If all the acorns were candy canes and popcorn...

Oh, what a fall that would be! We spent several hours last Saturday outside enjoying the too-warm-for-mid-December weather (if there is such a thing in the South!) before the predicted rainstorm arrived. "Enjoying" may be a term T would question, since he was raking the thousands of leaves covering our front yard and all the while the wind was bringing more of the millions still on the two huge trees in our front yard right back down onto the newly visible grass. I was wrapping the columns on our front porch with red ribbon, a plan I've had since last Christmas, but quite in keeping with the candy cane theme we've seemed to get stuck on around here over the last few weeks. And here's what AG and LL were doing: working side by side gathering acorns at the base of the trees...literally a drop in the bucket if you could see how many they are sitting on, not to mention the others all over the yard, driveway, sidewalk, etc. You get the idea. Our trees are probably some of the tallest oaks on our street, so we supply all our surrounding neighbors with plenty of fall foliage, which I know they must appreciate since none of them have their own huge trees to drop such things in their front yards.
The girls had lots of fun foraging amongst the acorns and jumping in the piles of leaves, and little SJ just kept us company in her bouncy seat.
Then our neighbor across the street came over with her son, C, who's less than a month younger than AG. They all had fun helping T get the leaves bagged and playing around. Here AG is showing C our Christmas tree through the front window.
LL is especially fascinated with all the Christmas lights and decorations as we ride around town. She points out almost all of them and when none are visible she is asking for more. The most interesting of all is conveniently right across the street, and I did take a picture of it yesterday but don't think I want to take time to upload it tonight, and really I think it's probably pretty easy to imagine: one of those giant inflatable snowmen, except this one apparently didn't come with the cords to attach him securely to the ground because 75% of the time he is lying on his back or side, yet still fully inflated. LL always greets him when we get home, running to the edge of the carport to wave and say, "Hi, Snowma'am!" (not that we think it's a girl...that's just how she says snowman) and then, "See you later, Snowma'am!" as I coax her inside. She says he is taking a nap when he is lying down, and all I can say is that is one tired snowma'am. Kind of like me, right now... so goodnight, and hope y'all have a restful weekend and a wonderful Christmas, in case I don't post again before then!

Celebrating the Season

We are enjoying preparations for Christmas...the decorating, the singing, the candy canes, the stories, the lights, the candy canes, the shopping, the wrapping, and did I mention the candy canes? At least half a dozen times a day I field the requests: "Want some candy cane, Mommy!" Sometimes LL has only been out of bed a few minutes when she makes her wishes known! We found a neat book called "J is for Jesus" about the symbolism of the candy cane, so at least all the talk about them provides opportunities to talk about the real reason for the special things we are up to these days.

AG is getting ready for her Christmas program at preschool this Tuesday night. She has been singing some songs around the house and even made up her own a few nights ago:
"Christmastime is here..... HoHoHoHoHo!" sung in the cutest little monotone voice you ever heard.

LL has also been singing alot, no surprise. Today at lunch she sang her version of Jingle Bells:
"Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh,
o'r the hills we go, laughing all the way (ha ha ha)
Bells and boppies ring, making spirits bright, what fun it is to ride in a sling!"
(Sung like a new big sister!)
Here the "big girls" are with our first real tree since they've been born. It's so pretty, and the needles are handling all their rearrangement of ornaments pretty well so far!

We went to our church Christmas party last Sunday night. Of course the girls were very interested in the big table of sweets, but in this next picture they were getting to enjoy something I thought wasn't even available this time of year...watermelon! I don't know where it came from, but they loved it.

A room full of friends and lots of yummy food... they had a fabulous time!

Enjoying their cookies in an out of the way spot... notice the watermelon juice on LL's top.

AG and I went Christmas caroling with a small group to a few neighbors of the party's hosts. It was a fun night for us all!

Hope you all are enjoying your preparations and celebrations of this most special season!

Santa at the Office

We went to our second "Breakfast with Santa" at T's work at the beginning of December. Between breakfast and the girls' visit with Santa himself, we went to T's new office. He's never had this kind of company there, and I'm sure it made checking his email much sweeter!
But not much work would get done with office mates this cute!

Finally it was our turn to visit with Santa. LL wasn't sure about him at all, even with T standing by. AG, however, was a pro this year.

It took a minute for me to get LL to face the camera for this next shot. I don't think she was sure she wanted to turn her back on the bearded guy.

LL did sit on his lap again, but still not for long and again, not happily. She talked all the way home about it: "I didn't don't like Santa, Mommy."

A Day at Mimi and PawPaw's

Once again, I have about 3 weeks worth of pictures to share!

On the last day of November, we went to visit Mimi and PawPaw. The girls had lots of fun playing and entertaining us.

Nanoo came by and had no shortage of cuties to surround her!

