Update

We all seem to be on the mend right now. Mary Joyce is the only one in the house to avoid the bug. My mom was the last to get it and is still recovering, but the rest of us are basically okay. Not much of a fun vacation, but thanks for the prayers.

Please Pray

Hey everyone, this is Chet.

Dusty and Katherine have come down with a stomach bug in a pretty spectacular fashion, along with Dusty's Dad. Please pray that 1) everyone who is sick gets over it quickly, and 2) that no one else gets sick.

Thanks!

Edited to add: Chet has it too, now...

Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to everyone! Tomorrow morning, we get up, open gifts and let the girls play with their Santa gifts, then it is off to Grandmama's house in Georgia. Then on Friday, we're heading to Lao Lao and Papa's house in Louisiana for a week, so blog updates may or may not happen in the meantime. We'll be back home on January 3.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a very blessed New Year!!!

Happy Birthday to the 117b Girls!

Our China travel group girls are all turning 3 years old. Ella, Rachel, Mary Joyce, and Jaiden have already hit the big milestone. Sasha and Alivia are our Christmas Eve and Christmas babies, so they are celebrating within the next day or two, and then Aidyn and Isabelle have their big days in January. It is so hard to believe that those tiny babies who were placed in our arms in Nanchang are now active three year olds. Time flies! Happy Birthday, Girls!!!

A Few Family Photos

We made a few family photos this afternoon, well as much as we could considering that Chet and I were having to take the pictures. I wanted a Christmas profile photo for my Facebook page, so we took some pictures next to the Christmas tree. Chloe the cat wanted to get in on the action, too.




And here is a pretty hilarious outtake:

Popsicles are Yummy!

Mary Joyce has loved popsicles for awhile now, and recently Katherine has started practically begging for one every time her sister has one. Finally, the other day, we relented and gave her her own. She is getting quite adept with these things and thinks they are very yummy!





I had to include this picture of Mary Joyce just because it is hilarious!

O Christmas Tree

Here is our tree this year, and so far even with a 3 year old, a 16 month old, and 3 cats, it is still in good shape. :-)

Katherine Slides!

A December Saturday in Florida

A Favorite Viewing Spot

For some reason, the girls love the green plastic laundry basket. It is one of their favorite places to sit and watch "Sesame Street," which is about the only TV show they watch on a regular basis. Mary Joyce usually lines it with her pillow and blanket and both girls climb in. It really is sweet to watch them. The thing is, this day, I really needed the laundry basket, but I just didn't have the heart to make them move...

Mary Joyce at Three

Here are some pictures of our now 3 year old girl. It is hard to believe how much Mary Joyce has grown. Her personality is as big as ever. She loves to talk and does so pretty much constantly. Favorite questions/phrases at the moment: "What's that, Mama?" "What doing, Mama?" "I had to!" (The last one is usually said right after she is scolded for doing something that she shouldn't have, no matter what it was.) She is still such a joy to all of us! We love you, Mary Joyce!

Playing with her Beads from Aunt Lynda, Uncle Wade, Carl, and Erica:


The Finished Product:


Two of her Favorite Current Activities: Pretending to talk on the phone, and writing...


On her actual birthday, December 16:

Happy Birthday, Jesus

Mary Joyce sang with the "big kids" at church on the Sunday morning of our Christmas musical. She even had a special part at the end. We thought she did a wonderful job to be not quite 3 years old at the time (2 days before her birthday). The next youngest child up there is 4. (And, yes, that is a plastic outdoor nativity scene in the sanctuary--don't ask...) By the way, for some reason, compressing this video has made the quality absolutely awful, but it still sounds cute. :-)

Panda in Diapers?

The other night, Chet and I were watching TV after the girls were in bed. We were watching last week's CSI episode that we had recorded on the DVR. Something rather unexpected happened on the show, and Chet said, "Oooh!" (Very similar to the sound he makes when he is watching a football game and there is a particularly spectacular tackle...) Mary Joyce, who is in her room, in bed, calls out "Touchdown!" At that point, we paused our show, and I went to tell her that we weren't watching a football game and that she needed to go to sleep.

