30/31 Weeks

I'll actually be one day shy of 31 weeks as we ring in the new year tonight!  9 weeks to go!  March 5th still sounds like a long way away to me, so I prefer to tell people how many weeks I have left.:)  

I've been feeling really well lately. I haven't had trouble with my sciatic nerve since late November...huge praise!  I've had some heartburn, but not all the time.  I have started having some back pain on the lower right side of my back.  I'm trying to cut down on how much I carry Claire around and hopefully that will help out.  

Abby is moving a lot these days, which I love! I had my 30 week check up early in the week and we both got a great report.  The nurse put the doppler on my belly to listen to her heartbeat and as soon as she put it on my belly Abby kicked it hard.  It made us both smile.  It took the nurse a little longer than normal to find her heartbeat, over a minute, which may not sound like long, but when you're holding your breath waiting to hear that sweet noise, it felt like forever.  I felt sure that Abby was fine since she was kicking and moving, but it was a huge relief when the nurse found her heartbeat.  It was beating about 148 bpm.  I'm going for OB checkups every two weeks now, which seems to make things go by faster in my mind.  

Last night at the dinner table we were all saying our favorite thing about 2015.  Mine was hands down Abby.  In 2015 we found out we were expecting another little blessing, we found out she was going to be a girl, and we chose a name for our 4th daughter.  So much excitement!  We're super excited about 2016 and getting to hold her in our arms.  Praying for all the details surrounding her arrival.  We love you baby girl!!  

Visits with the Burns

Our friends, the Burns, live in Central Asia but were home for a couple weeks during the month of December!  We were able to get together with them several times during their visit and it was so much fun to catch up!! 

All the kids eating a muffin!  Yes, I did have to get out the vacuum when they finished, but aren't they cute!?

Hudson and Hannah are just 2 weeks apart and Katelyn and Claire are 6 months apart. 

My friend Jacinta kept the girls in the nursery at church last Sunday and said that Katelyn was upset when her Mommy left and Claire kept going over to her and patting her on the back.  She sent me this picture of Claire checking on Katelyn.  Sweet things.

We're so thankful for the Burns and we're praying for them and their work in Central Asia!  

Wordless Wednesday

Christmas in Toccoa

On Christmas Eve afternoon we headed over to Toccoa to meet my family at the Christmas Eve service at my parents' church.  I grew up going to this service each Christmas Eve and we haven't been able to make it to this service since we've been married, so it was so special that we were able to be there this year.  Brought back lots of good memories, plus I loved seeing so many people that I've known all my life!  There is just something about walking in and having people call me "Steph" and "Steph-a-neph-a-neph-a-nie" that makes me feel comfortable and loved.  

Papa Stan ended up walking out with Claire during the service.  Claire kept trying to talk to us and when I would cover my hand with her mouth that would only irritate her.  

On Christmas morning the girls were SO excited about running down stairs to see what Santa had brought them. Emily was about to burst.  Hannah was very excited.  And Claire was slightly confused about what all the excitement was about.  We had actually woken Claire up just before taking this picture. 

Emily was so excited about the tablets (Leapfrog LeapPad) that Santa brought her and Hannah. Claire was too busy checking out what Hannah had gotten to even find her gifts.  I had to bring her to them right after I took this picture.  

I snapped these pictures just before we started opening gifts with my parents and siblings.

Ressie was taking her morning nap when we opened gifts, but she didn't mind missing the craziness. She enjoyed her own opening party after she woke up! 

The girls loved getting to spend time with Jacob and Ressie!  Ressie will turn 1 in about 2 weeks and she is going to be running around with her big cousins in no time.  She's already started taking a few steps.  I love that Jacob wanted to hold his chainsaw for the picture.  He declared it is favorite Christmas gift.

Just before lunch Aunt Ann (mom's sister), Uncle Bud, Angela, Uncle Jimmy (mom's brother) and Aunt Kathy arrived.  We enjoyed having all of them there to spend the afternoon and evening with us! 

Claire was telling Aunt Ann and Uncle Bud about something.  

I caught Claire and Ressie playing together and I thought it was cute!  They are going to be buddies.  

5 going on 15.  

Watts Family Photo

We had such a wonderful Christmas!  So thankful that our Savior was born.  So thankful for family. So thankful for the three girls standing in front of us and we can't wait to have one more in our arms next Christmas! 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  

Christmas in Jackson

We headed down to Jackson the Monday before Christmas to spend time with Bert's family.  We had a great visit!  

