Christmas with Tami

Tonight was our annual Christmas exchange with Tami. Well, it really wasn't an exhange...I still haven't finished her gift...but she gave the kids their gifts. She always gets them such great gifts and this year was no exception. I asked her to go light on their gifts this year...but she isn't really good at listening to that! Right Tami?


Anyway, tonight the kids got their very own CD players. They were both Sponge Bob. As you can see, the kids were really excited about them! A few weeks back, Tami let the kids listen to her I Pod and they really enjoyed it. James and I are really excited about this gift and hoping that it will help make our upcoming trip to Louisiana a lot easier.

They were really excited about them!

They also got new sketch pads, notebooks and their annual ornaments.

Peyton "helped" Brady open his gift.

Here she is, trying to figure it out! hahah (for the rest of you that are also trying to figure out what it is...it is a light show. It plays songs and puts different shapes on the ceiling. It has different ones for different stages/ages of development. really neat!)

Brady enjoyed the evening too. He really enjoyed chewing on the wrapping paper!

What's a Christmas celebration without a few good bites of wrapping paper huh?

We had the hardest time getting a good shot of Peyton. She wanted to do goofy faces!

Finally caught one...she was still trying to be funny. I was just lucky enough to get it before her eyes went cross!

and here is the Happy Baby!


Tami takes a lot of pride in what gifts she gets for my kids and she always spoils them rotten!
Thanks Aunt Tami!

***Disclaimer-We didn't intentionally leave Gavin out of the shots. He was not in a picture mood and kept saying "I don't waaaant tooo." For those of you that know him...you can hear him saying it now!

Christmas is here!

Christmas definitely hit our household early this year and it has just begun!

The day started off with our annual Christmas party with my MOPS (Mothers of Pre Schoolers) group. We eat, we laugh, we have a devo and then we exchange white elephant gifts. Well...without boring you with all of the details of what gifts were there and who stole what from who...I will just tell you the super cool gift that I received. We were blessed with a member of our group from last year that was able to visit with us today. Her name is Angela and she has had a pretty rough fall. She was diagnosed with cancer and they have been aggressively fighting it for the past few months with surgery and then chemo. She was well enough to join us for the party today and it was so great to get to see her.

What was so awesome was that in a time where she could use encouragement from all of us...she brought a reminder to us today about what this season is all about. I just happened to get my gift stolen by the last person to get to pick a gift today so I ended up being the last person to get a gift and it happened to be a large red gift sack. It was really light and I actually thought that the gift might have already been claimed by someone and they just left the bag. Well, there was actually something in the bag...it was a small plastic cup from Ponderosa with a picture of a little boy in it. At first I thought that maybe I had received a gift that was meant for the kid's teacher or something. Then Angela stands up and says that she has a story and would like to read it. First, she asked me to tell everyone what I had. Then she told us a fantastic story that reminded us what the real purpose is and who our hope should be in! Here it is...

A wealthy man and his son loved to collect rare works of art. They had everything in their collection, from Picasso to Raphael. They would often sit together and admire the great works of art. When the VietNam conflict broke out, the son went to war. He was very courageous and died in battle while rescuing another soldier. The father was notified and grieved deeply for his only son. About a month later, just before Christmas, there was a knock at the door. A young man stood at the door with a large package in his hands. He said, Sir, you don't know me, but I am the soldier for whom your son gave his life. He saved many lives that day and he was carrying me to safety when a bullet struck him in the heart and he died instantly. He often talked about you and your love for art. The young man held out his package. "I know this isn't much, I'm not really a great artist, but I think your son would have wanted you to have this." The father opened the package. It was a portrait of his son, painted be the young man. He stared in awe at the way the soldier had captured the personality of his son in the painting. The father was so drawn to the eyes that his own welled up with tears. He thanked the young man and offered to pay him for the picture. "Oh no sir, I could never repay what your son did for me. It's a gift." The father hung the portrait over his mantle. Every time visitors came to his home he took them to see the portrait of his son before he showed them any of the other great works he had collected. The man dies a few months later. There was to be a great auction of his paintings. Many influential people gathered, excited over seeing the great paintings and having an opportunity to purchase on for their collection. On the platform sat the painting of the son. The auctioneer pounded his gavel, "We will start the bidding with this picture of the son. Who will bid for this picture?" There was silence. Then a voice in the back of the room shouted, "We want to see the famous paintings, skip this one!" Bit the auctioneer persisted. "Will someone bid for this painting? Who will start the bidding? $100, $200? Another voice shouted angrily, "We didn't come to see this painting. WE came to see the Van Goghs, the Rembrandts. Get on with the real bids." But still the auctioneer persisted. "The son! The son! ho will take the son?" Finally, a voice from the very back of the room spoke up. It was the longtime gardener of he man and his son. "I'll give $10 for it." Being a poor man, it was all he could afford. "We have $10, who'll bid $20?" "Give it to him for $10. Let's see the masters." $10 is the bid, won't someone bid $20?" The crowd was becoming angry. The didn't want the picture of the son. They wanted the more worthy investments for their collections. The auctioneer pounded the gavel. "Going once, going twice, sold for $10". A man sitting on the second row shouted, "Now let's get on with the collection!" The auctioneer laid down his gavel. "I'm sorry, this auction is over. When I was called to conduct this auction, I was told of a secret stipulation in the will. I was not allowed to reveal that stipulation until this time. Only the painting of the son would be auctioned. Whoever bought that painting would inherit the entire estate, including the paintings. The man who took the son gets everything."

