Photo Shoot

 Liz and Eric came to visit in November and stayed a whole weekend with us. We got to hang out and catch up and even got a photo shoot with Liz which is always a special treat! We took her to downtown Louisville and she loved it as a backdrop. I'm still in awe of how talented she is and she only spent about 20 minutes taking pictures, no lie!! You can see her fabulous work at www.westwaterweddings.com

Normally we only get to see her for a few hours as she has so many friends to visit when she comes to town, but it was so great to spend a couple of days with she and Eric. It's pretty cool to me that we all met at the same time when they moved into my house back in 2005 and here we are, Kole and I married and all still great friends. We had some great times all living together and have good fun when we see each other :)

Santa 2012

We took the kids to the mall to see Santa a couple of Saturdays before Christmas. We had to wait in a long line which wasn't easy, but Payton was really good. She ran up and gave him a huge hug and jumped on his lap so she was happier then she looks in the picture. Grant actually waited until after the picture to start screaming so he looks happier about it then he was. The only thing Payton asked Santa for (and us several times) is a hippopotamus, and not the stuffed kind. Thanks to Aunt Kelsey and her love for a certain holiday tune, Payton has it stuck in her mind that she wants a hippopotamus for Christmas! :)

We have had to talk a lot about why a real hippo would not make a great pet so she won't be disappointed in Santa on Christmas morning!

8 Months

Grant turned 8 months old on December 6th! He continues to keep us on our toes, is full of personality and snuggles and had a month full of firsts.

Grant, at 8 months you:

• Are crawling everywhere and have been since around Thanksgiving
• Are starting to pull up on furniture and walk around it
• Still prefer mom if I'm in sight and have had us paged out of church the last several weeks
• Still adore your sister and now that you are mobile you will find her if you can and crawl all over her. She's pretty good about it and will get down and wrestle with you a bit
• Caught your first cold, case of croup, and an ear infection from your sister
• Sleep 11-13 hours at night and still struggle to nap consistently, but I think we might be getting closer
• Like to eat food, but are picky about veggies and consistency. Could take or leave your bottle, but don't take a sippy cup quite yet so we have to fight you to drink a lot of the time
• Are still in size 3 diapers and 9-12 month clothing
• You laugh and smile a lot, but also have a bit of a temper
• Add so much fun and joy to our family, we love you!!

These are pictures from Children's urgent care where Grant and I made a visit one night. He was obsessed with his little hospital bracelet and hadn't smiled all day until we were sitting in the room waiting for the doctor, such a stinker!

Thanksgiving

We had a nice relaxing Thanksgiving holiday this year. Kelsey and Josh hosted at their house so we got to wake up Thanksgiving Day and relax and hang out. I had made the dishes we were taking on Wednesday so we didn't even have to cook. Payton didn't seem 100% that day, but wasn't really complaining about anything. By dinner time though she had developed a fever and was feeling pretty crummy so that ended our evening early which was a bummer. She ended up sick for several days and got her first ear infection, she also shared with Grant who ended up with croup and an ear infection. We were down for a little over a week, made one doctor's office visit and two urgent care visits, and didn't get much sleep, it was rough! It was certainly not the Thanksgiving I had envisioned, however, I am so thankful that their sicknesses are short lived and few and far between, I can't imagine what it's like to have a child that is chronically ill.

Looking back at the pictures she was obviously not feeling right

Snuggles with Nana

Payton had a quick photo shoot with Papa :)