Merry Christmas!

We spent Christmas in Texas this year. Waking up on Christmas morning in our home with 3 excited boys was really fun! Joshua opened a remote control school bus--which he loves! I love this face!

Eli and Micah loved their gifts, too. These markers and coloring sheets have been a huge hit in our house. (Actually, anything to do with art is a big hit with these two!)

Joshua loves this Thomas book from his Godparents. We read it daily and he never tires of it.

 This year, we went down to the zoo for their annual Zoo Lights.

  It was amazing and we'll definitely go again.

Most of the animals were in for the night and off display, but this young elephant was out. Our boys loved watching him eat and asked to see him again before we left.

The next day, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Cheney's house to see the rest of our Cheney family.

Luke was awake and got held right away--first by Britton,

 then Aunt Rebecca.

Grandma and Grandpa got a lot of help opening their gifts.

 The whole week our Cheney cousins were in town was fun. The boys really love their cousins and enjoyed playing with them.

The girls love their cousins, too, and Kaelyn never missed an opportunity to hold Luke.

 

We had some nice weather while the Vegas Cheneys were here, so we made a couple of trips to our favorite park.

Joshua loves the tire swing.

All of the kids liked the zip line. This is Britton taking a turn.

Britton and Kaelyn took a walk in the woods and found this clearing to play in. I enjoyed hearing their imaginative play.

Micah and Eli played tag with Uncle Mark, then took a break to climb the rock wall. This is Micah.

No Christmas post would be complete without a little caroling. 
This is Micah (left) and Eli (right) singing their favorite Christmas song this year.

It was fun to stretch out our Christmas celebrations. We are so blessed we get to share our holidays with our wonderful family!

Merry Christmas!

(These were the words Paul made for our Christmas letter this year. I love how they turned out!)

Christmas Program, Candy Canes, and....Fishing?

 We were so excited to see Eli and Micah's first Christmas program. Micah is standing 3rd from the right on the top row and Eli is 4th from the right. You can see them both in the big screens below.

 (Micah is turning around looking at himself on the big screen.)

Micah (left) and Eli (right)

One warm afternoon, we took a family trip to a friend's fishing pond. Their horses were out and were very curious about us.

 Eli

 Micah, Joshua, Paul

 Joshua was happy to feed this horse a carrot.

 Micah showed Joshua one of the fishing worms.

 Paul caught this Bass-our only catch of the day.

 Right before Christmas, someone came and put candy canes all over our plants and cars. It made us all laugh and the boys enjoyed bringing them in and hanging them on our tree. We still don't know who did it, but it was a really cute idea.

Luke is 1 month

Obviously, I'm a little behind on the posts since Luke is now 2.5 months. However, here are some of my favorite pictures of him from December.

Luke decided early that he was done being swaddled and liked the freedom of the wearable blanket better.

I put Luke on Joshua's bed one morning while I changed Joshua's diaper. When Joshua was finished, he climbed up next to Luke. Joshua really loves his little brother!

Luke at 1 month

 My multiples group sent this onesie to Luke-so cute!

Luke sleeps well and often.

Happy 2nd Birthday, Joshua!

This was not Joshua's year for a party with friends, so he had a quiet birthday celebration at home. He started the day opening a few presents--including this toy blender from us.

He requested a blue elephant cake, which I was happy to make for him.

He did great blowing out both candles in one big blow. Then, he said "too hot" as he watched the smoke rise.

As soon as we pulled the candles out of his cake, Joshua quickly swiped one of the elephant's eyes.

Joshua really liked his elephant cake!

And this blender. ;-)

Happy 2nd Birthday, Joshua! You are funny, determined, out-going, creative, and cuddly. At 2, you love play-dough, building blocks, playing outside (especially bubbles, sand and swinging on the tire swing), reading, elephants, Thomas the Train and Elmo. We are proud to be your parents and look forward to many more birthday celebrations with you! We love you!

Nana and Papa's Visit

Nana and Papa came to visit and help out after Luke was born.  As always, they were great in helping take care of the house and kids so I (Kristy) could get some rest and focus on taking care of Luke. They cooked, cleaned, ran errands, took the big boys to school and even got to attend the school's Thanksgiving Feast.

One warm afternoon, Luke got to enjoy being outside.

 

Eli and Micah had been asking for opportunities to earn some extra money, so Paul got them to help vacuum the cars

 and wash his car before he sold it.

Eli and Micah enjoyed playing with Luke early one morning.

 Nana got to babysit when I went to a Doctor's appointment and she gave Luke his first bottle (with Joshua's help).

While we had the extra hands in the house, Paul and Papa got the Christmas decorations out of the attic and set up our tree. Eli, Micah and Joshua loved hanging the first ornaments on the tree.

Joshua hung all of his ornaments on the same branch.

Papa, Micah, Joshua, Eli, Nana and Luke

 

Joshua LOVES his little brother!

Right before Thanksgiving, we went to get family pictures taken. Joshua was unsure about the experience, but at least we got a couple of half-smiles.

Eli, Micah and Luke, Joshua

Luke- 2 weeks

We had a great time spending time with Nana and Papa and really enjoyed their help. It was quite a shock the first morning after they left and we were responsible for all of the kids and housework again. We look forward to seeing them again at Spring Break in March!

Welcome Home, Luke!

Eli and Micah were waiting outside when we pulled up. They were the first to welcome Luke home.

Eli wanted a turn to hold Luke right away.

Micah wanted a turn, too.

When Joshua woke from his nap, he was thrilled to see "Baby Luke" at our house.

During his first week at home, Luke continued to be a good sleeper and we all enjoyed holding him.

Luke's brothers thought he should try out the playmat right away. Joshua joined Luke for quite a while!

I got a lot of help when we gave Luke his first bath at home.

Grandpa and Grandma were a big help when we came home--cooking and cleaning, but also entertaining Eli, Micah and Joshua. Grandpa taught Eli (on the couch) and Micah (on the stool) how to play Connect 4. They all had a great time!