not as big as I was when I was born, 9lb 14oz, 21 1/2 in, go mom :-). She is 25% for weight, 5% for height and 50% for head circumfrence, which is good because she has been consistent from birth. She had to get 3 shots in her legs and one orally :-( She barely even cried, what a tough girl! So far so good on the nursing, she's a good eater. . . .Anna still has her beat!

Trunk or Treat 2006

Here are some of the pictures we took from Trunk or Treat Saturday night at the Finley YMCA. Matt was a Wanna be Rapper, Diana was a Witch, Lizzy was a Pumpkin, I was a Black Cat, Anna was a Clown, Jody was a Magic 8 Ball and Emma was a Pink Princess (in case you couldn't tell what we were). We had a lot of fun! Emma's costume was perfect for her since she is such a girly girl and loves pink. Anna was a wonderfully hilarious clown and we couldn't have picked a more fitting cotume for her. Lizzy was a left over from last year (Anna was a pumpkin) but cute anyway. And the rest of us threw ours together at the last minute! We tried to get my mom and dad to dress up too, but they were party poopers and wouldn't.

NC State Fair

Last Saturday we conquered the crowds and traffic and ventured out to the NC State Fair. Jody, myself, the girls, Matt, Diana, Josh and my parents all went together. It's a pretty big thing here and since we live so close we go once every year sometimes twice. But each year it gets more and more difficult to go with the girls (especially since we keep gaining them). Normally with young ones strollers are an absolute must, but at the fair it's a big no-no. There are too many people and too many small spaces, so I used a carrier for Lizzy and Jody had our "Piggy-Back" for Anna. Both the carrier and the Piggy Back strap on to us, they worked pretty well except our backs and shoulders were pretty sore by the end of the night. Emma had a blast riding the big slide and a roller coaster with Aunt Diana. She also rode a pony and ate every fair food available. Anna really enjoyed the Animal Petting Zoo and Barn. Lizzy just hung out and slept. Jody and I just followed the crowd and ate the fair food, mini donuts, cheese sticks (like cheese curds), chicken pitas, caramel apples, cotton candy, etc. All the reasons to go back again next year.

1 Year Check-up

Anna's Birthday was last Thursday! I can hardly believe she is 1 year old! She went to the doctor yesterday and weighed in at 21 pounds exactly and was 28 1/2 inches long! She follows the growth curve about average, a little higher in weight and a little lower on height. She got 3 shots and wasn't very happy with any of us until around dinner time. Our usually happy Anna wouldn't smile for anyone except her daddy!

4 Generations

This past Saturday Jody's mom and Mamaw (grandma) came to visit us for the day. Here are some of the pictures we took.

Our 2nd 1st

Today is our "Middle" Child's 1st Birthday. I can't believe how the time has flown by! I never imagined one year ago Anna wouldn't be the baby anymore :-( Jody took the day off and we had a small party at our house this evening.
We ordered pizzas, had Dairy Queen Ice Cream Cake (my favorite) and cupcakes to celebrate! Anna was so exhausted by present time, at her age they just love to play with the wrapping paper, boxes, ribbon and tissue paper anyway. She received lots of presents and really enjoyed the whole birthday experience! Just think we'll be celebrating our third 1st before our second's second!

Brotherly & Sisterly Love. . .

We helped my brother and sister-in-law move last Thursday. Everyone hates to move so I knew we were all looking forward to the day. Matt & Diana pretty much had everything packed up and ready to go when we arrived Wednesday night after church. We loaded the U-Haul up as much as we could, and until we were very tired. They had only 1 day to move from their apartment to their new house, they had to leave to get to a wedding at the beach Thursday evening. We woke up early on Thursday morning packed the kids in our van, along with toys galore and off we went. We actually got everything loaded and the apartment cleaned by around 10am, then everything unloaded at their house by 1:00pm! That was the fastest move I've ever been a part of! The girls and I stayed for a little while longer to help unpack and Jody had to get to work. Emma was so cute, everytime someone went downstairs (3 flights of stairs) to load the U-Haul she was there with something (small) too. And then when we got to their house she helped unload! I wish we would have gotten some pictures :-( We are so excited for them and the girls especially like the fenced in backyard, large deck and big front porch! Emma thinks they are going to have a room just for her too :-)

On the downward slope. . .

