Where has December gone??

Wow! This month has flown by. I know it's been forever since I have posted. I can't believe that I only posted once this month!! (That's kind of why I created this post into several small ones instead of one HUGE post) Anyway, we've been soooo busy and/or sick that I just never got around to it. Yes, we have all had the flu and also had colds. We just seem to be passing it all back and forth. We were so thankful that we were all healthy for Chrismas though! Although,Derek has a cold now :(

We had a very Merry Christmas and hope that all of you had a wonderful Christmas as well. We've enjoyed your letters and pictures. Please don't think that we forgot about you this year. With everything that was going on we just never got around to sending anything out this year. Maybe we'll have to do it sometime in the next few months. We were able to go back to Lafayette for Christmas again this year and enjoyed every minute of it. The girls and I were there for a whole week! Derek didn't want to burn up leave so he came back over on Christmas Eve. We stayed up numerous nights playing Ticket To Ride (our new favorite board game). Thanks Aaron and Karen!!

I'm sure I'm forgetting something, but since I haven't posted in forever I guess I'm bound to forget something. Oh yeah, I read Twilight........GREAT book, highly recommended. I can't wait to get my hands on the next one and to go see the movie!

Last night we went bowling with our friends, Joe and Laurie. It has been forever since we bowled and it was a lot of fun. We then went to dinner at one of their favorite restaurants, El Toro. It was yummy!

Now for the latest news. We NEVER saw this one coming..........our house is being forclosed. Yeah......you read that right, FORECLOSED. The property manager for the house called us this morning to tell us he saw it in the paper. He tried calling the owners and the attorney to find out more about it but no one was answering their phones or returning his calls. The owner finally called back and said she spent too much on it and so she decided she would just let it foreclose. He was like, hello....how can you do that to the people you are renting it to, especially when they have been such great tenants. WHICH WE HAVE!!! She didn't care though. So anyway the house goes up for auction on the 22nd and so we have until then to find somewhere else to live! We're going to have to do a lot of looking and praying these next few days. We don't know if we should rent or buy......possibly even buy this one. Derek is done here in 15 months so we could be leaving the area then, which would make it silly to buy. But, if he gets stationed here again then it might be worth it to buy. Who knows!

Anyway.........everyone have a happy and safe NEW YEAR!!!

Avery is 4 Months!!! (almost 5 now)
At her 4 month check up she weighed 13 lbs......which is the 60th percentile for her age group. She was in the 40th percentile for length and 20th percentile for head size. She is a little jabber box and trys to mimic our facial expressions and the sounds we make. She is a momma's girl!!! I love it. She is trying so hard to sit all the way up when she is in a reclined position. She loves to chew on things (we always find her thumb or fist in her mouth). I think she may be teething. Allie absolutely adores her....and Avery adores Allie too. Her face always lights up when she hears her coming. Allie is now calling Avery "sissy"!

Christmas Pictures

Mom and Dad with their new gadgets








I didn't really take many pictures this year. I guess I was too into the moment to get out my camera! Allie LOVED opening presents this year. It was a lot of fun to watch her. She was excited about everything that she opened (except for the clothes) and wanted to play with her new toys right away. Avery liked trying to put the wrapping paper in her mouth and that's about it. Allie was thrilled to be able to open Avery's presents too.

We had Christmas get togethers with my Mom's side of the family and my Dad's side of the family. Those were a lot of fun as always. We do this "Dirty Santa" type of gift exchange where we buy $10 gifts separated into guy/girl and draw numbers. #1 picks out a gift first, opens it and then #2 can either steal that gift or open another one.......and so on. They are always a lot of fun to watch and create a good laugh.

