Thanksgiving! (and early December)

We have so much to be thankful for. I love this time of year because even though our family lives close, we don't see them as often as I'd like and we spend a lot of time together through the holidays.

Michael did much baking in the days leading up to Thanksgiving. We traveled on Thursday down to the Armstrong hunting camp. The weather was perfect. We played and sat on the porch and hung out and ate some delicious food. Kai adores time to play with his cousins and was sad for them to go. Penelope was a bit overwhelmed with all the extra attention.

Sugar cookies!

Loving the great outdoors

We spent the night and then traveled to GA on Friday to help clean out my grandmother's house since she sold it. We made a stop on the way in Auburn so Michael could show Kai the sights.

Tree climbing in Gram's backyard

How we roll. Kai had to have a sun shade.
I laugh every time I look at this picture with all the STUFF we
crammed into the car to keep the kids occupied and entertained.

Kai had fun playing outside at Gram's house one last time. Then on Saturday we drove home. A lot of driving in a short time with two kiddos.

Gigi (the giraffe lovey) and the THUMB. She's set for sleeping.

Sweet smiles. She will pretty predictably smile at you when you talk to her. Still hard to catch with the camera.

Michael headed back to work Monday but the kids and I took several more days to recoup! We did manage to get the house decorated for Christmas though and have enjoyed all the things we only see this time each year.

The deer Kai built out of bristle blocks. I was impressed he did this alone. He has started drawing quite a bit too.

4 months old (w/Tad who sings her to sleep every time she lays down just like he did Kai)

Merry Christmas!! (This would have been all I had for a Christmas card if I'd decided to do one.)

Four months have gone by incredibly fast, but we hardly remember life without Miss Penelope. She cries when hungry or tired, naps like a champ, eats great, and sleeps soundly through the night. We start our days around 8am. Just in the last few weeks she has started smiling regularly and talking up a storm. She has to get zoned in on something she wants to talk to, but she carries on and on once she gets going. I'd say she's a happy baby. She now sucks her thumb to go to sleep and usually rolls onto her side. She will be content for short times on her tummy to play and rolled over twice from front to back on the couch which I'm not sure really counts. She doesn't even attempt it on the floor. She lays on her back very content and kicks her legs and flails her arms. She also sits in the Bumbo seat some but is not a huge fan of having her legs bent at the hips. At her 4 month check up she was 11 lbs 6.5 oz and 23 3/4 in long, 25% for weight and 50-75% for length, skinnier than most babies her age and taller than most babies her age. We plan to wait to start solids until she hits the 6 month mark. But it sure is coming quickly!! Kai can get her to smile faster than anyone and he likes to calm her if she gets fussy in the car. "It's OK Penelope, Kai's right here." I think that sweet voice will stay in my head forever.

From our family to yours, have a very Merry Christmas!!