On Monday afternoon the other adults were doing a little more wrapping so Bert and I took the kids on a walk around the neighborhood.  Cuties!

All the kiddos where you can see their sweet faces.  

Hannah loves watching movies with Pawpaw! 

On Tuesday evening we had our Watts family get together.  Carrie set up a photo booth, which all the kids thought was great fun!

We loved getting to see Mamaw (Bert's grandma)! 

Pawpaw even got in on the fun!  

Grandmama made capes for all her grandkids.  They were a big hit!  

Grandmama and Pawpaw with all their grandkids!  Grandmama was especially glad to have everyone at the same place and same time.  

On Wednesday we all started making the treck north.  Alison and Stephen headed back to Wake Forest with their kids and we met Linda, Jeff and Carrie at our house on Wednesday evening.  They spent the night with us and then we had a fun morning with them on Christmas Eve before they headed on up the road to Alison's house.  

Aunt Carrie and three of her nieces.  We always hate to see her go.  Los Angeles is just a little too far away.:)  

We had so much fun with family!  The girls loved getting to play with their cousins and Bert and I loved getting to catch up with everyone! 

Anniversary Dinner

Our anniversary was on Dec. 15th and we had a great day!  My mom came up a couple days later on Friday so that she could keep the girls and we could go out for an anniversary date night.  We decided to go to the Peddler Steakhouse.  We went there last year for our anniversary too.  It's just so good!  I get the pork tenderloin every time and Bert gets a steak and he's decided it's the best steak around. They also have an AMAZING salad bar which makes me equally as happy as the pork tenderloin, but then I really like a good salad. 

When we were at the salad bar there was a guy talking to another lady that he knew and she was asking him if they were going to have another kid (earlier in the conversation he had told her that he and his wife had 2 girls).  He said they would if they could guarantee it would be a boy, but since they can't he's not sure if they'll have another or not.  Bert and I just smiled at each other.  To each his own, but Claire and Abigail are such huge blessings to us it's hard for us to understand why someone would say they don't want another girl.  

We so enjoyed our time at dinner together!  The food, atmosphere, service, Christmas decorations...everything was wonderful!  After dinner we headed to several stores to finish up our Christmas shopping.  

Our anniversary date was actually a two part date (Friday night and Saturday morning).  On Saturday morning we headed to the movie theater for the 10 am showing of the new Star Wars movie.  Until about 2 months ago I hadn't seen any of them.  We've enjoyed watching them together and Bert has been so excited about this new one coming out. Bert could give you a more detailed analysis on #7 compared with the other movies...even though I've seen them I don't think I'm Star Wars knowledgeable enough to do that, but I can give you the summary....we both enjoyed it!  

I love him more today than I did on the day we were married!  Happy 8 years to us! 

Christmas Dresses, a Reunion, and Play & Praise Performance

I usually don't have time on Sunday mornings to snap any pictures of the girls.  Bert leaves for church really early so it's just me getting everybody fed and ready for the day.  But this particular morning I just had to make time for a picture.  They were too stinking cute.  

Hannah did not originally want to wear this cute dress.  She had picked out a black sleeveless dress to wear on the chilly December morning.  There were definitely some tears when I told her she had to wear this one (3 year olds for ya), but I knew she would be totally fine once she got it on.  They still love to dress alike.  

Thanks so much to Mimi for buying these cute dresses for them on a black Friday sale! 

As soon as church was over we jumped in the car and headed to Pendleton for the Moore family reunion (my dad's mom's side).  We have this reunion at this time every year at Aunt Jennie's house.  It's always so good to see everyone!  

After the reunion we headed back to Greenville so that we could get ready for Emily and Hannah's Christmas performance at church.  My parents came back with us so that they could see the girls perform.  They loved having Mimi and Papa there.

They sang 4 songs and did such a great job!  

There were several times when they were singing that Hannah would stop and wave really big at Papa.  Papa was holding Claire in his lap so we weren't sure if she was waving at Papa or Claire or both, but she had the biggest grin on her face and it made people chuckle. 

Preschool choirs really are the cutest.  It's hard for me to believe that next year Emily won't be in the preschool choir -- she'll move up to the big kids choir next fall!  It's been fun having them both in there together this year.  

When Hannah first got up on stage and got in place she looked at me and gave me a big thumbs up.  That also brought a round of chuckles.  Sweet things.  

It was a fun, busy, and beautiful Sunday!  We have so much to celebrate and be thankful for this Christmas season!   

