Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve celebrating with Joe's family...

Sickies

The past week at our house has been filled with the flu, which according to others' Facebook posts, we were definitely not alone! The flu has definitely been going around! Layla started it and then Joe had, then Gibson got it on Friday at Em's house which unfortunately spread it to their family because Gavin got it on Monday:(. I thought we were in the clear since Layla and Joe had had it early in the week and we all seemed fine since then. Gibson's spirits were really good during his flu. It's amazing how much better children handle being sick! He threw up lots but still acted happy, the only difference in personality was that he was really calm and would just sit on your lap--normally he doesn't sit still for long! He also didn't want to each much besides yogurt or applesauace, but after a couple of days he was back to his normal self.
Here he is relaxing on dad's lap...not normal for him!

Despite being sick he still had enough energy to get into the presents:). I thought he was doing so well with listening to "no" regarding the tree and presents, and then I caught him opening up one of Layla's! (the picture is slightly blurry as I was in a hurry and did not want to encourage the behavior:D) And then yesterday I found one smaller present on the other side of the room! Little stinker:). But besides that, all the other presents have been safe thus far:). Oh, and last week Thursday he finally got his first tooth! Well, actually he got two of them! I thought Layla was late not getting a tooth until 10 months, but he's almost 1!

Layla and Gavin had fun playing outside last Friday. We told them to just stay on the deck so that we could stay warm inside and still easily keep an eye on them:).

I tried to get a pic of the kids of the kids in their Christmas/Winter shirts, but my attempt was not so successful:).

All three of them had been looking out the window but of course Gibs got down by the time I grabbed my camera...

Lynelle

There are many things in life that seem so wonderful from the eyes of a child. Then you grow up and realize they're really not that great. Lynelle Pierce does not fall into that catagory.
I loved hearing Lynelle sing and talk growing up and this morning when she spoke at MOMS she was just as good! Last night going to bed I felt awful. I had gotten the flu on Sunday and was up many times in the night Sunday night throwing up (nice details, I know:D). It continued through Monday until there was nothing left to puke up. I figured there was no way we'd make it to MOMS (like MOPS) the next morning, but I was actually feeling great this morning so I quickly got the kids ready (we didn't get up until like 8:15 and MOMS starts at 9:15--getting two small children and myself ready in the morning takes me a bit!) and made it basically on time (a little late, but if often doesn't start right at 9:15 so you have time to grab your breakfast and coffee and drop your kids off at their rooms). I couldn't believe how great I felt considering feeling so weak the night before and not having eaten anything (besides one chocolate covered cherry which was not a wise choice:D) since Sunday!
Lynelle told some stories from her past and what she's learned from them and then tied that into celebrating Jesus' birthday by always remembering his GRACE! She told a great story about singing Amazing Grace (something she now does at every Christmas time event she speaks at) that led her into singing Amazing Grace for us and I don't think there were too many dry eyes as she sang:). She also spoke about how God brought each one of us there this morning to hear her and before she speaks anywhere she always prays that the words she says really speak to the people in her audience. That's always weird to think about, but it hit me more this morning since I really didn't think I'd make it--but by suddenly feeling better I could make it! She talked about how God's timing is always perfect. I've been thinking lately about how as I approach the 2 year anniversary of my mom's death, I haven't been that overwhelmed by it b/c I've been focusing on Gibson's upcoming birthday. I don't mean that I'm overlooking her death or that I don't still miss her, but it just has made me realize how God really does time things out perfectly. One year my mom died 3 days before Christmas and then the following year I had my baby boy within days after Christmas. Lynelle also talked about always being able to find joy at Christmas time, even if you've had a hard year. Even if we're not happy, we can still find joy. Christ gives us hope--the best gift of all! What could be better than that?!
Anyway, enough rambling, I meant to post some recent pics as well, but I don't like posting them after I've written something or I have to move everything around so I'll have to do a seperate post...

Trimming the Tree

We put our tree up on Thanksgiving. I think it's cute that many families have a nice tradition of going to a Christmas tree lot and picking out their tree together, but really, I'm just as happy with our tradition of getting the box out of the basement and assembling our small tree:). It's quick and simple and it doesn't drop needles on my floor or require water:).

