Edie's Rose Garden Tea Party

It is hard to believe that my little Lady Bug is now 4 years old.  She makes us laugh everyday, surprises us all of the time with her sly little ways and has grown leaps and bounds in the past several months.  I think she knows she is no longer the baby and has taken on the role of a Big Sister quite well.  She LOVES her baby brother and wants to love on him constantly.  She is talking a lot these days and though we can not always understand her she can usually communicate what she is trying to say through sign language.  However, there are some times that she has these long conversations with OA and/or her babies that we have no idea of what she is saying, but I am sure they do :)  And if all else fails we just say "ok".

She has been taking dance lessons for several months now and seems to really enjoy it.  She does tap and ballet once per week at a friend of ours dance studio.  Her favorite dance routine is the Panda Bear and she is too cute when she does it.  Her Gigi and Giddo take her most all of the time to class and I know she loves having her grandparents there with her.  She also takes a gymnastics class at school and a little soccer class too.  She is a busy girl and she never sits still!

For her birthday we had a few of her little girlfriends and family over for a Tea Party.  The theme was a rose garden complete with picnic tables, grass and rose petals right in our dining room.  We also had dress up gloves, hats, boas and a special guest who came and danced with the girls.  OA even got into the act with a pink bow tie (so cute)  The cutest part was watching the little ones drink from their tea cups.  Edie was not as excited about it as I would have hoped, but what can you do with a hard headed birthday girl.  We did manage to sing happy birthday to her and get her to blow out her candle but that was about it.  Regardless everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and I was able to get a picture of her two days later with a redo of the birthday song at dinner.  She even gave in and wore her birthday hat for me :)

McWane

We had a family day at the McWane Center back in January for an early birthday gift to Edie.  Our main goal was to let her play in the fake snow (because WE thought she would have SO much fun doing it) but once she learned that she had to wear covers over her shoes she wanted nothing to do with it.  Instead she loved playing with the water, anything that showed her reflection and her favorite was the fish tanks.  Scott and I have decided it is time for a trip to the Chattanooga Aquarium next.  It was a good day and lots of fun just being a family.

Merry Christmas 2011

Of course we had a BIG Christmas! Lot's of toys, food, family and fun. We were so excited to see the look on Edie's face when she came down stairs to see what Santa brought her and to no surprise, she could have really cared less. Santa carefully selected a cute little mini coop (ridden once), a riding toy for the tv (not yet enjoyed) and several other games and toys (hardly played with to this day) but all Edie really cared about were the Baby Signing Time dvd's. I should not complain though, she could be addicted to much worse than BST videos and truth be known she learns a lot from them and knows more sign language than all of us put together.


Edie was not much on opening all of her presents and at one time Scott and I even debated letting her open them throughout the week. She pushed through it though, even helping OA to open his small gifts. I am thankful to have a child who does not care about getting millions of gifts on Christmas. After all that is not the reason for Christmas but I do look forward to the day when they both come running to the tree with excitement in their eyes to see what Santa has brought.

Breakfast with Santa

Decorating for Christmas this year was fun!  We decided on having a live tree and although it was massive, it was very pretty.  We decorated it with what seemed to be the trendy color combo for this year which was red, white and blue ornaments.  I wanted an all white tree but it just kept growing : )  I enjoyed having a real tree and I think we just may do it again next year. (Just on a smaller scale)  Gigi also finished all of our stockings.  I could not believe she got them all done by Christmas and I was so excited to see them all together on our mantle.  They are SO beautiful and such a wonderful keepsake. 

Breakfast with Santa did not go quite as planned this year, well the picture anyway.  Santa was not overly jolly and after waiting in the long line for our picture I believe both Edie and Santa had - had it!  OA did great though : ) 

Gorham's Bluff 2011

We took our annual family trip to Gorham's Bluff right before Christmas.  This is a tradition Scott and I decided to make for ourselves and our family three years ago.  We enjoy being away, bonding, building a fire and roasting marshmallows without having to drive too far, yet it feels like we are far away.  We spent the days just doing nothing and it was so nice.  I look forward to this trip every year and I can't wait to continue the tradition with our babies for many years to come. 

