Fun Pics of the girls

Lindsay helps Daddy paint a pumpkin...we had issues though so finished product will have be shown later!
Trying on her Lady Bug costume!

Lindsay is showing off her wings!

We did a good practice round of "Trick or Treat"

Lindsay decorated her little pumpkins from Burt's farm and had M&M's in her plastic ones she found in her Halloween box!

Lindsay at the dock in Ellijay feeding her fish acorns...

More acorn feedings from Aunt Patti's deck.

Brooke & Lindsay get some bath time in together!

Brooke handled it pretty well!

Brooke eyes her formula malt...

Lindsay loves to get hats when we go out to eat.

Sister snack time

Happy Halloween More Pumpkin Farm!

Lindsay and Zoe hanging out in the white pumpkins!

Uncle Paul and Aunt Agatha

My little sweetie

My little angel face!

Mommy & Lindsay

The foursome!

Tomorrow is my first day back to work...wish me well! I'm just going in for a few hours to officially be back before November 1st so we don't have to go on COBRA. I'll be easing back into work in just four hour shifts the first few weeks. I'm leaving early so we can officially stick to our Halloween schedule and go to my inlaws house for the big Halloween parade/trick or treat that we do every year with Derek and Adam. Lindsay is very excited about being a Lady Bug tomorrow! Stay tuned for more pics very soon!

Having Trouble with Blogger

Brooke's first time in the exersaucer!

Aunt Patti and Lindsay rocking on the porch!

Lindsay decorates her cupcakes!

Passed out after a long day!

I'm having problems with Blogger...are any of you???

Pumpkin Farming

10/25/08 our family shot
10/21/07 three weeks before we found out Brooke was on her way!

I have tons of pics from this past Saturday but I'm too tired to put them up now. So I'm going to put this up for the time being. We spent the night up in Ellijay too so it was a relaxing weekend.
We'll put more pics up soon!

No More Room On The Lap!

Lindsay was determined to have Mommy's OTHER lap! Thanks girl!

Splish, Splash Lindsay gives Brooke a Bath!

Lindsay was very into helping with Brooke's bath the other morning!
Lindsay enjoyed giving the scalp massage part of the shampoo! Can't you tell Brooke LOVES it!?!

Nothing like matching outfits for the girls!! They are both chillin' out to sesame street. It's SCARY how much Brooke already likes the tv screen!

Lindsay mugs "Cheese" for the camera! (Brooke is still watching tv!)

Lindsay's first Halloween 10/06 check her out in the Bumbo seat and then compare to the next two pics!

When you're two you apparently still fit but now use it to talk on mommy's cell phone!

I told her she wouldn't fit in it since her thighs grew out of it at 6 months old but apparently she still fits her adorable thighs in it now that she's a more slim two year old! Can you tell she enjoyed proving me wrong??

Lindsay's Home- 28 months old today too!

Lindsay couldn't wait to go for a walk in the neighborhood with her babies. We told her we would take one after her nap! We managed to get her down for a short nap after we got her home and unpacked today. She didn't go to bed til 10 p.m. tonight but she went pretty easily!
Megan came over to see Lindsay and got herself some Brooke time too.
Brooke's first time in the Bjorn!
Aunt KK, Kevin, Daddy & I treated her to a night at the Dwarf house so she could enjoy the "little red door" again.
Lindsay must have gone through the door 20 times or so.

She's very happy to be home and we're very happy to have her here! She's been an angel with Brooke so far as well. Aunt Agatha and Uncle Paul came over to take Brooke to sleep at their house tonight. We thought it was a good option in case we have any Lindsay issues tonight. Lindsay kissed Brooke bye and said "See you tomorrow". She seems ok as long as SHE isn't going anywhere without us, but it was ok that Brooke was going somewhere without her. We'll see how long that takes to change. LOL!

Today was a good day!

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!

Here are some more older pics. Our friends came over to see Baby Brooke again on 7/20/08.

Calyin gets all the baby time she wants!

Lindsay & Graison hanging out in Lindsay's new purple room! Which by the way, Graison's daddy painted Lindsay's new room for us back when Mike's first kidney got operated on. Lindsay LOVES her Purple room!

