Eight Weeks

I can't believe that it has been eight weeks since this beautiful little girl came into our lives.

So Much to be Grateful For

It has been a crazy year. We have faced a lot challenges. Things just haven't come easy for us no matter what we do. But in the end we can only look at our life and see we have so much to be grateful for. I would go through everything we went through this year and then some for our Lily. She is truly a blessing. Just like our Jackson and Asher. Our family is such a blessing. And as a family we are so blessed.

Jackson says: I am thankful for Daddy, and Mommy and Asher and Lily-bean (his name for her, so cute!) And I am thankful for Heavenly Father and that he loves us. And I am thankful for Jesus. He actually went on and on, but I can't type as fast as he talks and I think I got the high points

Asher says: I am thankful for my family. And Daddy and Jackson and Mommy and baby Lily and Thomas.
Asher watches cartoons in the morning while I get things going. In November there has been a little segment where one character asks the kids watching what they are thankful for. No matter what he is doing, eating playing or actually watching, Asher always responds, "my family" I love it!

Christmas Candylane

At this time of year, Hershey park becomes Christmas Candylane. The park is filled with Christmas lights and decorations and the little kid rides run. We went yesterday and it was the first time that I have gone to Hershey Park with the family since we moved here. It was so fun to see the boys on the rides they have been telling me about. I even rode a few rides with them.

Me with the boys on the Frog Hopper ride. Jackson says to me, "See Mom, I told you this ride was radical." They laughed their heads off and I loved watching them.









Lily slept peacefully in her stroller for most of the evening. She has such a sweet face.

Initiation

The exciting news first. Jackson lost his first tooth!



He came upstairs just before going to school on Wednesday and said, "You know that tooth that I told you was wiggily, it fell out." Let me just add that he never told me that he had a loose tooth. I had no idea. And it fell out while he was wrestling with Asher, so he doesn't know where it is. We still haven't found it. Maybe we will find it when we move.



And now the other news. He gave himself a haircut. And it isn't pretty folks! I went to comb his hair before school. I can't believe it took me that long to notice. (I am blind in the mornings before I put in my contacts.) Wednesday night, when he was supposed to be in bed, he came into my room, found the scissors and took out chunks of his hair. We considered shaving his head, but then we decided just to leave it and let his hair grow out to cover the bald spots. He kept asking me how he should hav cut his hair. My answer, DON'T CUT IT!



I think of it as a kind of parent initiation. "Welcome to the club," I hear mothers across the world and throughout time saying to me. It's not a bad club to be a part of, I love being a mother and all the craziness that comes with it.

BIG Changes

This is a picture of our Lily 7 weeks ago when we brought her home from the hospital.

And this is Miss Lily now! She is really filling that car seat. I think it's time to take out the extra padding. I think she will be out of the infant car seat sooner than the boys were.

A Post from the Past

I started blogging in the fall of 2006. And since then many of the fun and important things in our family have made it on the blog and subsequently into our blog book.

Today while looking through some old pictures I came across something that I wish I had blogged in February of 2006, I just didn't have a blog yet.

Jackson was sent to his room for time out. He cried and threw a fit for a while, then it got silent. When I went to check on him this is what I found

This was his changing table, he had pushed the diaper, change pad and everything else onto the floor during his temper tantrum, and I guess decided it looked like a good place to lie down.

When he woke up he looked like this.

I miss that little two year old face!

A few more

I am still working through the pictures I took last week. I thought I would post a few more.

Note: I feel I need to excuse Asher's attire. (I have received some teasing from some one, I won't say who mitch.) I had one idea of what I wanted him to wear, and he had another. They somehow ended up on at the same time and it turned into something a little crazy.

Crafty

So many blogs I see are filled with all kinds of useful information. From recipes, crafts, photography hints, sewing, quilting, knitting; I could go on and on. My blog has been mostly about our family. I really don't have much advice or skills to offer. Almost everything I do came from someone else. But I think I have one little bit of information to offer. By no means the coolest thing, but I feel like sharing.

I wanted to get a hand and foot impression of our little Lily, before she is not so little anymore. I had some "impression material" from back when Asher was born, but it had hardened and just didn't work. So I went on a quest to find something that would work. After long internet searches it looked like plaster of paris was the best I would find without spending a lot of money. So I went to the craft store to buy some when I found this:

Crayola Model Magic

I read the packaging and saw that it dries completely in 24 hours so I figured I would give it a try. It worked perfectly. We divided the portion in half. Rolled it out on a flat hard surface covered with aluminum foil. Then I used a ruler to form a rectangle. We stamped her tiny foot/hand into the clay and let it dry for 24 hours.

The finished product looks great. I have another package and I am thinking of making hand print ornaments from my boys hands. It also comes in different colors so you can do the same thing in blue if you have a boy.

So there is my crafty suggestion on the blog. It's not much, but I was happy to have made the discovery.

A Fall Afternoon

I wanted to get 6 year old pictures of Jackson and it turned into a photo shoot with all of my kids(I love saying that.) The kids were really cooperative, unlike other times I have tried to take pictures. They would go where I told them and there was no crying or temper flares. Unfortunatly, the boys have both taken on a less than flattering new way of smiling. Asher looks like the sun is perpetually in his eyes, and Jackson looks down at the ground and half smiles. It breaks my heart because they both have such beautiful smiles. Out of over 100 shots there were very few with a real smile from either of them. I just couldn't get a real smile out of them on my own. I need Mitch with me to get them to laugh or something. I still think I got a few good shots.

Even though Lily is a sleeping lump in the pictures with her, I love that I have pictures of my three kids together.

One Month, (Look how much she's grown)

One month has passed so quickly. Our house is full of all things baby, but most of all, it is full of joy. Our Lily-Kate is such a dream come true.









I love that sweet smile!

I couldn't decide between the color and black and white.

I made a silly hat. It made me laugh just to put it on her, so of course I had to do pictures

Our Little Lady

This is our Lily as a Little Lady Bug, for Halloween. Originally the red and spots was on the baby bjorn, and she wore the hat and black fleece. I thought this made for some cute pictures. She actually looks like she enjoys wearing it don't you think?