10.5 Weeks

This past Sunday, May 22nd, was Caroline's baptism day! It went really well overall. She slept quite well Saturday night and we got to church right on time. Caroline slept for the first part of the service and then was wide awake during the actual baptism. She made a few good cries, but did pretty well! She has 4 wonderful godmothers- Elizabeth, Hillary, Allison and Kaci. After church we headed over to Mom's for a wonderful brunch spread. I think Caroline was totally worn out that night because she slept for 7 hours! Unfortunately, the following two nights have been far less.

What else has been going on? She has found her hands! She has been really chewing on them and almost finding her fingers for about the past week- Will we have a thumb sucker afterall? We shall see! Her movements are becoming far less jerky and she is moving her arms and legs like crazy! She is also growing so much! She is already into her 3-6 month clothing and that doesn't seem like it's going to last too long.

Big weekend!

Elizabeth will be here tomorrow to meet Miss Caroline, yay! Caroline is also being baptized on Sunday, so we have a big weekend ahead of us!
Caroline went back to sleeping for almost 6 hrs last night after about 3 nights of only 4-5 hours. Maybe it was a growth spurt (how much more can she grow?!?). So, I hope it sticks this time, especially knowing that we will be having a house guest for a few days! Elizabeth will be staying with us and then Saturday night we will likely have Judy, Kaci & Evan too! Full house!
We have also had a rude awakening this week about kindergarten for Meredith. Unfortunately, after months of waiting on our financial aid package, we found out that we will not be getting any funding since they offered us the same rate they offer to parishioners (Poorly handled in general- he had to hunt someone down to finally get an answer after we heard through the grapevine that the award letters had already gone out). It basically boils down to the fact that we aren't Catholic, nothing to do with our actual finances (which proves we should be eligible as compared to the families that has 3 kids there and a beach house and drive luxury cars, yes, apparently that is who gets 'financial aid'). It is just really disheartening that Chris' almost 12 years of service there have been ignored. We are thoroughly frustrated and saddened by this turn of events, mostly because Meredith has been so excited about 'going to Daddy's school'. He has appealed to his principal (aka begging) and we hope there is a change of heart. In theory, my recent sale of Biogen stock could cover the majority of the tuition, but we really wanted to actually have some savings- imagine that! Plus, we have to consider the fact that we will have additional daycare expense in a few months. So, we have some big decisions to make very soon. Our public school will be just fine I'm sure, but I think we will have one disappointed girl on our hands (mommy & daddy too!!).
By the way, I'm down to about 2 weeks before I go back to work :( Eeek!

Jinx

I think my last post jinxed me for last night. Back to 4 hrs of sleep...

Sleep Success?!?!

So, for the past 3 nights, Caroline has slept for around 6 hrs! Since it has been more than one or two nights, I'm thinking this could be for real! It's generally 10pm-4am and then she eats and goes back down for another 2 hours or so. If she can just get even one more hour in there before I go back to work, I think I will feel relatively human! 3 weeks from today I'm back to the grind :(

2 month checkup

Today was Caroline's 2 month checkup. She was being so sweet all morning, even slept a whole 6 hours last night!!! I felt bad because she had no idea what was coming- 3 shots! Meredith really wanted to go with her so she could comfort her after her shots :) I kinda think she was just excited that she wasn't the one getting the shots! So, I decided to keep Meredith home today and have her tag along.
The stats:
Weight: 13 lbs 12.5 oz- 97th percentile (Meredith was 13 lbs 2.5oz)
Length: 23.25"- 80th percentile (Meredith was 23")
Head: 40cm- 75th percentile
She really cried when she got her shots. Red face silent cry until she let loose! Poor baby, I even shed a few tears. Meredith wasn't quite as brave as she thought she'd be when it came time for the shots. She had wanted to hold Caroline's hand, but opted for sitting in the chair a safe distance away instead.
Caroline has been sleeping ever since we got home. Hope she doesn't end up with a fever. The things we do for healthy kiddos! At least I know she will never remember it!