Sunday was Jody's birthday. . .he is now as old as me, 26! This year it was on a Sunday so it was crazy. It was also mine and Lizzy's first day back to church, I had gotten very bored at home and decided that as long as no one held Lizzy she wouldn't be that exposed to germs. After church we met my family (all 22 of us, minus a few) at Crazy Fire Mongolian Grill, Jody's favorite place to eat! Emma and I made Jody a Tennessee cake, a big orange T with white frosting! Emma was so excited to show her daddy and eat some cake. All-in-all Jody had a good birthday!

Two week check. . .

Well, Lizzy went to the pediatrician for her 2-week check-up yesterday and weighed 6lb 14oz! She needed to be back up to her birthweight (6lb 4oz) by this visit so that's fantastic! She's doing very well. . .eats good, sleeps good, she even gives us a stretch at night from about 11:00pm to 6:00am give or take! We're all doing well here, the girls adore her as well as her mommy and daddy!

Lizzy. . .

After four pregnancies and the birth of our third child I have really realized what a miracle having a child is and the magnitude of being a parent to that child. It's amazing that everything comes together so beautifully and perfect, so I thought I would share Lizzy's Birth Story. I had been having contractions for several weeks, but all day Friday September 1st they would get closer together and then farther apart. They stayed that way until mid-afternoon when they began to get stronger and more consistent. I called my practice and was advised to come to the hospital. Jody met me, the girls and Diana at the hospital and off Jody and I went to get checked out. Well it turns out I wasn't really in labor but since I was already dilated, we live far away from the hospital and my history of short labors they wanted me to stay and see what would happen by morning. They unhooked me from the monitors, we walked around for an hour and I was checked again. I still hadn't progressed much, 3 cm, 80% efaced and she was at a +2 station (she was pretty high up there still) they decided to let me stay in a hospital room for the night and get the antibiotics (for group B strep) in my system just in case I went into labor that night or the next morning. I stayed in the room only a couple of hours when I had a very painful contraction and realized they were staying close together, getting longer and intensifying. I called for the nurse, they checked me and I was 5 cm, 100% efaced, but she was still +2 station. They decided to hook me back up to the monitors and break my water. They broke my water at 1:10am and I got an epidural. I had decided not to endure the pain and "go natural" this time and try to enjoy the birthing experience as much as I could. The nurse checked me around 3:00am and I was only 6 cm so they decided to give me pitocin to keep my labor going. At 5:00am I woke up to immense pressure and I told the nurse she was right there and I had to push. She went to check me and said call Dr. Corvin the baby is crowning. The nurse actually got herself ready to deliver just in case Dr. Corvin didn't get there in time. I pushed only once and her head was out. The cord was wrapped around her neck and with the next contraction Dr. Corvin delivered her! I ended up having some difficulty delivering the placenta and after 45 minutes Dr. Corvin basically had to pull it out and then do a D&C. All in all this was my longest labor at just under 4 hours, but it was a great experience! As any mother would say "what pain?" and "it was all worth it", that's how God intended it :-)

Home at last. . .

Well, we've been home for a week now...Lizzy is 9 days old, Anna is 11 months (tomorrow) and biggest sis' Emma is 3 1/2! It has been a great week! Jody has been able to take time off work (2 weeks) and my mom took off 1 week to come and help wrangle kids! Jody has been such a great help at home and with the girls. I am now able to drive and operate heavy machinery, but still can't pick up anything heavier than Lizzy, I have 1 week left of that. All the girls are adjusting really well. At first Anna was not pleased about her new baby sister and all the attention Mommy was giving her, but is now more interested in Lizzy and what she's all about. Emma has been great. She loves to help Jody and I out with whatever we need especially if it has anything to do with Lizzy and loves to hold and snuggle her. We'll have to take lots of pictures for when they get older and are not so fond of each other! Little Lizzy has been wonderful! She is a great sleeper and has adjusted to breast-feeding very quickly. After having the 3 girls, we are definately seeing our girls personalities developing. Anna has now been dubbed "Trouble" because she is into everything and no matter how red her little hand gets or how many times you say "no" she still laughs and smiles at you. She started crawling a few weeks ago and walking along furniture and has lightning speed. Yesterday she fell down the steps to our garage following her big sister, I caught her by her arm just before her head hit the concrete floor, I was also holding Lizzy. Talk about scaring a Mommy! Our new favorite place for her is her walker or any place that she can be buckled into. Click on the link above to see more pictures of the Livingston Girls!

