Happy One Month Birthday, Ryan!

Well, today Ryan is four weeks old! It's been both the longest & shortest four weeks. In one way it seems like he's been here forever, but at the same time I also feel like I was just pregnant! We're still getting up once or twice a night (not counting trips to his bedroom to insert his pacifier!), but we're adjusting. Ryan is a very sweet little guy with the potential to have quite a temper if you don't move fast enough to feed him or get him out of his crib when he wants to get up! Annalise is getting used to his screams. Last week he screamed so loud that she ran away crying & covering her ears. Today he screamed that loud and she laughed at him. Haha...

Ryan's current stats are: 9 lbs 11 oz. Yes, folks, he's gained a whopping TWO pounds in only three weeks! The boy loves to eat.

I'm counting down the weeks until we can expect a full night of sleep. I know that it will be here before we know it, so right now I'm just trying to make the best of my middle-of-the-night viewings of "Nick at Nite" or HGTV. If only the Brady Bunch were on at 3:00 a.m., life would be so much better!

Merry Christmas!

I can't believe that Christmas has come and gone already. Since I've been mostly quarantined at home for the past few weeks, I feel like I never really got into the "Christmas spirit." After several weeks of adjusting to life with a newborn, the holiday just sort of snuck up on me. However, it all came together and it was a fun day. Santa was much too generous to Annalise. After opening all her gifts, she was overwhelmed and just wandered around the room playing with an old flashlight. Oh well! Today (12/26) she was able to "take in" her gifts and has been playing with them more.

After a morning of opening gifts here at our house, we went to my parents' house for our family Christmas. The whole Patch crew was there and it was lots of fun! Gift giving was total chaos, as always. We start out saying "Let's open them one at a time so we can see who got what" and the next thing you know, there's wrapping paper, tissue, and bows being ripped apart and tossed into the air in total gift-opening madness. I may have no idea what anyone received, but everyone seemed pretty happy afterwards, so I guess all the gifts were a hit! More important than gifts, of course, was just being with the family. I am very blessed to have so many people in my life to love and laugh with. I have been given so many gifts that can't be wrapped, and for those I am so grateful.

Some pics from the day:

Baby Ryan has arrived!

We are proud to announce that our little boy, Ryan Holcombe, arrived on Monday, November 26th at 12:14 p.m. He was 7 lbs 1 oz and 20 inches long. The delivery, which was via c-section, couldn't have gone better. I was smiling and chatting with the doctors during it -- quite a change from our last experience!

Ryan is such a sweet little guy! (Unless he's hungry or having his diaper changed, of course!) Annalise adores her little brother, but is definitely having trouble adjusting to "sharing" her mommy. Hopefully it will be smooth sailing around here before too long! :)

Here are some photos of our new family of four!

Family Fun Day - Bowling!

Today is our last Friday as a family of three! We took Annalise bowling for the first time and she loved it! A couple of times she insisted on doing it herself without our help. She did pretty well, but she made the mistake that all bowlers have made - she crossed the line and wiped out (a few times). And luckily I caught it on video! Enjoy the clip below -- and even with the fall, she got 7 pins on that turn! We had a lot of fun, and Annalise didn't even mind getting some gutter balls (which happened even with bumpers) OR the times her ball just stalled before even reaching any pins at all! She'd just say "Oops!" Haha...

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Trick or Treat!

Annalise had a blast on Halloween! She's been very excited about being a kitty cat. She dressed up at school and again that evening when we went trick-or-treating with her cousins, Lindsay & Caitlin. She had a great time!

My mom joined us, as is the tradition, and she and Caitlin were both dressed as witches. Lindsay was a cheerleader. They all looked so cute!

We're now doing the daily candy battle, as Annalise wants to hit the candy bucket every morning when she wakes up. Oh well, it was a fun day!

I Love My Girls!

This weekend I had a slumber party with my best friends from college! Yes, I'm 32 and pregnant and I went to a slumber party. So what? : ) I had requested to the BFF (no, that's NOT "best friends forever") to have a slumber party before the baby comes. So, this past Saturday we all invaded Mitzi's condo. It was a BLAST. I laughed for about six hours straight. And they surprised me with a little shower! I was spoiled with one of Mitzi's world-famous diaper cakes stuffed with onesies, PJs, pants, & toys, a Snap n Go, a monogrammed pillow, a bunch of monogrammed burpies and bibs that Les & Julie made, and a monogrammed diaper bag. They are the best. As I always say, "Friends are the family you choose for yourself." These girls really are my family. I love them all!

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea!

