Isabelle's Big Day

It is official....we will be welcoming Isabelle Gracelyn Brown on Thursday December 11th! Unless, of course, she has other plans. I will be induced that morning. I will keep everyone posted.

Love,
Sarah

Finally...the Bunk Beds!

Well, we finally did it. We bought the girls bunk beds for their room. We moved both the girls into Madlyn's room to give Baby Isabelle a nursery. The girls are VERY excited about it! We will see how long that lasts. I'll let you know. Madlyn has chosen the top bunk, which seems to not bother Emily in the least. They slept in it for the first time last night. And everyone slept through the night, including us. Emily usually comes and wakes us up at least one time every night...so we are thrilled! We still have some things to do before Isabelle makes her arrival, but overall things are coming together quite nicely. Wanted to share a few pictures of the girls' new bed!

Thanksgiving 2008

Jeremy making the turkey!
Jeremy and Sarah posing after stuffing themselves at Grandma Martha's

Madlyn and Emily prior to eating

Emily (Galloping Horse) at her Thanksgiving Party

Emily's class singing "One Little Indian"

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We went to my mom's house and aunt Becca was there from Baltimore. The girls love seeing aunt "Becky" as they call her. Of which, she does not approve, which makes it that much more FUN! We had turkey (thanks dad!), mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash soup (Aunt Becky's favorite), green bean casserole, broccoli, cranberry sauce, stuffing, gravy (Emily's favorite), pumpkin pie, chocolate chip cookies, and 2 kinds of jello! All for 6 people! Ridiculous! But GOOD! Then, of course, we watched the Titans kick the Lions's "rear ends". GO TITANS! Emily had a Thanksgiving day party at her school on the 21st. The kids sang songs and dressed up as Indians! Emily picked out her own Indian name...Galloping Horse. Very appropriate for her since she LOVES horses! Then they had a Harvest meal, which I and another parent was in charge of. It is extremely difficult to come up with a meal that 4 years will eat! So we had chicken nuggets, which we called "turkey nuggets", carrot sticks, apples, grapes, popcorn, pumpkin pie (for the parents...but Emily ate), and cookies! Oh well, we tried! This blog seemed to be mainly about food! I guess that is partly what Thanksgiving is about. Of course the bigger picture is about about being truly thankful. I am so grateful for everything and everybody in my life! My family and friends are the best. And with Isabelle coming soon, I could not be more appreciative for what I have! I have a wonderful husband, beautiful daughters, and fantastic family and the best friends anyone could ask for! Not to mention a roof over my head, a job I love, and all of the material things I could need! I am truly fortunate! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and look forward to a fabulous Christmas season!

Much love,

Sarah

Soccer friends

The season is almost over and it has been one exciting season! Madlyn's team has done really well this year. They have actually won almost every game, which is a HUGE improvement. You can tell the girls realize it too, which makes it even more fun to watch. They have worked together as a team and it shows! Madlyn has also turned into quite alittle "defender", which surprised the heck out of me! This is a picture of Madlyn and her "best friend" Kaitlyn. They have played on the same team for some time now and get along just great. My computer reversed the picture somehow so their "Sun Drop" uniforms are backwards if you look closely. One day I will get better at this whole thing. The same goes for Emily's picture. Her picture is of her friend (and Kaitlyn's sister) Emily. They have had so much fun cheering the big girls on all these seasons. They are "two peas in a pod". In terms of soccer for Emily, let's just say soccer is not her sport! Although the day this was taken, Emily scored her first goal and was very excited about it! But not excited enough to play next season! She spent most of the season on the sideline because she was "tired" or "hot" or my personal favorite..."dizzy". Momma didn't raise no fool! Moreover, she does seem to have an impressive arm (wonder where she gets that from). She seriously knows how to do the bean bag toss! And we should know...we went to enough "fall festivals" this year and the bean bag toss was no problem for Miss Emily! So maybe we will try T-ball...of course they might need to put in a pinch runner for her. Do they allow that in T-Ball? We might find out.

No news on Isabelle yet. I am feeling good, just tired. And still trying to get everything done before she gets here. I am 34 weeks and all is well. Hope all is well with all of you!

Sarah

A Witchy Halloween!

Well this year we were witches for Halloween! Emily was an "October Witch" and Madlyn was a "Spider Witch"! Scary! Even my mother and Jeremy's mother showed up as for the festivities as witches! I did not dress up this year, even though, with my expanding belly, I could have been a number of "FUN" things! My mother and I stayed home and gave out the candy while Jeremy and his parents took the girls out trick-or-treating! You should have seen the amount of candy they came home with! Ridiculous! Jeremy and Madlyn ended up bringing their treasure home and dropping it off and going back out 2 more times! Of course, I won't tell you how much is still left. We do love some candy in this house! Emily quit pretty early, and really, I think she enjoyed passing out candy more! She would wait at the door and get upset if we went more than a few minutes without someone coming to the house. It was rather funny! I hope everyone's Halloween was as good as ours! We certainly enjoyed ourselves!

Let it Shine

Last week was trophy week at the girls gymnastics class. They do it 3 or 4 times a year. Madlyn just loves it! Once a year they get a trophy provided by the gym assuming the parents order it in time! Which, by the way, my mom always forgot to order it and so I went years without receiving a trophy when I took gymnastics there as a child. It wasn't until my own daughters went there that I fully understood because somehow it was always the gyms fault according to my mother...but I digress! If it is not their turn for a trophy that week then they get a red ribbon which just isn't nearly as good according to Madlyn, but she is learning. Last week was Madlyn's 4th year at Let it Shine and so she received a plaque. She was so excited! It was a very special evening and as she pointed out "the first time the trophy had her name on it"! Emily is due for her first trophy in December so she received the red ribbon this time. It didn't seem to bother her at all that her big sister got a plaque though. She was extremely proud of Madlyn and just kept smiling! I couldn't believe it. I would have been so jealous of my sister...but not Emily! Here are a few pictures of the night, including one with Madlyn and 2 of her coaches (Coach Kyra and Coach Natalie) and 2 of her friends from class.

A Shower for Isabelle

Madlyn and Courtney's son, Parker
Trish and I "all smiles"
Myself, Martha, Trish, and Kristin

Don't drink the water at work!

Yesterday, Madlyn and I went to a shower for baby Isabelle. It was hosted by 3 of my friends, Courtney, Darci, and Amanda. The guests of honor included myself and 2 my friends from work, Trish and Martha. We are all due within a month of each other and are all having girls! I have another friend from work, Kristin who is due 2 weeks after me and is having a little boy! She gets her own shower because it is her first baby and we are all soooooo excited for her! It was a great success and we had a wonderful time. I quickly realized how lucky I am to have these fabulous ladies in my life! They all made us feel so special yesterday! I think I speak for both Trish and Martha in saying a "big thank you" for all of their love and support! I cherish each one of their friendships and we will be welcoming Miller, Kalli, and Isabelle soon!