Magnolia & George on Christmas Eve Day. Guess who's coming tonight George!
Yeah, Daddy's home early! And the elves came and brought us all new jammies! As suspected, George ate an enormous amount of wrapping paper. Leaving a cookie out for Santa and an apple for Magnolia's favorite reindeer, Dancer. Christmas morning George checks out what Santa brought him. Magnolia's favorites; her violin, her saxophone, and her doctor kit. Magnolia got to feed George his dinner for the first time. She did a great job! And we had a super fun time at our Gingerbread Decorating Party! We had a wonderful holiday. I'm sorry it went by so fast. Candycane, the elf on the shelf, had to go back to the north pole last night until next season. Magnolia was very distraught over this and told us a few times how much she missed him. I decided to refrain from telling her there's only 364 more days until next Christmas. :)

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

We're heading out of town for a few days. Just the four of us. Checking into a nice hotel with a pool and having no agenda whatsoever. Be back soon!

...are my two front teeth. Yes, they have arrived! Finally. It took 3 months, a lot tears, drool, sleepless nights, and gnawing on anything in sight. It has been the bloodiest battle I've ever seen getting those teeth to come through. I never knew it could be so awful. He's not happy about it either. He won't let me go near his mouth and God forbid he smiles for me so I can document a final gummy smile. I took about 50 shots before giving up. Even without a smile, that face still melts my heart.

In other news we've been very busy around here but who isn't? It's the craziest time of the year and I've finally fallen in love with it all over again. Here are some bullets to summarize:

*Elf on the Shelf arrived from Papaw and family. What fun he's been and Magnolia named him Candycane.

*I love red with lime green this year.

*For the first time I brought in a lot of cut evergreens in from our yard, Blue Spruce, Austrian Pine, and Cedar. I put them in vases and love all of the green.

*I dyed a wool blanket red, cut it and other old woolen blankets up for pillows and stockings.

*I successfully made 8 gingerbread houses for our 2nd annual Gingerbread House Decorating party. (Last year I glued graham crackers to the sides of small milk cartons)

*We went to see Christmas Lights this weekend, saw real reindeer, and ate hot doughnuts as snow started to fall. Could it get any better than that?

It's been a super fun holiday season. Magnolia & George bring me so much joy!

I'm looking forward to these last days before Christmas, having George home for a long vacation, and our mini holiday in between!

George turned 8 months this week! He loves to laugh and wrestle. He loves to stand up but won't crawl. He loves to drink from a cup. He's been cutting his top two teeth for two and a half months. He thinks it's hilarious when I do sign language. He laughs his head off every single time. What a corker. He's so much fun. I just love him to pieces.

***My three girls would have been 5 years old today. I will always miss them and the lives they will never have. I am so grateful for the two amazing gifts they gave us. xoxjamxoxo

We've been so busy around here. Fun busy though. We've been decking the halls indoor and out. Shopping is almost done. Christmas cards ordered. I can't say I'm excited about the Christmas cards. Just look at those two elves. Stinkers! Impossible to get a good picture anymore. Magnolia jumps out of bed every morning excited to open her advent calendar. She always helps George open his and then eats his chocolate. She also took charge of the candy canes on the Christmas tree and hid them under the table in the living room. This morning I found her with two ice skate ornaments around her ankles.
Aunt Emily came this past weekend. I snapped this picture of George sitting on her lap as soon as he woke up full of smiles. St. Nick brought both Magnolia and George candy canes, chocolate Santas, and new pajamas.
We had our first snowfall yesterday. For the first time Magnolia really loved the snow. We played together in it while George napped. I pulled her around the yard in her sled. I took a corner too hard and she did a face plant right in the snow. She didn't even complain. She was so happy...and tired. After I parked the sled she just sat there until she dozed off. I had to grab my camera for that sweet face and those rosy cheeks.

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in St. Louis. We went out to the family farm where it was beautiful and the food delicious! We got to meet our newest niece, Madeline, for the very first time! Madeline was born prematurely and is doing fabulously well. She is beautiful and perfect in every way. She's 4 months old and 4 months younger than George. I know they are going to be great friends!

George & Madeline

Magnolia & George play before everyone arrives. Magnolia gets some back scratching from her daddy. George's 1st Thanksgiving! George & Nani

George looks out the picture window with cousin Will looking in.

We hiked into the woods after our big meal.

Magnolia with George III and his cousins, Powell & Ed

Magnolia with Nani.

Elizabeth & Madeline

The day after Thanksgiving all of the girls went to The Ritz Carlton for the Teddy Bear Tea.

It was so much fun. I think I loved it as much as Magnolia, if not more.

