Races

The weekend of Emma's birthday party, was also the weekend of the FitOne races. Eric and his brother, Marcus, ran the half marathon; Mel and I ran the 5k.

Before

After

 I was so proud of Eric for running the half...I am also hoping that he didn't 

hate it so much that he won't do another one with me in the spring :).

 The only bummer about doing the same race, just different distances, is that I wasn't able 

to watch Eric at all, except right at the finish line. So proud of this guy!!!

 

This is the first race that Mel and I have ever done together. It was super fun and I was so glad she was there to run it with me!! It better not be the last race we ever do! :).

Happy Birthday Emma Girl!!

On September 14, 2014 our "little" Emma girl turned 4!! On her actual birthday, Eric and I took her (& Kennedy) out to dinner and then went and explored Barnes and Noble - one of her absolute favorite stores. It was SO fun!! I think I read her at least 20 different books, and we could have kept going for hours.

The next weekend, the Layne's and my parents came to town for her actual birthday party. It was a fun weekend for sure!

Emma's watermelon cake - she doesn't like actual cake, so this is what we came up with

The 3 big girls

Sitting on the poof from Mema and Papa

All decked out in her gift from Marcus, Lindsay & Zoey

Some of the boys.

Happy Birthday Emma!!!

Mother's Day @ the Zoo!!

For Mother's Day this year, Eric's Mom said that all she wanted was to go to the zoo with all her kids and grand kids and then to go out to dinner. We were happy to oblige :). It was such a fun afternoon and a great way to celebrate an amazing Mom and Gramma!! We love you!!

The 3 grand kids fought over who got to hold Gramma's hand the entire time we were at the zoo. I thought this picture of the 3 of them and her was just too cute!!

And our little family of 3...Kennedy was obviously making her presence known, we just hadn't gotten to meet her yet at this point :). 

Adjusting to a Family of 4

I can hardly believe that Miss Kennedy has only been here with us for just over 4 weeks. She is the perfect addition to our family. Not every moment of every day is easy..its not an effortless transition...but it is the effort and the trials, as well as the joy and great moments that make our family what it is - and I wouldn't change that for the world! (And just for the record, there are WAY more great moments and moments of sheer joy, than there are of anything else!!!) So, here is a look into our life, as we learn how to be a family of 4.

This is a picture shortly after we got home from the hospital...Welcome to your home Kennedy Jane!

This picture perfectly shows the exhaustion that Eric and Emma felt. Eric was super sick when Kennedy was born, and in his 6 days off, he spent a majority of that time resting up to feel well enough to go back to school. Needless to say, we were all bummed that he felt SO crummy, but I'm sure no one was as bummed as he was.

Saturday morning, after Kennedy was born on Wednesday, Eric and I left Kennedy at home with my mom and took Miss Emma Lou on a doughnut date! We at doughnuts, bought her a new game that we have played almost everyday, and went to a couple stores with her. She loved having Mommy and Daddy time.

 From the start, both girls LOVED being outside!! Emma loved playing out there, especially when Mema was here because Mema pushed her WAY longer on the swings and more often than Eric or I. And, it seemed like anytime Kennedy went outside, she just relaxed, instantly and would stay that way.

And, why not start swimming lessons right after having a baby?? The lessons were scheduled to start 4 days after my due date...luckily, Kennedy joined us a couple days early, this way, I had 6 days between when I had Kennedy and Emma's first swimming lesson :). Also luckily, my Mom was here to help get everyone ready and to lessons on time. And really, I am SO glad that we did have lessons that soon after - it was something that was Emma's and her's alone. We went there and focused on her, and I think she really liked it for that reason. Kennedy just slept in her carseat, and Emma go all of Mema's and my attention. 

I don't have very many pictures of Mema while she was here :(. I need to get some off her camera. It was so great to have her here though, not only did she help out with things around the house (which I cannot even say how thankful I am for that), but we got to live life and share our life with her for almost 2 weeks...It made me thankful for that time with her and look forward to when we get to spend time together again.

Just had to include one pic of Kennedy in her mint green skinnies

Ready for our first Sunday back at church.

Emma telling Kennedy princess stories.

Father's Day at church...instead of the kids going to their Sunday School classes, they got to hang out on the lawn with us! It was such a great Sunday morning!!

This is our family, our story...and we couldn't be more thankful!!

Family of Four

On Wednesday, May 21st at 12:02pm, we got to welcome the fourth member of our family into this world! Her name is Kennedy Jane! I was shocked when the Dr. weighed her...mostly because she weighed in at 9lb 13oz...Eric was 9lb 12oz, when he was born, and up until I had Kennedy, he was the biggest baby I had really ever heard of...She was also 21" long. She was 1/2 again as big as Emma was...the crazy thing though is that I recovered WAY faster with Kennedy than I did with Emma...crazy how our bodies work. 

As I held my precious Kennedy for the first time, I remember thinking it was hard to believe that this was the new normal for our family...she was always going to be a part of us. It is an amazing and overwhelming feeling - one that I continue to feel. God trusted us to raise her and teach her, it is a humbling task and one I could not accomplish alone. We adore this new addition, this daughter, this little sister, this fourth member of our family.  Our lives are forever changed in such an amazing way!

 

Big Girl Bike

Last weekend we got Emma her big girl bike - an early birthday present, so that she could enjoy it all summer long. She was SO excited and LOVES riding it around our neighborhood. She is also thrilled that it goes so much faster than her tricycle.

Not too sure about the helmet.

There she goes!!!

Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!!

So..if you haven't noticed, I haven't blogged for a few months...sorry! :). We have been a bit busy around here - trying to get ready for Miss Kennedy Jane to make her big arrival (hopefully in less than a month!), working, spending time with Emma, and doing stuff around our house. For the first time in 6 years, Eric decided against coaching baseball this spring. There were a lot of factors that played into his decision, but ultimately we feel it was the right one for him and he has been super happy to spend his afternoons and evenings doing some projects outside and hitting the links when he can, and having some time to spend together as a family!

A couple weeks ago, my whole family (with the exception of Heather and Gabe - we missed you guys!!!) met up at the Stuart cabin and celebrated Mom and Dad's 35th wedding anniversary. It was such a fun weekend! The kids loved playing together, and the adults didn't seem to mind it too much either :). It really was a great weekend!!!

Kiera LOVED Abby...she would go wherever Abby was and say "Baby, baby, Hi Baby..."

 Dying some Easter Eggs!!!

 The girls thought it would be funny to do silly faces in the picture.

Trenton and Emma leading the way on our walk

It was a really fun weekend!! Thanks everyone for traveling so we could be together!!