Dining Room - Before

 Between Christmas and New Years, Mr N had the entire week off.  At the top of a very short "Honey Do" list was ripping out the carpet of the dining room and cheap laminate of the kitchen and replacing it with the highest quality wood laminate we could afford.  Look at that nasty carpet!  Naturally we didn't bother vacuuming before snapping this pic.

I snapped this picture in case Mr N didn't feel like smiling at the end of the project.

Here's a picture of the laminate in the kitchen.  Mr N had already pulled the fridge out.  Sorry the lights in the kitchen are pretty yellow.  There was nothing major wrong with the laminate; there were several small holes and dings in it and there was discoloration in the entire center where we walk around.

Sibling Love!

Christmas 2011

 We decorated a gingerbread house on Christmas Eve.

 We went on a marathon walk (nearly 2 miles) and watched that old stop-motion animation movie of how Kris Kringle became Santa Claus and had pizza for dinner.  It is a tradition from Mr N's family to watch a movie and eat pizza on Christmas Eve night. 

 The children got to open one present Christmas Eve - their new pajamas.  We were worried they would take forever to fall asleep, but they both conked out right away.  Apparently the long walk coupled with weeks of anticipation was too much for our little ones.

 Here is the living room after Santa visited!

 Our Christmas tree.

 The children posing with their stockings.

 The baby ponders the joys of Christmas.

We didn't take many pictures of Christmas morning, it's mostly video.  I'll upload that...sometime.  We had a lovely Christmas and hope you did too!

This Girl's So Cute!

Updates to the Kitchen

Our dishwasher has been dying a slow death for about a year now. We were planning to replace it with some tax refund money. About a week before Thanksgiving, our oven suddenly popped loudly. The stovetop worked, but the oven was completely out. The replacement part was nearly as costly as a new oven, so it was time to head to Lowe's. They were having a pre-Black Friday sale, and the prices were great, so we got an oven and a dishwasher! They are so pretty. And they both work. So, you know, yay!

Late November

(E is patting Baby's C's head, if you couldn't tell.)

E made potions in these sippy cups and was very proud of them. I like how E & M are posing so similarly (unplanned). I'm not really sure how she got her potions to be blue...perhaps I should look into that.

Baby C, 4 Months

Baby C will be four months old in a week! I find it hard to believe that just four months ago she was born; it feels like she has always been part of our family. We all adore her.

Baby C is such a happy, smiley baby. She smiles sweetly at all of us. Right now her favorite person is me, can't say I mind it! Honestly I am adoring her special smiles and how she follows me with her eyes wherever I go.

Baby C's likes:

• Her big brother and sister
• Mommy
• Daddy
• Being held as much as possible
• Being swaddled tightly
• Snuggling with Mama in bed whenever I'll let her

Baby C's dislikes:

• Napping during the day for longer than 45 minutes (totally forgiven because she sleeps so well at night)
• Not being held
• Me taking more than 30 seconds to start nursing her
  

Learning from Daddy

Mr N: Who do you like more, me or your teacher?
E: My teacher.
Mr N: Why?
E: She teaches me things.
Mr N: I teach you things.
E: Dad, all you've ever taught me if how to shake my booty.

I figure anyone who reads this blog knows Mr N and what a goofball he is. He loves to tell the kids: "I need you to do something." He's done it so many times that they now just roll their eyes and say, "We already know - shake our booties." Then they all put their hands in the air and shake their booties. My family is nutz.

Some Recent Pictures

Here is Baby C wearing the dress I knit for her before she was born. It is extremely satisfying to see her wearing it. It doesn't hurt that she looks darn cute in it too!

Mr N asked me why I am including this picture. Because it is gross.

I found this suit coat for M at a local thrift store. He looks so dapper in it. I like this picture because you can see how much E & M love each other.

Baby C is a rough character. She has to defend herself against ruffians. It's quite shocking.

Here you see M watching the television instead of smiling at the camera as Mr N requested!

Halloween 2011

Halloween night - spiders

Church Trunk or Treat - pirates

I had different costumes for the kids, but M always wanted to be what E was, thus the haphazard nature of his attire in both photos. The last photo is of M wearing Mr N's sombrero. Mr N wore it to an adults-only Halloween party. Baby C didn't trick or treat. She went to the trunk or treat dressed as Santa's little helper (sorry no photo).

We've Got Smiles!

Baby C's 2-month stats:
Weight: 12lbs 6oz
Length: 22.5 inches

Baby C's Blessing

Baby C was blessed at our church on September 25. Both sets of grandparents were able to attend, as well as Mr N's brother J and his beautiful family. Here's everyone:

Here's a picture of the cousins:

Mr N did a lovely job blessing the baby. She had the hiccups the entire time; it was hard not to laugh! She wore the blessing dress my mother made after Miss E was born. It was a beautiful, happy day!

Grandparents' Visit

My mom has been here for the month of September. She actually leaves tomorrow (boo!). My dad was able to come out too, for a long weekend when Baby C was blessed. Here are a few pictures of the festivities (pictures of Baby C's blessing day in another post).

Grandma doesn't like to be photographed.

Mr N harvested his pumpkins. He got a very impressive crop this year. The children were very excited.

Look at M's face! So cute.

Miss E quickly figured out that Grandpa is a big teaser. She had great fun bossing all her grandparents around!