Look Who's Five! Part(y) 2:

So excited to be five!!!!

Well, today was Abigail's second birthday party. We did two, a kids party and a family/grandparents party. Our house just isn't big enough for all of them at once. It was a bit quieter today (I don't know why they didn't want to run up and slide down the stairs?!) Abigail and Elijah both enjoyed having more cake and guests.


Abigail wore her new dress and tiara and felt, as always, like a princess.


I asked all of Abigail's Grandparents, Great Grandparents, and Aunties and Uncles to write some notes about what makes her special and what they love about her. Here are a few things that make our wonderful Abigail special:

A really good big sister to her brothers

Smart

Very thoughtful

A sense of style all her own

A prayer warrior

Thankful and special heart

Impressive

Kind

Bright personality

Passionate

Happy 5 years Abigail! We love you so much!!

After the party Samuel decided to finally wake up and try his hand at laughing. Daddy can always make them laugh. Notice how he puts his hands up when he laughs!

Look Who's Five! Part(y) 1:

Yeah! Abigail is (almost - the 18th) five! She is so very excited (though greatly dreading her 5yr check up that might include shots!!). Per her request we had a Milo and Otis party- complete with scavenger hunt to find the pinata that she also wanted.

Getting ready! Check out the pinata! You can't even tell its home made!!

Swing...and a miss.

We only had two other families- it was a very nice (yet still a bit crazy) amount of kids. They all seemed to have a lot of fun.

She blew the candles out one at a time.
She must not know about the 'make a wish' part.

After party cleanup. And no, it wasn't Chris.

Eclectic Updates

Yeah - I finally sent our Christmas cards today! Time goes by so very quickly. Our little Samuel is getting so big! He is 8 weeks old and I'm guessing around 12lbs.

He is getting close to smiling. It is still very hit and miss. But he likes to raise his eyebrows a lot!


Making Christmas cookies!

Samuel's favorite position- 90 degree neck- to look at the ceiling.

The Fuzzball's are doing much better. They are working on their "synchronized snoozing"

A few weeks ago we had some freezing weather. Grandma Norine's ponds froze so we took the kids and my brother and sister out to play on the ice!

Abigail tried out ice skating. She really liked it despite the too big skates with wobbly ankles. She was very intent on practicing.

Chris then built a fire on the ice (crazy I know- he claims he saw it in a movie Ü ) and roasted hot dogs for lunch. The ice was fine - probably about 7 inches thick.



A thought that has been on my mind...

Isn't it funny how when we see a baby, we try to figure out who he looks like? "She's got mommy's eyes", "he has daddy's ears", "she looks like you when she sleeps" and so on. We get joy out of seeing a piece of us in someone else. And as a baby gets older their looks seem to change from looking like one parent or sibling to another. However, when that baby is much older, they look in the mirror and think "oh man, I look like my dad" or they might hear "you're turning into your mother" and these things bring a cringe. Although I am not innocent, I think this is sad. It makes me think of the fact that we are made in the image of God. We take joy in the fact that parts of us resemble our awesome God. Yet, we at times find our selves in situations where we might hope that the resemblance isn't so obvious, (like Peter, after Jesus was taken) we don't want to stand out or seem so very different from others. They might think we are strange or may not accept us. Oh the pressure of acceptance.This too is sad. I hope that in those times of pressure, I remember that no matter how I mess up, I am not only accepted, but intensely loved by my God. And what an honor to be made in His image. I pray that as I grow up I'll end up just like my Father.

Check out those cheeks!