Snowed In

If you watch the national weather, you know the details of last week's snow storm. Lots and lots of snow on Tuesday and by Friday we were feeling pretty good about the digging out process, until we got another round of lots of snow. Schools have been cancelled since last Tuesday and they aren't going back tomorrow either. (On a side note, lucky for us that Kate goes to private school so we had school today!!) Bottom line, we had a lot of time on our hands last week. Together time! In the house, together time!! I told Ryan on Saturday that now that we've experienced that, I totally have a new appreciation for the movie "The Shining"...just kidding!:) Sadly, we are expected to get round 3 tomorrow night so we'll be pulling out all the stops to keep ourselves entertained. In the mean time, enjoy our "snowed in" pictures. Happy winter!

Snowflake making...used to make these in school

but sadly couldn't remember how. Thank

goodness for Google!

Finished product

Ready to go outside. Not sure

why Maggie looks like she's

about to punch someone?!

Eating lunch in our front window while watching

our neighbor dig his car out. You'd have to

know our neighbor to "get" why this was

entertainment...for 45 minutes! (He was

unsuccessful)

Ben moved around alot...on the Boppy

Doing tummy time

In the swing

Lots of time to play Barbies

Lots of time to watch movies

Snowballs being thrown at everyone...dogs not

excluded!

The girls were so proud, until Lucy tried to eat

the carrot and raisins and knocked the snowman

down!

Mickey's Magic Show

Maggie and I went with our friends, Terra and Kynlee, to Mickey's Magic Show on Sunday. Mags LOVES Mickey so I knew that she would be thrilled to go. She loved the show and loved all the characters that were part of the "magic."

With her Mickey binoculars - souvenir of choice!

Waiting patiently for the show to begin

Excited to see "Mick"

The grand finale

Cold Weather Fun

This is mostly a picture post of what we've been doing the past few weeks. With it being cold everyday, we have to find ways to keep ourselves entertained inside. Kate is already asking "when is it going to be warm again?" I think we're in for a looong winter!:)

Loving their spikes!

Pigtails - we obviously have a

hair trend going!

We left Maggie alone at the table for about 5

minutes and we came back to her playing

in her mustard...that's what we get!

A stay at home in our pjs day

Kylan was such a good sport to play dress up

with Kate and Caroline!

This is what Ben does most of the time...keeps

him warm!

Couldn't wait to get out in the snow!

Snow angel

Maggie's snow angel just had

wings, no legs!

Matching snowman outfits for church

2 months old!

Sweet Ben is 2 months old today! He is a big boy...at his 6 week check up, he weighed 12.8 lbs. and was 23 in. long. That put him in the 90% for weight and 80% for height.

Some "firsts" for Ben:

• He is sleeping through the night. I use the term "sleeping" loosely because he no longer takes a bottle in the middle of the night but he does cry out once or twice. It's never long enough to make us get out of bed so in my book, that's sleeping through the night!


• His first smile was on December 27th. He has a sweet smile but you really have to work at it to get him to do it. Maybe he's going to be our serious child?!


• He saw his first snow...well actually his first two snows. We had a dusting a couple of weeks ago and then we had two snow days last Thursday and Friday. He slept through the snow play with his sisters!


• Ben had his first "play date" with his friends, Brooks and Brady Cariker (1 month old twins) and Mary Cate McCants (4 months). Brooks, Brady and Ben slept the entire time so Mary Cate was unimpressed with her play date buddies!


• Oh, and he seems to have his first cold. I'm not surprised though, the girls have been coughing and dealing with runny noses and Ryan is fighting a sore throat. He's acting fine but he has a case of the snorts so I think he's a bit stopped up. Nothing "Little Noses" and a nose bulb can't fix!

Ben is a good baby. He is very quiet and only cries when he's hungry, ready to get out of bed, or his sister(s) are in his business too much! I sometimes find myself looking in my rear view mirror of the car to make sure that I remembered to put him in!:) We love having Ben in our family and couldn't imagine it any other way. He is definitely a blessing!

Already a Jayhawk fan

First snow

Yes, the boys stayed in their car seats. Only

Mary Cate was awake to get out and play.

(Ben is in the blue seat)

Yes Sir!

As I've made you aware, Maggie isn't much of an entertainer in large crowds but she loves to sing and hum at home. (She's sort of like her PopPop in that regard!) I'm always amazed at what songs she sings and that she actually knows most of the words.

Last night I heard her singing a song that she apparently learned at school. She has the words and the motions down and I actually got her to perform it for me. So...here is Maggie singing "I'm in the Lord's Army."

Christmas and more Christmas!

We had a great Christmas! We started the celebrating on the 21st and didn't stop until the 25th. Busy, yes, but fun to be with family. Hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!!

Children's party at SH with our cousins,

William and Coleman (Preston was too busy

to be in this picture!)

SH Children's party with Glammy and Papaw

Celebrating Christmas with Nanny and Bumps

Oh yea, a Mickey doctor kit

Kate got lots of Rapunzel presents and loved

every single one of them!

Ready to open presents at Glammy and Papaw's

Modeling his new chair and looking super

uncomfortable doing so!

A princess doll or a Barbie...either way

the girls were happy

Christmas Eve at Mimi and PopPop's

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve

I don't know who like who more...

Kate or Elizabeth?!

Christmas morning

Peeking through the banister to see what

Santa brought

Woo-hoo...a "Mickey dances"

Santa must have thought Kate was good

this year because he brought what she

asked for...a Tiana costume

Ben "asked" for a tummy time mat. Doesn't he

look super excited to have gotten it?!

Listening to Kamryn read the Christmas story

A KU tricycle for Ben

Kate loved her Scootch from Mimi

and PopPop

Maggie's Mickey car

Taking it easy the day after Christmas

So fun! Roasting hotdogs and

marshmallows in the outdoor fireplace

1 Month!

Sweet Ben celebrated his month birthday on the 23rd. In his first month he has gotten to where he's only up once in the night, eats 5-6 oz. a feeding, is eating every 4 hours during the day, and is growing like crazy. In the last couple of days, he's also started smiling at us but we really have to work for it.

Ben has gone everywhere with us....dance, school parties, Christmas parties, church, and to Haslet for Christmas. He is a dream! He rarely cries, and if he does is easily pacified, is very tolerant of his sisters, and just goes with the flow. Hopefully this sticks and he'll be an easy baby!

Enjoy the pictures of his first month!

Brand new

Resting at the hospital

Happy Thanksgiving!

1st night in his crib

1st time to go to church