The Hill Five

Long time ... no new posts???

2009-04-13T11:19:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long blogging hiatus. Life with 3 children seems to get busier everyday, but more fun as well. There is one main reason for the lack of posts ... and his name is Henry! If Henry is awake, then chances are he is up to something. He seems to require my full attention which makes for a full day. Here is an example of him up to his mischief ...

Blowing his nose on napkins while sitting on top of the kitchen table. Boys are a different breed! He is such a mess. We jokingly call him "Gov" (short for Governor) because of his friendly manner. When out places, he seeks out people to talk to and gives everyone a big grin and wave. Bart says he is prepping for a life in politics, but maybe he is just a born salesman like his Dad and Bubsy (Bart's Dad). At 16 months, Henry certainly keeps us on our toes and gives us something to smile about - can't imagine life without our little "Gov"!

P.S. - For all you folks who like to make fun because my kids always match ... check out his mismatched pajamas!

Hope to post some Easter pics later today.

Fun in the snow!

2009-01-20T18:12:00.000-08:00

How excited were my kids last night when it snowed the entire way home from Gracie's basketball practice? Super excited! Gracie and Mia just had to play a bit when we got home and catch some snowflakes on their tongues. Nothing like the excitement on your child's face at the first real snow of the season!

Bart tried to burst our bubble and tell us that school wouldn't be called off for Tuesday, but Gracie, Mia, and me ... we believed! The phone rang at 6:15 AM this morning with a call from Christian Heritage saying that school was cancelled for the day. Yippee! I think I was just as excited as Gracie for a snow day at home.

After breakfast, I bundled up all three kids and we headed outside. They looked like hobos in their mismatched outfits. Gracie and Mia got right to making snowballs for a good old snowball fight, and Henry happily marched around checking out this funny white stuff covering the ground. It was a great day! Sometimes we just need a little more time at home to simply play, play, play. Here are some pics from our day.

Monday morning fun!

2008-12-08T08:00:00.000-08:00

This morning while I was busy catching up on laundry and little brother was taking his morning nap, Miss Mia Hill was upstairs playing quietly. I should have known she was up to something because she was far too quiet for far too long! This is what I found when I went upstairs to check on her ... she was wearing a swimsuit, sparkly red shoes, and her big sister's play make-up. And her ensemble would not have been complete without a pocketbook! This is just Mia at her finest - fun and carefree. Got to love her!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-30T12:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving (be it a little late) from our family! We had a great holiday - enjoying time off from school and work. Our family has so much for which to be thankful, and we are reminded of that especially at this time of year.

We spent Wednesday night having dinner at Gigi and Gipa's house. The food was delish and we were happy to be able to visit with Emily (John's daughter), Steve, and Reed.

On Thanksgiving Day, we went to Mimi and Pop's for more turkey and trimmings. Mimi started a new tradition of having the kids decorate gingerbread houses on Thanksgiving. They loved it!

Here are some pictures from our Turkey Day. We are still stuffed from all the good food!

Henry enjoying his Thanksgiving meal - especially the sweet potatoes!

Cute Reed!

The kids' table at Gigi's house!

Fun at Mimi and Pop's ...

Henry is ONE!

2008-11-29T20:37:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Henry's 1st Birthday on November 22nd with lots of family and friends! We chose a "little monkey" theme for his party - very fitting for our little climber! Henry truly enjoyed having all his favorite people in one place, and his first tastes of cake and ice cream.

I can't believe he is a year old! It is so bittersweet. I want him to stay a baby since he is our last, but at the same time it is so much fun watching him grow and develop into an amazing little boy! Henry has been such a joy. He is the little boy that Bart and I never thought we would have or even wanted, but we were so wrong! Henry is such a blessing to us all, and has completed our family.

I had probably 200 pictures from the party, so needless to say it was hard to narrow down my choices for posting here. Sorry there are so many ...

Happy Birthday Henry Bailey Hill! We love you SOOOOO much little man!

Barbie or Elmo???

2008-10-24T14:09:00.000-07:00

Poor Henry is going to have to grow up around a lot of the color pink because of having two big sisters. He gets a kick out of wearing Gracie and Mia's sunglasses - as you can tell in these pictures. Bart is mildly concerned because his only boy would rather wear the pink Barbie glasses instead of the red & blue Elmo glasses! Henry might be a little confused! His little personality is coming out more and more every day. He is becoming quite the little ham and we are enjoying him so much. Check out his funny faces!

Barbie . . . . .

Elmo . . . . .

Fun at the Fair

2008-10-24T13:23:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night we took our gang to the North Georgia Fair. It is a yearly tradition that Gracie just will not let us miss! She looks forward to October because she knows the fair will be in town soon. The kids had a great time riding rides, eating popcorn and candied apples, and seeing the sea lion show - yes I said sea lion show! Growing up I think we just saw farm animals, but now they have camels, monkeys, and sea lions!

