Our Christmas Tree

I mentioned before that Haley and Allie made our Christmas tree ornaments this year. Here's our finished product. The girls did a great job! This is my favorite ornament! Allie accidentally glued the gingerbread man's smile on upside down. Too cute!

The hearts and stars are finger painted. Here's another gingerbread man.

Haley and Allie made the candy canes out of red and white beads. Obviously we didn't make the princess ornaments. They're a gift from Grammy.

Here's our Christmas train. I had to hide the remote control last year because Haley and Allie wouldn't leave it alone. I hid it so well that I can't find it this year.

Merry Christmas!

Emily Live!

I thought everyone would like to see live footage of Emily. I tried to get her to smile for the camera but didn't have much success. She does look happy though.

Last night Emily sat on the couch with Brent and me. We were waiting for her to get sleepy so we could go to bed (we have the flu). She started cooing and babbling at us and wouldn't stop. It was really funny to listen to her go on and on. I guess she discovered her voice and was trying it out last night. It was so cute!

Popcorn and an Elephant's Memory

A couple of years ago Haley, Allie, and I were driving over the mountain in Huntsville, AL on our way to the YMCA. Haley kept telling me there was popcorn in the sky. It took me about a week to figure out that she was talking about the clouds. Haley called clouds "popcorn" for the longest time. I had forgotten all about this until Haley pointed out the "popcorn" in the sky while we were driving to the park today. She must have remembered. Don't be surprised that she remembers! Haley never forgets anything unless it's convenient for her (like not to double-dip her spoon in the peanut butter jar or run with open umbrellas in the house). One time while playing with a basketball with her cousin Connor, Connor accidentally knocked the ball out of Haley's hands. She insisted that Connor snatched it and talked about it for the next year any time we mentioned Connor's name. Haley remembers our apartment in Huntsville, people she met a long time ago, and songs we taught her a long time ago. She also knows the songs of all the Disney princesses. She likes me to sing her one before she goes to bed. She has the memory of an elephant. Brent says whoever Haley marries better stay on his toes or he's going to be in big trouble!

Christmas Preparations

I thought it would be fun for Haley and Allie to make their own Christmas tree ornaments this year. The entire tree is decorated in ornaments they made. They were very excited to decorate the tree this year. The tree actually looks really cute in their home-made art. Haley and Allie tend to cluster all the ornaments on one spot of the tree, so I go behind and rearrange a little. I'll post a picture of our finished product once all the ornaments dry and the girls hang them. We've had a lot of fun. This might be our new family tradition!

So Grown Up

Haley and Allie always seems so grown up for their age. They always want to do "big girl" things. Allie's favorite phrase lately is, "I do it myself!" Even when she knows she can 't do it herself, she insists on trying before asking for help. I admire her persistence.

Haley is an expert on using the computer. Brent put links on the computer desktop to Haley's and Allie's favorite websites and computer games. They love "Playhouse Disney" and Sesamestreet.org. They also play computer games that teach letters and phonics. Haley has no trouble navigating all over her favorite websites, choosing videos to watch, controlling the volume, and locking the computer when she's done. Our computer is password protected because it's the only way to keep the girls off the computer when we're not able to watch them.

Tonight after their baths I was drying Allie's hair and, of course, she wanted to do it herself. I thought it would be fun to post some pictures on the blog. She actually did a really good job. Haley was making all the noise in the background while I was taking the video. And yes, she's usually that noisy.

3 Months Old

Emily was 3 months old on Saturday. The first two pictures were taken within the last couple of weeks. The bottom pictures were taken at 2 weeks old. I just wanted everyone to see how much she's growing. Ican't believe how quickly it's gone by.

Emily is a really good baby. She wakes up once during the night, is a good eater, and fusses only when she needs something. She always wakes up happy and when she smiles she has a little dimple in her cheek. It's too cute! Oddly enough, she even likes to watch football with Brent. She's daddy's little girl.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! We missed seeing everyone in Florida this year, but we had fun visiting Brent's family and my Uncle Ric and Aunt Kat. It was nice to leave the work and chores behind to spend extra time playing with the girls. They baked peanut butter cookies, played croquet, helped rake leaves, watched the new "Tinkerbell" movie, made homemade pizza, hiked on Uncle Ric and Aunt Kat's mountain, played with their cousins, and terrorized Grammy's cat (not intentionally.) Like everyone else we're preparing for Christmas. We'll put up the tree and toy train this Saturday. Haley, Allie, and I will spend the week making ornaments for the tree. This year the tree will be decorated with gingerbread men, stars, snowmen, hearts, and garland made by Haley and Allie. We're going to have lots of fun!