Annalise, I can't believe you are three today. Time has flown by, and I really wish I could re-live a lot of your moments over these past three years. It seems like yesterday that we were all excited about you sitting up by yourself or crawling, and now you are running around, dancing, singing, playing, and chatting away. Where did my baby go? I asked you that last night and you said, "I'm not a baby anymore. Ryan is a baby." You are right, I suppose. But, you are still, and always will be, my sweet baby girl! Thanks for all of the laughs and loving moments over these past three years, Annalise. You have been our little comedienne and the light of our lives. What a wonderful gift we received three years ago today. We can't imagine our lives without you. Enjoy your birthday today, Pumpkin. And, like you and Daddy say "Party like a rock star!"

A Fun Day in Dahlonega

This weekend Annalise and I joined my parents (Annalise's "Nee and Papa") for a day in Dahlonega. Having gone to North Georgia College, I never miss a chance to go there because I love it so much. We had a great time!

Annalise loved the General Store, which, as I said to my dad, offers an amazing assortment of "crap" -- coonskin caps, asian table linens, trinkets of all shapes and sizes, metal Jack Daniels signs, coconuts carved into weird faces, etc . She loved buying marbles (or, as she calls them, "mar-balls"), watching the player piano, rocking in the rocking chairs, and selecting candy. We browsed through different stores (mom & I spent way too long in a children's boutique), had lunch, played on the drill field at NGC, and finished the day with ice cream. The weather was absolutely perfect. I get so jealous every time I'm on the NGC campus. I see the students and I want to go back in time and take their place. I love looking around and remembering different moments from college, both good and bad.

On the way home, we were all exhausted. Or, all except for Annalise. She said, "Nee, wanna play hide and seek at my house?" My mom, wno was totally wiped out, kind of laughed and said, "Annalise how old do you think I am?" Annalise said, "Nee, you three." We cracked up and mom said, "How old is Papa?" Annalise said, "Papa not three, Papa's ooooooollldd" We all died laughing, of course. Poor Papa!

Too many Disney movies...

Today Annalise wanted to play outside, but it was time for lunch. This is how our conversation went:

Annalise: "Mommy, I want to play outside."
Me: "It's time for lunch, Annalise, we can't go outside right now."
Annalise: "Mommy, I want to go play outside the palace walls!"

Hahaha! I think we need to stop watching Aladdin so much!

What will she say next?

Annalise continues to crack me up daily with the funny things that come out of her mouth. Thankfully I've been writing most of them down so I don't forget. So, here are a few of my favorites from this summer:

"Mommy, do you remember me? My name is Annalise!"

(In a sad voice) "Awwww...Mommy, Elmo doesn't have nipples."

Me: "Annalise, in this house we take turns."
Annalise: "Mommy, I want a different house. I want Nee and Papa's house."

Annalise showed our friend Mark a tube of Desitin and said, "Look Mark, this is toothpaste for my pee-pee parts."

"I love you, Laura Darling."

"Mommy, I need to check my e-mail."

Said to my mom ("Nee") this weekend at the beach: "Nee, you need to wear your big, big bathing suit at the beach."

"Mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy....I, I, I, I, I, I......I don't remember."

Labor Day at the Beach

We were happy to enjoy one more weekend in St. Augustine before the end of summer. We had a great time! My parents came down and joined us, and Ricky, James, Meg, and I forced both sets of parents to play "The Newlywed Game." It was hilarious! Once again, Annalise LOVED the waves. She is a dare devil! I celebrated my 32nd birthday down there, too. Annalise was super-excited about the birthday cake. Her favorite thing!

Annalise finally felt her brother move!

This afternoon Annalise and I shared a special moment. We were snuggled on the couch together, and Ryan (her baby-brother-to-be) was having an aerobics class in my tummy. He was so active that I could see my belly moving all around. So, I rested Annalise's hand on my tummy and she felt him move (up until now, she'd never been patient enough to wait to feel his kicks). She looked at me with big wide eyes and a dropped jaw, and then she started to giggle. We sat there for about 10 minutes with her feeling him bopping around. When he'd stop, she's bend down to my tummy and say "Ryan!!!" and move my belly around to get him going again. So cute. It was such a fun moment. I can't wait to see her reaction when she meets him in person!

Playdate Fun!

This week we had playdates with two friends we haven't seen in a while. We saw my friend from college, Tera, and her little boy, Ben, who was born only a week before Annalise. Even though we only live just over an hour from one another, we only manage to see each other a couple of times a year. We met at the Mall of Georgia and rode the carousel and had lunch. Unfortunately Annalise was being whiney and not very agreeable, so we had to cut the day a bit short!