God gave his son 2,000 years ago to die on a cruel cross. Much like the auctioneer, His message today is, "The Son, The Son, who'll take the Son?" Because you see, whoever takes the Son gets everything!

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

So, to keep on with the symbolism...since I received the picture of Angela's son...I got everything. She had a big bag with lots of gifts in it for the one who kept the "son". (Honestly, I got it by default...I was the last one...no one could steal it and I couldn't trade it away. That is the way it is with Christ though. We get salvation a similar way. We don't do anything to deserve it...God calls us! We are just blessed that He had a plan to save us!)

Peyton's first sleep over

Now this wasn't the first time that Peyton has been away from James and I...however it was her first "sleepover". We had card night here at our house a week ago and when everyone was leaving, Peyton asked if she could go home with Tami. Well...needless to say, she had SO much fun and thought she was such a big girl!

Here are some pictures of her in her jammies with her bag!

Photos

Here are some updated photos of Brady. They are the ones from Bible Class at church. I snagged them from Tami's camera...that is why there are only a couple of them. Enjoy!

3 months already!

I know when I post about Brady they always start off with "Can you believe it?" but it is the truth! I can't believe that Brady is already 3 months old. He turned 3 months old on Saturday. It has gone SO fast. The pregnancy seems to take forever, especially at the end but once the baby gets here...time just flies. It isn't fair! ;)

Here are some of the things that Brady is now doing.

• Brady is so much more interactive. He has been very alert and observant of what is going on around him since he was only a couple of weeks old but now he is initiating interaction. It is so much fun. He loves to smile and laugh out loud. That laugh is one of the best sounds.



• Although he isn't grabbing at toys yet, he has one heck of a grip. If you place something in his hand he can hang on to it for quite a while. And of course, everything goes straight to his mouth. He loves chewing on the little plastic babies during Bible Class.



• He has started chewing on his fists and his blanket a lot as well. This has cause a lot of slobbering though, so we are starting to wear more bibs!



• Speaking of Bible Class...he has started staying for Bible Class in the nursery. Miss Kay has a real good way of "encouraging" me to leave him! She is like the Church Nana. He loves the songs they sing and all of the different animals and other props that go by him while he is sitting in the chair.



• He really loves playing on his activity mat. I guess I should say activity mats. He is spoiled enough to have 2 of them. It gives him variety! ;)



• Another fave is his Bebe Pod seat. It is like the Bumbo seat. This is really helping him strengthen his back and neck. When we have him laying on our lap he tries so hard to sit up. He doesn't get more than an inch or 2 off of our knees, but the effort that he puts forth is always amusing!



• Sleeping...now this isn't a bragging topic for me like some others. At night, he is still eating about every 2 or 2 1/2 hours. This makes for a lot of ups and downs for the 2 of us. I find myself waking up a lot sitting straight up in the rocking chair or with my arm asleep because I took him to bed with me JUST to nurse him and put him back to bed...but never made it back to his bed! hahaha Saturday night he slept a little bit of everywhere. He didn't want to stay in his bed so I put him down in his car seat and got about 1/2 hour more sleep, then we fell asleep in the recliner for about 2 hrs, tried the crib a couple of more times but didn't last more than 15-20 mins and finally ended up in the swing around 6:30. This was the most successful because it lasted 2 hours and I got to sleep in my own bed...almost by myself. I mean, I DID have to share it with James! hahaha Now on to the day time sleeping...It seems like when James is home he sleeps incredibly well during the day...but when it is just the 3 kids and I, he is awake more and wants to be held a lot...This is great for entertainment purposes, but not so great for the laundry and dishes! We seem to manage though...usually with some help from my friend Emma and James' Gramma. I don't know what I would do without them! Gramma used to come and fold laundry while I was prego...but now her job has switched a little. She is now the baby holder. When she is here holding Brady, I get SO much done!


