Our three cuties!

I think everyone we know knows that little Henry Parker is finally here! My labor and delivery could not have been better! I went from 5 cm-9cm within half an hour or so, thanks to a little pitocin. Of course I would have another in a minute ;-), but the Hart House is already bursting with children, so we will have to leave that thought as a thought for now.  Henry is pretty perfect and the smallest baby I have delivered. He definitely was not the big baby everyone was expecting. Our hospital stay with Henry was a little longer than expected too. With Anna Grace we only stayed overnight, but my OB was a little late with some things this time around so we stayed two nights and were able to come on Friday the 26th. Henry has been a wonderful baby so far. Saturday he was up every 3-4 hours to eat sleeping between feeding and by Sunday night he was only up one time at night! That was super! So we'll see how he does in the coming days.

The girls are adjusting pretty well. Emma is not a little mommy like we thought she would be. She loves Henry and says he is her best friend :-), but she is also craving attention and one on one time with anyone that will give it to her. Daddy/Daughter dates will be in effect very soon. While we were at the hospital Emma noticed Henry had a "tail" so she knew right away he was not like her and Anna :-). Anna is in her own soon-to-be two year old land. She loves Henry, but isn't really phased by his presence. She loves saying his name "Penny Parker" :-) and she constantly says he is crying even when he isn't.

We had Henry's check up today and his pediatrician said he looks great! We could not be more pleased with our little man! The coming days are going to be busy with sleepless nights, our Irish Twins turning 2 and 3 (!), Henry turning one month old and much more. When I think of how fast time goes by I am so sad!

Well, this weekend started off with kind of a bummer. We thought we would be having Henry on Friday, but that was not the case. So, rather than being bummed, we decided to spend the weekend doing things the girls liked. I kind of went off my orders to rest and I paid for it by Sunday night-I was exhausted and swollen! Here is a recap in pictures of our last weekend as a family of four! The girls had a blast doing some of their favorite things-trip to the mall, Chick-fil-a, movies and popcorn, lots of outdoor time...

Anna has been pretty much begging to be like her big sister, so we started Saturday off with her first meal at the "big girl" table. She does a really great job of staying in her seat and keeping all her food on her placemat. Not sure we're ready for every meal to be at the table yet, but it's a start!

Next up was a trip to the mall. I wanted the girls to do something special that they haven't had a chance to do yet. The plan was for each of them to do their own build a bear since they have neve made one before, but after much thought AND considering how many stuffed animals they already have, we suggested they make a bear for Henry. They were super excited about this idea, especially Emma.

Emma loved helping stuff Henry's bear.

Both Anna Grace and Emma put a heart in Henry's bear-extra special, double the love!

Fluffing Henry's bear. We'll save the finished product until Henry's arrival :-).

After making Henry's bear, we were all pretty hungry. We decided since we were already at the mall that we would make a stop at the food court. The girls really enjoyed chowing down on their favorite "fast food"-Chick-fil-a-yum, yum!

Next on the agenda was a stop at the park for a little playtime. We have a playset in our backyard, but the girls love running around at the park, looking at ducks, and all the other things that our backyard can't offer.

After the park the girls spent another three hours playing outside with neighborhood friends. Thank goodness for the warm weather this weekend!

The girls have been really into movies lately. I think we've watched The Little Mermaind 1,000 times since Christmas. They got 101 Dalmations for Valentine's Day and that was another hit. I bought them The Aristocats and that was the movie we watched Saturday night.

Ready for our movie!

Sunday we headed over to Mamaw's house for lunch, then back home for even more playtime outside. Emma also got to try out Candy Land for the first time while Anna took a nap. She loved it! We played about three rounds. Her favorite part of the game was picking the cards that took you to the landmarks on the trail. We are due to have Henry this Wednesday! We are all very ready and really excited to share the news once he gets here!

With news at my appointment last week that I had already started progressing, most of the weekend was spent making sure Henry's nursery was ready for his arrival. Our favorite part of the nursery are the three paintings we had done to match his bedding. We love them! His room is boat/ocean themed and they really added something a little extra to the room. For more pictures, visit Henry's page.

Wow, a new year is already here. Hard to believe that 10 years ago I was in college, had just met Bob (gulp, we've been together THAT long?!), and I was living it up with all my girl friends. My how so much has happened in 10 years! Marriage, traveling, moving homes, babies...We're currently on child #3 and according to one of our friends "we'll have six before we're done". Not sure about six, but I will say that my sweet, only-child-husband has definitely become quite the baby lover . He is one super Daddy, so it's no wonder he loves our kids so much.

I'm not much for New Year's resolutions. I think they're kind of silly and, really, do people every stick to them longer than a few weeks? I will say that I hope I can have continued patience in the coming year as I embrace my lovely clan of three children under the age of three. It is sure to be one interesting year!

My Christmas Break was great! The painter finished up our whole house just before I got done with school for the year. It was so nice to have a freshly painted home for the holidays. The girls were spoiled rotten by everyone on both sides of the family. I think we can officialy run a toy store out of our home. We have everything from baby gear and soft toys out and waiting for Henry's arrival to a new kitchen and everything Elmo, Dora, and Princess for the girls to play with. It is hillarious. We can accomodate any child age 0 months-4 years old. I have to laugh or I might cry . All of our Christmas pictures can be found on the PeekABoo Page.

The girls are doing a great job sharing their room! They LOVE their bunk beds and if they had it their way I think they would both sleep on the top bunk together. Anna Grace has done so well for her age. She does not come out of bed and sleeps all night nice and snug. Their room renovation is almost complete. I will have pictures soon (I know I keep saying that, but I really mean it this time!). Henry's room is still in the works. I have his crib ready for him in case he decides to make an early debut, but other than that I don't have much ready at all!

Over the next few weeks I have a lot to do! The countdown to Henry's arrival is 7 1/2 weeks. I am hoping he doesn't come early because I hate surprises! We have our next appointment on January 11. I am just hoping that he remains head down so that I don't have to have a c-section. Stay tuned!

We have had a really great weekend! I thought it was going to be rough at first because Anna was not feeling too well, but she has been rallying all weekend. We woke up Saturday morning to snow! This is a rare sight in East Tennessee, well at least in our parts, so when the weather man actually got it right, we were all happy and surprised. The girls slept in past 8:00, so by the time we got outside, some of the snow was melting away, but they were still able to enjoy slushing around and being outdoors for a little while. Emma had fun playing with the neighbors and Anna had fun running around outside. I think she was more happy to be outside than to play in the snow. I could not catch her in a standstill long enough to snap a picture. Emma on the other hand posed in her sunglasses and toboggan on demand.

Next on the agenda was taking the girls to the much anticipated Santa Brunch. We have really been hyping this up with them at home and talking about it quite a bit. Sunday morning we loaded up and headed on our way to meet Santa. The food was great! Emma and Anna Grace both enjoyed lots of fruit and big chocolate chip muffins. Then, it was time to meet Santa himself! This was their first visit with Santa. I have a weird thing about Mall Santa's-they kind of creep me out- and I have not taken them to see Santa anywhere yet, so this was a big deal! Emma loved him and was very excited to sit with him. Anna did well too. She didn't cry like I thought she would. She was more in awe. I don't think she said two words to him, but she enjoyed her visit. When Santa asked Emma what she wanted for Christmas, she told him toys and a pony. Then he asked her what she thought Anna might like for Christmas and she told him "mommy". I thought that was pretty funny. They both got candy canes from Santa a good bye treat. I snapped some pictures while they had their visit. They are not as good as the professional one that is on order, but it's better than nothing!

So happy to be sitting on Santa's lap!

So excited about her candy cane!