First Foods and Milestones

We started Kylie on baby foods at 6 months (so it's been about 3 weeks ago). She has done great. She seems to prefer vegetables over fruits, for now at least. She is definitely a messy eater though! She has been sitting on her own since right at 6 months, is trying to pull up on things and also take off crawling. She has just recently started saying "dada." So sweet. She makes everyone's hearts melt. We are so blessed by her!

Santa Baby

So, when I've been teaching Colt about the real meaning of Christmas - celebrating the birth of our Savior, God's gift to us, GIVING, etc. . . Santa has never been mentioned. Somehow Colt knows all about Santa though. So we've talked about him. Colt will say he is "pretend," but also wanted to see him at the mall and asked if we have a chimney? I really don't care if he believes in Santa or not, as long as he doesn't think that is what Christmas is all about :-)

Needless to say (as you can see in the pictures), we did get to see (a) Santa at the mall. Colt didn't really talk to him though. Thankfully, they let me take my own pictures, because their cheapest offer was a 5x7 for $13.99. WHAAAT?!

I caught Colt making up another song - I guess he has been soaking up some of what we've been teaching him about heaven? Click here for Colt's song

Christmas 2011 - Part I

The armor. . . He is a very serious and brave soldier when he is wearing it, that's for sure. Colt is protecting the princesses - Sarah and Kylie. Sarah is pushing Kylie in her new babydoll stroller :-)
Kylie got a chair!
Heath, Kelly, Jacob, and Sarah - love them!
Kylie Joy - 6 months!
Sarah - 3 years.
Colt - 3 years with a classic Colt face. . .
Uncle Dale and Aunt B with all the kiddos. .

Not sure about Kylie's pose or Colt's face, but . . .


So, we are in WV for Christmas. . . So much to be thankful for!

Many of you know my dad, Randy. He is a leader, a servant, a blessing, and a friend to so many! He went in for a "minor" surgery - hernia repair Monday, December 5th. This is where the doctor saw that his bilirubin level (from his lab work) was nearly 3 times higher than is should have been.

The doctor cancelled the hernia surgery and immediately ordered scans for his liver. He expressed his concerns to Dad about the severity of this and what it could mean (i.e. tumor, cancer, other disease). The CT scan was done that Wednesday, December 7th, to evaluate his liver and see if there was a tumor or cancer being the cause of his high bilirubin - that was amazing to us how soon that was scheduled. We thank God for that.

The CT scan didn't show anything on his liver, BUT they did see a small tumor on his left kidney. From that, he was able to see a kidney specialist the following Tuesday, December 13th. That doctor was amazing that the tumor was found this early. It is only 2 inches and is in such a "good" location on his kidney that is can be removed without affecting the kidney itself! Again, praising God for the scan that allowed them to find this before it was causing problems or too late!

The appointment with the liver doctor was Thursday, December 15th - great news there too! He said Dad has "Gilbert's Syndrome." Which is completely nonthreatening and often just caused by stress. His liver looked good though and no treatment would be needed.

God is so awesome! You can clearly see His hand in everything - from the lab work found from a minor surgery, to the kidney that needed the attention. He always blesses us beyond what we could fathom, reminding us of Who He Is.

"Thank God for His unspeakable Gift!" 2 Corinthians 9:15 - - All started with His Son . . and the gifts go on!

Can't wait to see the Miles Family next week!! Praying for Gpa Miles - he has some internal bleeding and congestive heart failure. Please pray for the whole family as God brings us through.

Kylie and Norah

We had a fun evening and yummy dinner with our good friends from college, Keith and Elizabeth Pickard. . . and of course their baby girl! Kylie and Norah were due on the SAME DAY! But, Norah was early (June 8, 2011) and Kylie was late (June 13, 2011). Nevertheless, they were so close! And just the same size :-) So precious and sweet. . .





These little girls just babbled all night!

Pirates

Colt was playing pirates with his legos. . . and somehow we all ended up being pirates. Aargh Matey!

Colt's Christmas Play

Colt's preschool had a little Christmas program last Thursday. It was super cute, and he did a great job singing! He had been singing these songs at home for weeks, so I was excited to hear them with the group. All the of the classes dressed up like different animals that were around the manger - Colt's class was dressed like cows :- (obviously).



Here is a snippit of his songs from his preschool play. . .

Family Christmas Pictures 2011

Colt and Kylie Christmas Pics

I have started taking some Christmas pictures. . . or should I say "trying" to take some pictures. Who knew that a 3 year old would be harder to get a good picture of than a 6 month old? Hence, more Kylie than Colt right now. Oh well, they are still precious in their matching pajamas! We are going to try for family photos soon. That's always "fun" too though :-) haha!

Colt's song to Kylie

Ashlyn's Photos

I took some Christmas photos for a friend of her little girl, Ashlyn - who is the same age as Kylie. Precious. You will probably see similar pictures soon, but they will have my cuties in them instead :-)

Here are some of my favs. .