We voted!

Tripp and I actually braved the crowds with both babies and voted together on election day. Well, really, Tripp decided that Lisa taking both Finn and Mackie to the polls could possibly be a disaster so he came along to help. As it so happened, Finn slept most of the time we were in line, and Mackie rode along in her snap and go. When it was time to vote, Finn got to help mama push all the right buttons.

Just so you believe how brave we were, here is the evidence:

How to climb into a cradle

OR........

"How to get rid of baby sister"

Step 1) Dump out mama's diaper basket all over keeping room floor. Make sure to throw everything as far as possible giving yourself ample time to complete steps 2 through 6.

Step 2) Turn over said diaper basket creating a great foot stool.

Step 3) Stand on diaper basket. Check to make sure that the coast is clear.

Step 4) Hold onto cradle and throw right leg as far over cradle side as possible - the higher the better.

Step 5) Reach across cradle and grab other side making sure that you have a solid grip.

Step 6) Hurl your self as quickly as possible into cradle before mama rescues the little thing in the cradle.

Enjoy the view!

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone, but somehow we still have loads of candy. Candy that only Tripp and I can eat. This is no way to lose those final pregnancy pounds.

Our Little Scarface

So here he is - our little scarface. He is healing pretty well, and the swelling has gone. We head in Thursday to have the stitches removed.

As you can see our little man is a resilient little boy. He still loves his Maddie-girl.

long over due update

Well, it's been awhile since we updated everyone and life of course has been exciting, fun, unpredictable, and a little scary these past few weeks.

First, Finn, Mackie and I traveled to Jesup, Georgia for the Odum Homecoming and our Odum Family reunion. Yes, I am an Odum and yes, there is a small wonderful town in south Georia named for the Odums. The Odum Homecoming is the stuff that movies are made of -- local paraded complete with all the beauty pageant winner, Shriner clowns, and random political candidates. The parade is followed by carnival. My family then gets together for Bar-B-que and small talk. Finn loved it - all the balloons, trains, and horses he could handle in one day. But this highlight of this trip is seeing my grandmother spend so much time with her great-grandchildren. I am so blessed to have her in my life and even more blessed that my children have the opportunity to get to know and love her as well.

That's Finn with his favorite toy at Mimi's - yes, the dust pan. If only he could use it.

After the Odum Reunion, my parents came down for long weekend at Fripp. We all had a great time. The only negative was figuring out that my perfect little baby Mackie will not for any reason take a bottle. This eye and ear opening experience occurred on the day that Tripp and I had planned to finally go out on a "date". (Yes, my friends, a date consisting of a meal prepared and eaten outside of the confines of my kitchen prepared by someone other than me. We even had decided to get sushi.) We are currently still working on the no bottle baby with no success. I maybe breastfeeding for a lot longer than I intended.

This is where we found Finn one evening -climbing up the baskets in our closet.

Then this past weekend, we made our first of what people tell me will be many trips to the emergency room with Finn. We were getting ready to go to an Octoberfest party. Tripp was watching the end of a great Georgia - LSU game. I was standing at the bathroom sink. Maddie, our lab, was in the closet in our bathroom with Finn when she finally got tired of all the poking and prodding and snapped at him. All I heard was the snap, I looked down to see Finn bleeding and screaming. We jumped in the car (Tripp and I with no shoes on - Finn only in a diaper) and raced to the emergency room. Poor Mackie was just along for the ride once again. Long story short - Finn has a wonderful trip to the OR with our great ENT and we returned home with 20 stitches to his cheek and nose. I'll post a picture of him tomorrow as the swelling goes down a little more. Unfortunately, we now need to find good home for Maddie.

PS - Tripp now wants Finn to be Scarface for Halloween.

A Day of Body Fluids

The day started off very well and then the pee-pee, poop, and projectile vomit hit the fan and floor. Finn first tinkled on my foot in our bathroom. Then before I could get a clean diaper on him, he pooped on the foyer floor. Next as I was changing Mackie's diaper she tinkled on me. Finally, I was feeding Mackie her medicine when she projectile vomited all over my newly clean clothes. At that point, I gave up and put both of them in her crib as you can see.

Mackie meets her Mimi

Mimi -- my grandmother, Mackie's namesake, and great-grandmother -- came to visit us this past weekend. Her cousin Lucille -- who is 91 -- came along for the ride.

Mimi brought along my tricycle that I had as a child and Finn loved it!!

Pigeon Point Park

Despite all the hurricanes out there, we have had some very nice weather. So Sunday afternoon we made a trip to the Pigeon Piont Park. Finn loved it. He started out on the small slide and play equipment and then like the big boy he is found the larger slide - which he loved. Here are some pics on the little slide.

Of course Mackie went with us and slept - like the sweet baby she is - the entire time in her car seat.

Mackie Meets Nannie

Mackie got to meet one of her three great-grandmothers and one of her namesake's - Anne Carswell. Daddy drove Nannie down for lunch. They brought Toby (Nannie's westie) along for the ride, and Finn had a wonderful time chasing him around.

We can not wait to introduce Mackie to her two additional great-grandmothers -- Mary Odum and Ruth Coker Parsons.

We are home

Baby Mackie is settling in at home. It has been week since she was born - time can seem so slow and then you look back and realize how quickly it truly passes. She had her first doctor's appointment on Monday and all is well. She only dropped about 6 ounces and weighed 6 pounds 5 ounces. She is still a little jaundice, but hopefully now that she is eating that will improve. We head back to see Dr. Martin next week.

Finn really loves his little sister and is learning slowly to be gentle with her. He loves to pat her head when she is sleeping in the cradel in the keeping room.

Though Finn really loves to play in her bouncy seat and swing. I don't think he notices that he is a little big for her seat.

And her name is...

After hours of sorting through every possible permutation and combination of names, we have finally arrived at MaryAnne Coker Presnell. Mary after Lisa's maternal grandmother, Anne after Lisa's paternal grandmother, and Coker after Tripp's maternal grandmother (her maiden name). Way too many sylables for her dad to keep up with, so we are just going to call her "Mackie" for short.

Finn and Baby Sister

Finn came to see his baby sister again last night. He was very interested in her -- gave her several gentle pats on the head before he decided to poke her in the eye -- A nice step in the right direction.

We still have no name, but will figure that out today as we are getting to go home!!!

It's a Girl

We have a new little girl. She was born Wednesday August 20 at 12:32 pm weighing 6 pounds 11 ounces. She is 17 and 3/4 inches long. So much smaller than Finn but quite the little beauty (at least I think so).

Now if we can just figure out what to name her. There are several options, we just do not know which to chose. Tripp and I really did not think that we would have a little girl with all the Presnell boys out there. What a little miracle she is.

That's Amy giving her the first bath.

Here are a few shots from the operating room.

Our wonderful doctors - Dr. Werner and Dr. Royal - in the operating room.

I'll add some more shots later.