Labor Day

Here are my girls. . .going home today! Let the games begin

Click Here for Pics of Lizzy

Elizabeth "Lizzy" Maye Livingston

September 2, 2006 5:07am

6 lbs 4 oz 19 3/4 in

36 weeks & 3 days

After some confusion this morning I and the baby had a pretty good doctors visit. It seems there was some mis-communication as to when I was to be seen again at last weeks visit and my appointment was actually scheduled for 9/26, 3 days after my due date. Needless to say they had to "work me in" when I thought I had an appointment at 8:00am this morning. It made the visit hurried and stressfull since Jody had a training to go to at 9:00am and we weren't able to even see the doctor until 9:30am. This visit was normal, the baby is still head down (pretty far down there I might add). The baby and I are measuring a little ahead (which all my pregnancies seem to do). Because of my hurried visit they didn't check to see if I was dialted any more despite the fact that I've been having contractions daily, just nothing in a "regular labor pattern" according to the doctors (getting closer together). I was dilated 1 cm last week which doesn't mean anything as far as being in active labor, it just means I have a small head start on labor. I was 3cm with Emma for 2 weeks and 4 1/2 with Anna for a week. Dr. Gaines (high risk doctor at my pracitce) told Jody and I last week that when you get to 4 1/2-5 cm your cervix is unstable and they usually like to keep a close eye on you, I was hoping they would check and that would be the case :-( For the second week in a row they made sure my bags were packed and we had someone in place to watch the girls. The doctor we saw wants me to talk with the doctor next week to setup an induction. I tested positive again for Group B Strep (1/3 of people have it and it doesn't affect them) which means I will have to have antibiotics while I am in labor. They are considering inducing because they want at least 2 doses in your system before you deliver (1 hour to administer each dose and 2 hours in between) and since my labors are fast that presents a problem. We also live 1 hour away from the hospital, my last labor was 2 hrs & 20 mins and was less than a year ago. I am hoping not to make it to next weeks appointment! I had Anna at 36 weeks 6 days so...Hopefully my next entry will be announcing the birth of baby #3!

Baby # 3 Update

Just an update on the progress of the baby and I. It is head down and in position (confirmed by ultrasound)! I am beginning to dilate which doesn't really mean anything since I was dilated with both girls for many weeks. So we wait for baby # 3 to decide when it wants to meet us! I am hoping it will wait until 36 weeks (next week) so it hopefully won't have any lung problems. Until then. . .

Minivan Family!

I am now a "minivan mommy" and am so excited about it! On Saturday Jody and I bought our first minivan! We are so happy to finally have the room we need and are anticipating the room needed for three little ones. We wanted a vehicle that we would be able to grow into when our family expands and it is perfect! This van has everything you could imagine including my favorite feature the automatic sliding door opener (both back doors)! That's Emmas favorite thing too since she can close and open the door all by herself. That part makes me leery because of little fingers (although it does have a sensor). All my friends think I'm crazy for wanting to be a "minivan mommy" but I know they are all just jealous! In case you are wondering it's a Ford Windstar, two-toned white & tan!

Diapers, Wipes, Baby Wash and More!

Yesterday afternoon we were showered with diapers, wipes, baby wash and other various baby items! Our Sunday School Class hosted a diaper shower for myself and 2 other ladies (we are all due with 8 weeks of each other). It was a fantastic idea for baby #2 or #3, I had never been to one before! It's a shower where you just bring either diapers, wipes, baby wash, or other baby items for when a mommy has baby #2 and so on. We had a great time playing "Baby Memory" and winning candy bars as prizes (yum)! What more could a room full of women want but an afternoon filled with no children, cake, punch, chocloate and the entire conversation revolving around ourselves and babies? We had a blast and received so many needed "toiletries" for baby #3! We're counting down. . .only weeks left until we meet baby #3!

It's been a little while since I've updated the blog. . .

