Introducing.. Emalyn Estelle Overman (2 months ago..)

It's just crazy how time passes. The months of waddling around barely able to breathe while working, and dismantling our house piece by piece, seemed to crawl by so slowly; but now that I'm off work, putting the house back together and have 2 children, it's flying by!  I can't believe Emalyn is now nearly 2 months old. She has been a delight. I think my view of the complications of starting life with 2 kids has been clouded by the fact that we had to (got to!) spend the first month at my parent's house. It was kind of a last minute decision to go home from the hospital to Newberry instead of our "construction zone" for a few days while we settled in with the newborn... that quickly turned in to 4 weeks! Well, if it was nice having my mom come over to help out some after Henry was born.. it was incredible to be staying with her for a month! Though some have pitied us for the chaos of it all, it was definitely a blessing to me (and to Chad as I'm sure it took some pressure off of him!) to have some much needed extra help. Here are some pictures of the big day

WARNING: photo of a brand new, bloody, cheesy baby is next. 

Welcome to the big, bright world, Emalyn!

Emalyn

Henry

Emalyn seemed a little feistier than Henry right at first, which might have worried us a bit about what was to come. As it turns out though, she has been a wonderful little baby.. well, crying or not, of course she's wonderful, but she has been very easy on us, thankfully.

They put her skin to skin with me almost immediately, which seemed to calm her down nicely

It took Henry a few weeks to warm up to this new member of our little family, but he is now VERY proud of his baby sister and loves to help with her

 Proud Grandparents

You would think I had labored for days with the "beat up" look of her face, but I'm not sure I even ever even had a real contraction!

Henry got to "ride" on the bed with Emalyn and I on the way to my room after recovery

Headed home from the hospital, in the gown I went home in, a blanket made by my grandmother and a bonnet that was my grandmother's. 

We're outta here!

It's about time!

Well, I guess at some point I am just going to have to start blogging again and accept the fact that I will never catch up with all the things I've missed in the last 7 months!!! (including, but not limited to- Disney trip with Baba and Pop, trips to Pensacola, Cousin birthday celebration, fun with the Conrads before they moved :(, me being pregnant, our house going under construction, and last but not least.. we had a beautiful little girl!)
So, this is the beginning of my effort to get back into the blogging routine. Maybe at some point I'll go back and revisit some of the stuff I've missed.
For now, here's a few pictures of life lately..

Henry has really taken off on his Strider bike! 

Here are a few random construction photos that are easily available at the moment... 

at the grocery store with Mickey Mouse

Introducing.. Emalyn Estelle Overman! I'm sure we've got some better pics somewhere!

Such a sweet boy

Playdate with his buddies Josiah and Elijah

Fun on the way to the airport! We miss these girls!!!

Love her! 

daddy's helper

Happy Birthday Emalyn!

Happy Birthday Henry!!

Wow, I can't believe my little boy is already 2!!! It's amazing to me how every day he just seems to get cuter and cuter and I find myself loving him more and more.. yet at the same time, he does seem to test my patience more than ever at the same time.  I think this is one of the cutest ages yet - as he is learning so much every day, he's like a little parrot, repeating everything we say with his own cute little dialect, wanting to do everything on his own, learning to be more and more independent. I guess the tantrums and frustrations are just part of the learning process, but they do leave Chad and I continually praying to God for wisdom for how to deal with it all. He is a little daddy's boy and it just makes my heart smile at night when I can not peel him off of Chad's shoulder because he just loves to cuddle with his dad before bed. Sweet, sweet, stuff.. and it's just going by way too fast!
We had a wonderful time with friends and family celebrating his birthday a few weeks ago. Here are some pictures..

Thank you to my friend Keila for making these.. I cannot take credit! 

Fun with his cousins! 

Not sure what Olivia is thinking, but I love her face here

right after "blowing out his candles"/spitting all over cake!

Friends!