Merry Christmas!

From our family to yours!

This is our 2011 Christmas card and on the back I included one of my favorite verses right now.

"The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."  Zephaniah 3:17

I have so enjoyed teaching Carys about the reason for this day.  It makes me so happy that when I ask her what Christmas is she says, "Jesus's birthday!"  I also love that when we pass the huge nativity at the hospital she yells out, "Jesus is born!"  She was excited about Santa, and we've had fun learning about him too, but I never want our girls to lose sight of the greatest gift that we have been given - the gift of a Savior.

Merry Christmas!

Pa-rum Pum Pum Pum

We have been rocking out to Christmas music since the day after Thanksgiving (maybe even a little earlier) and Carys loves turning on the "iPot" and having a dance party in the "lizing room".  And since we haven't been heading outside very much it's been a great way to burn off some energy multiple times a day!

Carys definitely has some favorite songs and always asks to hear them over and over and over again!  Along with "Jingle Bell Rock", "Jingle Bells" and "Feliz MobbyBob Navidad", she loves "The Little Drummer Boy".  Grandma Alice bought her a book with the song lyrics to add to our book advent and it's been very popular.   She was "reading" it a couple days ago and I was able to catch some of it on video, so here it is.  

Jingle All The Way!

I am so excited for Christmas this year.  Carys has been asking to "go to Christmas time" for awhile now and it is just so fun know that she understands and is looking forward to celebrating the season.  We started a couple of new traditions for the girls this year.  The one I'm really excited about is a book each night in December to countdown to Christmas.  And we kicked of our book advent with The Elf on the Shelf as another tradition to start with the girls.  

When Carys came upstairs to read her bedtime story she had a visitor.  Our elf had arrived and we read his story to explain that he was here to monitor her behavior and report back to Santa each night.  Every morning he returns to a new spot in the house and Carys needs to find him.  She also needed to choose a name for our special elf.  She was having a hard time thinking of anything, so I suggested Jingle (after an elf we recently saw in a movie) and Carys liked that.  Of course, since Jingle Bells is her #1 requested song these days - she quickly added Bell to our elf's name.  So, Jingle Bell it is! Now I'm thinking I should have bought the little skirt for our elf since Jingle Bell is a quite a feminine name for our male elf, but oh well!

She is getting more excited to see Jingle Bell in the morning as the days go on.  We haven't gotten super creative like some of the pictures I've seen on other blogs and Pinterest, but so far Jingle Bell has showed up sitting on a shelf, the TV, and in our Christmas tree.  He's also been found swinging from the kitchen light (C's favorite, "He's doing gymnastics!"), and riding on the ox in our nativity.  I will admit that there have been mornings that Jingle Bell forgot to come back from the North Pole to a new spot, so we have decided that he likes some spots more than others!

 Some mornings she wants to get him down and play with him, but she hasn't argued the "no-touching" rule when I remind her, so I think she's catching on.  I think next year will be fun when Jingle Bell will likely get a little more creative and Carys is more excited to find him.  She doesn't really remember to look for him, but she does get really excited when she sees him and says "Jingle Bell...He came back!" 

We also are loving having holiday themed "Mosie Night".  We have watched The Polar Express and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, and both were big hits.  Even Harper loves to join in and last weekend we had Uncle Hoon and Brooke too!

We have had a lot of fun this month and I can't believe Christmas is almost here!  We are counting down!

3 Months & "Up Nort"

It's so hard to believe that our baby will be three months old tomorrow.  It feels like time is flying by and at the same time it's hard to remember our family without Harper.  She is just such a sweet angel and we enjoy her so much!

Happy 3 Months!

Harper has been such a great baby.  She started sleeping 8 hours through the night between 6-7 weeks old.  Now, with occasional exceptions, she is averaging around 10 - 11 hours a night (and that makes this momma SO happy!!)  I'm thankful that so far we have had two really good sleepers (especially with all the warnings we received about 2nd babies!)  I'm sure most of it is luck of the draw, but I think we've also had some great resources to help us set up bedtime routines and nap schedules.  We used the book Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child with Carys, and I've referenced it quite a few times again with Harper.  With Harper I also did a Moms On Call  online seminar and I loved it.  Both resources helped us so much, and I would have been pretty clueless without them! 

We have been having some issues with Harper eating lately though.  At her 2 month check-up her Dr. thought she may be having some heartburn caused by reflux and he prescribed Zantac.  Since she was only fussing here and there I didn't fill the prescription right away, but last week it really ramped up and it was hard to get her to eat.  Every time she would start eating she would end up screaming after the first couple of minutes.  Then it was hard to get her to eat at all after that.  There have been a few days were I felt like she didn't get enough to eat, and then sure enough she was waking up during night to eat.  We started her on the medicine and I honestly haven't noticed a real difference.  This is her second week on it, so we'll follow up with the doctor again next week and hopefully get more answers.  

Other than that though...Harper is still just a easy-going, sweet baby.  She loves to watch her sister and it's so cute to watch her eyes follow Carys around the room.  She also likes to "play" more now too.  She has started hitting the hanging toys on her activity mat and she really stares at any toys you put in front of her.  And just like her sister, she loves the star that lights up and plays music.  She'll smile non-stop at that!  

And of course, big sister is always nearby!

Harper loves bath time.  We've been giving her a bath in the sink, just to save our knees and back from bending over the tub, but she's pretty much out of room, and with the way she likes to kick her legs we'll need to switch pretty soon.   

More playtime! 

Harper is so much more alert now and she really likes being able to look around.  I was showing Scott how I hold her and he did it the same way only his arms are MUCH longer, so it looked pretty ridiculous!