It is hard to believe that next year Henry and Annie will be big enough to ride the little kids rides. But this year they just enjoyed people watching from their strollers. Mia liked the caterpillar roller coaster the best. Luke, Gracie, and Emilee were finally tall enough to ride most of the bigger rides, so they had a blast. Ashley and I will no longer let Bart Hill pick out a ride for us to ride - we almost lost our dinner on the one he got us on this year!

Here are some pictures from our night at the fair.

Supa-Star!!!

2008-09-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

After church today, we took the kids to the Creative Arts Guild Festival for some lunch and fun. Gracie and Mia had money to burn in their pockets, so they decided to get their faces painted. The face painting "artists" had a board with pictures of the various looks the kids could choose. Gracie quickly chose the "supa-star" look. Mia, of course, had to be just like her big sister and chose the same one. Here is a pic of my two little "Supa-Stars" and their baby bro. Somehow Henry now has glitter all over his face too!

In other big news at our house, Gracie lost her second tooth this morning before church. Her first words after pulling the tooth were "I'm not too far behind Luke now!" Can you tell she is a little competitive???

Bathtime babies . . .

2008-09-14T19:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some cute pictures of the kids in the tub. Check out Henry's juicy bootie! He will love these pictures in a few years. Mia had to pose and get her picture taken like Henry. I guess Gracie has outgrown the need to do a photo shoot in her birthday suit. Aren't they cute???

Gracie lost a tooth!

2008-09-14T18:49:00.000-07:00

Last Wednesday when I picked Gracie up from school, she was smiling kind of funny. She grins at me and one of her bottom teeth is laying forward. She bit into an apple at lunchtime, and there goes her loose tooth! Once we got home, she wiggled that little tooth some more and out it came. Gracie was beyond thrilled! Most of her friends and classmates have already lost some teeth, and Gracie was overjoyed to join the gang. And I was excited to play the tooth fairy!

Gracie before she pulled her tooth . . .

After - doesn't she look proud!

Itty, bitty tooth!

Henry in the morning . . .

2008-09-14T18:04:00.000-07:00

Bart is traveling for a week to the New York rug market and we miss him lots. And he misses his babies lots! He asked me the other day to take Henry's picture when he first wakes up and send him some shots. Going in to get Henry out of his crib in the morning is one of my favorite times of the day. And Bart is missing this little daily pleasure while he is out of town. Henry is so genuinely happy to see us - smiling up a storm and squealing with glee. He does a little happy dance every morning - it is great! I took my camera with me this morning to capture my sweet boy. Isn't he a ham?

Mia is THREE!

2008-08-29T14:30:00.000-07:00

Mia turned 3 on August 3rd! It blows my mind that she could possibly be this old! She has made the transition in looks and behavior from baby to little girl. Mia brings so much laughter and joy to our family. I hope she forever has her cute way of talking and her relaxed outlook on life! Her favorite pastime these days is playing babies. She can spend hours tending to her little ones - nursing them (ha-ha), changing diapers, etc. - and is quick to tell me "I'm the Mommy!" if I interrupt her. May she always stay so innocent and carefree! Mia has a precious, sweet spirit about her and a compassionate, big heart to match.

We celebrated Mia's birthday with a party at the Creative Discovery Museum. They have a new Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit, and Mia was sure to tell us it was the REAL Clifford! She had lots of fun playing at the museum and seeing many of her friends from preschool. Here are some pictures from her big day and two of my favorite new pictures of her. How much does she look like her Gigi in these pictures?!? Happy Birthday to our little Mimi!!!

And here are some of sweet pictures of Mia from birthdays past. Sorry for the long posts, but I love my girls!

At birth . . .

1st Birthday . . .2nd Birthday . . .

Happy Birthday (a month late!) Gracie!!!

2008-08-22T10:09:00.000-07:00

Our Gracie-girl turned six years old on July 3rd! Where did the time go??? It seems just like yesterday, Bart and I were bringing her home from the hospital and sitting on the couch crying - looking at our beautiful baby and not knowing what in the world to do with her! Gracie is such a special girl and we are so blessed to be her parents. She has always been mature beyond her years and the most observant little girl. Her mind is running and planning from sun up to sun down. She works on her projects - whether it be writing a book, decorating her playroom, making birthday cards, etc. - with such diligence that I cannot wait to see what she becomes when she grows up. We love you Gra-Gra!!!

We celebrated at home on her actual birthday and had her party on July 5th at the Country Club pool. She had so much fun swimming with her friends. Bart and I both commented that we think she had more fun at this party than any one of her previous shindigs. She really seemed to enjoy herself and just being with all her buddies. And her "mermaid" birthday cake was too cute! It looked exactly like her invitation and tasted great too.