• He just found his hands! He was really intrigued by them and kept turning them over and around. It was so much fun to watch!

He is such a GREAT baby and isn't cranky, isn't colic-y at all and is a great eater (even if it is so often). So I have no complaints. Peyton and Gavin still think he is great, although Gavin has requested that I "put Brady over there" so that I can hold him the past few weeks. (we have been sick).

Welcome Claire Evelyn Simmons!!!!

I am proud to announce that I am an aunt again! Well, an adopted aunt anyway! One of my very best friends from high school had her baby early this morning. Her name is Claire Evelyn as you can tell from the title of this post. She was 6 pounds 5 oz, 18 inches long with a full head of black hair and is perfect in every way! She was almost 4 weeks early but doing great!!! She didn't have to go/stay in the NICU and that is wonderful for both her and mommy! Unfortunately I haven't seen her in person yet because they are in Texas...but Jonathon was kind enough to send a picture to me already so we could show the blogging world! ;)

It is kind of strange because they were just here 2 weeks ago (check out the Halloween post) and she wasn't set for delivery until Dec 4th. Well, I guess God wanted Brandy to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner without too much heartburn and for Claire to be able to join in on all of the fun too!

So, congratulations Brandy and Jonathon, you are now parents of 2!!!! And Congrats to you Olivia...you are a big sister now and have graduated from Baby O!!!!

We love you guys and wish we could be there!

Here is Brandy and I. Brandy about to "pop" on Halloween night. The night before they left to go back home.

And here is their beautiful new addition.

For those of you that know Brandy...make sure and check out her blog in the next few days to see more pictures and to congratulate them!

We interrupt this program...

for this public service announcement. Well, not really! But it is funny!!!

While "helping" the kids clean their room today Peyton floored me with her thoughts again!

Drum roll please!

"Mommy, we are cleaning my room all up so that people can come over to our house. They love seeing my clean room. We can show evrybodies."

I wonder where she gets this from? She has ALREADY figured out that I only do real cleaning when someone is coming over!!!! Gramma is coming tonight and her Nana and Papa are coming on Thursday! ;)

Menu planning Monday...on Tuesday

So, I made an awesome menu for this week on Saturday but have been feeling so yucky that I didn't take the time to post it. With the fact that I actually made a plan being a "rarity", I couldn't go without posting it for the masses to see...even if it was a day late!




So here you go...Menu planning Monday brought to you on Tuesday!

Monday: leftovers (This is James' 10 a.m.-9:45 p.m., so I always hate making meals for just the kids and I)

Tuesday: Chili Cornbread Casserole and pumpkin cookies! (leftover chili in a casserole dish with cornbread on top...real fancy, I know!)

Wednesday: Ham, Green Beans and Potatoes in the crock pot

Thursday: Pork Loin, Mashed Potatoes, Corn and Salad (my in laws are coming in for the close on the sale of their home, so I want to have a nice meal that I am not rushed making)

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Chicken Tortilla Soup and Sandwiches

So, be proud...be very proud that I have a plan! (and all of the ingredients already in the house to carry out this plan!)

Where do they come up with this?

We have been potty training Gavin since Brady was born. I know it seems like really bad timing, but my mom actually started it when she was here for Brady's birth. He wanted to go potty with her a couple of times, so she decided to give it a shot. I am pleased to say that it has been going surprisingly well! Due to the fact that I have 3 children with me now whenever I leave the house, I still haven't take Gavin out in "just underwear". I always put him in a pull up and he is usually able to keep it dry. At home, however we are doing the underwear only thing. Some days it leads to more laundry than others, but the cost of diapers (for him at least) has decreased tremendously. Due to the accidents, we have been setting the timer for Gavin and taking him potty about every 30-45 minutes. He doesn't always go, but he always has to try. Anyway...that is where this long story has come to.

The past few days whenever I go to Gavin and tell him it is time to go potty, he says the same thing every time! "I went potty last night." Not sure where it came from, but it seems that it is staying around for at least right now!

