Merry Christmas!

Its the eve of Christmas Eve, so I am sending you warm wishes for a very Merry Christmas from all of us.

Invision our proclaimation "Christ is born" in about 30 hours!

I have been attempting to get a nice Christmas photo of the kids together for months. Here are some attempts...some rather pathetic (ear infection?), others are pretty funny. Andrew is on the move in most of them.

St. Nicholas party photos. This really was so much fun for the kids. I am so appreciative of the time the moms who organized this put into the party.

We have all be under the weather at some point the last two weeks and most of us have been dealing with one or two issues. David is feeling better for those of you that know he was under the weather (for 4 weeks). Thanks be to God! Andrew and Samantha have both had stomach viruses and ear infections. I had the stomach virus and a cold which lead to a sore throat/horse voice. But, we are hoping for better health in the new year. Andrew hasn't gained any weight in two months which sort of bothers me, but I am doing all I can to get him nourishment. He just doesn't really want to eat much right now.

We are really looking forward to Christmas and seeing David's family. We will miss my family, but you will all be in our prayers. I may go a new direction with the blog in the new year. But that will depend on my mood. I am thinking I would like to be more reflective of our experiences, but that would also more organization of my thoughts.

Stream of Consciousness

There is no real title for this post because there is so much going on I cannot figure out how to summarize. I thought about breaking down the update (and did alittle, see below) but my thoughts aren't even organized enough for that right now.

Kids are growing. Andrew is really challenging me right now. He has periods where he doesn't want anything but to cry. He will have taken a nap, been fed, nursed and still wants to cry. I can pick him up and he will stop for a few moments and then start diving to the ground, so I put him down and then it starts again. He even throws his head on the floor sometimes. Its an 11 month old version of a temper tantrum... not really looking forward to his 3 year old version!

He has started table food and went on a food strike for awhile. The last couple days have been better. He was basically eating fruit and starchs before. Today I managed to sneak in some carrots! Thank goodness. He went from eating any baby food you can imagine to refusing to eat off a spoon.

Samantha has taken off with her vocabulary and when we call for her we hear alot of "in a minute" or silence. If its silence we ask her to come again and then she'll say "I am coming" (with attitude!). She is still working puzzles but also like imaginative play and building with blocks.

We are trying to incorporate some new traditions for the kids this Advent. I made an Advent calendar and we are participating in a Jesse Tree ornament exchange. We dont' have our tree up :( (Davids under the weather), and I was going to try to take Samantha with me to pick one out but she keeps saying she doesn't want a tree?! Its mildy disturbing to me. I showed her pictures from last year -- that didn't help. I think she might actually be overwhelmed by all of it. We went to a St. Nicholas party yesterday at church and she enjoyed herself for about an hour, after that I couldn't get her to sit still and listen to the story Father was telling. I have to remind myself she is only 3. She can be so grown up sometimes and then falls apart 2 minutes later.

We had a good trip to Ohio. Traveling always has its challenges (like 3 hours of screaming while stuck in a traffic jam), but it was worth it to see the family. Aunt Amanda (above) and Uncle Joe are doing well. We spent some time with them both at my parents and at their house. They are looking forward to the holidays. Amanda is having some minor surgery on her hand this week, and will be off for about 3 weeks. Then in January they will have to go to TX for their nat'l sales meeting and then they have a Dowling Family vacation planned in some warm place! Heather's family get's their own update (see below).

I have more photos but I cannot get them off my camera today for some reason....so check back soon.

As if there was ever a question

Who does Andrew (AJ) look like?

Check this out...

I know. I know. Nice outfit. I prefer the 6 month photo I brought back, but this is at 1 year and since Andrew is 11 months I thought it was a more fair comparison.

(5 minutes later) I changed my mind. I couldn't leave you all thinking my mom dressed me like that all the time. At 6 months....

Growing cousins! 5 of them in OHIO!

My sister, Heather and Brad announce they are expecting cousin #5. We are so excited for them. It was Brad's birthday. No surprise that his wish is for a boy this time. Heather was glowing. Joe said he could tell the moment he saw her that she was pregnant. My parents had no idea. Luckily, Heather hasn't had much morning sickness so far (unlike her previous pregnancies). The baby is due June 22nd. Hope I didn't spoil the news for anyone! I have known for weeks because I needed to bring the maternity clothes back up to Ohio for her.

Clare is doing great! She and Andrew played well together as long as they weren't competing for their mommies! She is talking a little. Running around alot and giving high fives.

Sophia is changing so much. I think she is much more shy than she used to be. Here she is with her turkey feathers and snuggling with Uncle David. Samantha and I were able to go watch her dance class while we were home. We had to hide or she would stop dancing.

Isabelle celebrated her 7th birthday while we were in town. She is still loving dolls, but is really into singing and dancing. They played alot of Karoke at her birthday party. Isabelle also has a shy side, but she is coming into her own!

Anna. Well, Anna is a splitting image of her mom. It almost freaks me out when I look at her. Its like seeing my big sister all over again. Anna is very bright. She reads like a maniac, loves to sing, dance and push all her little sisters' buttons! Below Anna is with her cousin, Gracie.

We had a great time visiting with the cousins. It was so nice to see Samantha playing with them. Even 6 months ago she was to timid and a year ago she was still in parallel play mode. Now she 'makes friends with her cousins and her cousins' cousins (like Gracie and Lily).