Layla enjoyed helping put the ornaments on (we purposely did it while Gibson was sleeping:D), however, we then had many ornaments on the lower portion of the tree:).

Her ornament from the year she was born...

I hope to buy each of them an ornament each year that represents what they were interested in that year. Unfortunately I didn't remember to get one for Layla last year (you would think I would have had plenty of time to shop online during my bedrest??), but hopefully from now on I won't miss a year.

I was trying to decide what to get Layla this year and looked at the mall, but nothing really stood out. I thought about one of the Disney princesses as she currently loves watching Beauty and the Beast, but I figured she'll have plenty of years to love the princesses. I love looking at Disney's website and she loves Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, so I figured a Mickey Mouse Clubhouse ornament would be perfect to represent this year. What's funny is that Em happened to pick out the same ornament for Gavin:). Layla and Gavin definitely do both love Mickey and his friends!

And for Gibs' first Christmas I thought, why not Mickey too? I'm sure he'll love him some day, plus their ornaments were all on sale and had free shipping:). On the back it says: "Gibson's First Christmas".

I tried to get a pic of the kids both sitting infront of the tree, but it didn't work at all, so I'll have to try another day:).

And here are just a few random pics from yesterday.

Here is Gibson getting into trouble with the pots and pans as he always does. He's getting better at learning which cupboards he's allowed in and which he may not open. Maybe we won't need cupboard locks after all:). Oh, and I meant to mention that he's doing way better with the Christmas tree than I ever thought. Every once in awhile I catch him pulling on an ornament that looks a little too tempting (like one that is a bell), but for the most part, he's done really well at not touching it. It's surprising b/c he still won't stay away from the corner that Elv's bowl is in. There's also a basket of devotionals, a plant on a plant stand and our wine cabinet--way too many tempting things to play with I guess. I yell "no" as he heads in that direction and he just smiles and picks up the pace! Little stinker! :)

Trying out a new hairstyle:)...

Since I've never had a boy before, I don't understand how you gel their hair in the winter--doesn't it just get completely flattened when you put a hat on??

I bought this Polly Pocket cruise ship at a garage sale this summer and was saving it for when she was older as I wasn't sure she'd really get into it yet, but she found it in our closet when I was getting Christmas decorations out and she really likes it. She just needs to be really careful not to let Gibson get it as Polly's accessories are SO super tiny. It's nice that the boat does fold up with all the stuff inside, but the Polly Pocket I had when I was little you could actually almost fit her house in your pocket--Polly has really grown since then! It made me laugh the other day when Joe was home sick (with the flu) that Layla went over to him to have him help her put the male Polly's shoe on and then was having Joe pretend to put lotion (with the itty bitty lotion bottle) on the Polly guy--what a daddy won't do for his daughter:). This summer I started a blog of my favorite garage sale finds for all you garage sale sceptics, but never finished it--I would now include this on my list, although it is missing just a couple of pieces:(. But overall the ship is in great barely used quality and still sells in stores for way more than I paid for it! Oh, and Layla was also really excited about the cruise ship when we got it out because Grampy and Gigi were on a cruise at the time.

Longest Play Date Ever

Since Lindsey and I were both going to be alone for a week while our husbands were gone hunting this fall, we decided to live together with the four kiddos to keep each other entertained. A little weird, yes:), but we had a good time and so did the kids! We spent the first part of the week at her house and the second part of the week at our house. We joked that it was the longest playdate ever:).

Gibson slept in the same room as Lindsey and me the first night, and that was the last time for that! I knew that he liked to "talk" early in the morning (I sometimes hear him around 6am blabbering while Joe gets ready for work), but that night he decided to "talk" at what felt like every hour! It was horrible! Although we were laughing at times b/c he was making such funny sounds! I've slept in the same room as him before with camping and such, so I don't know if he just wasn't sleeping good that night or what, but he was really noisy! He wasn't unhappy and would put himself back to sleep--but we didn't get the greatest night's rest the first night! After that though the kids slept good the rest of the week and so did we:).

Lindsey with Jonathn, Layla and Madison...

"What? We're not doing anything wrong"...

