Christmas 2014

This shot was from a couple of weeks ago, when we finally got the tree lit but before it was decorated.  Thomas was getting over being wary of the tree and becoming interested.  It’s definitely one of my favorite images from the season.

Our annual Christmas Eve shot, before church.  I’m so amazed we’re all looking at the camera!  I just love all these people!!

We went to the 7pm Christmas Eve service at church.  We got there early enough to snag a front row seat, since I had to be there to rehearse with Sola Gratia.  Because we were just singing in one spot in the service, I was able to sit with the family and just pop up to sing.  It would have been mean to Matt to make him wrangle everyone.  :)  I didn’t manage to take one single picture during the service (you know I usually sneak a few!), but it was beautiful and the kids did great.

At a couple of points in the service I nursed each baby one at a time, which I feel like I’m able to do pretty discreetly after all these years of nursing.  :)  Anyway, even though my babies are getting closer to big ol’ boys this year, it made me feel kind of connected to Mary.  Rev. Jim said something at some point about Mary nursing Jesus, and I just smiled, nursing one of my little ones.

We got home, got new pajamas opened, and got everyone in bed before it was tooooo late.  Then Matt and I set to work cleaning up the super pit of a house and finishing wrapping and setting out presents.  I was sick over the weekend and the kids were all sick last week, so I was just so behind on housework.  It felt so nice to put things at least closer in order; it felt like I had been just drowning in mess and chaos.  :)

Here’s my annual fireplace picture I take every year on Christmas Eve.  It looks a little sad without a tree in the shot, but they were elsewhere this year.

Christmas morning I made the kids pose in front of the tree in my room before getting to open their presents.

I took most of the pictures I snapped of our day and put them into collages.  The babies looooooved crawling around and investigating the mess during the present opening.  The big kids loved helping them open their presents.  :)

The beautiful tree below is Mamma and Pop’s tree.  We spent the afternoon there, enjoying time with family.  We also made a quick stop over at Gran and Grandpa David’s house.  Gran was working, but we wished Merry Christmas to the family there.  I will have to get those pictures from David and do an update post later.

It is HARD to get all five kiddos posed for a shot, but these two are so easy!!

You know that song – “All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth” – well, Joanna’s version involves her EIGHT front teeth.  She lost two bottom teeth all on her own, but then the dentist extracted SIX more last week.  Her front four permanent teeth were coming in, and there was no room.  She was such a trooper though, and she looks so adorable!!

Merry Christmas to you all!!

A Day in the Life in December

Day in the Life was a week ago Monday, and it took me forever to get the pics uploaded and get anything written down.  This is most likely going to be the least detailed DITL post yet.  :)

7:15 – got out of bed, changed, and nursed the babes.  (This is extremely late.  I would love to sleep until 7 regularly.)

7:45 – the babies played.  The bigs and I put away laundry.

Thomas loves climbing in and out of laundry baskets.

He has been desperate to get up on the hearth, and somebody left the tree box close enough to use it as a stool to get up.  I think he was surprised he’d gotten up there.  :)

The girls were in charge of matching socks.

I had so much trouble remembering to take pictures that day, and by the time I wrote anything down, I had almost no idea what I’d done either.  Ha!

Sometime soon after the laundry putting away the babies and I ate our breakfast at the table.  I’m pretty sure we spent the morning doing chores and school work.  Those are typical Monday morning things for us.

We ate lunch at some point, and I have this feeling that my mom brought it over.  I have no photographic evidence of this though.

The babies napped during lunch-ish time.  During their nap I mixed up two meatloaves.  I put one in the fridge to bake for dinner and one in the freezer for later.

Thomas was up at 1:15.  I don’t know when Michael got up, but his naps have been a lot better than his brother’s lately.

At 4 something I made some mashed potatoes and cleaned up in the kitchen.  Joanna took this shot of me putting butter on top of the potatoes.

This boy.

And this one too!

I hate the four o’clock hour.  It’s just so HARD!

At 5:30, Matt was home and I was serving up dinner for the family.

I passed on dinner (I’d had leftovers around 3 or so), and went to hide in my room from all the people. This is my view of the Christmas tree from my bed.

Then my mother called or something to remind me that my new phone was at her house.  She’d found very inexpensive Windows phones on Amazon for Matt and me.  We now have smart phones!!  (Except I still haven’t activated Matt’s yet.  Bad wife.)

