Now he's three!

Little Joe turned three this week. We celebrated all day.  Ben took off work and Tim skipped school and we headed to the zoo.  Joe was there to see giraffes.  They're his favorite right now.  We paid a little extra to  feed the giraffes from the giraffe deck. Totally fun!

Ben made the cake from start to finish.  He did a great job.  I wish that I enjoyed making cakes and could whip up super cute ones!  

Since the hurricane...

Just some recent updates for our family.  Starting most recent and we'll work back.  Rosemary was blessed yesterday at church by her dad.  We were kind of worried no one from our family could come be a part of things, but Ben's cousin, Chris, drove two hours that morning to be there and my brother Jim and wife DeAnn drove down from Maryland for the entire weekend to spend time with us (they left their cute boys behind).  Rosemary was a little angel during her blessing.

We visited the same cemetery with Jim (since Wesley Jolly is Jim's 3rd great-grandfather too) and took another picture on the same bench.  It's not often we get our entire family in a picture and this is a first for the six of us.

We also went to Sarah P. Duke Gardens.  It wasn't as hot as our last couple of trips and much more enjoyable.  

Carolina likes to find random flowers and get her picture taken with them.

I'm so glad I just found my camera battery charger. I've experimented with the ipod and the android and really having trouble getting decent pictures.  The next two were taken with the android phone.

Love the biscuits Uncle Jim made us this morning!

Moving back a week...     Rosemary is one month old and Joe finally was cooperative for his first pictures with her.  Most of the time he pretty much ignores her, but every once in awhile, he will acknowledge her presence.  He is very talkative and usually carries on a running narrative for us.  He can say her name just fine, but usually refers to her as "new baby."

Saturday evening after the big storm and we were at the Durham Bulls' baseball game.  Not sure if they won or lost, but we had fun.  Ben got free tickets through a local orthopedic office for the whole family.  The event took place on the party deck and included free food too.  I loved the freedom of the party deck.  My kids could just roam and enjoy themselves and not drive everyone crazy.  We'll save our baseball game attendance for this once a year event.

So here is the damage from Irene.  We are several hours inland, so it was just a windy rainstorm.  Pretty mild, I guess.  The tree broken below is small compared to the next picture.

This picture is of a 100-foot tree that fell during a lightning storm at the end of June.  Seriously huge and we're glad it fell in the direction it did.

Pre-baby beach trip

Darn, no pictures of me as a huge 37 week pregnant whale.  Just kids at the beach. We went to North Topsail (pronounced Tops'l) beach and it couldn't have been more perfect.  It wasn't too hot, not too many people, and no traffic.  I was even toying around with another trip this weekend before soccer games start, but it looks like Irene thwarted those ideas.

Firsts for Rosemary

First bath yesterday (check out her syndactyly on just on her left foot).  And first time to church today.  The girls and I were half an hour late.  8:30 church is tough enough, but add a newborn and we have serious issues.  

Carolina is seriously in love with her little sister.  Really super sweet.

Introducing...Rosemary

Day 1:

Don't let those round cheeks fool you.  She's our littlest yet, weighing only 6 pounds 14 ounces and just 19 inches.  I elected to be induced four days before my due date. The birth was amazing.  I asked for my epidural about twenty minutes too late.  Two or three contractions after I was hooked up, she was ready to come.  In just a few pushes she was out.  Seriously intense pain, but very, very quick.

Tim held for a few moments so we could snap a picture.  Carolina held on tight and cried when she had to leave for home.  Joe had nothing to do with her.  I still don't have a picture of the two of them together.

Day 2:

Some of the worst pictures ever of me are in the hospital following a delivery.  I don't love this picture, but it's the best of all four deliveries, so I can actually post it.  I'd really like to permanently delete all the rest from my computer.

Day 3:

Day 4:

Day 18:

I totally know that newborns can't smile, but this one smiles A LOT.  It's rare for a newborn to cry real tears, but she had a couple of crocodile tears the other day when she woke up hungry and I was outside for a few minutes.  Way to make your mama tear up, girl!

I had a moment of enlightenment today.  Every one of the girl names in our little family comes from Laura Ingalls Wilder.  I knew I was a big fan as a girl, but this is ridiculous.
Our names:
Laura Elizabeth
Carolina Grace
Rosemary Elizabeth

Her names:
Laura Elizabeth Ingalls Wilder
mother and sister: Caroline
sister: Mary
sister: Grace
daughter: Rose

Ben said that it sure was a coincidence.  I'm not so sure...

Kids talent show

Tim with lego creations and Carolina with some drawings. Pretty much both their favorite pastimes. I told them that next year they are getting on stage and doing something. The show was great. Lots of singing, dancing, piano, etc.

Swim lessons

I'm going to miss swim lessons. Two weeks for a half hour every morning and the kids had a blast! This was a first for us and Tim and Lina were both in the lowest level, so they used floats nearly the whole time. Carolina was really hoping that she would actually learn how to swim without floats on the very last day, but no luck. A little disappointed, but I told her that we'd practice on our own and make sure she learns quickly.

I kept thinking that I wanted to enroll them again soon and Carolina still has six more weeks before her little preschool starts, but then I remembered that my due date is August 1st and that kind of puts the rest of the summer on hold. I can't believe it's almost here! And Tim starts first grade on Monday!!

Vacation with friends

We had so much fun with our friends in town visiting. It was our year to stay put and they traveled the 10+ hours to come see us. What a treat!  

Here's what we did:

• NC Museum of Life & Science
• Duke homestead
• Cars 2 at the theater
• Festival for the Eno
• Raleigh temple grounds
• Duke Gardens
• a nearby quarry (just the older boys and dads)
• fireworks at the baseball stadium
• a quick shopping trip for just the moms
• Marbles Kids Museum
• lots of eating out & having fun