Mommy's Little Twin

Samantha is the spitting image of me, so much so, that I often refer to her as my "little twin."  Of course, she has brown eyes like me ... but the obvious similarity is the curly hair.  The longer it gets, the more and more it looks like mine (except that it is a little lighter in color). 

Both Steve and I are amazed at the number of people that stop to ask if her hair is naturally curly.  Um, yes ... we wouldn't chemically alter it with a perm at this age!  I just simply smile and reply, "yes, she got her momma's curls."

The best part is that she loves her curls.  There may come a day when she longs for straight hair (there were certainly times when that was all that I thought that I wanted), but for now she is content with them.  I have come to realize that having curls is a nice thing ...

Another Addition

We are happy to share that we will be adding another little one to our family in May!  Our families have known for about 6 weeks now, as we decided to share with them in November before Steve left to go to Mississippi for a long, work-related trip.  Both of our families were obviously thrilled, but I think that the person that was the MOST excited would have to be Samantha.

One morning, we sat her down and shared the news with her.  We explained that she was such a great big sister to Sophia (and then we listed some of the wonderful things that she does) that we thought that she would like to be a big sister again.  She looked a little confused and told us that she was already a big sister.  We then told her that I had a baby in my belly and that we would get to meet the baby after Mother's Day.  She finally understood and couldn't wait to tell Sophia.

When Sophia woke up, she ran to her, put her hands on both of Sophia's cheeks and said, "Sophia, I have something very important to tell you.  Momma has a baby in her belly and it's only this big, but Momma's belly is going to get really big.  And when the baby is born, you can go with me to the hospital to see it, ok?"

Later that day, we were riding in the car and Samantha must have been digesting the brevity of the news for several hours because she loudly announced, "Momma, Daddy ... I don't know if I can be a big sister to TWO babies because that is A LOT of work!"  (She was referring to Sophia and the new little one, of course).  Steve and I just exchanged a grin before I replied, "Honey, that's ok.  You don't have to do any of the work.  You can do the fun things like choosing clothes for the baby to wear and giving the baby a bath."  Now, that is what she tells everyone -- she's going to give the baby a bath.

I am now 16 weeks along and feeling much better.  While I experienced morning sickness with each of the other pregnancies, this one was the worst.  In fact, the nausea only started to finally fade away about 2 weeks ago.  I now have some energy back too ...

I am officially due on May 30th, but I will have a scheduled c-section sometime the week before that.  The timing seems to be perfect, as I will be done teaching the Spring semester at the beginning of May.  I plan to take the summer off so that I can be home for a while before going back to teaching a couple nights a week in the Fall. 

There isn't a day that goes by that Samantha doesn't ask about the baby -- how it is doing, whether I can feel it move, etc.  While I am clearly excited about this pregnancy myself, I am even more excited to be sharing this experience with her ...

Last week, she came home from school with this picture for me:

Customarily, she always draws a picture of me on the back of one of her school papers.  She is always so proud to show me the extra details that she has added (the curly hair, the nostrils, etc).  Well this time, there was a different detail -- she drew the baby inside my belly!  It just warms my heart to know how much she has already considered this baby to be a part of our lives.  She is so focused on the baby's growth, the baby's feelings and the baby's general well-being, that I know that she will just be the most remarkable big sister ... just like she was from the second that she first laid eyes on Sophia at the hospital.

Our Morning ...

We woke up yesterday morning to one of the first dustings of snow for this winter season.  While Sophia experienced snow last year, she was so little that she never really understood it or had a chance to play in it. 

Here she is, looking out the window ... watching as the snow started to fall:

I promised the girls that I would take them outside to play in the snow after we had breakfast and got dressed for the day.  Sam helped me make little bowls of fruit for our breakfast and then I caught this little thief stealing all of the blueberries from the bowls.

After everyone was full from breakfast and appropriately dressed, we headed outside to enjoy the snow.  At first, Sophia was completely unsure of the white stuff.  In fact, she kept stomping her feet to get the snow off her boots, thinking that she couldn't have it on there.  (She knows that it is not alright to play in the mud and I think that she related the snow on her boots to mud on her boots).  After I reassured her that it was ok to have snow on her boots and on her gloves, she started to enjoy it a little more.

Starting to make snowballs:

Then, I got out the sled so that the girls could have some fun with it.

It was pure enjoyment for both of the girls.

Even though I kept telling Samantha that there wasn't quite enough snow to make a snow angel, it didn't stop her from trying.

Trying to pull the sled on her own:

All tuckered out:

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Later in the morning, the girls and I made some gingerbread cookies together.  I gave them free-rein of the kitchen counter and let them have the time of their lives.

Sam mixed the dough while Sophia practiced her skills with the rolling pin:

And then some flour was involved:

Sophia couldn't resist joining in:

Cutting out the gingerbread men:

It was a very busy, but fun morning for us!

