White Christmas 2012

We had a fantastic Christmas this year!  We got to see so many of our family and friends and it was wonderful!  And we got to enjoy some snow too.  

 We made a snowman with the kiddos after we got back from our Christmas travels.  It was a little one, but it was a lot of fun.

 We love our snowman.

 The kids made snow angels.  Mya loves making snow angels and Reggie mostly just lays there, but they both have fun either way.

 There are so many Christmas pictures, of opening presents and such, so I just picked a couple.  These were from when we opened our presents at our house before we left for Topeka and Abilene.  The kids had so much fun getting up and going through their stockings.

 We only got each kid three presents for several reasons.  We know they'll get spoiled by our families for one, they already have so many toys to play with, and we feel that if three presents was good enough for Jesus, it's good enough for us.  The kids loved what they got!

 We had so much fun playing with family.  Aunt Sissy got some good giggles from Reggie.  Reggie loved playing with his Aunt.

 Here are the cousins on Dan's side.  The Barnes babies.  Can you tell they're related?

 And here are the cousins on my side.  We love all the kiddos on both sides.

And I got to see my best friend Lindsey.  We've been friends for about 24 years now.  Crazy.  We talk all the time on the phone so it's nice to get to see her in person every once in a while.   I love my friend.

We are so blessed to have family and friends to spend the holidays with.  In a world of things, things, things, I often forget it's really about the people.  I love my people.  :)  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Oh christmas tree, oh christmas tree

Happy December! 

This year we bought a real tree with the kids, which we haven't done since Dan and I's first year of marriage.  It was nice.  It would have been better if there was snow on the ground.  It would have made it feel more like Christmas.  Anyway...

 Here's my beautiful family riding on the tractor to go out to the tree field.  We've gone to the same orchard for two years now to pick pumpkins and we decided to try out the same place to get a tree as well.  It was nice.  The trees were huge.

 Here's my little man, helping pick out a tree.  We called him "Coach" for the day because he looked so cute in his little track suit.

 This pic is so funny of Dan carrying the smallest tree we could find.  :)

 This is the best picture I could get of all three of them.  Why is it so hard to get three sets of eyes to look at the camera at the same time? Grrrr.

 Take three on the family photo by the tree.  This one actually didn't turn out too bad.

 The next day Dan hung our Christmas lights.  I just loved that day.  It is so nice to have Christmas lights up on our first house together.

 And this is me, "helping" put up lights.  Ha ha.

 Our baby girl standing by the house.  I just love how little she looks.

And my little baby boy, decorating sugar cookies for the first time with Mommy.  I just love this picture, except I hate how big he looks.  Sad face.

Well, we're all geared up for the Christmas traveling craziness.  I'm excited to have a week off work for the first time in... ever.  We're going to spend lots of time with family and just enjoy the season of our Lord's birth.  We've really been trying to instill in our children that Christmas is not about presents, but about Jesus and family and the many ways we are extremely blessed.  And we are so blessed.

If you don't like to look at adorable pictures of my kids, then this post is not for you.  This is a picture overload of my babies.  Mya had her 4th birthday and we celebrated for a week straight.  Yes, it really was a week.  She had a great time celebrating every day.  

 Mya had her first friend party this year and she loved having all her best little friends come over.  She said after it was all done, "I had a great party."  Mya, you are a sweet girl and loyal girl.  You love your friends so well.

 Party day picture with my best girl.  I just adore her.  Mya is an independent girl and not a cuddler but occasionally, I can get a few snuggles out of her.

 Here's Mommy with both her babies.  I love those kiddos so much.  Mya loves to do everything with her brother.  She's always asking Reggie to play with her, build a tower, color, or just sit and watch a movie with her.  It's adorable how much she loves him.

 I love these two people.  Mya loves playing with her daddy.  He is the best at making up fun games and being silly with her.

 Mommy and Daddy bought Mya a leappad for her birthday and she was pretty excited.  She figured out how to play it right away because she's so smart.  And she is really into picking out her own clothes right now which is why she doesn't match.  I let her because life's too short to match all the time, right?

 Oh, my beautiful babies.  This brings a smile to my face.

 We celebrated Mya's birthday again at Grandma and Papa T's house on Thanksgiving day.  She had so much fun.  And my parents were there too, so it was a double dose of birthday crazy!

