Tired Baby

Last week I gave Leighton a bath. Afterward, I had to run upstairs to get her sleeper and came back to her already asleep on the floor. Sleeping babies are always cute, so I figured I would share.

Christmas is on it's way!

The weekend before Thanksgiving was our time to get the Christmas decorations out and put up the tree. Usually if Thanksgiving is late, we will do it the weekend before Thanksgiving, otherwise we will wait until the day after. The girls were very excited. Here they are waiting for TJ to come up from the basement with the boxes. And their decorating attire is: Jaylyn-christmas tree shirt, Adley- Snow White dress. She kept getting ornaments stuck to her tulle skirt. Ha!

When Leighton starts crawling, I promise not to keep a box of sewing stuff and scissors right on the ground. :-)

"Helping" Dad

Supervisor Adley

Hanging those ornaments. Jaylyn kept asking over and over which ornaments were hers. She wasn't really concerned with any others.

I finally convinced Adley to get some around the sides and toward the back. She hung quite a few on the same branch.

Trying the star

They really couldn't get it

So, daddy to the rescue! Ta da!

Leighton is Five Months Old

She is moving on up! And she is such a smiley cutie. I love going in to her room when she wakes up and seeing her smile. She has been eating her toes and giggling a lot (mostly at her sisters). And apparently Sawyer just has to look at her to get her to giggle. Hee hee! She is really grabbing everything that comes in front of her so watch out. Everywhere we go, everyone comments on how she is so content and laid back. And, she pretty much is! Her sisters keep her entertained and she gets LOTS of lovin' still. We are just loving this sweet little baby!

Adley Pics

Here is a collage of Adley pics my dad made. She has definitely changed a lot!

**Update - I forgot to mention that the song on the video is one of Adley's favorite songs right now. It is "Oh, Happiness" by David Crowder Band on their new album "Church Music". We listen to it a LOT!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Third Birthday, Adley!

Adley has been waiting for this day! She had to ask me for sure if she was three. She knew we have been saying that she would be three, but she just wasn't sure if it really happened. :-) Jaylyn definitely "helped" (or told her) her decide what she wanted to do on her special day. Adley just wanted yogurt for breakfast. But, Jaylyn wanted her to have a special muffin tin breakfast. Adley wanted Pizza Hut, but Jaylyn convinced her she wanted Steak'N Shake. But, then she wished she had convinced her to go to Incredible Pizza. Jaylyn told her she wanted to go to a movie and that she wanted to have a present before lunch. Anyway, Adley definitely enjoyed her day!

Adley is still a HAM! She is always trying to make us laugh. She is so silly, but has definitely turned more bashful in public than she used to be. Much more quiet and now hides more. Not as much as Jaylyn used to. She loves her sisters VERY much. She and Jaylyn play together so well. They really have a good time. And she still loves on Leighton and makes her grin from ear to ear. She is such a joy to be around. She has hit the typical 3 year old phase with independence and saying "No!" a lot. She wants to be much more independent than Jaylyn ever wanted to be. I had to fight Jaylyn to get her to do things on her own and I have to fight Adley to let me do things for her! She is a true blessing and I am loving every moment of being Adley's mom!

Good Morning!

Happy Birthday!

Muffin Tin Breakfast :-)

Jaylyn convinced her to ask for a gift before lunch. Snow White!! Just what she asked for!

Lunch at Steak'N Shake

Silly Girl

Silly Girls

Leighton was having a blast watching daddy's wiggling fingers.

Next gift - bike helmet - She was wondering what this could be for????

Oh!

Oh, yeah!

(Jumping on couch) Hooray! A bike!

Loves that helmet

Having fun (as much as she can in our small living room) riding her bike

The requested pink cake with pink icing (and purple!)

Three candles

Blow!

Eat!!

Christmas Idea: Shepherd Pouches

Well, I was hoping to have these finished by now so I wouldn't have to leave you in suspense so long. But, they are not quite finished yet. Although, I am close!

First of all, our idea this year is to try Shepherd Pouches instead of regular Christmas stockings. We were trying to think of ways to find enjoyable things for the kids, but still keep the focus more on Christ-centered messages for Christmas. We read about Shepherd Pouches from a pastor, John Piper. Basically, they hang up a pouch and do some kind of work so that they can add their earnings to their pouch. They pick a project of some kind that their money will go to. Not just a selfish project, but something that will be giving to someone in need. Then on Christmas Eve, we will take out the money to see what we have. On Christmas morning, we will have little treats of some kind in each pouch that symbolizes how it is a blessing to give to others. Anyway, we will have to work out exactly how we will tweak this idea to fit our family, but we definitely like it.

I decided to make the pouches and I used an idea from a blog. http://allsorts.typepad.com/allsorts/2007/11/advent-calendar.html They had made cute advent felt pockets. So, I just used more felt, and they really look more like envelopes. I still need to attach names and a strap of some sort. So, they should be ready to hang soon. I will let you know how this new idea works out!

Can you believe it is time for Thanksgiving and Christmas?????

Another Adoption!

Another couple that is friends of ours just got their new baby! They are currently in Kazakhstan and you can read about their "adventure" at their blog http://thelockwoodladandlassies.blogspot.com/. They really are having quite an interesting time there. Keep them in your prayers. They actually have to stay there for about 4 more weeks and have to come home without her. Then I think they have to go back for 2 more shorter trips before they can bring her home.

Christmas Idea Coming Soon

Stay tuned to find out what this could be for??????

Season of Thanksgiviing

We have finally started up our Thankfulness Tree. We did it with Jaylyn two years ago, I believe. Just stick a "tree" in a "pot". Attach "leaves" each day with things you are thankful for. I saved the leaves Jaylyn did last time to see how they compare. Maybe I will post some once we get it going. So far, Adley's first thing to be thankful for was "food". :-) Then she mentioned chicken and dumplings. Jaylyn said "God" and "horses".

What are you thankful for?

Uncle Jungle Gyms?

Sunlight through the window?

Baby smiles?

Sweet sister time?

Silly sister time?

New Camera and Fun With Pictures

Sadly, our camera has gone on the fritz. So, happy birthday to us, we got a new camera. We are excited about the new camera, but have some learning to do to use it properly. So far I have had a lot of fun trying it out. The girls went out to play in the leaves the last couple of days with our beautiful weather. (Finally! After all of that rain!)

Silly girl!

Sweetie!

Love that smile!

Swing!

Static sliding hair

My big girl!

Too big!

What a smile!

Leaves!

Spin!

Can you tell where those leaves are about to go???? :-)

Dig in!