The girls and their tea party.

Lindsay shows Graison how she plans to still play with the baby things!

This was one of the funniest moments. Missy and Anthony brought over the cradle swing so we could try it out with Brooke. Lindsay climbed in and decided to swing while we were all trying to say goodbye and not paying attention. Next thing we here is Linds screaming at the top of her lungs "I SWINGIN', I SWINGIN'!" We all laughed hysterically and then had to make her get out b/c it was for little sister. Lindsay was not happy about that part as "Swingin" is one of her favorite things to do! But we haven't caught her swingin' again since!

We're going to get Lindsay today and bring her home, FINALLY! We called last night to talk to her and she heard my voice and said "where are you mommy?" I told her I was in the car with Daddy on the way home from the store. She said "Are you wearing your helmet mommy?" I was cracking up. Grandpa in the background told her "Mommy's head is better now and she doesn't have to wear the helmet anymore". She is so funny. I can't imagine where she comes up with stuff. She spent the weekend with Derek and Adam and told us all about how she played and rode Derek's back. Apparently that was big fun for her! I can't wait to see her reaction when she gets to come home with mommy & daddy today. Stay tuned.

For Chef and the Fat Man

Here are some more pics from before my aneurysm. We went on 8/2 to see our friends at Chef and the Fat Man do a show out at BIG GREEN EGG. Here is Linda getting her hands on Brooke for the first time.
Chef Fred and Kevin doing their "thang"
Brooke likes to help with show as does Lindsay!
Aunt KK Loves her HELPERS!
Chef Fred making Lindsay laugh. She has his cap and was happy to keep it the rest of the show!
We had a good time that day going out for a visit. It's always good times and good food when we get to hang out with them. Now that we have had the two kiddies we don't travel with them as much but maybe as Linds and Brooke get older we'll get more of that in again!

I was feeling nostalgic today and thought we needed some more pics of the kids on the ol' blog!
Mike and I got up today and went to Home Depot and Walmart. I got myself behind the wheel for the drive to Home Depot and it felt weird to drive my car again. It's fine but you know my driving master gave me grief in the car today! We're making plans to bring Lindsay home on Monday and I can't wait. We're going to bring both girls home this week and see how we do. Aunt Agatha and Uncle Paul have offered to help in the evenings with Brooke if needed. Lindsay has a history of coming home after being away and not sleeping well so we'll see how she does. Hopefully we won't have major sleep issues. Brooke has been doing better sleeping through the night so we'll see if we can get in a good week. Due to financials we'll be most likely keeping the girls home while I go back to work initially since I won't be working every day at first. Then we'll have to see what's going to happen. Daddy may be working from home with the two girls some initially but we're planning on talking to our daycare about what some of options might be as far as part time etc.

We hope everyone out there is enjoying the pretty weekend. This is my favorite time of year!

Decisions...

So here I sit three days post op and other than still being pretty swollen I'm doing very well. I haven't had any pain meds all day today though I feel like I will take something before bed tonight. I managed to get out today for a ride to the bank and the post office with Mike. Aunt KK came over yesterday and helped me wash my hair and clean the incisions (Nice to be friends with people who work in healthcare). I am not supposed to soak the incision on my head, yet I'm still supposed to wash my hair and keep the area clean and dry. Last time I had this incision I was in ICU and they took care of all of this stuff for me so I was a little nervous about this part this time around. It's working out ok though. The surgeon's team was very nice and did not shave all the hair they could have before this surgery. They actually managed to leave a good section of it alone so once my hair covers the scar again it should be fairly normal "GI Jane" looking again. By the time I remember really seeing it last time it had only been a month and it was grown out quite a bit. I'm hoping by Christmas I'll be able to skip wearing the scarves and have some sort of style going on.

