Is there anything cuter?

On Andrew's side of the family, we had three little girl cousins all born this year. All of us live in different states, but had the chance to be together for Christmas. We couldn't pass up the opportunity for a couple of super girly photo shoots. I hope their retinas aren't permanently damaged from all the pics we took. If any of them turn out to be celebrities, they'll be prepped for the paparazzi. Here are some of the results. Drink in the cuteness!

Rub a dub dub

three babies in a tub

All I want for Christmas

I guess I won't be the next Anne Geddes, but we sure had fun trying. :)

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Christmas!

And it IS the most wonderful time of the year.

And also the busiest.

Thus the lack of blog posts.

Here is a sample of what Christmas looks like for us this year:

Stacks of Cmas cards waiting to be stuffed, stamped,
sealed, and sent. They'll probably be late. Just tell
yourself I'm stretching out the holiday cheer.

SNOW! Poor Whit. It has been too cold for me
to join her in it, but she loves it!

Fun, frilly, feminine dresses.

And not one,

but TWO beautiful princesses to fill them.

And I can't forget the one silly boy that I can
dress in a red sweater to look festive. :)

Visits with Santa for all three kids.

And there were no tears involved.

Reenacting the Nativity

complete with live baby

and our pet horse, Bowling Pin,
as a donkey.

Gingerbread houses

Here we are getting started.

Brandon was serious about his work.

The results:

Whitney's

Mine

Andrew's shout out to the Panthers

B-train's

And, finally

Trimming the tree.

Hope your Christmas preparations are going well and that you've had time to relax and enjoy time with family and friends and reflect on the birth and life of the Savior.

Oh, the places she'll go! or Caroline at six months

Warning: Cheesy attempt at poetry ahead

Caroline Rose, you're six months now.

You're on your way--no more lying around.

You can't crawl yet, but you roll and you roll.

Sometimes you get kinda out of control.

Rolling and rolling. Yikes--don't hurt yourself.

Watch out for that table and the bookshelf.

You roll under beds. Under ottomans, chairs.

You roll under benches and cribs, but not down stairs.

I never know just where I will find

This adorable, mobile little baby of mine.

Ok, I was not meant to be a poet.
I'll stop there and leave the rhyming to Dr. Seuss.

Other random tidbits about Caroline:

She is getting to be a big girl!

She's learning how to sit.
She's still pretty unstable, but can sit for a few
seconds at a time. She's more content
when she's on the go.

She is a girl after my own heart and LOVES
brushing her teeth. In fact, she cries when
we're done and it's time to put the toothbrush away.
Hooray for oral hygiene!

We started trying to feed her "solid" food at
four months. It has been a long, laborious process.
We've seen many, many looks like this.
But she's finally getting it and enjoys eating
bananas, mashed potatoes, some baby foods and cheerios.

In fact, she likes them so much that she went on
a nursing strike for almost two full days this weekend.
That was SO not cool.
I won't go into all the details of my discomforts and worries,
but she has been nursing pretty well today, so I'm hoping
the strike is OVER.

She is very particular about what toys she wants
to play with and is enamored with Little People right now.

She is really flexible with naps and feeding times,
which is awesome. (Third child syndrome?)
She'll fall asleep in her car seat if we're running
errands and even if she wakes up, is usually
in a good mood and will go back to sleep if I try
to put her in her crib when we get home.

She has given up her binky, which I'm happy about.
It was great while it lasted and now I don't have
to fight her to get it away when she's older.
The only time I really wish she would take one
is during Sacrament Meeting at church. :)

The flash washed out her face in this pic,
but you can see the color of her eyes.
(That's for you, Mom!)
They're still that blue-gray color for now.

At her six month check-up today, she weighed
in at 15 lbs 5 oz and was 25 inches long.
(Pretty average--between 25th and 50th percentile)

If we're at home, she'll take two good naps a day.
Most nights she sleeps from about 8 to 2 or 3.
Then I'll feed her and she'll go back to sleep until 7 or 8.
Not bad, but I'd love it if that first stretch lasted until 4 or 5.
I'll keep dreaming and wishing for that.