Emma is getting taller and taller, although you can't really tell from the pictures. Today she is exactly 3 1/2 years old! Time really flies, she'll be off to "3 year old preschool" in a little less than a month! She'll be going to a new preschool this year, which she really doesn't understand, but is excited just to be back in school! Her new favorite thing is to swing on her new swing set in the backyard, (which we can only do early in the mornings because it gets so hot in the afternoons)! It has a teeter-totter, a slide, 2 swings, a tight-rope bar thingy (you hang off of) and a glider that she can ride together with a few friends! She says she can't wait until Anna and her "brother" (what she calls the baby) can get big and ride it with her!
Anna is now a little over 9 months and still not crawling. . .but is trying to pull-up on things! Maybe she'll skip the whole crawling thing and go straight to walking? She is a bit on the rollie-pollie (chunky) side and basically rolls wherever she wants to go. She is getting feistier with each passing day, and we thought Emma was stubborn! We think she is looking more and more like Emma instead of her daddy! Her hair is lightening up and we still can't really tell what color her eyes are? She has just figured out how to wave and waves Hi and Bye to everyone! She is becoming an absolute ham, especially when it comes to a camera, she just grins!
Jody is having loads of fun at camp (all outdoor camp) this summer especially dealing with middle schoolers in 100 degree weather! He really does likes camp, he's an outdoorsy kind of person though (not like me). He is gearing up for the new school year both at the YMCA and the church. A lot of our programs at church follow the school year, so he's been pretty busy at both places! Things are going well at the church, this week we are pouring the foundation for our new family life center which "they" say will be done in December! The church has truly run out of space in all areas of ministry and we are desperately awaiting the grand opening!
The baby and I are doing well, it has been really hot here, did I already mention that? For those of you who have been pregnant, you already have your own built in heater, not to mention the outside temperature! I've only got a little more than 8 weeks left until my due date! My doctors don't seem to think I'll make it that far and we all hope they are correct :-) We've got another active one, it seems with each pregnancy they are more and more active! We really can't wait to see what this little one is like, personality-wise, who it looks like, oh and if it's a boy or a girl too!

Email. . .

So, I was at my Mom & Dad's house earlier today. . .I was upstairs vacuuming and Emma was downstairs on the computer "checking her email", which means she was in WordPad typing, (which she is allowed to do if an adult helps her). And all of a sudden I hear "Mommy, Mommy, Mommy. . .Look" She came running up the stairs just as I was rounding the corner and was so excited, she said look "I printed my email". I was amazed to see a white sheet of paper with Emma, Anna, Sarah, Jody, and other various letters and numbers typed out in pink writing, exactly what she had been typing. My 3-year old figured out how to print (the "doc" as she was calling it)! I'm not so sure if this is a good or bad thing?

Vacation Day 5...

The last day of vacation. . .the girls slept in until around 6:30am! We packed our bags ate a huge buffet breakfast (in our hotel) with my parents before loading up the cars and heading home. We were hoping to stop along the way and do some shopping but we ran into rain the entire way home :( The girls slept almost the entire way home! Dally was very excited to see us as well as the girls to see her! We are anxious for Saturday to come when Jody will be home. We have tons of pictures of the girls while we were gone from both my parents and brothers. . .I'll try to get some more on here in a few days!

Vacation Day 4...

Our vacation is quickly coming to an end. Today we heard a possibility of rain so we decided to go to the Aquarium at Fort Fisher. The girls enjoyed looking at all the fish and marine life! Emma didn't really want to take pictures, but we sneaked some here and there. It was really hot again here today so after the Aquarium we decided to go to the "little pool" (hotel pool). Emma spent all afternoon in the pool and has now conquered walking across the pool by herself (3 feet deep) which is definately an accomplishment! Anna spent a lot of time in the water today too and it was no surprise this evening when we had 2 grumpy girls on our hands. We ate dinner at the Deck House Restaurant across the street from our hotel, which was awesome by the way! Then did some last minute shopping for souvenirs before saying goodbye to Uncle Matt & Aunt Diana and Uncle Josh (they all had to be back for work). Anna went right to bed when we got back and Emma asked to go to bed a few minutes later. We're sad to leave the beach but glad to get home to our own beds and are so anxious to see Jody!

Vacation Day 3...

