We have returned...

We're back. We returned Wednesday, getting home around 10:30 p.m......we didn't leave my mom's until about 10 a.m., much later than anticipated. It was a decent trip home, though a bit less exciting since we had nothing to look forward to as we did on the way there. We were glad to be home in our own beds, though. We had a great time with our families, jut wish we'd had more time to spend with everyone. It's always such a whirlwind trip, trying to get in time with family from both sides. And it is hard to leave....I'm always a bit sad as we travel home that we don't live right near everyone. :(

We have slept in late the last two days, catching up on missed sleep. We've also celebrated a birthday, spent some time cleaning up, and played with many of our new things. We will be going through the house to get rid of some things...we will donate (hopefully A LOT) it to Goodwill. We've almost gotten rid of all the colds that have been running through the family. I was the last one and am feeling much better. We all have the remnants of a cough here and there, otherwise we're feeling fine. So far Autumn has missed it....I'm praying it stays that way.

Gotta go. I'll be back tomorrow.....the beginning of a whole new year.

A road trip...we think

Unless something changes, we are all planning to go to Alabama for Christmas. I have been getting things gathered up today, and if everything goes well with Karl's appointments tomorrow, we will leave here on Wednesday. We went ahead and decorated a small tree (decided to get one after all) yesterday and opened gifts with the kids last night. We did warn them that if we are unable to go to Nana and Paw Paw's for any reason they wouldn't have anything to open Christmas morning...they said it wouldn't be an issue....hopefully we won't need to test them on that.

I still need to wrap gifts for those I bought for back home, but that should be easy to get done tomorrow. We also need to go drop books off at the library, but I will do that when I'm out taking Hailey to her horseback riding lesson. Other than that, we just have to get all our clothing into a bin and load it on the truck, gather bags of travel activities for each of the kids, and prepare snacks and drinks for traveling and we'll be ready to leave as soon as we've eaten Wednesday morning. Everyone is anxious to visit with all the family and I'm sure our time for leaving for home will come all too quickly. We're going to savor it while we can.

Our purchases....and other pics

Corbin's teeny tree.
Emma helped me make cranberry bread this week.We had lots of fun!
We bought a mini tree for Hailey's room....here is what she did to it when we got home.

We found some boots too...I'll have to post a picture later when we are all wearing them.

How busy is your Christmas season?

We have been busy, busy, busy around here....trying to get our cranberry muffins made for all the SAINTS coaches (I still have to get them packaged), took Hailey to her horseback riding lesson, went to the library, did some laundry, etc., etc. More I didn't list but you get the idea. Both days this week have been like that and I see no end in sight....too much to do before we have to leave for my parents' house next week. I have more gifts to wrap and possibly more to buy....have to check out what I have and make sure I didn't miss someone...I'm pretty sure I did. I need to pack...and figure out how we're going to take everything we'll need.

We are really looking forward to the trip though. We need to see some people we've been missing. I'm very excited that I'll get to see my brother and his family, whom we have not visited with since Emma was about 5 months old. Crazy! And now we have another baby girl for them to meet.

We decided not to put up a tree. I have mixed feelings about that. I have always loved Christmas and wrapping presents and at least decorating a little bit. Things have just been so crazy....and now we're so close to leaving, we decided we won't do it this time. I think next year we may stay home for Christmas and then we can really decorate. And of course we hope some family will come to see us here next year....

I need to go get a few things before we're ready for the cold weather in Alabama. Logan's jacket is too small, and Hailey's is too, so we're handing Logan's down to her and we'll buy a new one for him. I'm sure Corbin will need a new one too.....I've no idea where his is anyway, in a box somewhere. Emma got one that fits perfectly from our neighbor whose daughter is about 8 months older than her....along with about a zillion pieces of clothing that are too cute. She is set for winter....Autumn has plenty too. I have everything I need except some gloves, so I'll probably go to Target and hit their $1 section. Mmmmm, and maybe try to find some of those cute warm boots I never got in NY..and some for Emma and Hailey. We girls gotta have some cute boots for winter! I found gloves at Target for all the kids about a week ago. They're just cheap ones, but they should work for the short amount of time we'll need them...if we need them; the weather could be warm while we're there. Karl has hats, gloves, and a jacket so no need to buy him any gear.

I'm still trying to finish the novel I've been reading for about a month now....I still read pretty fast, just have much less time for reading fiction. Most of the reading I do these days is necessary...instructions, self-help, the bible, etc. Though those are still pleasurable. But I love to find a good series and read them all. Usually when I find an author I like I will read his or her books until I've been through all the titles the library has. Now, since discovering that I can request books from other branches (I know.....I must have been living in the dark ages!), I often put a book on hold and look forward to its arrival. If you have any great Christian authors you love, please recommend. I'd love to discover a new one!

Autumn's 2-month check-up...

I took Autumn in for her 2-month check-up today. She normally is sleeping in the mornings, not very alert, so it was fun to get to 'talk' with her this morning while we were waiting for the doctor to come in. Her weight is 10 pounds 10 ounces and she is 22 1/4 inches long. The doctor said her height and weight "are beautiful." Yay! She's doing great, and actually slept through the night again for us last night. That makes about 5 times she's done that so far....praying it will begin to happen more and more. I'd love to have her sleeping through the night by 3 months, at least most of the time, but she doesn't seem to be on board with 'the plan' yet. ;) It did feel good to wake up at 6:30 a.m......to the alarm.....and realize she had not gotten me up in the middle of the night. She had some more immunizations today. We don't go back now until her 4-month appointment in February. I can't believe she's so old already....she'll be 9 weeks on Sunday, and today is actually her 2-month birthday. We should make a cake or something.....

A message from a 'local' boy...

Listening to Merry Christians this morning. Shawn Kennedy grew up in my home county and is now a pastor in San Diego, California.

A doctor visit...and more

Last week, after being home from Grandma and Grandpa's for a few days, Corbin's eyes were still bothering him (he has many allergies.....one of which is dust mites......and we had him sleeping on a carpet, which is typically full of them), so I decided to take him to the doctor. One of his eyes seemed especially bothersome and I wanted to make sure he had not developed some sort of infection. The nurse practitioner gave us some eye drops to use for a few days to get rid of the itchiness, and just as a precaution, put him on an antibiotic to get rid of any infection if it was there, though she said she really thought it was only irritated. His eye looked much better by the next morning and the itchiness stopped almost immediately. He is on the antibiotic until it's gone, which should be by the weekend. While we were there they checked out Autumn too, and she weighed 10 pounds 5 ounces. She goes back for her official 2-month check-up on Friday, so I'll be back then to post details.

Hailey has been working on a very special gift for some folks in our family. I really think you'll be duly impressed and especially blessed by her hard work. I'm very proud of her!

Some photos to enjoy...

I ordered some hair accessories for the girls....so far Emma likes putting them on and taking them off better than wearing them. Autumn doesn't seem to mind too much, though they are still a little large for her head.

Emma found a little friend at the dentist's office.
We love each other. ;)
Aunt Kristen had Thanksgiving Day crafts ready to go.....
Autumn with her slightly older (and BIGGER) cousin Gus....Emma got in on the action, too.
Karl's parents with all their grandkids.
Grandpa and Grandma with their newest grandbabies.
Grandpa and Autumn enjoying the evening together.
Emma loved the flowers.