It's Black and White

Growing up I was lucky enough to know both sets of my grandparents. We never really lived close to either of them, but I remember getting to see them quite often. For some reason we got started referring to them as the "Black Grandma", and the "White Grandma". I think my dad must have come up with that. And no, it has nothing to do with race :). My Grandma Derby had white hair, and my Grandma Mula had black hair. So whenever my parents would tell us that we were going to grandma's house, we would always ask, "the black grandma or the white grandma?" I still laugh about that. Probably isn't politically correct, but still funny to me! Anyways, the white grandma was very crafty. She would always be working on something, and really got me excited about crafting. I remember sitting with her and working on Christmas ornaments that opened up so you could put Hershey Kisses in them. I also remember her teaching me how to play cards at a very early age. I have some really great memories of time spent with her. So, since I am feeling nostalgic, I am going to start a series of blogs called Then and Now. Since my mom is so great, she saved me a lot of the clothes that I wore when I was a baby, and I have started putting Carolena in them. I am going to start posting a picture of myself as a baby wearing the outfit (Then), and a picture of Carolena wearing the outfit (Now). This first outfit is one that my White Grandma made for me as a baby. It is a white crocheted dress with little blue lines at the top. I didn't have a picture of myself wearing this one, but it was so cute on Carolena that I had to post it. I can just see my grammy smiling down on us!



A couple of more pictures of the princess since I can't help myself! Look at this sassy little girl!



I promise to post more pictures of the boys soon. We had a playhouse built in the basement this week so they have been spending a lot of time down there. I will show it off once we get finished with the painting.

Emily

Sort Of

I sort of love how Joe Finney can't say his L's, so he says things like "mommy I yuv you", "hoj me" and "turn out the yights". I sort of love how B5 climbs into bed with me in the morning to cuddle. I sort of love how Baby Sister sleeps with her mouth open and how she has the sweetest little burps followed by a fountain of spit up. I sort of love snow days, but I also sort of hate them because of all the cleanup involved. I sort of love to have something sweet to eat after a meal...and I'm not picky. I sort of hate listening to voice mails and usually let them build up for a while before I actually listen to them. I sort of love living in Louisville but would jump at the chance to spend a month in Florida every summer. I sort of hate lightening and loud noises. I am sort of scared to fly right now, but would do it anyway to get somewhere faster. I am sort of anxious about the future because I don't know what I will do when the kids grow up and leave the house. But I sort of don't want to think about that now, I just want to enjoy every minute they are here.

And I REALLY love this...

And this...

And this...

Two Months

My sweet little Carolena,
I can't believe you are already two months old! Time gets faster and faster with each child. You have blessed my life beyond words and my heart is full. You completed our family and bring us amazing joy each and every day. You are the "sweet little beautiful princess" according to your brothers and Mommy's little angel. You are growing so fast that sometimes I have to take a deep breath and remind myself to take it all in. This month you weighed in at 10 lbs 2 oz. and you are in the 50th percentile for height weight and head (but mommy thinks you are way more than average). You have started laughing and smiling, and even cooing when your grandma talks to you. You love taking baths and would stay in there for a long time if mommy would let you. Whenever you get excited about something, you kick your little right leg like crazy, and mommy thinks it's hilarious. We are still working on the sleeping situation, but we did have two nights in a row where you slept for 6 or 7 hours straight. You love to eat many many times a day, way more than every three hours. But I think it's just because you like to be close to your mom. In general, you are a very happy baby and very content to be held all day long. You love when your brothers get close and talk to you and love having all of the attention on you. But we do have our moments when you just feel like crying. Like, for example, when mommy was trying to take your two month picture...

My sweet girl, we love you more and more every single minute.

In other news, we took a short trip with the husbands sister and her family to Indianapolis this weekend. The boys loved the Indianapolis Children's Museum and we could have gotten some great pictures if only we had remembered to take the camera out of the car. You really need more than one day to go through this museum, there was so much to do and look at. After the museum, we checked in to the hotel and then sent the boys to the pool with the husband, and I went shopping with the sister in law. It wouldn't be a proper trip to Indy without the customary stop at H&M. I picked up some cute sweaters for the boys and some cute sweaters for myself (Sorry B4) and then went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. By the way, going out to a restaurant and potty training are not really the best idea. And then after dinner we spent a lot of time doing this:

The boys thought it was so cool staying in a hotel and riding on the elevator. So easily entertained!

Back to Louisville (and reality) on Monday, and the boys finally got to get into some of their Christmas presents that we hadn't been able to take out yet. Needless to say, they were pretty happy. Check out my little cheeseballs:

I can't sign off without at least one more picture of my "sweet little princess".

Have a safe and happy New Year everyone!!!

Emily

What We've Been Up To

Well I guess the adjustment to three kids hasn't been as easy as I had hoped. But then again, we really have had a lot of things going on ever since the princess was born. Halloween, then B5's Birthday Party, then Thanksgiving, and now Christmas. Add in the responsibilities of being Joe Finneys class room mom and shopping and baking and trying to fit in a workout, and making hair bows and sewing (yes really, I made a sweet little Teepee for the boys for Christmas) and I guess maybe that's why I feel like I don't really have it all together yet. But it will come, in time. I promise to be better with keeping up with this blog, as the husband and mom keep reminding me that it has been a while since I have posted. So for now, some pictures of what we have been up to the past 8 weeks (Yes its been 8 weeks since she was born, can you believe it!!).