Off to the pool we went right away this 4th of July. We spent the morning playing with the girls, who are both becomming braver and braver in the water as each day passes. Emma graduated to stepping off the steps and being pulled around in the water by any family member (not just mommy). Anna just loved splashing around, we've had to watch her too because she just dives into the water! After lunch we got cleaned up and ventured to downtown Wilmington to shop and stay to watch the big fireworks show that evening. It was a really hot afternoon and Emma stopped at every girly store there was! She had her own spending money and she was itching to spend it :-) The fireworks started and both girls actually enjoyed them! Emma was scared at first wanting her daddy, but then after a few minutes she thought they were so pretty (probably because we kept pointing out the pink fireworks, her favorite color)! The show ended and we quickly hopped in the car to drive back to our hotel about 30 minutes away. We stopped short of our parking spot and ended up being stuck in the parking deck for 61 minutes! We found out later on that there was an accident at the front of the parking deck so noone was able to exit. We got back to our hotel late, put the girls down to bed and were quickly behind them. All in all it was a pretty good 4th of July in Wilmington!

Vacation Day 2...

Our second day of vacation was great! We started off at the beach, Emma became scared of the "big pool" and only wanted to play in the sand. In the afternoon we decided to go to the oudoor pool and save the ocean for another day. Emma has suddenly become scared of all bodies of water except the bathroom tub so she stayed pretty much on the pool steps except when she got brave and I held her in the shallow end. We decided to go look around Wilmington in the evening, ate dinner at a local restaurant and then went to Kure beach to look for shells. Emma really didn't understand the whole look for shells thing and ended up scooping up bucket after bucket of sand (which I dumped out slowly so she wouldn't notice). The evening ended with a bang when our hotel had a huge fireworks show on the beach. Emma freaked out crying and yelling "I am done" and "I want to go to bed". Needless to say the Livingston ladies didn't get to see many fireworks, hopefully our luck will change tomorrow :-)

Vacation Day 1. . .

We took these today at Carolina Beach in Wilmington, NC! There's one of the girls and I on the beach, Anna at dinner, Emma about to go on the beach for the first time and Emma by a "little tree" she thought was so cute (she's never seen palm trees). The girls loved the ocean, even though they basically just got their feet wet. Tomorrow we are venturing to the beach to make sand castles and play in the sand! The girls and I are having fun, we just wish Jody could be here with us too :-(

VBS at Stony Hill

This week is VBS (Vacation Bible School) at our church. Jody and Eric teach the youth and I'm the "helper", we drop Emma off each night to her class at 6:45pm and return to get her at 9:00pm. At our church each age group rotates through a different room each night, so they also have a different teacher each night. The first night Emma couldn't remember her teachers (our very good friends the Holderby's), if she heard a lesson, if she did a craft and if she sang. The second night she couldn't remember her teachers names, she did do a lesson but she couldn't remember what about, she didn't do a craft but she did sing. Tonight she remembered both teachers, the lesson in detail (she retold the lesson accurately too), she did a craft and sang! The only consistent thing she remembered each night was the snack, even though they didn't have enough to constitute "lunch"! I guess when your only 3 the most important thing is snack! Oh, by the way Anna doesn't get left out, she just hangs out in the nursery, plays, eats, and gets spoiled by all the church ladies! She also gets a VBS shirt too!

Smarter than me?

We were at my mom & dad's house last week and Emma kept asking me to put lipstick on her. So after a few minutes of whining and then finally a "please" I put some on. Emma decided that she needed some more and when I told her "no" she went into my bag anyway and put more on. We had a short talk about how you aren't supposed to go into mommy's purse or anyones bag without asking and if they tell you no than you leave it alone. We also talked about how when mommy says "no" it means no. The conversation ended when I told her "I better not see you putting on anymore lipstick", she agreed and said "Yes Ma'am." Emma was coloring in the kitchen at the table about a half and hour later. She suddenly waltzed in the living room with a huge grin on her face covered in lipstick. I of course said "Emma I told you. . .", she stopped me half way and said "but you didn't see me putting it on mommy"? I now know that my 3 year old can be smarter than me!

Curious 3 year olds. . .

As my pregnant belly gets larger the questions become more frequent. . .I went to the doctor yesterday answering these questions as easily as I could to Emma as we approached the doctors office. . ."Are we getting the baby out today?; Why aren't we getting the baby out today?; When will we get the baby out?; Can I see the baby now?; What does the baby eat?; and Can it talk? She is getting more and more inquisitive about this baby she calls "brother" (Emma decided a long time ago it was a boy). Today we were at Chick-fil-A talking about how the baby eats. I told her as simple as I could about the umbilical cord and placenta! Emma just chuckled and said "nuh-uh mommy the baby just eats baby food. . .you're silly". It's incredible to see her little mind thinking and wondering about the miracle of pregnancy and childbirth. I let her watch A Baby Story or Birth Day with me sometimes to try to explain to her that that's how mommys have babies. For the most part she gets bored with the shows but she always asks those hard to answer questions! She understands there is another baby "like Anna" in my tummy and that it will come home with us soon but mostly she is excited that she and Anna will get to go stay with Papa and Wanka when Daddy and Mommy go to the "Hostibl".

