The W family was over on Sunday for some food, football, and photos.  I didn’t think there was anyone who could compete with Rory in the area of talkative-ness.  I was wrong.  This guy definitely likes to voice his opinion!

It is crazy to think about how our get-togethers have changed in just a short time.  I first met Tyler and Jenny a little over six years ago.  We were all college kids back then, and Josey and I had not been dating long.  Two weddings, and three kids later, the conversation and the noise level has changed quite dramatically since then!

I couldn’t wait to get one of our boys in this tie.  Another The Belle and The Beau creation!

Pretty sure his mama is never going to be able to resist this face!

I just love his little chubbies!

Look who got to hang out at our house!  Well, that was actually three weeks ago, but it’s the thought that counts; right? I’m way behind on this blogging thing lately. 

Ugh, she’s just so darn cute.  I can’t hardly stand it!

This adorable flower is from my newest favorite etsy seller.  I seriously love everything in her shop, and it all comes packaged so nicely, which is a big bonus in my book!

What a little beauty.  Love her!

Here.  Again.  What a long and miserable week.  Cohen and Rory both got sick right before New Year’s, and I was worried about Cohen’s cough so I took him in.  I was told it was just a virus, and we’d have to wait it out, but over the weekend he took a turn for a worse and really worried us a couple of times.  Monday morning, I actually debated taking him in because he seemed to be doing so much better than the day before, but decided to take him anyway.  From the doctor’s office, we were sent to the hospital when his oxygen level was down to 82.  It was later confirmed that he had RSV.  The first night in the hospital, I didn’t sleep at all.  I laid there staring at his monitor, watching it go up and down for hours, as I prayed and prayed that he’d get over this quickly and we’d be out of there soon.  Turns out, God was testing my patience because we spent the next three nights and four days in the hospital; ironically, in the same exact room Rory had been in just over a year ago.  When we arrived, we were greeted by the same nurses, too.  I told them, “No offense, but I was hoping I’d never see you two again.”

We’ve been home since Thursday afternoon, and I feel like I am finally catching up on my rest, but I have two cards full of photos that I’ve taken since Christmas waiting to be downloaded, Christmas decorations needing to be taken down and put away, a mess of a house, an inbox full of emails waiting to be answered…I could go on, but all I care about right now is getting a decent meal on the table for my family and spending time with them.  I HATE when we can’t all be together, and those three nights were awful in that respect.  Not being able to tuck Rory into bed at night.  Not getting to sleep in the bed next to my husband.

Ever since Cohen was born, I have complained more than once about how I hate the rush of getting everyone out the door in the morning; I hate the stress of coming home, making supper, trying to keep the kids happy, bath, bedtime, get everything ready for the next day, etc.  It is stressful and exhausting, and some days I feel like I don’t want to do it anymore.  But this week I learned a lesson.  That is our normal.  I have nothing to complain about.  Life could be so much more stressful and much worse.  From now on, I will appreciate the chaos that goes into each and every day, and find the positive in it.  As long as my kids are healthy, and my husband is beside me, life is good.

I cannot thank our family and friends enough for all the thoughts and prayers this week.  It really means so much to know that you have people out there thinking about you and wishing you the best.  So thank you so, so much.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  We are having a great Christmas so far.  This year I am so blessed to have two healthy babies and a wonderful husband to celebrate with.  God is good!

hehehe!

He reminds me of Max from the Grinch Who Stole Christmas!

It feels like we’ve been trying to squeeze in as much Christmas as we can in the last week.  I wish I would have been picking up my camera more often.  It is not very appealing these days because it just gets dark so early.  There is no light.  I do have a few snapshots anyway of a few of our activities.

Last weekend, I hauled the kids to the mall for the annual trip to visit Santa.  Rory was pretty excited when she saw him come out, and he even gave her a high five as he walked in to go sit down.  There were no tears from either kid, Rory told Santa what was on her Christmas list, and I had to remind her several times that we needed to go and let the other kids in line have a turn.  She would have just kept talking and talking had I let her!

