Baby pictures

Joseph helped me give Sarah a bath today.  She didn't care for it much, but she'll get used to it soon enough.  Joseph was right with me all along holding the soap bottle.  He's very curious about Sarah and loves to help.  He picked out her clothes and kept her company while I dressed her.

I know this isn't the best face shot, but Sarah's eye has been swollen the last two days.  It's nothing serious and it's almost all better.  She's such a cutie!

Big Sister

Haley has been the big sister for most of her life.  Now that she's older, I think she's able to enjoy it even more.  She and Sarah napped together on Saturday and Haley wouldn't stop talking about it.  I think she likes being trusted so much with the baby.  I'm glad she enjoys the little ones so much.  It makes for a lot of fun and harmony in the home.  They all love being together.

Bringing Home the Baby

Sarah and I came home from the hospital on Monday.  We were released at 3:00 pm during Brent's final exam.  Apparently, picking up your wife and new baby from the hospital is not an excused absence for a law exam so Dad came to get us instead.  I don't think he was bothered about it.  Besides, it reminded me that even though I'm a new mommy again, I'm still "Daddy's little girl."

Emily was very excited to see Sarah at home.  As soon as I got Sarah out of the car Emily started to cry and pitch a fit.  Mamaw and Marlena thought she was jealous, but when we got in the house we realized that Emily just wanted to hold the baby.  She wouldn't even let anyone else hold her.

(Emily was trying to smile for the camera.)

Welcome Sarah Kathryn!

Sarah Kathryn Helms was born December 10 at 2:59 p.m.  She weighs 8 lbs. 7 oz and is 20 and 3/4 inches long.  We're not sure about the color of her eyes, but she's pink and healthy and we couldn't be prouder.  All the kids came up to see her right after Sarah Kathryn was born.  Emily was upset that Grandma was holding her and said with her eyebrows furrowed, "That's my baby!."  I don't think we'll have any issues with jealousy, just lots of curiousity.

Thanks for all your prayers.  Things couldn't have gone any better.

Partners in Crime

While I was passing through the living room this evening, I noticed the Christmas tree was shaking and I heard plastic rustling.  I caught Joseph and Emily behind the tree eating the candy canes we used for decorations, this is in part why we make the ornaments every year.  If they break, are eaten, get rearranged, it doesn't matter.  They're not fragile and expensive ornaments and I just let the kids place the ornaments any way they like.  It's much more fun for them and a lot less stressful for me.  At the rate we're going, our tree may not have any decorations left by Christmas day.

Last night Brent, the kids and our friend Wes Winsor set up the Christmas tree right before the Christmas devotional.  Today the kids put all their ornaments on.  To keep with tradition, we made our ornaments again this year and the girls did a great job.  You can't tell in the pictures, but the tree looks really charming with all their homemade decorations.

Allie is such a ham when the camera is on.

Haley was very creative and decided to use the beads she got at the Millbrook Christmas parade to add some extra sparkle to the tree.

Joseph has already tried to eat 3 candy canes off the tree today.  I'm surprised it hasn't been more.

Andy, or "Anby dog" as Joseph has names him, is thinking about the gingerbread men we made for the tree.

The girls made the gingerbread dough themselves.  It makes the whole house smell like Christmas!

We also added glitter to pine cones and made glittery stars and hearts for the tree.

Emily woke up just in time to hang a few ornaments herself.

We've done lots of other Christmas stuff this weekend.  Dad and I took the kids to see the Christmas lights at the zoo and we took them to the parade on Saturday.  I also took them to the Interfaith Nativity Exhibit at the Stake Center on Saturday evening.  I guess I'm trying to squeeze it all in before the baby gets here, but we've really enjoyed ourselves.  We only wish Brent could've joined us for more of the festivities, but exams are over in a week and then he's all ours for a whole month.  That will be the best Christmas present this year.

Gingerbread House

We kicked off another year of Christmas traditions today by putting together our gingerbread house.  We've done this every year since Haley was born and it is one Christmas tradition I'm happy to keep. 

It's true that there are no pictures of Emily on here.  She seemed content to watch and not participate.  I think she was waiting for the girls to get done decorating so she could eat the left over candy.   I was amazed that we were able to keep Joseph from destroying the house before the girls finished decorating it.  Now the trick will be keeping the kids from picking off all the candies before Christmas.

The Nursery

I finished putting the nursery together last week.  It was a much larger project than I anticipated.  Moving Emily's things to the girls room and pulling out all the old baby stuff meant moving the entire house around, at least it seemed that way. Now it's all finished and I think we're as ready as we'll ever be (as soon as I wash the car seat, bouncy seat cover and vacuum my truck).

I love that we were able to make use of the old quilts.  The pink and white quilt was made by Bubo when Haley was born.  The blue and white quilt was mine and the white quilt next to Sarah Kathryn's crib was Brent's baby quilt. I like mixing the old with the new.  It gives things meaning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Brent and the children do not like traditional Thanksgiving food, so last year we started making a Thanksgiving breakfast with everyone's favorite breakfast foods.  This year I made bacon, cinnamon rolls, eggs, cheese grits and we had punch to drink.  Brent's dad was visiting this weekend so we celebrated on Saturday.  If we're home for Thanksgiving (rather than at the hospital), we'll cook a nice dinner to celebrate, but it seemed wise to have our family feast a little early this year, just in case. You can tell Joseph was a big help with licking the beaters!

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