We had our first "movie night" with the girls.  Carys loved it!  We got out the sleeping bags, made some popcorn (Grandpa Tom style ), and watched Tangled.  Since then Carys has been asking to "watch moosie night again" nonstop!

This past weekend we headed up north to Boyne Mountain for a little weekend getaway.  Uncle Hoon and Brooke met us up there and we didn't have much on the agenda other than just hanging out.  

Happy girl even though mom put her hat on crooked! 

Harper was pretty fussy trying to eat on Saturday, so the two of us just hung out in our room while everyone else headed outside.  Of course, after seeing the playground, Carys didn't let them get too far.   

Carys doesn't like to do anything when Brooke is around without asking "Brooke too?"

After I finally got Harper to eat and settled down we headed out to grab some pizza for lunch.

Of course we had to check out the swans and ducks first.

We love getting to spend time with these two!

Look!  We found some snow.  Uncle Hoon showed Carys how to crunch the snow with her boots and she was all over that!

After naptime, we hit the indoor waterpark.  And yes, that's some pretty sweet bedhead she's sporting here!

Carys was a little slow to warm up at first, but she did all the big waterslides with Dad.  Even the scary tunnel slide that Uncle Hoon tried to warn against, but was too late.  Carys arrived at the bottom pretty wide eyed, but wanting to go again!  

We had a great time with Uncle Hoon and Brooke and were so glad they could come with us.  Every time we leave the house Carys asks if we are going "up Nort with Unca Hoon and Brooke?"  So, we can't wait to chill with them again over the holidays!

Happy Fall Y'all

I started this post in September. It's now November.

I love Fall and everything that comes along with it...apple picking, hay rides, pumpkins, sweaters and boots and now that we have Carys, trick or treating.  So, here is a little photo dump with all of the above, plus some random shots of the girls.  You'll also notice how quickly our little peanut is growing.  She is the sweetest baby. I want to cry every time I think about just how sweet she is - I love her so much!

Anyway, back to the photos I know the grandparents everyone is wanting to see.

Apple picking at Blake's

She may have eaten 1 or 5.  We had to talk her out of eating the ones on the ground.  

Cider and hot from the oven doughnuts - SO good!

Hayride!

We got out the activity mat for Harper and she loves the light-up sun just like Carys did.

Uncle Hoon came over for a weekend and took some photos of Carys playing outside.  He mostly got action shots because she does not like to stand still.

Jumping

Kicking 

She really puts her whole body into it.  Also, she grunts like Serena Williams every time.  It's pretty hilarious.

Helping Uncle Hoon get ready for his big ride 

Brothers - ready to ride like the wind.

They rode the Blue Water Ramble together.  My BIL did a ride re-cap here. It's pretty hilarious. 

Tummy Time - Carys always wants to join in.

Love.

A little shaving cream painting in the tub.

This activity was a big hit.  Also, if you've been to our house lately it explains the red stains all over our white shower curtain.  We didn't lay out the "what to paint - what not to paint" rules soon enough.

We were leaving the house one day and Carys insisted on wearing her boots (with capris) and as I was trying to rush her out the door she said, "Wait Momma, I need my bracelet" and comes back with the arm band.  

 Carys helped me make "Downies", and now she asks for them all the time!

Harper and Carys both at around 2 months.  

I think maybe they have the same chin??? 

 Carys wanted me to take a picture of her in her reading chair, and here it is!  

 Carys and her lizards (they deserve their own post) 

Anyway, on this morning she decided to share them with Harper, who wasn't too sure at first, but then decided they weren't too bad!

I don't think I'll ever get sick of these pictures.  I love my two girls.

The girls were dressed up for church and I wanted a cute picture of them together, but Harper was not having it!

She was nice and chill later that day, but of course by then Carys had already changed. 

Visit from Grandma Judy 

Daddy and his girls!

Sweet smiles and chubby cheeks!

Mom and her girls - I think Harper prefers solo shots.

Pumpkin carving. I'm bummed we didn't make it to a pumpkin patch this year, but we still had fun carving them up.  

Carys wanted Scott to do a "silly one" and a "skeleton".  I'll let you decide which is which!

 

Happy Halloween!

Our sweet girl wanted to be a dragon for Halloween.  I have no idea where she got that idea, but every time I asked she would alternate between a dragon or a dinosaur.  She loves dinosaurs right now, but I can't figure out where the dragon came from.  Maybe Wonder Pets or Diego??  I'm sure one of them have saved a baby dragon at some point. 

When I first pulled out the costume she was a little unsure, but I talked her into putting everything on.  I told her to go look in the mirror and when she did she wasn't sure if she should cry or run away!  She started to do a little of both until I told her what a cute, silly dragon she was.  She calmed down and then didn't want to take the costume off!  She was so excited about her "sharp claws" and how they "help me climb".  In fact, she demonstrated this to Scott when he came home by "climbing" the nightstand to get onto our bed!

She loved trick-or-treating, but she got a little nervous at some of the houses with crazy decorations.  We took her around to quite a few houses and then came back to let her go to a few with the Grandma's.  At this point it was pretty dark, so she only made it to a couple of houses before telling them she was done.  She had a lot of fun though, and has asked to go again quite a few times since then!

Dad and Carys sitting on the new deck.  Grandma Alice and Grandpa Tom came down for Halloween and Uncle Hoon and Brooke were here for the weekend too.  The boys busted their butts working on the deck and got it replaced that weekend.  It looks so much better!  I know it was a lot of hard work, and I'm so thankful that we have family willing to pitch in and help.  Thanks Dad and David - we love you!! 

Last, but not least, our Bug striking a serious modeling pose. Blue Steel, anyone?? 

And now we're done, Goodbye!!!