When I walked in, her stuffed panda was on the floor next to the bed. I immediately asked her why her panda was wearing a pull-up. She told me it wasn't a pull-up, but a diaper. Sure enough, I picked up the panda and discovered that Mary Joyce had very neatly put one of Katherine's diapers on her stuffed panda.

Of course, like any good parent, I laughed, called Chet to bring the camera, and we put the panda on the changing table and made pictures for the blog...

3 Years Old!

Mary Joyce is now officially a three year old! Look out, world.

(I did make a few pictures of her today, but I will have to get them posted tomorrow. It is late, I am exhausted, and my bed is calling me...)

Mary Joyce's 3rd Birthday Party!

20 Weeks!

Yesterday marked the 20 week point in my pregnancy. Here is the most recent tummy picture...

Recent Random Photos

Christmas Parade--Florida Style!

7 Random Things

I just found out that my friend Kim tagged me for a meme, and since I'm playing catch-up with the blog right now and waiting on some pictures to upload to Photobucket, this seems to be the perfect time...

The Rules
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write 7 random things about yourself.
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post.

7 Random Things:

1. We are having Mary Joyce's 3rd birthday party tonight (the actual birthday is on the 16th), and most of the prep work is already done. The party is at 6, and it isn't even 2 yet.

2. I was pretty sure even before the ultrasound that our coming baby was a boy because this pregnancy has been very different than my last one.

3. I don't know if I will ever completely get used to Florida weather in December, but I do enjoy it!

4. I never think I will be able to come up with enough random facts to complete these memes, but somehow I usually do.

5. I finally got started on Christmas cards yesterday. They might actually get mailed within a reasonable time frame.

6. I can get more done around the house in the one hour that Sesame Street is on TV than at any other time of the day.

7. Chet and I are both reality TV fans. Favorites include "Amazing Race," "Survivor," "American Idol," and "So You Think You Can Dance."

TAG! The following friends have been tagged to do this on their blogs! :) (And, as usual, Kim has tagged a couple of people I would have tagged, so let me see if I can come up with 7):

1. Jen

2. Karen

3. Aimee

4. Susan (Ting Ting's Mom--Kylie's mom Susan was tagged by Kim)

5.Dana

6.Mendy

7. Shelley

Our First Purchase for Baby Boy

Chet and I went Christmas shopping last night, and I'm glad to say that we made a huge dent in the amount of shopping we had left. While we were at Target, we made our first purchase of a baby boy item. Aren't these adorable little shoes?

A Visit with Santa

Here is this year's Santa picture. Mary Joyce was SO excited to see Santa this year. She's been talking about it for 2 weeks now, and when we got there, she went running to him and jumped up in his lap. She was much happier than the picture shows. She kept smiling between the photographer's shots. Katherine, on the other hand, was exactly as happy as the picture shows, meaning not at all!

It's a...

BOY!!!!!

*****

Here are today's pictures of our little boy, Howard Malcom. (We are planning to call him "Malcom.") Howard is Chet's first name, and was also his dad's and grandfather's first name. Malcom is a family last name from my side of the family, and it is spelled without the second "l." (For the record, I'm not posting the "It's a boy!" photo, but I will email it to family and any close friends who would like to see it.)

Profile:


His "Alien" Picture:


Cute Little Baby Foot:

Thanksgiving Trip Pictures

Our Trip to Georgia

We had a great Thanksgiving trip to Georgia to spend the Thanksgiving holiday with family and friends. The trip was a whirlwind, from Wednesday to Saturday, but we made the most of the short time we had. Thanksgiving Day was spent at Chet's sister's house, where Chet (with the assistance of his brother-in-law, Wade) fried a turkey for the first time. It turned out very yummy. Somehow, most of the pictures I actually made that day had to do with the turkey. Not my best photography effort, I'm afraid. On Friday, we met my parents (who were at my sister's in Atlanta) and my sister for lunch. Then, on our way home, we stopped by to visit with our south Georgia friends who were such a big part of our lives when we lived there, and who we really do miss. All-in-all, a good trip! Pictures in the next thread...