Which is better...

the present or the box it came in?  Their present boxes were the houses.  Lincoln might have gotten the shaft.

Early Christmas

Rachel and Lincoln got their big Christmas presents early because we didn't want to bring them to my parents.  We're not very good at the Santa tradition.  So far Rachel hasn't been concerned that Santa uses FedEx, delivers presents early, and uses our wrapping paper. 

What's next?

Every night I can't leave Rachel's room without her asking, "What's next?"  I have to tell her something exciting enough for her satisfaction about the next day or I'll get a series of questions that delays bedtime.  Usually my "what's next," isn't exciting enough.  My mom gave us the 12 days of Christmas countdown where they get to open a little treat every day and so now all I have to say is tomorrow we get to open a present, and then she'll go right to bed.  Thanks Mom!

Independent

You might notice that everyone is in their pajamas for this ward Christmas party...except Rachel (and Santa and Mrs. Clause).  I tried to use the band wagon approach to get Rachel to wear her pajamas but she just told me, "I don't want to be like other people."  Christmas means Christmas dress to her.  She just learned about the Santa tradition and was excited to see him, but later she admitted she was a little nervous.

The Last Snowman

We thought we had built our last snow man when we left PA and were surprised by this snow storm. (ps- I'm grateful Joe was willing to make the snowman with them and I just got to be the snowman accessory provider and photographer from the door.)

I love KY

 

First of all.  We went to get our licenses and I had a huge zit, which somehow the camera didn't pick up.  Second, when we went to get our car registered this guy stopped traffic so I could get my kids safely to the car and I had several others offer to help.  I felt like a queen.

Hair Cut

I was trying to blend Hannah's hair and I messed up, so she's starting out with fresh #5 clippered hair.

Thanksgiving

Apparently we forgot to take any pictures when we were at Joe's parent's house for Thanksgiving, but look at the cool trick Hannah can do.

Sweet/Not so Sweet

Sometimes being a parent has its sweet moments and some not so sweet moments. Here's an example below.

Here Rachel put the nativity people to sleep before she went to bed. Very Sweet.

 Here is one of Lincoln's favorite new hobbies of throwing whatever he can get his hands on behind the couch. As soon as he grabs something small enough that will fit, you can see the light go off and he'll start running to the couch and throw it down there. Not so sweet.

To cut or not to cut

Hannah has had a mohawk since birth and it's not growing out like I had hoped.  Do I cut it  or let it grow?

Christmas Picture Time

We went to take our Christmas pictures at JCP and there wasn't a single kid picture that was worth buying.  I tried to do decent kid pictures myself and I got the same results.  Our last resort is photoshop. 

Jamma Time

Whenever it's time for bed Joe will do a "Jamma Time" rap for the kids that Rachel and Lincoln love and try to rap back.  It's really funny to listen to.

Real Bloggers

I don't think we'd be real bloggers if we didn't post pictures of our children at Halloween. These are a few of my (Joe) favorite pictures that we got. We went to a member's house who's neighborhood did the Halloween on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, and they started at 5, so we were able to do it nice and early. After that the couple had soup and treats for everyone. It was a great time and the kids got me some great candy to snack on. Much better than what we bought to pass out.

Here Rachel is in the true Halloween Spirit at a full sprint.

Not the best picture, but Hannah needed some camera time. Melanie bought that costume over a year ago, so we had to get a picture of Hannah in it.

Lincoln didn't want anything to do with his costume at Trunk-o-treat, but he was all about it for Trick-o-treat. He loves to roar at everyone, especially his sister who hates it.

Squished Bread and Shameless Bribes

Lincoln went to new heights by breaking lose from me at ALDI and then jumping in the crate of bread.  I wasn't aware of it until a man told me I shouldn't let my kid jump in the bread and play in it like a sand box.  What great parenting advice.  I developed a fear of bringing children to the grocery store and decided to pull out all the stops by giving candy in short intervals for good children.  Nothing was destroyed on the next trip so I consider it a success.  The picture is of our dream baby Hannah at the grocery store.  She's the only one who doesn't need bribes to be good. 

I know I'm biased but

This girl is cute

Hotel Naps...

...don't happen. This is Lincoln's new nap spot.  It's the only one that works.

The New House

I finally got to show Rachel and Lincoln our future house.   The grandma and grandpa tub is their favorite part.  FYI-  Lincoln is trying to tell me what he did in his pants while I was taking this picture hence his awkward stance

Hannah's Smiles

I was trying to figure out which picture of Hannah smiling to post and then I remembered this is a blog.  The more pictures the better right? The drool comes at no extra charge.

We did it!

We have been told we need to start a blog and we finally did it! I'll figure out how to make this blog fancy some day but for now we'll just post our excitement for today. Lincoln let us put on his Sunday clothes without throwing a fit for thirty plus minutes!