Weekend Happenings.....

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we did something we have never done before.  We bought a "real" tree this year!  Growing up we both had real trees most years but together this is a first.  With the help of Edie we carefully selected the skinniest, shortest tree we could find (or so we thought).  When seeing your tree outdoors it appears to be much smaller than it really is people!  So once our skinny/short tree was lit with over 1100 lights that I WRAPPED BY HAND we brought it indoors to see how HUGE it really was!  None the less we love it.  It smells great and looks beautiful and it will make Christmas 2011 a memorable one if we can keep it alive for the next 21 days :)

Oh and ROLL TIDE!!!!

Our Family

Several weeks ago the Shunnarah and Kitchen families gathered for our very first family picture day since the babies have been born.  Edie and OA's aunt and uncle had a sweet baby boy named Hollis almost one month before OA was born.  We are so fortunate to have two new blessings in our family.  Holidays at Gigi's and Giddo's will never be the same with two bustling boys and a bossy big girl ;)  I can't wait to watch these boys grow up together and be the best of friends! 

One through Twelve

These past two months have gone by WAY too fast!  My little BIG boy is now two months old!  I must say it has been so much fun.  We have once again been blessed with a sweet and happy baby.  Dr. Cortopasi warned me of how fast things would go this time around I never expected it would be this fast.  OA started smiling at 4 weeks, cooing at 6 and found his hands at 8 weeks.  He is now working on getting his thumb in his mouth too!  He has good neck strength and is working on controlling it.  He loves to sit up and look around but his favorite thing is for someone to sing to him.  I promise he is trying to sing too, it is so cute :)  He wakes up smiling just like his big sister and has truly been a great baby.

Last night was my first time not being in the same room with him in technically over 10 months.  He started off in the bassinet and/or sleeping in my arms :)  Three weeks ago we felt he had outgrown the bassinet and moved him to his crib.  I slept in the twin bed in his room until last night :(  It was bitter sweet because I truly do LOVE to cuddle with him but I must say I do not think I have slept so hard since I was 6 months pregnant.  The biggest blessing of all was that he slept all night!  Well.....at least from 11:00-6:30.  To me that is all night.

OA continues to grow and weighed 10 lbs 5oz at his last Dr visit.  He eats VERY well and we have finally settled into somewhat of a pattern.  I can't believe how fast he is growing and I wish it would slow down just a bit! 

Giving Thanks

We have SO much to be thankful for this year.  We are thankful for our Lord and Savior who loves us unconditionally, our family(s), our health, God's many blessings, OA - our new addition to the family and Edie and her continued accomplishments (she amazes us each day).  We have a wonderful life and I would not change anything!

This year we had Thanksgiving lunch at our house.  Scott smoked THE BEST turkey ever!!  It was soooo yummy and of course we had a fried turkey too, but the smoked was my favorite (along with nannies famous dressing).  We had an abundance of food and stuffed ourselves silly.  Edie decided she wanted to wear her Christmas jammie pants ALL DAY LONG which did not go very well with the matching pumpkin shirt I had gotten for her and OA to wear - but oh well.  You pick your battles :)  We had a great day sharing, eating and laughing with the family.  These times are too few and far between, but I am thankful when we do all come together and for the memories we make.

Daddy Day

Recently OA and I went to visit daddy at his new office and to see where OA will be working one day :)  Back in February Scott was offered a position as a District Manager for Farmers Insurance in Prattville.  This is a goal he had been working towards for over three years.  We were not sure when this day would come, but what a blessing God gave our family.  His timing could not have been more perfect!  I had just found out that we were expecting and I hated the thought of continued traveling for work.  For me it was just not an option to have two babies at home while I was away working, nights at a time in another state.  So with Scott's promotion (and permission :)) I too got promoted!  We are so proud of Scott for working so hard and for the opportunity he has received.  I am thankful to him for giving me the gift of being a stay at home mommy.  I have SO enjoyed my time at home, especially with having a new baby.  It has been such a blessing.