They got their faces painted. They decorated cookies. They sang Christmas carols. They sat in front of a roaring fireplace on big down pillows to hear a story read to them while eating candy canes. But most importantly, they had endless cups of hot chocolate poured for them with bowls of marshmallows to top it all off.

Girl talk.

She really did have a lot of hot chocolate.

Cate, Magnolia & Charlotte

Look at those tea sandwiches and sweets!

It sure was a fun way to kick off the holiday season!

On our last night we had a pizza party and then when on a horse drawn carriage ride through the spectacularly lit Tilles Park. It was beautiful evening. The lights and ride put George into a peaceful slumber and Magnolia was in awe of it all.

What a fabulous time we had!
Thank you St. Louis Families for making it so much fun!

We miss you all.

Two little turkeys.
Sometimes I just can't believe that I have two children. I wanted more the minute we got Magnolia and I often wondered how it would happen. We were worried about the long wait to China so we started looking at other countries for adoption. When I got pregnant I never even thought about the end result. I was just trying to survive the pregnancy. When George arrived I was nowhere prepared for having two. I still look at my husband and say, "we have TWO children!" A miracle considering there were many years of wondering if we'd have ONE. So, this year I'm grateful for my two amazing children. I love them more than anything and while there are still empty chairs around our table, I am so grateful for what I have now in this moment. They have brought me more joy in my life and I feel so blessed.

We are heading out of town to be with family!

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 7 months George! You celebrated with your daddy & Magnolia while I had my first night away from you ever. I missed you a lot but daddy sent me a video of you to show me you were doing great! I think you missed me too. We did a whole lot of cuddling when I got home!

I love your fuzzy hair. I love the fat dimples on your knuckles. I love your baby smell. I love the way you breathe heavily when you're happy & excited. I love the cringed look on your face when you're about to drop something on the floor and you know it's going to make a loud sound. I love the way you scoop your Gerber puffs into your mouth. I love the way you pull your legs into the air and slam them down together at the same time when you're in your crib. I love your smile that awaits me when you wake from your nap. I love all the color you have brought to my life George, you are a very special little boy! xoxo

p.s. I also love how tight your overalls are in these photos...you just had a big lunch. :)

We have been home an awful lot lately. This might otherwise drive me a little crazy but it's been nice. Real nice. We have spent the past two weeks getting George on a really good schedule...the first since he arrived! AND he's sleeping through the night! This has made a world of difference for us all. No one is sleep deprived and the routine has brought a good rhythm and comfort we all needed. I have been looking for an antique highchair for a while now. We were all squeezed around our island and I knew it was time we all sat down at the table together especially now since Baby George eats his meals with us. George surprised me one day by saying he was stuck behind a train and looked over and saw this highchair outside an antique store in a small town. He got out and bought it for me! I absolutely love it. It couldn't be a better fit in our house. It's from the forties and has a removable enamel tray! The best part was that he only paid $15! Seriously?! That's a great deal. Geesh, I love my husband. :)
Magnolia and I spend our mornings in the sewing room while George naps. I have been playing around with appliques and then decided to make a fall dress for her. It was so easy, I didn't even use a pattern and I love the way it looks on her with jeans. She was so tired of trying it on for me that I resorted to giving her lollipops every time I asked. We both thought that seemed like a fair deal. She works very hard on moving pins from pin cushion to pin cushion. I also threaded a needle for her and gave her some fabric on an embroidery hoop. She threaded it all through in no time...I think I need to come up something a little more challenging next time. :)
Another part of our routine is a walk in the late afternoon. We try to get out before the sun sets but that's growing closer and closer to 4:30pm! Magnolia has built up quite the stamina on these walks and each time we go a little further. Of course George just goes along for the ride. :)
George bought me a photography reflector for my birthday. While I still have no idea what I'm doing, I love to play around with it.

We have this song stuck in our heads a lot around here. We first heard it on Elizabeth Mitchell's You Are My Little Bird CD. It's the current favorite in our car. Then we heard it again but this time on t.v. If you aren't familiar with the Classical Baby Series, I highly recommend them. I might even love them more than my kids but they really do love to watch these.

Grassy Grass Grass

by Woodie Guthry

Grass grass grass, tree tree tree,

leafy leaf leaf,one two three.
Birdy birdy bird, fly fly fly,

nest nest nest, high high high.
Cloudy cloudy cloud, wind wind wind,

rain rain rain, mud mud mud,
Doggie doggie, dog runy run run,

quickie quick quick, homey home home.
Bedy bed bed, sheety sheet sheet,

sleepy sleep sleep, dreamy dream dream.
Dancie dance dance, singy sing sing,

grow grow grow, biggy big big.

Just thought I'd share what we've been up to. Have a great weekend everyone! I'm heading out for a girls weekend. The first time being away from my kids...ever!