Wagon Pullin'

The girls have now discovered the art of wagon pullin'! We discovered this new sport a few days ago and can't get enough! Anna loves to be pulled around in Emma's little wagon and Emma thoroughly enjoys pulling her little sister. I can already tell they are going to be great friends!

Sleepy Uncle and Neice

Isn't this a cute picture? Uncle Josh was holding Anna, who was extremely sleepy, when she snuggled up and fell asleep! It wasn't too long before he had the same idea and followed. They shared a nap in the chair for about 30 minutes among the commotion of the rest of the family and the 2 dogs!

Trip to the pool

The high in Raleigh was supposed to be around 90 degrees today. I thought what a great day for the girls and I to hang out at the pool! We got the girls up and ready, bags packed and off to the Finley YMCA we went. We dropped Jody off at work and it took me about 10 minutes to get the girls and all their gear out of the car. We went inside, to change into our bathing suits and take a potty break before we went into the pool, to prevent any unecessary trips to the bathroom while we were soaking wet. We finally go into the pool around 12:00. Everything was going great, Emma and I were making new friends and Anna was just splashing and squealing away! Well. . .Emma had gotten out of the pool and was about to get back in when I noticed a small spot on her "booty". She had said this morning that her tummy hurt, but she doesn't know the difference between hunger pains and a realy tummy ache. I guessed wrong this morning when I deducted that it was hunger pains. So back to the bathroom we went to change back into our clothes (another 10 minutes), then I loaded the girls back into the car (15 minutes more). By the time I got back into the car, I was exhausted and we had only spent 45 minutes in the pool! All in all I think it will be a while before I attempt to go to the pool, and will probably attempt it with more help next time. By the way, the pool was not be closed for a fecal accident from any of the Livingstons, Jody's immediate guess when I called him to tell him we were leaving :-)

Emma & Anna's Dedication

Uncle Matt & the girls
Family portrait
Wanka, Papa & the girls

Monsters, Castles, Sand & Uncle Matt?

I have to share this cute story about Emma. She and Anna spent the evening with Aunt Diana and Uncle Matt while I had bible study and Jody had a meeting last Monday night. The next morning she woke up and we asked her if she had fun, etc. She of course said she loved it and began to tell us this very long and confusing story about monsters, castles, sand and Uncle Matt. If any of you remember 3 year olds they are very big story tellers and Emma is no exception (I do have to say Uncle Matt still has a few on her back in his day)! We went along with this grand story (like usual) and that was that. But every day since Monday we've been hearing this story (which gets bigger), which by a few days ago we had had a long talk with her about telling stories and how it isn't not nice to make things up that aren't true. Well, we ate lunch today with Aunt Diana (whose birthday was today), Uncle Matt and Uncle Josh and found out the story was actually true! Uncle Matt was telling Emma how he was getting bigger tires for his blazer and getting a lift to make it taller, to make it sort of like a "Monster Truck". And that when we go to the beach (in July) they were going to drive it on the sandy beach and then build sand castles! It's funny how we casually go along with her tall tales. . .only to find out they are actually true and instigated by those who were once tall talers themselves!

Baby, Baby, Baby, Baby. . .