And of course, Mimi and PawPaw had some treats to share, too. Here's PawPaw breaking out some cookies after lunch. Do you think LL is excited?

AG and LL love to perform on the stage, aka the hearth.

SJ had some good cuddle time with Nanoo, the sweet great-aunt whose birthday she shares.

We are all looking forward to going back there to celebrate during the holidays!

Room for Two

Well, I've been meaning to post about the big changes that have taken place at our house recently for a while now, and now that we are 4 nights into our final phase, I think I can do so with some confidence that we have successfully accomplished (by God's grace!) the mission: the big bed swap. Yes, the one that involved LL giving up the crib and transitioning into not only the toddler bed, but into the toddler bed in the "big girl room" previously occupied only by AG. We made that step as soon as we got back from our Thanksgiving trip, and I was not sure what to expect because 1) who knows what LL might do without the confinement of her crib? and 2) who knows how LL and AG will react to sharing a room? The first night we listened for a while outside the door and heard LL chattering away (she was pretty hyped up in the new nighttime surroundings) and AG repeating, "OK, OK, stop talking, close your eyes, go to sleep..." Eventually they fell asleep, and every night since has been some variation of that, often with them both talking, singing, and giggling until we have to tell them to quiet down. It has worked beautifully, and they both seem to be having fun and sleeping well once they go to sleep.

So, with that settled, this week we moved SJ into the "nursery." She's been rooming with us for the last 3 months and I'd been feeding her about every three hours most nights...she'd not had a stretch longer than 4 more than once, for sure. I hoped the separation would help us all sleep at least a little better. Well, her first night in her own room she slept soundly for over 6 hours between feedings, and last night she went 8 hours! This is a record for our family to have baby sleeping through the night at just 3 months. Talk about "nursery magic"! Needless to say, I am thrilled that everyone's sleeping well, for their sakes, and for mine.

And now, to all a goodnight!

What has 8 wheels and 2 blue eyes?

AG, every Wednesday morning at preschool, because that is when she roller skates! That's right, the school she goes to has skating each week, and this week I went to help out for the first time and got to see for myself just what a room full of three year olds on wheels looks like.
This first picture really has nothing to do with the skating (it's my friend Jess G with AG at Thanksgiving) but I think it sort of fits in, with the sparkles and beads and obvious fun being had. OK, back to the skating... here she is! This is exactly how she and her little friends were moving across the floor. Arms out, baby steps! Nobody was moving too fast, but then nobody was wiping out really badly either.

This is AG with her teacher. Thanks to PopPop for helping out so much that morning, too!

Our Thanksgiving

We had a great time visiting family for Thanksgiving last week. First we went to see Nana, Grandpa, and Uncle Matthew (oh, and Gus... the girls wouldn't want me to leave out the cat!). The girls got to go to a neat park with Nana and Grandpa, helped feed the neighbor's bunny, and had lots of fun playing around the house. And, of course, we all enjoyed lots of good food!

Here's LL modeling the necklace and Indian headband that AG made to wear at her school's Thanksgiving feast. Here they are playing in the homemade tent with Nana. Do you think they are having fun?

Then on Friday morning we went to Gran and PopPop's house, arriving just in time to watch the "Egg Bowl" or MSU/Ole Miss game (which I am happy to say, again, that MSU won!). Later that evening we bundled up and roasted marshmallows, which was a fun first for the girls. Here they are all snuggled up with PopPop, staring at the fire.

Here's our family of 5...SJ is snug as a bug in a sling!

LL got into a game of peekaboo from under her hat with Gran.

After another family visit on Saturday with my uncles, aunt, and cousins, we came back to our house. It was a fun holiday and we loved getting to spend time with so many special people. We have so much to be thankful for!

Soooo Big!

SJ is 3 months old today! She is doing great, thankfully. She's still sleeping in our room (which will probably not be the case next week, since the crib has now been vacated...more about that later) and often serenades us with coos in the early morning. She is a pretty smiley, easygoing baby, as I've heard most 3rd babies tend to be. She certainly has to go with the flow alot more than her big sisters did. Several people have asked me if she's tracking with her sisters as far as size goes, and I finally got out AG's baby book to check that out. I knew it seemed like SJ was getting big so fast, and according to my records that is the case! At SJ's 2 month check-up she weighed 12'10"...which is just 2 ounces less than AG weighed at her 4 month check-up! Now she is over 14 pounds! AG didn't break 14 pounds until she was 6 months old. I am not used to having a plump baby, but those little rolls on her legs are pretty cute, I must admit. Here are some recent pics of our biggest baby girl. Hanging out with Nana at Thanksgiving

Watching the MSU/UM game with PopPop. Doesn't it look like she's flexing her muscles like a body builder? Check out that intensity! (This was at the beginning of the game, before our Bulldogs got their act together and came back to WIN!)

