Halloween 2008

This year is the first year since before Kate was born that we've stayed in the neighborhood we live in for Halloween. In our old neighborhood there was a total of 4 other kids that lived near us. In our new neighborhood kids are everywhere! Needless to say Kate, Anne and Mary along with Jake and Olivia had a blast trick-or-treating.

Kate dressed as Ariel, Anne dressed as Minnie Mouse and Mary was our little bumble-bee. Jake dressed as Lightning McQueen and Olivia was Princess Aurora. They braved the neighborhood haunted houses and filled their bags with too much candy. Unlike the other kids who wanted to get home with a bag full of candy, Anne couldn't wait. After every stop Anne would eat everything that she got. It made for slow going but she certainly had a good time!

All in all it was a fun night for young and old. Now we just have to find a low fat way to get rid of all this candy!

Time for a Longfamily update!

It's Saturday morning and Mary decided to wake up at 5:30am. I got up with her and expected the two of us to be awake for a while before the rest of the fam got going. I started the coffee, had a few sips and Mary went back to bed...leaving me tired but with caffeine telling me to stay awake! So I guess it's a good time for an update - at least until Anne wakes up!

So much has happened since my last entry! First of all, Mary is doing great! She is such a happy baby and smiles at everyone! I love it when she looks my way and just smiles her big toothless smile! She is 4 months old now and getting very long. She is in the 95% for height according to Dr. Coffman. She's just living up to her name I told him. He told me not to quit my day job for comedy. Things Mary can do now include, play in an excersaucer which she loves, suck her thumb, laugh, smile, burp, fart, poop, pee, poop, burp, smile...you get the picture. She is trying to roll over but still needs some practice. Her sisters, Kate and Anne are IN LOVE with her! I think they look at her as a baby doll because they try to manipulate her arms and legs like she was made of plastic. She doesn't seem to mind though as she is smiling whenever they are near.

One of the side effects of having our third child was the lack of living space in our home in Orlando. 1329 sq' of house isn't enough for 5 Longs and Barkley. We found a home in nearby Sanford in a wonderful neighborhood that is full of kids that are Kate's and Anne's (and Mary's) age. Just about every day now we have neighborhood kids in and out, upstairs and downstairs playing with the girls. Currently the big thing is a performance that they are giving today for my birthday. 6 or 7 kids, boys and girls have been practicing upstairs dancing to Curious George music. I can't wait to see it and if I am lucky I'll have video and post it here :)!

Anyway, the neighborhood is wonderful. We live next door to a great, longtime friend and her family. Her boys get along perfectly with my girls. Yes, I know what that can mean in about 10 years or so, but I'll be ready! Kate starts Kindergarten in a couple of weeks. Her school is right outside of our neighborhood. Kate recently learned how to ride her bike without training wheels so we plan to ride our bikes to the gate and then walk across the street to her school. I think I am more excited than she is about that! She is excited about school, though. If there are books involved, she is into it. She is in that stage where she is a sponge when it comes to learning and I think she will love school.

Anne is growing up to be so much fun! She wants to do everything that Kate does and she tags along wherever the "big kids" go. All the kids are nice to her so she has fun playing along. As much as she wants to be like Kate she is so much her own little person. She has a hilarious personality and is extremely loving as well. She is tall for her age (Long girls are like that, I guess) and talking a lot. Many of the people she meets think she's 3 when she really just turned 2 in May! I guess hanging out with Kate is rubbing off.

Tami and I are extremely happy and excited about this new phase in our lives. I will be putting up some pictures soon. I have to go for now...Kate just woke up!

Settling in at home

Well it's been a little over two weeks and we are happily settled in back at home. Mary Caroline has been an angel as she sleeps well and eats like a champ! Her two week doctor visit was last Friday and she passed with flying colors. She gained almost a pound to 9lbs and grew .25 inch to 21.25 inches. She is really bonding with everyone, especially Mommy who is home for the next 3 months with her.

Mary Caroline's schedule is pretty well established already. She eats every 3 hours or so and still sleeps a lot! At night when she wakes up she just makes some little noises and she's being well attended to. I haven't had any problems getting enough sleep as I rarely even notice the little peeps she makes. We haven't had any huge meltdowns at night where the entire Long family is awakened by the crying. This was one of our concerns in this little house with the rooms all close together as they are.