My girls

8.5 weeks

So, what big things has Caroline been up to this week? She has started giving me hopes of sleeping better. She actually had 2 nights in a row of 5-6 hrs of sleep! Of course, on the 6 hr night, Meredith came in and woke me up an hour before Caroline woke up! I was a little bummed and her reasoning was that she wanted her music on at 3:30am! Let's say that last night I came kinda close to threatening her about waking me up for her music! Although, Caroline dropped back to 4 hrs last night, so it wouldn't have mattered much!

She continues to refuse any sort of pacifier. I mean to tell you that I have bought at least 5 types plus the one from the hospital and there is only one that she even remotely seems to be able to keep in her mouth and that's only by holding it in there! Basically the same is true for bottles. She pretty much hates bottles. We have tried at least 3 kinds and have struggles with each one. The Playtex bottles with the drop in liner thing seems to be the front runner right now. She also seems to take formula better than my milk from a bottle. Guess she really just wants it from the source! We are down to just a few weeks for her to figure this one out!!

She is still kicking away and even acting like she wants to roll over! She's got a ways to go, but she is actively trying to get those legs over like she wants to roll. Oh boy!

She still has some pretty rough times with crying, but it seems to be getting less and less and her awake time is more active and semi-happy. I'd say we are making major progress and hope she settles into a more predictable sleep pattern sometime soon!

Mother's Day was this past weekend. Chris had given me a beautiful pendant with both the girl's names on it a few weeks ago. Meredith made me the little teapot in the picture. It was so cute to get a gift she had made at school...love it! He made breakfast and we went to church and then over to Allison's for brunch...yummy shrimp and grits! We were both too tired to cook that evening, so I think I ate a hotdog or something. I did get a kid-free trip to Target for about an hour, which was lovely. Of course, I only bought things for the kids while I was there :) So, my first Mother's day as a mother of two was pretty quiet, but I am so thankful for being blessed with two healthy, beautiful girls!

7.5 weeks & Easter

Well, here we are, 7.5 weeks. I'd like to say that a lot has changed since my last post, but sadly, not so. Caroline took a step backward around week 6 and only slept for 2-3 hours at a time for several days. She has had a few nights of 4ish hours of sleep, but mostly it's betwee 3-4 hrs. I think I have really just gotten used to it, but I'm feeling especially tired today.

She has started giving us a lot more smiles and almost laughs during her awake time, all of which is gladly taken! It never lasts for more than a few minutes, but I'll take it! She has also found her arms and legs and just kicks and punches all the time. She still has her hands clenched into a little fist most of the time, but she's starting to loosen up a bit.

She doesn't seem to be eating all the time anymore, but there is little that soothes her when she is upset other than nursing. She won't take a pacifier, well let me clarify that if you hold it in her mouth, she somewhat tolerates it and stops the crying momentarily in a pinch. She just can't keep it in her mouth and pushes it out with her tongue every time. She still doesn't much like the bottle either, which is going to have to change in less than a month when I go back to work.

She has been to church twice now and managed to sleep through the service both times. Her baptism is scheduled for May 22nd while Elizabeth is in town. Hope Caroline behaves!!

I know she has grown a lot. I put her in s 3-6 month outfit yesterday and it fit perfectly! Her 2 month checkup is on the 11th and I'm fully expecting that she gained a few more pounds. She also gets several vaccinations, so I'm not looking forward to that part.

