A fresh start

In order to have a fresh start in 2010, I need to catch-up.
Recently we had a family photo shoot with a local photographer that we met through our church. She did a great job with us as we were quite the challenge. Her other work can be found here and here.
Thanks Jessica for working with us!

We also celebrated my birthday recently. We spent the day together as a family. I got a new camera. I am looking forward to learning to use it and taking pictures for my friends one day.

Happy New Year everyone.

Oh I just remembered that I have a family ski trip to blog about. I guess that will have to wait until next time.

A shout out for Kristie

I have a cousin who is super talented. She made these cute Texas Tech outfits for my girls. She also makes baby items like the burp cloth you can see in the first picture. All her stuff is reasonably priced and made with lots of love.

Her website is http://lollipopsandkisses.blogspot.com/. She is also having a sale! Please go visit if you can.

2, 5, and 5

The months of November and December bring birthdays for the majority of our not so little family. Abby turned 2 on November 29th followed by the twins turning 5 four days later. Squeezed between the two birthdays were two infected ears, two infected sinuses, and a case of RSV. Abby was on house arrest for the twins birthday so she did not get to go out with them. Thankfully Grandma was here to watch her.

Abby:

Abby is an amazing little girl. Her vocabulary amazes us daily as well as her ability to use words correctly and in combination. She is in the 70th percentile for both height and weight. Even her head circumference is in the 70th percentile. Her pigtails, big blue eyes, and sweet smile receive comments just about everywhere we go.

Below is Tim's birthday letter to Abby:

29 November 2009

Dear Abby –

Today is your 2^nd birthday! It has been great to see how much you have grown up over the last year. You went from being a baby that could barely walk to a little girl that runs all over the place, can speak in whole sentences, and eat all by herself. In fact, one of your favorite phrases now is “Abby do it!” Many times you are able to do it all by yourself. It is amazing to see how quickly you have picked up language. You are such a smart little girl with bright shining eyes. You are such a cute little girl who makes a lot of people smile and comment when they see you. We love to see you laugh and to make you laugh. You are pretty ticklish and enjoy being eaten and tickled. You are so loving towards Grant and it’s so fun to see you give him a kiss. Abby kisses are the best and everybody loves getting one. You play pretty well with Zach and Calyn. It’s tough being the little kid, but you can hold your own and many times you get your way. Recently, it has been great to see you pray before meals. It brings us joy to see you wave your hands in the air as you go through your little meal-time prayer. We will be excited to see the day when you understand enough to ask Jesus to come into your heart.

We are so grateful to God for giving you to us. You bring us such joy and happiness and we are very proud of you.

Love,

Daddy

Zach:

Zach also amazes us. He is an awesome big brother to Grant and Abby and a fun companion for Calyn. He is very sensitive and often soft-spoken. His teacher often tells me what a sweet boy he is. He likes to hug on his friends and does not really understand personal space. His current favorite things include wrestling, math, and mazes. He is still a picky eater but is learning to try new things without as much complaining.

Calyn:

Calyn is a talker. She loves to talk. Her second love is all things musical. She often plays the guitar and sings. She loved the drum set that we gave her for her birthday. She likes to challenge the rules. She too is a great big sister to Grant and Abby is always wanting to help take care of them both. Both her school teacher and church teachers have told us how inquisitive she is. She really desires to understand things at deeper level than most of her peers. Calyn can be a handful at times but overall is a cheerful, vibrant little girl.

Christmas 2009

In case you do not already know, our family does not celebrate Christmas in the traditional manner. We choose to celebrate Jesus' birth every day of the year. We just focus more on it around the 25th of December. With this in mind, we do not buy each other gifts.

Sometimes I struggle with the decision not to 'celebrate' Christmas. Not because I miss getting presents but because I miss the traditions involved. We usually go to our church's Christmas Eve service, but it was cancelled due to bad weather. I did venture out to go to the grocery store and then spent the evening making sausage balls and oreo truffles. We also had great family time, gave Grant his first real bath, and cooked smores in the fire.

On Christmas morning, the kids opened their stockings. We fill their stockings because my mom use to fill them and I miss her being able to carry on that tradition. This was the first year that Zach and Calyn really questioned us about Santa and whether he is real or not. Zach claimed that if they show him on the news, then he must be real. I told them not to expect a lot of presents in their stockings knowing that I had spent only a few dollars each at the dollar spot at Target. After they opened them Calyn told me that I had made a mistake because she got tons of toys in her stocking. So cute. We cooked a big breakfast and Tim and the kids played outside in the snow.

We went over to the Buschman's house for Christmas lunch. Job and Janis are so sweet in that they make sure that we have a place to go on Christmas. I am so thankful to them and their four children (and two spouses) for allowing us to be a part of their family. We had a great meal and lots of adult conversation

Tonight as we put our kids to bed, we will once again read the Christmas story and remind them about a tiny baby that was born to be king. Merry Christmas everyone!

Three months

Grant is now three months old. In the last month he has become more alert and aware. He smiles a lot more lately but usually won't look at whoever is holding him. He no longer sleeps well at night. He does however sleep through church every Sunday. The nursery workers are afraid he will get promoted without them ever meeting him.

Too many mommas!

Giving Thanks

We spent Thanksgiving in Wichita Falls with my dad and Lou. My brother and his family, Lou's daughter Jennifer and her family, and Lou's daughter Brandi and her dog were also present. It was our first holiday together as a new family. A total of 19 people was a little crazy at times but overall was a lot of fun.

This is the kids table minus the 3 that were sleeping.

Abby's normal nap time is 2pm. She fell asleep about 15 minutes before we started lunch.

Ashley was not feeling so good and also slept through lunch.

Grant thankfully slept through lunch.

After lunch we headed to a local park to take pictures and climb a very large hill.

Even Abby and I made it to the top.

Not easy to get a good picture of all 10 kids.

I think Zach had the most fun. The boys were 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 11 (I think I have those ages correct). He played and was never without someone to entertain him. Calyn was really bummed that Ashley was sick but also had fun playing with the boys.