Sibstravaganza

Saturday was our sibling party. All six of the Lingle clan, along with spouses and better halves, got together for games, food and fun. No parents or little children allowed!
Here's where things started to get a little crazy.
We thought we'd try out an old family tradition. It's something we like to call The Lingle Pile. We all lay on top of each other, from oldest to youngest. Keep in mind, this began when Garrett, the youngest, was probably around four or so. So it's definitely gotten harder over the years. Poor Steve. And obviously, I was not able to participate as usual, due to my delicate condition, so I just stuck my head in between Brandon and Ryan. :o)
Then I had the idea to try a Lingle Totem Pole! This was a little easier.
I think we all had a great time. We chose to do our Christmas gift exchange also, since we all won't be together for Christmas.
The plans for our trip were supposed to be that Chris drove home Sunday and I stayed in Florida with his parents until Thursday. Unfortunately, due to some unusual, and pretty painful back issues I was having on Sunday morning, we decided that I should be home with Chris and near my doctor. So we're back home now, and we're thankful that we could spend time with our families.
Now it's time to decorate for Christmas!!

Thankful For Family

Friday it was mostly just us girls. We went to the park. The swings were Laura Anne's favorite!

Then we met a little furry guy who we named Snoopy for the day.
Grandma's helping Laura Anne down the slide.
Yes, this was spinning while she was sitting. :o)
Crawling through the tube!
After meeting up with the guys for dinner we went to visit Chris' sister, Nellie, and her family. Laura Anne thought it would be fun to push cousin Camila around the house in a doll stroller. It caught on; Barbara pushed Laura Anne for a little bit, too.

Elizabeth and Erin both got to feel the baby move so that was cool.

Laura Anne loves Snowy! Her favorite thing to do with him is follow him around the house saying, "come here, Snowy!"

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! We braved the highway with both our girls this time. It took us 10 hours to get to our destination. (Children and dogs require long rest stops!) But they both did great.
At the Castleberry reunion, the youngest girls play a game together.
Here's Sheri with Joshua and Steven, looking so cute in their matching shirts!
Laura Anne spent some time playing with Grammy. Mutton is in the background.
And what's Thanksgiving without Charlie Brown? Laura Anne has fallen in love with Snoopy. She giggles at everything he does!

Our Little Gymnast

As a gift for Mother's Day this year, I received a gift certificate for me and Laura Anne to take Tiny Roo classes at a local gymnastics place. Basically, we get 4 sessions where Laura Anne can run freely and try out all kinds of activities, including the trampoline, slide, the "pit", rings, etc. We've gone two times and she really loves it. Here's some pictures of the fun she had this morning.
This is the instructor, Miss Geri.

Climbing up the wall!
Trying out the balance beam
"The Pit" is so fun! But it's really hard to get out of!
Hula hoopin'
Jumping on the trampoline is one of her favorites!

Walking across the wobbly bridge
Playing in the doughnut
This slide was so fast!!
Hanging on the rings
Laura Anne and her class. They always get a coloring sheet and a sticker before they go home.
This is the ride home :o)

To Seaweed...

My dear sister, Sheri, who I lovingly call Seaweed, celebrated a birthday today. Sheri, I'm so excited to see you on Thursday and give you your present! I hope you had a fun birthday!

Laura Anne says hi!

I love you, Seaweed!

Birthday Wishes

Laura Anne and I want to wish our good friend, Brantley, a happy birthday today!! Laura Anne colored a picture for you, Brantley, but was feeling a little camera shy today. So we'll just mail it to you! Hope you have a wonderful day, friend!

Happy Birthday!

Grammy Makes Such Pretty Clothes!!

Showing off the pretty pumpkin dress that Grammy made for me!!

Here I am just being silly.

Are you watching me?

I can't believe this pregnancy is already halfway through! The new baby will be here before we know it!

Me And My 4-Wheeler

Hopefully this will work. It's a short video of Laura Anne and her Power Wheels four-wheeler. She calls it her bike. She's very talented at driving without watching where she's going!

A Peek Inside...

What a fun experience we all had getting to see the little baby in my tummy! Me, Chris and Laura Anne had our own TV in front of us to see everything the ultrasound technician was seeing on her computer. The first thing we clearly saw was the heart beating. We could see all four chambers. It was really cool.
The baby was awake so we could see it moving its arms and legs, even tilting its head a little. The funny thing is that first the arms and legs were down in front of the baby's body. Then all of a sudden the arms were by the head, and while we were looking at the baby's head we saw a foot come up above the shoulders! This baby is flexible!

This first picture is a view of the baby's front. From right to left, you can see the brain, eye sockets, tummy and leg! The blobs on either side of the chin are the hands.

This is a view of the top of the baby's head! The big white blob in front is a hand! We could see all the fingers including the thumb! It was awesome!
One of my favorites!! This is a picture of the bottom of the feet!! Aren't they adorable?!
Another picture of the feet. On the left is the bottom of one foot. On the right is the side view of the other foot--a little bitty ankle!
Oops, this picture is backwards. The baby's head was on the right. Anyway, this is the beautiful profile. We can already tell that this baby's nose is different than Laura Anne's!

And in case anyone's wondering, the sex of the baby IS still a secret!!

First Things First

Today is my dad's birthday. Laura Anne wanted to share something. So here it is! Happy birthday Dad!
You can see LaLa written on the right side of the paper. It's her nickname and she asked me to write it for her!

Gotta Have Clean Teethies!

Laura Anne went to her second dentist appointment today. She was so well-behaved! She did everything her dentist asked her to do and never made a peep. She even had her first x-rays done! We got to see her permanent teeth. That was wild! The dentist did point out that she will have to have braces down the road, just for proper alignment. I guess they are a little crooked in there. I was just surprised they could tell she will need braces and she's barely even 2 years old! Other than that, the dentist was pleased and Laura Anne got a sticker, a toothbrush, and a toy fish to take home! What a trooper! :o)

Reading Is Fun!

It is so cute when Laura Anne reads a book to herself. This particular one is one of our favorites. We've read it several times so she knows it well. It's called "Guess How Much I Love You".

She's saying "weee!" because the daddy bunny is swinging the little bunny high over his head.
Okay this was adorable. You may be able to see that in the book the daddy is kissing the baby on the head. Right before I snapped the picture, Laura Anne bent down and kissed the book! It was so sweet! A few minutes after I took the picture she came and gave me a kiss too!

Cutie Patootie

We were having fun outside yesterday. I just had to share some pictures!

Laura Anne loves to say "I see you!" She kept peeking a different way around the rail!