Easter:

At the last minute, Chris decided that it would be a nice idea to spend the Easter weekend down at Myrtle beach. Thanks to Chris' mom, we were able to stay at a time share condo and ended up having a great time. I was quite apprehensive about taking a 6 week old out of town, but she slept the whole way there and back! The first night didn't go well, mostly because Caroline is such a loud sleeper (grunting and groaning and sighing and crying) and having her in the room with us didn't allow for much sleep. So, I decided that her crib would fit in the adjoining bathroom! The next two nights went much better and she didn't know the difference!! We spent one good day on the beach and she napped in her crib under the tent and I was able to soak up a little sun. Meredith had a blast and made all sorts of friends on the beach. In the end, I was glad that Chris nudged me into going. It was really nice to get out of the house for a few days and see the ocean :) (We were also able to Skype with Hillary and Joey and 'show' them the beach too!).

Part of why Chris wanted me to be able to go to the beach was because he spent most of the next week back in Myrtle beach for a golf tournament. It was my first time solo with both girls for more than a few hours and overall it went well. Meredith stayed with mom one night and I had lots of visitors and tried to keep busy, but I was really ready for him to get back by Sunday.

Well, that's enough for now. Hopefully by my next post, I'll be a bit more well rested. Fingers crossed!

5 weeks!

Well, Miss Caroline is 5 weeks old today! In some ways it seems like it's taken forever and other ways it seems like it's been a flash! So, what is our 5 week old up to? She still cries a good bit, mostly in the evenings when Chris and Meredith are home. She's pretty good during the days with me and we even seem to have a bit of a nap schedule figured out. So, I feel kinda bad that while Chris and Meredith are home tends to be her fussy time. Although, that seems to be improving slightly. She still won't really take a pacifier either, so tends to just nurse a lot for soothing, but I think that is getting a little better too. She is a pooping machine! I forgot how a new clean diaper must help a baby poop! Let's just say that her insides work well! We've gone through a ton of diapers...used a few newborn size, but basically went straight to size 1. She also seems to be pretty sensitive about having a dirty diaper on and tends to holler until she gets a new one. Meredith also thinks that is the cure-all for when she's crying...'Mommy, just change her diaper!' She has a love hate relationship with her carseat...mostly hate. We still have been keeping up our routine of going to pick Meredith up after Chris gets home and trying to run some errands. She usually cries quite a bit and then passes out and sleeps for awhile. Chris has discovered that she likes to be carried in her carseat instead of being pushed in the cart or stroller. So, he carries her around the store and it generally helps. He'll have great arms soon! We even had our first meal out at a restaurant (she slept the whole time!) this week at Fat Daddy's. It's just nice to pretend to be normal people again! We're still far from normal, but we're seeing sings of normalcy! She's been sleeping in her crib for almost 2 weeks now. It was a bit of a battle since she really hated sleeping on her back, but we got a sleep positioner and an inclined wedge for her bed and after the first night, things got better. She is sleeping a little over 4 hours some nights, which is fabulous for me! Overall, her nights are pretty predictable now, so even if it isn't much sleep, I generally know what to expect. I still long for the night that I can sleep more, but right now it really isn't too bad. I'm getting good at it :) Ok, little girl is waking up from her nap, so I'll post this for now and try to add more later. Happy 5 weeks Caroline!

Life as a family of 4

There's no doubt about it, life with a newborn is hard. If it wasn't for the whole sleep thing, it wouldn't be so bad, but the lack of sleep makes eveything tough. We are now into our 4th week and seem to be finding a little bit of a routine developing, but it's still really loose.

Caroline definitely tends to have fussy evenings, right around dinner and on into the night. She is happy as long as she is nursing, but I tend to feel like a pacifier and I know I may be promoting a bad habit for her, but it's the only thing that keeps her from crying! The whole nursing thing has gone better for sure so far with Caroline than with Meredith, but it's still hard. It's good to feel needed, but it also makes me feel a bit trapped too! She has had 2 bottles from daddy and did ok with them, but everything else has come right from the source!

She also refuses to take a pacifier, just pushes it right out with her tongue. Maybe she'll grow into liking one, but not sure. It's a little frustrating considering she really needs soothing a lot and I think the pacifier will help so that I'm not nursing her constantly. She's sleeping about 3 hrs max at night right now and sometimes goes back down pretty well after eating, but other nights she's up for 2 hrs before she'll go back down. Makes for a long night for me!

