Preparing for Christmas

The kids are getting very excited for Christmas. Jacob is REALLY into it, and has been telling Gwyn all about Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus. Gwyn will say, "Want to talk about Jesus." It is pretty sweet.

We had a few fun things this past week. Jacob had his Christmas party at school, and thankfully Jason came over and watched Gwyn and Annie so that I could go to his party. He was very excited to see me, and we had a great time.

The kids are so sweet together, at least some of the time! Jacob has even begun to "read" her books, at least the ones he has memorized!

Here is Annie smiling, she opens her mouth really wide and it is so cute!! She had her 2 month appointment and her first big round of shots, poor thing. She's 22 3/4 inches long and 10 lbs 15 ounces, the nurse said if she hadn't just wet her diaper, she would have been 11 lbs! She's 50th percentile for both height and weight and is doing very well.

12 Days of Christmas

On the 1st Day of Christmas, my true love gave to me….1 sweet precious baby named Annie.
On the 2nd Day of Christmas, wrapping presents gave to me…2 wrapping paper roll sword fighting kids in Christmas outfits, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 3rd Day of Christmas, the mall gave to me….3 kids not happy to see Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 4th Day of Christmas, nature supplied to me…4 precious hours of snow in Houston, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 5th Day of Christmas, God gave to me…5 family members in front of the Christmas tree, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 6th Day of Christmas, my sweet kids gave to me…6 straight hours of long-missed sleep, 5 family members, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 7th Day of Christmas, John and Claudia gave to thee…7 nights of watching our new tadpoles, “Peachy” and “Tee,” 6 hours of sleep, 5 family members, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 8th Day of Christmas, my sweet Jacob gave to me…8 minutes of singing in his Christmas program, 7 nights of tadpoles swimming, 6 hours of sleep, 5 family members, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie.
On the 9th Day of Christmas, we sadly discovered…9 breakable “unbreakable” ornaments on the kids’ trees, 8 minutes of singing, 7 nights of tadpoles swimming, 6 hours of sleep, 5 family members, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 10th Day of Christmas, my good fortune gave to me…10 sweet friends to have a Sip N See for me and Annie, 9 breakable/unbreakable ornaments, 8 minutes of singing, 7 nights of tadpoles swimming, 6 hours of sleep, 5 family members, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie. On the 11th Day of Christmas, our Daddy gave to thee…11 perfectly decorated ornament cupcakes for Jacob’s snack at school, 10 sweet friends, 9 breakable/unbreakable ornaments, 8 minutes of singing, 7 nights of tadpoles swimming, 6 hours of sleep, 5 family members, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie.

On the 12th Day of Christmas, my sweet family gave to me…12 months of priceless memories, 11 ornament cupcakes, 10 sweet friends, 9 breakable/unbreakable ornaments, 8 minutes of dancing, 7 nights of tadpoles swimming, 6 hours of sleep, 5 family members, 4 hours of snow, 3 screaming kids at Santa, 2 sword fighting kids, and a sweet baby named Annie.

Santa and Snow...what could be better?

We went to see Santa this week. When asked, Gwyn wants milk and a juice box, and Jacob wants a red robot, a batman costume, and a fireman costume. Of course we hear that AFTER, we've already bought them presents! It would have been good to know about the costumes around Halloween, and I could have gotten them right after for 50% off and now they are all sold out. Oh well, I'm sure Santa will think of something! Gwyn, by the way, does not like Santa in person, but likes reading books about Santa. Here are some pics of the kids waiting to see Santa and riding a train at the mall. I met some friends there, since I'm sure I'd lose a kid if I went out by myself!


If you haven't heard, Houston got some snow last Friday. The kids had so much fun playing, at least Jacob did and Gwyn did too, until her hands got too cold and she wanted to go inside...she's a true Texan. Here are some pics of the kids playing in the snow:
We also had Brad, Erika and Maddy over on Sunday evening. The kids are growing up so fast!

Here are a few videos that Jason shot while everyone was in for Thanksgiving:

Thanksgiving and Christmas Decorating

We have had a busy last couple of weeks. I have been pretty proud of myself for surviving with three kids on my own. I managed to take the kids to a Thanksgiving playdate at a friends house, and take them to the park...thank goodness I have some friends to help me not lose track of Jacob and Gwyn while I have to feed Annie!

We had a great Thanksgiving, we had Rick, Sue, Stacy, Justin, my mom, my dad, Jason all here for Thanksgiving. The kids loved the extra attention and it was nice for everyone to get to meet Annie...she is changing so fast!

Gwyn and Jacob each have their own Christmas trees, all with unbreakable ornaments. Our family tree is actually getting kind of bare because we've given them pretty much all of our ornaments that aren't breakable. They love their trees, Jacob wants you to tell him about where each and every ornament came from, and they both want their trees to look good, so every time I turn around they either Jacob is taking ornaments from Gwyn's tree and putting them on his or the other way around.

This is why all the ornaments are unbreakable...

Our Elf on the Shelf showed up again this year. He watches over the kids and flies back to Santa each night to report on their behavior...he comes back the next day in a different spot to continue his work...the kids are enjoying trying to find him each morning, just after they open the advent calendar to get their piece of candy...this is usually done by 7 am, I guess a piece of candy for breakfast until Christmas isn't going to kill them! This year, Jacob named him Kong Kong...he came up with that on his own and was pretty proud of it...it is funny to hear Gwyn say it. This is the first location he showed up:

Brian gets pretty creative on where Kong Kong shows up each morning:

Annie is starting to smile!

Here are a few random pics from the last week:

I call this one "cheeks"

This is how Annie likes to be carried around...