Hannah's Christmas Party and Emily's Field Trip

Hannah has had such a great year in K3!  She's been so excited about her Christmas program and party and I've been really excited about it too!  The program was absolutely precious.  They sang 4 songs, and they all sang super loud, which made it even cuter.:)  

The first song was Rudolf and they all had on red noses that lit up.  I was impressed that they all kept them on for the whole song.  

Without me asking her to, Hannah went and asked her teacher if Claire could sit with her and have a cupcake.  Mrs. Bradshaw said they had plenty and that she could.  She was helping her with her juice in the picture below.  Hannah is such a great big sister.  She was so excited Claire was there!  

Sweet thing.  

Claire made a bit of a mess with her cupcake, but she was as happy as a lark.  

Love my sweet girls and so proud of my Hannah Beth! 

Bert didn't get to go to her performance, and I wanted him to be able to see every bit of it so I videoed it, took still pictures, while holding Claire (wrangling at times) in my lap. At the end of the performance I felt like someone should clap for me.  Ha!:)  

Emily's class went on a field trip at the same time as Hannah's party, so Bert went with Em and I went with Hannah.  I didn't love that we had to split up, but with 4 kids I'm sure that is only the first time of a zillion that that will happen.  

Emily's class went to the downtown Greenville library and then to the Hyatt to see their beautiful Christmas trees that are on display.  Groups from all over town decorate trees for the Hyatt's "Festival of Trees."  

Story time at the library.

Group picture of Emily's class. They were all so excited about this giraffe with the Santa hat on its head.

Ms. Powell split the kids up into groups of three or four to go around with the different adults there as chaperones. Here's Bert's crew:

The field trip was over just before lunch and Emily mentioned to Bert that she was hungry, so instead of heading home they headed downtown to get some pizza. He loves his girls!  Emily was super excited about her Daddy/Daughter date!  

It was a fun day of spending time with our girls!  We're thankful for all the ways they are growing and learning!

These Days

Claire got some "new" boots that she was/is very excited about.  When she first tried them on she just kept stomping around the house saying "boots, boots."  Little cutie. 

Hannah's first dentist appointment back in the spring was less than great.  If you had been a fly on the wall you would have thought they were trying to pull her teeth out instead of count and clean them.  SO, a few weeks before her next appointment (which was mid-Nov) I started talking to her about it and trying to get her excited about going.  It never failed that every single time I brought up going to see Dr. Mary or getting her teeth cleaned she immediately started crying. I kept trying though, thinking that the more we talked about it the more prepared she would be.  Well the day before her appointment I decided to try bribing.  She is a big fan of ice cream, so I told her after her appointment we would get some.  

When the dental hygienist first saw her she asked if she was okay. I couldn't see her face at the time, but it must have been green or contorted or something.  The hygienist showed her all the tools, gave her a sticker, and sunglasses to wear.  She was so patient with my girl.  Hannah whimpered through most of it, had tears pooled in her eyes, and held on to my hand with a death grip, but all in all I counted it a BIG success.  She was brave even though she was still nervous. I was proud of my girl and afterwards we both got the much deserved ice cream.

Emily is loving making books these days.  The top book in the picture below says "How to Grow a Chree." (That is, a "Tree"). The second book says "How to Love your Chree."  The second is about picking out a Christmas tree, set it up, etc.  Both are about 10 pages with words on each page and an illustration to go with it.  Bert and I love seeing her latest books!

Claire likes to call me "mom", even though when I talk to her I'll say "mommy loves you" or "Mama said come here."  She says mom with most everything she says to me. "Be right back, mom", "Okay, mom", "No, mom", "Help me up, mom", "What's dat, mom?" I actually didn't realize how much she said mom until my mom pointed it out one day.  Ha!

Mimi came over for the weekend while Bert was at a conference in Kentucky.  We had lots of fun and I got some projects done around the house which was exciting.  Hannah had been asking to get her fingers and toes painted for a little while so Mimi made sure to make that happen.  I got this cute picture of Claire inspecting Mimi's work.  She definitely approved and was proud to be just like her big sisters. 

Hannah likes to be called "Tarzan." When we tell her Tarzan is a boy she says "well, I'm a girl Tarzan."  

This was Hannah's school picture from 3K and I thought it was adorable.  I love her!