Here are some pictures from her party. Check out Miss Beckley Manning going off the diving board - only a few of the older kids went off the diving board, but Beckley already has it mastered at age 2! Do you think she could be Keyla's daughter?!? Happy Birthday Gracie!

Here are some pics of Gracie from birthdays past . . .

1st Birthday . . . (Bart and I look like babies too - guess 3 kids have aged us!)

2nd Birthday . . .
3rd Birthday . . .

4th Birthday . . .
5th Birthday . . .

Watercolor July 2008

2008-08-05T14:51:00.000-07:00

We traveled back to Watercolor (neighbor of Seaside, Florida) in mid-July for a week at the beach with our good friends - Larry, Ashley, Luke & Annie Reed. We had a great trip - beautiful weather and lots of laughs! The kids all played very well together and enjoyed being roomies for a week. Henry and Annie are only five weeks apart in age, so it was cute to watch them finally notice one another. The guys got in a few days of golf, and somehow Ashley and I squeezed in a little shopping! Here are some of my favorite pictures from our trip. Forgive us for dressing our kids alike for beach pictures, but they looked so cute matching - they are going to get even with us one day! Enjoy!!!

Spend the night fun!

2008-06-22T14:46:00.001-07:00

Our neighbor, Emilee, spent the night with Gracie the other night. They had a blast, and I got this picture of Gracie, Mia, and Emilee at bedtime. Mia slept in her bed, but I love this picture of all the girls snuggled under the covers. Mia decided Henry could be her bed buddy since Gracie got to sleep with Emilee, so I added a picture of the two of them too. Don't worry - of course we didn't really let Henry sleep with Mia! Hope you enjoy!

Henry's Baptism

2008-06-22T13:07:00.000-07:00

On April 27th, we had Henry baptized at our church. It was a special day and Henry seemed to know he was the center of attention because he was especially happy and willing to let everyone hold him. We were so blessed to be able have all of his grandparents (all 8!!!), many aunts and uncles, and even his great-grandparents - Veve and Pappaw - there to celebrate with us. Henry is a precious gift from God. Bart and I are so blessed to be his parents!

Henry with Preacher Eric and Pastor James

Veve, Bart & Henry

Bart, Henry & GranB

Gigi, GiPa & Henry

Mimi, Henry & Pops

Our family!

T-Ball Fun

2008-06-22T12:29:00.000-07:00

Gracie enjoyed playing t-ball so much this year. Her team was called the Varnell Diamond Dawgs. Many of her best buddies and cousin Will were on the team. They all had the best time and really improved with each game. She was always so proud to tell me after each game how her team just happened to tie with the opposing team! Head Coach Larry Reed did a great job with the kids - teaching them most of all to have fun! Can't wait till next spring to play again! Here are some of my favorite pictures of our little Diamond Dawgs . . .

Luke, Harris, and Gracie warming up before the game.

Go team go!!!

Gracie and Will - what sweet cousins!

Gracie and Luke

Gracie, Wade, and Boone - they think she has "cooties" 'cause she's a girl!

Up and running . . .

2008-06-10T09:14:00.000-07:00

I was inspired by a friend's blog this week, so I decided to start one for our family. It will be an easy way for friends and family to keep up with happenings in our lives, and see current pics of our kids! Excuse me while I am still figuring this all out - I'm not too technological since "mommy brain" set in almost six years ago. Hope you enjoy!

Just to give a short update on each of them . . .

Gracie just finished kindergarten, and will be a big 1st-grader next year. She had a great year, and we all loved her teacher, Mrs. Anderson, so much. For her school's awards day, they give out a character quality award to each child. Gracie's teacher said she epitomizes "love"! What an honor - we just wish she could show a little more of her "love" to Mia! Gracie attended horse camp last week and loved it. She is now all about horses! I am enjoying having her home with me this summer. She is such a special girl! Gracie will turn 6 on July 3rd. She and I are excitedly planning her mermaid-themed pool party. She is growing up too fast!!!

Mia is enjoying swimming and attending her Little Gym class this summer. She is a happy, sweet child who is always willing to snuggle with her Mommy and give me an "I Wuv You Mommy". She cannot wait to turn 3 on August 3rd, so she can be "big like Gra-Gra"! I wish I could capture every funny expression and saying of hers because she is too cute! She is also quite protective of her baby brother Henry. Henry and Mia are going to be big buddies! Mia is such a joy!

Henry is now 6 1/2 months old. He continues to grow like a weed, and weighs nearly 22 pounds. He is a laid-back little guy with a killer grin. We like to call him "rollie pollie ollie" because he is forever rolling all around the floor. He is trying to crawl, but we are not encouraging that skill just yet! Bart is so jealous of Henry's spiffy head of hair. He is such a handsome and lovable baby boy. We are trying to enjoy and cherish each baby stage knowing he is our last bambino!