Oh Christmas Tree!

Hannah can hardly contain herself and the wonder that is the Christmas Tree. Notice that the bottom half of our tree is strangely empty. Well, not so strangely if you know Hannah! She's got her own method of decorating that is really more like destroying.

This year the boys helped put on 90 percent of the ornaments. Let's just say that this year's tree is not exactly how I would decorate, but it is decorated with love and that's all that matters. My OCD did kick in and I had to move several ornaments that were touching after they went to bed. And thanks to Hannah, I think the tree looks a little different every day. We are just hoping to keep it decorated until Christmas with a minimal loss of ornaments!

Thanksgiving School Program

In mid-November, Andrew's Kindergarten class put on a little Thanksgiving program for all of the parents to enjoy. They had been practicing songs for weeks and Andrew was very excited to perform. They each decorated a little vest and made an Indian headdress for the program. It was so cute!
(Andrew's in the back row, first one on the right)

Showing us the back of their cute vests they made while putting on their sunglasses to perform their last song.

The class had been reading "Stone Soup" and so they made some for all the parents and students to enjoy after the program. Andrew was more nervous about the soup than he was performing. And no, he did not try one bite. Hannah, on the other hand, thought it was delish and ate half the bowl.

Jonathan was a little freaked by all the people in the classroom and was not interested in eating any food, meeting Andrew's friends or looking at the camera!

Hannah just wanted to explore the room and get into everything.

Adenoids and Tubes

On Nov. 7, Jonathan had his adenoids removed and while they were in there, they decided to put tubes in because he had a lot of fluid in his ear. Jonathan was a super trooper and did awesome. He had a little trouble waking up from the anesthesia, but we finally roused him enough that we could leave the surgery center. Unfortunately, the minute we walked in the door, he threw up all over himself, Keith and the couch. But with the help from Oxy, everything was clean in no time.

We propped him up with some juice and a Popsicle and a little TV. In no time he was acting like his normal self. We didn't plan to feed him lunch until we knew his tummy was ready for food, but we were starving so we got ready to eat without him. When he realized we were going to eat without him, he said, "You guys, you forgot about lunch for me!" So, we fixed him a can of chicken noodle soup, and he ate it without incident and was completely normal the rest of the day. I was sort of hoping for some slower movement for the day, but it was not be found except from the very tired parents!

And after his long day of getting up crazy early, no breakfast, anesthesia, IV, surgery, vomit, etc, he said at bath time when Keith was putting ear plugs in, "This is the WORST thing ever." We have a different definition of the worst thing ever!

The good news is that since his surgery he has slept through the night. What a huge blessing! He seems to be able to breathe better too! And he has had a minor cold since his surgery and it went away without turning into a sinus infection. Hip Hip Hooray!

Hannah - 13 months old!

Little stair climber

Hannah loves this rocking chair and her baby doll. And yes, she is always smiling and her mouth is always in motion!

Oh, Hannah! How can you be 13 months old already? Your little life is flying by and you seem in such a hurry to get big! You learned to climb the stairs this month and you are so very proud of yourself. If the gate isn't up, you scurry right up the steps and then whine when you are ready to be rescued. We have to work on learning to go down steps. Falling down 2 steps onto the wood floor and using your face as landing gear is not the preferred method!

You are still not saying much. Let me rephrase. You are not saying very many words, but you are talking gibberish all day long. Even while you eat! With every bite we hear "Yumyumyumyum!" You also say "nigh-nigh" when it's time for bed.

But you do understand everything! If I say it's time to go bye-bye, you are by the backdoor in no time waving bye-bye. You also blow kisses on command. The cutest thing ever! And you've started nodding your head yes, very dramatically. Head all the way back and then down with your chin touching your chest. We are hoping this means that you will always be agreeable to whatever we say and not learn that awful two-letter word "No!"

You still love your brothers and want to be with them and play whatever they are playing. That doesn't always end well, but soon you will understand playing is different from destroying.

You had a little better doctor visit this month. You are officially back on the growth chart with a weight of 17.5 pounds landing you at 1 percentile on the chart. Not great, but at least we are back on the chart. We have to go for another weight check next month just to make sure you are back on track. The doctor commented that you are probably burning calories as fast I can get them in you! Very true!

We love you baby girl, and just wish you would stay little a little bit longer!

Grammy visits!

Hannah loves riding in the boys' dump truck.

Grammy trying to get a little snuggle time with Hannah.

Grammy came to visit for a quick weekend trip. We did a little shopping, a little playing outside and a lot of having fun. Thanks for coming to visit even though it was a crazy weekend!

Hair Bows and Brothers

Hannah received some darling hair bows for her birthday from her Auntie.

Little Miss Trouble won't leave them in her hair for even one second for me to take a picture.

"Here ya go, Mommy!"

This ornery look is going to cause some sleepless nights I predict!

The boys were playing with the Bee Bop Band the other day, and much to Hannah's delight, they included her in their play!

Being a drummer is a dangerous job and requires safety equipment!

Hannah getting a little (perhaps unwanted) love from Jonathan.

Ladybug xylophones are also quite dangerous and require a hard hat.

A tired daddy and his little munchkins.

Happy Halloween!

Bootiful!

Jonathan was Thomas the train

Andrew was a viking

Hannah was moolicious!

We had a little trouble capturing a group photo with them all in costume...

Getting ready to start the trick-or-treating fun.

Jonathan didn't really remember trick-or-treating from last year. But after the 3rd house, he said to me, "This is great! Let's go to more houses!"