A Snowy Friday!

What fun it was to wake up to a wintry wonderland this morning! I figure we received about 1 inch or a little more. We all had fun getting outside for a little while and playing in it (and experiencing it for the first time for Amy). David exclaimed, "Its Christmas, Mommy!"

 Amy (16 months old)

 Jay (5-1/2 years old)

David (3-1/2 years old)

Ladies Christmas Friendship Dinner 2013

What a joy it was to host a table at our church's annual Ladies Christmas Friendship Dinner Thursday, Dec. 5th for the second year in a row. It was especially terrific that every lady at my MOPS table this year was able to attend the dinner and sit at my table (minus one friend that moved to Oregon in November, so a former MOPS Mom/friend - Rebecca - joined us).

Top row L to R: Cristi, me, Stacey, Rebecca, Kelly

Seated L to R: Mentor Mom Margaret, Amy, and Meredith

Above: My set and decorated table. Inside the gold boxes was a gold ball ornament as a favor. The personalized Christmas card also served as a place card!

The below pictures give you a taste of some of the beautiful tables that were set Thursday night. Each is so unique and exquisite.

 I especially loved the live floral arrangement on this table - so pretty!!

Scott Krippayne was our entertainment. Here is a short clip of him doing "Go, Tell It On The Mountain."

It was a lovely evening with great fellowship, scrumptious food (served by our mentor Mom's husband - fun treat!), and terrific entertainment. What a wonderful way to kick off this Christmas season. Looking forward to it again next year!!

Thanksgiving 2013

Thanksgiving 2013 brought us to Oregon! We started our trip Wednesday morning, stopped for an extended potty break at Matt's sister's home and then arrived at Mom and Dad's home early afternoon.

We had an enjoyable (and restful) remainder of the day with Nana and PopPop.

Here are some photos PopPop captured Thanksgiving Day...

Above: A close up picture of the Oreo turkeys I made for every person that adorned the Thanksgiving table.
Below: Mom's beautiful Thanksgiving table and the wonderful feast that was enjoyed by all. (Missed you at the table A family!! XO)

 After meal play...

 and after meal nap!

 I adore this photo of Amy and Matt below taken Friday - the day after Thanksgiving.

 Saturday morning we headed home, but not without a few more photos.

Thanks for another terrific time Mom and Dad, for the scrumptious food, and most of all for loving us on, playing with us, and caring for us. Looking forward to our time together around Christmas.

Oreo Turkeys & "Our" Little Turkeys

I had fun this year and made these cute little turkeys to give to family and friends. I think they turned out pretty great if I do say so myself!

And here is a video I took of our three little turkeys one afternoon playing together.

Amy is 15 months old!

Amy at the park on Sunday, November 3

 

It has been a while since we had been to a park. Amy surprised us by going down the slide all by herself and LOVED this new thrill.

 

 Happy, Happy, Happy!!

 

 

Amy - 15 months old - Friday, November 15, 2013

Amy is 15 months old today!!

We visited the pediatrician this morning and here are her latest stats:

Today's Weight: 22 lbs, 8 oz. (50th percentile)
Today's Length/Height: 32 (90-95 percentile)
Today's Head Circumference: 18 (25-50 percentile)

She is adding lots of teeth right now! I see the tip-tops of 4 molars sticking through her gums and today noticed her eye teeth are coming in at the same time, too! Yikes! No wonder she has wanted so much milk from her bottle recently. (My theory is the whole milk + her bottle is soothing/comforting to her.)

Amy is also adding words to her vocabulary every day. She is a great communicator of her wants and needs to Mommy and Daddy now which is such a nice change from the loud yells and screams we were experiencing. My current favorite is the mantra of "Happy! Happy! Happy!" as she walks around the house when in a good mood. :)

When I say, "Is your diaper dirty/wet?" - if it is, she'll march off to her room and stand by her changing table ready to be lifted up. LOVE THAT!!

She enjoys picking toys up and putting them away. Sometimes she gets a bit carried away and puts things away - but in our garage can! I'm always doing a double-check look in the garbage before throwing something away just in case there is something Amy "helped" put away in it.

She adores her brothers and is good at mimicing them. When it is time to leave the house, she eagerly awaits us putting her coat on, sits down on the stairs and waits for us to put her shoes on (the boys sit on the stairs, too; Jay puts his own shoes on; David still needs a little assistance with putting on his shoes).

Mom never minds leaving the boys with Dad at home and taking Amy out on the occasional errand run. Amy takes after brother David and enjoys getting out as opposed to brother Jay who will probably always be more of our home-body.

A little over 14 months old Amy mastered scooching down/descending the stairs in our home on her rear. She practiced her rear-scooching maneuver over and over again up and down, up and down until she was confident.

She loves having books read to her. The current favorite book for her is "Old McDonald's Farm" which is boring for us, but she adores hearing the sound effects we provide for each page/animal. She loves to have it read over and over and over...

Gladiator Jay & Garbage

A few bonus photos:

French Prairie Pumpkin Patch in Oregon - October 2013