Full Circle

     The kids and I headed to myrtle beach over spring break last week for a long overdue trip with our best friends, the Whitaker family. Unfortunately not everyone was able to be there buy considering its been about 5 years since we did a trip together, we did good getting who we could there! I felt like my life had come full circle spending that week with my childhood friends and watching our children form relationships with each other that will last them a lifetime.

Short history- out parents were friends through work before we were born and we grew up together in our very early childhood. We were basically family! Then the Whitakers moved for job reasons and ended up living in Delaware. Due to the distance, our families met "halfway" once a year at the beach for a week of vacation and fun- this became a longstanding tradition for all of us but sadly stopped when wedding budgets started to put a crimp on the vacation budget... Now us "kids" have kids and they met for the first time during our Spring break which just happened to coincide with their spring break! The Whitakers are family to me and will always remain so- they have always been the best kind of friends-- the ones that no matter how long it's been since you've seen them or talked to them, you pick right back up where you left off and it's as though no time had passed. 

     We have vowed that the yearly tradition will start back up and I cannot wait for our 2014 get together already! I know Our children will be just as close as we are...  Here are some fun pictures from our week at the beach!

And P.S.  Emily learned how to swim by herself!!!  :)

Emi, Grandpa, and Chad

Matt's first trip to the beach!

Sweet big sister showing Matt the beach

Swimming by herself!

Makenna and Emily~ Best Friends just like their Mommas

Group Hug

Double Trouble 

Beach Baby

Playing!

The Three Musketeers

Cousins!

Taking a break from the waves and watching a movie

Flying their barbie kite- which shortly flew away afterwards when Emily let go of it!

Sleeping with the ocean "sound machine"

Tired Beach Baby

Playing Putt Putt!

Three!

     I feel like I have blinked and my sweet baby girl has turned 3!  Here is a quick recap of some of the events from over the past year, some of my favorite things about Emily at this age, her favorites, and some funny things she has said.  I love you little girl!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY! 

• You had one surgery in September
• you potty trained at 2 and 2months and gave your pacifier to the little babies
• you went a whole year without an ear infection!!!
• you became a big sister
• you moved into a twin bed and moved into a bigger room now painted pink
• you learned how to ride a tricycle
• you were in your first wedding in which you ran down the aisle
• Chad is your best friend
• you believe that if you eat green beans you grow bigger at the same time while you eat them-- and then you stand up to show us how big you are
• you love the princess Emily story, silly squirrel, super duper plane, and monkey stories before bedtime
• you know your alphabet and recognize SOME of the letters
• you can count to 30 although you skip a few numbers, and you can spell your name but you like to combine the E and M together and spell it by saying "M-I-L-Y"
• you like to play with Caroline and Ava at school and will only eat macaroni and yogurt
• you like to go to sleep on your "elephant bed" at night
• you learned how to say the "family Poole blessing" as you like to call it and we now hold hands when blessing our food at the table

A FEW things I can remember off the top of my head that you have said recently...

"Mommy, he has a tractor!!!" -- spoken loudly in Publix regarding a man in his motorized wheelchair.  We repeated this one on the next aisle too when we saw him again.

"I'm a big sister now!" -- first words she spoke when meeting her brother at the hospital

"I'm going to work!" (while riding her tricycle around the house.)  "Emily, what do you do at work?"  She replied, "I eat soup."

"What you want for eat?"  or  "Mommy, I got you something for eat!" (you love pretending to cook me food in your kitchen)

Lellow-- Yellow

Pasketti-- Spaghetti

Appy Juice-  Apple Juice

Birthday Shirt from Rhett

Talking to Matt in her bed...

Loves her baby brother! 

Emily and Rhett at her Easter Egg hunt birthday party, has her "shy face" on and of course, a princess dress!

Smiling with Mama during the egg hunt!

Decorating cupcakes

Cried after everyone sang happy birthday to her!

Daddy with one of Emily's new crowns.

A whole new gown, shoes, tiara, and wand for a tiny princess!

Blowing out her candles on the cake!

Feeding Matt on her Birthday!

My Three Year Old...

One Month Old

     Matt is one month old!!!  I feel like he should be older than that because it seems forever ago that he made his arrival.  It's funny how I cannot remember life without either of my children really-- it seems they were a part of me from the very start.  Matt is such a GOOD baby still, which I am so thankful for because having two children has kept me very busy.  Stephen has been traveling some, and I am so happy that I have my parents nearby to help me out when he is gone.  We went for his 1 month visit today and he weighed in at 9lb 12oz and was 21 inches long!  That is 50% for weight and height!  He is eating good still and will hopefully learn to sleep for longer periods of time in the VERY near future...  He doesn't have a "favorite" brand of pacifier yet and has found his thumb twice, he is happiest when he is in someone's arms, and he smiles all the time.   Emily adores him but we have had to keep them separated a good bit since she can't seem to stay healthy!  I guess that is going to be our new normal for awhile but I would appreciate him NOT catching anything until he is at least 2 months old...  Here are some pictures from over the past month, not in chronological order...

