Santa

Ok, is this the cutest?!

North East Mall has THE BEST SANTA!!!!

He was so kind and super sweet with the kids-I was way impressed

(and I have seen my fair share of Santa's, so I am fully qualified

 to judge him)

Garrett pretty much just "put on his happy pants" in order to 

please his mom-not alot of 12 1/2 year olds in line.

This mommy was really happy with our pictures-

they turned out great and we made a memory-

which is my favorite part.

Is that not the greatest smile on Santa?

Sterling never new what was going on-

but it is still so sweet.

Garrett is an Artist-it's official!

Garrett has always been so creative.

He gets it from both his parents-but mostly from his Daddy.

He had his very first Art Show this week. 

It is all that he has talked about for weeks!

He entered 3 pieces of his art.....

he won a first AND a third place ribbon!

OH MY the sheer joy on his face- priceless!!!

The next step is the District Art show-

which is at the High School (which is very cool, by the way) in the spring.

I love that creativity is a part of who God made him to be. 

I believe that our God is creative and that it is an amazing gift

that he has given my little guy.

I can't wait to see what pours out of him in the next few years.

Garrett and his Art teacher.

This is his first place piece.

It is a Chinese Landscape.

This one didn't get a ribbon- but it is still great!

Third place- the M&M people (are they people?-i don't know what else to call them)

4 weeks old

This is Sterling at 4 weeks old. 

Her G-dad gave her this HUGE pink elephant.

We are going to take her picture with it every now and then

to see how she  is growing. 

Clearly, this first time she WAS NOT a fan.

Maybe next time she will be a bit happier.

Sisters

This is how I find "my girls" alot of the time.

Zoey likes to get up close to Sterling and snuggle.

We love to see this. It is the sweetest thing. 

She is a good "Big Sister" to Sterling. 

:)

Maw Maw & Paw Paw

Randy's parents have been here helping us for almost the full 4 weeks since Sterling arrived.

They have been so super helpful- Paw Paw has checked off about a million things

 on our to-do list around the house, taken and picked up Garrett from School, Maw Maw has

fed the baby, changed diapers, gone to the store, helped keep up with laundry and food,

done a few of the midnight and 3am feedings too!  These are just a few of the things

they have done to help us transition to a family of 4-(plus a cute Zoey dog.)

The day finally came for them to go home and we were all very sad. 

I always enjoy having them here and seeing them with our kids and with Randy...

he loves them so much AND we get to hear the "real" stories of him growing up...

we also like to gang up on him a little :)

Anyway...Jim & Carafaye-

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!

I love having you here-wish you would stay forever! We will ALWAYS have 

a place for you to stay and you are ALWAYS welcome. 

I love you both so much!

Had to get a few pictures in of them holding grand baby #7.

I think that she likes them.

She is VERY comfy and sleeps great when they are around!

December 4th- Our Due Date

Today is my due date... 

and to think that this sweet little one has already been here for almost 4 weeks is 

hard to wrap my brain around. When you are given "the date" you begin to live your life

by it-even though deep down it is basically a crap shoot. For 9 months I have repeated

"December 4th" over and over and over again. And every time I did, I would 

think about this day, and all that it might entail- the birth of my new baby girl.

It is so strange to even think about her being inside my tummy now

(which is where she should be). 

If she would have just waited, we would have missed all the drama and scariness 

that the first 2 weeks of her precious little life brought us.

BUT, we would have also missed out on the incredible blessings of our 

family and friends, the goodness  of our God, the miracles that we witnessed, 

the love and selflessness that was poured out on us, and the extra 4 weeks that we

have gotten to be with our sweet girl.

So, here are a couple of pictures on her due date-

one, she is smiling like a sweet little angel,

the other, screaming like a banchee.

Both equally as adorable-at least to us. :)

(the screaming won't be cute for much longer though)

First Bath

Thanksgiving night was also Sterlings first bath!

She LOVED the water, but her favorite part was being held under the 

running water from the faucet-I think that she will like showers the best.

The second we set her in the tub- she pooped, of course!

So we had to dump the water and start over 

(that's when we held her under the faucet to keep her from freezing to death)

After we were situated again, she was happy as could be.

A tiny little wet baby girl wrapped up in a hooded towel is just about the cutest.

look ow teenie she is!

Ahhh! the bath feels SO good!

All snuggled up in my cute pink towel