One month old

I can't believe that Katie is already a month old. The time has gone so fast. She is starting to smile and really look at us when we talk to her. Her favorite thing to do is stare up at the shelves on our wall. I think she must see angels up there smiling at her.

The most wonderful time of the year!

Merry Christmas to everyone! It has been such a wonderful day. After going to bed very very late (or maybe I should say early this morning) and then waking up to no power, we got a late start on our Christmas morning. We didn't come out to see what Santa brought until close to 10:00 am. It took us a long time to get everything opened but the kids really enjoyed it. They were all so good. Some were a little hyper but we didn't have any discipline problems which is a great gift for me and Dale. We spent the night at my mom's house which is one of my favorite things. Things seemed pretty mellow there too. I really love Christmas and it made me so happy when a few of my kids told me this was the best Christmas ever. We added a fish and two hampsters to our home this year. It will be interesting to see how that goes.

Here is a picture of my Christmas present for this year. My kids gave me a wonderful massage chair and I love it but this is my favorite present for sure! Katie has been such a joy to have around. I can't get enough of her sweetness. I love how much everyone loves her. She is the center or our world right now. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas this year!

You gotta love kids and their owies!

I know this picture probably looks really bad but it's very innocent. Kyson came up to me, just like he is in the picture, and said "Mom, look at my owie." Dale and I were laughing so hard and Kyson had no idea why. He just stared at us. What a cute little birdie finger though.

The stockings are hung by the chimney...despite limited wall space!

We put our stockings up today and couldn't believe how many there are. There couldn't possibly be that many people in our house! I just stood back and looked at them all lined up and couldn't believe we have 8 stockings for Santa to fill. What a fun (and loud) Christmas morning we will have one week from today.

One week old

Katie was actually one week old yesterday but I didn't get a chance to take her pictures. It's been a fun week. Long sleepless nights but it's worth it to have her. She is so sweet and I can't kiss and hold her enough. Katie's big accomplishment at one week is getting rid of her umbilical cord. The kids were so excited to see a normal belly button on her instead of the "yucky black thing".

4 years old!

Kyson turned 4 on Sunday. I can't believe he's already that old. What happened to my baby? Kris was kind enough to host a little surprise party for him at her house. I think he was very happy that everyone came to a party for him. He is such a joy in my life. I love listening to him talk. He has the cutest way of saying things. He loves to color. Since Katie was born I think that he has gone through several coloring books. Yesterday he did nothing, except color. He's very smart too. He picks up a lot by watching his older brothers and sister do their homework. I love the relationship that he has with Jake. They are best friends and hardly ever fight. They love to play together. Kyson misses Jake every day when he goes to school. That's when Kyson and I do things together. He's fun to take places like out to lunch or shopping. He loves to talk about what we're doing and what he sees. Kyson is happy most of the time and we are so happy that he is part of our family.