First time he found his thumb!

SMILING!

Staring at his new carseat toys...

Watching Matt get a sponge bath-- She cried because he cried!

Meeting his GG!

Swinging and sleeping...

One Month Old!

Sister Love

Tiny Smile

In awe of each other

This was the day of his first doctor's appointment when he was only 5 days old

About a week old... 

All wrapped up and awake!  He is NOT a fan of being swaddled and  sleeps better when his arms are out. 

Playing on Emily's old giraffe mat.

Have to have some crying pictures!  :)

Happy Birthday Matt!

February 13th, 2013 ~ 10:02pm
8 lbs and 20 inches   

     After contracting on and off regularly and irregularly for a week and a half, I was more than ready to have Matt any day.  Stephen and I arrived at the hospital as scheduled for my 39 week checkup.  I had previously spoken with my doctor about an induction around my 2/18 due date, and we had decided to talk about it at my appointment that day and schedule an induction when he was on call.  Knowing we had talked about doing an induction, our bags were packed in the car (just in case) which was a good thing since...  he sent us over to Labor & Delivery to have a baby!!!  I was checked into my room around 10:30am and was started on Pitocin by noon.  I responded well to pitocin with Emily so I had high hopes to respond well with Matt.   My progression was slow though and I started to think that Matt was actually going to be born on Valentine's day.  My awesome nurse had some tricks to help me progress faster and after she left her shift at 7pm, I was checked and had progressed quite fast from 5cm to 8cm in about 2 hours!  Another hour later and I was pushing!  Not only did my epidural work this time (Thank you!), but I only pushed for 40 minutes!
     Stephen Matthews Poole, III, arrived into this world at 10:02pm, sunny side up and crying.  He is the spitting image of his Daddy and I remember saying so the second I saw his beautiful face.  He is already following in his sister's footsteps and weighed in exactly at 8lbs and 20 inches.  It is hard to believe that both of my babies were the exact same size!  When does that EVER happen??  My recovery was so much easier this time around probably for multiple reasons (i.e. working epidural, shorter delivery, running after a 2 year old, etc), and as for the baby--  he is pretty much the complete opposite of his little sister.  He eats SO good, his bilirubin (jaundice) levels stayed low enough that he didn't need lights, he already sleeps 4 to 5 hour stretches at night, he only cries when he's hungry/needs changing/gets in his carseat, and he seems to just be a very laid back baby overall.   Maybe this is just the newborn stage still, but unless my memory fails me, Emily was sassy from day one!  It's a good thing he is easy going since he has Miss Sassy Pants as his big sister!   Here are some pictures below from the hospital.  Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to figure out how to balance our lives as a family of four!

All checked in and ready to have a baby!

Waiting for Matt...

Stephen Matthews Poole 1, 2, and 3
Stephen, Matt, and Steve

Tired and Worth it

One of his few awake moments at the hospital

Meeting Big Sister for the first time!

One of my favorites, and he has his new "bobby" (paci) that his big sister gave him.

Showing off her buttons

Matt and Emi

Going HOME!

Mommy and Matt

Precious baby boy

Waiting on Baby

     I thought he was going to be here on Monday after contracting regularly starting around 3am, but my contractions stopped that evening never really progressing... same thing in the middle of the night on Wednesday, but they stopped again!  Now we are just playing the waiting game!  His room is finished (minus my glider chair which will not arrive until after he is here),  my bags are packed, the car seat base installed, I'm sleep deprived, and we are anxiously awaiting his appearance.  This will be my last posting before his arrival... :)  We spent the day today walking hills with my mom and celebrating my Dad's birthday with some home cooking!  Who knows, maybe that will do the trick and he can be born on his Grandpa's birthday tomorrow!  ;)  Pictures of the nursery below...  Please say a prayer for an easy, uncomplicated delivery and healthy mom and baby!

Awesome paintings above his crib from his Nini!

All of the animals and the Dog rocker are from Emily...

Emily went through her books and gave MANY of them to  "baby Matt".  It's a good things because her bookshelf is still FULL...  And the picture above the bookshelf is one I painted for Stephen in college!

Changing table with pin board and his letters I painted!

This is where the glider will go...

A FULL closet!  Clothes up to 12months (mainly thanks to my sweet nephew), and diapers for at LEAST 4 months!  Antique club hanging over the closet was from my Grandpa's collection.

Close up of his sports letters!