Since opening his office Scott has done really well.  He now recruits agents, trains them and manages a team.  Right now he has a team of ten with several others in training.  My part in the operation was helping to select furniture for and decorate the office.  It is a minimal clean look and works well with Scott's taste.  It still needs a few more things, but other than that it is close to perfect ;)  Once I have adjusted to being a new mommy again I hope to help in the business in some way.  Scott has much to be proud of and I look forward to seeing what he accomplishes next!

Boo!

This Halloween we were a family of ghost and spiders.  I went along with the spider theme of our house (for those of you who have never seen our house at Halloween we have a HUGE black spider that all of the kids just love).  Edie and OA were ghost and daddy was the ghost buster :)  They were all super cute.  Edie and daddy went out Trick or Treating while OA and I stayed in and passed out candy to all of the neighborhood kiddos. 

This year Edie had several chances to wear her Halloween outfit, so the $10 was well worth it!  She had a costume party at dance, a Halloween parade at school which OA and I attended and again on Halloween night.  Edie loved wearing it.  OA on the other hand was not too pleased with wearing his ((snug)) ghost tail.  Poor thing....it was made for a newborn yet he had already outgrown it!!  I love my little BIG boy!

Life and Loves

Our lives are full of joy these days. Edie has grown into a sweet big sister over the past 6 weeks. I honestly believe she has grown by leaps and bounds since her baby brother was born. She is talking so much these days making 3-4 word sentences. She has been minding very well and her teachers have reported that she is actually the best listener in her class. We have been told that she likes to hug her friends A LOT and she has really began to initiate play, which is a nice change from the hitting she was doing to get her friends attention. Edie is also using so many new signs. So much so that I have to break out the sign language book to know what she is telling us! She is SO smart and she has such a good memory it is amazing!

OA is eating very well - and mommy is exhausted from his big appetite :) At his two week visit he weighed in at 10lbs 2oz! I love the bond he and I have formed, however this baby does not like to be put down. If he is awake he wants to either eat or just be held and has now grown fond of sleeping with mommy to the point that he does not want to go in his bassinet. I feel bad, but I guess we have plenty of time to break him (and me) of this habit. Right now I am just going to enjoy cuddling and loving on our sweet baby.

Two Weeks.....

Our good friend Grethel Van Epps of gvephotography.com came to visit us soon after OA was born.  She was sweet enough to bring her camera along and take some sweet pictures of our new love.  And as our baby gift she gave us the entire CD of the session :)  G has been a part of our life since Edie was one, she has been taking Edie's pictures ever since.  I am blessed to have such a sweet lady in our life who too will be having her own baby in the next few weeks.  We can't wait to meet Vivian and watch our babies grow together.  I thank G for all of the wonderful memories she has captured and I am especially grateful for these.

Welcome to the World

Welcome Owen Anderson Shunnarah.  OA was born at 11:42 on September 30th, 2011 weighing 9lbs 4oz and 21 inches and a head full of hair.  The love we have for this little boy is unbelievable, something I did not expect to be honest.  I was afraid of how I would love two little beings equally, but I do.  OA has been such a blessing to us and the perfect addition to our family.

I would be lying if I said we were not nervous going in to deliver OA.  Of course there was so much running through our minds on the health of our new baby boy.  Would he be healthy, would he have all ten fingers and toes and the most obvious, would he be born with DS.  Scott and I chose not to test for any of this and we knew going in that we had a slightly higher risk than most of having a child with DS - but honestly it did not matter.  We want our family to grow and we knew we would love this little boy no matter what.  After all having a child with DS is a blessing.  Simply put, a blessing. 

Edie has really taken to OA and being a big sister.  We have yet to experience any jealously or serious injury to baby OA.  We are still learning how not to love so hard and that baby does not need his diaper changed every 5 minutes :)  Other than that Edie has been a big help.  She hands me diapers and wipes, throws away dirty diapers and loves to help with bath time.  She is very concerned if he cries and can't wait for him to be big enough to sit and play with her.  We are so looking forward to seeing these two grow together and become the best of friends. 

