Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Jonathan and I got up bright and early (he with the girls, and me shortly after). Then we got right to breakfast and dinner preparations. Breakfast was finished, the coffee was brewed, turkey was in the oven, and Nonna and Papa arrived-all before Lily woke up at 8:45.
We were also joined by Uncle James and Auntie Dawn from New Jersey and Auntie Laura, Uncle Nick and Bridget.
Lily took a nice 3-hour nap while the ladies finished making dinner and while all of us feasted on turkey and sides. We were even able to clean up a bit before dessert.

The girls didn't eat as much as we would have liked. They were very excited to have so many people over though.
After dessert we attempted a family portrait, followed by a picture of Nonna and her four granddaughters. Let's just say I have a lot of "takes" for each picture.

Finally, since James and Dawn made the trip, they decided to bring a few Christmas gifts along with them. One of my family's traditions is to draw names and make a gift for that person rather than buy one. Since Jonathan and Dawn joined our family I think I can safely say that we all look forward to when they draw our names (they both have experience in various fine arts). I lucked out this year-Dawn drew my name. Check out what she made for me:

We had a version of a "dog house" growing up, so I really got a kick out of the one Dawn made for our family. She had great attention to detail ("Jonathan" is wearing glasses and "Abigail's" bow and collar is pink-her favorite color).

We had such a great Thanksgiving and hope you did as well!

Photo Fridays 11.25.11

Jonathan and I have been taking turns letting each other sleep in with Lily while the other hangs out with our two early risers. When I'm sleeping in Jonathan is really good about keeping the girls out of our room. When I'm in charge of the girls, on the other hand, they at some point end up in our room.

Jonathan took care of Sarah one morning by letting her play with his iPad while he and Lily slept a little more.

Meet and Greet

Lily has met lots of family and friends during her first week of life. Auntie Laura, Uncle Nick, Cousin Bridget, and Papa visited Lily in the hospital. While they got to see her again along with Nonna, Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa when we picked the girls up on our way home from the hospital.

Lily is Here!

So, Lily's due date (11/17) has come and gone. I haven't posted in a while, which may indicate that Lily has made her arrival.

She's been with us for a bit over a week now and we love her to pieces. We are still getting used to taking care of three little ones and, as of December 1 I'll have to get used to taking care of the three girls all over again because Jonathan will head back to work.

Lily came a few days before her due date, but the timing was actually perfect. My Mom and sister had Sunday off, so they were able to take care of Abigail and Sarah. My sister also watched the girls so Jonathan could pick me and Lily up from the hospital a few days later.

Here are a two fun facts we've learned over the past week or so:

Sixth Sense - I should have figured this out with Abigail or Sarah, but newborns have a sixth sense that weakens as they get older. This sense enables them to know the exact moment your head hits the pillow. They also know the moment you are about to nod off.

How Many? - If any of you were wondering "How many Kapaldo's does it take to change a diaper?" the answer is at least three (during the day anyway). The girls are really good about gathering supplies to help change Lily.

We'll be posting more in the coming days. Stay tuned!

"Rainy Day" Fun

Our area has experienced a bit of an Indian Summer these past few days. We've had highs in the mid to upper 60's. I think today we'll be back in the mid-60's. This makes for perfect outdoor fun weather. However, I am just not up to going out with the girls on my own, being a week and a day from my due date and everything. Plus I may have a cold coming on.

So, with no plans for the day, we had to think on our toes. Here's a summary of the fun and random "rainy day" activities we participated in:

1) Build a spaceship and outfit it will random toys, swim floaties, and fruit snacks.

2) Build a robot out of cardboard and call her "Abigail Robot". Abigail then took her new friend all over the apartment saying "Abigail Robot" in her perfect robot voice.

3) Watch Cinderella, attempt french braids, and have a picnic on the living room floor for lunch.

4) Dress Abigail Robot.

And so on...

Photo Fridays 11.04.11

This afternoon the girls baked cookies with Nonna. Sarah was too cute when I told her to roll her dough. Instead of rolling it into a ball shape with her hands she would take the dough in one hand and roll it onto the cookie sheet as if it were a ball.

Belly Shots: 38 Weeks

Get this baby out of me!

Just kidding.

Well, kind of.

Being 38 weeks pregnant is not easy when you have two energetic girls under the age of 3 1/2. But, other people have done this before, so I will survive! At the end of the day I am just so beat though-counting down the minutes until Jonathan calls to let me know he is on his way home and freaking out if he is only a few minutes late.

Night time is definitely not fun. In the "olden days" if I were to wake up at 12:30, 2:30, or 3:30 in the morning I would look at my clock and think, "Yes! I still have x number of hours to sleep!" Now I look at the clock and think, "Ugh, it's only x:xx, I have to make it through x more hours tonight." Sleep does not come easy at night, but I could easily fall asleep in the afternoon.

I am ready.

Lily is pretty patient though, I think she'll be arriving pretty close to her due date. Only 14ish days to go!!!