Welcome Charlotte Mae!!!!

Charlotte Mae Dement made her arrival into the world on December 21st, 2011 at 4:43pm. As with most of my children, she was apparently content in the womb and did not seem to want to come out on her own. And because Christmas was only a few days after her due date of the 22nd, we decided to induce to be sure that she would be home with us on Christmas day!

After my epidural and very shortly before Charlotte arrived, the kids got to come visit. I think they were a little nervous and not sure what to think. They were keeping their distance from me until I told them it was ok to come give me hugs and take a pic.
7lbs 6.7oz, 19 3/4in long and perfect in every way!!!!

Hi baby girl!!!! We've been waiting 9 mos to meet you!

Proud daddy!

The kids were in awe and so excited to meet their baby sister!

TJ was actually giddy with excitement- he giggled when he first saw her. I saw no sign of disappointment that he didn't get the baby brother that he had "ordered" as he says.

After her bath looking so cute.

I always miss feeling them in my belly, but it felt so good to finally be holding her in my arms.

And now Daddy gets to hold her too!

After an extra night in the hospital due to some jaundice related to her blood type being incompatible with mine and a heart murmur that has resolved, it's finally time to go home. Being in the hospital is tiring! Thank you Aunt April for my adorable going home outfit that fit me so perfectly!

Big sister can not get enough of her.

So in love.

Our first pic as a family of 5!

At home with big sister. Alli always wants to be holding her and gets a little mad when she's not able to.

This girl is a big time snuggle bunny. I like to call her a shoulder monkey cause her favorite place to be is perched on or draped across a shoulder (preferably mine, but daddy's works occasionally too).

More snuggle time with big sis.

...And big bro. TJ thinks this is so funny, but he never lasts very long before he's ready to get up and go play.

1 week old!!!

Such a beautiful little blessing and the perfect addition to our family.

God is so good!!!

Christmas Festivities!!

The kids enjoyed PJ/Polar Express day at school...

TJ with his friend Maliyah who sits at his table. She is super sweet. Makes TJ look a little small- just a little :-)
Alli with the principle, Mrs. Johnson. We LOVE her. She is always 100% involved in everything the kids do- footed pajamas and all!!

Alli with good friend Addison.

Before heading out the door that morning.

Our annual gingerbread house decorating...

I think we did really good this year.

It only lasted a few hours.

Not sure what part was more fun for them- the decorating or the eating and destroying.

Our Thanksgiving

We spent Thanksgiving with Dwaine's parents this year. It was just the 6 of us, Elsie prepared a nice meal (all I had to contribute was Bill Miller's stuffing - easy enough!), and the weather was GORGEOUS! We sat outside most of the day and the kids enjoyed riding the old bikes and tricycles at Grandma and Pop's house. So many reasons to be thankful!

Alli and TJ pose with Grandma and Pop- I attempted this pic numerous times and this was the best one I got (you should see some of the others- rather amusing).

Playing outside on the super awesome long driveway.

Silly faces!!

That hat is one that Dwaine used to wear all the time as a kid. Elsie got it out for TJ and he loved it and so do I! I think it looks so stinkin' cute on him.

Alli modeling in the tree for me. She kept insisting on touching the bird bath- YUCK!

My crazy boy- gotta love him!

TJ sporting his favorite shirt, favorite jeans (hole in the knee and all), and new favorite hat posing with the old bike he enjoyed riding.

All around, it was a great day!

Kids' Sayings of the Morning

TJ: Mommy, sometimes my mind is out of its mind.

When asked what he meant he said his mind does crazy things when it thinks. Ha! I know the feeling!


Alli: Mom, when you throw away my crafts, you throw away my love.

Ouch!

She was talking about something that she found in the recycle bin about 2 mos ago too. Apparently I've scarred her for life.

9mos Belly Pics!!

And the big bare belly in all it's glory...
Should be a very Merry (and probably a little hectic) Christmas!!

Holmes or Dement???

Sono pic at 37wks 5days...

Look at those lips!!! And Dwaine says that is a Holmes nose. Getting excited to see what this baby looks like in person. We'll see in 2wks or less!!! Baby weighed in at 6 lbs 8oz according to sono measurements- let's hope that is fairly accurate. I would love to have a baby in the 7lb range!!

Great Weekend at the Ranch!!

We enjoyed a really nice time at the ranch for opening weekend of deer season. Dwaine's parents joined us out there and watched the kids so I could go sit in the stand with Dwaine while he was hunting...
Looks like I'm good luck! This deer came out right as the sun was starting to rise. My eyes apparently had not yet adjusted 'cause I never actually saw it before Dwaine shot it. Good thing his eyes are better than mine! I was so relieved when he shot this deer early because I was super worried that I was not going to be able to sit there for very long without having to go pee. I really did NOT want to be the reason his hunt was ruined!

We had just finished up our venison from last year, so I'm glad to be able to fill the freezer again!
Thanks to Alli the photographer, we were able to get this great shot of both of us with our trophy. Dwaine was excited when we walked up to it, cause he actually has a very unique rack- a 12 point with some drop kickers that curled and twisted around the back side of his head (you can't see them in this pick).

Hiking and enjoying nature!!

As you can see we don't usually do a lot of grooming while at the ranch, but somehow they still manage to look cute!!

Halloween Festivities!!!

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year. Great weather, pumpkin patches, carnivals, Halloween... what's not to love? The whole family looks forward to it all year. I can't tell you how many times we had to answer the question, "How much longer till Halloween?"

Showing off the face paintings they got at a little church carnival right around the corner from our house. They had bouncy houses and slides, carnival games, an exotic animal show, etc- it was all very small town, no frills, no fuss but I have to say I really appreciate that sometimes! The kids must have climbed up and slid down the moonwalk slide about 50 times, each played a handful of games, won a bag of prizes including the stuffed animal Alli is showing off in the above pic, and got their faces painted- 13 dollars very well spent!!!

TJ's dragon- he loved it and was not at all happy when it came time to wash it off in the bath that night.

And Alli's lion face. Is that cute or what?

Picking out pumpkins at the local pumpkin patch. They each get to pick one and then later design a face for daddy to carve into it. Alli was waving at the cars going by on the street like a beauty queen. She cracks me up sometimes.

Me with all 3 of my kiddos- Wow, saying that is going to take some getting used to!

Alli posing and pointing at the pumpkins.

Showing off the pumpkin she picked out.

He and daddy really wanted to get the big round one on the left in the pic, but it was a little out of the budget so he went with a smaller skinnier one instead.

Can you guess who designed which pumpkin?
I was pretty impressed with both of them.

And for Halloween night...

A Bollywood princess and Darth Vader ready to Trick-or-Treat

Again with Alli's posing- all her idea.

The first stop is always Nana Pam's house and the kids love this one cause they know they will get a little toy in addition to their candy.

Enjoying a little of the night's loot. There was so much more than what you see here. It's ridiculous how much candy we have in the house right now- doing my best to ration it out in reasonable amounts. Daddy is enjoying it every bit as much as the kids- he's such a candy addict!

Darth Vader revealed!!!

Very revealed!