The Very Best Way to Spread Christmas Cheer is Singing Loud for All to Hear!

As always, the holiday season passes as quickly as it seems to arrive. We’ve been busy, busy the past few weeks soaking up the Christmas season and all the fun that goes with it. Ideally, I should have separated these out into separate posts. But that didn’t happen so here’s a Christmas photo dump of sorts.

The next four or five days will be a whirlwind of family, presents, ham and good times. I’ve made it my singular goal this year to slow down, enjoy the season, and be as stress-free as possible. So far, I’m doing pretty good. I’ve been making my Christmas cookies over the past few weeks and stocking my freezer so I can just pull them out to bake off before we go somewhere. Our family parties are fairly spaced out (by spaced out I mean we only have one a day for four days) and all our presents are bought and wrapped.

Like everyone else across the country, I’m counting my blessings this Christmas in the aftermath of tragedy. As a mom, a former teacher, the wife of a teacher, a Christian, an American, the sister of a (soon-to-be) psychologist and the sister of a (soon-to-be) law enforcement officer my heart aches. Like a lot of schools, East and North were swimming this week with rumors of shootings. The school cancellation today was an answered prayer and I will sleep much sounder now that Adam is home for two weeks.

My three greatest blessings….



A little Christmas baking...



...a little Christmas arts and crafts

and a little Christmas "shopping"



We took the girls to see Santa a couple weeks ago. I thought Abi would be scared, but she went right up and sat on his lap. When Santa asked her if she wanted him to bring her a baby doll, she announced, "Nope, I'll have PlayDough."



Our Christmas gatherings actually started a couple weekends ago.
Here's a pic from Christmas with Grandma Dorothy last weekend.



Abi couldn't wait to go out in the first snow this morning. She lasted about 5 minutes.



I love this picture. Abi is obviously amused by the story she is making up.
And Madi has just given up trying to follow along.



reading in her house



The bottom right is Madelyn's first taste of baby cereal. Clearly, she is not a fan. ha!

Decking the Halls

I'm really excited about Christmas this year. I always love Christmas, but this year Abi will be so much fun. She still doesn't "get it" but we've been talking a lot about Baby Jesus, Santa and looking at Christmas lights. We put the tree up Sunday, and she thought it was so great. Sadly, we bought a fake tree last year. We always had a real tree growing up and I always loved going to pick it out. But hundreds of pine needles and little hands and mouths don't mix well. And I won't miss the yearly bickering about whether or not the tree is straight, am I holding it steady while Adam tightens the stand, who was supposed to water the tree, blah, blah. Some year when all our kids are older we'll pick out a Griswold Family Christmas Tree.

We let Abi have her own little tree in her room this year. I let her use some soft ornaments that my mom made when I was a baby so she could do them all by herself.



A Christmas Masterpiece



Christmas jammies!!

Somebody's excited about her first Christmas!

Blessings and Baptism

Holidays for us are always insane. Sometimes to the point of not being enjoyable. We just have soooo many families to see. We always love to see everyone, but you can only eat turkey so many times in a weekend. Plus, it’s really hard on the girls to travel around, not get naps, pose for a gillion pictures and visit with everyone. Not to mention all the effort it takes to pack bags, make food, and get everyone dressed and out the door on time. Over and over. I just try to tell myself, if you’re going to have a problem, too much family is a good problem to have. To add to the enjoyment of the holiday, I was sick and lost my voice. I felt terrible all weekend and didn’t really get to talk to anyone because I couldn’t talk. At least we had lots of delicious food and good company everywhere we went!



Grandma Jean's 93rd Thanksgiving. Her first with two great-great-grandbabies!



Cassidy, Abi & Kristen



not 100% sure what's happening in this picture...haha!



We also scheduled Madelyn’s baptism for this weekend to save everyone an extra trip. Madelyn’s Godparents are my friend Traci and Adam’s brother David. Not growing up Catholic, I don’t have any Godparents. I love that our girls each have two special people who will be shining examples of Christ and will always support them and love them unconditionally. Madelyn did great! I thought for sure she would cry because she hates to get a bath. But she just sucked on her fists with an unimpressed look on her face. I will say Madelyn definitely had the most paparazzi and it was a little crazy afterwards. Congratulations on your Baptism, Madelyn. It is my deepest wish that you will always find comfort in the Lord and praise him for your blessings. Mommy and Daddy thank Him daily for blessing us with you!

