It's the Holiday Season!

I wish I could put into words what the holidays mean to me this year. I am continually amazed at God's goodness and faithfulness to us. What a difference a year makes! Life for us has changed completely, but in the best possible way. He has truly turned our mourning into joy! (Psalm 30:11)
In reflecting on our joy, I want to give thanks for my 3 babies. They are the biggest blessing we could have asked for. Here's a brief update:


Kayla

Kayla is now a little over 17 lbs and continues to be little but mighty! She is quite independent, often playing by herself and being perfectly content to do so. She is crawling all around and pulling up to stand on anything she can find and I think she is quite proud of herself. Kayla also loves to look at herself in the mirror and cries when I take her away from it (look out, vanity is starting early!). She also loves taking baths and I think would be content to sit in water for hours at a time. She is a very good sleeper, naps like a champ and is rarely fussy. But be warned not to take something from her that she wants because she remains our loudest screamer. So little, but boy does she have a pair of lungs on her! She recently started giving us kisses, which is so cute I could cry just typing this. We love our baby girl and are thankful for the sweet, gentle spirit that she is.







Braden

Braden is our big, cuddly boy weighing in at a hefty 22 lbs these days. He is also the tallest of our group so he can plow over the rest pretty easily. Braden is also crawling now (he was the latest bloomer on this), and he's standing too and will cruise around the coffee table or go from table to chair. At times we've even spotted him briefly standing on his own. Yikes! As you may have guessed, being 22 lbs, Braden also loves to eat. He cries almost every time I say "all done". He loves to play with Daniel and the two of them often travel around getting into all kinds of trouble. We tend to joke that Braden has also been through a voice change already because he has the lowest voice for a baby that I've ever heard. It cracks us up! He recently started waving bye-bye, another one of those too cute for words moments. And one of my favorite things about Braden is that he is our biggest snuggler. If I'm having a bad day, my son will always snuggle up with me and give me a hug and as any mother would know, that just makes everything better.







Daniel

Daniel is our ball of energy. The boy is like an energizer bunny and plays hard, whether he's had good sleep or not. I often find myself chasing him down, because he is in fact our instigator. Daniel is about 21 lbs now and has really become more slender, probably due to all those calories he's burning! He has been crawling for a while now and stands like Braden does, only I fear that he will be walking in no time. He has no fear! Daniel continues to crack us up with his "growling". He started growling months ago and we thought it would be just a phase, but he continues to growl at everything; his toys, his stuffed animals, grandpa snoring. :) I don't know where he got it, but it's adorable. Daniel is our comic relief, very vocal and laughs a lot. It is the best to tickle him and just see him writhe around, just plain hysterical. He brings smiles to our faces every day!