Our Little Gymnast

One of Avery's best friends - Katelyn - had her birthday party yesterday at a Bull City Gymnastics. Brent took Avery while I stayed home with the boys...so he took lots of pictures so I could see her in action. Avery had a blast and according to Brent, stayed right on task. He said she was very "into" each activity and that she performed them very well. Here are a few pictures of her in action.

playing in the foam pit

jumping off the spring board

jumping mat to mat

doing a "flip"

walking on the beam

Baby Pictures

Graham Charles Parnell

4-20-2010

7 lbs. 13 oz.

19.25 inches

Fresh out of the womb and straight to mommy's belly! (and still a little purple looking!)

first picture with mommy and daddy

big brother Griffin checking Graham out

kisses from big sissy

the boys

24 hours old and ready to head home

He's here!!

Graham Charles Parnell finally made his debut at 2:30 today! We came to the hospital around 11 to be induced. Our good friend Daniel Runkle was on call so he was very attentive and gave me a GREAT epidural! It was amazing - couldn't feel the contractions or anything. They broke my water at 1:00 and I started contracting pretty quickly. My nurse came to "check me" at 2:00 and I was already completely dilated and ready to push! WHOO-HOO! After about 15-20 minutes of pushing, Brent delivered our second son. He was a whole pound heavier then our other 2 - weighing in at 7 lbs, 13 oz. His hair seems a little darker but other than that, I have no clue if he looks like either of them. They have him back in the nursery right now for his first bath and assessment. Mom and Mike are bringing the kids up in just a little bit to meet their little brother. Ill get some pictures posted as soon as I can! Thanks for your prayers...

Planting Flowers and Mulching

Big Daddy is a busy body and just can't sit still...so he's been working on projects ever since he arrived! He's fixed locks, lights, and the yard! Today, he and the kids planted some verbena (where ours had previously died) and then they spread mulch. The kids love being outside and "helping" or "working" on projects.

Avery digging her plant a hole

Griffin digging a spot for his plant

Big Daddy giving a lesson in planting

Avery's turn

Watering all the new plants after mulching

Nina and Big Daddy to the Rescue!

Well, I am coming up on 39 weeks pregnant...who would have thought!?! I would have never in a million years expected to make it this far. (Avery came at 37 weeks and Griffin at 36 weeks, 3 days). Graham is definitely not following in their footsteps! I think that both Brent and I were only mentally prepared to make it until 37 weeks so the past 2 weeks have been exhausting. We've even made one trip to the hospital for a false alarm. UGH!

Thankfully, Nina and Big Daddy came up Thursday night...their hope is obviously for Graham to arrive ASAP...but I've just been enjoying having some extra hands! Mom did our grocery shopping and is cooking tonight; they have been entertaining the kiddos big time; and Mike has been working hard on his "to do" list!

Brent and Mike took down some rotten siding and put up new today...

We painted, played in water, blew bubbles, took a walk to the playground, etc!

here are the little painters

Child Labor??

I think we need to investigate the child labor laws here in north carolina...

because brent put both kids to work this afternoon!

they had a blast - what could be more fun than soap, water, and a little sunshine?

this one corner of the car got washed REALLY well!

griffin is really concentrating

still washing their corner!

Happy Easter!

Since we've been married, Brent and I have rarely (maybe once?) spent a holiday with just ourselves...guess that's been a benefit of living a little closer to our families....but since I am very pregnant, we stayed here and just spent the weekend with the four of us. Despite the periods of contracting, its been very enjoyable!

We went to one of the Saturday night services at our church to leave room for visitors in the Sunday services. It was a much smaller group to worship with and we really enjoyed it. They did baptisms immediately following the service so we got the kids out of their classes and let them come outside to watch. They really got into it!

This morning Brent and Griffin cut the grass and worked in the yard. And of course we did Easter baskets with the kids.



Around 10:00, we headed to Duke Gardens so that we could spend some time enjoying the beautiful weather. The kids enjoyed feeding the ducks, geese, and catfish...then we walked around for a while and scouted out the gardens. We found a big field with a small pond and lots of space to run wild so we stopped there and had a picnic lunch. We took a few balls and burned as much energy as possible before heading home.

feeding the ducks and catfish

brother and sisterly love!

Griffin and Mommy

Daddy and Avery

Easter Party

We hosted the Easter party for our playgroup today. (I know I'm insane - 36 weeks pregnant, 3 cm. dilated, and entertaining!) But all went well and I didn't go into labor! We had a huge group - much larger than normal - almost 30 people. Thankfully the weather is beautiful so we were able to spread out and be outside.

We had an egg hunt for the kids and then just let them run wild. They enjoyed the sandbox, swings, bubbles, and coloring Easter pictures. and of course the girls had their share of playing princess dress up and mommy/baby...

Thank to those of you who brought eggs to hide, helped with the food, and cleaned up before leaving...we had a blast!