I will say that the nursing has helped me drop the pounds already. I only gained a little over 20 lbs during my pregnancy and considering Caroline was almost 9 lbs, there wasn't a whole lot left after that. By one week post delivery, I was already into pre-pregnancy jeans and I've lost another good 10+ lbs since then! I'll need to be really careful with what I eat since I'm sure I can't keep up this pace, but it is a good feeling since I really needed to drop weight before I even got pregnant! One silver lining to nursing 24/7!

Meredith is great. She adores her sister and wants to hold her all the time. Caroline has even given her a few grins here and there. We are still sending her to school every day, which I think is good for her and me! I haven't seen any evidence of jealousy at all. She has gotten a little frustrated with her crying in the car, but nothing too much. She is just such a sweet girl and I have to say I kinda miss spending time with her like I used to be able to, but she seems to be taking everything in stride. She also sleeps like a rock, so hasn't heard any of the nighttime crying!

So, we are slowly adjusting and are hopeful for the weeks to come to see our Caroline grow and develop! Hard to believe that my maternity leave is already 1/3 over! Yikes!

Caroline Elizabeth is here!!

March 11th was the day! We got the call around 6:15am to head into the hospital. Allison came over to get Meredith ready for school and Chris and I headed out. We stopped for a bagel on the way since I knew I wouldn't be eating for a long time and ended up getting to Rex around 7:30.

Of course, as soon as we got there we were told that two women had come in since they called and were in active labor (darn them! ha!), so we'd have to wait a bit for our room. We chatted with another couple who were in the same boat and within about 30 mins, we were called back to our room. They started my IV (ouch!! I know a little ol iv seems odd to be so painful considering the whole childbirth thing, but it really hurt a lot!!) and by about 9:15am they had started the pitocin and the waiting game began. UNC was playing in the ACC tournament that day at noon, so we kept joking with the doctors and nurses about how we hoped the baby would come before noon or wait until about 2:00 after the game (Ha, if it had only been so quick!).

So, the game came and went and we had very little progress. Chris was really good about trying to stay calm because it was a really close game! I tried to use the labor ball for a little while to see if I could help get things moving, but it didn't help and all of my monitors kept screwing up while I was on it, so back to the bed. I was definitely getting more and more uncomfortable as the contractions finally started to come. They broke my water around 3pm and then I finally decided to get the epidural since it was clearly going to be awhile and I might as well be comfortable. This time, the epidural was a totally different experience and I was much happier. My legs didn't feel like such dead weight and the whole procedure went much more smoothly, so I was happy. Around 5pm, Chris went out to the little kitchen area to get me some ice or something and he ran into the couple that we had checked in with that morning and they were on their way to recovery with their new baby...he came back and told me this and it made me really sad since I was maybe at 3 cm by this time! So, feeling quite discouraged, we continued to wait and wait. Around 7pm I told Chris that he needed to go get some dinner and while he was gone, the nurse came in and determined I had made major progress and things were finally moving along. So, around 10pm we started prepping for delivery and the nurse had me do one 'practice' push and with that she decided to call the doctor immediately since this baby was coming quickly. So, Dr. Groff came in and I pushed for two more contractions and Caroline Elizabeth came into this world at 10:53pm, 8lbs 14 oz, 21"! I was thouroughly amazed at how easy the actual delivery was, but I've been saying I deserved that since it took me 13 hours to get to that point! It was still about 10 hours shorter than Meredith's birth though! I was able to hold Caroline immediately following her delivery, all mucked up and all! I wasn't able to do that last time since there were a few concerns about Meredith and they whisked her over to be checked over. We got to our recovery room around 1am and I finally could have some food. That was the best ham and cheese sandwich I have ever had!! I was so hungry!

