Fiesta Numero Tres

For Lily's 3rd and final 1st birthday party, we had a 'Pink Piggy' party. We invited all of her piggy friends...
and my family. She also wore her new piggy shirt.
I baked her a piggy cake...
and 3 piggy cupcakes for the 3 kids (Samuel, a friend from El Dorado, joined us)
And then we sang, and she ate. It was lots of fun! I think we're finished partying now.

Ollie

This little guy of ours is something else. We honestly do NOT know where half the stuff he says comes from. Really. It's just totally out there. Here are some quotes from him from the past couple months:

"My Sunday School teacher told me I could call you Joel and Kendall."

A conversation:
"Mommy, why does Daddy scratch?"
"I don't know..."
"Because that's just what big boys do!"

"I'm a milkman. I bring milk to teeny, teeny babies."

"Mommy, someday when I'm a girl, I'm gonna eat Frosted Mini Spooners!" (he actually talks about becoming a girl quite often...)

"When I go to work, I gargle. Because I have stuff in my throat: bugs and grasshoppers and squirrels..."
"Mom and Dad, look at the hair on my arms! It's because I'm growing so much. Sometimes my hair hurts."

One day while eating lunch with JUST me.."I'm just chillin' with my girl."
While Joel was watching football one evening, "Someday when I'm big I'll watch football. And someday I'll have a remote."

And this morning, while playing with some sticky tack on a photo..."God sent me to do this."
And here's a video of one way we've been 'getting rid of excess energy' during the cold winter. Because literally, he is BOUNCING OFF THE WALLS.

Smith Side

As I mentioned earlier, we drove to Indiana to celebrate Christmas with Joel's side of the family--his parents and 3 sisters. It was a house full of people--but SO much fun! And it's great now that the cousins are getting old enough to play well together--Ollie would disappear for an hour at a time--he was upstairs playing! (He actually really enjoyed playing with Brooklyn and Brianna's "Baby Alive" dolls....feeding them water, then making them pee into a cup...)

Anyway--whenever we visit, there's a few things we can always count on: eating a LOT, playing games, and having a super time.

Lily playing with Grandpa Smith

with cousin, Clara...and with cousin, Drew
The games:
Joel and Ollie...
The 'big' people...The kids game...Breakfast with the cousins...(there are 8 now!)Reading a book...
Playing with Ollie and Lily's new puppet stage! (with cousin Abi)
No trip to Indiana is complete without some good SLEDDING!!!

Finally, no trip would be complete without vising the New Carlisle Public Library. This is ONE SWEET LIBRARY. Plus, Roanna works there...as well as Roglenda's friend Amy. But we went to check out the model trains, eat some candy and read in the reading hut:
(At this point, Ollie was "reading" so loudly his cousins had to ask him to be quiet...)

Lily played with a rocking chair there...
And of course, we ended the trip with Lily's party.

We had such a great time! And if you are one of the few who actually read this WHOLE POST, congratulations. You get a prize!

one

A year ago yesterday, Lily joined our family. She came out screaming and talking and hasn't quieted down since.
Last week while we were with Joel's family in Indiana, they celebrated her birthday with cake and lots of presents.
Last night, we had a mini-celebration for her, too--with cinnamon rolls and pink frosting with sprinkles. Sadly, since she's been so sick, we've had to put off all parties until a later time...

Happy Birthday, Lily!!! We are SO glad God's given you to us to love and enjoy.

Johnson Side

Christmas Eve and part of Christmas Day were spent with my family in El Dorado. All 11 of us were there--it was so much fun! I am so thankful to have such a wonderful family to spend time with.

Because of the blizzard conditions--our Candlelight Service was canceled and we just hung out together all day--opened gifts, ate a lot, and played.

The pre-opening gifts workout:

Opening gifts (seriously, this takes like an HOUR with 4 kids!)Playing with gifts (except that's Addilyn's guitar...)

Trying to get a picture with all four little ones in their new PJ's from Grandma and Grandpa J...Addilyn and Asher
Our poor Subaru in the snow...
All of us.

Christmas Day we left around noon and drove east to Indiana. Roads were decent until Kansas City area--between there and St. Louis we saw at LEAST 30 cars in the ditch--apparently roads were pretty icy! Thankfully, we arrived at our hotel safe and sound, and pretty tired!

dinner time

I now completely understand why my dad had a tendency to tune out during supper with 3 kids.

Ollie is a "talker". Up until recently, he was also a "big eater". The talking has now taken precedence over the eating. He no longer eats at mealtimes. He tells story after story.

We've started setting the timer after Joel and I are done so that he will eat--otherwise, he could sit there for an hour. Literally. Tonight, this ended in us taking his food before he was done.

Tears ensued, dessert was taken away.

We're out of ideas. Got any good ones to pass along?

Asher

My nephew Asher was so sick at Thanksgiving, and had lost several pounds since the summer. Then, he was hospitalized in mid-December. They found out he has allergies to most everything! He's on a protein formula now...that's all he can have. But WOW does he look much better!!!!! See the difference a month can make?

Before:

After: