The holidays are here!

Lily has been a great observer and full of holiday spirit at all of Vi's Christmas performances.  She really seems to enjoy all of the excitement and activity.

Vi did a great job at here athlete/dance performance.  She did a Rudolph dance and showed off her athletic skills with her classmates.  She was VERY excited about receiving a trophy and flowers from her Daddy.

All of the girls (Lily sleeping in the stroller) after the performance.

Here we are at performance #2, the Joyful Noise Choir and our church Christmas play.  Vi was the "dove" at the birth of Jesus this year.

Do you recognize these people?  It's Joseph and Mary!  Daddy looks like he could be the new face of some middle-eastern currency.  He grew his beard for no-shave November, and then kept his look for his role as Joseph and the Christmas play.

Here is our entire family during the play.  Can you guess who is Baby Jesus?  Yes, that's Lily.  We are starting her streak of holiday activities early in life.  She was very alert and smiling during her time on stage and received a great applause.

Vi has made her usual batch of peppermint bark with Mamaw and her gingerbread house with Grandma.

The sisters' First Noel!

Lily meets Mamaw Jean

We were excited for Mamaw Jean to meet Lily - this is her 4th great-grandchild!  What an accomplishment.  She enjoyed snuggling her and gave her some loving stares.

 

Here is another photo of Mamaw with her two girls.  Vi is becoming more comfortable holding the baby and does a great job protecting her head and keeping her comfortable.  In this photo, Lily is about 4.5 weeks old and currently around 6 pounds 10 ounces, just shy of her birth weight.  We are supplementing her meals with some formula to hopefully help her gain a few more ounces.  She has started interacting with everyone much more and enjoys "playing" since she is awake for longer periods of time.

All about fall!

 Lily made her first visit to church at 4 weeks old with her big sister.  After the service, we snapped some pictures in the last few leaves remaining this season.  She went right to sleep as soon as we laid her on the ground in the leaves; maybe she will be a nature lover in the future!

 

 Sisters in the leaf pile

 

 The most beautiful leaf :)

 

Lily also enjoyed tagging along with Vi and Beckett for trick-or-treating this year.  Vi dressed as spider girl and Lily had a matching spider baby onesie.  It was a bit rainy, and she was sleeping, so we did not get a group picture (but they matched and it was really cute!).

Happy fall! and Happy Halloween!

Lily's newborn pics - sneak peek

http://www.madamebrown.net/2013/10/lily-evangeline-9-days-new/

Enjoy!

First look

Another cousin joins the group - Christmas is going to be fun this year!

Sisters - first trip to the playground

The girls helping daddy with chores outside

Getting cozy on daddy's belly

I stretch and yawn A LOT which results in many funny, cute faces

Cuddling with Aunt Ashlee

She's here!

Lily Evangeline

Born October 9

6 pounds 11 ounces

19.5 inches

3:19 a.m.

Welcome to the world sweet girl!

Ahoy!

School Picture Day

Can't wait to see how Vi's school pictures turn out this year!  She felt special in her uniform and looks like such a big girl these days.

End of summer wrap up

One of the last swim days of the summer, warming up in the sun

Vi's "selfie" (to use a recently added word to the dictionary)

Spending the night on a boat, the Delta Queen!

Looking beautiful for Sunday School and church

I love my cousin!  Our eyes and our outfits match.

Playing "orphan" once again.  This time we found Lou Lou stranded on her pirate ship with her crew (which she referred to as her "ship team" and I had no idea what she was talking about for a while) where she has been living for 82 years.  She has had to sleep in the dirt and eat fish steaks every day.  She really wants to take a bath and find a mommy and daddy.  So we loaded her up and brought her home with us.  We even had this princess bike just waiting around for the perfect little girl.  This has been a true, made-up story courtesy of Vi's imagination :)

Last summer weekend in the Smokies...

 ...and a trip to Dollywood!

Happy 5th Birthday Vi!

Vi finally turned 5 this month!  She has been talking about turning 5 for a really long time, so it was a big event at our house.  The day before her birthday, she received a few cards in the mail and a new book from Dolly Parton's Imagination Library.  She loves receiving mail, so it was a huge surprise to have multiple items in the mailbox just for her when we got home from school the day before her big day.

Happy Birthday Morning (before school).  She looks tired but she was very peppy and excited.

She immediately ripped off her school clothes and wanted to open presents as soon as dad came home from work on her birthday.  Dad surprised her with tickets to Disney on Ice!  But the Candy Land game was a hit, too.

The day of Vi's big Rapunzel Party.  Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your hair!

Vi and Daddy

Vi, Mommy, & Lily.  Mom organized everything, but it was really Daddy along with friends and grandparents that got everything set up for the party, monitored kids, helped with food and gifts, etc. this year.  THANK YOU!

The awesome Rapunzel tower cake and cupcakes made by Grandma

This was one of the only still, in focus shots I got at the actual party.  Most of them were of fuzzy bodies zooming past me or coming down a slide.  Thanks to everyone who attended - she had a great birthday!

Big School Debut

We have been very busy in August and September adjusting to our new school schedule.  Vi's school day is a little bit longer, but that hasn't seemed to bother this energy-filled gal.  The year started with the Backpack Blessings ceremony at our church.

Vi has settled right into her new classroom.  It is super cool, and there is a second level "home living" play area on top of this little reading nook.  Of course, we had to get a first day of school picture with Vi's new teacher.

We visited many schools in our area and luckily, it is clear that we made the right choice for Vi.  It is a little bit of a drive from our house, but has been worth the extra few minutes in the car.  She comes home singing a new song and telling us new "facts" each day.  We are thankful to have found her home for the year.

There are lots of opportunities for the little kids to get involved at school.  Vi has enjoyed collecting Box Tops for the big competition mainly because the class who turns in the most gets to have an ice cream party.

We hope that everyone has a great 2013-2014 academic year!