The Boys Help Santa Land at the Indiana State Museum

Visiting Santa in his house.
Greeting Santa, Mrs. Claus, and Raggedy Ann.

Baylor was so excited!

We were all ready. Baylor was so cute with his banner.

Our family by the big tree.

Today was such a special day and the boys were so excited! Last year after visiting the State Museum so many time during the holidays and becoming friends with so many of the workers the boys were asked to be the children to greet Santa when he arrived this year. Of course they said yes, and could not wait for the big day. They were able to stand inside the gated area and walked to Santa as he got off the helicopter. We were so close to the helicopter. They gave a big white bear to Santa and a smaller plaid bear to Mrs. Claus and Raggedy Ann. The boys then stayed with Santa and Mrs. Claus as they greeted the crowd and walked upstairs with them to Santa's house. They were the first visitors of the season. Baylor and Cooper both made special presents for Santa and he was so sweet with the boys. He put their presents on the mantle and hung the ornaments on the tree. Baylor worked so hard on his gifts and his card. The night before he worked on a big Welcome Santa banner that he held as Santa was landing. It was so cute. Baylor was adorable and took his job very seriously. What a special day and such a fun memory. We all had a great time and enjoyed the day.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoyed the day with our family. In the morning we ate a small breakfast and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The boys liked seeing all the characters and dancing to the music. For lunch we went to Aunt Von and Uncle Jeff's house. We had a great Thanksgiving feast. The boys loved the chicken and noodles, even Parker tried them for the first time. After lunch we headed to Mimi's house for games and desserts. We played a Christmas in the City game, Turkey Toss, Thanksgiving Jingo, and Pin the Tail on the Turkey. It was rainy and cold so we had to play all the games in the house and garage but it will still quite fun. Mimi had great prizes and we all won lots of treasures. The boys had such a great time! Mimi had so many great desserts, it was hard to pick. It was a great day and I am so thankful for my family and being able to spend the day with them. The boys had so much fun and loved having Joe home!!! Cooper was so worn out from the day of fun that he fell asleep at the dinner table at 7:00 pm and went to bed for the night.

Thankful

A little snuggle time before bed.

This week I have really been thinking about all I have to be thankful for! It seems like lately there are days when I want to complain and fret about things when really I just need to be thankful and count my blessings. These little boys bring me so much joy and I am sooooo thankful for them! There were days when I didn't know if I would be able to have any babies and I am so blessed to have these three precious little boys. Although some days are long and it is hard when Tom is traveling I would not trade these days with them for anything. Tom, Baylor, Cooper, and Parker I am thankful for you and love you so much!

I love this song we sing with the joy jammers. The boys love to sing it too.
Thankful

I like to think about the goodness of the Lord.
He gives me everything I need and so much more.
So I just want to lift my hands and say that I love Him.
I just want to lift my heart in praise.

And I wanna be thankful.
I wanna be grateful
I wanna remember everything
That the Lord has done.
I wanna be thankful.
I wanna be grateful.
I wanna be… I wanna be… I wanna be

I like to think about the goodness of the Lord.
He gives me everything I need and so much more.
So I just want to lift my hands and say that I love Him.
I just want to lift my heart in praise.

And I wanna be thankful.
I wanna be grateful
I wanna remember everything
That the Lord has done.
I wanna be thankful.
I wanna be grateful.
I wanna be… I wanna be… I wanna be
(By Jay Stocker. (c)2008 Group Publishing Inc.)

The Boys and their Trees

Baylor did most of his tree all by himself. He didn't want to finish it too fast because he loves to put the ornaments on. He arranged all of his holiday cuddlies under his tree. He has all of his nutcrackers on his dresser.
Baylor's tree 2010.

He loves Nutcrackers!

Coop loves his tree.

He was a good little decorator. He loves to point out all of his ornaments.

He put out his manger scene and likes to kiss baby Jesus.

Parker only has his little tree this year but he likes it.

This little tree is so special because his big brothers gave it to him to decorate the hospital when he was born last year. We needed a little Christmas spirit in our room!

The boys are so proud of their trees and worked so hard to decorate their rooms. Baylor adds new little touches each day. They love having their trees on at nap time. It does make their rooms feel so cozy!

Happy 11 Months Parker!

Happy 11 Months!
Your sweet smile brings me such joy.

You are such a blessing.

The Lord knew you were perfect for our family! We are so thankful for you sweet boy!

I love you so!

We are so proud of you.

You love to learn new things and are very curious.

You are very busy.

You are almost one!!!