We are truly blessed to have such sweet Angels.

Princess Edie

Over the beautiful - cool weekend, while waiting for OA, we enjoyed just being at home.  Da da got some yard work done, we decorated outside with our Halloween decor, watched some football, jumped in the jump-jump and attended a Princess Party for Edie's friend Ashlynn.  Edie really had a good week at school and home.  She got all good reports from her teachers, therapist and was an Angel at home for us.  I hope this sweet streak continues :)

I can not believe how much Edie has grown.  She was such a sweet girl at the princess party and she had so much fun.  She was SO excited to put on her Princess dress that as soon as we got home from church she wanted to wear it.  Edie has never had any "dress up" clothes, mainly because I did not think she would care anything about it.  But once the dress was on she was ready to go - so we got to the party 15 minutes early.  Luckily Ashlynn only lives two doors down.  I stalled Edie as much as possible, but the Princess was ready!  So I think I know what Santa will be bringing her for Christmas this year.  A Princess needs variety, right? 

Edie was not as clingy to me as she normally is when we are in a large group of people.  She walked right in, hugged Ashlynn's grandmother and made herself at home.  She colored (without eating the crayons), waited her turn to have her makeup applied, sat patiently while reading a story (looking over at me several times grinning ear to ear) and ate her TWO pieces of birthday cake without any help from me.  My baby is growing up and I am SO proud of her!

Owen Anderson Shunnarah

With the addition of O.A. in the coming week I will need to change the blog to "All about Edie and Owen".  Of course I am very excited to finally meet him - but I am also nervous of having a new itty bitty baby in the house.  I am confident that Edie will do well and she will be a great big sister to O.A. my nervousness comes from my ability to care for two babies.....my first love and our first son.  Can I do it?  I know it will not be easy but I know it will be rewarding for all of us. 

I have been working on Owen's room practically all summer it seems.  Picking the paint colors were easy.  I knew I wanted an all white and grey room with touches of blue.  So we chose a soft grey for the walls and a pale blue for the ceiling.  The initial plan was to only have blue on the ceiling and in the bedding and their not be any type of "theme".  I bought the sequin stars several years ago and held on to them for our next baby room.  Those multiplied into more stars and well I guess the room has a "star theme" with more shades of blue than I had anticipated, but it all works.

A few of my favorite pieces in the room is first the painting that Edie did.  I squirted the paint and Edie smeared it asking for more and more and more.  She LOVED painting this picture and the best part of it were the hand prints that she left.  I love how it turned out and I can not wait to make more of this type of art with both of my babies. 

My next favorite is the glider/rocker and ottoman.  This piece was given to me by my sister when Edie was born.  One of my talented neighbors paint and distressed it and another neighbor recovered the cushions in a grey linen and made the sweet pillow.  It turned out perfect and was a great baby gift from the two of them.  Another piece in the room that I thought turned out pretty darn cute is the light fixture.  I got the idea from a fixture I had found long ago but the colors would have never worked.  So I made my own using a painted fixture from Lowe's, hardware cloth and hand carved birds painted silver.

I think the room and all of it's pieces came together well.  It is a very soothing room and I hope Owen loves it.  Who am I kidding....he could care less, the most important part is that I love it!  I can not wait for our baby boy to get here and see it himself!

Milestones

This summer we worked on two BIG milestones - potty training and moving to a big girl bed.  We are pleased to announce that Edie did great with both.  We are still tweaking the potty training part (more to come on that) but as far as the big girl bed goes....she was more than ready for it.  We did have a few nights where she was confused and not sure what to do with herself but after those passed she has been a big girl ever since! 

