Saturday, December 31, 2011

Twas the days before Christmas

We flew into Colorado bright and early on the 21st.  We woke the kids up at 4:15 am and easily made it through the airport for our 6 o'clock flight.  When we checked in we learned we could not sit together as a family because you can not have 2 lap children in the same row.  But in the end I think this turned out to be a huge blessing.  Nora sat on my lap.  She slept for 2/3 of the flight and the other hour she sat and "talked" to me.   Sawyer stayed with Kyle and played with the remote buttons and watched videos.  There were no tears or meltdowns (at least while we were on the plane :)  I think it helped that we didn't sit together because then Sawyer wasn't tempted to climb all over us.  We were very thankful for a smooth flight!
Nora chilling oon her 1st flight

We arrived in CO at 7:00 am and still had a full day ahead of us though we had been awake for 6 hours.  Needless to say we all took good naps that afternoon.

Sawyer having fun hiding on our ride from the airport to the grandparent's house

Thursday and Friday was spent Christmas shopping, baking, and visiting with family.  And the kids got showered with lots of grandparent attention.

Grandpa reading to Sawyer and Noah
Tache readinto to Sawyer and Noah
Nora sporting a Christmas outfit
The cousins shouting from the banister
On Christmas Eve I wrapped all the gifts.  That evening we went to the Christmas Eve service at my parent's church then the whole family gathered at their house for a delicious soup supper.  To conclude the evening we opened our annual pair of pajamas.

Nora in her Christmas dress

S and N all ready for the Christmas Eve service

our little family

G-pa w/ Nora

Tache and Nora

Grandma and Nora

Papa and Nora...everyone had to get a picture w/ our cutie

Noah and Sawyer in their matching pajamas on Christmas Eve


Nora in her Christmas pajamas ...angel wings for our little angel

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Kids Crafts {Christmas Gift Edition}

The cousins on my side of the family received:

Marshmallow shooter via Thrifty and Thriving
Nora and my new niece received some felt flower headbands 

A fort kit with free printables via AR Mommy 

The fort kit includes a twin flat sheet with ties, a rope, clothespins, suction cups, and a flashlight 

Monogrammed bib for my new niece 

Ladybug taggie for my new niece.  I used the template from Everyday Celebrations, but I did not follow those instructions as I machine sewed it all

Travel bag with a crayon roll, coloring book, no mess paint activity, and mini play doh


Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Hands Full


Lately, Sawyer has his hands very full!


Sunday, December 25, 2011

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!


We are spending the day celebrating the birth of our savior with our family.


These are two of our greatest gifts!


Friday, December 23, 2011

Christmas Celebration #1

Over the Thanksgiving holiday when the whole Schenk clan was in town we celebrated our first Christmas of 2011.  I think the pictures will speak for themselves.

He finally grasps the concept of opening gifts 
A new book

But this is his true joy...Elmo

I think he's in love

Is he really mine?

Grandpa reading Nora a book

Nora opening her 1st gift

Oh, her very own slap chop!

Or maybe a cute new shirt :)

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Cousins

Nora 4 months, Sawyer 23 months, Gracie 3 years, Nolan 1 month
This ones for Grandma! The Schenk cousins in their Christmas attire from MeMa.  It's a pretty cute bunch.  I'm amazed we got almost all of them looking at the camera.  This is the only one with no one crying.  I think Gracie is trying to channel some sanity for the whole event.

Following this picture the 2 oldest were allowed to run amok while the 2 youngest took a nap.

Monday, December 19, 2011

SNL {Sawyer & Nora's Life}


At this point they adore each other.  Sawyer is VERY attentive to Nora's every need.  Nora follows Sawyer's every move.  When Sawyer talks to Nora he expresses such joy and Nora always rewards him with a smile.


I know there will be many sibling conflicts in the years to come, but right now we're enjoying the way they adore each other.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Tummy Time




When I set Nora down you can bet she will roll to her tummy within 5 seconds.  She loves to be on her tummy. She is quite good at raising up on her arms and she has even gotten her legs up under her a few times.  I was seriously hoping for a non-wiggly child who takes moving slowly...I don't think miss Nora is cooperating :)  And as you can tell from the pictures above Sawyer loves to "entertain" his sister.  And even though he holds her down she tolerates it because she adores his every move...oh if only it would stay this way.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Kid's Crafts {Christmas Gift Edition}

For the kidlets of the family I created homemade gifts.  For Gracie I continued the tradition of creating felt foods.  Mr. Nolan received a customized birth announcement.  The results are below. The kids on the other side of the family have not yet received their gifts so I'll document them in another post.