Jody and I decided while we were still dating that 4 was a good number. We wanted children fairly close together, around 18 months apart, but God had a different plan for us. Out of the blue we found out we were pregnanct in June of 2002. It was a tough pregnancy that ended up with me on bedrest for the latter part of the pregnancy, but all is well and Emma Marie was brought into our lives in January 2003 (2 weeks early)! We decided it was time again and tried for many months to conceive, we very so happy when we found out we were pregnant in May of 2004. It seemed like a normal pregnancy, but only God knows why that baby was not to be and I had a miscarriage on July 4th, 2004. We grieved and waited until we felt we were ready emotionally and then tried again. After months of waiting we were very apprehensive to find out we were pregnant in February 2005. It wasn't until after the first ultrasound (at 10 weeks) where we saw the baby moving and the heart beating that I felt "ok" about accepting we were having another child. As the weeks went by and from the doctors reassurance the pregnancy seemed to be going well! We waited to tell anyone because of the previous pregnancy, as many of you know I'm a worrier anyway :( The pregnancy turned out to be a beautiful baby girl named Anna Virginia (after my grandma), born in October 2005 (3 weeks 1 day early). She is such a joy in our lives, and a blessing for a woman who is now 5 months pregnant and chasing around a 3 year old as well. God truly has given us two gifts that we cherish every day. We were amazed to find out in January of 2006 that we were expecting again! I still felt apprehensive telling anyone until after we had had the ultrasound. We had the first ultrasound and everything looked good, we were expecting our third child in September of 2006! We waited a long time to tell anyone about this pregancy too, because of my second pregnancy and also because Anna and Baby #3 were going to be so close together. Our apprehension was shattered when we told my family, who reacted with pure delight at the news of a new little one, no matter how close it was to Anna! We then told friends and received the same reaction! We have had some negative reactions, like "WHAT?" or "Isn'a that a little close?", but we have realized that children truly are a blessing from God and He ultimately decided the number and gender of children we were going to have! This past year has definately thrown us for a loop, but as the saying goes "God is good, all the time and all the time God is good!"

Black & White Pictures

Here are the most recent pictures of Baby #3 (taken May 3rd)! There are profile shots and one where the baby was looking at us! You can kind of see a hand or two. My due date is still September 23rd. We look forward to meeting this new little one and seeing if we're buying blue or re-using pink!

Peace & quiet and Two cars?

I am sitting in the house to the sound of only the washer and dryer! Aunt Diana came and got Emma today so that I could concentrate on getting the house cleaned and picked up for our guests this weekend and Anna is sound asleep! We are having a lunch on Saturday for some of our family before the girls are dedicated this Sunday. Emma loves to be my little helper but sometimes does more helping than I need. Anna is so laid back I just put her on her blanket and she plays. When she gets tired she fusses I put her to sleep and that's it, it's so easy to get housework done with just her! Jody is out of town today about 3 hours south of here on a YMCA day trip. We left the house this morning at 6:30am and he won't be back until 7:30pm tonight. Hopefully after Friday we will have my car back! We were finally were able to get it fixed last night only with the help of my brothers and dad! They spent hours and hours replacing the transmission and clutch, which went out months ago :( We won't know what to do with 2 working cars?! I'll try to remember our camera on Sunday to take some more recent pictures of the girls so I can post them on here!

Baby Livingston

Well, I had an ultrasound and saw the doctor last Wednesday. The baby is measuring on target and I'm doing good too, no problems with blood pressure or weight gain :-) I was hoping they were going to change my due date to sooner, but no such luck. Since I have a history of having babies sooner than they are due I believe this one will be born in the middle of September. . .at least I hope! We didn't find out the gender of the baby either, you all will have to be surprised along with us! We're not giving out our names of choice, we want everything to be a surprise! By the way my due date is September 23rd (the day before Jody's birthday)! I'll try to get a picture or two on here in the next week or so, our computer wasn't cooperating with me when I tried last week! I have this cool little counter on the blog, check it out for an up to date count down!

Anna won!

Anna beat her sister for her first trip to the Emergency Room last Friday night! She's fine now, but had us scared. We were at my brother & sister-in-laws house Friday afternoon, I had changed her diaper, clothes and was putting her in her car seat and noticed she was really fussy. If any of you have kids you know they despise car seats (Emma and Anna are no exception), so I didn't think much of it. We were meeting to eat dinner with my mom, dad, brother, the girls and I. Anna started really fussing and wouldn't stop no matter what I did. Once we figured out it was something with her left arm I made a call to the pediatrician. Well, I didn't wait on a call back because she was getting worse and not using her arm at all (By the way they called be back 2 hours later). It was just hanging by her side and she would twitch her fingers every once in a while. I picked up Jody from work and off to the ER we went. After some x-rays and basic "manipulation" the ER doctor said it was probably nursemaids elbow, which basically means one of the bones in her arm came out of socket and needed to go back. They gave her tylenol and motrin and she seemed better but was still not moving her arm. They suggested a visit to her peciatrician in the morning so we picked up Emma and headed home. We woke up Saturday morning, made another call to the pediatrician and waited on a nurse call back. This time they called back within 10 minutes and off we went to Capitol Pediatrics in Raleigh (about 35 minutes away). After some more "manipluation" the doctor heard a "pop" and within a few minutes Anna was using her arm again! She is at risk for re-injuring her arm so we have to be careful. All in all it was an event we don't want to repeat. But how did she get the nursemaids elbow? The only thing the doctor and I could figure out was when she was sitting up she started to tip and I grabbed her arm to catch her. It made me feel really great, did I tell you I'll be getting the mother of the year award?

