PICTURE UPDATE

CHRISTMAS PART 2

Sweet Colbie.

Beautiful Averie.

Handsome Baylor.

SO excited!!

Traditional pictures on Christmas Eve.

Silly rabbit teeth.

Christmas morning!!! YAY!!!

Colbie joined us after a little bit...

Christmas socks from Santa!

Showing off her bandaid and her red nails.

The BIG gift from Mama and Daddy...

BIG gift for Averie from Mama and Daddy...

Colbie's BIG gift... 

Ta-Da! A doll house!  She was so surprised!!

Baylor got a Jeep!!!!! Wahoooo!!!

Colbie got a bean bag! She was happy and smiley!!

WOW!  We had a fabulous Christmas!  So many blessings...

We happily spend the 23rd and part of the 24th with Grandpa Bill and Grandma Judy.  The kids really enjoyed the time with them.  We had Christmas in the afternoon on the 23rd and the kids played the rest of the day!  In the evening we went to dinner at the diner and then to a local coffee shop (Grandpa Bill is a regular there) to hear a really amazing Celtic Band called Morningstarre.  The kids were actually in awe and I really enjoyed it.  And spending time as a family doing something meaningful and low key was nice.  We headed home after breakfast and after the kids read with Grandma Judy (their fav thing when we are there) for a bit.

We headed home and had to pick back up and get ready for Christmas Eve with Grandma Pam, Grandpa Allen and Uncle Brad.  We had yummy potato cheese soup, wrap sandwiches, veggies and dip, spinach dip and pumpernickel bread, cheese and crackers and of course desserts... we went to church and then came back to have dessert and open presents!  The kids were in their glory!!!  It got pretty late, we were home by 10:30pm and the kids zonked in bed by 10:40pm...

Santa came and the kids were chatting (A and B) in their beds by 5:20am! Eeek! Luckily they dozed back off (after Matt went in and asked them to shhhhh) until I stirred them at 6:45am.  Averie and Baylor started in on their stocking presents while we let Colbie sleep in til 7:15am, then she got up and we helped her with her stocking gifts.  She woke up happy and we all finished opening gifts by 8am! A record!  We then had breakfast and got dressed for church, in plenty of time, which surprised me!  After church we didn't even unload the kids, I ran in the house and grabbed the fresh fruit, salad, and gifts for GG's house and we headed out.  We had lunch at GG's...the works - ham, turkey, sweet potatoes, deluxe potatoes, Patty's salad, fresh fruit, corn casserole and delicious Christmas cookies and desserts.  The kids got a few fun presents and we all sat around and chatted.  A few family members were not there this year, which felt a little empty, but they were spending special time with their family that couldn't travel, so we understood. :o)

Wonderful. Magical. Spectacular. Christmas. So excited for 2012 and what blessings are yet to come.

CHRISTMAS PART 1

The Candy Cane Playdough we made for our church friends.

Bay, decorating his cookies.

Colbie, VERY excited to be decorating Christmas Cookies!

Averie and her cookies. 

<3in the mess. 

Celebrating Christmas with G. Bill and G. Judy. 

KEENER PHOTOGRAPHY

COLBIE'S PARTY

Little Miss "2"

Cheesin at Chuck E. Cheese!

We had a special little gathering for Colbie and her buddies. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and had pizza, cupcakes and a few gifts. We also played and the kids ran around and tired themselves out. What a fun day for a 2 year old! We also went to Olive Garden and had lunch for the Birthday girl on a separate day. Colbie loved blowing out her "2" candle and enjoyed her special lemon pudding dessert. What a fun time!

COLBIE IS 2!

Breakfast

Silly sweetness.

2!

Newborn

1 year old. "Oooooon" as in balloon.

2 year pic coming soon!

Holy smokes! Doosie is 2! Our sweet, spunky, lovey, happy, smart girl is 2. Well...Colbie, you are so smart. You are starting to know your colors. You LOVE pink, or at least you always say pink when we have you pick a color. You can count to 10 and like to count with mama and daddy. You like to say, "look at me!" And show us a crazy, silly face. You LOVE food and know what you want and don't! You ask "why" for everything and when we ask you "why" you say "no why!" Hilarious. You love doing dot paints, and painting and always ask to "do school?" You like riding bikes outside, being outside time, tomatoes ("matoes"), and are sad our plants are gone. You say 5-6 words at a time now and can communicate 99% with your words. You love your purple afghan blanket and pup-pup still and sleep with both of them every night. You go to bed at 8:15pm and sleep all night until about 7:15/7:30am. You ALWAYS wake up happy and you take a nap from 2-4:30pm. You love juice-water and are starting to eat bigger bites and chew your food really well. You love to say "knock-knock" and we say "who's there" and you say "peek" or "orange" and then you crack up and say it again and again! You give good side eye looks and you love to use adult utensils. You almost always take mama's. Silly girl. You run around and play all the time, you like to dress yourself (and are starting to get good at it!). You are good at standing up for yourself and are not afraid to swat at brother (sissy too, but brother pushes your buttons well) or yell. In fact you speak up for yourself a lot! I imagine you will change a lot this year, you will get smarter and smarter and just amaze us every day. XOXO we <3 you sweet Colbs.

POKAGON & THE PARK

Fish #1

Fish #2

Fish #3

BAYLOR BOY IS 5!

5 Year Old Boy!

The 4 Year Collage...

You are 5!! This is the year you get a “big” party!!! We are going to have it at our church and have games and prizes and yummy food! We can’t wait to invite all of your friends over and enjoy a Diego and Dora Birthday Party! It should be FUN!

Some of your favorite things (I asked you to list them)- helping daddy, riding your bike and playing outside, tools, cars and trucks, the iPad, pooltime, chocolate, crackers, pizza, Olive Garden, cake, crunchy carrots, broccoli, oranges, peanut butter and jelly, juice and so much more. You are very smart...writing letters, starting to read and do math. Once you are officially 5 we will begin the “reading” book and quiet time instead of nap time. You ask about that everyday and cannot wait! Hard to believe you are 5. It went so quick. So fast I can hardly remember your baby-hood. What a sweet mama’s boy you are. You also still love your blanket even though it is in 10 pieces. You also love anything with wheels...you play recital and dress up with sissy too. You are a super great brother and boy. You love Colbie and give her the run around. You pick on her out of love, and she picks back! :o) We love you sweet boy. We can't believe you are 5 and growing so fast. XO.

THE FAIR

Enjoying her frozen yogurt and apple dumpling...

Happy to be at the fair.

YUMMMMMMM, caramel apples!!!

Our friend- the chicken...

Colbie LOVED the corn and actually stole it from me. It was supposed to be my special treat...

FISH!!!!!

The gang and their fish!!