Well, life with two little ones sure is busier than life with one. Sometimes I have to remind myself to slow down and stop running the race that is life. So, some updates:
Meredith: She is so sharp and intelligent. It amazes me to hear what she is thinking--she is always thinking! She absolutely loves being a big sister and is really good at it! She keeps Nora out of trouble and is a big helper when I need her to be. Her favorite things these days are swinging, singing to "her songs", watching Dora, Diego, Princess and the Frog, or Veggie Tales, and playing with her little sister. She is on the verge of being ready to start the whole reading process--she knows all of her letters and most of the sounds each makes! Again, what she has learned and is learning amazes me. She is a beautiful little girl with a strong will. My prayer is always that I will bring her up knowing that she is smart, beautiful on the inside, special, and kind.
Nora: She is 16 months!!!!! Our sweet girl started walking in August and quickly started running thereafter. She follows Meredith in all that she does and while Meredith appreciates it now, I imagine that will change at some point. Her favorite and most used words are Dada, Mama, Outside, Lucy, Sissy, 
Kitty, Bye-Bye, NO!, Ball, All Done, More, and Eat! She is starting to find her nose and eyes when asked and definitely understands what we tell her to do. I have realized that I do much more for her than I did for Meredith at her age. She is still carried around (way more than we should) and we probably give in more than we ever did with Meredith. This came to me as an epiphany one day...I realized and stated the following, "I get it now! Parents don't truly mean to spoil the younger kids, it just happens!" However, we are trying to be more mindful in keeping all things fair while meeting the individual needs of each of our children. With respect to Nora's personality, she has the sweetest demeanor! She has a smile that just melts our hearts and she has quickly become a Daddy's girl. If Daddy is in the room, no one else matters--I am pretty sure I can deal with that the rest of my life! :)
Kitty, Bye-Bye, NO!, Ball, All Done, More, and Eat! She is starting to find her nose and eyes when asked and definitely understands what we tell her to do. I have realized that I do much more for her than I did for Meredith at her age. She is still carried around (way more than we should) and we probably give in more than we ever did with Meredith. This came to me as an epiphany one day...I realized and stated the following, "I get it now! Parents don't truly mean to spoil the younger kids, it just happens!" However, we are trying to be more mindful in keeping all things fair while meeting the individual needs of each of our children. With respect to Nora's personality, she has the sweetest demeanor! She has a smile that just melts our hearts and she has quickly become a Daddy's girl. If Daddy is in the room, no one else matters--I am pretty sure I can deal with that the rest of my life! :)
Baby #3: WHAT?! Baby #3, you ask? Why yes! We are almost 19 weeks pregnant with baby Partin #3 with a due date of February 25th. We visited the doctor today and found out that all is well and looking healthy. We also found out that it is a BOY!!! We couldn't be more thrilled! During the ultrasound, I teared up upon seeing John's face light up! The pure joy that John had in knowing that he would pass on whatever men pass along to sons made my heart happy! It should be noted that Meredith has been insisting that there was a baby brother in Mommy's tummy since I was 6 weeks pregnant--amazing, isn't it!
John and I: We are doing good! My pregnancy this time is completely different than the first two. I had been incredibly nauseous among dealing with other biological difficulties for the first 14 weeks--thankfully, I am feeling so much better these days. We have been overwhelmingly busy with the girls and work, but if things ever slowed down, I wonder what we would do with our time?
Enjoy the pictures and I hope I will do better in 
the future in posting! Oh, and I do plan to go private soon, I wasn't bluffing :).
the future in posting! Oh, and I do plan to go private soon, I wasn't bluffing :).