The Girls' Tree

Steve remembered that his parents had a little 3-foot Christmas tree up in their attic that they weren't using this year, and he decided to ask them if we could have it for the girls.  They were more than happy for us to take it, so Steve brought it home with him one day this week.  It needed a little bit of TLC and then I had it ready for the girls to decorate after lunch on Wednesday. 

I decided to put it at the top our stairs (outside of the girls' bedrooms) and it was prefect after I elevated it a little and then draped a tree skirt (aka a nice tablecloth) around it.  We used lights, ornaments and various decorations that I had leftover in my Christmas storage totes.  The girls had a blast doing this and I am so glad that Steve had this idea. 

Choosing their ornaments of choice:

Each one of the girls took such care and pride in hanging their individual ornaments:



Putting hooks in the ornaments (for some reason this was an entertaining activity):

Samantha got the hang of it pretty quickly:

Putting some finishing touches on the tree:

The final product in all of its beauty:

The tree is really pretty at night and I am thrilled (just as much as the girls) with all of the decorations that we have up for this holiday season.  We now have three Christmas trees decorated and various shelves, railings, cupboards and mantles decorated with lights and greenery.  It's almost a full-time job plugging in all of the lights every day, but I love it!  And I think that I may be a little sad to see all of it get put away in January; our house will seem so dull and dreary ... Until then, we have a few weeks to enjoy the beauty!

Fun With Daddy

Steve came home from Mississippi a couple days early and the girls and him took advantage of the unseasonably warmer weather.  It was still a little chilly, but definitely not typical December weather in Michigan.  I put the girls in their coats and hats and sent them outside to help Steve bring up some wood for our fireplace.  Little did I know that they would actually be riding in the little trailer while they were helping him.

Pulling up by the house with their firewood:

Taking turns handing Daddy the wood:

Obviously this wasn't a very efficient process for stacking a nice, big pile of firewood ... but the girls had a great time (I even heard some giggling from them as Steve made laps around the house).

The Christmas Countdown

Last year, Samantha and I made a Christmas Countdown chain to hang on her bedroom door.  Each night, she would rip off one link, and then when there was only one link left ... well, that was the night that Santa would be coming to our house.  She remembered doing this last year and I was excited to carry on the tradition again this year; now being able to include Sophia in our little project.

In honor of the first day of December, the girls and I made the chains after lunch yesterday.  I had already cut all of the strips.  I then handed each one of them a glue stick and showed them where to glue on each piece.  Sam constructed her own chain, completely understanding the repeating pattern of red, green, red ...

Sophia did most of the gluing for her chain and then I stuck the pieces together for her.  I have to say, the girls both did very well with this little project and were then pretty excited to be able to hang their chains on their respective bedroom doors.  Each girl then ripped off her own link at their corresponding bedtime.

Ready to start, with glue sticks in hand:

Total concentration (look at that tongue hanging out!):

The elves, hard at work:

Constructing her chain:

The finished products (Sophia's is the same length as Sam's; hers is just doubled over to make it easier to hold), just waiting to be hung:

23 more days until Santa comes ...

'Tis The Season ...

Last weekend, we set up our Christmas trees and decorated them.  Steve was leaving for Mississippi on Monday, and I wanted to be sure that he was able to partake in the annual festivities before leaving the state.  The girls had a great time helping him put all of the branches in place and then stringing the lights.  Then, they helped me with the ornaments, placing the not-as-fragile ones within their reach.

A major MUST: Making sure the lights work before taking the time to string them on the tree.

Daddy with his little elves:

Every year, we set up TWO trees; a larger one in the living room and a smaller one in the family room, adjacent to the kitchen.  The one in the living room is filled with all kinds of ornaments that we have collected over the years (childhood ornaments, ornaments from our travels and keepsake ornaments for each one of the girls).  The other tree is filled with my cooking ornaments and decorated in red (accented with gold) to match the decor of the near-by kitchen.

Hanging some candy canes:

Taking the time to pick the perfect location for her candy cane:

Daddy had to assist so that some of the candy canes could be distributed on the higher branches:

Samantha's special job every year is to help put the angel on the top of the tree.  Here she is, cradling the angel, so pleased to be able to assist with her yet another year:

Mission accomplished:

Plugging in the angel so that she can shine her light from above:

Sophia, hanging her special birthstone angel:

The helpers, excited to be starting the Christmas season:

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The next day, I rounded the corner and found this ... The girls had pulled up a chair and were sitting, mesmorized by the glowing tree with all of its ornaments:

(The tree skirt was still packed away in another box, waiting to be discovered.  I soon found it, shortly after this picture was taken.  Christmas decorating in this house is a big task and often takes a couple of days ... but I love it).