Fun in the Snow!

The snow came a day late for a white Christmas, but it did come! Sean took the boys over to the park to go sledding and they had a blast. On New Year's Eve we went over as a family. The snow had melted quite a bit, but there were was still just enough to make it down the hill.

 Hannah wasn't so sure.

 The boys love it!

 Nathan trying out the snowboard.

 Isaac would dive down the hill head first without fear.

 Hannah enjoyed just watching the boys and playing in the snow.

All the kids minus Emma. She was bundled up under my coat, or Sean's while we were there.

Josh's Birthday

We have a nine-year-old! Sean and I are amazed out how much this kid has grown up. He's half-way to eighteen and it's going way too fast! We love this guy so much and are so grateful that the Lord sent him to our family and made Sean and I parents for the first time.

For his birthday this year Josh wanted a remote control airplane. They're pretty expensive so it was his main gift. After he and Sean looked at Amazon for awhile and ordered one, it miraculously came the next day. It was two days before his birthday when it showed up on our front door step, and he was so excited he convinced us to open it up and put it together. Sean got it together in about 45 min, and then took the boys over to the park to try it out. Sean tried it out a couple of times and flew it into the ground both times. Then Josh tried and got it going right away. "It's like a video game!" he said. He's a natural already.

The day before his birthday Josh invited a few friends over for a party. I let him plan the whole thing, and he did an amazing job. He filled out and delivered the invitations himself, planned the games and was a great host. They did some relays, played basketball in the basement, and did a pinata.

Josh got a snowboard for another gift. Here he is trying it out the next day.

Grandma and Grandpa Frome sent him a itunes gift card for his ipod. He bought Ticket to Ride and Sean and him played each other with the ipad.

He requested blueberry crepes for his birthday breakfast. Mmmmmmmmm.

Emma's Three Weeks Old!

So I totally need to update the blog with all the December happenings, and will do so soon, but first I wanted to post about Emma's first few weeks before I forget. Time sure flies when you're having fun- and not sleeping. :)

 Week 1:

I think Emma is our first child to NOT have night and day mixed up. Although she was nursing every three hours around the clock, she was a great sleeper and went right back down after I fed her at night. Can't complain about that the first week! She's also a fantastic eater. Picked it right up. At her one week check-up she was 7 lbs. 11oz., so she had already surpassed her birthweight. The doctor said I could let her sleep as long as she pleases at night. Yay! She's really a content little child. A tender mercy from the Lord? Sean and I have heard that surprise children tend to be little angels from several people, and so far that's the case with Emma.

 Week 2:  Emma's sleep habits continue to be a blessing, as she was only waking up twice a night, by the two week mark. Thank goodness, because I was finally able to get some rest and recover from the nasty virus I caught two days before she was born, and Sean got about a week later. She's still eating well, and is starting to outgrow her newborn clothes and diapers!

Christmas pajamas

 Week 3: I barely fit Emma into my stocking Christmas morning! My favorite stocking stuffer ever! We found that she takes a bottle just fine and still likes a pacifier. She got really fussy Christmas day though, so I'm not sure if she's sensitive to something I ate. She was totally fine the next day, and fussy again the day after that. Hmmmmmmm, I might have to keep a food journal if it happens again.

Her eyes are starting to lighten up, and she has a bit of white around the pupils, making me think they'll stay blue like Nathan's. We love you Emma!

3 weeks old

Merry Christmas!

Christmas was wonderful as usual. Josh woke us up at 4:50am to get things going. We headed downstairs, saw what Santa had brought, went through our stockings, and then opened presents. Afterwards we had French Toast, bacon and eggs for breakfast, and did facetime with our families in Oregon. We played our new board games and watched some new movies and just relaxed. What a great day!

Josh was very excited about his Monopoly Millionaire game.

#1 on Isaac's list: a Darth Vader with a light saber

Nathan loved his big gorilla

Legos, legos, and more legos! These boys are pretty fast at them now!

Hannah pushed this stoller around all day, wearing high heels that Nathan had given her.

With one of his finished products

That dragon was with him all day as well.

Those sunglasses were on her all day too. :)

Emma was our favorite early Christmas gift!

Getting all five to look at the camera? Priceless!

(When did we have five kids?)

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we invited the Rich's over for a Nativity and Christmas treats and a video. Sean put Josh and McKenna, their oldest daughter, in charge of assigning out parts and getting it going. Josh a was the narrator, Sean was a shepherd, Nathan was the donkey, Isaac was a wise man, and Hannah was a reluctant sheep.

Group Shot

 Opening their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Morrison.

Christmas Treats and Caroling

One of our favorite traditions is putting together plates of treats and taking them around to people's houses and caroling. We put together several of our favorites as a family on Saturday and took them out the Sunday evening before Christmas.