What's in your stocking this year?

**Update** No, we're not dangling our two month old baby from a ceramic hook! We've had many comments (mostly in person not on the blog) about how scary this photo looks. Andrew's arm is up her back (you can actually see it in the photo to the right of the stocking if you look close) and his other hand is on the bottom and he only moved that hand away from her front for the photo. So to clarify - no babies were injured in the taking of this photo :)

Have you been naughty or nice? Beth's obviously been very, very good because look what's in her stocking! Jill is definitely my favorite gift this year, what's yours?

2 Months Old

Jillian is two months old today. What does this mean? Well, she's awake more these days, starting to smile when you talk to her, and growing out of all her newborn clothes! Check her out the first month to see a comparison. And a video to see her live and (almost) in person!

just some fun pics...

Some fun things Adam's saying these days..."You, mommy, me Adam...us!" or "I teeny." He wants to still be the baby around here. Don't tell him he's a big boy! I tell him he's my baby boy and Jill is my baby girl. He seems to like that.

Jason, Jill and Daddy playing with K'NexAdam has been writing straight vertical lines for weeks now and saying they're letters. You can imagine his surprise (and ours) when he wrote these lines and realized he actually wrote a real letter - H!!!Our resident butterfly doing the dance of joy.We're so proud of Beth getting dressed all by herself!Setting up the tree...Jason was soooo excited. Being a lover of trees, Jason has always loved the Christmas Tree tradition. This picture would make a better video so you could see him bouncing with joy!

Jason lost another tooth! His other top tooth is loose so maybe he'll be able to sing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!"Jill at 7 weeks all ready for church.Beth is still holding Jill any chance she gets!Laughs, tickles, and hugs occur every evening when daddy gets home!

Bathtime

Maybe it's because it happens so rarely or because she's totally unsure of what's happening but so far bathtime is not Jillian's favorite time of day. She either cries the whole time or clings to us for safety making manuevering very difficult. (and in this picture I was only doing a quick birdbath washing of the lower half!) We did discover the other night that putting her in the big tub laying on her back with Beth holding her works. She was content and let me wash her. (Sorry I don't have pictures as we're trying to protect Beth's modesty :) It seems scary to have her in that big huge tub but she's so much more comfortable than in the little bitty baby tub or in the sink. I guess this will be our method of choice. Aren't we glad we didn't invest in a new fancy baby tub!

Thank you

Someone asked me how I've been doing with four kids. I was explaining that it's challenging getting anything done and how I'm looking forward to getting into my groove in the next few weeks (or months?) Then they asked if my husband was a help at all and I smiled. Yes, he's a help. He's the most amazing help I could ask for. Truly, I'm not sure I would have been willing to have four children if he were a different man. Sure I would step up to the plate and do it all if I had to but I wouldn't choose to live that way. Take last night, for instance. I'd had a hard day, nothing major just one of those days where you're running late and the elevator's broken kind of days. That night Andrew took all four kids, and I went to Target by myself. If you know me, you know unleashing me in Target by myself is huge! I felt myself relaxing in minutes of Christmas shopping, alone! And then I got to come home to Andrew lying on the couch watching tv holding his baby girl. He'd already put the other kids to bed, and all was peaceful.

Thank you, Andrew, for being you, the most perfect you for me. And thank you, God, for bringing us together.

Happy Turkey Day!

Jillian enjoyed her first Thanksgiving and prays you all had a great day, too! (It may look like a goofy face but it's her signature smirk...

and she didn't actually eat any jell-o but is looking forward to next year when she can :)

Clothing

Baby clothes can be challenging. There's the cute outfit that has a zipper all the way up the back. You'll have to trust me on this one if you've never tried, but changing a diaper in this outfit is nearly impossible. Then there's the clothes that just don't work in a carseat, especially all the bulky cold weather outfits that somehow Jillian has tons of but will probabaly never wear. It's just easier to put on a sleeper and cover her in blankets. Do 1 month olds really wear snowsuits? And then there's even the simplest clothing...Jillian has a knack for getting out of her clothes. I've woken up in the morning to find she's wiggled her arm or leg completely out. Here's a picture of her "missing" a leg.She gets really frustrated when her legs get all twisted up. Well I finally remembered a trick someone (I think it was my sister) suggested - put socks on the outside of the sleepers so the feet stay on! This seems to work until the socks fall off...oh well, we could just go the route on no clothing...