Merry Christmas!!

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

Luke 2:13-14

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

This Christmas especially we are praising God for all the wonderful gifts he has given us this past year. We are so thankful for his faithfulness to all of us and how he formed Addyson and Braden and we can truly say "Glory to God in the highest!!" We pray that you take time to give glory to God for the blessings of this past year and look forward to his faithfulness in the year to come.

And now, here are our Christmas pictures as promised!

The race is on!!!

Addyson is crawling all over the place!!! I know I'm just a little biased but she has to be the cutest crawler ever!! She is so little and she sort of "clomps". She raises her hands really high in the air before she puts them down. She's getting a little more steady but at first especially she looked like a baby horse or deer trying to walk for the first time.





She is very excited that she can now get to toys, chase after Braden, and get closer to mommy. Addyson and Braden are both all over the place and enjoying exploring the house together! They are starting to babble more and repeat syllables, especially Addyson.


Here are some of Braden's favorite places to play-

under the bar stools

in front of the mirror in our closet - he smiles and smiles at that handsome boy!

Addyson "helped" me wrap presents. And Braden is trying to "help" me unwrap them. He has found them under the tree and likes to feel them - he can't really unwrap them but some of you may get a special added gift of Braden drool and bent paper!!!

Addyson set a new record of 9 hours of continuous sleep last night!!! I think God gave me an early Christmas present!!! I'm sure it won't continue but I'm enjoying it!!!

We tried some chunkier food and no one was impressed with my cooking. We'll keep trying! They are loving apple juice and sweet potato puffs!!!


Here are some other pictures from this week -

Please pray with us!

Please join us with your prayers for Julie and Ian Johnson - friends that Ryan went to high school with. Today they welcomed a precious little girl, Calla Jayne, into their family. She came almost 14 weeks early. They have a tough journey ahead of them. Here's a link to their blog:

http://www.breezyacresfarm.blogspot.com/

Too cute!!

We caught 2 of the cutest videos of Addyson and Braden last night.

We were trying to get footage of Addyson playing with this rattle. She loves to hit things and make noise - especially on the wood floor. But we were in for a surprise when we caught her first successful attempt at crawling!!! I guess you would call it her first "creep" - she only went one creep but we are so excited for her!! She wasn't sure what all the fuss was about and I think we sort of scared her because we were so noisy and excited!!!

And here is Braden just hanging out on the floor making noise. What a cutey!!

We had our scheduled 9 month visit to the pediatrician this morning. Addyson weighs 12 pounds 0.4 ounces and is 23.5 inches long (still in the less than 1 percentile) but her head circumfrence is 43.5 cm which is in the 31st percentile!! She looked great and continues to be on her own growth curve which the pediatrician is happy with. She continues to develop just fine! Braden weighs 21 pounds 1.6 ounces which is in the 54th percentile and is 27.5 inches long which is in the 19th percentile. In other words he's short and round - a cute little chub!!! His head circumfrence is 45.5 cm which is in the 51st percentile. They're both looking great and at about 8 months as far as their development so they're starting to catch up to their actual instead of their adjusted age. We'll be starting some table food and taking Addyson off her Reglan and Prevacid since she is doing so much better with barely any spitting up - hard to believe we used to fight her to eat and then watch her spit it all up screaming. We are so thankful for a great report - the Lord has blessed us with 2 healthy babies!!!

Addyson and Braden have been busy playing together. They love to laugh!! Braden is enjoying roaming all over the house!!! He is finding all sorts of fun things to play with!!! He is really starting to move faster - he practices on his hands and knees but doesn't really get anywhere that way, although he is starting to use his knees more to help push him instead of just pulling himself with his arms. He likes to play under the piano, especially with the pedals and it's even more fun when I'm playing!!! Here's proof that this year I got the Christmas tree up!!! Last year I was so exhausted by the time I got home from work that we didn't even decorate the house. I got to enjoy a beautiful tree at work right in front of my desk so it just didn't seem worth the effort last year. The kids like to look at the tree and if I hold Addyson up to it she loves to feel it. Braden has played with the tree skirt a few times but he's not really too interested in bothering the tree yet. We'll see if he changes his mind before the tree comes down!!

