Christmas

As always, Christmas comes with many fun events!  Here are our photos to remember them by!

The largely anticipated, Santa on the Fire Truck!! Whitney was beside herself with excitement, but I told her she couldn't talk about it because I wasn't sure if we were going to get Colin up to see him.  Mean Mom, I know!  But he doesn't hit our house till well after 8 and Colin could be in dreamland by then!  Anyway, this year we were able to track his route and around 8pm I went to see if Colin was awake and he was, so I whispered, "Santa is going to drive by on a fire truck".  I mean can you even imagine his thoughts on this!  His eyes lit up and I was so glad I got this little boy up to see him!

Tracking his route

Tim asked why I didn't have them in long pants.  I thought this was part of the fun :)

What an amazing memory.  Makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

Our next event this year was tree trimming at my parents.  Colin was heavily into decorating the tree this year and even got to "help" put the angel on top.  

We have decided in the last few years that my parents would give them their gift on this day.  Spreads out Christmas fun a little bit! They all got one big gift...

A super cool tent!  A cozy spot for watching movies as well as endless play!

Next up, our annual breakfast with Santa.   A shockingly good picture!

Then that afternoon we made Nanny's sugar cookies. 

A fun day spent with Auntie Ann too!

We will take a brief moment to mention Lauren's big, first Christmas event.  Burning her hand!  Placing her hand on this small ledge outside of the oven and then leaning on it to stand up.  Instant blisters, a trip to Urgent Care, then the ER who then sent us to Children's Hospital in DC.  The poor girl suffered 2nd degree burns that had to be cut open and cleaned.  She did amazing and luckily will have no long term damage.  I did my fair share of crying, but am feeling so much better that is just fine!  Tim, Lauren and I got home close to 1am on Christmas Eve.  A huge thanks to my mom and sister for making sure our house was ready for Christmas morning!

Christmas morning was magical.  The kids were ecstatic about what Santa had brought for them.  We spent the first few hours in the morning enjoying those toys.

Around 9am my family came over and we enjoyed delicious Creme Brulee French Toast.  Then exchanged gifts with my family.  

We all enjoyed some naps and finally finished opening up gifts that afternoon.  I like that we somehow have created this leisurely way of opening gifts.  We finished the day with dinner at my parents house.

A few days later we got to see the Butler side for a delicious dinner and a fun visit!

Sue arrived in town and we had a fun week with her playing with all our gifts.  

Uncle Casey had a few visits this month too!

Though on our way to Children's hospital, I wasn't sure what was in store for our Christmas plans.  We feel so lucky that Lauren was okay and that we got to have an amazing Christmas!!

Thanksgiving

We made our annual trip to Charlotte for Thanksgiving.  The kids were counting down the days! It was a long car ride, but we made it! This year we left Tuesday night and stayed till Sunday night.

  It was so nice to spend so much time with Tim's family.  We have many great memories from this trip.  Playing, doing crafts, snuggles, watching funny videos and singing a long, and eating lots of good food!

Lauren ended up getting pretty sick with croup.  A very long story, but I will say, it was nice to be there and have all the help!

We can't wait till next year!

Cozy in Grandma and Grandpa's bed.

Cousins!

Trip #1 to Urgent Care

Crafting Cousins!

I love how he is passionate in everything he does!

Checking out those Black Friday ads.

Sicky getting spoiled.

Aunt Niki Snuggles

Uncle Brady time!

Not so fun, trip #2 to Urgent Care

Loved the tool bench!

Five and A Half

Whitney is five and a half!  I love age five!  Whitney is so sweet and thoughtful and I love hearing her questions and thoughts on life.

Whitney has grown an inch in the last 6 months, now measuring 46 1/2 inches and weighs 46 lbs.

She loves her art and does some kind of coloring or creative thing everyday.  She also has excellent color choices and is starting to create pictures on her own.  She took a decorative painting class after school and loved that of course!

She also has two new, sweet friends, Elsie and Caelyn.  They are both on the bus and Elsie is in her class.  I believe they are inseparable!  Elsie is the oldest of three as well (Caelyn too) and their teacher told me they are very similar.   Whitney talks about Elsie all the time, things that Elsie likes, things that Elsie does.   For example, her favorite colors have been blue and pink, but now because Elsie likes green and pink, those are now Whitney's favorite colors of course!  We have had play dates with Elsie and Caelyn where the girls will get off the bus at each other's houses.  And a huge perk for me is I love their Mom's!  The mom's and younger kids join us after the kids get home.  It is so nice to meet these new families, especially because we are going through the same thing with three young kids!

Whitney continues to be an amazing big sister.  She and Colin are best buddies and have great imaginative play together.  I love listening from the other room.  Though working through conflict will always be a work in progress, I am very proud with how she handles Colin.  She still dotes on Lauren and is always telling her how much she loves her.