Our stay in the hospital was pretty uneventful and we did use the nursery when we could to get more sleep. We came home on Sunday and life with a newborn has set in. Chris' mom stayed with us for the first week, which was incredibly helpful and Meredith has been a wonderful big sister! I have been having some serious emotions over her no longer being my only child...the guilt of having to share my time and attention, especially with a needy newborn, but she has been really amazing and I'm so thankful for that.

Caroline has been pretty good so far. She doesn't like to sleep for very long and sleeping on her back has been a big challenge too, but she is nursing well and all the time! She has not taken a pacifier yet, which is ok in some ways, but I feel like she's just using me instead! The hardest part is just the lack of sleep in general. She is already 3 weeks old and she has certainly changed already. She was back up to her birthweight by the time she was 10 days old, and I can definitely tell that she has grown quite a bit.

So, life in the Elliott household has been a little nuts lately, but we are adjusting to life as a family of four and we love our new little girl so much! It's already hard to remember life before her :) Hopefully this post isn't too long and drawn out. I've been wanting to get the story of her birth documented and it's taken me awhile. She is actually sleeping in her crib for the first time right now, so I've had some time to think even though the ol brain is pretty tired!

March 11th is the day!

Well, my Doctor's appointment today brought some big news...looks like we'll meet our baby girl on Friday, March 11th! The ultrasound estimated her to be at 9.5 lbs now and they really just don't want her to get much bigger. They gave me the option of a c-section, but I really don't want to go there unless I really need to. So, this will definitely be another pitocin baby! I'm praying that it goes much faster this time around, but I'll do whatever I have to do to get this baby girl here!!
I was really expecting to have another weekend and go in on Monday, but guess that isn't an option. I'm on my second load of baby clothes in the washer right now and I suppose I should pack a bag for the hospital...there is still SO much to do! The nursery is a disaster and the guest room is the 'junk room' as Meredith calls it since we have shoved everything in there while we get the other two rooms situated. Oh yeah, and we should decide on her name!
Meredith and I had a girl's night out at Red Robin while Chris saw a movie with his boys. Tomorrow night will be the real throw down night to get as much done as possible!

My big girl

Today we went to Rex Hospital for the Big Sister class they offer. It wasn't anything too spectacular, but Meredith really loved being able to take a tour of the 'hosipal'. She is old enough that she has a lot of questions and is just generally curious about the whole thing. She is also so sweet because she is concerned for me and wants to be sure I'm going to be ok...so sweet! They watched a cute video, toured the birth center, saw a newborn baby, got to hold a baby doll and practice changing a diaper. Meredith wasn't afraid at all and offered up a few really cute things for the group like, be sure to hold the baby very carefully and sing her a lullaby if she is sad. On another note, Chris was driving her home from school yesterday and he reminded her that she had this class today and she said she already knew about the hospital because she watches General Hospital with mommy! I think that is so hilarious bc I really haven't watched that show in forever, but she associates any 'doctor show' with General Hospital. Funny girl.

We also officially have her moved into her new room. It is still a work in progress, but she is at least sleeping in there and really seems to love it. We still have a long way to go on the nursery, but it will all come together I suppose...we've got about a week to get it done, eek!

The other big transition Meredith has made this week is that she is starting to take showers! It has become increasingly difficult for me to bend over the tub for obvious reasons, so we gave it a try this week and she really seemed to like it. I still make sure she's rinsed all the shampoo out of her hair and things like that, but it will really help me out if she can start doing that more independently!

I am now 38 weeks pregnant and feeling every bit of it. I am getting more uncomfortable by the day and there is so much that I want and need to get done, but I just can't make my body do it! I have another ultrasound on Tuesday, so we'll see how much this baby weighs by now!