I stayed over at my mom’s and activated mine over the phone (in the quietness of my mom’s house), before coming back home.

Matt and I watched some TV, I think he rubbed my feet, then Thomas woke up at 10:15, probably about the time I was desperate to go to bed.

He nursed and crashed out on me.  Then I’m sure Matt put him back to bed.

I went to bed shortly after that!  I know I was very tired and not the least bit grouchy. 

But I have actually completed a year’s worth of monthly day in the life posts.  Fun!  You can read them all by clicking here.

At Anna’s Horse Show

Joanna’s best bud Anna has been taking riding lessons this fall, and the girls couldn’t wait to see her in action! We went out on Saturday for her horse show.

Tony is adjusting Anna’s saddle.  She’s riding Butch, the horse.

My girls had A BLAST watching everything and wandering around.  I’m glad I didn’t have the boys with me though.  I think they would have been less whelmed.

Here’s Natalie, watching me watch her.  She was watching the horses right before this.  Her hair looks pink because Emma was wearing pink and sitting beside her.  I’m not exactly sure yet how to take that color out in post.  :)

Anna rode in a walk and trot competition thing, and she placed 2nd, 3rd, and 4th for different things for her age.  She did so good!!

Joanna is holding her ribbons for her.  :)

It was a very fun way to spend a Saturday morning with friends!

Recently

Joanna lost a second tooth on November 13th and one of the top ones is very loose.  She cannot currently eat whole apples.  Bummer.  :)

The same day (I think? Or close) that I took the babies’ 13 month pics, we played out in the cul-du-sac.  The girls are in front of the neighbor’s house here.

James can often be found in this dress up ensemble.  I call it Super Cowboy Tiger.

And I loooooooove it.

For the record, the tiger is an size 18 month costume.  Here he is wearing it at 18 months.  :)

He likes riding with the bros. I’m glad Joanna likes pushing them around.  :)

Natalie was just sitting there, contemplating the leaves.

She’s so pretty.

When we came back in, James caught sight of himself in the pot on the counter (pardon all the dirty dishes), and he just got the biggest thrill out of looking at his reflection.  He was so tickled!

After I had taken pictures of the babies at the park, James told me he was ready for me to take a picture of him.

The other day I gave the boys a rice cracker as a quick snack, and I let them eat on the floor.  I looked up to see Thomas reach over, grab the rest of Michael’s snack out of his hands, and shove it in his own mouth.

Then he looked like this.  So if I hadn’t seen it happen, I wouldn’t have believed he could do such a thing.  :)

I think I’ll stick to making them sit in their chairs with their own, separate trays at snack time.

The babies at 13 months

I will most likely NOT continue these monthly updates through the twins’ second year, but I wanted to take some pictures when they were 13 months old (all the lovely leaves!) and I always have a lot to say, so here we go for now!

We walked down the park near our house last Saturday to take some pictures of our sweet babies.

Thomas didn’t really want to sit still for pictures.  :)

But Michael is slightly less mobile, so I got more of him.

Baby feet!!

It was fun, and I guess they didn’t eat anything too poisonous.  :)

So it’s a week later now, but here are some things about the babies at 13 months-ish:

• Michael was labeled “failure to thrive” at his 12 month check-up, but he’s really making strides to catch up!  He is seeing a genetics doctor as well as physical and occupational therapists to make sure we’re doing everything we can and should be for him.  He’s a trooper!
• Thomas can stand up on his own and has taken a step several times.  He loves to hold onto our fingers and walk around.  He also crawls very fast.
• Thomas has moved up to the top rise on his diapers (they’re one-size and snap smaller for smaller babies), but Michael is still stuck on the very bottom one.  I have a Michael bin and a Thomas bin of diapers on the changing table.  :)
• They can both wear 12 month clothes in most of the things we have.  We also have the 18 month things out, some of which work well for Thomas.  But he’s kinda short so he feet don’t stay in the feet of the footie pjs.  :)
• Michael can now sit himself up to play in a W sit (legs behind him), and he can pull up to stand.  He can’t usually get back down again nor can he take any steps.
• Thomas says “uh-oh” a lot.  It’s his most clear word.  He kind of also says Momma and Daddy too.  Michael doesn’t have any specific words yet, but he babbles a lot.
• Sometimes they take one nap per day, sometimes they take two.  It kind of depends on the day.
• They’re still nursing a few times per day, and we’ll keep that up as long as it’s working for everyone.  It’s kind of my magic secret weapon.
• Thomas is quite the climber.  I’m pretty sure one day soon I will walk into the dining room and find him on the table.  He sure is strong enough to get just about anywhere he likes; I sure am thankful he’s a little on the short side.
• Thomas signs “more” (sometimes) and is pretty clear about what he wants.  Michael is becoming more clear and also a little more demanding, like his bro.
• Michael sucks his thumb.  He used to suck either thumb, but at some point settled on the left one.
• They will both pretend to talk on the phone, using a phone if they have one, or anything else.
• They LOVE playing new places or places they don’t get to often, like our laundry room/pantry and the big kids’ room.  So if they’re kind of grouchy, I can often send all the kids into their room for a few minutes of peace.  And I use the word “peace” in a very broad manner.
• They LOVE their big siblings too.  Yay for that!
• They’re pretty sweet amazing one year olds.  I like having them around.

