Merry Christmas!

Many more Christmas pictures to come!

Hope everyone has a wonderful (and white!) Christmas!

Polar Express

Monday night, we got to ride with both sets of grandparents to the North Pole on the Polar Express!!!

This boy was so excited about the train!

Of course with 3 teachers on board, we had to bring the book! And I was the only adult that insisted on dressing up in pajamas and bathrobe just like the book...along with Gavin and Henley, of course!

Waiting to board:

"All Aboard!"

Gavin was just a few months old the last time he rode a train, so it was so fun for us to see him so into it this time!!

Like the book, we got a treat on the train...gingerbread men cookies and Yoohoo!

Love the guys dressed up just like the book!

Gavin was a fan!

They also read the whole book over a microphone while the kids ate and drank, so I'm so glad we brought the book to read along!

After about a 30 minute train ride we got to the "North Pole" all decorated.

Gavin loved seeing Santa waving outside!

"Why can't he come on the train with us!?"

Little did this little guy know, he was going to come on! We sang Christmas Carols in the meantime with everybody on the train. Gavin danced in the aisles. Sugar rush!!

You can see the top of Santa's hat right above the seat. Gavin was very interested...

...still interested...

...not so sure...

...ummm...

"No, Santa, get away!!"

He settled for a high five instead of sitting in his lap.

And we all got a jingle bell at the end of the train ride, also just like the book!

It was such a fun night!! Too bad Henley missed out on all the fun!

November Recap

So there's really no way to do a month recap on time, is there? I guess it'll always be in the middle of the following month! :)

Gavin still loves good food. We've been having some tasty treats out of the blue. Ryan brought home a bagel and cream cheese from Panera one morning. Gavin was a huge fan (notice his tongue barely out of his mouth licking his lips)

One of my best buddies Joslynn just adopted 3 brothers from Nicaragua!!!

It was so fun for us to get to hang out with these guys after we've been praying for this to happen for so long! Gavin loved hangin' out with them, especially Beto! Rosendo is trying to get out of the picture on the left:

Gavin looks sad here with Melios because they're having to go back home to Chicago. I'm sad too, buddy!

We sure miss you, Joz!

My mom got Gavin and Henley a Zoo Membership for Christmas this year, so hopefully we'll be going a lot more now! Liz, I think I need to get you on video doing your elephant noise in front of the elephants next time! :)

Gavin has such the personality right now.

He loves his sister's bows:

and my shoes:

His new favorite thing is to play in the kitchen sink!

And he is definitely going to be some type of musician. He might be a drummer like his Pop! We've been saying this since last Christmas!

I love love love this picture. Ryan tucks Gavin in every night and reads to him, asking him to point different things out in the book, teaching him different words and animal sounds. Such a great dad!

I think Dakota needs some blog love.

She might possibly be the world's best dog, even if she does lick all the time. Gavin loves her so much!! She lets him pull all over her and ride on her and still loves him. Love her.

Ryan used the leaf blower to do this huge pile of leaves. Gavin wasn't the only one that got to enjoy it!

Ryan throws a stick in and Dakota runs, leaps head first into the pile, and ALWAYS finds the stick. It's amazing.

Gavin loved it!

Another thing Gavin loves to do right now...

Now onto my sweet girl...

HUGE news...Henley takes a bottle!!! Gavin didn't take a bottle until he was 11 months old, so this is a huge blessing for us with babysitters!

Henley was dedicated at church earlier this month with a lot of her friends. I really love how young our church is to have this many babies each time on stage!!

This is terribly fuzzy and I'm not looking at the right camera, but I had to document Henley's most dressy occasion thus far in her life--tights and bloomers and all! :)

Miss Henley Jane is sleeping through the night now! It doesn't happen every night, but I'll take what I can get! I think it is because she found her fist this month and sucks away on it!

She looks so much like her brother it's scary! And I think she looks a lot like me, too. Look at that strawberry hair!

It cracks me up when this happens in her sleep when Henley wears a bow:

Second date with Rev. I think things are getting serious...

When we go visit Braden, Henley always ends up with fun toys and books on her lap from Braden and Gavin wanting her to join in on their fun. Haha!

Henley is quite the drama queen! She only cries for 2 reasons: gas (which is fixed with a good burp) and a dirty diaper. Even if there's just a tiny squirt. She is already such a girly girl that she doesn't want to be messy!! :)

2 month stats from doctor:

Head: 15 3/4 in--75%

Weight: 12 lb 14 oz!!! 97%!!!

Height: 23 in--75%!!! Maybe she won't be short like her Mom!

Thanksgiving

We lost our card reader this week so I am so behind in posting about our Thanksgiving week! And there are so many pictures that this quite possibly could be the longest blogpost known to man, so grab a cup of coffee and enjoy! :)

Ryan's job is pretty much the most convenient job when it comes to traveling to see our family, because he can just bring his files with him and work from the Chattanooga office! Woohoo!! So we were able to go down for the entire week and spend time with family.

Nani had centers set up all over the house! Love that my mom is such a teacher and so creative.

The piano bench is a perfect desk to color at!

Legos in the garage:

She also taught Gavin to shave (just pretend--no blade of course)

On Monday we went to the Warner Park Zoo. A little pitiful compared to the Knoxville Zoo, but we all had a great time!

Gavin loved the petting zoo. Having Dakota has made him pretty fearless around animals!

He went on his very first carrousel ride! Liked it at first then wanted to get down:

Henley enjoyed it too!

On Tuesday we went to the Chattanooga Discovery Museum which was awesome!

Thanks for the tickets, Jeanne!!

Arts and Crafts:

Digging for dinosaur bones (this was my favorite part):

The musical instruments were definitely this boy's favorite!

Storytime:
Making animal footprints in the snow:
Nani had fun too!
Here is how Henley enjoyed it! Slept the whole time!

Thanksgiving morning was fun getting ready for the day watching the Macy's Parade as usual. Gavin loves saying "Bye!" right now. Love these boys:

For lunch we always head to Dayton to celebrate with my Mom's family. I love love love this Thanksgiving every year! Henley was definitely the center of attention for quite a while!

My Aunt Joanna and Cousin Madison from Florida. They stole Henley as much as they could since they don't get to see her very much!

Gavin loved the horses:

Gavin's cousins Ross and Rex:

My stud-muffin husband who didn't know I was snapping pictures of him:

Thanksgiving evening we spent with Ryan's family:

Gavin loved playing with the cars on this thing (I'm sure it has a name but I sure don't know it!)

Henley LOVED their aquarium! She kept staring at the bubbles and smiling and kicking. It made me think of Finding Nemo: "The bubbles!!!"

Friday evening we celebrated with my dad's family.

Yup, if you're keeping count, that's 3 Thanksgiving meals every year! We are quite stuffed by this point!

My 3-year-old cousin Caroline found my grandmother Jane's old hats, so all the girls wore them the rest of the evening!

We have a tradition to decorate the tree for my grandmother after we eat. This was Gavin's first time decorating a Christmas tree!

We had such a great week with family! We were all worn out by Saturday when we headed home and I know Nani and Pop were ready for a break from us! Can't wait 'til Christmas!!