Christmas Programs and Parties...and Anna is 3 months old!

Last night was Jake and Addi's Christmas programs at their schools. Since they were on the same night James took Addi to hers and I took Jake to his. The video camera went with James and the digital came with me so I got this picture of Jake when he first changed into his costume last night. James and Addi got finished at hers in time to bring the video camera so we got video of Jake's too so it worked out great. Jake did a great job...he sang all the songs, did the motions, and actually seemed to really have a good time up there so that was really neat to see. James said Addison did a great job too and from what I could see on the video (Addi was on the second row so I couldn't see her all that well) she had a good time too. Today was parties for both kids at their schools. I had to take pizza to Addi's party so Anna and I got to go and help out with the book exchange. Her class was so good and well-behaved, especially for the day before Christmas break...that was always one of the craziest days, second to Halloween of course. Then when we got home James was playing with Anna and she laughed...not just a squeal, it was a real laugh. She actually laughed so much that she gave herself the hiccups which made the laughing promptly stop before I could get her on video, but I saw, it really happened and for James and not me. :( That's okay...I'll just hold out for her first word to be "Ma-ma" like other two's were. And she's 3 months old today...it just doesn't seem possible! Anyway, we're officially on Christmas break and looking forward to lots of fun times spent with our family and friends. I'm looking forward to it more than ever this year...we are just so blessed!

Some snow days pics and Anna around 12 weeks...

Blog Catch-up

Here are lots of posts all at once, but I had a lot of catching up to do...read on and check new pictures...

Decorating the tree...

This year we decided not to get a real tree for the basement and just put one of our artificial ones from the main level down there...less mess, no watering (not that we were very good about that anyway which could be why it was always all dried up and yucky by Christmas!), and it was free since we already had an extra - real trees can cost 40 or 50 bucks! I do miss the smell, but I think I'll live without it and everyone's allergies will probably appreciate it too. We ate a picnic supper in the basement, I went through picking out which ornaments to put on the tree (they wouldn't all fit), the kids and James put the ornaments on, and Anna just played in the floor on her quilt. It was a fun, fun night!

Granddaddy's Birthday

We all ate dinner at our house for Dad's birthday. The kids wanted to help with the candles, but Anna is not nearly as close to the flames as it appears in this picture.

Pilgrim Jake

James and I went to eat lunch with Addi and Jake at both of their schools during the week before Thanksgiving. I didn't take any pictures from Addi's, but here's Jake in his pilgrim hat that he made (with a lot of help from Ms. Paula and Ms. Kema I'm sure!) to wear that day.

More Recent Anna Pictures...

Anna's profile pic...
Such a happy baby...
First hairbow...she looks thrilled doesn't she? :)
Clean and good smellin' girl fresh from the bathtub...

Chef-Boy-R-JAKE!

This is the pizza that Jake and I made together one night while Addi was at Grammy's...he loved to help and loved even more the fact that he was getting to help without Addi around! :)

Anna - 6 weeks

Just in case anyone was wondering, yes, we do take pictures of Anna, not nearly as many or as often as Addison or Jake and they certainly don't get posted on the blog very promptly, but there are pictures here and there of her too. Hopefully she won't have too bad of a complex about this when she gets older. Here's a couple of cute ones from around 6 weeks.

The lost Halloween Photos

I just realized I didn't post any Halloween pics...yes, it's been over a month ago, but better late than never and so here they are...

Jake's Memory Verse

Jake and I were riding home from church together this morning (Addi's sick so James stayed home with her and Anna) and he started to say something over and over...he's still a little hard to understand at times, but finally I got what he was saying..."Obey the Lord." I thought maybe he was repeating what the preacher was saying on the radio or something, but it turned out that was his memory verse from this morning so I was very impressed. So then I thought I would talk to him about obeying the Lord and that obeying the Lord also involves obeying other people too (I was thinking about obeying parents, teachers, etc.) so I asked him, "Who else should we obey?" and very quickly Jake replied, "Reese." She's a little cutie in his Sunday School class...I guess she's got him trained already! :)

1st Lost Tooth!

The tooth fairy visited our house Saturday night after Addi lost her first tooth...she was very excited! She came in our room at 2AM to let us know that the tooth fairy hadn't been yet...and then in again at 6 waving her dollar in the air so excited that she had finally come. It's so funny to see her with that toothless smile though...

Sisters...

Here's a cute pic of Addi reading a book to her little sister...trying to keep her occupied while I took a quick shower...how sweet! :)

Jake's Field Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

Jake's class from Grace Heartland went to Hinton's Orchard last week...we went on a hayride, petted the baby calves, watched the apples get washed and sorted, went through the corn maze, picked our own pumpkin out of the patch, and played on the haystack playground. Jake had a great time, but his favorite part of the day was playing with the hula hoop he found on the ground outside the store...he could have played with that all day I think!

Last day of fall break...

Mommy was very brave on the last day of fall break and ventured out to Funtopia with all 3 kids by myself. Actually it went very smooth...the kids had a great time playing together and Anna was quite happy sleeping away in her stroller. I don't think I'm ready for all 3 at the grocery just yet, but I'm getting there! :)

Pumpkin Patch at Huber's

We spent the day Friday at Joe Huber's and thankfully Grammy went along to help out...we're outnumbered now you know. The kids favorite part of the day was the hayride (there was no actual hay on the wagon as Addi pointed out, but it was probably better for everyone's allergies that way anyway!) and the pumpkin patch...the pumpkin patch is huge...pumpkins as far as you can see. Anna was very good and didn't seem to mind the trip at all...in fact she slept through most of the day. So, we now have pumpkins on our porch, smaller pumpkins to paint, and one teeny pumpkin for Anna. It was a great day.

Anna at home...

Yes, we brought Anna home 3 weeks ago, but I've been a little busy (imagine that!) so haven't had time to post new pics and updates. As you can see from the pictures the kids were thrilled to have their baby sister at home with them. They've been very good with her so far...helping out a lot with getting diapers, her paci, and various other things she needs. Jake loves to "pet her" on the head and Addi loves holding her baby sister. The first week or so was a little rough getting used to everything, but we seem to be settling in to things pretty well now...at least for the moment! :)

Anna Laine Williams is here!

Anna Laine Williams
Born Friday, September 19th at 1:30 pm
7 lbs. 12 oz.
20 inches