Having Fun

Just hanging out in Ellen and Sophie's room the other day while Brett lowered the crib mattresses and Aunt Marce took the picture. We had a great time playing around. (That's Soph on the left and Ellen on the right)

Dedicated

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, celebrating with family and counting our many blessings. It was a great few days from start to finish! We ate more than we needed to, played games, and just enjoyed a more relaxed pace of life. With Brett being home from work half the week, plus the weekend, it felt like a vacation in some ways. Plus as an added bonus we had Aunt Marcey staying with us...always a treat for all of us. But the highlight of the holiday week/weekend was the blessing of dedicating Ellen & Sophie to the Lord at church on Sunday. Our kids are too precious not to commit their lives to someone greater, more loving, gracious and merciful than Brett and I. We were honored to have our church family surround Ellen and Sophie, as well as Brett and I, in prayer as we publicly dedicated them to the Lord. And I hope you get a kick out Corinne's facial expressions in one of the pictures. She was pretty well behaved on stage, though she and her buddy Adam played a little game of copy cat while their siblings were dedicated. Adam and Corinne share the same birthday, too, so perhaps they have a special connection that way!

Playtime

(Sophie on left, Ellen on right)
The girls are sitting up now, though they still topple over. But it's a whole new perspective. And with this comes more playtime with one another!

Three's a Crowd

I'm beginning to see glimpses of what may be in our future...and I love it! As Ellen and Sophie have begun to smile, laugh and show excitement at anything and everything Corinne does (not kidding!) Corinne has also shown a steady increase in her affection and love for them. It's great to witness and it makes us smile every time. The twins are captivated by her and they light up when she interacts with them. Little C has taken to talking to them as if she's having a conversation with them. ("Do you see the monkey, Soph? Oh! You do. Okay! Yeah, that's funny, isn't it, Sophie?") She is also singing to them lately and explaining things to them. She calls Ellen "Miss Ellen" pretty frequently, too. (Not sure why) So today Corinne and I were upstairs playing when we heard Sophie and Ellen wake up from their naps. I brought the girls into C's room and we played with them in there. Corinne told them all about the things in her room and gave each of them one of her baby dolls. Then she asked me to put them in her bed, so I did. And she loved it! Next she decided to read them one of her Library books. It was the first time that I have felt a surge of true confidence and inner excitement that our girls might be good friends some day. Nothing is for sure, obviously. And who knows what the next few years hold. Corinne still has her fair share of "moments" when she wants our attention... or wishes her sisters weren't crying... or wants the toy that they have. But at least I'm seeing some shades of what could be. I'm thankful that she sees me with my sisters and knows how much the three of us love being together. I hope they will one day find the same friendship that we have.

Mall Walking

You might see this and be impressed that we are starting our Christmas shopping early this year. But don't be. That was not the point of this trip to the mall, in fact we didn't even look for or buy a single thing. (okay, we did buy a snack but that doesn't count) This trip to the mall was a let's-get-out-of-the-house-before-we-go-crazy kind of trip! It had been a long weekend and all of us felt under the weather for part or all of it. We actually had a really fun time! Maybe next time we'll actually do some shopping!?

Sunday Afternoons

Have I mentioned that Brett and Corinne always have fun together, no matter what they're doing?!? Sunday afternoons we tend to have the Bengals game on in the background while the kids take naps and Corinne always catches it about half way through when she wakes up. She stays interested for a little while, asking where Carson Palmer is, and asking, "What happened?" when we get exasperated at the same old Bengals. But I captured a few sweet moments of fun while Brett and C watched the game (kind of) last Sunday. They created a fun little lift for C. All while she's wearing her princess shoes, of course.

Dr. C

I think a Doctor's Kit will be on the Christmas/Birthday List for Corinne this year...as you may or may not be able to tell she is giving my dad a check-up...using a camera cord. At least we can say she is creative! A camera cord works as a stethoscope, right?! Oh, and as a temporal thermometer, too (first picture)!

Doubling Up

We have been so blessed by the many people who have loaned us baby gear -- everything from cribs, to strollers, to toys, to bouncy seats and jumperoos, and the list goes on. Our two newest items: 1) the feeding table with side by side seats that you see above. It's AWESOME! It attaches to our dining room table so that Ellen and Sophie can eat with us at meal times. 2) the double wide stroller. Actually, both things came from the same family. (They have twin girls who are a few years older than our girls) Thanks to everyone we have been able to borrow from in order to navigate the unique challenges that come with raising twins. We are so grateful to all of you.

Together

I'm always thankful for time set aside just for Corinne and I.

Snow White

Corinne had a blast on Halloween. She was so sweet as she went up and down the street noticing the costumes, decorations, and generally chattering away. We were proud of her that she said her "trick or treat" loud enough for the neighbors to hear, and promptly said "thank you" at each house without our reminder. And while Snow White is no longer her favorite princess these days (thanks to Aunt Marcey's package the other day which held Ariel), she loved her costume and has informed us that she wants a princess birthday cake. At least we've got some time to work on that!

Ellen and Sophie on Halloween

Halloween is so much fun when you have kids...but dressing up two babies just for the sake of a quick appearance is not really worth it to me at this point! So Ellen and Sophie wore their cute winter coats that have bear ears and faces on the hood as an alternative to full blown Halloween gear. They also happened to each have animal prints on their pants that day--Ellen's were zebra striped and Sophie's had leopard spots. I guess that makes them some weird animal combo when you put it all together with their coats (?) All that really matters is that they were warm, I guess. Ellen and I

Mom and Sophie