It snowed and Ryan brought some snow in - he and Braden made a snow man. Neither kid was too excited about the cold snow!!!

Holding hands in their highchairs - they sure love each other a lot!!!

Addyson showing off her pearly whites -- (Braden's second tooth is just pushing through too but I haven't got any good pics of him yet - he's too busy to stop for a picture!!!)


Addyson is starting to get frustrated that Braden can crawl and she can't - he leaves the room she's in to go exploring and she's stuck!!! She spends lots of time on her hands and knees rocking; she'll get it figured out soon and when she does look out world - we think she is going to be super fast!!!

Another one of her new moves --

She has also learned a new noise/face. She breathes in and out through her nose really fast and makes the funniest face. She's not mad - but she looks and sounds like an irritated bull that is ready to stampede. She is so hilarious!!

Here's a video of the kids playing together - Braden makes Addyson belly laugh like no one else can. She thinks it is so fun when Braden crawls up to her. And this is proof also of Braden's continued toy stealing.

So, I got the tree up but don't look for Christmas cards in the mail. I had hopes of a cute Christmas card with the kids on it but it just isn't happening. It is not easy to get 2 9 month olds to be awake and happy at the same time - with clean matching clothes on - and it's just hard to find time. Even time to do standard Christmas cards so I'm sorry but it's not happening. We finally did a photo shoot at home and got some good pictures of the kids. I'll give you a sneak preview - more to come at Christmas!!! We hope you're enjoying the Christmas season - what a wonderful time to celebrate the love and grace God showed to us with the most precious gift ever given - Jesus!!

9 Months Old!!

Yesterday Addyson and Braden turned 9 months old!!! They have been busy learning new things . . .

Braden can army crawl!!! He is getting into everything and having a great time. It's like a whole new world that he's discovered and he's loving it. He found the door stopper on the door in their bedroom and he started bawling because he was so scared but by the time I got to him he had realized how awesome it was to play with!! His crib got moved to the lowest level. And his first tooth finally made an appearance!!! He can sit up perfectly for long spans of time. He seems all grown up all of the sudden! He weighs 20 pounds 9 ounces.

Addyson gets up on her hands and knees and rocks. And sometimes she gets her legs going but she doesn't try to move her arms - it looks like she's just spinning her wheels!! Sometimes she just watches Braden like she can't figure out what he's doing and she's a little annoyed that she can't go anywhere. Now he can come steal her toys from even further away. So she enjoys playing by herself sometimes!!! And learning to make new noises and funny faces. She makes us all giggle!! She has started reaching her arms out when she wants to be picked up. She weighs 11 pounds 15.2 ounces.

I had a few rough days this week - it just seems like my babies are all grown up!! We are done with bouncy seats and the swing too I think. The kids don't lay around anymore - they are into things and sitting up. Just acting like big kids. Braden just changed so much in less than a week! Which I am so glad for - that means they're developing like they are supposed to!!! When I went to buy new clothes for them in a bigger size I realized that Braden is no longer in the little baby section of the store!! And the cribs going down - it all just sort of hit at once. I'm glad they're growing and so thankful that I can be home with them every day to experience it all with them because it is going so fast. It's just so hard to believe how much stuff they can do. God has designed them so incredibly - it's amazing to watch them learn and try new things. It just takes a little getting used to!

In other news - fall harvest is finally over!!! The longest one that I've ever experienced. So we're enjoying having Ryan home more and spending time together with all 4 of us!!!

Here are some other pics from the week --

Braden working on getting that tooth through!!

Addyon with one of her cute smiles!

Braden showing off his tummy in his big boy PJ's before he really starts crawling and losing that cute chub!!

Braden getting excited about one of his favorite things - eating!!!

Braden having fun wearing grandpa vogt's hat

Addyson wearing an outfit Ryan's grandma klassen made years ago for Ryan's little girl. This is the most sweet girly picture we got.

Addyson not looking very ladylike - how she acts most of the time!! She is hilarious!!!!