Parker you are eleven months old! I can't believe next month you will be one! The year has flown by and I have loved every moment with you. You are such a sweet happy baby and bring so much joy to all of us. We are all so in love with you! Parker you are becoming one busy little boy. You crawl really fast and walk around the tables and the couch. You can stand up on your own and I know it won't be long before you take a few steps. You can walk behind push toys or ride ons. You have started to climb on things and love to get on the stairs. We try to block you from certain things and you always find a way around. You are one determined little guy and get mad when we take something away from you. You love to play with your toys and have started to play with cars and trucks and move them back and forth. You also love ball and roll them back and forth. You think your big brothers are the best. You laugh the hardest when you are playing with them. Cooper loves to play with you and Baylor takes such good care of you and is always looking out for you. You have started to eat puffs and pieces of goldfish. You love them! When we eat now you start going crazy and try to get your brothers food. If you hear the crinkle of a bag of chips or see a water bottle you are on the move to get it. You are still a good eater and eat 2 jars of baby food at each meal. You also love yogurt and enjoy your sippy cup. You also still nurse several times a day. It took you a while to get teeth but this month you got five teeth all at once! Your four top teeth and your second bottom tooth all popped through at the same time. You were still your happy self. You did have a runny nose but that was all. You are starting to talk and communicate with us. You wave, clap, put your arms up, and can blow a kiss. You are so cute when you dance. You love to hear music or listen to the ornaments on the tree. You can say dada, mama, hi and hello, bye, and all done. All done is your favorite and you say it all the time. It is so cute! You like to read books but I think you enjoy eating them more. You love to play peek a boo and play all day long. You usually cover your ears instead of your eyes. You also like to play patty cake. You wear mostly 18 and 24 months in clothes and size 5 diapers. You weigh a little over 25 pounds and are really long. You are leaving hats on your head and I love them! You are such a sweet boy and I am so thankful for you! I can't believe in such a short time you will be one! I cherish every day with you and enjoy watching you grow and learn new things. We love you Parker boy.

Day of Big Fun

All bundled up.
We loved seeing all the ICE sculptures.

On Sunday we were free until Joe's show in the afternoon and he had obligations in the morning so he could not join us. While we were at the mall the night before I saw several ads for the ICE exhibit. I checked it out online at the hotel and we decided to go in the morning. Mimi and Pop went with us and it was awesome. The exhibit is at the Gaylord Hotel and it recreates the Grinch Movie out of ice sculpture. The exhibit uses over two million pounds of ice. They give you huge parkas to wear since it is a balmy 9 degrees inside the pavilion. It was awesome! There was even a two story ice slide for the kids and adults:) to go on. At the end of the Grinch scenes they had the nativity out of ice and it told the whole Christmas story and used lighting effects. I am so glad we went to this special event! Afterwards we went to the Gaylord Hotel to walk around. It was decorated so pretty for Christmas and there was a train for the boys to ride. Mimi and Pop had to leave and we stayed for a Santa brunch. There was so much food and it was all delicious! They even had a three piece string quartet strolling around playing Christmas and other fun music. Santa was so sweet with the boys and he looked so cute in his Christmas jammies. After brunch we drove back to our hotel and rested and then had another special treat for the boys. Since Tom was there on business earlier in the week he found Medieval Times right by our hotel and booked us for dinner. It was so much fun and we had great seats right in the front row. The boys loved watching the knights fight:) and compete in various competitions. There favorite parts was being so close to all of the horses. It was a great way to end a fun trip visiting Uncle Joe! We all went to bed early and got all packed up since we had to leave for the airport at 6:30 am, it was another early morning.

A Day in D.C.

What a great day!
Megan took this picture, how beautiful is that!

We all enjoyed our day of fun together.

On Saturday morning we had breakfast and then drove to Washington D.C. I was thankful Tom was the driver and navigator and that I was not driving. He did a great job and we all made it! Our first stop was to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. Tom seriously turned into a five year old little boy the minute we walked in the door. He wanted to go in every exhibit and see all the IMAX movies. I definitely see this museum as a place he will want to visit again. The boys loved seeing all of the planes and checking out all the neat stuff. We saw and IMAX movie about the Hubble telescope that they all enjoyed. Joe and Megan were able to meet us there and we all ate lunch together. After hitting the gift store:), we headed out to the National Mall. It was a lovely day outside and we did not even have to wear coats. We went to the Field Museum and the Museum of American History. What amazing museums all for free!!! We continued our walk to the White House. This was where Baylor wanted to go, but I think he was a little disappointed when he realized we weren't going inside and there was a gate all the way around. Since we had already walked a very long way we got in a taxi and went to the Lincoln Memorial and Washington Monument. The sky was so pretty and it was such a neat place to visit. After taking pictures and looking around we took a taxi back to the car. We all drove to the mall by our hotel and ate dinner and did a little shopping. Tom took the big boys to the Bass Pro Shop to play and I took Parker and shopped with Mom. I found lots of cute things for Christmas presents and was even able to try them on in peace:). It was such a fun day that was jam packed. I loved visiting Washington D.C. and definitely want to go back again.