Here is B5's Birthday Party:

The cousins making "snowman" pretzals:

Aunt Ang spending time with the princess:

Baby Sisters 1 month picture:

Christmas Picture take #42...

Merry Christmas!

Back In The Swing Of Things

Well sort of. We are working on trying to get things back to normal around here. But the good news is...SHE'S HERE!!! Carolena Margaret Saylor (aka "Baby Sister") arrived October 28th at 3:37 p.m. She was 7lbs 6 oz and 19 1/2 inches. Technically I was induced, but the doctor said I probably would have been in that day anyways since when I got there my contractions were coming regularly. Labor was pretty uneventful and easy (I can say that now :)) When I delivered, there was 12 people in the room including myself and Carolena, so she had her first big birthday celebration! And she really came out screaming, what I thought would be a sign of things to come. However, she has just been the most perfect little princess! I haven't heard her scream like that since she came out.

The boys love her so much and are so great with her. They both love giving her kisses and holding her. B5 especially has taken to her. He calls her his "little princess". It is so sweet, it just melts my heart! We all love this little girl so much and feel so blessed to have her with us finally.

I will try and get back to posting regularly, but for now, I will leave you with some eye candy!
Emily

Waiting Patiently, Patiently Waiting

No real news on the baby front yet. I do go in tomorrow (Monday) morning for an amnio to check and see if the baby's lungs are mature. If they are, we will be inducing on Wednesday. Getting closer now, but seems to also be taking such a long time. I am just really anxious to see my little girl. And I think the boys are really excited as well.

One major task was completed this week and that was the Nursery!! So here is the final installment of The Nursery Diaries.

I finally got the artwork for above the crib this week to finish off the room. The color is a little more red than I would like, but I still think it works. Plus I just love the idea of paper dolls. I can't wait to make some with her! Also, just got the bedding tied on properly today, and it looks fabulous. Thanks, Mom!! And yes, I know the picture is not centered. When I was working on the crib today, it got moved around a little. I just noticed it in the picture, so I will be sending the husband up to fix ASAP:)

I was trying to get a wide shot of the room, but again, my photography skills are lacking. I'll blame it on the camera. But you can sort of get an idea of the set up of the room. Walk in the door, crib to your right, window straight ahead, glider in the corner, you get the picture. The Husbands Aunt Karen made the window treatments, recovered the glider, and made me some fancy pillows to "throw" around.

As you walk in the door to the left is the changing table and closet (which, by the way, is maybe my favorite place in the room). Aunt Karen made a liner for the basket and added some ball trim to the outside since we all know how much I love trim. It's on the windows, the glider, the baskets, the pillows. Makes me happy!

Here is a shot with the curtains closed. I wanted this room to be as dark as possible for when she naps since I ran in to problems with it being too sunny in this room with the boys. I love those plates on the wall. If you can't tell, there are gold metallic birds on each plate. I got them at a great little store in Marietta called Simple Pleasures.

And finally, the glider. I have a feeling I will be spending quite a bit of time in this in the near future. With Joe Finney, I was here every two hours round the clock. Let's hope she is a little bit better of a sleeper than that!!

Well I plan on sending out updates as I can as far as the birth of this little girl. I will also try to get some pictures posted as soon as I can. Wish me luck for a healthy girl and a speedy delivery!!

Emily

Say A Little Prayer For Me

I would love if everyone out there who reads this could take a second to say a little prayer for my mom today. She is currently in Las Vegas and has had a lot of not so great things happen while she was out there. First, I went into labor on Friday night (which was stopped, obviously, since I still have that little bun in my oven). But I know that this caused her lots of stress and unnecessary worry. Sorry, mom. And secondly, she found out that one of her retinas is detached (i.e. vision loss) and had to have laser surgery while in Vegas to repair the "good eye". She is flying back tonight and having surgery tomorrow to try to fix the eye that has the detachment. Now I am not quite sure what the surgery entails, something about a gas bubble being placed in the eye, and resting face down for a week, but quite frankly I am very nervous and I know she is too. My mom loves to sew, play with her grandchildren, and make cookies, all of which require vision, so if you could please keep her in your thoughts, I would be very very grateful.

Which brings me to this:

Isn't it fabulous??? My mom gave this to me last week for the baby girls room.Such a perfect quilt. I just love it. Not only is it beautiful, and meaningful, but it is sooo cozy as well. It was such a nice surprise. My mom is the best.

And this is a picture of the finished bedding for the baby girls room. I know my mom was up late nights working on these things and I hope she knows how much I appreciate it and how much it means to me. I can't wait to tell the baby all about her grammy and how talented and wonderful she is.

And finally, the quilt on the crib. So perfect. I can't wait to show you all the finished room. Just waiting for the artwork for above the crib to arrive, then I will take some full room shots. By the way, I had mentioned before that we had already picked out a name for the girl, but I am not 100% sure anymore, so it looks like we will name her upon delivery. Too bad I had already gotten a couple of things monogrammed!!

Emily