Sandwich and Chips 
Donuts
Build your own pizza
Customized birth announcement and painted frame



Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Random Update

I've been doing a lot of fluff posts because we've been really busy this holiday season, but there are a couple of random things (and pictures) I want to record so here goes:
my sweet baby girl
  • Sawyer gets excited, claps, and yells "yeah" when he is proud of himself.  Lately he has been randomly asking me and Kyle to cheer for him for no apparent reason.
  • Nora LOVES it when I sing.  No one else shares her enthusiasm for my vocal talent.  When Kyle sings to her she is stone faced.  When I sing her eyes brighten and she gets the biggest smile.
  • We went to look at Christmas lights on Sunday.  Sawyer enjoyed the lights, but the big news of the night...we turned his car seat forward so he could see the lights.  He was a big fan, but once we got home we immediately turned it back...sorry bud you're still too little.
  • I spent all day Saturday sewing Christmas gifts.  I didn't get enough done. 
  • On Friday our church held a Parent's Night Out event.  Kyle and I took advantage of the free babysitting by going out to eat then looking for my birthday present.
  • Yes, my birthday was over a month ago, but I have yet to find the item Kyle wanted to give me.  His gift was a zip-up hoodie.  My zip-up hoodies are everyday attire while I'm nursing and my current hoodies have multiple holes so my dear husband decided to remedy this issue with a new hoodie for my birthday. However, after two shopping attempts I have come away empty handed.
  • This leads me to my next issue...the after baby body.  I'm trying to stay positive because following Sawyer's birth it took 5 or 6 months to get my body back to normal but I'm losing patience.  I haven't bought new, fashionable clothes since before I became pregnant with Sawyer which was February 2009 (nearly 3 years ago!) so I feel a little dowdy and old.   But I'm waiting until those last 10 pounds are gone then I'm going to buy some skinny jeans (probably the last person on the planet who doesn't own a pair) and a new pair of boots.
  • I've been going to the gym regularly.  I enjoy running but my knees have been hurting...another reason I am feeling old.  I'm going to start some cross training to give my knees a break.
  • Nora easily goes 4 hours between feedings.  I'm so thankful.
  • I swore I would never do a theme birthday party for my children.  But that is already going down the drain for Sawyer's 2nd birthday...can you guess what the theme will be?
  • Oh my!
  • As the new year approaches I need to find some way to contribute to the family income. Jobs that fit into our family routine are few and far between. I've always told myself I would never open an Etsy store because I only wanted to do my crafts as a hobby, but out of sheer necessity I'm contemplating opening a shop.  The question is what should I make? If I do it I want it to be professional and have a strong identity. I can produce lots of different things, but I want to do something unique (which is a difficult task) and specific (I don't want to produce 50 different products).  I'm still thinking...I may need to do some market research... 
  • Sawyer can say all of the alphabet letters by repeating what we say.  He can sing the song by himself to letter G.  And he is starting the process of letter recognition, he's got A, B, H, and I down.
  • It's official Nora does not have brown eyes.  She had very dark eyes at birth with no hint of blue, but as the days go by they continue to lighten.  Right now they are a light gray.  I would be very surprised if they turn blue.  I think they are going to be hazel.
  • In our life group at church we've been studying Joshua.  The last few weeks we've been reviewing all the lands that were captured and the division of the land.  It's been interesting to see how these chapters that I often disregard and find difficult to read because it does not seem to apply to my life really does have lessons for my life.  I could go on and on about our life group and the things we're learning, but one of my favorite parts is we begin our time in a large group and have learning time with the whole congregation.  Then we split into small  groups and have a time of application, fellowship, and praying.  We're in the young married's group (though we're a little older than most of the couples).  I've really enjoyed building friendships in this group.
  • We have 3 Christmas parties in the next week, I'm hosting a Bible study, and helping serve at a wedding.  I'm looking forward to a fun week!
my boys snuggling before nap...well one of them is already taking a nap