What weighs 11 lbs 14 ounces and is 23 inches long and has a tooth coming in?
Your turkey this Christmas? no
Your neighbor's miniature schnauzer? no
The coal you have to put in your husband's stocking? no
It's Gabbie - duh!!
We're now 4 months old - I can't believe it. She has a little "bud" of a tooth coming in on the bottom - yes, it's early. (not too early)
Here's some fun pictures from this past week:





We started eating cereal for the first time. I thought the video would be a little more entertaining that it turned out to be, but in these last few days before Christmas when you're not busy at work and need some entertainment, maybe you'll enjoy watching :) Enjoy!!

staying up super late. sleeping in every morning. laughing at silly moments. moving around a special elf every night. supporting our guys to do stand up. taking funny pictures of a little one on top of a table. eating WAY too much chocolate. spending an entire day in our PJs. always having something to talk about. treasuring nap times. communes. celebrities. authors. phone calls. encouragement.

yep: we are "those" people that hang out while we're all on our computers at the same time. geeks? yes.

Doing the guy pose: not too close for comfort on their way out the door to do some stand-up comedy.

I think this little girl is soooo stinkin' cute! She has the cutest little personality and the sweetest, kindest heart. She LOVES Gabbie. I mean she gets REALLY excited when she sees her and wants to make sure Gabbie is always taken care of. I just hope they stay such good buddies forever.



Can you find the elf?

She definitely doesn't know any different, but today I took a few photos because it's my first official day that I can say I am a stay at home mom. It's a long story, but basically it all worked out amazingly for me to get to stay at home permanently with Gabbie girl. I am ecstatic to say the least. God continues to show Brent and I that He will provide more than enough for us and take care of us. If we ever needed confirmation that we made the right decision, the way everything played out with my job was definitely what we needed.
I thought I'd mark the day by posting a whole bunch of pictures of my sweet little girl.
Every day she does something amazing and cute and adorable. I know I'm probably the only one to think that but hey, it's my blog and I get to post what I want, right?


































































She LOVES this giraffe right now! I think because she can actually hold it and it always goes in her mouth - of course.














This picture cracks me up - it's like she knows she's not really supposed to be watching tv. No matter how I turn her, she manages to find the tv.

Since we moved into our house this spring, our dogs love it. When we first moved in, they would literally run up and down the stairs - you could just tell the pure joy they had in having so much room to run around.
Besides the stairs, we also have a gas fireplace in our living room. We have determined that Fiona has come to love the fireplace. It has taken her a few weeks to figure out that she doesn't have to be scared of it, but in face it is her friend. She is always cold in the winter. (especially today since it's only 35 degrees outside!) As in we usually have a sweater on her. She never sleeps on our leather couches. She's always shivering. Kind of cold. We've had our fireplace on a few times now and the last time I turned it on, Fiona finally realized if she laid in front of it she would stay extra warm. She won't go past the carpet onto the stone - I guess she's realized it isn't as warm as the carpet or because she's still a little leery about the great deal of warmth coming from the fire. Right now she is sound asleep, with that completely content look on her face. She occasionally rolls onto her side to get her belly toasted, but other than that she will lay in front of the fire for hours at a time. It is definitely worthy of a Friday Funnies!

The whirlwind called "the holidays" has begun.
I have always loved this time of year. Really. I love it. I think it is because it was never stressful for us growing up. My mom really really enjoys Christmas. I am talking wake up at 4:00 a.m. on Christmas morning using Jingle Bells saying Ho Ho Ho-can't open one single present until the morning of-you can't even peek into the living room until we're all awake-kind of LOVE Christmas. She definitely created traditions for our family. Until you get married and have to share the holidays, you cannot truly appreciate what you did as a family growing up.
I cannot imagine ever saying, "I dread Christmas." It saddens me deeply to hear anyone say that. What can you do to change that mentality?
While all of us might be guilty of dreading this time of year in some fashion, I want to challenge you to think about all those people (especially right now) who can't even afford to have a dinner with their family. They can't afford to pay their electric bill or mortgage. Much less buy Christmas presents for themselves, their children or anyone else.
Today I heard a 92 year old woman reminiscence about her Christmases as a child. She told really great stories about Christmas being so special to them as children because they literally had nothing. Stores at that time only sold toys during Christmas. No other time. There were no Black Friday sales. There was barely enough heat in their house. They would take one of their own black stockings and hang it on the fireplace to wake up on Christmas morning with it filled with an orange, a quarter in the toe and the "most wonderful nuts." Can you imagine your 11 year old getting excited about "the most wonderful nuts" in their stocking this year at Christmas? Pretty sure there would be some disappointed kids.
I have been thinking all day today about what simple times those were. Brent and I are so blessed to live with more than we need - we always have food on our table, fire in our fireplace, nice clothes to wear and a home bigger than we could ever need.
This Christmas, what do you have enough of?
Have you considered what YOU can do for SOMEONE else?
If you have children and you want to instill Christmas traditions, have you considered starting your own tradition of helping someone else at Christmas? or some other tradition to truly teach them what Christmas is really all about and not just what the commercialized version means...
I think many times we don't do something for other people because we think we have to spend a significant amount of money. If you've ever been in lack, were you really all that picky on what you received? Did you really care if the person who gave you something spent $50 or $5?
Tonight I struggled with wanting to spend $100+ for a family in our church in need this Christmas. I really wanted to do that but couldn't. Instead I picked up a few nice things from the $1 Target bins and I know these little girls are going to love it. Think about how humbling it had to be for these parents to admit they needed help for Christmas. Do you really think they'll care that I bought their little girls stuff from a dollar bin? Doubt it.
So I challenge you this Christmas to set aside some money from your Christmas budget and see what you can do to impact the lives of another family. The Salvation Army Angel Trees are packed full this year of families in need. Homeless shelters and food kitchens are struggling to make ends meet. Pick up a few extra cans of food when you shop for your meal this week and drop it off at your local non-profit.
If for nothing else, do it for the way you will feel once you've done it. But know that the impact on the recipient will be much greater.

Matthew 10:42
And if you give even a cup of cold water to one of the least of my followers, you will surely be rewarded.