Of course, we paid our $16 for the usual awful photo.  I opened this in photoshop, looked at it for a second, and then decided it wasn’t worth it!

When we got home from the mall adventure, Rory and I made gingerbread men.  Decorating cookies is serious stuff!  I tried to help her, but that didn’t go over well, so I just went about my own business on the rest of the cookies.  When I turned around, there wasn’t one sprinkle left in that little bowl, and her face and teeth were a very unnatural color!  She kind of likes sprinkles.

Later that night, we went out to look at Christmas lights.  Rory loved that this year.  Cohen, not so much.  It was bedtime for him!

This Monday, Rory’s preschool had their Christmas program.  That was certainly entertaining.  Of course, I didn’t get any photos that were in focus of just her with none of the other kids in the frame, so here is a very blurry photo from the program.  I just loved that snowman they made!

It is unbelievable to me that Christmas is just two days away!  And it sounds like we are in for quite the storm, so it should be a fun and memorable holiday!

Argh!  Could somebody please slow down the calendar?  How can December already be almost half over?

This little guy is mama’s snuggle bug.  If he could, he would just sit with me (or anyone probably) and stare, smile, and talk all day long.  Sometimes when I am talking to him, he gets a little smirk on his face and raises his left eyebrow, as if he totally gets me.  He looks more and more like his daddy every day, but he has this one look that is definitely from my side of the family.  He is usually lying in a puddle of drool.  He discovered his feet today while sitting in the Bumbo.  He tried so hard to get down there far enough to get it in his mouth, but had to settle for the sock he was able to pull off just far enough instead.  He is not a fan of going to bed at night.  He barely even shudders or blinks when Rory attacks him with her baby talk and kisses.  I’m just waiting for the day when he finally learns to just give her a shove when she gets too close.  He did get a good handful of her hair the other day, though!

It’s crazy to think that five months have already gone by, but at the same time, it feels like he was always a part of our family.  I think we’ll definitely keep him for a little while longer.

It seems I have missed out on an entire month of documentation on this blog.  How does time go so fast?  I have loads of photos of my own kids that still aren’t even downloaded, which is part of the reason why I haven’t blogged in awhile.  The last month has been crazy, hectic, stressful, and tiring, but now that I have wrapped up all my sessions and am almost finished with orders, I’m trying to put my focus into my family again.  It seems the weekdays are a blur, and I just live my life by weekends now-a-days.  Especially now that it is dark at 4:00…NOT a fan of that at all.

We had a baptism for Cohen on November 15th, Josey and I celebrated our birthdays on the 22nd, a wonderful Thanksgiving back home in Montana, a weekend of catch up after being gone for Thanksgiving, and lastly a weekend of Christmas shopping and decorating.  Next weekend’s mission is to get a photo for our Christmas card…wish me luck!  The holidays are going to be so much fun this year with Rory being old enough to get it all and with our little man just hanging around taking it all in.

Oh, we got a new dining room table.  And what else would I do but strip Cohen down and take a picture of him on it?  Rory thought this was so hilarious until the point where Cohen peed all over the place.  Then she looked at me with a disgusted face and said, “Mom.  I think it’s time to be done with pictures now.”  hahaha!

Thank you so much to this family for inviting me into your home to photograph your sweet little guy. He’s so cute, I could have taken him home with me, but I’m not sure how we would manage two babies at once around here!

I find myself wondering this very often some days. Especially, while watching all the silly faces he makes. He is still kind of all over the place and it takes awhile for him to get locked in on one thing, but when he does he’s locked.

WHAT was that?!?! Oh. Whew. Just my sister.

Whoa.  I think I’m in some sort of trance.  This chandelier gets me every time.

Ohp…there’s Rory again!

Wait.  What’s that now?  I think I hear her!  But where is she?

Awwww.  There she is!  Hi mama!

This little man is growing by leaps and bounds.  This past week he started to really grab and hold onto his toys, and yesterday we heard his first real giggle.  So sweet!  Those armpits are pretty ticklish!

And thank you Jen at sweet birdie for this super cute outfit!  Oh so adorable!