Mya, every year, you grow and change, but there are a few things that stay the same.  You are beautiful, smart, funny, and so silly.  You are independent and can be strong willed at times, but I pray that God will use that to benefit you and others around you.  And, you are always my little baby girl, even if you constantly remind me that you are a big girl now.  Yes, you are big.  Some days too big, but  other days when you just need snuggles with Mommy, I'm thankful that you are still my little baby.  Thank you for making me a mommy four years ago and for blessing me so incredibly by your little life. You are amazing.  Happy Birthday Mya Jae!

Well, it's November and it's almost my baby girl's 4th birthday.  She's going to have a friend birthday party this weekend, her first one, and she is so excited to have fun with her little friends.  I can't wait to share these memories with her when she gets older and tell her what a fun little girl she was! Here are a few pics of our November so far!

 Mya hardly naps anymore.  She hasn't since she was 2, really, but occasionally, she will still snooze a little.  She had taken a nap this day and was so cute with her messy hair and her sleepy eyes.  I just think she's the prettiest little girl ever!

 Mya took this picture of me and my little man.  And this is how you can find Reggie most days: with his woobie and his fingers in his mouth.  They go hand in hand, fingers and woobie.  No woobie, no fingers.  He's so cute.

 My little guy hates hats, but when you can get him to wear them, he looks adorable! He doesn't mind playing in Daddy's hat every once in a while.  :)

 Love it!

Here's how you can find my two little ones right before nap time.  Mya loves to read to her brother.  She gently tells him to sit down and get ready for story time  and then she reads to him like I would read to her and the other daycare kids.  I love it so much!  She is such a leader and he is such a sweet boy that he tolerates his sister bossing him so well.  They are quite the pair.  Up next: Mya's big day.  There might be a few tears reminiscing about my tiny bundle.  Has it really been four years?!

Happy Birthday Reggie!

2nd Birthday!  Reggie has been a part of our family for two whole years! Time flies by when you're having fun!

 Reggie, you are a calm, even tempered little boy.  You loved opening presents but you always allowed Sissy to help when she felt you needed it.  We love that about you.

 You love watching movies and can sit through a whole movie even at your young age.  You love Toy Story 1, 2, and 3 the best.  You have an amazing memory and can recite (in your baby garble) a lot of the lines!

 You are a quick learner and have already mastered how to hold up two fingers to proudly show your age.  You get a little confused sometimes, as seen in the picture above, but you really do know how to do it.

 You are the most adorable little boy and you bring light to our lives everyday.

 You absolutely adore "choo-choo's."  You got a lot of choo choo stuff for your birthday and you haven't stopped playing with them yet.  You even got to ride on a little choo choo at the pumpkin patch.  (Pics of that to come)

 Mommy and Daddy love you so much and we really wanted to spoil you on your birthday.  Being the second child, you haven't got a lot of new things in your short life, so we bought you your very own brand new train table.  You love it and we love that we could make you so happy.

Reggie, you are seriously the sweetest, friendliest, cutest little man I've ever met.  I can't imagine a day without you in our lives.  We love you so much and can't wait to see what God has in store for you.  We know He has big plans for your life.  Happy 2nd Birthday, son.  We love you. 

Just a little peek

We went to Branson with Dan's family this last weekend and it was a blast.  Here are just a few pics from our "old time" photo shoot.  We all had a great time!  More to come when I get the other photos uploaded.  

That's for sure!

We have been really enjoying the last couple of weeks.  

 We've been playing in the rain!

 We've been growing and getting too big!

 We've been filling jewel jars because we're being such a good girl. (That's our reward system for Mya)

 We sent Daddy off to work to go teach some kids a few things.  Didn't get a great picture the first time.

 So we tried again...oh well.  The hubby sure does look handsome though.

 We've been using our little brains to be so creative with every day household items.  So cute.

 We met baby Jackson Juhl who is going to come to our house to play starting in October.  So excited.

 And we just went to Daddy's first middle school football game last night.  They have a playground at the football field so the kids got to play after sitting so good during the game.

Mya's been growing too this week.  Seriously, doesn't she look so big.  Tear.

I was journaling some funny Mya things last night so I don't ever forget her funny sayings and I thought I might share a few with you.
While eating a popsicle, she looks at me and says, "I tooked a bite of my popsicle with my sensitive teeth!"
 And when Reggie took a bite of his popsicle, I said, "I guess Reggie doesn't have sensitive teeth like you." And she responds, "That's for sure!"  So funny.
Last, when we were driving home from the football game, I asked her if she missed our old house. She said, "No" right away, but then she pauses and says, "I don't need two houses, Mommy."  So wise.  Love that little girl more than she'll ever know.
Hope you are all enjoying the last weeks of hot weather and learning and growing as you go like we are.  :)