Nolan Turns 2

My mission for Nolan's birthday was to make him smile all day long. A morning at Tanglewood Park to play on the train engine & playground with friends was a great start.

I surprised Nolan with a new Thomas the Train shirt to wear for his big day.

Our loveable neighbors made our morning at the park FUN.

Nolan had a Thomas the Train themed party. Nolan & his fellow party people jumped on an inflatable, splashed in the kiddie pool & ate pizza.

My generous & talented neighbor made Nolan's cake. Nolan preferred to blow out his 2 candles a few times before we sang Happy Birthday. He couldn't resist.

Goodnight birthday boy! You smiled from morning till bedtime...mission accomplished.

Birth Announcement

Of all life's wonders great & small,
a newborn baby tops them all!

Ellory Faith
1:01 AM
5 pounds, 4 ounces
19.5 inches

Edith Rose
1:08 AM
5 pounds
19.5 inches

May 22, 2011

Ellory & Edie's Birth Story

At 11:00 Sat night, my water broke. Jon had just gotten into bed. I packed some last minute things & we were off to the hospital. Barbara, Jon's mom, stayed behind with the kids. My labor pains were getting stronger & more frequent during the drive. We were escorted to the triage room in the labor & delivery floor. The nurse asked me a million questions about my family history (like does anyone in your family have diabetes, cancer, etc). I was in some serious pain by now & was in no mood to discuss my grandparent's high blood pressure. The doctor finally came in after an hour from my admittance. She started asking me the same questions. I cannot tell you the pain I was in by then, not to mention the pressure I was feeling. I think the Dr got the hint b/c it was only then that she checked me. I was already 10 cm dilated. They rushed me to the delivery room. All I could think about was where in the, you know where, was the anesthesiologist & why had no one checked me sooner? The anesthesiologist finally came in as I'm feeling the baby crowning. Got the shot. Delivered Ellory a couple minutes after...Sunday May 22 at 1:01 AM, without the effects of the epidural. Dr. discovered Edie rotated last minute so I was to try to deliver her breech. If that didn't work it was C-Section. Edie was, in fact, delivered breech with no problems at 1:08...Halleluiah!
Both Ellory & Edie were sent down to the NICU where they stayed for several days. Forsyth Hospital was accommodating to me by letting me stay an extra night free to stay close to my babies. The next 2 days was spent driving back & forth. Edie came home Fri & Ellory came home Sat. It was wonderful to have both my healthy precious babies home in their own bed.

Edie in the NICU

Ellory in the NICU

The twins got a special visit from some anxious visitors! Children under 2 yrs old were not permitted in the NICU. Nolan was introduced to the twins when they got home.

7th Wedding Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to us! We ate at Downtown Thai & Sushi then we saw "Water For Elephants". I finished the book a couple of months ago...One of my faves. Would totally recommend it. The movie was good, but not half as good as the book. That's to be expected. It was a nice evening spending some alone time with the hubby. It will probably be the last date night Jon & I will have for quite some time.

I'm officially on bed rest for the remainder of this week when I will be 34 wks pregnant. I was so proud of Jon for taking Madelyn, Ansley, & Nolan to the Greek Festival on Sunday morning all by himself! His original plan was to go to Tanglewood Park, but it was too muddy. The girls were so excited to show me their new hair color & face paint when they got home. My in-laws, Barbara & Ordie are graciously here this week doing everything for us. They gave up their trip to FL to help keep their new grand-twins baking a little bit longer. We are so appreciative of them!

Busy Few Weeks

The kids had a good Easter. Got lots candy. The Easter Bunny hid cheetah print eggs for Madelyn, sparkle eggs for Ansley, & football shaped eggs for Nolan:)

My 3 & cousin Travis had fun playing with Grandpa outside at Uncle Brian's house during our trip to Lousiville.

We caught one of Travis' t-ball games while we were in town. Here's the Pate family looking so cute in blue:)

My 2 college friends Suzanne & Carin are also pregnant. Suzanne is expecting twin girls like me...what are the chances?

Jon & I headed to the wedding we came in town for. Not the best photo of me with my eyes half shut but Jon looks nice!

Jon flew in Fri night, just in time to celebrate his birthday. Madelyn got him a Human Body pop up book, something they can read together. Ansley got him a Ken doll so they can play Barbies together!

Ansley's ballet recital is coming up in June. She got to wear her costume to ballet class for pictures. Isn't she graceful?

I had a great Mother's Day weekend. Saturday evening, we took the kids out to dinner & to the Dash baseball game. Sunday morning was cool & rainy. We ran some errands & got lunch at Jason's Deli, one of our usual stops. The kids can be kinda loud & they get free ice cream. It cleared up for the rest of the day. Jon & the kids made me a birdhouse from a Do it yourself kid kit Madelyn got for Christmas. Madelyn & Ansley put their personal touch on it with some paint. I love it!

All A Flutter Butterfly Farm

We met a playgroup at a butterfly farm last week. First we learned about Monarch butterflies. Then we went into netted structure that housed a ton of butterflies & chrysalises. We learned that butterflies make chrysalises & moths make cocoons. As we were driving down the long gravel driveway to go home, I saw a black coil on the side of the road. It was a very long snake. Since Madelyn loves all animals & reptiles, I stopped the car far from the snake's reach, & let Madelyn watch the snake slither across the road into the grass. I think that was her most memorable moment of our trip.

Madelyn demonstrated the Monarchs senses. As you can see, its much differ from ours.

I can't remember what both Madelyn & Ansley demonstrated here, but they had fun!

I love Ansley's poses!

Nothing like watermelon on a hot day:)

Charleston, SC Trip

As you can see, we basically had the beach to ourselves. It may not look it, but the water was cold & the wind was fierce. I wore a sweater while I watched the kids splash in the water in their bathing suits.

Not only did Ansley love her new "zucchini"(bikini), she also loved the ocean breeze & sand.

Reach Nolan, reach! Nolan loved playing in the sand, reaching for the seagulls, but did not like getting splashed by the waves.

Jon had fun at the beach too!

We took a short cruise along Charleston's harbor to get a good look at Fort Sumpter. This made Jon's day since he is a history buff.

We visited Magnolia Plantation. How cool is this climbing tree? I think climbing this tree & the petting zoo was the kids fave part of the day.

My monkeys being silly on the porch of the plantation house as we wait for the house tour.

Handsome Nolan doing one of his fave things...swinging!