I want to give our little guy a proper introduction! Meet Jack Samuel Strickland:
Our little stocking stuffer was born on December 19th at 3:56pm weighing 7lbs 15oz and 21.75 in long.
At 10 weeks old, he has already doubled his birth weight and just can’t get enough of his crazy big sisters.
Shortly after Jack’s birth, Christmas happened. And it would be a complete lie for me to say I remember any if it.
As if adding a baby to our lives wasn’t enough, we are getting ready to move again! Bedrest may have prevented me from making my Pinterest baby nursery a reality, but it did not prevent me from nesting. In a feat of ultimate nesting (and many, many hours on the internet) I found the perfect home for us! We close on our new house this week and will be moving at the end of March. This will be our fourth move in three years and I am SO READY to get settled. I think the above photo provides the perfect visual of how I am going to feel over the next few weeks. A mix of excited and insane (but mostly insane).
No energy for captions. My nausea has returned and I have a sick little girl.
I think the general theme “we had fun” applies to all the photos.
Even though we knew we wouldn’t be settling in Seattle forever, our move back East came much sooner than anticipated. Within a couple of days time, we found out we were pregnant and that the owners of our house may sell it. Time was ticking, we had to make some quick decisions about our future, and decided it was Virginia or bust! I planned to fly back with the girls and Daniel would stay to pack up and drive back across the country with Tyrone. Sadly, the girls and I had to leave a week early to attend my grandfather’s funeral. I am thankful we were able to be with family during this time and can’t imagine not being there.
Contrary to prior experiences, the girls were soooo good on the flight. I was a bit of a mess and kept a barf bag on my lap the entire time, and I’m still not sure how the three of us fit in the tiny bathroom, but we made it! I attribute much of our success to candy and allowing Addie to keep a pacifier in her mouth the entire time…
A little confusion waking up in Knoxville…
Next rest stop, Nana and Papa’s in Blacksburg…
Then on to Ohio for my other grandfather’s funeral. I didn’t anticipate seeing both sides of the family within a weeks time, but were grateful to be with family again…
The girls were total crazy lunatics by this point in our trip, so I decided to sit out of a few events and mask emotions with ice cream…
Back to Nana’s and then on to Amy and Brandon’s wedding in North Carolina!
A little rehearsal dinner fun…
Then resting up for the big gig as flower girl…
(The following photos are taken without permission from MerryStudios. Check her out!)
Our Toddlers and Tiaras moment…
She did it!
Dancing Queen…
Meanwhile…
Next stop: Virginia Beach to face the mountain of boxes!
Easter weekend in Seattle was absolutely beautiful. We were able to organize a little egg hunt in a garden in Queen Anne. It was one of my favorite places to walk to with the girls last summer and a really fun place to hunt for eggs with our favorite little people!
On Sunday morning, we headed to church with the girls dressed in matching dresses, but had to make a quick costume change when Carter threw up all over herself in the car. Even though church was a minor disaster, brunch was absolutely fabulous. We joined friends at the Fairmont Olympic Hotel in downtown and felt like we were dining with the Queen. Clearly, Addie was impressed:
Poor Carter was terrified of the Easter Bunny and sat on my lap through our entire meal. I feel a little guilty saying this, but it actually worked out really well and we’ve talked about paying someone to dress in an Easter Bunny costume to keep her in line during future fancy events.
I just love this photo. It truly sums up how a woman on bed rest might feel. Her hair freshly highlighted with gently tousled curls. A slight amount of lipgloss and blush to convey a healthy glow as she skypes with her fellow bed resting friends. And check out those cute and coordinated pajamas she just ordered online.
I’m one week into this thing called bed rest and this woman gives me hope that the best is yet to come.
After two trips to the hospital to have contractions stopped, my doctor prescribed moderate bed rest, meaning I have to be off of my feet most of the day, cannot do any housework or drive anywhere. This sounds like a mother’s dream, but figuring out the logistics of taking care of a 2 and 4 year old hasn’t been easy. Simple tasks like chasing Carter down to change her diaper or bending down to tie Addie’s shoes start up the contractions. Thankfully, we have a lot of wonderful people willing to pitch in and help us get through the next 4-6 weeks!
I do plan to fully update this blog, no excuses now! I know life will be crazy in a very different way when Baby Brother finally does make his way into our world.
This announcement is long overdue.
Carter has named him “Tootsie” and says sweet thing like “how’s my little Tootsie pie?” to him throughout the day. I have to be careful when wearing a dress in public, as she has been known to lift it up at any moment to communicate with Tootsie through my belly button. Addie has big plans for our new addition, and I have a feeling he will have no problem keeping up with her since he is constantly moving.
How is life going to work with three children ages four and under? I have not clue, but will soon find out.
More “catching up” posts to come…
Before our whirlwind decision to move to Virginia took place, these two characters boarded a plane on the East Coast and didn’t look back. Thankfully, they brought with them some much needed warmth and sunshine.
We visited Pike Place Market, perused the flowers and saw a fish or two being thrown. But what really caught our attention was the bakery…
It’s no secret where I got my sweet tooth!
Addie got to visit her beloved Space Needle.
The above photo is my very favorite. I might even frame it. If you know Grandma Pat, then you know she is a lover of maps. (What do you think is in that fanny pack?) She is always ready with a perfectly folded map. The apple doesn’t fall far and these two were in map heaven as we made our way to Orcas Island on a ferry.
I wish I could figure out where the rest of my pictures went, but this photo does a pretty good job of capturing how fairytale-like our little adventure was. During our short visit, we saw eagles and otters and Addie chased wild rabbits while we waited for the ferry to dock on our way back to Seattle!
More “catching up” posts to come…
I have so many posts to catch up on, with the two most important being a synopsis of the fanciest Easter brunch we’ve ever eaten and a visit from the adventurous duo Nana and Great Grandma Pat. But, I will have to leave you with those teasers, because we are busy packing up for our big move BACK to Virginia! We’ve had to make some drastic decisions in the past few weeks and decided to move to Virginia Beach at the end of the month. Two cross-country moves in one year with two young children is no small feat, but seems much more manageable when I know there is a Chick-fil-a and a beach waiting at the end of our journey. This year has gone by quickly in many ways, but seems like so much longer when I think about how intertwined our lives have become with new friends. There’s an open invitation to all our West Coast pals to join us for some classy fun on the other coast…
Several weeks ago, our friend Kelly came from Virginia for a last-minute visit. It was a perfect weekend filled with sunshine, Hunger Games, shopping and Mad Men. We took the ferry to Bainbridge Island and could actually see the mountains this time!
Three days with a good friend will certainly hold me over until our trip back to Virginia in May!
