A sweet Instagram follower reminded me that I haven’t done a family post in a while.  And honestly…why haven’t I?  I don’t even know!  I guess we have been so busy trying to get organized and plan things for the family and for the blog and for the house that I have completely forgotten to update you on my little loves!

Here are some of the highlights of the past few months….

Holiday at SCHOOL!  Oh dear – Will had a part of a solo in his Christmas Pageant and I about DIED.  He memorized his song in a heart beat and my mom helped him learn the notes (heaven knows his mama can’t carry a tune) so when it came time to perform, he was pumped like a Reebok.  So many folks came up to us at the end and commended him and for him (love language being words of affirmation) he never has been so happy.  I could not have been more proud.  It’s just not possible.

Photo ops!  My camera shutter pretty much died.  It was sad.  I really wanted to get the Mark III but we ended up snagging the 70D and I really love it.  It’s so easy to use and I honestly couldn’t recommend it more.  Since it had been so long with no great photos of the kids….I think I lost the knack…the quickness…the speed for adjustments…so I now need to practice.

This dude is officially a sitter-upper but often he prefers to go straight to his belly and pivot around to get things.  It’s adorable and I am trying to soak it in before he becomes mobile…because once that happens, the poo hits the fan.

Weston has officially become our most unpredictable child.  For Christmas Eve at church the kids did a bells performance.  The main goal is not to get the kids to play a song….that is ridiculously lofty for a group of 3 and 4 year olds…the goal is to get the kids on stage with a bell in their hand.  Weston walked up there in front of hundreds of people, smiled, played his bell on cue and then decided halfway through the performance that he was done.  He just dropped his bell and walked off stage into the sea of adults.  It was a legitimate three year old mic drop….and it was hilarious.

Visiting Santa this year was AWESOME.  Will was super excited (he is the perfect age for Santa visits!) and brought his list with him as well as his class Mascot….Max the Moose.  He was so excited to see Santa whip out his own stuffed reindeer!  He talked about it for days.

Weston was a little more shy but way better this year than last.  Also…he is the master of making faces.  The kid is so expressive and hilarious.  I know most people tell their kid to smile but I can’t help but love this stage he is in.  I try not to show it because I don’t want him to get extra attention for being silly – but it is just so HIM.

 

LJ’s visit was exactly how I predicted….still not a fan…even if candy is involved.

Max was a champ and after a lot of deep conversations with him about it, I think he really nailed the whole ‘gerber-baby-with-Santa’ look.  The reason he is pointing is because he wants you to know he’s got this whole photography thing DOWN 🙂

We even managed to get a group shot…where nobody is screaming or crying….just a little cheek stroking going on 🙂

Christmas itself was pretty awesome.  We didn’t go anywhere which is great.  The kids were sick the week before and the trip to Chattanooga was canceled so Chattanooga came to us (all the grandparents were at our house on Christmas day!  Hooray!).  Christmas Eve was very special – we actually spent it with Jeremy’s mom and it was Maxi Knight’s first!

I got some amazing gifts…but my favorites were from Will – his homemade gifts were surprises from school and I know I will treasure these way more than shoes or a jacket (although I got those too and love them!).   Nothing says love like spray painted macaroni!

Christmas morning photos were hilarious.  I knew that if we didn’t get them before the presents were opened then there was zero chance of getting them later.  It took a few tries…

But we got a keeper!  Also – we did not do matching jammies for the christmas photo…instead we did theme of STRIPES!  I love how it looks and the boys all felt super happy with their different ones 🙂

Grand Bee wins for the best photo this year with the kiddos 🙂  Also – best gift of the year was the new trampoline we have in our yard.  We put it right near the driveway and the kids can spend hours out there enjoying it.  Jer and I love it because it means they are basically zipped up in a netted bounce house while we work on projects – still within view and having a blast 🙂

I don’t know if this is a highlight or just a random fact of our current daily life….LJ and Weston both seem to be hitting the TERRIBLES at the same time and their verbal skills are fairly matched (we know that Weston understands more but LJ is more compliant about new words….so like if Weston believes that “yesterday” means “tomorrow” he will throw a fit if we correct him…whereas LJ tries to use the word “tomorrow” but we have no idea what he may be trying to actually communicate….needless to say, the communication frustrations are REAL.)  I love the irony of this photo…

Another big first is that we started Max on trying out solids…we decided to go with bananas as the first food because rice cereal has just been an epic fail with the other boys.  Discovery mode is so fun when it comes to these things…

He was so into it….

…until he wasn’t.  So now we know that the texture of banana (both mashed or solid) is not his jam.  He has successfully started on little puffs and he tries different purees but we think that he will be the longest when it comes to nursing.  Hopefully we will make it to a year!  That is the goal.  Cross those fingers for us.

Also – due to the sheer amount of food that ends up on our floor every day…we are considering getting a dog.  I know that might sound crazy but the kids are really asking for one and Weston already pretends that he has one.  He says that it sleeps with him at night.  And that it tries to eat his face 🙂

So that is what is going on with us lately.  I miss giving you guys these family posts.  Do you miss them?  Or is it just me?  I feel like fridays would be a good day to just schedule a recap of each week.  Is that weird or do you think it would work?  I know that my parents and grandparents would LOVE it….let’s face it….they would probably pay me in babysitting for that….which is basically the highest form of money around these parts 🙂