Christmas Program

Carter's class had a birthday party for Jesus and a little Christmas program. It was adorable!

While in their classroom, they sang Happy Birthday to Jesus and ate cake.

Then the parents were asked to head to the chapel while the kids got on their costumes for the program.  Carter was a wise man.  The kids played bells, sang songs and told the story of Jesus's birth.

(class shot: Carter is 3rd from the right)

 The kids were great and you could tell the whole class was excited to perform for us. 

Bravo, Jr. Explorers Class, Bravo!

What a great way to start the Christmas holiday! 

how about some new pics

Wanna see new pics?  Here you go!
Ryan loves to pose for the camera and loves to dress up with accessories.

Ashley is just starting to give us happy faces.

Carter can't take a normal picture these days.  He is either making funny faces or doing crazy moves for the camera.

 Getting all 3 kids to sit and smile for a picture is impossible at this point.  We have fun trying, though!

2 week update

Little Ashley is 2 weeks old today.  She is a great baby who is rarely fussy.  Ashely is a big eater and is now 8.5 lbs.  That's almost a pound over her birth weight!  She is also a good sleeper.  Ashley can sleep for 5 hours straight sometimes.  I've been told that 5 hours is considered "sleeping through the night" for breastfed babies.  The problem is this usually doesn't happen at night!  That is something we'll need to work on over the next couple of weeks.

The rest of the family is adjusting to our new addition quite well.  Ryan calls her Dolly and it's so adorable when she wants to hold Ashley.  She usually holds out her hands and says, "come here", in a sweet little voice.  Carter is always telling me he will always be nice to the baby and will never hit her.  Then he proceeds to remind me how he hits Ryan sometimes and perhaps that's not a very nice thing to do.  He is actually a very caring big brother to both of his little sisters.

Mom and Dad are tired (as to be expected).  The older kids are requiring lots of TLC right now because they are sick with colds and ear infections.  Nursing Ashley has been a challenge and has caused a lot of physical pain and emotional stress on me.  I have high hopes that we're about to turn a corner after a positive meeting with a lactation consultant today.  I also have a doctor's appointment today to discuss medication and options for my arthritis.  Unfortunately my symptoms are coming back and are difficult to control.   

She's here!

Our little lady is here!  Ashley Kristine Meek was born Tuesday 11-22-11 at 5:08am.
It was a very quick delivery (4 hours from beginning to end).  She was 7 lbs. 8 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long.  Ashley has a head full of dark wavy hair and looks alot like her brother.

We came home from the hospital on Thanksgiving to a house full of people and good food. Grandpa and Grandma Meek, Uncle Kevin, Aunt Amy and cousin Grayson were all here to welcome our little girl. It was great to have the company. We are thankful that Grandma and Grandpa took Carter and Ryan back to Evansville with them for a couple of days so we can rest and spend some quality time with Ashley before getting back to real life.

The older kids seem to love their little sister already.  Carter is fascinated with her.  He loves to hold her and kiss her.  He is quick to give her his prized possession, Monks (his stuffed monkey), whenever she crys.  He says it makes her feel better.  Ryan likes to tickle Ashley, pat her head and give her kisses.  There hasn't been any jealousy yet.  Hopefully this is an indication of good things to come.

and the clock continues to tick....

I don't have much to update on baby #3.  We are 10 days out from our due date and I was hoping to have the baby by now.  I guess we got a little spoiled with Ryan coming so early.  I've had quite a few contractions over the last two weeks and even a couple of "false alarms".  On Saturday, we were timing contractions for two hours and several were only 5 minutes apart! We really started to think that maybe it was time. Unfortunately they fizzled out. 

All of these contractions and the growing struggle to be comfortable towards the end has made me a little grouchy lately.  It hasn't gone unnoticed.  Carter asks me on a daily basis if I'm in a "bad moot" or if I'm frustrated. I think everyone in the house is ready for the pregnancy to be over and for the baby to be here....well, except for Ryan...she is having way too much fun these days putting stickers all over my huge belly. 

Here's a recent picture of our 2 kiddos.  Hopefully my next post will show all 3!

Trick or Treat!

The kids were very excited for Halloween.  We picked out our pumpkins at the pumpkin patch with Grandma and Grandpa Meek and cousin Aidan.  Then we carved those pumpkins with Aunt Lisa, cousins Morgan and Mitch, and Papa Big over fall break.  Ryan was a huge fan of pulling out the guts and Carter liked picking out the design for his pumpkin.

For Halloween, Carter dressed up like a fireman.  We bought his costume in early October so he logged lots of hours in the outfit before it was actually time to trick-or-treat.  The costume included a super soaker fire hose backpack that he loved!

Ryan was orginally going to be a butterfly but Dad thought we could do better on her costume. We switched her to a pirate at the last minute. Daddy was right. The pirate costume was much better.

The kids enjoyed handing out candy to the trick-or-treaters that came to our door.  Carter was very generous in giving out candy.  When he was in charge of the candy bowl, I think each kid got at least 3 to 6 pieces.

Carter was excited when it was their turn to trick-or-treat.  Ryan was less then interested.

We were able to calm our angry pirate down and Daddy took them around the neighborhood. 

Our neighbors, Anna (3 yrs old) and her mommy, joined us in our trick-or-treating outting.  The older kids had a blast running from house to house.  Ryan enjoyed hanging back in the wagon and hitting up a very select number of homes.

It was a fun Halloween night and a great month of October. We hope your Halloween was spooktacular too!

