family happenings

especially for great-grandma Shirley: Here are photos from Kyle and Jessica - highlight the web address, copy and paste into the address bar, then scroll over the top of each picture. There are captions to each picture. The boys are getting so big!

http://picasaweb.google.com/kharms2/YearInReview2009?authkey=Gv1sRgCIyG2p-gs-bpyQE#

"normal" baby

To anyone who has spent time 24/7 with a fussy baby, you have my condolences! Maddie is still pretty well-behaved, but is now awake for brief periods (and sometimes the whole period) in between feedings. At some point during her wakefulness she finds some reason to scream, and I can't imagine trying to console a baby who does that for hours on end! Maybe Maddie would be the same way, but all of you who recommended "Happiest Baby on the Block" - your advice has been a godsend. :)

sleeping

Even though Maddie is the spitting image of her father, she sleeps like a Thornton (well, at least her mom and Uncle Brent)... rolled up in a blanket and head covered at all costs - blanket, hat, whatever. Even if it means bare feet!

baby pics

For all the friends and family who don't live nearby, here are some pictures of Maddie. :)

It's a girl!

Madeline Leigh Wilkinson was born at 7:19 pm on Thursday, December 3. She weighed 7 lb. 9 1/2 oz. and was 20 1/2 inches long. She looks just like her dad, and no, she isn't always this crabby. :) Just happens to be the only pic just of her we have right now - will post more in a few days! Thanks to all for the well-wishes, food, flowers, and visits. So far so good for all 3 of us!

Christmas is here!

Thanks to my parents, today we got all the autumn decorations taken down and put away, and the house is fully festooned for the Christmas season (no surprise to anyone who knows my parents!) Plus, Kevin and mom both did tons of shopping this weekend, in addition to the things I'd gotten earlier. So... I've been wrapping gifts upstairs, mom is working on her stash downstairs, and we've already filled the space under the tree with gifts. :)

Kevin and I are both waiting, rather impatiently at this point, for the baby to come! It seems like we have lots of things ready to go, although the thought of going to the hospital NOW is still a little overwhelming. My brother would have preferred that the baby be here already so he can meet it before he goes back to Memphis, but I'm pretty sure that's not happening!

We hope everyone has had an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday, and we look forward to seeing many of you during the holiday season!

What we've been up to

Hi all,

It's been quite awhile since we've blogged, and to be honest I'm not sure if we've been really busy or not. I know that sounds strange, but it feels like we're both at work a lot, finalizing projects at home, running errands, meeting with friends, seeing our new niece (who, by the way, is adorable), and doing church stuff. But on the other hand, that's pretty much how our life usually is, so I'm not sure why it seems so busy! Either way, our hats go off to the girls' cross country team for their 7th place finish at the state meet and to the volleyball team for their 3rd place finish at state! You were all fun to watch compete, and we were especially impressed to see the volleyball squad at the fall play mere hours after their final volleyball game of the year (and for some, for their high school career). The kids we spend our days with are pretty awesome.

Whenever this baby decides to make its appearance, y'all can come meet him/her as well as check out Kevin's handiwork. He's been installing all the woodwork he's made in the last few years and it looks great! From what we can tell, the only "original" pieces to the main part of the house are the windows and the carpet in the living room, and we've had our fingers into everything else. I'm obviously biased, but I think it's turned out well. :)

Speaking of the baby, I need to pretend that I hate shopping. I tried looking for a few things this weekend, and the crowds (apparently due to some big sale at Younkers) were CRAZY, not to mention that my stamina for shopping has now maxed out at about an hour. The thought of holiday shopping is still fun, especially for baby things, but I think I'll stick to the internet from now on.

Hopefully this finds everyone doing well and looking forward to the holidays. We're excited at the possibility of seeing friends and family when the baby comes, especially since it'll be Christmastime. We'll most likely be sleep deprived, so if anyone wants some one-on-one time with a baby, we won't turn you down! :)