"It was his idea"...

Layla and Jonathan ready for bed...

Jonathan started potty training just a week after Layla which wasn't too long before our week together. Both kids did great! Although they both did go more often than normal since if one kid went, so did the other:).

The babies enjoyed trying to learn:)...

Being a good big bro and good big sis washing the babies.

Snack time...

Gibson wanted to join in on the big kids' snack time...

The babies enjoyed playing together too...

Snow and Sick

On December 1 we got our first real snow of the season. I did not enjoy it, but I do realize that most years we would have had snow far earlier than that, so for that I should be thankful. I've never enjoyed driving on snow, and seeing that I rolled my car over last year into a large ditch with both kids in tow, I enjoy driving in snow even less this year:(. But since I live in Michigan, I better get used to it!

Layla was really excited when she saw the snow out the window that morning. And then she said that Daddy made the snow for her...um, no, child, Daddy is pretty great, but he doesn't make snow:). Good opportunity to teach about all that God has made for us, but then she told me that God made her toys, which I guess he did, just indirectly:).

Shoveling with Dad...

Saying "Hello" do the deer...

We've gotten even more snow the last couple of days...one of our deer fell over and the other is getting pretty covered in snow pretty quickly!

Here's another pic of our snow today, it's windy so I'm sure the roads have some pretty big drifts on them! This was taken earlier this afternoon and the snow is still coming! Glad we're staying warm inside:). Safe travels to all those driving today!

Watching Dad snowblow the driveway...

While at a holiday party on Saturday night I happened to be talking to someone about how Layla has never thrown up. Well, today she has had her first puke. She has thrown up a few times today and is definitely not feeling well. Hopefully this bug doesn't last long and hopefully no one else in the family catches it! I really am quite surprised that it took her 2 1/2 years before she threw up! She just really doesn't ever get very sick. She gets colds that last a couple of days and had a couple of ear infections around a year, but other than that, she has been really healthy. Gibson however has had lots of colds this fall already and his seem to last longer than hers ever did.

Layla is now officially 2 1/2. She turned 2 1/2 over the weekend. She continues to learn new fun things and seems to be growing up so fast! It was I think about a month ago or a little more that she started being potty trained and is still doing really well--she tells us when she has to go and doesn't make any mistakes. She struggles a bit with number #2 b/c I think she holds it in, so hopefully that improves soon, but at least she doesn't make any mistakes with it. Hopefully Gibson will be as easy to train one day:).

She's in her second "comfy outfit" of the day as she threw up all over the first one:(. It's so sad to see her so miserable:(. She's had more tv time today than normal since she's sick. Her current favorites are Diego, Dora, Mickey and Handy Manny.

Every time I try to take a picture of her and Gibson she runs to get her camera so that she can "take" a picture of Gibs.

Checking out all that snow we're getting today!!

Learning to walk behind his toy...he doesn't make it too many steps before falling down:).

Christmas time is here!

I love this time of year! Christmas shopping, Christmas parties and Christmas music! Now if only it would just snow in December and then be done, this time of year would be perfect:). We started off the season by celebrating Christmas with our friends Friday night.

I was going to take a pic of just the girls but then Jonathan wanted to join:). Rex, Gibson and Alden were also there. This is Ella, Layla, Maddie and Jonathan...

We're not having a birthday party with our friends for Gibson's first birthday since it's so close to Christmas and Christmas is obviously a busy time, so in order to not completely ignore his first birthday, we brought a cake along for him...too bad he didn't even get to try any b/c he was so sleepy so we just put him in bed. He'll have a party coming up with our family and he'll get cake then:).

I was trying to find a new place to get a cake from so a friend of mine via Facebook suggested one of her friends and it was delicious and really cute! Too bad she's due to have a baby the day after Gibson's birthday so I'm assuming it won't work for her to make a cake for his party:(.

This is just a pic of my boys in their argyle after church today...they both love their argyle:).

And a pic of Layla snuggling with Daddy and with Sugar Bear. It's funny b/c that's my little Sugar Bear from when I was little. He came out of my box of Sugar Crisp cereal many years ago and I always loved him. She lately has really taken a liking to him and can't sleep without him:).