Merry Christmas!

We've got much more to post about this Christmas season, but we wanted to say Merry Christmas and share a cute picture of our two little ones. :) Our Santa experience was better this year...Sadie was a sweetheart and Colton was stoic (a big improvement over last year!)

Sadie 7 1/2 months, Colton 2 years & 3 months

Fun with our new camera

We got a new camera in November and its been so fun to get crisp, clear pictures of our kids. It was an early, family Christmas present and something we've been wanting for a while. We love playing with it and capturing great shots of Colton in action and Sadie smiling.

A warm day in November - fun at the park

A cold day in December - fun in the yard (and doorway - Sadie watched us from the walker inside the front door)

This is a pretty typical Colton face

Colton waiting patiently to eat his oreo turkey

Colton's 'smile'

Picture time with our sweet friend Hope

We can't wait to see if Sadie will have curly blonde locks like her brother.

Big boy gearing up for a big night...his first night not in a crib!

A little nighttime reading

And, - drumroll please...Colton's first big boy bed! Yes, it's a mattress, - in the corner of his room on the floor. He doesn't know what he's missing and its worked very well! We're planning on getting bunk beds for him soon.

Sadie and Colton, decorated with a few colorful dots

Scrub-a-dubbing

Sadie has found her hands and loves to wave, clap, and twist them together. It keeps her busy!

Thanksgiving

I'm trying to catch up on some blog posts floating around in my head. I figured I better get Thanksgiving done before my Christmas posts.

So, back up to November...we had a great time with family out at the lakehouse. Colton is at such a fun age and plays really well with his cousins, Cooper and Layla. They are just so cute together. :)

It was pretty cold most days, so we spent a lot of time indoors. Mr. Potato Head and friends was a big hit.

I love Colton's silly face here!

Our first nap together. I loved it (and secretly hope there are more in our future - so sweet to cuddle with both of them!)

We did bundle up and venture outdoors for a while.

Sadie with her Uncle Ryan

Uncle Ryan, Sadie, Cooper and BoPa

The whole crew ready to enjoy our delicious Thanksgiving meal!

Two cute teeth

Fun in the sink

This photo shoot had us all in stitches. It started out with Aunt Lacy pulling Cooper aside to tell him he had the big and very important task of carefully holding baby Sadie. Meanwhile Colton, overhearing all of this, gets jealous and insists he gets a turn too. (picture Colton patting his chest and saying "me hold baby" over and over until you tell him he can hold her in the pictures too. These awesome pjs were all Christmas presents last year from their Lizzy.

I love Layla trying to get a turn at holding Sadie

We finally let each of them have a turn. :)

Such serious boys!

Colton was totally over the photo-shoot at this point and the only way to get a group picture with BoPa and Lizzy was to hold Colton upside down. We missed getting a picture of the next scene, but Colton kicked Cooper who then fell backwards, narrowly missing falling INTO the fire!

The boys at the ranch

The girls on a walk

Happy Thanksgiving!

Fall catch-up

It's been a busy fall! We've gone out of town, visited many fun places in town, had family come visit, and enjoyed leisurely weekends at home. Here's a few pictures catching up on stuff from October and November.

Sadie wearing her first tutu, from Aunt Mary Jo.

She loves to grab ahold of anything on your face, usually your nose. She's also found Colton's hair a few times and pulled it hard!

Colton loves to tickle Sadie's cheeks or feet - he'll say "tickle, tickle, tickle" as he's doing it. :)

Sadie eats solid foods once or twice a day (sometimes I forget to feed her in the morning, or just run out of time...if you've seen her lately you'll understand that she's ok missing a meal.)! Colton thought it was so funny when she first sat in his booster seat. He typically sits in regular table chairs now, but thinks its fun to sit in the high chair at times too.

This boy loves himself some trains! Daddy surprised him with a couple of trains one night and they both had names within a few minutes.

They love each other. :)

Some fun at the lakehouse...

Around town...

we made many trips to the Arboretum this Fall - we love that it's so close to our house...Colton loves our trips to the 'arbo'...this time my friend Bethany and her fam from Lexington, KY went with us, but I didn't get any pictures (Josiah is behind us in this shot).

Colton and Mia at our neighborhood elementary school for storytime.

We LOVE our trips to the zoo! So glad to have a membership pass. Colton and his pal Sophie were checking out the cheetahs.

We visited a new aquarium in town...colton is with his friends feeding sting rays!

Colton didn't actually stick his hand in the water, he was a bit scared.

Colton has the sweetest response when we talk about what we're doing for the day. He always asks if daddy will be coming with us (to the zoo, bible study, arboretum, park, etc...). I explain he's at work and he nods his head as if he understands. Sweet boy would LOVE for his daddy not to work, but we try and make up for it on the weekends with fun daddy activities.

Cousin Hannah came to visit in November with Pops and Nana. She missed her mommy just a little bit, but had a fun-filled 3 nights and days playing with Colton and telling me how cute baby Sadie is.

They turned on the charm for these pictures in front of our window!

Stirring cupcakes

Pouring cupcakes

Enjoying cupcakes!

All dressed up at a wedding

We had so much fun this fall. And now December has started- I love Christmas time! We're excited about Christmas with our two sweet kids. Pictures from our NEW camera and trip to the lakehouse for Thanksgiving will be the next post!