4 weeks and counting

We're heading towards the finish line. Baby #3 is due in 4 weeks.  I know there has been a real lack of belly photos on here this time, but I just can't seem to bring myself to take any.  

There are so many differences between being pregnant the fist time (and even the second) compared to the third.  Physically, I think the third time around has been more difficult.  I certainly got bigger, faster.  I always feel 4-5 weeks farther along then I really am.  For example, I've been sleeping on the couch for 2 months now and I still have a month to go!  With the other pregnancies I was only sleeping on the couch for a week or two.  Also the morning sickness this time lasted longer (almost half the pregnancy) and I've had NO energy the entire pregnancy.  I have to admit being tired while caring for two little kids has been difficult.  Thank goodness I have such a great husband.  Kyle is a super dad!  There are some benefits to being pregnant for the third time.  There's been very little stress.  I know what to expect and there is no real rush to get things "ready" for the baby.  I feel like we know what we're doing and are simply ready and excited to start our lives with 3 kids.

I am going to the doctor on a weekly basis for my checkups now.  So far there is no indication that I will go early.  It's all just a waiting game.  If I had to guess, I would say this baby will be here somewhere between November 12-20th although my due date isn't until Nov. 26th. 

Some key November dates to remember:

• my birthday - November 19th
• Thanksgiving - November 24th
• my niece's birthday -November 29th. 
• Also, don't forget this year has 11.11.11 although I don't think I'll root for that day.

So how are the other kids doing?  Great!

Carter:  Carter is loving school and always wants to play pretend.  He loves cooking/baking with Mom and Dad.  He has so much fun playing hide an go seek with his sister. He is so excited to be a fireman for halloween and loves scary halloween decorations just like his dad.  He likes to show you his silly faces (see below). And loves it when you take pictures of his silly faces.

Carter is all boy.  He loves to play catch with the football, build trains and race cars.  He is constantly talking about poopie because he thinks it's funny. He's a very emotional 3 year old.  He is so sweet and caring most of the time, but finds it difficult to express himself when he's angry.  We've had a challenging time teaching him to use words instead of hitting or spitting.  Kyle and I will be so happy when he grow out of that phase!  Carter is fully potty trained (even at night) and has very few accidents.  Carter's favorite shows right now are Fireman Sam, Rory the Racing Car and the movies Rio, Up and Ratatouille.  One of his favorite things to do is to have movie night.  We pull out their sleeping bags on the floor and watch movies together.  Carter is so much fun to be around and makes us laugh all the time.  He is a wonderful little boy!

Ryan: Ryan continues to be such a delight.  She is usually "go with the flow" and loves to play with her brother.  She might be the best hide-and-go-seek player we've ever met.  I swear she can hide quietly in our closet (behind Kyle's hanging clothes) forever just waiting for her moment to say "surprise!"  She loves to play on the swing set, draw with sidewalk chalk and color in coloring books.  Ryan has 3 dollies that she loves to hug, kiss and diaper.  She likes to play baseball and catch. She doesn't like to have her hair brushed or styled and hates to wear shoes and jackets. She's still a daddy's girl and will always run to him when she is hurt or doesn't feel well. Ryan is warming up to the idea of school.  Her teachers say she cries less and less every week.  Ryan is picking up new words every day.  She says stuff like Momma, Daddy and Carter.  She is good about telling us what she wants like a show, water, milk or for us to sit down.  She's trying to count but only knows the numbers two and six.  It cracks us up when she says: "Oh, Man!" and "On your mark, get set, go!"  We've introduced Ryan to the potty, but no action yet. She's been sleeping in a big girl bed for about a week and the transition has been easy!   We can't wait to see her become a big sister.

Apple Orchard

We had a fantastic family day at the apple orchard. The weather was perfect and there was so much to do!  There were corn mazes, hay mazes and sunflower mazes. They had hay stacks to play in, pumpkins to sit on, apple trees to pick from and a huge playground to play on.

 

The kids had so much fun discovering everything the orchard had to offer.  Their favorite part was taking the little red wagon out to the apple trees and searching for the perfect apples to pick.  They could have picked a hundred apples, but what would we do with a hundred apples?  Trust me when I say, we came home with more then enough apples for the four of us.  Actually this weekend the Meek family is going to attempt baking our first ever apple pie. Should be interesting!

First-Timers

It was the first time Carter ever went to a football game and the first time Papa Big saw a game at Lucas Oil.  It was a beautiful October Sunday afternoon.  We ate downtown and walked over to the game.  Unfortunately the Colts lost. 

Here are a few pictures from lunch and "pregame".  Carter only made it to half time before wanting to leave.  He and Kyle hit up the mall to buy candy and play video games in the arcade while I got to enjoy the rest of the game with my dad (who turns 77 in a couple days).  FYI...you will notice Carter's nose is all scratched up.  He took a stumble down the front porch the other day.  Ouch!

Recent activites

In addition to school, the kids have been keeping busy with other activities. 

Ryan has been going to Gymboree with Nana on Thursdays.  It give her an opportunity to sing, dance and climb around.  It gives Nana an opportunity to take lots of pictures.  Ryan loves the little clown Gymbo, has fun popping bubbles and doing the freeze dance.

Carter's been taking swim lessons on Wednesdays. He loves to swim and thought it was awesome that he got to wear goggles during class. He has no problem going under the water and does the front crawl pretty well. Floating on his back and being a good listener in class is a little more challenging for him. His favorite part of class was getting a "special drink" (a.k.a. gatorade) out of the vending machine on the last day of class. The part he liked least was getting cold half way through class.