Lull

Sorry for the lull in posts! Especially to our family who likes to see pictures of the kids!! The past few weeks (from Thanksgiving on really) have been chaotic (but good!) and... it continues! Hopefully soon I can have some consistency again :o) We'll see. I've never been very consistent.

Anyway, I hope that you are all enjoying this week leading up to Christmas and I pray that we will all slow down (myself included!) from the hustle and bustle and cooking and cleaning and wrapping to enjoy one another and, most importantly, to reflect and celebrate the first Christmas morning when Jesus Christ was born!!!

Boys Will Be Boys

Some good friends of ours needed someone to watch their son Jackson while Joni had surgery on her hand this morning so we gladly had Jackson join us for last night through today. While I was in the shower this morning (and, believe it or not, Nat was in the very next room!! but he said they sounded like they were playing so happily together he didn't think to check out what they were doing) the boys had a par-tay in the kitchen!! To be more accurate, they were playing in the "snow" and totally emptied our flour/sugar cannisters for it to be snowing in the house. it.is.everywhere. They were having a BLAST!!! Needless to say, flour and sugar have been added to the shopping list ;o)

Thank you, Graham and Jackson, for the biggest laugh of the week (what else can you do when you walk in to this?!)!!!

Chef Graham

Graham has really started to love helping out in the kitchen when I'm fixing dinner or baking and enjoys pretending to cook anything he can think of... although "pizza" with all of the spices on the spice rack and lego "cake" top the list of his specialties!! :o) Love it!

And Six Months

Kate turned 6 months on November 19 (I started this post then but realized that I never finished/posted it). SIX MONTHS!! It's so hard to believe how quickly half of a year has gone by. Six months ago we were just getting to know this baby girl and I have loved every minute that we've been given with her! At six months...

- Kate is still such a sweet girl... she is very patient and really only fusses when she needs something.

- She still has the two bottom teeth that she got a few months ago and might be working on two more (but we'll see when they decide to pop out!).

- Kate goes after just about anything she wants on the floor and has become a barrel-rolling champ... just recently she started scooting forward on her belly (no hands/knees crawling but some definite scooting). It's funny how I wanted Graham to crawl and walk so quickly but wouldn't mind Kate being stationary for a bit longer.

- She used to be fairly quiet but has turned into a big babbler... her favorites are "dadadadada, yayayayaya, and lalalalalala." The das tend to be more talking and the las and yas always sound like she's trying to sing.

- She gets so super excited to see any of us (Nat, Graham or me) and will flap her arms wildly when she sees us... it's very sweet and it always makes Graham want to play with her to keep her excited which is a lot of fun to see (he is such a great big brother to her and she loves him!). - She also loves the cats and rolls right up next to them. I found poor Fig the other day with wet ears when he was beside her... I suppose she thought they might be a good snack!

- Speaking of food, she has been stubborn about eating anything but milk. She used to take a bottle if necessary but refuses that now and will not eat any kind of baby food... She is excited about the spoon but if it has anything on it she immediately sticks out her tongue and blows bubbles (therefore spitting and splattering food all over!). Not so sure how to tackle that one (any tips?)!!

- She sits up on her own for the most part. I don't get nervous when she topples to the side or front because she goes slowly and has some sort of control, but I like to keep a pillow behind her on the floor if she's sitting and playing because when she goes backward she flings herself and goes down very very quickly!

- She is still such a cuddler!

The past six months have been full of much joy from our sweet baby girl. Part of me wants to keep her the way she is now but I am also so excited to have the privilege of raising her and watching her grow. Kate we love you so very much!!!

One Year

We closed on our house one year ago today (11/18)... Nat and I were thinking back and remembering that I wasn't supposed to carry boxes (due to being preggo) so this time last year I was steam cleaning the carpet until odd hours of the night while he moved boxes and that we ate Arby's roast beef sandwiches on the fireplace because we hadn't moved our furniture in yet. Graham was sleeping in the pack-n-play in our bedroom to be as far away from our noise as possible. And we painted Graham's room that night too. So much happened in that one day!! One year later we are still slowly working on house projects but has definitely become home to us. AND Kate and Fig have joined our family too! We have been provided for abundantly!!

