Christmas

This year we were able to spend the Holidays with Nate's parents. It was such a fun time! We stayed very busy and my girls had such a ball with grandma and grandpa. 

Here is the week in pictures (with the addition of a few extras)......

 Reid hanging out with Santa at the library aka Hallie's "preschool"--it's a big deal....

 My babies--this picture captures them perfectly 

 Sweetness

 Our first adventure with Ron and Vickie was to Kirtland, OH 

 At the N.K. Whitney store we were looking through a record of customers (it was only 3 months worth) and we found ones of Nate's ancestor Reynolds Cahoon on his Grandpa Hill's side

These are some panoramic views of Kirtland

 The girls planted elf seeds in a bowl of sugar with Grandma Vickie and the next day candy canes grew! 

 During this break we fit in some sledding

 Worn out was an understatement for this little boy

Reid 6 months....and the Latest

Reid is actually almost 7 months, but he had his 6 month appointment today. He is so squishy and I can't get over how much I love him! I baby him so much, but it is so hard not to. He is so mellow and so smiley. The girls love him to death. They are always loving on him which he is able to tolerate better since he has gotten older. He is starting to favor me over others, which I can't lie, I love it! He is perfectly content and then sees me and cries for me, so I of course run to hold him. During his shots today he only cried on number 3 and 4....yeah he is pretty tough. I can't wait until he gets into all things boy!
Stats:
Weight: 18 lbs 4 oz (60th percent)
Length 27.5" (75th percent)
Head Cir. 44cm  (60th percent)
Seems pretty perfect to me ;)

He is starting to do better with solids. At first he would open his mouth and not close it when food was in there, then he would close it and gag and a few times puked from all the gagging. Now he will let it sit in his mouth and slowly eat it. His favorites are kix cereal (he loved this from the very first time) and avocado.I think we are close to breaking through with bananas.

 

 He is celebrating Jesus' Birthday here.....love his big blue eyes!

The latest happenings:

Hallie has a new bff named Ashton. They are both so naughty together and get really excited to play together. At church or any large gathering they find each other pretty quick

This is our backyard aka: The forest, their secret hideout....

Lucky for us Santa sent us an elf and naturally the girls named him buddy, his first night here the other toys didn't know him so they trapped him in this glass bowl.....

 My angels sitting at the window waiting for Adalie's friend to come and pick her up. They sat there just like that for about 30 minutes.

Its About Time.....

This week has been all about organizing and finishing the unpacking---yes its been 3 months and still boxes in my living room! We recently just bought curtains for our living room and let me tell you curtains are not CHEAP---and yes we went 3 months of allowing everyone and anyone to see directly into our living room and dining room! That purchase got me motivated to finish the rest of our house. So for a week straight I worked my butt off organizing and decluttering! I must say our house feels sooo much better, however I am not completely done. We can finally get into Reid's room without tripping, his crib is set up and he is now sleeping in his own room, hallelujah! The girls room is decorated and all boxes (besides storage) are unpacked! In the meantime, I decided I am SICK of my decor. For some reason EVERYTHING I owned was BLACK! I literally grabbed my clock off the wall and without saying a word started painting. Luckily Nate really doesn't care how I decorate so I can pretty much do as I please, however he was fairly surprised at my quick action and the yellow.... 

Same thing....I have a BLACK mirror so I pulled it down and started painting white....again, not a word to Nate....he is heaven sent :)

 With all of the busy, we have found time to sit back and relax to a movie....Brave. Nate loved it and the girls were a little scared by it, but overall liked it

Thanksgiving

 This year for Thanksgiving we went to Becky and Brandon's house in New Jersey. It was a lot of fun and it was fun having all of our girls together again. This was Becky and I's first Thanksgiving "in charge" however she did the turkey so it was really her and I added a few side dishes.

 I made my first pie!

 The 3 year old table 

 The cooks

 Elena, Mariah, Adalie, and Hallie (they all look so BIG to me!)

 The 5 and older table

  Diva's doing some Black Friday shopping

 We went to NYC one of the days and saw Santa at Santa Land inside Macys. The line was 45 minutes, but all the girls had a ball because of the constant entertainment! Pictured is with the train conductor as we boarded the "train" to Santa Land

 Our train ride into the city

 Santa Land

 More entertainment in line

 Meeting Santa. It was nice because we were able to take our time and take pictures. 

 While in NYC we decided to do an "Elf Tour" we mapped out landmarks from the movie. My girls thought it was so cool. We watch this move YEAR round!

When we got into the Empire State Building Hallie kept asking where Buddy was, after we left and she could see the building from a distance she kept reminding me that, that is where Buddy's dad worked. We also stopped to find some gum on a hand rail. The girls laughed and said, "don't eat it"!

 

 And Finally a beautiful picture of Christmas in NYC

Coming of Age

Adalie has been wanting her ears pierced for the last few months and every time we say okay lets do it, she gets scared and says, "no lets wait till I'm 60....or 80". When Becky and her girls were here Adalie saw that all of them had pierced ears and decided she really was going to do it. I thought this might be like other times and she would change her mind again. Well she was adamant about it so we told her we would do it on a Saturday when daddy was with us. Sure enough she was still wanting to do it and never changed her mind. I kept telling her it would hurt like a shot. I didn't want any surprises and I wanted her to be sure this is what she really wanted. During all of this Hallie kept saying she wanted hers pierced. I figured Hallie would change her mind too, especially if she saw Adalie cry. I was totally wrong for both of them. They were both so excited. Right after Adalie's were pierced she wanted to cry but held it in. Her heart was beating so fast when it was all over. Hallie got up there and thought it would be so easy since Adalie took it so well, the poor girl screamed, but was still happy with the end result. I still have a little bit of mixed feelings with getting Hallie's ears pierced. I don't think she fully understood that getting ears pierced leave permanent holes, but getting it done with your sister makes it easier for both of them. They are so careful not to touch them and are so careful with their ears. Its pretty cute to see how excited they are even the next morning.

 Reid  aka "Readie" hanging out waiting for his sisters. He is seriously so sweet! He got his 6 month pictures done and I will share those soon!