Christmas 2011

My family is SO blessed! I am so lucky to have such a wonderful family and it is nice to be around everyone for the holidays.
For the last month Parker has had a countdown on his calendar to Jesus's Birthday. He doesn't let Kevin or I forget each night before bed to put a big red X through the current day. He was so excited when it was finally here! Kendall has enjoyed looking at our lighted Christmas tree and anticipating what all the hype is about.

We got the tree up right after Thanksgiving. Parker enjoyed putting all the “balls” up and Kendall liked watching Parker. We seem to have a bare spot of decorations on the bottom quarter of the tree. Everyone Parker could reach he moved the bulbs down to the bottom of the tree.

Then we had Christmas at Grandpa Kirk and Dana’s house. The kids had fun opening their first round of gifts. Kendall got some new books and toys while Parker got some Lightning McQueen cars.

The next day, the grandkids gathered at Maus’ house for decorating Christmas cookies. Maus and Great Grandma had their hands full, but everyone had a great time!

Parker also had a Christmas program at church the weekend before. He was a king!

Friday before Christmas Eve, Kevin went in for a minor surgery; a vasectomy. We have decided that we are totally happy with our two wonderful children and that option seemed the best for the both of us. So poor Kevin got a vasectomy for Christmas! So he was a little slow getting around for the holidays, but he didn’t miss a beat.

Then Christmas Eve, we headed over to Loni and Eric’s house. Maus, Great Grandma, Cassie, Ellah, Loni and the Smith kiddos were there. We had a yummy brunch and opened gifts. Parker got a Lightning McQueen toy that he raced around the room! Kendall got lots of clothes – boy does she need them right now!

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We were hoping that Kendall would come home and take a nap, but everything was WAY to exciting. So we opened our presents next. Kendall enjoyed a singing elephant and a dinosaur toy. Parker was exciting to get MORE Lightning McQueen cars that light up. Kevin surprised me with a Kindle Fire (tablet) that I can’t put down and some new black boots. Kevin got a storm door, new shoes and a trip to Prairie Hills golf course.

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Later that evening, we went over to Grandpa Tom and Grandma Chris’ house. After pizza, we opened more gifts. Parker got a Light Bright (one of those toys that has lasted through the ages) and Kendall got a cute outfit and a purse of baby toys. Aunt Denise and Uncle Jason got him a Nerf dart gun and he sure enjoyed shooting that!

Since the kids’ bedrooms are on the opposite side of the house, Kevin and I were a little concerned that we would miss Parker’s reaction to Santa’s visit. So we set up a video camera and we were sure glad we did! Parker came out of his room to see SkyJump – the gift that he wanted SO bad! He asked Santa for it and every time it came on TV as a commercial, he reminded us that he wanted it. All the time – SkyJump, SkyJump, SkyJump! He spent a good 15 minutes playing with his stocking gifts (and Kendall’s stocking gifts) before he came to get us.

For lunch we headed over to Tom and Chris’ again. Parker got to play with his new Mobigo games while us adults visited. Kendall got passed around and played with her Aunt Jenny, cousin Jozzy and Grandma Chris.

Lastly, we went over to Great Grandma and Great Grandpa’s house. Our family got a year membership to the zoo which I know we will LOVE!

Christmas is over and my kiddos are truly spoiled and I feel so blessed to have such an amazing extended family. Parker and I pray each night before bed and we reflect on the TRUE meaning of the season. Last night his prayer went something like this…


“Jesus, thank you for your birfday and thank you for the cwoss. I pway for my daddy, my mommy, my sista Kendall, and wayway (Reagan). Thank you for evweything and I love you. Oh, and thank you for SkyJump. Amen!”

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Kendall is 4 Months!

