Mike's Good News

So sorry about the lack of photos. I'll get some up soon! Mike visited the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Monday. He had nine, 30 minute, one-on-one interviews with professors there. Later that evening the head of PhD admissions called him and said he's admitted to the program! He's so thrilled! It's not his first choice school, but it feels great to have one in the bag this early. It's quite a confidence boost for him! We don't expect to hear anything from any other schools until the new year at least, but UNC was excited to talk to him and let him come early during our trip to Raleigh for Thanksgiving. Hooray for Mike!

Big News!

Well, I just found out today that I'M PREGNANT! Mike and I are thrilled! It's very, very early, in fact I'm only four weeks along, but I've never been one to keep things to myself. We're in Raleigh, NC right now visiting Mike's Grandmother, Aunts, and Uncle. On the flight on the way here I found myself choking up during some very non-emotional scenes in the movie Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Needless to say, after that I became very suspicious. I started taking pregnancy tests a couple of days ago, but I knew it was way too early to start. Finally, this morning I got that fabulous pink line! Mike didn't believe me for a long time. I think this is the first time that he's been with me when I've tested positive, so it was a really nice change from the usual notification by telephone. From the online due date calculator, it looks like the baby will be due around August 3. Amelia was pretty excited about it, and insists that it will be a sister.

I'm Thankful...

Yesterday at preschool Amelia was given a coloring page with the phrase, "I am thankful for ___" on it. The teacher asked each kid what they wanted her to write. She told us that some kids said, "Mommy" and others said, "Jesus." And what did Amelia write? "Dogs." Dogs! This from the girl who, for the past three months, has screamed every time she sees Mom's dog, Ruby. (Ruby is the most docile animal on the planet. One glance in her direction sends her rolling on the floor in submission.) What a nut!

New Portraits

We had the kids' pictures taken for Christmas today and here are two of the best ones. The experience was horrible as usual, but after much bawling, m&m bribes, one bloody lip, and a sweaty exhausted Mom, they managed to be smiling! This is truly the worst part of the holidays!

Amelia's Hawaiian Dress

Ginny brought a beautiful dress back from Hawaii for Amelia a LONG time ago, and it finally fits (almost)! And, yes, that is our Christmas tree in the background. We like to get it up nice and early, and in our defense, we'll be out of town for Thanksgiving and we want it to be up when we get home. It is so awesome to have it up, and the kids have such a great time with the ornaments. Colin has been standing up on his own and taking steps around the tree to see everything, and also to yank down and throw anything he can get his hands on. I'm not complaining, though, anything that gets that kid to walk is a good thing!

Also, Amelia's hair is getting really BIG. When it's wet, it goes down well past her shoulder, but it fluffs up to a huge pile on her head when it's dry. I don't think these pictures really do it justice. A little hair clip in the front is hardly keeping it contained anymore!

Bath Letters

Today the kids were being pretty funny in the bath. They'd find matching colored letters (Amelia was in charge of that part), then they'd bite them and yell, "mmmmmmm." It got a little old after the millionth time, but I had a camera on hand so I thought I'd document it anyway.

Mike and Brian sittin' in a tree...

After scanning a bunch of Mike's family photos, I've accumulated quite a few photos of Mike and Brian kissing! I think it's awesome!!!

To be fair, I'm also including this cute one where you can see more than just the back of Mike's head!

Baby Mike

Last weekend we helped Mike's dad move, and I ran across some photo albums that I borrowed to look at and scan. I found this awesome picture of Mike at one month old. I added pictures of Amelia and Colin at approximately the same age. Both of them resemble their Dad, but Amelia does more than I realized! She definitely has his lips.

Applications are Done

There's not a whole lot going on today, but we're waiting for Mike to get home from Albuquerque (where he's been all week) so we can celebrate! He finally got all of his grad school applications done, which took TONS of time and lots of effort (I helped too!). Anyway, keep your fingers crossed for Mike! We'll hear back as early as February next year for some schools.