WELCOME HOME RACHAEL!

Rachael slept in late on New Year's Eve 2008 anticipating a big day ahead of her.

She had really bonded with the nurses at the hospital, but she realized she was old enough to venture out into the world and explore her new home. She asked the staff to do the paperwork so she & mom could go home for the New Year.



Laura & Rachael Grace had an incredible group of nurses and doctors working at Keller Army Hospital. After three military hospital births, the experience at West Point proved to be a special one. Rachael was excited to find out they would probably get to see each other again for well-baby appointments!

It was just below freezing with snow flurries and gusting winds outside, so Rachael needed to get out of the hospital clothes. The change of outfits and introduction to the car seat sure made her tired, but the kids really wanted to snap a quick "going home" photo before we took her home.



Well it wasn't long before everyone was back home watching New Years football games, eating nachos, and celebrating the arrival of a new daughter & sister. Yet again, another great day.

Rachael Grace Meets the Clan

Rachael was happy & very excited to meet the kids & Laura's mom...

Alex & Brittany were excited to hold their new sister...



Doctor Nathan helped the nurse check Rachael out...

Grammi got to hold her newest grandchild (as well as help Andy pretend he knows what he's doing while taking care of the other kids)...

All in all, Rachael Grace had a Rock-Chalk-kind-of-day with the Mack clan.

IT'S A GIRL! WELCOME RACHAEL GRACE!

Rachael Grace Mack was born at 1:34pm today (December 29th) at Keller Army Hospital at West Point, New York. She was 7 pounds 13 ounces and 20 inches long. Mom and baby are doing great! Me, the kids, and Laura's mom will head to the hospital to meet them at 6pm tonight, so watch for that post tomorrow morning!

RACHAEL GRACE'S first MOVIE

Snow Day!

West Point's first snow was awesome... school shut down, the kids got to play, and Andy got to shovel for six hours over three days to ensure we could get out of the house and to the hospital (if we really had to). The kids had a great time sledding and playing in the snow. The fifteen inch snowfall proved fun for all... except Andy.

Christmas Party

There is nothing like a family Christmas party at work... and that's especially true at the United States Military Academy at West Point. Our department, the Dept of Military Instruction (DMI), got together for a great family party. There were games, crafts, snacks & Santa... oh yeah, and assault rifle training simulators to play with... fun for the whole family! The kids loved visiting with Santa, but they also had fun shooting at computer generated turkeys with live action M4 carbine simulators. Don't worry, mom gave them a good rifle safety course before-hand.

Being a Big Brother Isn't Always Easy

Nathan loves his big brother, and it is a wonderful thing (or so I try to tell Alex), but Alex isn't always so sure. Nathan has been in a phase (for quite some time) where he does and/or wants whatever Alex wants. This frustrates Alex, who just wants to do his own thing every once in a while.

Case in point: Andy is putting together some boxes to send to some of his deployed friends. He asked the kids to draw 4 pictures so we could include a picture from each kid in each box...

Alex drew this... Nathan drew this.

Alex drew this...

Nathan drew this.

Alex...Nathan.

Alex

Nathan.

I have to admit, I can see why it gets frustrating. :)

Decorating the Christmas Tree

This year we went to a Christmas tree farm and got a fresh tree. Not only did we get a tree...we got to see Santa, color some Christmas pictures, go through a Candy Cane Maze and play in a cool little village. Awesome adventure!

The next day we decorated the tree, drank hot chocolate and ate cookies. It was a lot of fun. Every year we let the kids buy a new ornament to put on the tree, and every year they love going through the ornaments to see what they have picked in the past. Our personal favorite this year, though, is the 2008 NCAA National Championship Ornament for KU. Rock Chalk, Jayhawk!

36 weeks pregnant

Here is a 36 week belly shot. After I got the belly shot, I showed Nathan how to use the timer function on the camera. Turns out it's a lot more fun when he is in the picture too. He would turn the timer on and set the camera to take a picture, then he would run to me so we could both be in the picture. The only place he could figure out to set the camera was on the floor. (Well, maybe he could have figured out to set it somewhere else, but he loved the shots of our big heads.) Anyway, I hope you enjoy his work. :)

Thanksgiving

Andy's brother, Dan, and his friend Gary came to West Point for Thanksgiving. They got here on Wednesday around lunch time. It was so great to see them! We had lunch, and then Andy took them on a tour of West Point. Gary took lots of great pictures, but of course I forgot my camera. (The entire weekend, I didn't take ANY pictures!)

For Thanksgiving Dan made the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. It was delicious! It was so wonderful to have him on turkey duty. It made my Thanksgiving very easy. I just had to do side dishes. The kids loved having Dan and Gary here, and it was so great to spend a couple days with them.

Alex Turns 7

Alex asked for a party to celebrate his "Lucky #7" birthday. He also wanted to do something "Super Cool" with his friends. Lastly, he wanted a theme for the event... like Star Wars, Transformers, Power Rangers... or maybe FOOTBALL! So here is the final outcome from his plan: an NFL themed party at the bowling alley here at West Point, and the best part was that Grammy was in town to help celebrate!

Alex invited his friends from his class to have pizza, eat cake and bowl a game of bumper-ball-bowling. We colored football pictures while waiting for all of the boys to show up. Then we played Football Bingo and gave out prizes (mini-NFL helmets of all 32 teams... super-cool). Next came pizza, then cake, followed by bowling... awesome. Enjoy the pics; we enjoyed the party!

Happy Halloween

This Halloween we enjoyed all the usual festivities:

we carved pumpkins...

we decorated a haunted house...

and the kids dressed up to go out trick-or-treating.

This year our neighborhood also had our First and Last Annual Chili-Cookoff. Everyone brought out a crockpot of chili and a side-dish. We stayed out all night (well, at least until 9:30). We let the kids run around in the dark and in costume (AWESOME), and we roasted marshmallows by the fire (just incase they didn't have enough sugar from their candy). It was a great night.