 This is long overdue…Kendall had her 4 month appointment today. What a big girl! She weighed 18 lbs and 8 ozs (99th percentile) and was 27 inches long (also 99th percentile). Both the nurse and Dr. Tsang couldn’t believe how big she is. To say the least she is a healthy girl! Mommy and Daddy’s biggest pet peev of Kendall’s is her throwing up! ALL THE TIME! Just this morning before we left for the doctor’s she threw up all over me and I had to change my clothes. Then at the doctor’s office I think she threw up about 10 times (no exaggeration!). Needless to say I had to change my clothes again when I got home. For the most part she keeps it off herself because it is projective. Kevin and I did talk to Dr. Tsang about it. She called it a “Happy Spitter,” obviously she is still gaining weight, so no worries there. But she is worried about some of the bile coming through her esophagus again and again. The plan is to try cereal and hopefully that will help keep it down. If not, we are going to have to start giving her baby zantac. We HOPE that the cereal will settle her stomach down! Our other concern was that we think she doesn’t poop that much – only once or twice a week. But the doctor assured us that that was pretty normal for a breast fed baby. But when that poop comes, IT COMES! So gross when poop goes all the way up her back…ick!

Kendall is doing so good at reaching for toys and she is starting to hold on to things. She likes to follow her brother all across the room with her eyes. Parker loves playing with her and entertaining her. She really enjoys her play mat and her saucer. Whenever she is laying on her back, Kendall tries to sit up. She is going to have the strongest ab muscles ever! When she is in her crib and she hears up walk in, she “sits” up and smiles. She is close to sitting up all by herself; I’m sure she will do that before we know it! Kevin and I think she might be getting tooth because she always has something in her mouth. Some nights she gets a little fussy and drools like crazy! Kendall also loves to stand up. I think it probably feels better on her stomach instead of being in the sitting position. But she is so strong and her balance is so good!

After bath time each night (baths every night are a must because she always smells like puke), she likes to look at herself in the mirror. After the bath and some time to check herself out :) off to get into her jammies. Way easier said then done! She struggles allowing us to straighten her arms to put her arms in her sleeves. And she always grabs the inside of her sleeves making it so tricky to get the job done. Parker and I like to sing “The Hokey Pokey” song to help her relax and get her clothes on. And speaking of clothes, she grows out of them so fast! We are just past being 4 months old and she is in 12-18 months clothes.


Christmas break started this past weekend and it is so nice to home with my kiddos!

Ready for Church

The kids looked too cute this morning before church so we snapped some pictures. I still need to get a couple of just Kendall in her Christmas dress.

And Parker had his Church Christmas Program this morning. He was a king.

Chin Choppers

I have so much to update about Kendall. She has her 4 month appointment in 2 days, so I thought I would make one big post about her. So more to come, but until then we can enjoy this...

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Preschool Christmas Program

Parker's first Christmas Program!

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Straight from Parker's Mouth

Parker says the funniest things…
On Thanksgiving, Parker, Addie, and Ellah sat in the kitchen at a card table to eat dinner. Addie and Ellah had on some cute clothes and Cassie and Loni didn’t want them to get messed up so they had them take off their shirts to eat. Ellah is a pretty tiny little girl and when she chowed down on turkey, stuffing, mash potatoes and all the goodies her stomach expanded a little bit.
So now when we are trying to get Parker to finish his dinner he always come back with “I don wanna big belly like Ellah’s.” Really, Parker? Haha.

The other night Reagan tracked in some mud and he was trying to come up with the word for carpet and he wasn’t finding success. So instead he called it “fluffiness.” “Mom, look at the fluffiness.”
Parker, Kendall, and I were driving over to Maus’ house and Parker was asking me questions about Jesus. He has been very curious about Him lately! So our conversation went something like this :
“Mom, where does Jesus live?”
And I told him Heaven.
“Where’s Heaven?”
And I told him really high up in the sky.
“Like Neverland?” I don’t remember the last time we saw Peter Pan, but obviously it made a lasting impression on him.

Parker was eating dinner not too long ago and he must have been hitting a growth spurt because he was actually eating! (He never has time to eat) Anway, he was gobbling it up. Then he says “Mom, I wish my mouth was bigger!”

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'

Thanksgiving was the big day for Kendall. We were over at Great Grandma and Great Grandpa’s house in Maize and while we were playing on the floor on her tummy, she found herself on her back! She did it over and over and over again…way to go Kendall! Of course whenever I try to get video of her doing it, she doesn’t cooperate. Silly girl is camera shy.

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Yesterday we also got some family pictures in before we headed over to Grandpa Tom and Grandma Chris's house for Thanksgiving lunch. Round 2 of turkey and the whole nine yards was super yummy!

And a random video of Parker playing cars...always playing cars!

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