The next day we saw our friends Natalie & Lucca. We met early last year at the local library program, but a few months later they moved to Sacramento. Natalie has become my long distance email buddy, a modern day pen pal, I suppose. We were happy that we got to see them while they were in town visiting. We also saw their new addition, Sienna, who is SO cute! They came to our house for lunch, and despite a few sharing/crying episodes, we all had a good time!

Annalise is learning her prayers!

Tonight Annalise said the "Lord's Prayer" by herself without trying to make me laugh by putting potty words in the verses. (I'm trying to make her understand that her bedtime prayers are NOT the time to incorporate the word "poo-poo" for comic effect.) She was so proud that she wanted to say it over and over (or maybe she was just stalling going to sleep?), so I finally had to grab my camera. Couldn't resist sharing it! She just started learning "Hail Mary" so we'll see how she does with that one!

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And we're having a...

BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

His head, hand, and chest...
a future thumb sucker like his sister? We hope so!

Another cute head shot.

Proof that he's a boy!

And a perfect tiny little foot.

We couldn't believe it when the ultrasound tech said "It's a boy!" We were predicting another girl, which would have been wonderful as well. But, of course we're so very excited! And even though Ricky never actually admitted to rooting for a boy, he's SOOOOO thrilled. Annalise said it was going to be a boy, and she was right! (Of course she also said his name is going to be "Ruthie Patch" - my mom's name - but one out of two isn't bad!)

Broadway Baby

Annalise is ready to audition for the cast of "Annie." Unfortunately my camera cut off before her grand finale, but you get the idea! Hmmm...sadly she may have inherited my voice talents, but she certainly sings with conviction! :)

Enjoy!
Laura



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Our trip to St. Augustine

Earlier this week we returned from St. Augustine, FL where we went with our friends Kelly & Seth and their girls Jordan & Mya. We stayed at Ricky's parents' house and had a great time! Here are some pics...

Laura and Annalise relaxing on the beach

All of us enjoying the carousel in downtown St. Augustine

Laura and Annalise playing in the waves!

Annalise watching a dolphin at Marineland

Laura and Kelly on the dock at Capp's

Mya's first day at the beach!

Jordan and Annalise ready to hit the beach!

We're Blogging!

An O'Connell Blog! Wow, we seem to get more techno-saavy all the time! : )

Here is our blog, and we're hoping our out-of-town relatives & friends (and even those two miles down the road) will check in and catch up on our latest happenings.

This is the low-down on our family...

Ricky is the president and owner of a landscaping company and he's built the business from the ground up. When we met, he was lugging a small trailer around behind an old Mercury Cougar. Very professional! : ) He now has a shop, several box trucks, a crew of difficult employees, and a long list of customers. Of course, our yard continues to be the WORST yard in the neighborhood! I'm thinking of hiring our elderly neighbor to be our landscaper.

I (Laura) am enjoying staying at home with Annalise, and soon there will be another one in tow! This year I will not be coaching the St. Pius Dance Team anymore. I coached for five years and I'm happy to have a break. I had too many distractions to give it my all anymore. But, I am keeping up my little side business, sewing and embroidering baby & toddler clothing and accessories. I've been quite busy lately! But, I'm hoping to have some downtime in the next couple of weeks to sew some things for friends, family, and of course Annalise! My "company" is with two of my best college friends, Leslie and Julie, and it's called Blueberry Daisy. I have a not-so-up-to-date website: www.blueberrydaisyatlanta.com.

Annalise is our toddler, who will be three years old in October. (I can't believe it!) We're already talking about her upcoming birthday party. She is SO MUCH FUN. Every day she says something to make us laugh. Each Tuesday we go to The Music Class, which we both love. We have made some good friends there and we routinely go to lunch at Mama Fu's with about four other moms and their kids. It's insane. I'm sure the employees dread our arrival each Tuesday. But, Music Class brings us both so much joy, and we're blessed by having her teacher, Moira Nelligan, in our lives. Moira is fun, silly, nurturing, talented, and wonderful. She has a Celtic band that she performs with and we have her CD, which Annalise must listen to in the car each time we go someplace. I love Music Class because it's a time I can dance, sing, and snuggle with Annalise and not be distracted by sewing, my laptop (I need laptop rehab), the phone, etc.

Baby #2 is well on the way! My due date is Dec 2, but I'll have a repeat c-section at the end of November, probably a bit after Thanksgiving. Annalise is already getting things ready for the baby, finding spare spoons and pacifiers to help out. We find out whether this baby is a boy or girl on Wednesday, July 18, only five days from now!! We can't wait!