Excellent

Sarah came and watched the kids yesterday so we could go see Les Mis.  Oh my heavens.  It was so emotional and powerful.  My head hurt after it was over because I was trying to hold in my sobs so I wouldn't break out in a full blown baby cry.  The acting was fabulous.  The story is always great.  And I've always loved the music.  If you haven't seen it yet, you've got to go!

Vacation in Idaho

I'm sad that I forgot my camera when we went to visit family in Idaho.  So I just have a few that I took with my phone, dang it!  Ben and Sara were there from Arizona.  The kids play so well together.  They played and played and then played some more.  It was great to be with family.  Mom and Dad are living at Grandma's house taking care of her, so that's where we stayed.  We were up way too late every night talking and playing games, laughing till we cried, ate very poorly, and had a blast doing it.  

 Here are some slippers I crocheted for David.  They were supposed to be ready for Christmas morning, but I didn't finish them until a few days later.

 Fongs.  We laugh about Fongs and their sauce that is the same for every dish, but we still eat it when we go there.

Grandma Packer reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid.  Emory had left it sitting on the table.  She came along and picked it up.
We got a call yesterday from Mom letting us know that Grandma had fallen and broken her hip.  Poor thing. She went in for surgery and they were able to help her.  It's sad to watch her get old.  She's so special to us. We love her so much.

Christmas Morning

Family Time

We were able to visit with family during the holiday.  It was great.  Rebekah came to stay with Mom so we got together on the night of the 23rd.  She was sweet to hang with the kids.  They always enjoy hanging with their aunts.  Carmen was attached to Rena's hip this night.

 David with his mom and sisters.  Sweet.

Little Wood People

A friend of mine asked if I had done any homemade gifts this year for Christmas.  Since she isn't close by, I thought I would put some pics on the blog so she can see what I did.  I didn't do much and I now realize that this is the only picture that I took of what I did do.  These wood people will go in the kids stockings.  I made David some more homemade shirts and a blanket.  And I made us each a towel wrap thing that holds a toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss.  Have I mentioned that the kids went to the dentist last week and because they have been brushing and flossing faithfully, all four were cavity free!!   Anyway, here are my wood people.  I'm pretty proud of how they turned out:

In order from left to right:

Truman's: Buzz, Woody, Superman, Mr. Incredible
Morgan's: Repunzel, Sleeping Beauty, Belle, Snow White
Carmen's: Astrid and Hiccup(How to Train Your Dragon), Merida (Brave), Princess Feona
Graham's: Darth Vader, Sonic the Hedgehog, Batman, Spiderman

Baby Jesus From Nursery

Christmas Shirts

Here are a few shirts I mad for the girls and Truman.  And ornament, a Christmas tree, and a Christmas tree in the back of a truck.  They were fun to make.

Service

After a snow storm the girls when outside to play.  When I went to check on them, I found them shoveling our neighbors driveway.  Good job, Girls!

Handy Men

Our top element on our even needed replaced.  Here the boys are all working to get it fixed.  Truman was super intrigued.  The electrician guy probably thought I was crazy snapping a photo, but I couldn't resist.  :)

Four Months

Reese turned 4 months on the 14th of December.  I can't believe how time has flown.  She's such a delight to be around.  Everyone who sees her mentions how petite she is.  She weighed 13 pounds at her checkup.  All I care is that she's gaining.  She just started rolling over and grabbing things.  She chews whatever she can get her hands on, but won't take a binkie.  Dang it!  She's just started laughing and babbling lots with us.  She loves to be held and often times when she's fussy it's cuz she's not being held.  The kids all love her so much and are willing to help whenever they can. 

I was having some trouble with Truman for awhile, but once I started to get him more involved, he stopped that behavior almost immediately.  He now says, "Mom, I hold her?"  When I place her in his lap, his sits up big and tall and acts very serious.  It's an important job.  ;)

Morgan loves her!!  When she's busy doing something else, she will stop what she's doing and say, "Oop.  I've got to check on my little Reesie."  The run over say hello and give her kisses, then go back to what she was doing...most of the time she needs a little extra nudging to get her back on task.  Another nickname she has made up is, Reesie Peasie Lemon Squeesy.  No, not squeezy, squeesy.

Carmen has been a huge help.  She likes to feel big and walk around with her.  I usually am a little nervous about letting her do this, but as Reese has been growing and getting stronger, I have allowed her to carry her around more often.  She loves to play peek a boo with her and talk baby talk.  Anything to get her laughing.

Graham has been a lifesaver since day one.  With David gone 12-13 hours a day, Graham has been my right hand man.  I really feel like it would be a lot harder without him.  If he's not rocking Reese, he's playing with Truman or helping tidy up the house beyond his regular chores.  He's been awesome.  

David has been fun to watch, too.  He's been talking lately about how he can't believe that this is our last baby.  "But they're just so sweet."  He comes home from a long days work and says, "Can I hold her?"  Anyone who knows David, knows that he loves to rock.  So it's no wonder that his favorite thing is to sit in the rocking chair and rock Reese to sleep almost nightly.  It's a release for me and really sweet to watch him interact with her too.  While doing some last minute Christmas shopping, David offered to wear the Moby for me.  We wrapped Reese up tight onto him instead of me for the afternoon.  David got so much attention it was funny.  He was like a celebrity.  One lady stopped us and said, "I just have to say.  I have seen a lot of moms wearing their baby, but never a dad.  Good job!  You look great!"  That's David.  He's always willing to help in any way he can. 

I didn't plan on this post to be so long, but I felt I needed to write a few of these things down so I won't forget them.  We're feel so blessed to have this little one in our family.

Merry Christmas!

A Quick Visit

A few weeks ago we were able to visit with some of our best friends who were in town for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Oh how we love the Rassmussens!  We appreciated that they made time to come and see us.  It's been hard to have some of our closest friends move away.  My heart hurt as they drove away this night.  It's good to know that they are doing well at medical school in Chicago, but we miss them. We have been talking a little bit about driving back east to visit family and friends back there.  Thanks for coming to see us guys!  We love you.

1st Orchestra Concert

Graham did so well!  It was amazing to me how much the kids learned in just a few months time.  Graham is toward the back left  in front of the partition.

Fixed

Well, I looked into some different options.  I went with adding another email to my blog.  So, I'm back!  Now just to find the time to post.  :D