We still don't know what color her eyes are as they still look gray. She looks like Kate did at her age, but with a lot more hair!

Successful First Week!

Mary Caroline's first week at home has been a great success. She has had a wonderful week getting to know her Mommy and Papi as well as getting lots of love from her sisters. She is on a pretty good schedule of sleeping for 2 hours and eating. Nighttime has been her more active time so at around 9:00 Tami has been going to bed and leaving Mary Caroline with me out in the family room. She can hang for about an hour and then she crashes again. So she sits in her bouncy chair while I try to do a little work and watch TV. At around 11:30 she gets hungry again and Tami takes over. From then on out it is reported that Mary Caroline gets up every 2-3 hours and eats. It must be very quietly because I have been sleeping right through it!

Things she's done this week: sleep, eat, cry, first bath, keep eyes open for a while, poop, pee, hiccup, burp, sleep, eat, cry...(I think she smiles at me but I know it must have just been gas...)

Thanks to Chrissanne and Craig for the beautiful (and delicious) cookie bouquet. And thanks to all of you for all of your gifts and kind words and prayers.

Home!

Mary Caroline arrived at home on Easter Sunday at around 4:00 PM. Her sisters were with their grandma so she was greeted by Barkley with a few sniffs and a wagging tail. Poor guy is so outnumbered now!

After we felt the house was ready I went to get Kate and Anne and Tami stayed home to feed Mary. When I got to Grandma's house the girls were being treated to an Easter celebration to end all Easter Celebrations. The Easter Bunny tracked the girls down and left baskets and eggs galore.

All the way home Kate kept asking about Mary Caroline and if she would be able to hold her. She told me that she really loves Mary Caroline and can't believe that she's ours! Anne said the same thing but with much fewer words. "Baby!" she said over and over!

When the girls got out of the van at home they both ran into the house and went directly to where Mary Caroline was. They both begged and pleaded to hold Mary. Then Kate saw that the Easter Bunny had also come to our house so she let Anne hold Mary first. Anne did great holding Mary this time and was very gentle and sweet. Kate is a natural. When it came to be her turn she was just wonderful holding her and after a while she got to give her a little bit of a bottle. Anne of course wanted to feed her too. She said "me me me Milk" until finally it was her turn. She did great too.

Mary Caroline slept in bed with Tami and me and did pretty well. She was hungry a lot and woke up every hour or so but she is very mild natured and didn't wake up the whole house. Anne did wake up in the middle of the night and asked Mommy about the baby. It is so cute just how curious she is about her new baby sister. I think the first day at home was a wonderful success. Everyone is healthy, happy and content.

Happy Easter!

Well it's Easter Sunday and we are preparing to hop home with our newest basket of joy! Mary has done very well in her first 24 hours of life. She is eating well and meeting all the necessary milestones. The pediatrician came in this morning at around 9 o'clock and said she was in perfect shape to go home. Mary has really bonded with Tami as she is quickly comforted by her voice and her touch.

Kate and Anne came here yesterday to meet Mary and they both fell in love. Both of them had a chance to hold Mary and neither wanted to give her back. Anne is still a little rough around the edges when it comes to how to treat Mary but she gave it a good try. Kate was wonderful with Mary and cried when she had to leave. She said over and over, "I'm so going to miss Mary Caroline!" I think she's more excited about being at home with Mary than that the Easter Bunny is coming! Other visitors yesterday included: Abu Yiya (Yaya), My dad (Pop-pop) &Dallas (Tio), Tia (Titi), My mom (Aba), Dick (Papaw), Colby (The Godfather) & Alix, Andrea, Carol (Grandma).

Epidural IN!

Tami is resting comfortably after having her epidural placed. She is much happier now and is talking on the phone with her friends even though she doesn't realize they are all sleeping! It's 12:30 AM! We're expecting smooth sailing from here on out. I'm gonna try to catch some zzz's. Nothing to watch on tv now that the basketball games are over. Damn Hoosiers...losing in 1st round again...sigh.

Good night! We'll all meet Mary in the morning!