Emily said "that is uncompossible!!!" when she found out one of her sisters had accidentally broken her necklace.  If you can't think of a good word to use, just make up one.:)  

I took this picture after we had driven back home the day before Bert's birthday.  We had been at my parents' house to celebrate Thanksgiving (Thurs) and Bert's birthday (Fri) and we didn't get home that night until about 10pm.  Emily and Hannah slept in the car for most of the trip (Claire slept about half of it) and then Bert carried them in and laid them on the couch while we got everything unloaded and set up (monitors, sound machines, etc.).  Our babies are sweet (mostly) during the day time but they are especially sweet while they sleep.  It melts my heart.  

Our evening routine after dinner about every other night is Bert gives the kids a bath while I clean up the kitchen from dinner, then I dry their hair while he brushes teeth, then he lays them down while I finish cleaning the kitchen or folding clothes or getting the kids' stuff ready for for the next day.  It's gotten more difficult for my pregnant self to bend over and bathe the kids, so this works out well for me during this season of being large with child.  When Abby arrives our well oiled machine of a routine will be thrown for a loop and we'll just be in survival mode for those first several weeks, but no matter what the season I'm thankful to have a husband that helps me even after he's had a long day at work.  

Claire calls Emily "Em", Hannah is still "Ahh", Abigail is "A-gail" and she calls herself "KK."

One day a few years ago all I had left of the loaf of bread were the two end pieces.  I wanted to fix Emily a sandwich for lunch that day so in a very excited voice I told her the end pieces were "special bread."  She's been very excited about getting "special bread" that day and every day she gets it since then.  Hannah has also decided she loves "special bread" so we have to take turns now with who gets the special bread sandwich when we get to the end of the loaf.  

Emily drew this picture for me during rest time a couple months ago.  She loves to draw and color when her sisters are napping.  

Hannah brought this to me the other day and very seriously told me that this was her Christmas list.  

Claire is going through a special phase of coloring things other than paper.  We've found her "art work"  on walls, the table, the floor, her shirt, etc.  

We bought this Fisher Price nativity set last year after Christmas and I have been excited about the kids being able to play with it this year.  So far Emily has been the most interested in it and has told us the Christmas story several times. 

Claire's favorite place to hang out these days is her sisters' room.  When she disappears its the first place I look and 80% of the time she is on one of their beds with the covers pulled up pretending to be asleep.  When I walk in the room she'll say "I go night night." She thinks it is so fun to get to "sleep" on the big bed.  Bert said the other day that she's about ready for a big girl bed.  Ha!  I'm sure she is but I am definitely not ready for her to be in one.  There is something glorious about putting her in the crib for nap time/bed time  and her not being able to get out. I'll hang on to that for awhile longer.  

Emily was supposed to dress up in a wacky Christmas outfit last Wednesday.  I didn't remember until 5 minutes before she was supposed to walk out the door and Hannah was still asleep in their room, so this was about as wacky as we could get.  She was VERY excited about it though! Her favorite part was wearing two different shoes.  

Hannah loves to dress up as a ballerina and does so most every day.  She is impressively good at putting on tights.  In the picture below please notice her red shoes.  These shoes have been her favorite for a long time now.  They are sparkly and red and I really can't blame her.  The only problem is that they don't fit her anymore.  They are a size 7 and she now wears a 9, but she still squeezes her foot in there often and doesn't complain about her toes being scrunched.  They really are precious shoes and it is precious how happy they make her.  The moral to this story is that I've got to find my baby some sparkly, red, size 9 shoes.  

 

Emily loves to give hugs.  A couple of days ago when I picked Emily up from school I watched her give 3 of her friends hugs before she ran to hop in the car.  

Hannah likes to give driving tips from the back seat.  Several weeks ago I was driving her to an appointment and it was just the two of us in the van.  The light was red as we were approaching it and I was slowing down to stop, but just before we got to it it turned green, so I sped back up and kept going.  Hannah couldn't see (from where she was sitting in back of the van) that the light had turned green and started saying in a panicked voice...."MOM, you're supposed to stop when the light is red!  It was a red light!"  I explained to her that it had turned green and to simmer down.:)  I'm not sure if she ever believed me, but it gave me a good chuckle.  It's funny how young kids are when they decide that their parents have no idea what they are doing or talking about.:)  

Claire can reach door knobs.  She's started pulling doors shut by holding the knob, but she hasn't quite figured out how to turn the knob to open the door.  It will just be a short matter of time though before that happens.  I will enjoy the last few hours, days or weeks of being able to simply close a door and know that Claire can't get in there.:) 

We're thankful for our 5, 3 and 1 year old.  This parenting thing keeps us busy.  "Constant" would be another way to describe my days, and I wouldn't change one second of it.