This bed was given to me by my great grandmother.  We painted the bed white, her room the color "Lettuce Alone" green, hung some hot pink curtains, purchased new bedding and hung lots of ferries from the ceiling.  The room turned out really cute and best of all Edie loves it!  She is now officially a BIG GIRL, not so sure if I am happy or sad about that :(

Small Spaces = Cool Places

One of the projects I worked on over the summer was our laundry room.  Because my office/desk area was previously located in O.A.'s soon to be baby room we had to come up with a new solution.  We did not have a playroom or an extra bedroom to spare, but what we did have was a laundry room.  So we made the most of this small space.  We painted the same color as our dining room, hung a wall of curtains to cover the washer/dryer, purchased a smaller antique desk, hung a pretty awesome light fixture, added a few accessories and ended up with a pretty cool room.  I am still searching for a super skinny storage piece to go between the desk and the wall and I am contemplating on painting the desk white.  But for now - I am happy with the way it all turned out.

p.s.  my photography skills are not the best in these photos.  we got a new camera and i am still learning.  personally i think the room looks better in person :)

Summer 2011

To say we were busy over the summer is an understatement.  Aside from several family trips, parties and holidays we also did some renovations and re-do's at the house, Scott opened his new District office in Prattville and I have been pregnant.  So every time I sat down and thought about all of the blog catching up I had to do - frankly I became overwhelmed and just put it to the side again.  So here I sit today, determined to get our summer blogs complete so we can start fresh because I know there is SO much more to come!

Over the summer we visited Chestnut Bay Resort at Weiss Lake for a mini vacation.  I absolutely LOVED this place.  There was so much for us to do.  It was relaxing and we all had such a good time just being together.  I look forward to this being a new family tradition and returning each year for some good ole' family fun!

Forth of July was a big even in our neighborhood this year.  One of our sweet neighbors hosted a party at their home for the whole neighborhood.  We had tons of food, a jump house and fireworks that night.  We know we live in a great neighborhood with great neighbors but times like these help to remind us of how lucky we are.

For our 6th Anniversary we took a trip to Boston for a long weekend.  We chose Boston because of the cooler weather, the sightseeing and to visit Martha's Vineyard.  We did SO much sight seeing which really took a toll on me, being 7 months pregnant.  I started off strong but by the end of the trip I had elephant kankles and was completely exhausted but it was all worth it.  We had a great time taking tours, eating great food (lots of lobsters), seeing the Boston Red Socks stadium and taking a boat to Martha's Vineyard.  We experienced lots of first and made some really great memories.  It was the perfect Anniversary.

Our last trip for the summer was to PCB baby!  We stayed in a beach side condo which was nice having our room so conveniently located.  Normally we always stay off of the beach and have to haul all of our things to and from.  This trip we made a deal that we would only go if it were easy.  So we got on the beach early and stayed late, we cooked dinner each night and just took it easy.  It was one of the most relaxing beach trips we have taken in a long time and the timing could not have been more perfect.  It was our last trip to the beach as a family of three and we know that next year it will be a whole new experience :)



One of the parties Edie was invited to this summer was for one of her little friends, Anna James.  She had just a few of her friends over for pizza, cupcakes and a visit from Cinderella.  The girls had so much fun dressing up, dancing and having their faces painted.  I thought it was a perfect little girls party, so perfect that we may have to steal the idea for Edie's 4th :)



Chickens, Puppies and Cousins

We have been spending a lot of time at Nannie's and Pawpaw's this summer.  It has been so nice going back "home" eating good home cooked meals, spending time with my parents and just being in the country with them.  One of the biggest highlights for Edie is to feed the chickens.  She LOVES to feed the "bock-bock's" and would feed them 10 x's a day if Pawpaw would let her.  They also have about 10 other four legged farm animals called puppies.  Edie loves to play with them until they all start to surround her and nip at her legs and then she is ready for them to "go!".  During one of our trips Edie's cousins - Wyatt, Wesley and Wylie also came to stay and play.  They had a fun time playing in the pool, jumping on the trampoline, playing dolls, dress up and loving on one another.  I love to watch Edie play with her family at her grandparents; it makes for such great memories.