Overall, our weekend was pretty busy/crazy/hectic. But we have so much to be thankful for. And the best part!? Now it’s Christmas!!!!

Abigail's First Dentist Visit

Last week Abi had her first dentist appointment. I know she’s only 2. But she has this weird frenal (spelling??) attachment under her top lip that I wanted checked out. I was really building up the dentist visit in the car on the way there, and Abi was pretty excited. Of course, once she got in the chair and things got “real” she was not as excited. Our dentist and the hygienist were super sweet and patient. He showed her all his tools with names like, “Mr. Wind” and “Mr. Tickle” to try and get her to open her mouth. She was not impressed. Finally, for a toy from the prize machine, she cracked those stubborn lips. That girl is nobody’s fool. The dentist informed me that Abi has inherited the Megel teeth and Adam’s bite. He suggested that we start budgeting now for her dental work. Awesome.

so not impressed

getting her teeth counted

big girl!!

Madelyn 2-3 Months

At 2 months, Madelyn weighed 14lbs and 5 oz. Putting her in the 97^th percentile. She was 23.5 in long. The 92^nd percentile. She is, officially, chubby. When I told the pediatrician I was concerned she wasn’t getting full when she nursed, he laughed at me. Put seriously, the girl is always hungry. Well, I guess that much is obvious. She is now in size 2 diapers and wearing 6 months clothes. And keeping her fat rolls clean is a full-time job. But I don’t mind, I love a chubby baby. I could kiss those pudgy cheeks all day long. Madelyn continues to be super laid back and easy going. I swear, I have never seen a happier baby. She loves people, and no matter who talks to her she always coos and babbles back with a huge smile on her face. Abi continues to be in love with her too, and always has to be about 2 inches from her face. Madelyn doesn’t seem to mind though.

Because I’m so behind, Madelyn is actually 3 months old now. I’m not sure how much she weighs, but I would guess around 16lbs. She’s been trying to roll from her back to her belly lately, but not having much luck. In her defense, that’s a lot of weight to maneuver. She is also cutting her bottom two teeth already! From what I can see they still have a little while before they break through. But she is constantly gnawing on her hands. All of the 6 months clothes are starting to get tight and I don’t think it will be long before she and Abi are in the same size! Haha! Which would actually be pretty convenient.



Madelyn 2-3 months



There has been some debate as to whether or not Abi and Madelyn look alike. If you look at them now, you can see the resemblance in their eyes I think. I went back through Abi’s baby pictures and couldn’t believe how much they look alike. Madelyn is basically is chubbier version of Abi. Minus all the hair.



Madelyn at 2 1/2 months and Abi at 5 months



Happy Halloween!

No, I did not give up on the blog. But I am majorly, majorly behind. My apologies to anyone who cared. It’s craft show season, people!! On to the back log……

Like most of Madelyn’s “firsts,” she was basically a cute prop for me to dress up and torture for everyone’s enjoyment. I knew I wanted the girls to have coordinating Halloween costumes this year. So when Abi got an adorable chef’s outfit for her birthday, it was a done deal. She LOVES to help me in the kitchen, plus it was already made and free. $4 worth of felt later, and ta-da, Madelyn was a cupcake!

