Christmas Eve

We had our first Christmas Eve as a family in Paso Robles. It was a great night full of fun memories and juggling kid schedules...how did my mom do this with 5 kids?! All of us got dressed in our Christmas outfits to head to church for the Christmas Eve service. I have to say that it was a great time! Not only did we sing a ton of Christmas carols but the kids put on a Christmas pageant that truly touched my heart...there's something so sweet about hearing a child talk about Jesus. I hope one year Addie can be in it...I am smiling already at the thought.









After church, we headed home for dinner. I wanted to start a tradition of opening one gift that night so all the girls got PJs. After the babies went down, we had a huge dinner then decoraged cookies for "Santa"...needless to say, Chris and I enjoyed the treats. :)

Our little bug

I found myself a little teary yesterday that life is so busy that I am missing just "being" with Addie. She is flexible, lovable and great to be around, but I really want to pause life and just play. I feel that I have missed out on her lately and know Chris feels the same. The change in the family size has been a blessing and yes there definitely comes sacrafices too. Thankfully weddings have slowed down and I have family sessions but I honestly could not image being in the wedding season while juggling life with 3 girls.

Addie is 10 months old now and full of life. Her one tooth smile is a constant and she makes us laugh every time...she's even starting to crinkle her little nose when she gets really excited/happy. Mornings are spent cuddling dad in bed and snoozing a little more while I get the girls off to school. I love seeing her snuggled into Chris as I leave...he is amazing with her. Food is her favorite (just like mom) and I think at times she could eat all day. Annibell is so picky and hard to get to eat while Addie will open her mouth to anything except green veggies. Her favorite game is chase and now peek-a-boo. We'll chase her up the stairs, around the house and she literally screams for joy. Waving at everyone and everything (the sky is a favorite) is a constant as well. We'll be at the high school for lunch and she's just waving at high school kids right and left...great for contact work! Baths are another joy with our little girl. She is definitely a water baby. She'll sit there happy as can be for 30 minutes or longer if we let her. Oh, books too...hopefully she'll enjoy those more than I did as a kid. She loves reading, turning pages and talking to the animals and things she sees on each page.

Can I freeze time? I remember being pregnant and thinking about her first Christmas season and thinking it was so far off...it's here. Chris and I could not have asked for a better, sweeter, more beauitful baby girl. She is truly precious and she's our gift. Thank you, Lord. Maybe we be faithful parents and love her as she deserves to be loved. We love you Little Bug....

First Christmas Tree

We got Addie's first Christmas tree as a family about a week ago...keeping the blog updated has proven to be challenging at this point in time. I wish I could say we chopped it down ourselves, but truthfully it was from Wal-Mart. I have to admit too that decorating with two babies is not the easiest thing ever. We had to make two nights out of it but it turned out not too bad considering the circumstances. Surprisingly the girls are not too interested in removing the decorations so it's still up and sweet to watch them stare in awe. Addie's first Christmas....where has the last 10 months gone??

More Thanksgiving Pictures

So we went to a place like Boomers for mini-golf and go carts. We put Addie on some toy cars and and she wasn't a fan of this one.

Thanksgiving in Modesto

We had an amazing time in Modesto for Addie's first holiday celebration. It took us 5.5 hours to get there due to traffice (normally it's only 3 hours) but with some dancing in the car and a McDonald's stop for sweet tea, we all made it. Addie also got her picture taken with Santa...I will post that later...she cried so hard the first time we had to retake them and be in the picture with her ~priceless.

How many monkeys jumping in the bed?

Triplets?! We joke that when Rylan is over with Addie and Annibell that we have triplets. :) They are all similar in age and the same height...even though Addie is 6 months younger, she has her parents genes for being tall. Surprisingly they all love playing together, climbing the stairs at the same time while screaming for joy and picking on each other too. It's fun....

Change...but good change

As of Friday of last week, Chris and I have ventured into the Foster Parent world. It happened overnight to tell you the truth but it feels right. Shelby, who has been coming to Young Life for the last 3 or so years, has a 15 month old daugher, Annibell. With the passing of Shelby's mom in May, she has been bouncing from house to house. After club on Thursday, her social worker picked her up to start her in foster care since she was kicked out of her last place she was staying. I am not sure why, but Chris and I have always had a special place in our heart for Shelby and Annibell...for those who know us well, Annibell was the baby we almost adopted before we found out we were prego with Addie. Seeing the pain Shelby had with being taken away, Chris and I went into a 10 hour thinking period of what it would be like to have them with us. As I said, it felt right so here we are. It's been a sweet time with the girls. They are beauitful, smart and need love. We aren't sure what God has in store with this whole situation but we are taking day by day. We are basically the short term care until a permanent place is found but who knows if we will be that place. So, I ask for your prayers. Please pray for this transition for Addie...she has been really needy whenever Shelby and Annibell are around so we are trying to give her that. Pray for wisdom for us as we now are "parents" to a teenager...WHAT?! And above all, pray that Shelby and Annibell experience God and his love in a way they never have before...may they know him. Thanks friends and family!

Vacation in Cancun

Can we go back?! We had a great time and really cannot begin to tell about all the funny stories. We went with the Hamons and Cranks...both amazing friends that are basically like family. Jack-Jack and Josie were the other kids on the trip and we have some memories for sure. Between screaming kids during every meal, teeth through the lips, getting sick and others, we will always remember the fun we had.

Addie had some "first" while we were in Mexico.
-She LOVES Mexican men! Everywhere we went, she would laugh and wave at them. :)
-She learned to crawl steps while we were there.
-She got her first tooth there...really fun.
-She got her first black eye...fell off the bed onto the hardest floor ever invented.
-She learned to say Jack
-She ate more new foods than I can remember
-She loved flying...and being in our laps the whole time. She was great!

As for us, it was a joy to just "be" with Addie and not have computer, phones, etc distracting us. Chris and I went dancing (yes, I said dancing and Chris in the same sentence) one night with Mel and Jeff while the Hamons watched the kids. It was a blast! I don't think we've done that since our wedding. I got stung by a jelly fish the last day and we were probably more tired when we got home than when we left but it was worth ever second!