5 months...

Why is it when you have 5 months left in your pregnancy it seems to take forever, but get those little people here, and it flies by.

My little Micah is now 5 months old! He has given me 5 months of joy, smiles, giggles, love, hugs, and kisses...but you already know that, since I don't seem to hide my feelings for him.

So, I wanted to do a brother comparison, since I found the outfit Caleb was wearing just after he turned 5 months. I do have to say, the following picture is my favorite of him, and well, just about the cutest thing ever. I can't believe he was sitting up (very well) on his own and that I just snapped this at the right time...so perfectly. I say that because trying to recreate this with Micah led to Pooh Bear in his mouth most of the time!

My 2000 baby boy...

My 2009 baby boy...

Christmas Scavenger hunt....

For Christmas this year, Mike and I decided to do something different. My kids have toys upon toys and clothes upon clothes...and truth be told, they were stripped of all of their toys earlier in the Fall because of poor attitudes...

So, with Christmas coming up we decided we didn't want to just give them a whole new batch of "things." A friend of mine, who had a baby a month after me, told me how they were going to Disney in February. After my initial "are you nuts? with a baby?" reaction, I realized taking them now would be a pretty good idea becuase once Micah starts walking, and wanting out of a stroller, it might be more challenging...that and Caleb is an "adult" by Disney standards after March.

And so, the idea was born for a Christmas morning scavenger hunt. (thanks to Lydia) And I will say that yes, they did get gifts under the tree, mostly from the Disney Store...but not quite like they are used to....and Elisa pointed that out when she came to get me Christmas morning...

"Good morning, Mommy, Merry Christmas. Our tree isn't very full this year, but at least my stocking is."

Mike is the one who came up with the scavenger hunt since I wasn't feeling so great Christmas Eve...and I am so glad he did because it was so much better than what I had in my mind...and the kids loved it...

Clue#1 :
(picture of Cinderella's castle)
A beautiful princess has a wonderful home.
Bekah, take your family to this castle in our house.

#2:
(pic. of map of Florida)

Way down south there is a state where Mommy grew up.
Elisa, take your family to a place in the house that has a map of this location

#3:
(pic of monorail)

You may get tired walking all day. It might help if you ride on a train.
Caleb, take your family to a place in the house that used to have a lot of trains.

#4:
(pic of glass slipper)

I sure wouldn't want to lose this shoe if I wanted to marry my prince.
Bekah, take your family to a place that would be a good place to keep shoes.


#5:
(pic of Pirates of Carribean)

We love to "ride" with Pirates of the Carribean.
Caleb, take your family to a film that was inspired by this idea.


#6:
(pic of Snow White)

I sure would like to eat breakfast with you, but you must be dressed right.
Elisa, take your family to a dress that would be suitable to wear to breakfast with Snow White.


#7:
(photo montage of Disney movies)
Lots of wonderful movies put out on the "big screen" over the years!
To figure out the reason for this hunt, politely find a seat in front of our "big screen"

At this point, Mike turned on our Disney planning dvd and we watched their faces. I am crying because I am so excited and they just watch the show...so we finally said, "Does anyone know what your gift is?" And they looked at one another and then us and finally Elisa said, "Are we going to Disney?!" (yes, they can be taught!) And then shreiking and screaming commenced!

I really think they were scared to ask for fear that was NOT what the gift was!
It made for a great morning for us and we actually ended up watching the whole dvd and got excited as a family for this trip, one month from today!

I love...

I love this...

Precious

Chubby cheeked

Happy

Upside down

Curious

Giggling

Thumbsucking

Baby boy

Snow!!

Last Saturday the girls ran into my room to wake me up announcing "We have snow!" We haven't had much snow in the last three or four years, and certainly not this early, so this was a fun surprise...

And so before heading out to our church's Happy Birthday Jesus party, the kids ran out to play for a little bit...

and then back out for sledding after the party...

Why Rebekah decided it was ok to go out without a coat, I don't know...

Micah enjoyed watching the snow fall...but as far as actually being out in it...

...not so much...

Christmas craft project...

Thanks to Sarah for the idea from this blog...and my mom who gave me her old sewing machine
(and taught me how to use it) I have had a great time making these for Christmas presents this week...

It's beginning to look a lot like...Christmas!

This past weekend I was able to get out all my Christmas totes and start decorating for Christmas. No small feat for me with Micah...but he has started napping for little bits at a time on his own. Anyway, I love this time of year, as most do I am sure...I don't decorate for any other season, and I really like to do it at Christmas.

Mike had to work night shift until Monday morning, so we didn't get the tree out until Tuesday (since he is a bit comatose the whole day when coming off night shift.)

The kids were thrilled...Mike was "thrilled" and Micah loved looking at the ornaments on the tree...we can forgo the gym this month, we just put him under the tree with some "safe" ornaments for him to reach for and grab.

I love watching the kids put up the ornaments and asking how old they were with this one, who gave them that one, and then asking if they can put mine up as well.

They are getting bigger and better at this, and my compulsion to go behind them and move them is getting smaller...though I did have to have a talk about a few being too close together!

We have an angel at the top of our tree this year. We rotate between an angel and a star...I love this angel. I bought her at a local drug store in WA the first year Mike and I were married...she makes my tree look so cozy with her raffia body. I love our tree. We don't have a "theme"...we put up what is given and collected over the years. The generic bulbs Mike and I bought our first Christmas have now been replaced with many "baby's first Christmas", souvenirs from the beach, St. Nicholas day gifts, and special ones the kids have made. I like to think our tree tells a story...it is all about us and how we went from a party of two to a party of six...I can't wait to open St. Nick's gift to Micah tomorrow and put up his first ornament.