SIck kiddo

Last night Meredith started complaining of a stomach ache. Sometimes she does this and I'm pretty sure it's just for attention and a children's Tums, but this one was persistent. She had a really active morning at a birthday party at Monkey Joe's, so I was hoping she was just tired and cranky. She voluntarily went to bed early on a Saturday night, which was my first clue she wasn't right. A few hours later came that dreaded sound of a vomiting child. And so it went every few hours until the poor baby was empty of everything. I suppose it is better to happen on a weekend since none of us got any sleep last night. Also better to happen now rather than a few weeks from now when we have a newborn in the house!
I was hoping she would be much better this morning, but she is definitely lethargic. Fortunately, no more vomiting, but she's not herself at all. I also think I have a bit of the bug myself. I just got over a nasty cold (still lingering a bit) and now for a round of stomach yuckiness. My week is way too busy for this! So, Meredith and I are having a low key Sunday on the couch while Chris is busily getting Meredith's new room finished up.

8+ lbs Already!

It's really hard to believe that I'm 36 weeks pregnant and in the home stretch! It has been pretty weird that tons of people at work have only just realized I'm pregnant at all. I know I'm not huge, but come on folks, I'm 8 months pregnant and you think I'm just now showing? Although, I have also been told that I have the pregnancy waddle going on too!

I had another ultrasound today and found out that this baby is already measuring over 8lbs! (Meredith was 8lbs 5 oz at 1.5 weeks overdue) Of course, it can be off a little bit, but they feel pretty sure that this is going to be a big baby! Considering I have about 3 weeks left, I'd say they are right! They looked at the femur measurement and it is right on track, if it had been long, they would deduce that she would be long and skinny, but not this girl. The belly is what is telling them that she is going to be normal length, but chunky. Guess I don't make little babies!

I've also been dealing with a nasty cold for the past several days. I really want to get over this since I know what is just around the corner. The thought of going through labor while feeling like this is just a terrible thought. I got some antibiotics today, so hope it helps quickly!

5 yr stats

Meredith had her 5 yr well visit today (despite the fact she had a little cold). She was a real champ and went right in with no fear at all, unlike last year when we had to literally drag her in and bribe her with every toy in the store. She has great vision and hearing and is 46.5" (97th percentile) and 57 lbs (97th percentile). The doctor did make me a little nervous about her weight. She's obviously well proportioned, but doesn't want it to get out of control. So, we will be more careful with what she eats and is a good lesson for all of us. She also had her finger pricked to check her iron and was amazing and so brave! She did get a bit nervous about her shots and we had to wait for awhile after seeing the doctor, but she still was awesome about all three shots. She got teary eyed, but was so strong and brave :) The only thing we didn't get done was to get a urine sample bc she had just gone when I picked her up at school. So, I'll have to bring a sample by another time. All in all, I'm so proud of my super brave girl!!

My big girl!

Meredith got her first major haircut last week (she's had two trims in the past) and absolutely loved it! I had an appointment scheduled, so made one for her at the same time. She sat really well while I got mine cut and then it was her turn. She kept saying she wanted it short, so we settled on just below her shoulders. She didn't even flinch when the girl cut off a 9" ponytail (we're donating it)! She just grinned and grinned and looked at me and said, 'Mommy, I look like a grown up!' She really does look a lot more mature and it almost makes me sad. I guess there is no denying that she is growing up since her 5th birthday is less than a week away. I even went and toured Chris' school today to do the whole parent thing to see if we want to send her there for Kindergarten. Knowing that my baby is old enough to be going to Kindergarten in the fall is a hard pill to swallow. It seems like I've wanted this for so long, but now that it's here I wish I could back peddle a bit!

Here are a few pictures from her haircut:

Beautiful baby!