Meeting "Aunt Jess" for the first time!

And finally, another first for us...looks like we have a budding thumb-sucker this time. AG and LL never did this, but just in the last few days SJ has discovered it and it seems to work for her!

Morals and Manners

A few nights ago, T disciplined LL for doing something we'd told her not to do several times over the previous week. He talked with her about how God says children should obey their parents. Soon after that, during supper, LL was apparently still thinking it through. Out of the blue, she said, "God says 'Don't hang on the dishwasher.'"

AG has been telling LL (and me) that we should tell her "thank you" for random things lately. Yesterday she told me I should tell her "thank you" for her calling me to help her finish up her potty-time, if you know what I mean!

LL just brought me the skirt I wore to church yesterday, saying, "It's so cute, Mommy!" I'm glad she thinks so, though it didn't stop her from wiping her nose on it before she handed it over!

*****
I may not post much this week, as we are getting ready for Thanksgiving with family, as I'm sure many of you are! We hope you all have a wonderful holiday with those you love, and may we all be reminded of how much we have to give thanks for every day.

Where It All Began...

On Saturday, Gran and PopPop treated us all with a trip to a place I consider one of the most special in our family's history, since it is where my parents met and where T and I met. And you probably guessed that we went there for a very special event, since it is mid-November and we were all due for a dose of SEC football LIVE AND IN PERSON. We have watched our Bulldogs come a long way since that unfortunate opener against LSU (which we watched in our hospital room since SJ was 1 day old and, yeah, we were probably the only people in the building who would have cheered IF we'd actually had anything to cheer about). But TV can't give you that sensation of truly experiencing game day in the midst of your team's fellow faithful fans, so we had been looking forward to this, hoping we would beat Alabama, and WE WERE NOT DISAPPOINTED! It was a fun game and the girls were troopers through it all.

LL hung out with PopPop most of the time, then ended up in T's lap at a crucial turning point in the game...when we intercepted the ball in Bama's endzone and ran it back for a Bulldog TD! Needless to say there was quite a bit of noise with all the cheering and cowbell ringing, and LL was a little overwhelmed by that, but she made a quick recovery and was soon waving her pompom again. Her summary of the game when she saw her Nana and Grandpa later that night, however, was "It was loud." Here she is with PopPop in a more peaceful moment:



AG and Gran loved every minute of it!

A nice Alabama fan sitting in front of us took this at halftime, at which time SJ was still asleep in the sling I was wearing. This was pretty amazing, since it was right after the big TD which compelled me to scream and jump around as wildly as a sleeping-baby-in-a-sling-wearing mama can.

And here we are in yet another rare whole-family photo. We realized that day that in the last four years, we've gone to three games, and each time another baby girl has been added to our family! It is really special to get to take these little ones back there with us. We have been truly blessed beyond what we imagined when we were there as students!

A Weekend Away

We took a little trip "home" over the weekend...something we'd been looking forward to for a long time. It was this little one's first time to go to Nana and Grandpa's house... and we all had a little business we wanted to take care of while we were there... T played golf with his Dad, I got a haircut, and AG and LL spent a lot of time and effort doing their grocery shopping in Nana's pantry (see the picture below!). Plus T and I got to go on a little date to DQ (Thanks to Nana and Grandpa for babysitting, especially for SJ!).
The girls always love to get into the books and games that were T's and Matthew's when they were younger (AG likes to give her Uncle Matthew a run for his money at Memory!), and they also like to check out the box of jewelry that belonged to Nana's mother. This time Nana brought out another fun accessory from years ago that just might have come back into style... If they had a fashion magazine for hip toddlers, don't you think LL could be the covergirl in these?

One more of sweet SJ sitting up, sort of.
We had a great time hanging out at Nana and Grandpa's, but that was not all the weekend held. We made another drive on Saturday to a very special place for a very special event, but I'll leave you in suspense til tomorrow because for now, my pillow is calling my name. Goodnight!

Zoo Crew

Well, I am still catching up on posting photos! Seems we've been doing lots more fun things these last few weeks since T's schedule has opened up. After skipping a few months due to the heat and other major events, we went to the zoo again weekend before last. The girls enjoyed seeing all their old animal friends.

The elephants didn't do their show that morning, but they were swaying side by side when we saw them.
Checking out the "noceros"
A passerby offered to take a picture of all of us as we watched the giraffes. We don't have many of these!
Weeeee! LL loved the fast slides.

Little Mamas

AG started this little pretend game last week and of course LL wanted to do the same thing ("Put the baby in my tummy, Mommy!"). It was a hoot!

Comparing tummies...

Hey! Look at me! I can't see my feet but I can still march and dance just like always!

Who knew this dress had so much growing room?!