Our Visit To See Santa Claus



You won't find any pictures of Allie here because she started crying as soon as we mentioned her sitting on his lap. We really thought she'd be okay this year because she had been talking about "Ho Ho" non-stop --- up until this day! She has since started calling him Santa Claus instead of "Ho Ho"

Thanksgiving & Shopping

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! It was so nice to spend time with family, strengthen our bonds, and eat great food. The whole time we were gone went by so fast because we were having such a good time and were always doing something. Our trip back to Indiana started off with us arriving there Wednesday night. Mom and Dad had pizza delivered so we were able to eat as soon as we got there! We visited a while and then did our planning for our days of shopping that were to come. Derek headed to Meijer around 2am Thanksgiving morning to check out lines and the layout of the store. I decided to get a couple hours of sleep! He came back to pick me up and we were at the store by 4am and in our lines. He was in line for a TV (for my cousin) and then ended up getting one for ourselves (to try and sell). I had to choose between Wii Fit or Rock Band Wii. I decided on Rock Band and was 2nd in line for it.........I would have been 5th in line for the Wii Fit. So, basically, either way I was going to get what I wanted according to the minimum amount they had listed in their ad. Long story short, I didn't get the Rock Band but complained enough that I was able to get a raincheck....although it's probably useless since it expires in 30 days and they, more than likely, won't have any in by then. Hopefully something will happen (I've since wrote to Meijer about my experience) otherwise it was a huge waste of time.


Thanksgiving Day
Derek and I were exhausted, but I got up to help clean up and get my banana pudding made for the meal. (I think Derek slept until about 3 0r 4pm!) WE had a delicious meal and had lots of fun chatting, making plans for Christmas and playing Bingo.
Allie sliding down the basketball return
Liv & Av
B-I-N-G-O!
After everyone left we went through the ads for Black Friday and planned out our routes once again. I went to bed around 10:30, got up at midnight to see if anyone would be putting stuff up for sale online......but they weren't so I went back to bed. I got up again at 3 (Derek was still awake) and we teamed up and ordered some things online. This is the best way to get shopping done, in my opinion. True, we're up extra early, but we aren't in long lines in the cold and most of the stores were offering free shipping! After that, Derek went to bed.......I was off to Kohls and Bryan and Kim were off to Meijer (we both wanted things at each of these stores so I bought things for them and they bought things for me!) Then I went to a few other stores and headed home with a packed van! I think I was home around 8:30 and I stayed up and went shopping AGAIN with my Mom, Aunt and cousin! I didn't buy anything this time though. I was exhausted by this point so I took a nap with Allie when we got back!
Saturday is a blur........I really don't know what all we did (did I sleep all day?), besides eat at Pepe's (our FAV restaurant) and take the TV to my cousin
Sunday was Thanksgiving dinner with family. It was another wonderful meal and lots of people got to see Avery for the first time!
Allie & Alex coloring
Great Grandpa meeting Avery for the 1st time!
All of the great grandkids (from left to right) Allie, Parker, Matthew, Avery, Madison, Cade, Maddox, Cameron, Alex - by the end of the picture ALL of the kids were screaming/crying. (Avery & Maddox were born on the same day!)
Allie & Matthew shooting hoops
We missed seeing Derek's family :( I'm sure we'll be closer to them someday and we'll be spending more time with them....and then we'll be missing my family. I guess that's just how it goes. We have so many things to be thankful for and, of course, we are extremely thankful for our family and friends. We are so grateful for all that we have and for the many blessings that we receive. We hope everyone had a Terrific Thanksgiving and that everyone has a Merry CHRISTMAS!!!!
Here are Avery's cute "little" rolls that I promised to show a few posts back:

Family Pictures

Babies!!!!

This past weekend the girls and I went to Lafayette to see the two newest additions to the family. It was great fun and the babies are all sooooo cute!!

Avery Elizabeth

Conner Brooks
Jenna Paige
Jenna, Conner, Avery
Conner - 1 week; Jenna - 1 month; Avery - 3 months
GG w/ 3 newest great grandkids
cousins
Morgan, Mason, Allie, Trenton
Allie and the Boys
The Grandma Bracelet

There is a story behind this video. My Aunt Sandy got Avery's sock stuck on her bracelet and couldn't get it off. So she came up with a new bracelet, called the Grandma Bracelet, where you always have a baby bootie attached to you when in need!! As we were shooting the commercial for it.......the bootie came off!