Last Friday I had an extra ultrasound and we managed to get some great views of our baby girl's face! In past ultrasounds you couldn't see much of anything because of her placement, but now she has moved head down and she couldn't hide any longer! We just got print outs, so no digital images, but maybe I can try to scan them and post later. We could see her scrunched up nose and lips and her round full cheeks that look just like Meredith! Yes, it appears this baby will look just like her daddy too :) She measured at approx 4 lbs, 12 oz, which places her in the 66th percentile and one week ahead. Everything looked great, so I can't complain! The only hard part was that Chris barely made it, but the ultrasound tech was really sweet and kinda took her time and wrote up her report so we could wait for him to get there. He finally made it and we were happy to get some of the best pictures after her showed up. Guess the girl was waiting on her daddy to perform :)
I'm 33 weeks tomorrow! We're down to 6-7 weeks! WOW!

Good Wheels

We have gradually been cleaning closets, the attic, drawers, going through bins and bins of clothes etc in preparation for our impending arrival. We've only recently gotten really serious about it though and it has entailed multiple trips to Goodwill to drop things off. It's amazing how much of a packrat I used to be...my wonderful husband who moved like 8 times before he graduated high school has taught me the beauty of getting rid of stuff and boy does it feel good! Chris and I both had the day off yesterday for the MLK holiday and we really dug into the attic to a) start getting baby stuff down and b) to purge and make some room in the attic in general. So, we ended up with a massive pile in a short period of time and Chris was packing up the car to drive up to Goodwill and Meredith kept saying something and we realized she was calling Goodwill, 'Good Wheels'. At first I thought it was just a major southern accent, but no, she has renamed it Good Wheels :)

Merry Christmas!

We had a really nice Christmas yesterday! We went to Christmas Eve service at 7:30, which ended up being a lot longer than I remember and was definitely too late for our little Meredith, but she was still a trooper. (I especially like the later service over the earlier kids service...I guess because there are just so many kids at the early service- haha!) Next year we'll have to reconsider which service we attend. Chris' Grandmother spent the night with us, which was nice and Meredith was really excited to have her Grandma here. After we got home from church, Meredith woke up long enough to put out some cookies for Santa and some carrots for the reindeer, then without any fuss went straight to bed. We stayed up a bit longer to get her haul downstairs by the tree, but it really wasn't too bad. I slept terribly though, guess I kept thinking Meredith would wake up early, then I'd wonder if grandma was warm enough, then the baby would kick, then I'd start listing things in my head to be sure I did in the morning, etc etc. I was still the first one up to do important things like retrieve the carrots from the patio and start the coffee! Meredith slept until about 8am and then it was present time! She was so sweet while opening her gifts- her favorite was her Barbie house that Chris found for a steal on craigslist (it's a little dated, but it was super cheap and she is still thrilled with it!). Chris and I had fully agreed that we would not exchange gifts, mostly because we don't need to add any additonal stress to a pretty stressful season and we didn't need to spend any more money. Well, Meredith was super sweet and asked where our presents were because we could take turns opening them :) Aw, at least it wasn't ALL about her! I think we did go a little overboard this year, but we also know it's her last Christmas as an only child and she's at the age where we can buy a lot of not too expensive stuff. Not sure how long that will last, but it was still fun!

Then we packed up and headed over to Chris' step-sister's house for the Elliott Christmas. It is fun, but pretty chaotic since there are lots of kids. I also got a nice Christmas present while we were over there- a phone call from Hillary & Joey! It was so great to talk with them and sounds like they were able to celebrate Christmas with some of the other Azerbaijan Peace Corps volunteers. I was totally fine until Meredith got on the phone with them and then the emotions took over!! Miss them a lot!

Then we headed over to my Mom & Dad's house in the evening. My Aunt Marcia & Uncle Les were actually in town on their way back to Michigan from a trip to New Orleans, so that was a nice treat too! Allison & Matt were there too and we had a nice dinner and just enjoyed eachothers company. We'll do our big Christmas when Elizabeth, Chris, Abby & Jessie get here on Tuesday. We actually left when it started to snow last night and it basically snowed all night until today around noon or so. I think we ended up with a good 6" of snow, so of course we are basically snowed in! It's the first time Raleigh has had snow on Christmas in over 60 years! We've enjoyed a lazy snow day!