Christmas Morning

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Time to Catch Up

I finished my last exam of the semester earlier today, so now it's time to play catch up!

I had a happy 28th Birthday (my favorite presents: the homemade Duke quilt and the GIJoe t-shirt to match the one we got my brother for his 30th birthday)



We went to Tennessee for Thanksgiving...and both of the kids got pink eye (pretty gross)

(I told you I liked that shirt)


We have been to a few basketball games already this season.
Go Devils!



Blake fell down the stairs and busted his lip pretty badly



We put up the tree



The kids visited Santa



And we had a Happy 4th Anniversary (yummy dinner with good company! Oh, and we're going on a date to see a play tomorrow to top it off)

Oh my goodness! A Christmas Star!

Someday we intend to make our blog into a family album of sorts (since Lindsay and I are both terrible at keeping journals), and I want to make sure that we remember some of the funny things Hailey has said lately:

Last night, she was having a really tough time falling asleep, but she knows that she has to be quiet so she doesn't wake up her brother/roomate, when I got upstairs, she was laying on the floor with her face buried in her folded arms, and saying, "I can't do anything"

Whenever she sits on the toilet she tells me "I make a giant poo poo and make a baby poo poo", even when she's only going number 1. I can't figure out where this one came from (so I assume it's something Lindsay taught her!)

Continuing on the pottie theme, we often sing "The Wheels on the Bus" and add other characters or items and leave it up to Hailey as to what they say or do. For example, the daddies on the bus say..."poop on the car". Don't ask me why, but that is what the daddies have said for about a year now.

A couple of nights ago Lindsay and I put up the Christmas decorations after the kids were in bed. When I brought Hailey downstairs the next morning, she walked around the living room with her mouth wide open. When she saw the tree she put her hand to her mouth and said "Oh my goodness! A Christmas Star! I never saw it before!"

Life is Good

I've felt pretty stressed out lately as the end of the semester rapidly approaches. Then, while I was reading an article for a paper I'm writing, I glanced up at some of the photos in the slideshow on my computer and I realized that I should stop worrying and appreciate just how great my life really is. Here are some of the photos that came up that made me realize that my life has been and continues to be pretty great:

Blake's first football game (Duke got blown out by Georgia Tech)

The day Hailey dressed herself during our Outer Banks trip

Me and my brothers somewhere in Greece

She's pretty great.

Hiking and Halloween

We're a little behind, but here are a few photos from our adventures at the end of October. We went camping with some friends and enjoyed a beautiful hike. And of course we had a great halloween. Blake dressed up as a Duke basketball player, Hailey as a cheerleader, and Lindsay and I were Cameron Crazies. Next year we'll have to start being more creative, but at least the kids looked really cute!

A visit from Mima and Papa

My parents came out to North Carolina this last week. My dad needed something to keep him busy since he retired a couple of weeks ago, and I had a week off of school for Fall break.

We spent the first half of the week on the Outer Banks playing at the beach and learning a little history.












The Wright Brothers Memorial and Museum was pretty incredible; this is the spot where the first powered flight actually left the ground.


Roanoke Island had some fun history, it was the location of the very first Colonial Settlement


Good ol' Grandpa


Bodie Lighthouse...Hailey definitely dances to the tune of her own drummer


Church in Durham


Sarah P. Duke Gardens


Deep Fried Candy Bars and Chocolate Dipped Frozen Cheesecake at the Fair


Grandpa carved the pumpkin, while Blakey tried to eat the pumpkin goo and seeds, and Hailey avoided touching the pumpkin at all costs.

I need this for my boops

This morning Lindsay had me get down a tub of her cold-weather clothes from the attic. Among the sweaters, long-sleeved shirts, and pants were a few of Lindsay's unmentionables. When I went upstairs a few minutes later, Hailey was rummaging through said unmentionables picking out her favorite color.
Without even waiting for me to ask her what she was doing, she stated very matter-of-factly "I need this for my boops." Enough said.

Washington DC

A couple of weekends ago our friends the Dimond's invited us to go to DC with them to visit their family. Along with just hanging out with our good friends, we also visited the Washington Monument, the American and Natural History Museums, the National Zoo, the Washington DC Temple and Alexandria, Virginia. Oh, and Lindsay made me stop at IKEA on the way home. Quite a trip!

Man on a Mission

It seems like all of our pictures of Blake look something like this...







And while I was in the middle of uploading those pictures...he pulled this little maneuver.



Somehow everything he really wants is in some far corner where he has to get himself stuck in order to get what he's going for.

Home at Last

77 hours
10 days
14 states
5,062 miles

Thank heaven it's over.

A Blessed Boy

We finally gave Blake his baby blessing this last week. I'm really glad that we waited until all the family that wanted to attend could be there. He is such a sweet little boy, and he's already so active! He's going to give his sister a run for her money before she knows it...

More Traveling, and Lots of Family

In the last three weeks, we left Dallas, stopped in Colorado, and eventually made our way to Utah. We'll be here for a few more weeks, and then we're headed back to North Carolina, and our home, sweet home. We stopped in Colorado and played with grandparents and cousins, it made me realize just how much we're missing out while living out on the east coast. Hailey had an especially good time while her older cousins played any and every game she wanted.

Mills and McFadden cousins


Watching Fireworks with the McFaddens


All Pooped Out



In other news, Blakey started crawling this last week!