This trip was so unexpected and that seems to always make things that much more fun. Uncle Bryan and Aunt Kim were even in town and Allie spent most of the day with Bryan on Saturday....just the two of them (and Bella & Gage). I think Allie really enjoyed her time with Buddy and even taught him how to change a diaper! GG spent most of the day with Avery. Avery was in such a good mood that day too! Papa worked and then Mony, Kim and I scrapbooked from 8am until 8pm! I know, I'm crazy......I was ready to leave as soon as I got there, but toughed it out and stayed the whole time since I haven't had time to do any of it since having Allie. I'm still nowhere close to being done, but I'm just going to do their birth to 1 year books and then go month by month from there. The weekend was just so much fun and I can't wait to see everyone again in about a week!!

Avery ~ 3 Months

Avery is already 3 months old!!! She is such a happy little girl. She loves to coo and has a smile that makes your heart melt. She holds her head up really well and I find her trying to lift it up to see what's going on all the time while she's laying down. I've caught her watching tv a few times....guess it's time to break out the Baby Einstein dvds! She still has the tiniest little feet and hands, just like Allie did......but tons of cute rolls on her thighs and wrists. She loves baths, sleeping on her tummy, watching her big sister, rattles and she's even starting to enjoy her tummy time a little bit more (looks at things like her fist or the fish on her mat). I have a video of her in her boucner that won't load so I'll try it again later.......along with a couple pics of her rolls!

Hodge Podge

Just a little bit about what is going on with us in the past couple of weeks - I chose hodge podge for the title because it's been in the subject line of our family emails for the week and that's all I could think of!!

• The girls and I are all feeling better, but still have a little cough


• Avery went to the Dr yesterday to be seen for her cold in her eye and to get nasal drops


• Allie goes to the Dr next Thursday to check on her ears (she says they don't hurt anymore), but she has been complaining of her belly hurting


• Derek bought a boat....it's really nice....thankfully our Christmas shopping is pretty much done.......it's big and so we're going to be ghetto and keep it in our driveway (he's picking it up tonight)


• Allie has been doing a pretty good job of going potty like a big girl (she had a bad couple of days this week, but is back on track today)


• Avery LOVES to play with the giraffes on her bouncy seat and gets soooo excited


• My cousin, Christen, had her baby girl on October 15th......JENNA PAIGE


• My cousin, Ashley, had her baby boy yesterday, November 6th.......CONNER BROOKS

That's all I can think of for now! Here's some pics, Enjoy.

TRICK -OR- TREAT

Thursday night was Beggar's Night (trick or treating) here in Xenia. We were so thankful to have such a beautiful night for it! Allie seemed a little more excited to go out this year.......she knew she would be getting some candy! There were several houses in the neighborhood that were really decorated and Derek said she got really scared at one house, saying "That scary." I stayed at home with Avery to pass out candy but no one was coming to our door. So I got the stroller out and we went looking for Derek and Allie but we never found them. I figured out why no one was coming to our house though....we're the 2nd house into the neighborhood and so all of the kids were coming from the other direction and then they would stop at the house next to ours and hit the culdesac and then turn around to go on the other side of the street. Besides that, everyone that was passing out candy was sitting outside.




Friday my Mom and Grandma came to visit for the weekend. It was also my Mom's birthday so we took her out to eat. Allie, Avery and I have all been sick for the past week so I hope they don't get what we have! We actually took Allie to the ER on Saturday night because she was coughing so bad and complaining that her ears were hurting. She has a double ear infection. Poor girl! I probably should have just been seen while I was there, but felt bad about it since I didn't think it was an emergency. I didn't have a voice yesterday and I barely have one today. Avery is just really congested. We went in the bathroom this morning with the hot water running and after about 5 minutes she sneezed out some of the junk. Hopefully we will all get over this soon. So far it's been 10 days!!!