So if any of you have any advice on this subject we're trying to figure out when and how to bring Lindsay home for good. It's been suggested to us to get Lindsay first for a few days and then reintroduce Brooke. I want to make sure I'm feeling 100% before we get Lindsay at all so I've been thinking early this next week maybe even Sunday. (Although I want more of my facial swelling to go down too) I think she will be easy to deal with at home and keep her on her basic schedule that she's already on. We're just not sure how she will deal with it when her little sis comes home if she gets too much mommy & daddy time all to herself. Either way I know we'll have jealousy issues, I mean I know I have TWO girls, but we just thought maybe it would be easier to bring Brooke back second since her schedule isn't as set as Lindsay's. We want to make it a big deal for Lindsay that she is coming home but we don't want to over sell it either. Spending time at Grandma and Grandpa's is something we want her to feel ok doing in the future too.

I'm worried about feeling well enough to take care of both girls when Mike is not around and I haven't driven yet since all of this either. I think I need to get some car time in this weekend and get that out of the way. I know I just need more time under my belt to feel "normal" again and to stop worrying about every ache and pain. Of course both girls home will help with that as well, there won't be time to worry! I hate feeling like everything is such a major decision. I just want to go get her and bring her home right now! I miss both of them like crazy but I can't imagine what must go through Lindsay's mind at this age. I want to make her homecoming easy and a HAPPY time for all of us.

I'm Home!

I just wanted to send a quick update to let everyone know I'm home and resting. I actually got out yesterday! Today my swelling is much worse and my left eye is almost completely swelled shut. However, I am feeling ok and pushing the pain meds out to 6 hours from 4. I look like I just got into a fist fight and did not fair that well. I am hoping by tomorrow or Saturday the major swelling will be down. I go back to Emory next week to have the staples removed from my head and my abdomen. I'm heading back to the couch now to rest but I wanted to post something. Things went very well with the surgery and I'm not having any complications.

More soon,

C

Brooke's Baptism

On 10/11/08 at three months of age Brooke Marie celebrates her first sacrament! We had a great day on Saturday. I have a ton of pictures on this post but I had a hard time choosing so I hope you can feel like you were there after you scroll through them.

Cousin Donna playing with the chunky legs!

Aunt Patti and Lindsay are ready to go!

Grandmama dresses Brooke in the family Baptismal Gown.

Daddy putting Brooke in an even better mood before her big moment!
Brooke eyes her daddy with that cute almost grin he gives her everytime!

Lindsay & Graison are ready for the paparazzi chase down!
The new chapel at our church

Our God parents are Mike's Brother Paul and his wife Agatha. We asked them to take on this honor just a few days before we actually had to LET them do the job! Good thing they said YES!
Paul & Agatha with Grandma taking in the moment.
Agatha passing Brooke off to daddy as I had Lindsay attached to my hip!
Brooke was not happy to be laid back. She loves to be sitting up and she didn't like this view of the ceremony one bit.

She cried through the holy water part but she calmed down nicely for the rest of the ceremony.
Notice Lindsay taking the interactive role and helping Father Frank out. She also told him at the beginning of the Baptism "I already Baptized"...Ya think?!

Father had a prayer for mommy...
...and daddy

Here we are with Father Frank after my confirmation, a wedding and two Baptisms. I'd say we're done with the baptisms now. Hopefully he'll be able to do some first communions down the road for the girls.
Doodle bug Lindsay was attached to Aunt KK at this point and refused to pose for these pics.
Brooke says "Hey it's my day!"
Brooke hangs out with her Grandma and God Mother

We took a picture of everyone who has worn the Baptismal gown.
Lindsay with Aunt KK
Believe it or not this child did not get one spot of cake on her white dress!
Brooke's passed out on Aunt Patti after a long morning!
Steve, Donna & Michael- what a great shot!

The kids found entertainment
Lindsay feeding her nose to uncle steve!
Linds, Donna, Maggie and I! Thanks for taking pics with my camera Maggie!
Missy takes over as pillow for Brooke! Congrats to Missy officially on my blog. She is expecting baby number 2!
Brooke only one hour after we got home. She was wiped out! (Along with Daddy & Mommy)

Thanks so much to everyone who came out and helped us celebrate. I didn't even get shots of everyone who was there and I put up a ton of photos. We enjoyed celebrating such a special event with our families and close friends. It was a beautiful HAPPY day and the first of many more to come with two beautiful daughters! We are so Blessed!