Our Christmas Story

We had our traditional FHE Christmas story re-enactment. It was a lot of fun. It is so nice to be able to focus on the Savior and the true meaning of Christmas. Our little Jesus finally fell fast asleep (after a lot of crying) right before we started our little story, so we opted to let him sleep and have Amber's baby doll stand in for Jesus. :)
Doesn't he look so sweet when he is asleep? I think so too!

Aaron and Amber were adorable as Joseph and Mary!!

Our shepherds also doubled as Wise men. When did these boys get so big?!!

And this is what really happens when I try to take pictures of my boys! Gotta love those crazy faces. :) Boys......I just love em!

This one is my favorite. So sweet. Amber was sure a pretty Mary.

The kids did a great job with the Christmas story and had a good time too. Afterward we watched the Nativity video put out by the church. It was so fun.

Brian was really into making funny faces tonight. If you make this picture big you will see he is crossing his eyes. But they sure do make handsome wise men!

Daddy played triple roles tonight. He was the donkey, a shepherd, and a wise man. I am so thankful that we could act out the Nativity as a family. It is one of my favorite things to do at Christmas. Merry Christmas!!!

Twins to the end

When I was a little girl I had a good friend named Kara. We used to say that we were twins. Our moms were good friends. We both had blonde hair. We were similar in size. We were the same age....our birthdays were just a month apart from each other. We used to have and wear the same clothes. I can even remember occasions when we would put paper bags over our heads and then walk out in our matching outfits and ask our moms if they could tell who was who. And even though I am positive that they could tell us apart, they would usually play along. Because, you know, moms are good like that!!! :) When I was in about 2nd grade I think, perhaps younger, she moved away to Houston, but we would still see them from time to time. One year at BYU, by total coincidence, we happened to take the same class at the same time. It was fun. We usually sat by each other.

A little while ago she got married and I got her wedding invitation. Last year we got a Christmas card from them. I think that it is fun to keep in touch, even if it is though Christmas cards. Today, I got a card from her. (I am running behind and will be getting mine out this week!) I was beyond shocked by what I learned!!! This year, she also had a baby. In September. And it was a boy. And the most twin-like thing.......she named her baby Evan!!!!! If that isn't totally crazy I don't know what is!!! We just must really be twins.....even now....and perhaps till the end! :)

The New Weston

Well, Weston has a new haircut!! We decided to give him a bigger kid look with his hair. I thought that it turned out pretty good. It has a hard time doing the part after all of the years if being worn straight down. He looks so much older to me with his hair this way.
And here is the back of his hair. No more bowl cut. It makes me a little sad but he is growing up.

Winter Wonderland

This is what we woke up to this morning! It is just beautiful. :) Luckily for us, there is not as much in the forecast as there are for places further east. We are supposed to have 2 to 4 inches this weekend. So much for that Christmas shopping that I was supposed to be doing! Instead I think that I will cozy up by the fire, finish my Christmas cards and perhaps do some more baking!!! I am sure that the kids will have a grand time in the snow. I am thankful that it came after school was out so that we didn't have to cancel school for it!!!!
The picture doesn't do the view justice. It looks so pretty sitting on my couch, looking at our tree and all the snow out the window! We will see how things turn out, but for now the forecast is calling for a white Christmas!! That would be so much fun!!!!!!

Comparisons

I think that it is so fun to look back at my other kids and see what they looked like at the same age and stage as my current little guy! So, here you go.....for your viewing enjoyment, here are Weston, Brian, Aaron and Amber all at right around 3 months of age!!!

Okay, seriously.....could Weston have been any fatter?!! :) The original picture was blurry, hence the reason that this picture is blurry as well. Weston is actually just before 3 months old in this picture. I had forgotten just how chubby he was until I looked back on the pictures!

Yeah, and don't I look like a kid in this picture! I love this little Texas Ranger's outfit that Weston is wearing here. My brother, Aaron, bought it for him. Every time I get the baby clothes out and wash them up, I am reminded of him!!!

And here is our little Bri Bri at the same age. We had just figured out all of his eating troubles and so he was still just a little on the thin side in this picture. It is amazing to think that in a matter of a month he gained 6 lbs after this!!! WOW! I think that Evan looks the most like Brian though the eyes!

I love this one because it has Aaron in it! Brian really loved his uncle Aaron and would always smile for him!!!!

And then came our chunky little Aaron. He sure isn't chunky now, but just look at those chubby little cheeks!!! My how time flies!

