David is 8 Months Old! 1-11-12

David has been on the move this month. He rolls EVERYWHERE. Sometimes he will roll all the way to the kitchen or dining room tile. He loves the exersaucer & still plays very contently for quite some time. He smiles all the time. The most exciting thing is that he said his first word this week! And guess what word it is! Mama!! Hooray! This is a month earlier than Michael & Kate both said their first word. And their first word was Dada. So I was really excited about this :) At first Andy gave me a hard time & pretended he couldn't hear David saying it :) But I have it on video!! David, you are such a sweet, sweet baby & we love you!!

Special Christmas Gifts

Mommom (my mom) made Kate this adorable bedding for her doll bed. 

    And she made Michael this car pillow for his bed.  

Po (my dad) made us this beautiful cross for our collection. These gifts are priceless :) 

Miss K is 2 1/2 - January 2, 2012

As I write this post Kate is in her bed for a nap (that she never actually took) & she is singing at the top of her lungs - and has been for the last 2 hours. She also talks to her 10+ "friends" that she insists on being in her bed. At least on the days she decides not to nap she is content :) Yesterday & the day before she took 3 hour naps! So who knows :) Kate is keeping us on our toes with her little personality that is developing daily but we sure do love her! Some of our favorite things she says -

"No, I do it!" "I do it by. my. self. !!" She talks about her stuffed animals - "Let me get all my friends!" or "Let me get all my stuff!" One sad thing is she is not really calling Michael "Guycul" anymore. On Dec 28th I noticed that she said Michael instead & she has been doing this since. It's so bittersweet when kids lose their funny, childhood pronunciations of words :( 

 We love how she calls socks "hocks" & a snack "nack." The few times I've gotten the glue out for her to do an art project she has called it lotion. She is our sweet, funny lady - We love you Kate :)

Christmas with BB & Papa

BB, Papa & Uncle Steven came to visit & celebrate Christmas on New Year's weekend. We had a great time! We enjoyed lots of visiting, playing & eating :) 

BB & Kate

David liked his new outfit :)

Michael loves his Lightening McQueen clock from Uncle Matt & Aunt Amanda...

& Kate loves her Cabbage Patch doll :)

 Kate was a big helper with unwrapping gifts.

We got Michael a Lightening McQueen bike - he is doing great riding it! Fortunately this week we have had gorgeous weather for bike riding. We got Kate a tricycle - she likes to sit on it but hasn't quite figured out how to ride it without us pushing her :)

Christmas 2011

Texas for Christmas --- 8 hour drive + 3 children + everything but the kitchen sink = A very fun but crazy time! We celebrated Christmas with a Christmas Eve service at church, a delicious meal, opening presents & spending time with family. On Tuesday after Christmas my Mom kept the kids for the day while Andy & I drove to San Antonio. We enjoyed seeing friends, eating out & shopping for curtains for our house. My mom & I also had fun going to downtown Fredericksburg to go in & out of shops & art galleries. It was fun to see my dad's sculptures in the Fredericksburg Art Gallery. Andy enjoyed the gorgeous weather to fly his remote control helicopter - his favorite gift :)

It was a wonderful trip!

Michael & Kate enjoyed opening their stockings.

 Kate loved her play jewelry & her princess watch.

 

 Love this one of M. He wore the Santa hat to help pass out gifts.

 Michael with my sweet cousin Teal

  

 Happy David - wearing his "Baby's First Christmas" bib. Kate wore this too :)

 Michael's favorite gift - Lightening McQueen light-up shoes. He has been asking for these for quite some time, so I gave Mommom & Papa George a little hint :) 

 My Aunt Fran helping Kate open a present. 

 Michael wearing his superhero cape & mask.

One of My Faves -

from the Christmas season this year. If only David were in it, it would be perfect!

One of my favorite things Michael said in December - "Mom, let's get Daddy something for Christmas." me - "That's a great idea! What should we get him?" M - "Let's get him something really cool! How about...a sweater! Because he has a hole in one of his!"

A favorite thing Kate said - We were in Target & I turned on the shoe aisle - I wanted to find Kate some red shoes to go with her Christmas dress (not an easy thing to find 1 week before Christmas!) Right as I was turning on this aisle I asked her if she needed to go potty. She said yes. But then when she realized we were on the shoe aisle she said, "No, no I don't need to go potty!! I need shoes!!" 

Santa Visit 2011

 We had no idea what to expect with Santa. We guessed that Michael & David would do fine but we weren't sure about Kate. Last year we had to work extremely hard to get to her to stop crying. And she did. But this year, not so much. She was perfectly happy & content until we sat her on Santa's lap. Then she completely freaked out. Michael & David did great though.   

You know Santa is thinking, "Seriously. WHY did I sign up for this?!"

Once we joined the picture, Kate relaxed a little bit. So this year's Santa picture is a family picture :) Notice the hilarious placement of David's hand on his chin. As if to say, "This really is an odd tradition. A family picture with a random bearded man in a red suit joining us. Hmmm."