We had a wonderful afternoon celebrating new life and we cant wait to meet Fisher!
i love this lady!
gorgeous goddaughter
cousins
Mim and Evelyn got to meet each other. Mim has two daughters, 3 granddaughters and now 3 great granddaughters! No boys allowed.
We also had a fantastic time celebrating one of our favorite couples, Matt and Alyssa. Their wedding was SO much fun. I would expect nothing less from those two.
And there was a lot of hanging around the house. Such is life with a newborn.
Evy had her first bottle and Cora HAD to have one too.
The rice box. A pinterest idea gone bad. I will be finding rice for years.
Oh my goodness, you are just the sweetest little love bug!! You are so so cuddly and adorable. Cora always squeezes you and says "oh precious." You are excelling in all newborn categories, including being held all the time, sleeping and eating. Speaking of your eating skills, those cheeks!! They are out of this world. And your fluffy hair is pure greatness. For nine months I got to have you all to myself, but I always struggled with the fear of something going wrong since we lost the little one right before you. To be able to hold you and watch you all day has brought me so much peace and joy. This month has been amazing. Your daddy and I just gush over you and your pure sweetness. We are thoroughly enjoying your "newborn-ness" because we know it will be gone all too soon! We love you and the way you have forever changed our family!
A couple weeks ago we went on our first road trip as a family of four. Thankfully it was to one of our favorite places in the world. I don't know what it is about Panna Maria, but it is such a special place. Just a little Polish paradise. Grandma and Popo told us that when their current priest was assigned to their church he said was getting to, "live in heaven." Agreed.
There is something so cool about watching your kids explore your grandparents' house. Cora was obsessed with Grandma and Popo's toy box. These toys have seen a lot of love over the years.
Evelyn was a little angel the whole time. I don't think she was put down once the whole weekend, which was fine by her.
We spent Saturday morning at the farm. Cora would move there if we would let her. She is STILL talking about it every single day. She'll say, "rode tractor, daddy and pops"
And "feed cows, baby cows, where did baby cows go?"
And "rocks in water"
We were all so at peace out there. Our ultimate dream is to have a farm on our own little piece of Panna Maria where we can live with our 10 kids and just do farm stuff (whatever that is) all day every day.
These two are just livin the dream.
That night, we had a ton of family come over to meet and celebrate sweet Evelyn.
Evelyn got to meet original Evelyn for the first time. They were both smitten.
We spend the evening, making cookies, eating dinner, and listening to stories about "the good ole days." But Memaw was so funny. After they were all talking about how difficult it was back then, she said, "I don't know why they call it 'the good ole days,' that sounds pretty terrible." I could listen to their stories for hours. Grandma's stories about how she used to come in from the fields and butcher chickens for lunch amaze me. Sometimes I am too lazy to even make a sandwich.
Happy, happy birthday to our dearest Gabrielle, who goes by so many other names. Brie, BrieBrie, BB, Cheese, Barf Bag, and our most recent and my personal favorite, PeePee (thank you, Cora).
We knew that the youngest member of the Fernandi clan was trouble from the day she was sent to the principal's office for fighting in elementary school. But it was only because someone said something bad about her sister. And in true Gabrielle fashion, she would NOT stand for that. I wish I had even an ounce of her courage. She is not afraid to stand up for what is right no matter what. She is small but mighty. I can't wait to see how she changes this world, because I know that she will not leave it without making a huge impact. Thats just how she rolls.
To say that she is "quirky" would be an extreme understatement. We all made fun of her when this is all she wanted for Christmas one year . . .
Yesterday I heard this quote by G.K. Chesterton, "Dead things go with the stream. Only a living thing can go against it." That's Brie. So full of life and unafraid to be her own person. She is anything but ordinary. I hope my girls pick that up from her.
But underneath it all, she is really just a sweetheart. She feels so deeply for other people and has a heart that is constantly looking to be of service to others.
Its a funny thing to have a sister that is so much younger than Tara and I. In fact, I can remember that in my first confession, the only sin that I had to confess as an 8 year old was that my older sister and I always fought over who would get to hold our little sister. And even though over the years we have probably "mothered" her more than she would have liked, or too often treated her like our "annoying little sister" she is really the key member of our little wolf pack.
She is one of my best friends in the world. I love our deep conversations, mutual love for old trinkets, english man voices and feasts that are composed of entirely too much cheese.
I am so unbelievably proud of her. I amazed at her success here at A&M. She is doing so great and has been working so hard to achieve her goals. We love being able to live so close to her! The girls are so blessed to have her around. She goes out of her way to make them feel special. I find comfort in the face that they will always have her to lean on as they grow up.
And to demonstrate how much she is really loved by Cora, one of my favorite videos of all time . . .
Happy Birthday, Gabrielle Blair. We hope you have an outstanding 19th year!!
(This marks the end of my year o' birthday posts. It has left me more appreciative than ever of all the amazing people that God has put in my life. I am eternally grateful.)
We were so thrilled to meet our little girl this week! So far everything has been smooth sailing! I had a very easy delivery and she is perfectly healthy. We only had to stay in the hospital for 24 hrs with her so we have been enjoying every minute of having her at home. Especially her big sister. Cora has been great!! This is such a big change in her little life and she is handling it like a champ. When she first saw her she kept saying "aw, aw, aw" "how toot." She even tried feeding Evelyn a cracker within her first 5 minutes of life. It has been harder on me than on her. I just pray that God gives me the capacity to express the amount of love that I have for both of these little girls!
We are so thankful for our families who have been so selfless in making sure this was an easy transition for us. Cora has been in heaven getting to spend so much time with her grandparents and aunts and uncles. I think the real challenge for her will be when they all have to leave.
I am sure that I will have many more stories to come, but for now, here are some of our favorite pictures from this week . . .
