Christmas Eve service

Monday afternoon we went to the Christmas Eve service at Fellowship. It has started to be a tradition in our family. The kids love it because they get to come in "big church"! It was a fun service that was kid friendly. The kids had glow sticks to keep them entertained. The only major distraction we had was during the service Peyton looked down the seat in front of us and thought he saw "brown"( his blanket) laying in the seat. So he proceeds to throw a fit for it yelling "brown, brown"!! Lee looks into the ladies seat and sees her coat laying there that looks identical to Peyton's blanket. His blanket is brown and furry, her coat was laying where you couldn't see the outside of it, but the inside was the same exact color chocolate brown and the same furry material.( It really did look exactly the same.) After no success of repeatedly telling Peyton that wasn't his blanket, Lee had to leave the service with Peyton in tow and go out to the car and get his blanket. Glad we had brought it or we would have had a total meltdown. I probably would have resulted in stealing that ladies coat. Ha! Other than that hiccup the rest of the service went well. It was great to be able to worship as a family together.

December

This year Santa’s Elf came to visit our house. On December 2nd Santa had a package delivered to the doorstep with Faith, Peyton, and Ian’s names on it. It was written in sparkly glitter paint. Faith said that Mrs.. Claus must have written it. Inside was a little Elf. After much debate and thought, he was named Hookie Pookie. We’ll just call him HP for short. He was there every morning looking after the kids. He got into several things that he shouldn’t have. I wish I would have gotten pictures of it. The kids enjoyed him and it was a great motivator. They were sad when HP headed back up north till next year. We also made a gingerbread house. The kids really had a blast helping with it. Peyton wanted to decorate with all purple. Purple is the color of royalty, so I guess he wanted his gingerbread man to have the best. Peyton decorated the gingerbread man. Hence all the purple! ha!    

The Square a.k.a the heart

This year we made our annual trip to the square a spur of the moment trip. Please excuse that I have NO makeup on! EEEEK! These days if it’s a good time for the kids, it doesn’t matter what mom looks like, it’s a dash to get out of the house before someone needs a nap or a diaper change or a snack! ha!

Mom was up in NWA for business and came over to eat dinner one night, so after dinner we decided to pile in the car and go to the square.  It was such a nice night. Seems kind of weird that we are all in short sleeve shirts looking at Christmas lights. The kids had a blast running around checking out the sites.

The past two years Faith has called the square, “the heart”. Last year she mentioned that she wanted to go to “the heart”. We couldn’t figure out what she was talking about for the longest time. She could remember it was a shape, but couldn’t remember which one! Ha! This year, she remembers it’s the square, but we still call it the heart just for fun!!! kids keep life fun!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

     Ian looking at the lights. He’s shocked how pretty they are. ha!

Pony rides anyone?

6 months

  Well we have made it 1/2 of a year with little Ian and I will say that it’s been the easiest 6 months with a newborn yet! He is the most content happy baby ever. The past week he started sleeping 10-12 hrs without eating. He still eats during the day every 3 hours or so. He is VERY interested in food and drinks. Yesterday I was holding him in the kitchen. He reached out and grabbed Lee’s water bottle off of the counter and tried to drink it. He is fully aware of all the food “goodies” out there. We have given him cereal a few times. He loves it and always wants more. He is very interactive with toys, and loves blankets. I don’t let him have one when he sleeps yet, but during the day he likes to be holding on to one.

He is still sleeping in our closet. I don’t know why we didn’t do that with Peyton and Faith. It has worked out really well. I would like to move him to a bedroom, but don’t think that Peyton is quite ready to be moved into Faith’s room.

I am really enjoying Ian’s first Christmas. We took the kids to the square the other week and Ian loved looking at all the lights and taking in the sights. He also, loves to grab at the Christmas tree when we walk by it.

Oh one last thing, he thinks Faith is HILARIOUS! She can get him laughing so hard that he gets the hiccups. We got some video of it the other day. So precious!

STATS:

size 2 diaper

14 lbs.(I think)

size 6-9 month clothes

take 2 to 3 naps a day. Naps are still only about an hr each.

Takes 6 oz. of milk per bottle

Still nursing/pumping

loves playing with his toys

Ian is such a special gift to us. He truly is a blessing to our family. Over the past year there have been several tragic events happen involving families. It has truly kept me humble and thankful for my children and family. Sometimes it’s hard to not get wrapped up in the small things of life, loving on my kids helps me keep things in perspective and reminds me that we are God’s children and that he loves us 100x’s more than we love our children. How can that even be?!?!

Peyton’s Hanger

 

It’s hard to even talk about birthday parties, Christmas, and happiness when so many sad events have happen lately. From the Newton, CT shooting to my friend Sarah Henry fighting for her life in a hospital in Austin, TX. It puts life into perspective. It makes me focus on the big things in life and focus on the reason for this season!!!  Ok, I wasn’t planning on writing this on Peyton’s birthday post, but it was just on my heart. I am so thankful to be able to celebrate Peyton’s birthday given the circumstances that we faced two years ago. The Lord has blessed us so much. He is good.

Peyton celebrated his 2nd birthday on Dec. 1st. It’s hard to believe that two years have gone by. He is quite the character around here. He leaves no dull moment. His funny, playful spirit lights up the room, and if there is a quite moment, it leaves you wondering what he’s up to. Our family would not be complete without him. He loves his siblings without a doubt very much. The way he says “Ian”, “e-ooow” is so funny.

He has really started talking a lot. Most of what he says are 2 and 3 word sentences. He loves anything “boy”. His favorite presents he got were trucks, trains, books, and his shopping cart. If he can find anyone with an empty lap he will grab a book and run over to you to read. He is soaking up every moment of learning. The other day I heard him count to 4…. who knew he could do that?!?!

Here are a few pictures from the party.