Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!

I've realized that in almost every family/kids picture that we take these days, at least one of the "big" kids is looking at Baby Norah.  While it would be nice for everyone to be looking at the camera, I love that they are still so enthralled with their baby sister!

Sadly, these were the "best" we could get of the 4 kiddos...

And, some solo shots...

This one was taken when Norah was just 2 days old.

The red sparkly "fancy" shoes were her favorite part of the outfit.  She may or may not have even slept in them one night recently...

Once again, Christmas this year came and went so quickly!  We spent the 23rd at my aunt's house with some extended family.  We hosted our family for Christmas Eve lunch before all going to church together.  We spent Christmas morning at our house (just us and the kids), and the rest of Christmas Day in Roscoe.  The Phillips family is in town this year, and that is always EXTRA great!

Auntie Kir & Evangeline holding Norah for the first time!

The big kiddos (Meredith, Caleb & Evangeline) made a "train" out of chairs...and how kind of them to let Grandma go for a ride!

Shane & Evangeline...in the 2nd picture, he is leaning in for a hug. 

I wish I had gotten a picture of Shane & Zachary in their matching outfits, but Z napped most of the afternoon, and I didn't get a chance to take one.

 Cousins!

So sweet.

Sleepy baby.

Evening silliness with Daddy...

Christmas Eve: presents from Nana & Papa and Auntie Heidi & Uncle Kimball...

Sweet blanket that Nana made...

Stockings: stuffed & ready for Christmas morning!

Christmas Morning...

Meredith wasn't too happy about having to stop for a pic...

...that's better!

How is it possible that my 1st baby looks so....UNbaby like?!

 Unfortunately, my camera battery died not long after we got to my parents' house for Christmas day...these are the only pictures I got from our time there. =(

Caleb got this scarf from Nana, and he loves it.  Apparently all 3 of the big cousins thought it would make a nice prop for the picture!

Stockings at Grandma and Grandpa's!

Shane is 2!!

Our Shaner-Bug is TWO today!

 

He started off the morning by opening some presents...

...but quickly asked to go see Baby Sister.  He seriously loves Norah.

 We went to 2Toots for lunch today to celebrate, and it turned out to be the perfect place to go for his birthday.

He loved watching the trains go around and around the restaurant...

 ...he kept turning around in his seat to watch and follow the trains.

 

What's better than having a train deliver your food?

 

And, while his expression here doesn't show it, he was very happy to have his birthday cupcake...complete with candle and a train whistle on top!  When they brought him the cupcake, a really cool Happy Birthday song was playing over the restaurant speakers...so fun!

And, this was on Tuesday....we hosted playgroup, and all of our playgroup friends sang to him.

Shane is such a blessing to our family.  He is extremely silly, and sometimes a bit mischievous.  He is very loving, and always good for some snuggles.  He still affectionately calls Caleb & Meredith "brubru" (brother) and "sissy", even though he can say their names and he calls Norah "baby sister", though he knows her name is Norah Jane.  He loves his blankie, and drags it around with him, Linus-style.  He loves berries, but getting him to eat vegetables is difficult.  He has the biggest sweet-tooth of any of our kids (gets that from me!).  He loves to copy his older brother and sister, and loves to make us all laugh.  He loves garbage trucks and trains.  He talks in long, complete sentences.  He loves to vacuum and "cook" in the kids' pretend kitchen.  He also likes to play catch, preferably with Daddy.  He loves to be tickled and loves to play "tackle". 

I could go on and on about our sweet Shane.  He is a joy and a blessing to us, and we are all thankful for the 2 years (so far!) that we have had with him.  Happy 2nd Birthday, "Baby" Shane!

Norah - 1 Week Old

 It has only been a week, but what was life like before she came? We love our sweet Norah Jane.

My Girls Today: Matching Minnies

Easy Christmasy Fun

The kiddos did a very simple and quick Christmas tree craft this morning...basically, they just glued strips of paper in descending order, largest to smallest, to make a Christmas tree.

And, I totally forgot that I had changed out the rice & beans bin (2 weeks ago!) for Christmas.  So, we got that out today as well...the kids, as always, had a great time playing with this.  I took out all of our Fall-related items, and added an assortment of Christmasy things: candy canes (fake, of course), ornaments, little decorative presents, jingle bells, thick snowflake straws, artificial poinsettas, and erasers in various Christmas-related designs (reindeer, etc.).  Shane loves to scoop and dump.  Meredith loves to sort (and sometimes hoard!) the different items.  Caleb loves to create all sorts of things...from "candy cane pie" to machines.

And..nothing to do with Christmas.  But, how sweet is this little girl?  I can't get enough of her. 

Snuggly