She's Coming!

Who's that???  Not Wee, we don't know if Wee is a he or a she, remember?  It is cracking me up that people seem to think Wee is a she, I don't think the opinion was so strong with Avery. 
Anyway, it is the FABULOUS Lisa Woods. 
We absolutely LOVE her work.  If you remember she came and documented our family when Avery was 6 months old, and again when he was a year old!  Lisa has also taken amazing photographs of our friends Evan, Annalee, Adelaide and Graham.   I happen to think she is the greatest photographer ever, not only can she make my whole family look great Michael does NOT complain one bit about having his picture taken by Lisa.  He actually said after the frist session, wow I can't believe that was an almost an hour it didn't seem that long at all.  This is huge coming from the guy who griped endlessly about the 2.5 minute Olan Mills church directory shoot. 
So, if you would like your pictures taken January 8 or 9 for a GREAT deal, contact Lisa!  Be sure to tell her I sent you so you get the sitting fee discount and disc discount, you will want the disc it is impossible to decide on just a few pictures. 
Also, I am looking for someone else who would like their pictures in March.  Lisa is going to come take Wee 2 and Avery's pictures for their birthdays and if we can get another family we save the travel fee.  If you want to do this contact me!
Happy New Year, I will share fun pictures soon I promise.  We are recovering from our crazy Christmas/New Years! 

Guess What Aunt Linde Got for Christmas

Yep, that is THE envelope...She knows! 

I love it just like last time she left our house and I got a text 0.2 seconds later about how excited she is to KNOW! 

Tis the Season

I love the Christmas season for so many reasons.  One of my favorite is the togetherness celebrated with those we love. 
This week we lost a great member of our family, my cousin Jim.  He was my mom's cousin and I thought of him like an uncle.  He meant a lot to my parents and my family and we will miss him so much.  I hate that his family will be hurting this week when he would want nothing more than for us to be having Christmas fun.  I remember he always made sure all the kids watched the weather on Christmas Eve at their house because Santa would be on the weather radar! 
Anyway, all this to say I know our family is not the only one missing a loved one this holiday.  Please take a moment to say a prayer for them and offer a kind word, it means to much to hear encouragement this time of year.  This season of celebrataing can also be really hard. 
 

Train Train

So, we have already told you that we loved going to the trains at NorthPark and story time with Santa, but I thought you might like some more pictures to know how great it really was!  For starters they have lots of mirrors so if you need to take a peek a boo break, it's not a problem. 

Second, Lou Lou and Aunt Linde come join in the fun if you smile sweetly.  (Really you don't even have to smile, they are suckers)

Third, fun friends like Brady, Claire and Melanie will come from far away to join in the fun!

Fourth, Santa will bring his dog to story time... So cool to the 2 and under set!

Not to mention a conductor's hat, trains to look at and of course more fun!  We are so thankful for fun holiday activities!!!

Guess Who Went to Santa????

AveryMamma

So, Avery I have been so excited to go see Santa this year.  Last year we went to see the Santa at North Park and he was awesome.  Avery was truly awe struck, remember?  He very sweetly sat in Santa's lap and just studied him.  We have had the picture on the fridge from last year and we talk about Santa and all seemed well.....

Until, 2 weeks ago.  Papa was in town and graciously got up early to go get us a ticket to see Santa just after story time.  We went and saw the trains got in line to take our picture and all was well.  Then, we rounded the corner saw Santa and lost it!  Crazy, y'all know my laid back go with the flow boy.  So, I attributed this reaction to some serious teething and thought we would try again. 

We have been talking up the big man, looking at his picture.  I am sad to say this was almost all for nothing.  The only way buddy buddy would see Santa was if mamma got in the picture, too.  I guess next year I will get myself a Christmas sweater vest to match...at least then I won't be in maternity clothes. 

I do have to give a huge shout out the North Park Santa.  He was so nice and helpful.  He talked us through our options this time and last time, too.  I think if we had about 2 more visits Avery would love him.  Of course as soon as our picture time was over Avery wanted to chat him up about Elmo and toys and Santa was more than happy to do so.  I love that they don't rush you!

Merry Christmas from a girl way too big to sit on Santa's knee. :)

The Boy and the BayBay

Just thought I would let you know what has been going on at our house this week!  Monday we went to the Dr. for a routine visit.  I had the pleasure of drinking that yummy glucose goo before my actual appointment.  I am still amazed that something so sweet can taste so bad....  Anyway, I have known for ahwile that Wee can be a little wiggly, but he or she was so wiggly with all that sugar that even Dr. H. got tickled.  I am always amazed how she can pop the doppler on and find the heartbeat so easily, but Monday no such luck.  Dr. H. would find it just for a second and then Wee would take off for another side of my stomach.  We chased this baby all over and all 3 of us were laughing before it was done.  I am very thankful for a strong, baby still cooking, and kicking, where he or she belongs.  I was also suprised to find out that he or she is measuring on the big side.  We already knew we were having a sonogram at our next visit, so we will see if it was just a growth spurt or a big kid on our hands.  I'll be honest, I like the little (within reason) babies.  I hope Wee isn't too much of a chunker.  :)

The boy has had a hard week.  I can't count the number of times he has walked up to one of us and said "teeth" very pitiful and then pointed just like this.  I felt sad enough for him thinking he was cutting his bottom one year molars.  I felt like mother of the year when I was tickling his neck in Tom Thumb and saw that his top eye teeth have also poked through this week....Poor fella, he has not been himself!

The good news is there is a new house being built down the street from us, so I often hear "big truck, biiiiig truck" and find Avery checking out the action on our street!  I think it makes his teeth hurt a little less to enjoy trucks so big and manly hard at work.  :)

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

Sorry I haven't blogged in awhile we were kind of busy last week having so much fun at church! 

This weekend was our annual church family Christmas party, Holly Jolly.  I love how the whole church comes together in different ways to make the night great.  For instance, 40 ladies decorated tables with their own dishes, centerpieces you name it to transform our atrium into a beautiful dining room.  I of course forgot my camera, so you can only see mine with phone pictures, but trust me it was beautiful.  There are some amazingly creative women in our church.  Also, 3 guys at our church cater the meal for us.  It was a feast with homemade lassagna, pizza, sides and bread pudding for dessert. 

Michael and I also had the privledge of helping provide the entertainment after our Holly Jolly dinner.

Our friend, Kelly and her sister Kasey direct our kids in a musical that is amazing.  We got to know these 40 angels over the past semester and were so proud to see them present a precious performance Saturday night.  I love that we started off the Christmas season with our church family remembering what Christmas is really all about!