Look at that double chin and those chunky legs!!! I swear that it seems like just yesterday that each one of these kids were born, and now they are so big! Time flies!!!!

And who can forget our little Amber and all of her rolls!!! :) And such a pretty little princess in her cute Christmas dress!!!!

Yes indeed.....time is flying by too fast! Personally, the baby stage is kind of a hard one for me since my babies are so fussy. I am always kind of glad when they get to be a little bigger and start to roll and crawl and be interested in toys and things. But they sure are sweet in the pictures aren't they?!
And lastly, our little Evan from heaven!! :) What a sweet little guy he is (when he isn't crying!)! His sweet smile can melt my heart every time! I am thankful that he came to our home! We sure do love him.

I have to say that I am so thankful for my kids. Each is so different from the next, but so wonderful in his or her own way. I feel so blessed to be a mom to such wonderful kids. Hope you enjoyed the trip down memory lane because I know I did!!! :D

priceless

I love this time of year! I love all the magic that comes with Christmas time. I especially love the magic combined with children. I really just love it all. It makes it a wonderful, magical time of the year. Both Weston and Brian's classes wrote letters to Santa this year. I thought that Brian's was especially cute. It was too cute not to share!

Make it big and look at it! I think that my favorite part is that he has helped to clean up the dirty basement!! :) I do love children! And he has been a good help with his new baby brother!

And this is just a random picture from this morning. I was folding laundry and Evan was crying away. But then Amber came up and started holding his hand and talking sweetly to him. (Never mind the fact that she also tried to sit on him!) He was happier right away! It is so fun to see my children interact with each other. I do believe that it is easier most days to have 5 kids than it was with just 1. They all entertain each other and it is so fun to watch!!!! :)

There aren't enough hours.....

Seriously! There aren't enough hours in a day to get all the things accomplished that I need to!!!! :) Yesterday I did school runs, 7 loads of laundry (and sadly there is still more to be done!), took Aaron to the doctor, went to Krogers, took a nap (this is a must!), changed Evan a bazillion times (thanks to all of his spitting), fixed dinner, went light looking for FHE with the family, cleaned up the house, and yet I am still behind!!! I still need to do the Christmas cards, do some holiday baking, and yeah, have I mentioned that I really haven't done my Christmas shopping yet either!!!!!! Plus, there is the ongoing laundry, cooking, cleaning and all that comes with having a family. I think that we should add about 4 more hours to the day and then perhaps I will be able to make a dent in my to-do list!! No time to blog.....I am skipping nap time today to get the bills done and perhaps whip up a batch of two of cookies for the kids to help me bake up later on!!! How does the month of December fly by so fast every time?!?! I have no idea! :0 In actuality, I really don't mind being busy. I actually like it! I just wish that I was a little more caught up with the things for Christmas. And now, I am off to be a busy beaver before the day is over again!!!!

Christmas Jammies

When Grandma and Grandpa Yorke were here after we had Evan, they sneakily left boxes of Christmas presents for the kids!! :) One thing that they always do is to give the kids jammies for Christmas morning! Tonight the kids opened their Christmas pj's and had a fun time getting them on for me to take some pictures. They also gave Amber this beautiful Christmas dress!! I love smocking and I thought that this dress was just adorable!!!!
This one was supposed to be at the bottom, but oh well! They also gave Evan this adorable really cute little Christmas outfit that fits perfectly! He looked so festive and cute in it and I can't wait to have him wear it to church on Sunday and on Christmas day! He will probably wear it half a dozen other times before that too!!!
Here are Aaron and Amber by the fireplace all dressed up in their new duds! I just love the Kool-aid smile that Aaron is sporting!

And here are the big kids on the stairs in their Christmas jammies! Aren't they so cute!!!! Daddy was making silly faces at them to get them to smile just right for me!

I think that they are all set for Christmas morning!

You can see Evan's cute little outfit a little better in this picture! He was asleep when we took the other pictures of all the kids together, so I had to get a few of him by himself! He is a little sweetie! Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Yorke for the fun pre-Christmas presents!! We sure do love them!!!!

Sleep in Heavenly Peace

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.....

