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The Christmas Wear

I love the Christmas dresses!  In fact my girls wore a different Christmas dress each Sunday in the month of December because I love them so much. And thanks to the grandparents for supplying all of these cute dresses. 

 Here is a picture of Anna and Ellie wearing the same one.  Too bad it wasn't around for Lucy.

 I know there will be a day soon when the girls will reject wearing cute dresses for Christmas, but until that day I will milk it for all its worth.

 We even rock our tennis shoes with Christmas dresses because we are cool like that.  Hey comfort is key people!

 And what is second best to Christmas dresses, Christmas pjs of course!

 Don't you just want to snuggle in close with these girls. 


Preparing for Christmas

Last weekend we bundled up with smiles on our faces and headed out to look for a Christmas tree. 



The girls loved running around and looking at all the trees, trying to decide which on was that tallest and fattest.


After a while the girls got tired and just started playing hide and seek in the trees.


Then it was back to the house where we put on our Christmas pjs and began decorating. 

  I love getting all the ornaments out each year and thinking back through all the different people who have given us these ornaments and been apart of our lives. 


This picture just makes me laugh, can you guess where 95% of all the ornaments landed on our tree.


 The finished product.

 Then we sat back and enjoyed some hot chocolate while we admired all our hard work.



Look Alikes

Everyone asks who I think Mary Neal looks like and I always say I think she looks like Lucy from her profile.  Here is a picture to prove it. 
















Sean thinks MN looks like Anna when she smiles.  And I think she is going to have similar facial characteristics as Ellie, blue eyes and dark curly hair. So there you have it, really they all look alike in some way.

The Littlest

Mary Neal also enjoyed the birthday celebrations because for her it meant extra love time with lots of family.  She especially enjoyed meeting her Aunt KK and having lots of cuddle time with her.


Sisters are so anxious to get their hands on you and want to hold you every chance they get.  Although one might notice there is not a picture of Anna holding Mary Neal, because if I took my eyes off of her to go grab my camera the baby might be smothered to death. Anna is pretty much obsessed with "Baby Mary Neal" as she calls you, wanting to know where you are at all times and always wanting to be right beside you touching you in some way :)


It is fun this time around to see Ellie as a big sister, she is extra gentle with you and loves to comfort you when you are upset or crying.


Although crying is not something you do often Mary Neal.  In general you are such a easy going, content, and peaceful baby.   You sleep beautifully all swaddled up and at nights go about 6-7 hours without waking.  You eat like a champ and also have learned to eat fast, which is great help when there are 3 other kids running around needing attention.


I love this picture because Ellie put on daddy's hat to make you smile, and the other day she made crazy faces at you to try to make you laugh.  Oh how you will grow up being entertained MN.


Speaking of smiles, you are giving them out freely these days although they are hard to catch on camera.  You are also beginning to coo a little bit, I love your sweet noises.


Sweet Mary Neal you are growing up fast and changing so much already which makes me a little teary, but I know these 3 girls are very much looking forward to having you in the midst of all their craziness.



Birthday Craziness


Well we survived another crazy birthday week for the McCann girls so I thought I would highlight some of my favorite things about this super fun week in our house.

It began with a visit from Aunt KK which we all loved!  She joined us for Anna's favorite birthday meal which this year was hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill.  This girl loves hotdogs and actually ate 3 hotdogs on this particular night.  As you can see from the picture she loved being the center of attention and still on a daily basis says "Happy Birthday ME" to get a good laugh out of all of us.  She was convinced for about 2 days that she was 3 1/2 but now is finally settling on the fact that she is 2, and boy does her attitude match that age!


Next up came sweet Lucy.  We began the celebration the night before with a taco dinner of her choice and had Gannie in town to join in the festivities.  Then on her birthday day I got to go to school to have lunch with her and participate in her classroom, reading a story to everyone.  As a 6 year old she feels so old to us, especially since she lost her first tooth just a few days after turning 6.   

The weekend after Anna and Lucy's birthday we had a few friends over to help celebrate our special girls.  Here we are singing to the girls all lined up with their cupcakes.

These are some of Anna's little friends.  It is a little tricky having a party for all 3 girls at once but I try to just invite a few friends of each of the girl's ages and then it is just one chaotic fun play date.

This was an exciting game of musical chairs, which turns out to be much too complicated of a game for ages 6 and under.

You can't really tell from this picture but each girl had cookies with their ages, and picked out their own cupcake flavor. The purple ones pictured here were Ellie's choice.  The theme of the party was Doc McStuffins a favorite show around our house these days.

Here are a few of Lucy's friends from school.


