Baptism Party Prep

My party planner putting the finishing touches on her cookie display.

Sweet sisters

Blondies

Never a dull moment

And now the Tooth Fairy is back to work...Brinn looks way too grown-up with that gap.

Baby Update

 I still have lots more pictures to upload, but here's our newest family-of-eight shot and a few more of our favorites from that past several days.  We have been so blessed to have the help of both grandma's and Grandpa Gregg even made a trip in from MI to meet the twins yesterday. We are sleepy but enjoying this short stage.

 Here is my FB post the day after they were born--someday I hope to type up a birth story too:

A few more details since people have asked...Everly Lou was born first at 3:30 pm and weighed 5lbs, 9 oz. She was named after her grandmother, Sandra Lou, and we call her Eve as a nickname. She is feisty with dark curly hair and blue eyes. Grant Jonathan was born a quick 9 minutes later and weighed 6 lbs, 2 oz. He has the opposite of his twin' s dainty features but is mellow and calm, with blond hair. We never found a boy F name that fit for him so we skipped that letter totally and moved on to G. Both babies are healthy and eating well. Their mama is especially thankful for the easiest labor and delivery yet and one with double the reward.Thank you all for your prayers, kind words, and support.

Can't Believe You're Mine

We are overjoyed to welcome Everly Lou and Grant Jonathan to our family. They were born on March 9, at 3:30 and 3:39 respectively. Everly weighed in at 5 lbs., 9 oz., and her younger brother was a little chunkier at 6 lbs,.3 oz. We are so very thankful for an easy delivery, healthy babies, a good start to recovery, and the many hands that are here to help. We cannot believe how blessed we to have these two as ours. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

38 Weeks! We made it!

Full term (for twins) as of today. All that is left to do is pack these sweet outfits for our hospital trip tomorrow.

February Fun Days

February was filled to the brim with various themes for the days/weeks of school.  Here's a sample: 

100th Day of School (Carrigan dressed as an 100-year-old)

Pajama Day and I don't know what else

Valentine's Day (Opening presents and cards from Grandma Deni and Grandma Sandy & Grandpa

State Day (Second Grade had Texas)

Decade Day (Our 50's Girls)

Fun-with-the-Ryan Day (not technically a theme day, but we'll take any day with these wonderful buds of ours.  Especially if it includes Discovery World, Mama Pedicures, and Kopps.

Quote of the Day, by Mali

"Nobody should celebrate Dr. Suess's birthday, unless they are his family!".  (A third-grader who was slightly jealous that her Kindergarten sister got to celebrate Dr. Suess's birthday with a pajama day.  Back in her day, pajama days had to be earned).

The Nesting Urge

And, just for for fun, the other day on the way to my dr. appointment, I talked with the kids about what it could look like someday when they were mothers, heading to their own pre-natal check-ups.  We pretended it was Brinnly, the expectant mom and that the Aunt Carrigan, would pick up Brinnly's older kids from school. Amalia said that they could then come over to Aunt Mali's house to play and that Aunt Delaney would bring over dinner for everyone so Brinnly wouldn't have to cook that night.  Delaney agreed, and determined that it would be pizza, and that "no one would even have to eat the crust!". 

In all seriousness, I think they will be wonderful helpers to each other as grown-ups someday.  One the of the real blessings of a big family.  I really enjoyed this blog post and the links with it the other day on this topic. 

Soaking it up

Her last few days as the baby of the house