Thanksmas!

So on the years that I don't get to spend Christmas with my family, I get to see them on Thanksgiving. We kind of have that alternate Christmas/Thanksgiving thing going on.

During that time together, we set aside one day in which "Santy Claus" shows up and our gifts are exchanged...We have affectionately coined the gift giving celebration as Thanksmas.

As you can see, Liam even got in on the celebrating and was tearing at that gift!

Here he was checking out the goods...my mom made him a matchbox car carrying case (it holds about 5 cars) that had a road sewn into it as well. SUPER cute and perfect for church when he gets older!

The kids always make out with the coolest stuff...the stroller and children's MP3 player have yet to be put down, that potato head (another awesome gift made by Mimi) is always out on the floor, and I have already grown annoyed with the sounds that other toy makes. I don't know how she does it but she makes the rounds every day on those things-her new prized possessions!

Emmy was very much into helping people open their gifts and even more interested in seeing what it is they received.

My mom and dad gave me this pretty sweater!

We gave my mom a cute jewelry roll. I can't believe she didn't have one of those yet....I had always stayed away from getting her one because to me it was so obvious she must already have one.

Ugh, sometimes the easiest things to gift are staring your right in the face!!

The next day we got a group shot of grandparents and grandkids...I think we did pretty good, it was a hard photo to get!

It was a nice time. I am so glad they came.

Merry Thanksmas to all and to all a good night!

Thanksgiving II

You've gotta have turkey in the house during Thanksgiving week, it should be a law or something.

So we had a small dinner at home...

Someone gave Emmy a little whipped cream...she loved it!

Then on Thanksgiving Day, we went out for dinner. She was a character all night...

And he, as always, was as sweet as can be.

Cameron had the great idea of meeting at Old Country Buffet for Thanksgiving dinner. There were just so many people that for any one of us to host it, is would have been just too much. I think it was genius!

Thanksgiving I

Did you have a good Thanksgiving?

We did for the most part. I got the flu that preceeding weekend. So I made Emmy clean for me!

Not really, she was just playing dress up with the apron, then found the duster so she started dusting.

So, since I was sick, and Cameron had some kind of stomach bug as well the day after, my parents thought they should just stay in a hotel for the first couple nights. I sure don't blame them!

And we got to go in the pool because of that! FUN!

Emmy of course had a blast, and I was the one that had to go in because I was furthest from the illness.

Which, this pool time led me to catch another illness, this time just a cold. Thankfully!

Here are the two kiddos poolside.

More to come!

Sweetie Boy

I love how with the second child you really don't care about what color things are that they play with, eat with, carry around....all you care about is that they are content.

Clearly this pink lamb is Emmy's. But he loves the rattle inside....so it's his for the time being.

And I wonder why I even cared about the colors of things in the first place....so silly! :)

Snow Showers

I had a shower this weekend for my friend's baby.

Didn't those centerpieces turn out cute!??!

If only it hadn't snowed about a foot that day...I may have been happier with the turnout.

The mother of the baby was happy with things. The grandmother was happy. I think the great-grandmother was too.

But they don't realize how pretty it could have been had there been less snow outside to put a damper on all the plans that day.

Yeah. I love to make plans, and of course love more when they come to fruition. And I think God kind of chuckles at my so called "planning," especially on days like this... ;)

Playing

After the zoo a few weeks ago, Emalyn started playing in the grass area in the parking lot.

She loves flowers, and especially seeding dandelions since the actually 'do' something.

This has to be one of my favorite groups of photos I have taken to date. You know, there's nothing crazy special about them, just capturing Emmy in her little girl element. I will love having these... .

Then, she decided to start rolling down the hill.

My sweet girl, how I love to watch you play like this.

LJW-4 Months

My Dear Little Boy,

What a sweetheart you are turning out to be.

Never have I seen such a sweet disposition among such a noisy background (i.e. the rest of us!).

Oh, how you LOVE your sister. One of my favorite things of late is to watch your expressions while you look at her. While you lay on your back she comes over to you and puts her face in yours, and you just smile, overjoyed. Her unruly hair is in your eyes, your mouth, surrounding your whole face/head practically smothering you and you just sniff that ticklish hair away because YOUR SISTER is near. Those sweet blue eyes of yours light up the second you hear her voice-whether she just woke you up, or if she is screaming at the kitchen table. You love her.

And I know she loves you. She loves to go check on you while you are napping. If you are awake, she yells to me that you are " 'wake, mommy!" and if you are sleeping she runs back out of your room and whispers "mee-um's 'seeping' still." If you are crying, Emmy always finds your pacifier and gets it to your mouth to soothe you. Or, when you are upset in your carseat, she sings "Jesus Loves Me," or another song, again to soothe you. And when you stop crying-which is usually pretty quickly-she says "look, mom, he stopped 'ky-ing' ".

But those times you are upset are truly few and far between.

You definitely found your hands this last month. I think you re really trying to figure out those feet too.

You are starting to respond to your name. Turning your head to more than just a familiar voice.

And it seems the drool is just endless!!

Quincy has caught your eye a time or two, but your heart belongs to your sister, for sure.

You have flipped over tummy to back and back to tummy, but one of your favorite places to be is twisted up between the two-kind of on your side-I will have to get a photo because trying to explain it would be useless!

I still marvel at how willing you are to go to sleep, sometimes on your own, other times by getting rocked, or just laying on the ground with Emmy and me quietly in the background. Let's just say, your sister sleeps well, but doesn't like getting to sleep, and she NEVER has liked that part. You have only slept a full night a handful of times, but I don't think it will be too hard for you to get there in the near future. We have found that you are quite a fan of classical music. It is by far the easiest/fastest way to get you to sleep, but with music in general, you are such a fan! Good thing, because your sister sings and wants music all the time!!

Pretty soon we are going to get you eating solids-can't believe time has gone that fast... . Your 4 month dr appt is this week on Friday. I can't wait to see your growth progression because boy, you are BIG!! We'll see.

Before I know it, I will be posting about how you are sitting up and crawling on your own...but I pray the time doesn't go so fast. I can't imagine those big ole blue eyes talking to me with actual words. They say so much just the way the look at me now-I don't want to imagine them all grown up. So I won't-I will just go and cuddle you right now while you are still (relatively) small.

Love you, big boy,

your momma

I Sew

I like to make quilts.

But they have to be pretty quick and easy, you know, painless.

No patterns either-that's too specific for me.

And baby quilts are the most fun. This one was for one of my very closest friends' little girl.

The front:

The back:

The details:

So I gave the quilt to my friend last night, and she tried so hard not to tell me that I screwed up the birth date of her kid....WHAT!?!!?

Turns out, I knew she was born on Sunday, but thought Sunday was the 4th not the 3rd....seriously, Kristine?

And that isn't the half of it! I thought my brother's birthday this month was on a Sunday, kept telling myself not to forget to contact him and say happy birthday...oh, I didn't forget to say something on Sunday. Good for me!!

Too bad his birthday was Saturday.

So,

REDO:

I love the way the denim frays over time and have fun using it as binding. It just adds that bit of whimsy that is so necessary on a kid's quilt.

Don't you just love that floral fabric? Has to be one of my all time favorites. I just might have to go and get some more...

Have a good one!