Peyton was playing with Gavin today. They were playing very well together and had made a bed in the office. She proudly announced, "Mommy we are having a sleepover, no a restover that is right, we are having a restover!" (and yes, she normally talks non-stop in circles until she is done making her statement!)

Happy Halloween

Peyton and Gavin had so much fun this year. They actually knew what was going on! Peyton was a Butterfly Princess, Gavin was Superman and Brady was a little monster. It was great!

This was in Grammy Elda's office

Gavin having so much fun in the Bounce house. This was his first time ever. He has always been terrified of them!

Bouncing with her friend Olivia!

Aunt Tami and the little monster

Gavin finally realizing that he and Gabby match!

and last but not least, my friend Tangie...with all of the holiday spirit!

2 months old already!

Can you believe that my little baby is 2 months old already? It has gone WAY too fast. Just looking back over the last 3 1/2 years, it blows my mind. Peyton was 7 weeks old when I went back to work. It just goes to show that you do what you have to do! It was difficult then, but I couldn't even imagine taking Brady to a daycare now (and Peyton went to a great one...so that isn't the case). I am very blessed to have the opportunity to stay at home with my kids and I have been reminded of that a lot recently just by the interactions I have been having with the kids. It has been great!

Brady is changing so much, so fast! He is already starting to lose that infant cry. His cry is still cute, but it is a lot more deliberate and includes a pouty lip at times and even tears. He is sleeping better (not through the night...not even close, but better!). I usually get one 4 hour span between feedings and then he is back to every 2 hours. I am trying to get better at going to bed when he does, but I am still working on that! He is getting so much more alert! He is focusing so much on the people around him and smiling SO big and it is intentional now! It is one of the best things that I get to see all day! Another one is how the kids are with him. They are both still doing so well, but it has been changing.

Peyton has become a "little mommy". When he cries, she tries to put his pacifier in his mouth and says, "Mommy, I got it!". It is like she is telling me, "Don't worry, I am here." And she isn't shoving it in his mouth either. She is gently placing it in his mouth and wiggling it a little bit so that he will latch on and calm down. She is a very observant little girl and learn that from watching James and I! hahaha

Gavin loves to talk to Brady and gets this soft high pitched voice when he does it! He also loves to gently touch Brady's cheek. It is really sweet!

They both still tell anyone who even looks in Brady's direction, "That is Brady James."

So, here are the new stats:

Weight: 12 lbs 4 oz (50th %)

Length: 24 3/4 inches. (97th %) who would have ever though a child of mine would be in the 97th% for length/height!;) We'll just see if he stays that way.

Peyton had a check up for her ears so she was weighed as well. Since it looked like so much fun, Gavin wanted to get on the scales too! Peyton is now a whopping 29 lbs...and Gavin 29.5! He has to stay one up on her. He is however about 2 inches shorter than she is.

Enjoy some new pictures as well!

Brady loves to kick his legs. He is so happy just laying on the floor! (like the carpet in the background? This was at Great Gpa Payne's house)

This was Brady all bundled up, sleeping away while we watched the Parade of the Bands at the Pumpkin Show. There were 24 bands that marched in the parade. It made me miss watching Highland's band perfomances when Brittney was in them!

One of my favorite faces! That pursed lip "O". He does it a lot when he is excited.

It is so hard to capture his real smiles on camera...but we got it! Look at those cheeks and that double chin!

The Pumpkin Show

So, The Pumpkin Show started on Tuesday for the locals and went until Saturday. There are different events and parades every day. The ones that we like to catch are the giant pumpkin weigh-in, the Little Miss Pumpkin Show parade, and the parade of the bands. What we do the rest of the time is just wander and look at the craft tents, let the kids ride some rides and stuff ourselves with al of the delicious fair goodness! In addition to all of the normal fair foods (such as elephant ears, funnel cakes, fried veggies, fried candy bars, fried Twinkies, and cotton candy, they have an unreal amount of items made out of pumpkin! There is pumpkin ice cream, whoopie pies (which are like moon pies made out of pumpkin bread and icing in the middle), pumpkin pie, fried pumpkin blossoms, pumpkin seeds, pumpkin donuts, pumpkin funnel cakes, pumpkin spice cappuccinos, pumpkin canolis, pumpkin burgers, pumpkin chili, and pumpkin buckeyes.

We packed the toddlers in the wagon and strolled Brady through the masses in the stroller and actually went to the Pumpkin show 3 days in a row! (James and I went on Saturday by ourselves and rode the ferris wheel and enjoyed a pumpkin funnel cake together. It was nice not having to share it with the kids! Hahaha, thank you Jack and Kathy!)

