Penelope ~ 8 months

Girl is on the move. Not cruising too much, yet, but she will roll and reach/pivot around to get where she wants to be pretty well. I've set her on the floor pretty far from me while I've wrapped gifts, and it doesn't take her long at all to reach Mom and the paper/tape/scissors! She's fairly content on the floor now as long as she's got things to play with and put in her mouth. She doesn't have any teeth yet, but something is definitely going on in that little mouth. We've tried some sleep training this past month, at her doctor's suggestion. It was interrupted when she was sick/teething/feverish a couple of times the last month, but it has helped some. She was waking 3-5 times every night, and now it's only 1-2 times- not perfect, but an improvement, for sure! She's still pretty terrible with solid foods- blowing raspberries every time I attempt to get a spoonful in, and she spits out everything that slips in. But we'll keep trying and allowing her to experiment with different foods. She's not having trouble gaining weight- that's for sure. She's a solid little thing.

She is still just as sweet and smily as she could be. She loves books and peekaboo and baths with Mom. https://youtube.com/shorts/t3Z2k93NSuQ?feature=share

We love you, Penny Lu!

The Christmas Wood

Mike and the girls were sent out to acquire a Christmas tree on Guadete Sunday. This is what they returned with.

It was too big to put in the shaker or through the netting machine, so bared she came.

It was close to 12', so some bottom branches and part of the trunk needed to be trimmed.

Getting it through the sliding door was a feat. Mike pulled from the inside and Jack and I pushed from outside as Mike kept chanting "One, two three!" I was worried about the doorframe, but the damage was minimal :-|

At least when it goes back out, we'll be able to lop off impeding branches. (recessed light = instant star)

The plastic stand we used is toast- we could hear it cracking and popping loudly as it made its ascent, but the work required to get this thing balanced and upright and roped into place resigned us to the fact that our tree will have no water and dry up like a raisin in the sun. At least wood fires won't contribute to her parching, as those clearly are not an option this Christmas season :-\

We have dubbed her the Christmas Wood... She's kind of like the Narnia wardrobe. Also, we'll be finding needles until kingdom come.

I draped her with all of the lights we had from previous years, but they only covered this much.

Found some more whites... still not enough.

The next day, I struck out at four different stores looking for more colored lights to match the ones we had but came home to some waiting at our front door (completely forgot I'd ordered some the week before when I saw them on sale- I guess I had an inkling future me would need them :-D))

I think it is absolutely beautiful. Mike and the girls did good.

Some daytime shots... added some beaded garland (but it's still not enough!)...

Wishing everyone a peaceful, blessed remainder of Advent!

Happy St. Nicholas Day

St. Nicholas left the kids some new Christmas books, chocolate coins/Santas, and new slippers/shoes, as annoyingly, their feet just keep growing.

(I think my phone camera was smudgy, hence the blurry photos.)
We had to rush through their St. Nick gifts, as we needed to head out to Catholic Schoolhouse. Sadly, in my hurry and brain fog, I didn't notice Mike's car behind us (or Mike madly waving his hands at me from the door) as I absent-mindedly backed the Sienna out of the garage and, you guessed it, plowed into his car. It wasn't a great way to start the day.

But it redeemed itself- the wonderful moms in our homeschool group had just the words to speak to my harried heart. Praise God- only minor issues resulted in my mistake (Mike was able to pry his passenger door open with a crowbar, and the bumper was hanging off of the Sienna, but Mike was able to pop it back on). And in the evening, Mike surprised us all with going to see the Christmas lights at Olin Park downtown and out to eat afterwards.

I wish this photo was clearer, as you can see the Capitol building, and it was so pretty all lit up.

Oh, mercy <3

We have an annual tradition of hosting a St. Nicholas party at our house with our fellow homeschoolers, but this year, we had our homeschool group in the morning, and plenty of other activities on the surrounding mornings/evenings, so we just decided to skip it this year. The kids were fairly heartbroken about it- it's a fun and festive day with friends and food, and it's a special way to spend the anniversary of Roma's tragic fall (it has been SEVEN years- hard to believe). Hopefully next year, we can pick it back up.

Saint Nicholas, pray for us!

Thanksgiving at Grandma & Grandpa's

As always, we had a wonderful visit with Grandma and Grandpa at their house for Thanksgiving, though we missed the Pleasant-Ryans, who stayed home due to illness.