Since Abi was a chef, I thought it would be cute if she had cookies to hand out when we visited houses. So we spent the day making Halloween cookies. In my head this seemed like such a good idea and a fun memory. But taking care of three kids ages 2, 16 months and 2 months while trying to make sugar cookies with the 2 year old turned out not to be as fun as I had pictured. Oh well. I let abi “decorate” them herself and she loved it. So in the end I suppose it was all worth it.



snacking between stops



Small Group "Nun"sense

We are very blessed to be part of a Small Church Group through our church. There are four couples all with kids around the same age. We get together every week or two for bible study and of course, food. This Saturday our group did a community service project at Regina Retreat; the property owned by Our Lady of Grace Monastary where Adam's aunt is a nun. We spent the day raking a gazillion leaves, cutting wood and doing some other general cleaning. The moms also took turns staying inside with whichever kids weren't outside helping. And by helping I mean wildly swinging rakes and running through leaves that had already been piled up. The weather was actually great, a little chilly but sunny. I felt a little guilty because I'm not sure you're supposed to have that much fun when your doing community service. The Sisters are always so sweet and were so glad we were there. And what I always preached to my students is actually true - it does feel great to give back and help others. It was awesome to let Christ work through us and to start forming a family mindset of service to others.


many hands make light work, say the Amish :)

 

It was only a matter of time before a leaf fight broke out!



stinkers



love this group of great friends!!

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work; If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up

Fall Break in Pictures

Adam's Fall Break was two weeks this year. Which is awesome. Before hand, I thought it seemed like a long time. But it flew by! He was actually pretty busy, but we loved the extra time he was able to home. Before the break, I made a "Fall Break Bucket List." We did pretty good. There were only a couple things we didn't get to do and that's just because the weather didn't cooperate. We did some fun planned activities and also a lot of hanging out at home.

Abi loves "reading" to Madi. It is so precious how Madi just smiles at her the whole time.



happy girl!



sleepy girl! ha!

One day over break we carved our pumpkins. It was Abi's first time and she thought it was great. It took a lot of coaxing to get her to scoop out the pumpkin guts though. She did it a few times, but wasn't a huge fan. But she loves going out and lighting the candles after dark.


Helping Daddy cut the top



scooping out the insides!



ta-da!

On Thursday of break, our favorite little stinker Eli came down for a sleepover! We had plans to go to Zoo Boo on Friday but it was really cold and rainy. Everyone was bummed! But those two can have fun no matter what their doing.

playing outside



cartoons before bed

 A little Halloween artwork. I love that Abi's old enough to like this kind of thing now.
(And nooo, I did not get this idea off Pinterest. I used to do it when I taught Kindergarten)

Abi is such a bookworm! Pretty much everyday she sits in her reading chair,
and reads every single book in the basket. It drives me crazy that there are constntly
book all over the floor. But it is a teacher's dream come true to raise a kid who loves reading!



A walk down to the park in our neighborhood.



Madelyn has got a serious case of the pudgies.
Someday she will probably hate me for this picture. But I absolutely
laugh out loud each time I see it! At 2 months old, she's wearing 6 month
sleepers and I can barely snap her 3 month onesies! We also had to move
her up to size 2 diapers.



I cannot get enough of this happy and easy-going baby!
She is always quick to smile and pretty content as long as her belly is full and her diaper is clean.

  





Apple Works!

Yesterday we visited The Apple Works for some classic Fall fun. It was cloudy and we even dodged the occassional sprinkle. But that didn't seem to bother the crowds. That place was a zoo! Fall is by far my favorite season. Beautiful leaves, cool weather, bonfires, pumpkin bread, trick-or-treating...what's not to love?? My scrooge of a husband on the other hand, has declared he doesn't like Fall. I'm not sure how he's kept this from me for 8 years. But I have made it my personal mission to convince him otherwise. Yesterday's trip was an excellent start!

We started out in the pumpkin patch with intentions to get a pumpkin for each of us. But when we saw there were about 75 people in line, most of which had crying kids, we decided to just visit and get some pumpkins from Whipkers later in the week. Another reason I love 2 year-olds, they don't know the difference! Abi had sooo much fun running around and looking at all the different kinds of pumpkins. She wanted to sit on all of them.

 

one of my favorite pictures of Abi ever

After the pumpkin patch we rode the wagon back to the front to visit the animals. Then Abi got some icecream and Adam and I shared an apple dumpling. Yum! 

feeding the pony

Even though we didn't manage to get any pumpkins, we did get some Jonathan and Honeycrisp apples. After we got home Abi helped me make an apple crisp. The perfect end to a great Fall day (ahem, Adam!).

extreme cheese pose. geez!