Last but not least came sweet Ellie.  To be honest we are usually all birthday out by the time it gets to Ellie but this year we kept up the momentum by going to the zoo the day before since Lucy had a day off of school.  It was fun to go the zoo as a family and it help keep us in the celebration mindset.  Ellie's choice dinner was spaghetti and meatballs and we saved the gifts that Aunt Curly sent in the mail to open then, making it extra fun. 


And just for fun I will post the cute poem my very talented husband wrote for their birthdays. This has turned out to be a McCann tradition now and something the girls look forward to hearing what their daddy wrote about them.


As nights turn cold and leaves start to fall,
Our house is getting ready for a massive ball;
The year of 2012 brings even ages,
But with all these kids, we may need cages!

Lu's first tooth is 'bout to go,
So come on out and don't miss the show;
Our kindergarten girl is almost six,
She'll be serving lots of treats, never tricks.

The next in line is our curly Ellie,
She's much sweeter than a Jelly Belly;
Never shy, though she's only four,
We'll have fun, with cupcakes galore.

Anna was the baby, but now she's two,
Still a McCann despite her straight hair-do;
Wild and crazy, she never stops,
Keep up with her and you'll party 'till you drop.

Four verses down and we're almost done,
Next year Mary Neal will be turning one;
So please come celebrate our girls with us,
'Cause we can't come to you without a bus!

Pumpkin Patch


We had our first family outing today at the pumpkin farm.  All and all I would say it was a success with Mary Neal sleeping like a champ through it all.  
 I have a feeling it is going to be several years before we get a picture of all 4 girls together smiling but this is a good start.

 Our family of 6!

 This one is always willing to pose at least.

 I am so blessed by this man and so are these little girls.

 Our loot.


Our Girls at Birth

I think our girls look so different from each other now that they have grown, and yet when you look at these pictures from their first few days of life you see they have many similarities.

Mary Neal


Anna

Lucy


Ellie

Our Little Girl

I have loved having this special time in the hospital right now to bond with this little girl.  And although I am SO ready to go home, I know that with that comes the craziness of 4 kids so here are some fun things I want to remember about your first few days of life Mary Neal.


Your nicknames so far are: M&M (one that I hope stays with you for the rest of your life), Peanut (because you are the size of a peanut m&m), and Anna (whoops thats not a nickname thats just what we call you like 10 times a day).



 I think out of all our kids you resemble Lucy the most. You are such a content baby and easy to soothe.  You nurse like a champ.  And you have the funniest cry which is a high pitch squeal which seems to resemble the sound of a goat.


You haven't really opened up your eyes yet I think you are content to think you are still inside my womb.  You have the sweetest little chin and your ears are all squished up and folded over from being inside of me.

We are in love with you little one and so happy you are apart of our family.

Welcome Mary Neal Bryan McCann

Yesterday at 6:01 PM, Lindsey gave birth to our fourth daughter, Mary Neal Bryan McCann. After 48 hours in the hospital for preeclampsia, the doctors finally gave us the green light for surgery. Mary Neal came into the world weighing 9 lbs 8 ounces, 20 1/4 inches. Lindsey has recovered very well and Mary Neal is eating and sleeping like a champ.

 

 Like all our girls, Mary Neal's name has great significance. For years Lindsey has been impacted by the simple faith of the young mother Mary in the Bible. Mary showed great obedience as she faithfully received the news from the angel about the coming birth of Jesus. This truth was driven home to us when our pastor preached on Luke 2:19. As the shepherds and the angels came to see the newborn Jesus and told of the sayings they had heard, Mary responded by "treasuring up all these things, pondering them in her heart." We hope that Mary Neal will model this same simple faith as she treasures up the hope of the gospel in her heart.

 

 Neal and Bryan are the maiden names of both of her grandmothers. We hope all of our children remember those who have gone before them, and it is a reminder to us all of the great importance of family. We are honored and blessed to have such loving and supportive families.

 

 One final note on having four girls. Folks love to make jokes about how we are in trouble and I am all alone and how we have to save for so many weddings, etc. These jokes are harmless, yet behind all jokes is some level of truth. As a father I just want to say what an amazing privilege, responsibility, and joy it is to have these four little girls. I could not imagine or want a different family. I get to be the first man to love each of them, the first man to take them on a date, and the man to hopefully walk them down the aisle. It is a special and awesome calling that Lindsey and I have been blessed with, and we look forward with eager anticipation to the journey ahead.

 

We love you Mary Neal! Love Dad, Mom, Lucy, Ellie, and Anna.

How did we get here?

I can't believe my little baby girl is growing up. Today starts the first day of Kindergarden. She is attending our neighborhood public school and we are very excited for this opportunity to get to know our community around us even more. She has a great teacher Ms. Hurst and has 2 little girls in her class that she already knows from gymnastics and preschool. Praying hard for my little girl this morning as she begins this big adventure. First day of preschool in Honduras 2009






And here we are today 2012. Is it just me or does she look so big in this picture?!