Whitney now has a chore chart that takes her about 10 days to complete.  She accumulates 20 stars and then gets a reward. Her chores are things like take her dishes to the sink, vacuum, end of day clean up, etc.  Rewards are anything from a new game, puzzle, pajamas or a trip to Sweet Frog.  It has worked out very well!

The growth in these last 6 months has been huge.  She is more confident and more outgoing and I couldn't be more proud of her!

Waiting for the bus.

Who is this old girl!

 I mean look at that love!

Patiently sharing one of her favorite activities. (For a few minutes)

Play date at Elsie's. (Elsie is in the middle)

Girl Time!

Walking to the bus with Caelyn.

50's Day at school to celebrate the fiftieth day of school.

Will have to pull this out in 10 years.  Yikes!

9 Months

Lauren is 9 months!  Our little lady is not so little anymore!  Her weight is 21 lb 7 oz which is 91%.  Following suit with her sibs.  A little shorter at 27.8 inches putting her at 60%.  Her head is still smaller at 40%.  But I will always call her my little peanut since I did get to enjoy a petite baby for a few months!

At 8 months Lauren started working on crawling.  Trying out her knees and doing planks.  Going from laying down to sitting on her own.  About a week before 9 months, she just took off.  She is all over the place!  A little scavenge,r trying to find any piece of anything to put in her mouth.  We are back to using the baby gates.  Though I have to keep my eye on her more, she is entertained for much longer periods of time now that she can explore.

This girl likes to eat just like her brother!  She is self feeding entirely.  She will sit in her high chair for a good 30 minutes just eating away.  Some of her favs are peas, sweet potatoes, avocado and bluberries.  She also eats proteins now like chicken, beef, salmon and eggs.  Pretty much anything we make that is safe for her to eat I give it to her.  I can't think of anything she doesn't like!

I am so excited to see the personality come out of this girl as she grows.  She already knows she has to scream to be heard over everyone else.  I have seen her adorably tugging on Whitney's nightgown and she belly laughs at Colin's goofiness.  She also isn't afraid to pull some hair or climb on top of them either.  I think she is going to stir up the pot a little bit with some feistiness!

We are so happy that Lauren is part of our family!

Exploring

Yay, I can crawl!

Double Trouble

I think I am such a big girl.

Her little alone time with me every day.

Don't worry Mom, I have these two under control!

Lauren's Baptism

On September 21, 2014, Lauren was baptized.  She looked beautiful in her gown and loved being in church watching all the people.  She had no issues about the water being put on her head and enjoyed being serenaded to Jesus Loves Me.

We were so lucky to be surrounded by so many family members that day.  We are also thrilled that Kristi and Mike are her godparents.

Colin and Whitney had a blast playing with Cole, Haley and Joey, but by Sunday morning they were pretty worn out and woke up with stuffy noses.  This resulted in many tears.  During the ceremony Colin cried the whole time, concluding by saying "No Amen"!  after the ministers prayer.  Luckily, and much to my surprise Colin went to the nursery so we could enjoy the rest of the service.  Then as we tried to get family pictures afterwards Whitney cried because Colin got goldfish while in the nursery.  Well folks, that's life around here these days!

We are truly blessed beyond words!

A struggle to get everyone looking!

Two and a Half

Colin is 2 1/2!   I always say that these 6 month milestones are huge.  There always seems to be some kind of shift and big strides in becoming a big kid that takes place. It is all so bittersweet!

Colin continues to be a super sweet and funny little guy.  He is full of hugs, kisses and snuggles for everyone in the family.  Though sometimes he still turns the hug with his sisters, into a tackle to the ground!  He is a very a passionate boy and he can really charm your socks off!

Everywhere we go Colin gets attention.  Whether it's his cute grin, adorable laugh or stylin' sunglasses and a hat, he always grabs the attentions of strangers that just ooh and ahh over him.  He is happy to wave or say hello, but if anyone gets too close he gives me this look of, " Mom, please, they are invading my space".

He continues to impress us when a few months ago he just started pointing out all the numbers and letters he knew.  He has also taken an interest in puzzles like Whitney.  He is very happy to sit down and work through several 24 piece puzzles with you.  At the same time he needs to get outside and burn off all of his crazy energy.

He is still faithful to a 2 1/2 hour nap and a good 11-12 hours at night.  He is our champion of sleepers!

 He has also officially topped the charts at weighing in at 35 lbs.  Most three year old boys I know don't even weigh this yet!

He loves anything, trains, planes or cars.  He enjoys a ride on his trike and could spend hours in the swing.  Many times during the day you will hear him singing Veggie Tales or Chuggington.  He and Whitney also sing Frozen songs together.  We also have many dance parties and he loves to attempt somersaults.

We are so blessed to have this little boy in our lives and he knows his way right into our hearts!

What, I thought you said I could paint?

He played with play dough one day for a good hour and 45 minutes.

Sisters sunglasses, over his sunglasses.

Asleep, and Bert and Ernie in hand.

"Cheese"!

Cool Guy

We love you big boy!!