Christmas Card Shoot

My friend Sarah graciously took some pictures of our family in hopes of a decent one for the Christmas card.  I could not find outfits for pictures for the life of me, so we went with what we had around the house.  Timing was not stellar either--for some dumb reason we took them around 6:00, after dance, after a full day at school, and at dinner time...DUMB!  So really I cannot complain with the outcome since the odds were stacked pretty high against us.  All in all, we did get a few good ones!

And our personal favorite...

This about sums up how we were all feeling at the end!

What's that? I can't hear you!

Baby girl has spent half of her little life with ear infections.  She has had 5 double ear infections in her short little life, and we had gotten pretty good at detecting them.  Our pediatrician referred us to an ENT, and he said this was a clear case of a girl in desperate need of some tubes!  Bless her poor heart...she failed 3 out of 4 hearing tests in BOTH ears!  We're thinking this now explains why she doesn't really say any words at 11 months. 

We got surgery scheduled, and today we went to have it done.  I have been VERY anxious for the past week or so thinking about this surgery.  I know that this is as routine as a c-section these days and these doctors do a million of these a day, but there's still nothing that can quite prepare you for your baby being put under anesthesia.  Ironic thing (or more like God speaking), our small group just watched a lesson on fear.  One of the things talked about in the lesson was how the things you fear the most are the areas in which you trust God the least.  This really hit me hard because I fear losing my children on a way too often basis!  I kept praying for God to take this fear from me and replace it with the peace that only He can give.  We went in, and I could feel all the thoughts and prayers being lifted then.  Lilly did great, and the surgery went off without a hitch.  It's amazing how God gives us those "slap in the face" moments when you realize He really does have control.  Thankful for a successful and uneventful surgery and hoping our Little Boo can finally hear and get some relief!

Homework

Lainey's Pre-K teachers are seriously amazing!  They do SO MUCH for these kids every day, and I am constantly amazed by their dedication, creation, and organization...not to mention their love for our baby girl.  This week, they started giving homework.  Homework in Pre-K?!?!  Absolutely!  From talking with the neighbors, I know she is going to have homework next year in Kindergarten, so I'm glad her teachers are getting all of us used to it now!  They assign it each Monday and it is due Wednesday.  I wanted to document her first night, so here it is!  Coloring, cutting, and sorting the numbers from 1-10.  She did this all completely by herself with me only checking it at the end.  So proud of this sweet girl!



My favorite quote from the night: "I LOVE homework!"

Finished product

Halloween 2012

I've not really ever been a huge fan of Halloween, but it's kind of a big deal up here.  People go all out decorating their houses, and there are seasonal Halloween stores everywhere!  Jovan's starting to buy into the whole Halloween thing too.  Me, I just like to decorate pumpkins and figure out fun Halloween costumes! :)

This year we all painted pumpkins.  Can you tell which one belongs to which family member?!?

This is what the girls wore to school on Halloween.  I was up a little late the night before making these outfits.  One of these days I'll learn my lesson and not put it off until the last minute!  Lainey had a Halloween program in her class.  They sang three songs and had some "witches brew" afterwards with the parents.  Luckily Jovan was able to be there to see it.  Thank God for flexible jobs!

These are the girls' costumes this year.  Lainey had the choice between Batman and Robin and Pinkalicious and her cupcake, so this is what she chose.  I figured this may be my last year to have them coordinate for awhile, so I took full advantage!

Our family costumes
The Riddler, Robin, Batgirl, and Catwoman

All of the kids in our Small Group

There is a tradition in our Circle that all the kids get together for pictures and trick or treating.  After we herd them all for pictures, we let them go get candy from everyone on our Circle first.  We then go in one huge gang through our neighborhood.  I didn't get to go last year because I was huge and pregnant, so I was amazed to watch the whole charade this year.  It was so fun to watch all the kids run from house to house and get to hang out with our neighbors. 

Such an innocent face for a candy theif!

Happy Halloween from our little pumpkins!