This past weekend after the boys' basketball games, we went out and got our tree!!! We found a great one at Lowes this year. :) That afternoon we set about to decorate it. Here are a few pictures of our afternoon of decorating. Luckily, Evan slept while we got the tree decorated!!!
Amber wasn't sure about the whole decorating thing at first, but then she got right into it and has since redecorated our tree every chance she gets!!! :) Her favorite decorations on the tree are the bells. She keeps taking them off and then walking all over the house singing, "Jingle bells! Jingle bells! Jingle Hallway!" It is so cute!
Of course, it wouldn't be a tree decorating party if the kids didn't dress themselves up in the garland!! :)

My they are cute, aren't they?!! :)

I just love the smell of the fresh trees at Christmas time. It really makes it like Christmas to me!

Slowly but surely I have gotten the house decorated! It is just harder since I hold Evan all the time. That is okay though. We are pretty well decorated now! And Evan is as cute as ever. :)

Brian got to do the star this year! And we have even been lucky enough to have a light bit of snow 2 days this week. It has been perfect. We can enjoy the little bit of snow without them delaying school!!! :) I do love Christmas time!!!!

Less hair

I know that when you look at this picture of the back of Evan's head, that you think that he has a lot of hair. But, if you had seen him when he was first born, you would know that he has actually lost quite a bit. And I think that he is in for more hair loss too since he has an AWFUL case of cradle cap, and that usually means that their hair falls out! And look at our sweet little Weston! He is such a great helper to me! I don't think that I would be able to get anything accomplished if I didn't have him around lending me a hand all the time. :) He is an awesome helper!
What a sweet face, don't you think?! I will post some pictures soon of the Christmas type things that you see in the background. We are slowly but surely getting all ready for Christmas here at our house.....and it is feeling an awful lot like Christmas too with all the cold weather that we have been having!! Snow is in the forecast for tomorrow.......I guess we will see!!! :)

3 months today

I can't believe that Evan is 3 months old today! It has just flown by so fast! He is now a strappling 13 lbs, 13 oz. :) It is funny to think that at this same age, Weston was 21 lbs. (Oh my....he was a chubb-o!) Evan is a sweetie for sure. He LOVES to snuggle! He will often lay his head on my shoulder and just snuggle with me. I love it! It is so sweet. His favorite and happiest time of day is right after he wakes up. He loves music and settles down best when we sing to him or he hears music. He likes to be held more than anything else. He doesn't like his car seat. He doesn't like his feet messed with. He doesn't really like to be put down either!! :) And guess what?! He slept really good last night! I got over 5 hours of sleep.....all to myself! Hip, hip, hooray!!!!!!! It was a miracle! And I feel so good today after that great sleep!!!!! :) Time is flying by fast.....happy 3 months Evan!!!

Our Thanksgiving

Okay, so I am a little more than slightly late with my Thanksgiving post, but better late than never! :) We had a fantastic Thanksgiving day here in KY! It was fun to start our morning out by watching the Macy's parade on TV while I started off the cooking. A little bit later on in the day, the boys headed outside for a little bit of football before we ate our dinner. It was frigid outside though, and beginning to flurry, so they didn't last all that long!!! :)
The boys did have a good time with Daddy though and were glad that they went outside to play a little bit. We have been spoiled this fall with beautiful 50's and 60's for so long that it is hard to think that Winter is upon us, but alas, it is and there won't be as much time outside for a while unless it is to play in the snow I think!!
Here is the Thanksgiving spread!!! It all turned out great and we had pumpkin and chocolate pies for dessert too!

We hope that everyone had a great Thanksgiving as well! I am in the process of decorating for Christmas, but it is coming along slowly since I am always either taking care of the baby, or taking care of the sickies the last few days!! Perhaps this weekend I will get the rest of the things up!!!!! Here's hoping anyway!!!

Evan, I love you!!

I really do love my sweet little baby boy!! He is hard work lots of days and my house is a disaster area, but it is all worth it! I love my snuggly little boy and his happy smiles and coos. I can't imagine our family without him now that he is here. I took this picture so that I could remember that at 2 and a half months old, Evan is almost too tall for his bouncy chair! He doesn't like the vibration at all, and cries when he is in it unless I am sitting right there by him talking away!!
Look, look! A double chin!! Do you see it?!! :) Evan now weighs 13 lbs, 3 oz!! It blows my mind that he is so light when all of my others were so heavy, but that is okay.....he is much easier to carry than they were!!

I love all of his cute faces and expressions!

Oh, and he is soooo very kissable!!!

Mmmm, mmmm.....Evan really likes to suck on his fists and fingers. They must be very tasty indeed!

What a sweet boy! Evan, I really do love you.....a lot!!