I have two teeth...

... and counting.

Who Needs Winter Anyway?

We have had the most mild winter, with temps often in the 60s and 70s. Normally I suffer from snow envy while watching friends and family play in it every winter. This year, our weather has been GORGEOUS and I have had NO snow envy (okay, maybe a hint of it at Christmas). It has been so nice for the children to be outside and not cooped up in this house all winter. They come in for a drink and I send them back out... and they crash into their beds at night. Even Ward has gotten to enjoy the outdoors lately. Today, I snapped a few pics of the kiddos soaking up the sun in the backyard...

I even got a picture of the neglected family member, our grey-haired old lady Ally dog.

Ward at 7 months

This sweet angel is getting so big and is such a lovey-dovey. At his 6-month check-up he weighed in at 17 lbs., 2 oz. (37th percentile) and his length was 27.5" (77th percentile). I'm sure he's grown quite a bit since then. The boy is an excellent eater and has not turned his nose up at any baby food (except carrots) and he loves puffs, teething cookies and crackers. He recently cut his first tooth. The very next day I went to check and he already had another! He suffered all the usual teething symptoms, which didn't help the fact that this sweet child DOES NOT SLEEP. He's gotten a little better with his naps but he still gets up one or two times a night. We've let him cry it out... and cry.... and cry... and hours later he doesn't give up. I'm sure we'll count that strong will as an asset one day but for now we're just tired. At least it only takes a few minutes to nurse him and he goes right back to sleep. Ward is getting pretty good at sitting on his own but not well enough for me to walk away and leave him yet. He's more than happy just to travel around on my hip and would do it all day long if I let him. Ward LOVES his brother and sister. I can put him in the Bumbo seat in Eli's room while all three are in there playing and he is just as content as can be. He's also babbling away lately and we love to hear his sweet voice saying "dadada" or "yeah". He still gives the sweetest hugs and is such a cuddle bug. Brandon and I can't resist snuggling that little fluffy head of his. Ward also loves the water - bath or shower - and doesn't mind at all getting water all in his face. We are ready for pool season to see what he can do!

Christmas 2011

I opted to film Christmas morning in lieu of pictures, so I have none to post. These pics of M&E baking Christmas cookies on Christmas Eve will have to suffice...

Santa's gifts for this Christmas included a wedding dress for M (the girl loves some dress-up), a bow and arrow for E, and trucks for W. Grandparents, great grandparents and aunts and uncles were extremely generous and what we thought would be a pretty small Christmas for us actually turned out to be a really great one.

On a side note, this was the Christmas of the worst tree ever. We came home on the 23rd to find bugs all over the floor, all over the gifts and crawling ALL OVER the tree. It was disgusting. Needless to say, the ornaments came off and that nasty tree was at the curb that day. At least we were that much closer to cleaning up all the decorations!

All in all we had a wonderful time celebrating the birth of our Savior with our family - including our new addition little Ward.

Callaway Fantasy in Lights

Mama Kaye treated us to the Fantasy in Lights show at Callaway Gardens this year. We all bundled up and rode the trolley (otherwise known as the "charlie") through the show. M&E loved it, but they had some trouble seeing everything so we decided on an encore performance. We loaded up in the car and drove through it another time. This time they had heat, snacks, and no obnoxious company. They REALLY loved it this time and each declared their own favorite part.

By the way, taking pictures of lights is not easy.

Ballet Nativity/School Christmas Program

Madeline's ballet class gave a little nativity performance and M was chosen to play Mary. She did a great job (she didn't cry) and the girls put on such a sweet little show. Daddy even got to come watch! M really loves ballet and constantly twirls around the house.

The next day, M&E had their Christmas program at school. Daddy and Mama Kaye came to watch. It was so cute! It was so fun to see the children perform the songs that I had heard them singing for weeks at home.

Our little angels:

Thanksgiving 2011

This year we decided to spend Thanksgiving here:

It was wonderful. What a beautiful time of year to be at the beach!

We celebrated my 30th birthday at Louisiana Lagniappe. I cannot think of a more perfect way to ring in my 30s than surrounded by my precious family in a beautiful setting eating delicious food!

The big kids had their own little hideaway in our suite and fought over the top bunk the whole time.

We spent most of our time in the outdoor heated pool and hot tub but we took a little walk to the playground for some fun one morning.

We also took a tour of the docks and we each picked out a yacht for Santa to bring for Christmas. (He must not have been able to fit them on the sleigh.)

These crazy kiddos even got in the gulf. It was NOT warm.

The five of us had such a relaxing vacation that we're considering a repeat performance.