The kids really enjoyed everything there was to see and were incredibly well behaved! Peyton’s favorite was the parade of the bands. There were 24 bands that marched in the parade! She told us that she wants to be in a band when she grows up and she also wants to be a princess! All of the area wide fair queens and their attendants were in the parades as well. Peyton was waving at all of them. She even blew a kiss to one of the girls and the girl caught it against her chest and mouthed “Thank You” to Peyton. That made her day! I think Gavin really liked the drums and watching all of the people around him! Brady did great, sleeping the days away in the stroller. All in all, it was a great week. Even the weather couldn’t keep us down. It was in the high 70’s, low 80’s Tues and Wed and then plummeted to the mid 60’s even sometime in the mid 50’s. We just bundled everyone up and kept going.

We had a great vacation and enjoyed the time with family.

So, enjoy the pictures.

The winning pumpkin. Peyton liked the crowns.

The Star Spangled Banner was being played by one of the bands.


The only ride that Peyton would go on! She rode this same one last year and she remembered it. We tried to get her to go on the carousel and another one, but when she came to this one she said, "This is IT! I love it." Gavin really wanted a motorcycle, but there weren't any left!

Gavin did this to his hat himself! I thought it was too cute. This was while we were watching the parade of the bands.

Peyton waving at the princesses (Area festival/fair queens and their attendants)

There was a Presbytyrian church that was ringing the bells one day and after they were done, they let the kids come up and try and ring them. Both of them really liked this part!

Gavin riding the pony the first day. He wasn't totally excited, but did it anyway. Peyton would have anything to do with it!

Gavin riding the pony on Day 3.

Peyton riding the pony for the first time ever! She was so excited to get on it and really enjoyed the ride. I guess we just had to let her do it in her own timing.

Peyton says that this is one of her favorites, but if you click on this picture and look at her face closer...you might beg to differ. She looks terrified. Funny enough though, she went down another time BY HERSELF. Nana was sitting in the middle and Peyton and Gavin were on each side of her on their own potato sack. Unfortunately, we didn't get a picture of that one because the camera died. The look of horror on Peyton's face was even better! ;)

Gavin giving Brady lessons.

Our week away!

We just got back from a week vacation in Ohio. I know, Ohio isn’t your normal vacation spot, but there are some great things going on in Ohio in the fall and we visited James’ family while we were there, so the “hotel” was free!

We started out our trip last Sunday in Northern Ohio, visiting James’ grandparents and aunts and uncles. We hadn’t seen them since last fall and they were really happy to see us. Both of the kids really enjoyed playing with their Great Grandpa Payne. He is 85 and just a little guy, but loves kids so much! When we first got there, Peyton said, “Are you my grandpa?” and when he told her yes, she said “Mama, he said he’s my grandpa!” with a very high pitched, excited voice! James’ Aunt Marlene and her husband Buddy were in town from Virginia, so it was really nice getting to see her while we were there as well. Buddy was really nice and let the kids chase him around the house. ;) James’ Aunt Selina and Uncle Emerson were nice enough to take us out for pizza and got the synchronized show of taking toddlers to dinner. That was quite comical! They soon realized why we said that we don’t go out to eat often! Hahaha We were also able to visit with a dear friend, A.B. (Anna Baker) She had been a long time adopted member to the Abels family. She is now married, so I call her ABT (Anna Baker Turner). She has a little boy who will be 2 soon. We had a very short visit with her, but at least we were able to see her!

Here are some pictures of their time in Amherst.

Tuesday, we headed south to Circleville. That is where James’ mom and dad live. This is where the big events were. We started off Tuesday afternoon with an apple cider slushy and some light hiking around Ash Cave and got some great pictures of the kids! Circleville has a HUGE festival every year called The Pumpkin Show. This year was the 102nd event. This thing is huge! Circleville is a very small town but by Saturday, there are about 400,000 people that come in for this. We were fortunate enough to be blessed with a parking pass by someone who lives right by the festivities downtown and were allowed to park in her driveway, as opposed to parking miles away and walking or paying anywhere from $5-$10 per day in parking fees…Thank you Caroline!

Here are some pictures from Ash Cave

Anyone notice that my kids can't keep their eyes open in group pictures...only pictures by themselves?

I don't want to over do it...(I am pushing it with this one...) so the rest of the pictures and description of the Pumpkin Show will be posted tomorrow!

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