Sisters

These two are so lucky...I grew up with only brothers, and didn't know anything about sisters until my brother got married (then I got the best sister ever!) But these two will always have each other- I sure hope they appreciate it. (And for you geneticists out there- is it possible to have a child with blue eyes if neither parent has blue eyes? Both Marshall's dad and my dad have blue eyes- could that skip a generation? Perhaps this is just baby blue and they will change to brown or something in a few months. I don't know though- they look quite blue to me!) We just love our beautiful girls!

Baby Rachel's One Week Photos

We had some fun newborn pics taken of our little Rachel. A local photographer named Parker Grimes came to our home for the shoot on Rachel's one week birthday. We are all adjusting quite well to our new addition. The kids absolutely adore her, and are so sweet and gentle with her. There have definitely been some hectic moments and I occasionally feel like I need a clone of myself to get everything done, and especially to have enough time to spend with the other kids, but luckily for me I have had lots of help from family and friends, and so the transition hasn't been too hard. (It also helps to know from experience that things won't be this crazy forever!) I know things will settle down eventually, and that helps me to enjoy the moment better. We have been very blessed with meals being brought in, thoughtful gifts, people offering to help with the other kids, and my mom (as usual) has been so awesome to come and help with whatever I need whenever I need it. She is so amazing! I hope I can be like her someday. We are just loving our sweet little redhead girl and are so thankful to have her in our family. Enjoy the pictures.

(The files are so big that Blogger was having a hard time uploading them, so you will have to settle for a link instead.)

http://photos.pagrimes.com/p719478546

Bubba-Bot!

Drew is taking advantage of the fact that we are a diaper family once again...no sense in throwing away a perfectly good big box, right? He had a vision of the potential of this box, and good old dad helped him bring his vision to life. He is so excited about it- he wanted to make sure I took pictures of all 4 sides, and has big plans to wear it for Halloween. (We'll see if it lasts that long though.) He is such a creative and funny kid. He really is very artistic- he has set up an art studio in our front entryway and draws and colors there all day long. I have stacks and stacks upon piles of his artwork. How am I going to find the heart to get rid of them someday? I love this kid so much!

I love the personal touches on the mask...
He drew robots on the sides...

..and back.

So funny!

I love my Bubba-Bot!!!

Introducing...

Rachel Abby Chamberlain
June 19th, 2010
4:55 a.m
7 lbs. 12 oz. - 19 1/2 in.

We are so happy to announce the birth of our beautiful daughter! We had been planning on an unmedicated birth, which was a good thing because she was so excited to join our family that she couldn't even wait until we got to the hospital. Little Rachel was delivered at home on Saturday morning and thankfully the delivery was very fast and uncomplicated- baby was perfectly healthy and safe. After a short ambulance ride and one night in the hospital, we returned home Sunday morning in time to celebrate Father's Day together. Her middle name is Abby, because she entered this world in her home on Abby Way. We feel extremely blessed, and everyone is doing great!

Just For Fun

When I was expecting Allie, we thought it would be fun to get some pictures taken of me and Drew. We felt like it was a fun way to remember this special time for our family, and to be able to show to Allie as she got older, to serve as a reminder to her how excited we were to welcome her into our family, and to always remind her how special she is to us. Now that we are again preparing to welcome another beautiful daughter into our family, we wanted to take some more special pictures so we could always remember this wonderful time, and so that this little baby girl would also know how much she is loved and how excited we all are to meet her!

(Oh. My. Goodness. I am huge!)

Maybe I am way too brave to post pictures of myself in this condition, but, who cares? I am one day away from my due date here, so I figure I have earned the right to look any way I want to, right? I suppose it could be a lot worse. And yes-we love Marshall too, but these were meant to be sort of like "mommy and me" pictures. We will do some family pictures sometime after we become a family of five!

Happy, Happy Birthday!!

Yet another year has passed (I can't believe it!) and this time finds two of my favorite people turning 3 and 31. To celebrate, we had a little family get-together in my parents backyard.

No birthday party around our house is complete without a pinata! The kids always love it.


Happy Birthday! We love you guys!

By Popular Demand

I have had several friends ask me to post pictures of our new house, but I have been hesitant. #1 reason is because I feel a little silly putting pictures like that on here, and #2 reason is because taking pictures means having to have several rooms picked up and free of kid-evidence all at once. However, one day a window of opportunity came and I seized it. Here are a few snaps:

( This is a really bad picture, but I went outside in my jammies to take it and I'm not doing it again!) We are still in the midst of getting our landscaping put in, so don't mind the pile of gravel and lack of grass and trees. Hopefully we can get it done soon so we can get rid of the dirt and start enjoying our yard!

Allie really wanted to be in the pictures.

Family room from kitchen.

Family room from entry.

Girls room.

Our home is a 3 br 2 ba with an unfinished basement on .41 acre. (If you ask me, the lot is a little on the big side, but that's the way they do it here in the country!)

We love our little home-it is perfect for us. Someday we will get started on finishing the basement, and then our home can grow right along with us. We live in a great new development that is experiencing a lot of growth, and we like it here. (Having all my family around sure doesn't hurt, either!) :)