We think she is just the cutest little thing
and we're so blessed to have her in our family.

Just doing my part

It's the time of year to be a little nicer.

To let cars merge.

To drop some change in a bell-ringer's bucket.

To take goodies to your neighbors.

It's time to look outside ourselves and do something for the greater good.

So that's what I did.

I made a sacrifice.

It wasn't easy.

I had to sit in a plushy leather seat.

I had to let my hands caress an ergonomically friendly steering wheel.

I HAD to rev the engine and see how much power it had after every stop.

It was my duty.

And it was AWESOME! Oh, man. I loved driving this car. My driving record would not be pretty if I had a car with this much power. It just begs to be driven fast. Really fast. (And it didn't help that I had recently watched Twilight with Edward's crazy driving, either!)

We helped raise almost $10,000 for breast cancer research and education. What a fun way to support a great cause.

Out of the mouths of babes--November

The end of another month already? Here ya go.

11/5--At school W said about one of her classmates, "Oh, yes, Michael and I could be brother and sister because we are both so beautiful."

11/14--I was on the computer today and Whit was in the office with me. She said, "I'm going to start working out today. I want to be strong like Daddy." How cute is that? She dropped to the floor and started doing push-ups.

11/15--W was watching a movie with some scary creature and I asked her, "What is that guy called?" Her answer was clever: "I don't know. [pause] Well, his name isn't 'I don't know.' I just really don't know his name."

Witty AND fashionable

Caroline wants to follow in her footsteps

and can't wait for her hair to grow in.

11/15--Here are the types of things that Brandon thinks about when he's in the bath: I wish I could make my own "Mythbusters." I would get a motor boat and put it in a pool. Then I'd take a dummy and nail and screw it to the rudder. Then I'd turn on the boat and see if he could hold on to the rudder. Man, I wish I could do that. Can that be my science fair experiment? Or what about mentos and coke? I want to figure out how that works.

Always scheming up something

11/16--We attended a baptism at church today. I played the piano and Whit was sitting with Megan, who was a faithful sideline reporter and shared these gems with me.
"Maybe when I'm 18, I can read."
"I like Primary because it's fun and special."
And the kicker: "I can tighten up my brain," as she proceeded to go red-faced with exertion.

11/16--W has apparently built up some inner little-girl angst because twice when she was annoyed, she has asked, "Do you think I'm a jerk?" in a very confrontative voice. Yikes.

Don't get on her bad side!

11/19--For W's Thanksgiving feast, they made gratitude placemats. Here are some of the things she was thankful for:
Spaghetti
The sky
When my family goes fun places
Mommy, Daddy, Brandon, and I love Caroline so much!
Purple, pink, and red
Giraffes because their necks are high

I'M grateful for these three.

11/21--Andrew and I went to Jeremy's "Rock Band" birthday party tonight and we dressed like rock stars. Or at least I thought I did. When Brandon saw me he said, "Yea, you kinda look like a rock star....and ya kinda look like an idiot." Ouch. Whitney was in the other room and when she saw me she said, "You look like a disaster." When I told her that wasn't a nice thing to say to her mom, she said, "I meant a GOOD disaster." Oh, of course you did.

Even if they were right, they're
not supposed to say it!

Caroline didn't want to be left out.
(This is what happened when I asked
B and W to watch her for five minutes.)

11/22--Whit will go through phases where she just loves to throw out compliments all day. It's great for the ego. But sometimes the comments leave us scratching our heads. Today she told Andrew, "Daddy, you're nice...and not ugly." Ok.

11/30--I started making dinner tonight before I realized that my recipe required milk...and we're all out. So, I improvised and came up with something else. When I brought it to the table I gave my disclaimer, "I hope this is good, but we were out of milk, so I had to make do." I guess the kids are not familiar with that expression. After we blessed the food, she lifted her plate and said, "I want some 'do'."

Parting shots

Two different friends had commented about
their hubbies falling asleep on the couch
with the kids recently. That never happens
around here. Brandon hardly ever sleeps!
But, Caroline and I were gone all afternoon
and this is what we came home to:

How sweet!


And here are Brandon's random photos for the month: