December Happenings

 December flew by in a flash!  We made the most of it!  Lots of family fun.  We made lots of memories together.  

December 1st Mr. elf arrived and brought us all pajamas. 

Santa came by on the fire truck to collect his letters. 

Love this picture of my babies in matching jammies to kick off the season.

These little elf shoes were the perfect festive touch for all our holiday attire.

We made it to the Gardendale Christmas Parade.  

The first Friday in December my parents got all the grandkids to build gingerbread houses.  These are the only 4 that cooperated for my picture.  The big kids spent the night.  Adler and I went back Saturday morning to hang out.  

The girls stayed up entirely too late.  But they had a blast together.

Uncle John brought lots of fun toys to play on Saturday.  

We fully embraced hot chocolate and hot chocolate bombs this season.

I can't remember what this dress up day was but she looked adorable.

The sweetest smile.  Those early morning feedings are just the sweetest.  I usually just hold her for far too long after that feeding. 

She dressed herself to go to my parents one Sunday for lunch. 

They are the best of friends.

My helper.  

AveryAnn got this huge princess tent.  It was a pain to assemble but she loves it. 

She got this snow globe from her school party.  She and Barrett convinced themselves it was a "Santa Cam".

More snuggles.

A little tummy time.  She's not a huge fan.

I'm trying to be more active and I was going to go on a walk and she insisted she go with me.  I really, really wanted to go alone, but she was so sweet I couldn't say no!  

Adler Two Months

 

Two months!  You are two months old now.  I can hardly believe it.  I feel like you've grown and changed so much this month.  There's no newborn baby left.  We are just soaking up all this time with you.  Your big brother and sister are out of school for two whole weeks and we're making the most of it!

(These pictures aren't great but they'll have to do this month.  I'm already 3 days late with this post as it is.)

You had your two month checkup with Dr. Farr yesterday and you're growing like a weed.  You're up to 11 pounds and 11 ounces and 23 inches long (70-90th percentile for both).  Up three whole pounds from birth.  You're wearing 0-3 month and 3 month clothes.  I ordered the sweetest outfits for Christmas and they finally arrived so we've been wearing them as much as we can!  You're still wearing a size one diaper but I think this will be our last box of those.

You eat 4oz every 3-4 hours during the day (around 6 times a day).  Thankfully, you're sleeping 6-8 hours at night. The week of Thanksgiving you didn't sleep more than two hours at a time and I thought I might have a nervous breakdown, but we survived and you started sleeping 6 hour stretches and then 8 hours.  We're trying to start letting you soothe yourself to sleep but I just want to hold you all the time.  

We've had a busy month!  We celebrated Thanksgiving with both sides of the family and you were a trooper!  We went hiking at the GUTS trail and Turkey Creek.  I use the term "hiking" loosely but we walked in the woods and you did great!  We've gotten to go on a couple family Christmas outings and you were so sweet.  We saw Santa and you didn't cry.  We ate in a restaurant and you were so good.  We went on extended car rides to see all the pretty lights and you tolerated us.  I was so scared that we'd never be able to leave the house again after having another baby but we've just taken you right along!

You are more and more alert and want to know what everyone is doing.  You love AveryAnn and Barrett so much.  They love you too.  You are grasping everything you get your hands on, especially mine and AveryAnn's hair.

Highlights this month...Thanksgiving, sleeping 8 hours at night, going for walks with you in your stroller, seeing you laugh and smile at your siblings, celebrating the Christmas season with you.  You have changed us all for the better and we're so thankful you're here.

November

 We had a whirlwind November.  It all flew by.  We all enjoyed some cuddle time with Adler!  Barrett was so proud because he picked her up and soothed her while I was in the bathroom. 

We think she's looking more like Barrett lately.

One of our Fridays at home.

Best friends.

She was not a big fan of bath time at first but she's coming around.  I started putting AveryAnn in there with her and she seems to enjoy it more.

She loves laying in her bed to get away from everyone.  As you can see a determined big sister still got her hands on her.

She loves feeding her.

This already feels like a distant memory.  It's like the harder I try to make time slow down the faster it zooms by.

We have to sit in the car during dance so we've started using that as our spelling practice time.  I have really enjoyed all the time I've gotten to spend with him this year.

AveryAnn loves to "babysit" anytime I leave the room.  It's the sweetest.

Strolling around while the big kids wanted to ride bikes that quickly turned into them fighting over who gets to push her in the stroller.

Pushing her real live baby doll.

The week of Thanksgiving we hit up the GUTS trail.  The kids had a blast.  It's an easy mile there and back and I can wear the baby.  We will probably be hitting it up several times over the holiday as the weather permits.

We went to the park afterwards and slept!

Fun morning with my babies.

She was so proud of her outfit that she picked out herself.

Snuggled in for the "hike".

Morning snuggles with my girls.

We didn't play kickball this year on black Friday, so my sister and I took the kids to Turkey Creek.  Thats them on the top of that rock.

Again, so proud of her "hiking" outfit.

It was a nice day for a hike.

Somehow he fell in the creek.

Shes the best little "hiker"

I kicked off the first Sunday of Advent diving into this devotional with a few of my girlfriends.  It's been so refreshing and good for my soul.  This year has been so blah, this has been good to keep my focus on the good.

We're moving right along in December, today was AveryAnn's last day.  Barrett has been remote all week but tomorrow is his last day of remote learning and we are diving right into all the fun.