You are three months old! You've been in our family for a quarter of a year, and it's been a great quarter. Everyone in our family loves you so much! You have a big fan club!
You are starting to talk and babble some. They are sweet, sweet sounds. Your brothers and sister get so excited to hear you talk. You're usually always grinning when you talk and staring right at us. You're a social little bug. You light up when someone looks at you and talks to you.
You're a smiley girl and we've even heard some giggles. I catch you smiling for no reason sometimes. And your smile can melt away any stress or bad mood. It's magic. It melts me every time. You're a happy, content baby too. If you're tummy is full and you're not sleepy and it's not in the evening, you're usually content to be by yourself in your swing or on your play mat.
You get fussy when you're hungry and tired. You usually have a pretty rough cry right when you're ready for a nap. When you're screaming really loud, that's when we know it's time to put you to sleep. You just get a little fussy when you're hungry but lose your mind when you're tired.
You still eat eight times a day- about every 3 hours during the day and you'll have a 6-7 hour stretch at night. You're getting a 1-2 oz bottle after your feedings.
You usually nap after every feeding, but your naps vary a lot in length. It's hard to get you on a consistent napping schedule with all your siblings' activities. A lot of your naps are in the car or I have to wake you up to go somewhere. I swaddle you at night and for naps that we're at home. You sleep so much better swaddled. I can't get you to sleep more than 15-20 minutes for naps if you're not swaddled, but if I take the time to swaddle you, you'll usually take a really good nap.
You hate your baths. You scream the entire time you're in the tub and settle right down as soon as I pick you up.
You
don't really like tummy time either, but you'll tolerate it. You're
getting so much stronger and are able to hold your head and neck up
well, and you're SUPER close to rolling over.
You
love your paci and it will almost always soothe you, unless you're
hungry. Then it makes you mad. I've caught you sucking on your hands
some too.
You weigh about 10lbs and are still our tiny peanut. You're wearing 3 months clothes and a size one diaper.
You prefer to be in your swing or rock and play than on the floor. I think you want to be a part of the action and still be able to see everything better. You don't want to miss out on anything!
For the first few days of Christmas break, the kids and I headed to Weatherford for a visit.
Katherine was spoiled rotten! She loved every minute and Granny and Grandaddy did too. Grandaddy snuggles are the best.
There was no shortage of spoiling the other three either. Pancakes for breakfast is always a special treat.
The kids always look forward to playing Fast Track when we visit.
They had so much fun playing in the basement too. Elisabeth had been asking for months when we could go to Weatherford so she could play in Granny's basement. We also got to visit Matt's parents and my Aunt Kay and Uncle Wesley when we were in town.
On Friday before we left town, we visited Momoo. The kids were excited to open their first Christmas present.
The boys couldn't wait to start building.
Katherine enjoyed even more snuggles.
I was excited for these two to meet for the first time.
The kids kept building and playing with their new toys. They took a quick break for lunch and cake and then were back at it.
Nathan finished his new lego set before we had to leave. That boy amazes me!
We had such a special visit. I enjoyed getting to share Katherine with all my family. She was the star of the visit and it warmed my heart to watch so many people get to love on her while she's still teeny tiny.
Our December has been packed full of fun. We've had so many special events, performances and activities. I'm loving it! I'm soaking up all these sweet moments with the kiddos.
Samuel and Elisabeth had a parent observation day at gymnastics. They were both excited to show off their "gymnastics tricks."
They did a great job.
Every year the kids look forward to decorating gingerbread houses. They've asked several times this month what night we could do them.
There was a lot of sneaking candy during the decorating, but they all did a great job. It's a favorite Christmas tradition. They're already talking about next year.
I can't get enough of the adorable Christmas dresses, and I had to get matching ones for my girls. My heart is full with these sweethearts.
Nathan sang in the children's choir at our church's Christmas celebration. He did a great job.
My little ballerina had her winter studio performance/cookie party. She was a little distracted with the audience. But she's adorable. I love how she lights up when she's performing.
Another favorite tradition is visiting the lights at Rhema. Elisabeth couldn't stop talking about walking through the Elsa cave- the lighted bridge with lights that are timed with Christmas songs. For a few years they played Let it Go as one of the songs and Elisabeth always remembers it.
She also begged to play in the "circles." I bring the kids to Rhema sometimes to feed the ducks and they always love to play in these. It's like a playground to them I think.
We've never been into Elf on the Shelf, but I read about these Kindness Elves this year and I decided to try it. They don't visit everyday, but occasionally they leave notes for the kids giving them ideas of how to spread kindness. I'm hoping to make it a new tradition. It's been special to see them focus on being kind.
Samuel has started watching this Christmas cookie competition show with me, and ever since he has been begging to bake Christmas cookies. I usually bake and decorate sugar cookies as part of teacher Christmas gifts, but I just wasn't up to it this year with a new baby. So we just made some for fun and I let the kids decorate them however they wanted. They had a lot of fun.
We REALLY like sprinkles on our cookies.
Samuel and Elisabeth had their Preschool Christmas program this week. I look forward to it every year. It's such a sweet little program.
The Pre-K class performs the Christmas story, and my sweet boy was a Wiseman. He was so excited about his program and practiced his little line a lot! I also loved hearing them singing all the cute songs for the weeks leading up to the program.
So far we've had a Joseph and a Wiseman, and I'm thinking we might have an angel or two in our future :). I'm glad we have several more years of watching this program.
We have even more fun things coming up! December is becoming one of my favorite months. All the special activities are SO fun to enjoy with my babies.
