the children were nestled all snug in their beds...

sleepy santa, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

while visions of sugar plumbs danced in their heads.

Life Rule #3

Life Rule #3- Stop to smell the roses

bonding time, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

It's times like these that I know we'll miss when the kids are older... even though 'frosty the snowman' may not be our idea of a good movie- how could you not wish it to go on forever when you have such great company?

Happy wake up girl

Happy wake up girl, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sophia is usually so happy when she wakes up- it's so different to walk into a room to check on a sleeping baby and to see a baby happily scooting around the crib, talking to themselves- Matthew ALWAYS cried as soon as he woke up- and now he just sits up in bed and calls for someone to come get him... You've got feet kid, you get up and come get me!! :)

baking cookies

We've been baking cookies to give to gifts to people- just a little holiday cheer spread around... although we haven't been very good at getting them out the door yet, which means we've been eating cookies around here... which is not good... but hopefully we can solve that this weekend and deliver the bulk of them.

Not eating the cookies has been particularly difficult for me this morning... Last night I was having a lot of pain in my leg (OH NO! Sound just a little bit farmiliar??) No, really it's not that bad- but I did lay in the floor last night and promise not to eat any more of the cookies in the house if the pain would stop... after an hour this morning on the sofa with my trusty ole rice sock... I'm feeling much better... and it's been heck staying away from those cookies... :P

what matthew left behiend

what matthew left behiend, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

He's been liking PB&J latley...
Lucky me... I like it too. Makes a nice easy lunch for the two of us.

Star Wars ornaments

We have just over 20 of them.
I think it was our first Christmas together... I got reprimanded for putting them on the tree wrong... not in a fight sequence and also the wrong people next to certain people- they weren't even in the same movie!!

How was I to know?? ....
One thing I do know? I'm pretty glad that there wasn't room for this lady on our tree this year:



In all honesty and fairness, I don't think she's ever been on our tree, nor will she be, Erik just had to get her though because she was part of the series...

new shoes

Mary Jo and I found these shoes for a great deal when we were Black kFriday shopping late in the day (we did not in any way try to brave the morning crouds- it was like 5 pm by the time we left the house).

I like them a lot. They've worn in well and are now quite comfortable. The best thing? They work with black or brown stuff- so I don't have to think about it, just slip them on and head out the door.

I'm sure I'll like them even more when we've used Mary Jo's carpet cleaner on all of our carpets again and set a 'no shoes in the house' rule. Sophia is scooting around too much for us to keep walking on the carpets with shoes that have been all over creation- if you think about it, it's the same as saying "my baby can not chew on my shoes".

Little Chef

Matthew helped make Chili this weekend, it was quite good... a spicy but sweet flavor.
Honestly, just a little too spicy for me- it sorta made my lips burn afterwards.. wonder if I can talk Erik into adding just a little less spice into the big pot next time...

vintage ornaments

We found these little fellas in with our Christmas ornaments. I'm certain that they were from Erik's mom, but I don't really know for sure- and I'm certain I don't remember because we didn't have a tree last year... so there are so many things we have that feel so new this year...

Welcoming the tree

Matthew welcomed our tree into our home in a quite unique way:




We have no idea where he got the idea to shake his bum into the tree, but we about fell on the floor laughing about it...

paying for the tree

The place we got our tree had this wonderfully magic Christmas display




a huge tree with sparkling lights, a mini carosuel, all sorts of Santas and other Christmas figures...

They also sell local produce...



and some stuff that'd I'd assume was not so local...




all very beautiful though...

Happy Birthday Sis!

We love you!

Here's a muffin for you...

Picking a tree

we went to get our tree... Matthew was excited.




In the end, I think he was more excited about playing chase in a forest of cut trees...



I love that cheesy smile...


(Happy Birthday Mia)

A Visit to Santa

When we were at Wal-Mart this weekend getting ingredients to make Chili, an announcement was made that Santa's sled had landed and he'd be in the garden center waiting for visitors.

Matthew decided he'd like to go visit...



He didn't seem to think for a moment that he should be scared,
Sophia wasn't so sure...



She looked at Matthew and seemed to say "Are you ok with this Matthew? This guy looks a little different than anyone I've ever seen before!"

Matthew cheesed it up for a picture, He's gotten quite good at that latley... :)

4 months

Sophia's 4 month stats:

16 pounds, 9 ounces- 90th percentile

17 inch head circumference- 90th percentile

AND...

26 1/2 inches long - in the 97th percentile!!

She's a big baby! I'm glad that her length is more percentile wise than her weight and not the other way around... Still, I wonder how much she'd weigh if she didn't spit up all the time...

She's so pretty.

oh, and that sleeping thing... musta been a one time thing. It did not happen again last night.

sleepy Sophia

sleeping Sophia, originally uploaded by SIMPLY.MADE.

Sophia slept almost 6 hours thought last night. amazing. Matthew didn't do that until about a month before Sophia was born- heck, he still wakes up more than she doews some nights...
She may need a space heater in her room... let me know if you see one of those oil space heaters on sale, ok?