Aunt Riah

My sister, Mariah, came to visit us for a whole WEEK!! It was so much fun to have her here... she is so great with Graham and Kate (although I think after spending so much time with us she is not eager to have chillens right away!) and I loved having her to hang out with. Because she is a busy bee working in DC (I did not mean to make that rhyme, but it did), she wanted a restful(ish) vacation. So that is what we did! Well, as much as you can rest with a 2 year old and 5 month old in the same living space. We had a girls only day which we used for some pampering, went to the neighborhood park, meandered around Kemah, played Wii, and just had some good quality sister time (and ample aunt to nephew/niece time too). Here are some snapshots from our week...

Mario Kart competitions

Rolling competitions with Kate

So I said we went to the park... that lasted for about 5 minutes. The mosquitos were SO big and biting SO much that day so we literally ran from the park back to the house. But we had a superfun 5 minutes at the park while it lasted!

At Kemah... We saw lots of boats going out to the bay -- Graham's favorite (and free!) thing to do there :o)

Miss Kate... note the teeth! They came in over a month ago when she was 4 and a half months old which I hadn't expected. I think Graham's came in around 6 months... Each child really is different - even from the same family!

Cheese!!

I love love that Kemah has such a fun sprayground. Graham is not a fan... even when running through on a stroller. Maybe someday!

We love you, Aunt Riah and can't wait to see you at Christmas!!!

Bonk

From the side, the poor boy looks like he has a dinosaur spike! But he is okay (and the wall is too)... Graham doesn't look too concerned does he?

Birth Day

Nat and many others made my birthday such a special day! I enjoyed a waffle and bacon breakfast followed by a sweet friend bringing by a Starbucks mocha and chocolate muffin treat! Nat had also arranged for another friend to come by and keep Graham and Kate so that we could have a lunch date (she's from Holland and brought a Dutch lunch for Graham -- he loves those sprinkles!).

Nat made a yummy chocolate-all-the-way-through cake and a couple of friends stopped by to share dinner and cake with us (and Dr. Pepper)! FYI it was my birthday, even though there are only two candles on the cake... they were all we had!

I enjoyed a simple yet special day, topped off with some cuddles from my babies... thank you!!

Happy Halloween (a tad late)!

I was reminded today by a few family members that no one has seen pictures from Halloween yet ;o) So... enjoy!

These were our finished pumpkins... can you tell who carved which pumpkins?!

Our church puts on a "Reformation Celebration" each year to celebrate Reformation Day (also on October 31st!)... It's a fun event to get dressed up for, have a chili dog dinner and let the kiddos play carnival games for prizes! Kate went as a little lamb :o)

She's chatting it up with her buddy Ella the ladybug!

Since it is a reformation celebration it was only appropriate for Martin Luther to make an appearance! The youth group put on a skit for the little ones :o)

Graham was a pirate... arrrrgggghhhh!! Complete with a parrot tattoo

Graham's friend Grant had the same idea!!

Pirate training: Beanbag toss

We had such a fun night!!

Gimme More!!

She actually doesn't like rice cereal... but she likes the spoon!!

Wings Over Houston

This weekend was the annual Wings Over Houston airshow. We were generously given free tickets so we enjoyed most of Saturday afternoon on the tar strip! We also enjoyed the treat of running into and spending the afternoon with a new family at our church who just moved to TX from Greensboro, NC :o)

Kate was all bundled in her JMU gear (although it was so warm and bright that we had to replace the cap with her sun hat)!

A sample...

The boys enjoying the show :o) **Note the headphones -- it was LOUD!!

Okay, so this was crazy to me... if you look closely, there is a woman standing on the top of the plane who is NOT attached to anything. She is in front of a bar and the force of the wind was holding her against it, even while the plane was doing loops!

More...

The "main" performance was by the Blue Angels... It was an amazing show!!