Home.

Since Kirk is done at Roche, we have just been hanging out at home as a family for the last couple days. It's been nice to not have a ton of plans and just relax. Kirk got to work putting together all our fun Christmas gifts like Leah's exersaucer (she loves it, Mom, but only lasts a few minutes before her head gets too floppy!) and my jewelry armoire (which is GREAT, thanks Kirk) and Elijah's adventure tent (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Duncan! He loves it...and calls the main tent part "the garage"...not sure why), and Elijah's new bike (see pics below). Thanks to everyone for being so generous!

Leah is still pretty floppy (or lazy, not sure which) with her head, so we've been trying to get her to exercise her neck a lot lately. She's doing much better!

Elijah loves him "Thomas the Train" trike from Uncle Shane and Aunt Rach. He pushes a button and Thomas says "Hi, I'm Thomas" and Elijah say "Hi, Omas!" back to him. It's adorable.

He hasn't figured out the pedals yet, but he still loves scooting around on it.

Leah just started putting a little weight on her feet when we hold her up. She gets so proud of herself when she does and looks all around to see who's paying attention :).

Good job, Leah. "Ood ob, Yeah!" as Elijah says. He's been talking a lot lately (can you tell I'm a proud mom?)!

Every once in a while Elijah gets excited about cuddling with Leah. I try to capitalize as much as possible by immediately pulling out the camera. I love these so much that I took today. Expect to see some of them in frames in my house soon :).

Favorite.

Leah loves getting attention from her big bro.

Elijah needs to learn there is a fine line between hugging and strangling. He was getting so excited to pull her in close to himself!

Leah really looks like she wants to say something.

Second favorite.

Pennsylvania for Christmas...and NYC!

We returned home late Monday night from 10 days away visiting my family for Christmas. We had a great time with family and we are also happy to be back at home. Thanks Mom and Dad Spier for hosting us and putting up with all that comes along with 2 adults and 2 children setting up camp in your house!

For Kirk's Christmas present this year, I planned a day trip to NYC. My parents were gracious enough to watch our kids so we could fully enjoy this adventure together! Our first stop was Dunkin Donuts...had to get some fuel for a long day. Oh yeah...this was all a surprise for Kirk too. I revealed where we were going one step at a time.

Next step: train ride to the big city!

We saw a show (Christmas Carol) and then had pizza at Johns at Times Square.

This picture was supposed to have me in it too, but the camera was zoomed in a little too much :).

Stopped at Rockefeller Center to see the tree and ice skaters!

NYC is so great at Christmastime. I had such a good time with you, Kirk!

"A-kee, A-kee!" (Cookie, Cookie!)

Elijah got to bake cookies with Grandma one day. He had fun!

Getting ready.

Putting on the sprinkles (he has some trouble with that...couldn't pinch it between his fingers).

He did like putting the red hots on though!

He pushed them all the way down to the cookie sheet. The gingerbread men looked like they had bullet wounds.

Ready to bake! Thanks, Grandma :).

I bought the kids all matching shirts with their names on them for Christmas. They are blurry because they wouldn't sit still. I'm hoping Jess got some better ones. They looked adorable!

Tried the chair thing too. The kids didn't like either arrangement.

We got up before everyone else to do a Christmas with just us and our kids. Kirk read the Christmas story from the kids Bible.

Leah loved all the action on Christmas.

We got Elijah a guitar that he loves! I am so happy with this purchase. I got the last one on Black Friday at Target :).

My big gift for Christmas from my parents was a new camera. I love love love it! It's a Canon PowerShot 120. I have a lot to learn about using it properly, but I'm so excited to have a better camera! Kirk was posing for my 1st picture with the new camera.

Elijah looked so cute in his outfit from the Hurlocks. Thanks, Steph and Bob (and Peyton)!

Oops...a little off centered.

The new camera has a flip flash that I often forget to put up, like in this picture, but I wanted to capture Cam because she was wearing a scarf and hat that I wore when I was little...my mom has kept it all these years!

While everyone went and played in the snow, Leah and I had fun inside. Again, forgot the flash, but how can you not love that smile?

Pretty eyes.

I put her in her brother's chair and she was loving it!

Elijah reclaimed it when he came in from the snow (he always picks his nose these days...sorry!).

Babies.

I love that these 2 cousins are only 3 weeks apart (and that they will have another buddy being born in May!). They were smiling at each other one night and it was just simply precious.

Love.

Happy babies.

Love this one of Grandma with the 2 youngest.

Happy.

I just love how Leah is. And I also love my new camera. Did I mention that?

Sweet girl.

Thanks for my new outfit, Aunt Kelly!

I couldn't love her anymore than I do.

Oh, Elijah...

Elijah is a handful these days. He is a little ball of energy, he is VERY opinionated, and he likes to get things done HIS way. He is learning and growing a ton and it is very fun to watch and be a part of. However, with the growing comes some growing pains. I have told many of my friends lately that I seriously underestimated the difficulty of disciplining a child. I have had a taste of what my parents must've felt when they encountered my strong will, I have laughed and cried in the midst of it, and I have even had to humble myself to say "I'm sorry" to Elijah for losing my cool a few times. I will tell you this much: NEVER again will I judge a parent at Target, the park, the mall...wherever, really...that is trying to contain a screaming child. I will just nod and smile knowingly. We discipline him because we love him, but let me tell you, friends, it is not easy. It is tempting to give up. But I have a God who doesn't give up on me. He keeps after me. He teaches me. And He loves me the same...no matter what. So, we press on. We endure. We (at least I) will probably cry many more tears over it.

So anyway, to give you a taste of a day in the life of Elijah...here are a few snapsots.

When I went in to get Elijah after his nap yesterday, this is what I encountered. Naked child.

And when I went to get him out, he wanted to just lay down and hang out for a while. Naked.

He INSISTS on feeding himself. I used to think Elijah could just tolerate a mess. Now I think he actually enjoys making them and basking in them.

Also from yesterday: he stuck a pencil up his nose and it proceeded to bleed in massive amounts for 15 minutes straight.

Yup, this is my life now. Help us, Lord.

Some New Ones

These are just some random recent pictures of the kiddos.

For some reason, whenever Leah is in her Bumbo (or Nimbo as E calls it), Elijah likes to go hug her. I guess he likes having her in an upright position.

Leah is doing a great job sitting up in that seat!

Cutie.

I told Elijah to go sit next to his sister for a picture and this is what he does. Guess who likes to be center of attention??

Just Cute.

Many may not find this interesting, but I know at least some family will enjoy it! I just love my little girl.

Pictures!

Today we went to Picture People to get some photos of the kids. I've been feeling like a bad mom since I was so faithful in getting pictures of Elijah every 3 months the first year and I haven't gotten any of Leah yet! So, I wanted to get some 4 month photos of her and a few of the kids together. Turns out, I got some good ones of E, L, and both of them together! For those of you who read my sister's blog, we didn't plan to go the same week, nor did I ask them to do the same pose as her kids. I guess you're just limited in the number of poses you can do with a baby who can't sit up yet! The photos are scanned in, so not the best quality, but cute anyway!

Love this one!

My pretty baby looks so old in this picture I think!

They had a train in the front display that Elijah was obsessed with. We asked our photographer if we could bring it in to our studio for a few shots. This kids loves anything with a steering wheel :).