Thanksgiving in Tyler

I think we may have started a new tradition this Thanksgiving. For the first time, we went to Tyler for Thanksgiving! Matt's Uncle (his dad's brother) and family live there, so we were able to spend the holiday with them, Matt's mom, and some of their extended family. It was wonderful! The food was delicious, Will loved being outside (even though is was a cold & cloudy Fall day), Caroline was in heaven being held by loving family members all day, and Matt had a ball playing with all of Uncle Danny's toys (4-wheelers & guns). Since Caroline isn't sleeping through the night yet, it was nice to have somewhere close to visit family so we could make it a day trip & come home to sleep in our own beds that night. Judging by how much Matt & Will loved being there, I see many future father/son trips to Tyler!

p.s. Excuse the quality of photos--of course I forgot the camera, so I had to use the iPhone!


Will took a great nap in the car, so he was ready to play when we got there!



Will loved playing with the baby goats! :)



Playing with Uncle Danny...



Matt LOVED 4-wheeling all through the woods.






Bev getting some shooting practice...



Matt was a pro...



I shot a handgun for the first time, and surprisingly, I was pretty good at it! Danny said I had "natural talent". :)



I hit all 10 shots on the target, and 7/10 on the bullseye!



Caroline loved being held and rocked with Aunt Lisa...



Cousin Jordan...



And of course, MiMi! :)



Caroline being adored by her fans. :)



My sweet girl...



And of course, my happy boy!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with your family and friends. Can't believe it's almost December! Christmas will be here before we know it!


-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

A Weekend With GJ & Popa

GJ and Popa came to visit us last weekend! What a great start to the Thanksgiving celebrations! We had a wonderful time relaxing, playing with the babies, and eating yummy food. We started the weekend off with diner with the Gregg family. I didn't take any pictures, but Will & Lila had so much fun playing together! The weekend continued with some "girl time" shopping with me, GJ and Caroline. Then, the boys--Popa and Matt--went down to Waco to cheer on the Bears. What a game!!! Baylor upset OU for the first time in school history! Crazy! I'm so glad Matt & my dad were there to enjoy all the fun. The best part of the entire weekend was that my mom took both babies on Saturday and Sunday morning to let me get some much needed sleep. It was the best gift she could have given me. We are working hard to get Caroline to sleep through the night, but unfortunately we aren't there yet. So it was wonderful to have a few hours of uninterrupted sleep in my own bed. :)  All in all, it was a great weekend, and I can't wait for more time with family this holiday season!

Popa & Will had a fun time playing at the park

Can't resist another picture of those curls! :)

GJ helping Caroline with bath time

Our attempt at photos for GJ & Popa's Christmas card

My sleeping beauty

We ended the weekend with a brother/sister photo session. Will LOVES his baby sister. He's borderline obsessed with her. He isn't the slightest bit jealous of her, he just gets upset if he isn't the one holding her/taking care of her. He's even started hugging/kissing her all on his own--we didn't even have to teach him! I love how he just naturally loves her. :)

Checking each other out...

Happy Thanksgiving Week! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with those that you love!

Caroline's Announcement

Liz & Lauren Meet Caroline

Last weekend, my sister and her daughter made the trip to Texas to meet Caroline! We had the best time! Liz was incredibly helpful around the house, and Will LOVED playing with Lauren all weekend. It was so nice to spend time together and get all caught up. I'm already looking forward to the next time we get to see each other!

Will loved playing with his cousin, Lauren!

Lucky for us, we had several good nights of sleep with Caroline waking up every 3-4 hours (instead of 2!). Let's keep this pattern going, sweet girl!!

We spent Sunday afternoon at the Dallas Arboretum. The weather was humid, but that didn't stop us from having fun! Lauren loved her first visit to an arboretum, and it was great to get out with both kiddos. Look at those cheeks on Caroline! I think they are getting bigger every day! :)

My loves

Will wasn't in the mood for a photo session

A typical day with a toddler...

Sisters!!

We love you, Liz & Lauren! Thank you for visiting us--we love spending time with you! Can't wait to see you soon!!

11/11/11

Happy Due Date, baby girl! It's hard to believe we weren't supposed to meet you until today, and we've already had a month with you in our arms! We are so thankful that you are healthy and growing stronger every day. I can't imagine our family without you. We love you, Miss Caroline Rae!


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One Month Old

Dear Caroline,
I can't believe you are already one month old! These last few weeks have flown by, and you are getting bigger and stronger every day. Even though you came sooner than we expected, I wouldn't trade these "extra" 5 weeks with you for anything. You have already brought us such joy with your sweet smile! Every few days we hit a rough patch with sleeping (you are quite the diva at 2:00am!), but we've gone a whole week without a difficult night so hopefully that's behind us. Even though the nights have been a challenge, you are an angel during the day. You are a great napper, and I hardly hear a peep from you all day. This has really helped your brother with the transition of becoming a family of four. Now if we could just switch those days & nights! :)

Here are some things that we love about you already:

-I'm not sure where you got that beautiful chestnut brown hair, but it's gorgeous! It will be interesting to see if it changes or not...

-You are quite the snuggler...just like your brother was. You love to be held, especially by me or your dad...

-Your brother is obsessed with giving you hugs! He is always on the lookout for you, and he never passes up an opportunity to love on you...

-The only place you will sleep right now is either in our arms, in your little chair, or in your car seat. It seems like you prefer to be upright instead of laying flat. We aren't pushing you to change right now since technically you aren't even full term yet, but hopefully you'll start to sleep in your crib sooner than later...

-You are not a big fan of the swing yet--you will only tolerate it for a few minutes. But you love your chair, your Boppy, and being rocked. One of your favorite things to do is to look out our front window during "play time"...

-You love being swaddled, but you like your hands close to your face at all times. :)

-You are a great eater & had gained over a pound at your 2week check up when you weighed 7lb, 13oz! You are doing so well, in fact, that the doctor doesn't want to see you until you are 2 mths old! It will be fun to see how much you weigh in December...

-Your sneezes may be the cutest things in the world. You always sneeze at least 3 times in a row, and they are so dainty! You are a true lady...

Those are just a few of the things we love about you! I can't wait to learn more about you and see the girl you will become. We love you, Caroline, and we thank the Lord for blessing our family with your sweet presence.
Love,
Mommy





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A Dragon & His Princess

Halloween has come and gone at the Emmons' house, and Fall is officially here! Since the babes are too little to know what's really going on, we didn't trick-or-treat this year. I'm sure next year will be a different story! However, I can't pass up the opportunity to get them all dressed up--is there anything cuter?--so we went to the Pumpkin Patch in our costumes, and we played in the backyard on Halloween with Carter to celebrate.

Before the Halloween festivities began, we went to the Arboretum with Mimi to enjoy the Fall weather

Baby girl's first trip to the Arboretum!

A few days before Halloween, we went to the pumpkin patch as a family. Somebody didn't like pretending to be a pumpkin!! :)

Quite possibly the cutest dragon ever

Complete with wings & a tail

Daddy & the dragon

Mommy & the princess

Me & my loves

The best family photo we could get...

Will's first experience with a petting zoo--he wasn't quite sure what to think about the goats and their crazy eyes.

Happy boy!

Protecting his princess...

On Halloween, we spent the afternoon playing in the backyard with Carter!

I couldn't resist taking a pic of the dragon with the Baylor sign...

Carter = Super Hero

Bubbles were a big hit!

The princess slept the entire time  :)

And to end it all, my new favorite picture with my loves..

Hope y'all are enjoying the Fall season like we are! Thanksgiving will be here before you know it!