It's a nice sunny day :-)

Dally boo-boos

We had quite an eventful day yesterday! Aunt Joleen came to our house to drop off Anna, during all the excitement I forgot I had let Dally outside to go potty. If any of you know our dog you know she can wander off and not even realize it, so I knew she hadn't gone far when she wasn't on our deck scratching at the door. I hopped in the car with Joleen to go see if we could find her and we did, just in time to see her bulldozed by a huge black dog (100lbs to Dally's 9 1/2lbs). Needless to say we had to take Dally to the vet. I was freaking out because Dally was hurt and bleeding and I also wasn't sure how she would react to the girls if they tried to go by her and try to touch her near her boo-boo. Jody was at work so the girls, Dally and I loaded up in the car and off to the vet we went. Emma of course did not understand really what was going on and why Dally had to go to the doctor, but Dally ended up being ok. They decided not to give her stitches (even though she could have used some) because they would have had to sedate her and she probably would have pulled/chewed out the stiches anyway. It was loads of fun being in that little room with hungry Anna, bored Emma and scared out-of-her-mind Dally for almost an hour! But all is well:) Emma now knows everything there is to know about Dally boo-boos and going to see her doctor!

Percentages

The girls went to the doctor yesterday for their check-ups, Emma for her 3 year check-up (yes a litle late) and Anna for her 6 month check-up. Emma weighed in at 38lbs 8oz and 38 inches tall. She is in the 50% for her weight (average) and 25% on her height, they say she will be petite. Anna weighed in at 15lbs 7oz and was 26 inches tall. She was the same percentages, 50% for weight and 25% for height. Her pediatrician says she will probably be petite like her sister.

New news with Emma. . .she learned how to write her name a few weeks ago! She learned this new "skill" and is getting better with writing letters each day. We play a game in the car where I name a word and she tells me what letter the word starts with. She's pretty good at guessing the right letter, except "c", "k", things like that! When we were in the doctors office I asked her to spell out my name (to keep her busy), she kept telling me she couldn't, so I looked at her paper and she was trying to spell out "Sarah" instead of "mommy", and to my amazement she did spell it out correctly although the "s" wasn't all that recognizable! She is like a sponge and a very quick learner, we have to keep her busy!

New news with Anna, she can now spin in a circle! She has discovered she likes to lay on her stomach and gets around by spinning on her tummy in a circle. She doesn't get anywhere, but she entertains herself! We thought she was going to be a slow goer like Emma, but I'm not so sure anymore?! I'll try to get some pictures on here of the girls soon!

Easter 2006

We had a fantastic Easter as we hope all of you did! We began the day at the 6:45am sunrise service at church. It was a beautiful service and a very nice morning, no too cool and not yet hot! The day continued with our regular 8:30am service, Sunday School and then the regular 11:00am service. Needless to say it was a very busy and tiring morning, but what an awesome time to be in God's house, resurrection morning! We hope all of you were able to reflect on the love of Christ and what He did for all of us! The girls were a little cranky because we had to wake them up early but after a quick nap they were pretty close to 100%, mom and dad only wished they were able to take a quick nap! We went to my Uncle Dwight & Aunt Joleen's house for Easter dinner with my dad's side of the family, in which there were about 25 people there! We always have a blast hiding easter baskets and eggs for each other and then finding them. And yes even the adults have to find their easter baskets! My mom even hides them still for myself, my brothers, Jody and Diana! And of course Emma and Anna too! Emma spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the pool with my cousins Kelsey and Maddie, and we were able to just relax and spend time with family. Here is a picture my mom took of Anna in her Easter dress (we forgot our camera, what else is new). She looked much cuter at church, with a matching hairbow, sandals, etc. She and Emma matched! I love having two girls! We can't wait to see if the next one is a boy!

Valle Crucis

Here are some awesome pictures Jody took on a trip to Valle Crucis, NC last week with the YMCA.