The December Post. . . .

December 2010 has been an interesting month.  And by interesting, I mean extremely busy.  Mostly with work.  I honestly can’t remember a December when I was as busy at work as this December.  I knew it was coming in early November, and decided to focus solely on work until it let up, which I expected to be mid-December.  It didn’t really let up then, but at some point things reached a more manageable level.  As soon as I was able, I turned my efforts to holiday preparations – mostly buying gifts, and working on our Christmas cards (a sincere thank you to Cathy and Amanda for walking me through that one).  Now I’m turning my efforts to a much needed blog post!  So, dear blog readers, following is a recap on what happened in December!

Family Movie Night

We had our first ever family movie night in early December.  Typically, after dinner we take the kids right up to bed.  For this night, however, after dinner we had everyone go to the living room to watch a Dora the Explorer Christmas special.  The kids were a little confused, but got over it as soon as they got some hot chocolate.  And we also let them have some popcorn – because how can you have a movie night without popcorn?!!

Penelope’s Four Month Check-Up

Penelope had her four month check-up in early December.  Here are her stats:

weight:  13 lbs. 14 oz. (50th – 60th percentile)
length:  25.5 inches (90th – 95th percentile)
head circumference:  16 inches (50th percentile)

Wow she is a big baby!  In comparison, when the kids turned four months, the heaviest was Henry at just 11 pounds 15 ounces.  Piper was 10 pounds 10 ounces and Rosemary was just 8 pounds 10 ounces.  And that was when we were still feeding them every 3 hours – around the clock.  As in we didn’t sleep.  For months.  Full term babies are so easy!

Breakfast with Santa

The kids’ playschool has an annual fundraiser with a pancake breakfast and a very special visit from Santa Claus!  All that morning we kept asking the kids if they were excited about seeing Santa – and the response was cheering and clapping.  Nana and Papa drove down to go to the breakfast with us, and there was nothing but excitement that morning.  The breakfast itself was really good.  Piper didn’t a whole lot, Henry ate a good bit of his breakfast, but Rosemary really came close to cleaning her plate.  For the record, that was 2 pancakes, a slice of bacon, and a sausage link.

 

The excitement over seeing Santa Claus lasted right up to the moment when Santa walked into the room.  Then there was nothing but silence and stares.  When we asked if they were ready to see Santa, the response was a silent headshake no. . . .

But, everyone (eventually) rallied and we managed to get a few photos with Santa!

Another Visit from Santa at Nana and Papa’s House

The weekend before Christmas weekend, all of the kids and I went to Nana and Papa’s house for my mom’s family Christmas get together.  Saturday night, we were treated to a surprise visit from Santa!  Sydney and Piper were pretty excited to see Santa.

Henry was hesitant, but was okay with Santa.

Rosemary and Laramy were most definitely NOT okay with Santa. 

Mom’s Family Christmas Get Together

The next morning we had Mom’s family Christmas get together.  I started out taking photos, then just abandoned the camera and didn’t really realize how many shots I missed until I downloaded the photos I did take.  I got a few photos of the kids in their cute coordinating outfits, but completely missed a photo of Henry in his outfit.  I did get a photo of Sydney holding Penelope (and Sydney LOVES Penelope).  As you can see, Rosemary still has her new smile.  Awesome. 

Christmas Eve Eve

Grandma and Grandpa visited us on Wednesday night and Thursday (Christmas Eve Eve) morning.  Then that afternoon we headed up to Nana and Papa’s house on Christmas Eve Eve.  For me, the highlight of that night was when Gary and my brother Zac bathed 4 kids at a time in Nana and Papa’s tub. . . .

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve Eve at Nana and Papa’s house, then opened gifts on Christmas Eve.  It was a great time!

Santa Was Here!!!

We headed back to our house on Christmas Eve.  We woke up on Christmas morning and saw that Santa visited!!  All of us got some really fantastic gifts!  I managed to get a few photos of everything before the kids got up:

Then I got a few photos after the kids ransacked the living room.  I particularly enjoyed seeing where the stockings ended up. . . .

A lot of Alabama had a white Christmas.  It was Alabama’s first white Christmas in more than 100 years.  Unfortunately, we didn’t see a white Christmas, though we did get some snow on Christmas afternoon.

And Then SNOW!

To quote Piper, “It no-ing!  It no-ing!”  We may not have seen a white Christmas, but we did have a white day-after-Christmas!  It wasn’t a lot of snow, but it was enough to have some fun (and of course take a few photos).

We even managed to get some photos of Penelope in the snow, just like we did with the kids when they were about her age.

Penelope was so sad when we told her it was time to go in. . . .

I hope you’ve all had a good December and a wonderful holiday season.  I’m hoping to become a regular blogger again in the new year!