Game phone and Talking phone

Me: Got an important call to make?

James: No, this is not my talking phone; it's my game phone. 

Me: So you're playing a game?

James: Yes, it's called Oreo. 

Me: That sounds like a tasty game. 

James gets a funny look in his face. From the other room Natalie yells "It's Mario, not Oreo!"

I laugh. 

It's probably not actually that funny but it tickled me. :)

Basically, November… so far.

Last Monday all three boys had their yearly well-check in the afternoon.  I’m very glad my mom was able to come with us because it ended up being a long afternoon. Everybody had shots and the babies had blood work.  I didn’t take any pictures, but here are their stats:

James, age 4
38.75” tall
32lbs 6.4oz heavy

Thomas, age 1
27.5” tall
19lbs 15.5oz heavy
19.02” head circumference

Michael, age 1
26.5” tall
15lbs heavy
18.9” head circumference

These measurements, combined with some developmental things, have earned Michael the “failure to thrive” label.  Personally, I think we need a new adorable label to replace that one.  It sounds so horrible!  We’re not really worried so much as we are curious if there's an underlying cause for he teeniness.  We’ve been referred to a general pediatric consult service downtown for more info and a second opinion/ set of eyes.  Of course, I actually need to mail the paperwork in for that to happen.  Last week sure went by in a blur.

It’s amazing the things I’ve seen him learn to do though in just the last couple of weeks.  I think he’s just a slow grower.  Joanna the Tiny was 16ish pounds at one year, and she leapt up onto the growth chart between 15 and 18 months.  I’m expecting the same from Sir Michael.  But I will happily pursue the consult to investigate if there’s anything else going on!

Really though, it’s a good thing he’s so tiny.  How else could his big sis do this?

Last Friday was enchilada night, and this is what that looks like these days:

Christiana and I sure did double the child population around here pretty quickly.  :)

Drew has pretty much surpassed Michael in weight and mobility.

Poor Michael.  Life is so stressful.

Isn’t this kid adorable?!  He loves to look at himself in the camera.

Right before we left for Grandma’s house, Joanna lost her very first tooth!!

She was sooooooooo excited!!

And, for the record, it was also the very first tooth she grew, just a little bit more than seven years ago.  Sniff… sniff…

Coincidentally, our dentist (who is a family friend) and his wife were at enchilada night.  Joanna was very excited to show the dentist her very first lost tooth.  :)

Back at home, we pulled out our first envelope for a tooth and put it inside.  Then the envelope went in the little pouch, and the pouch went under the pillow.  When she woke up the next day, Joanna was richer by one half dollar, and her tooth was gone!

She’d been waiting a LONG time for that milestone!

Yesterday was the girls’ first time to sing in church this fall with the children’s choir.

Natalie is on the front row, stage right.

Joanna is on the middle row, stage left, in a light brown sweater.

It was precious! I also took a video, which I may or may not upload.  I’m pushing it just getting these posts accomplished.  Hallelujah for naps!!

Sunday afternoon I attempted cutting James’ hair for the very first time!

Before:

And after!!

I learned a lot, and there are some things I will do differently next time and as I continue to teach myself how to do this.  BUT he no longer looks like a scraggle muffin, and with just this one haircut, the clippers have almost paid for themselves.  Sweet!

It surprised me how dark Mr. Blondie’s hair looked on the floor.

Somehow, I did it.  I caught up on blogging all of the things!!

Now back to life.