hello

five month picture of miss mya......

i should be in bed right now...it was only a few hours ago and i was yawning feeling oh so tired....but i guess i got a second wind. i thought i would let my brain unwind a little bit. it needs to be wrung out. it's been so crazy around her i haven't been able to keep up. i did however take most of the day off from editing photos and other busy work to put up the christmas tree. yes, the christmas spirit bit me in the butt today! i just love it when the house is decorated for christmas, it just feels so warm and cozy...it also makes me want to bake. need to stay away from that for a little while. the girls helped get all the ornaments out...making a mess and fighting the entire time. we popped popcorn and had cheese and apples for lunch while we decorated....though i had to fight for my food....little piggies were on the loose! each year since i was pregnant with kylee we have gotten each one of the girls a brand new ornament, one that somewhat reflects them at their stage in life. it is always so fun to pull them out and reminisce. it was interesting though to look at the three or four "baby's first christmas" ornaments kylee got and alaina and mya just one (don't worry girls, you are loved just the same...trust me). it's not that the same excitement isn't there for each one, i think it is just the practicality of it all...what baby needs four "first baby's christmas" ornaments.....just funny!

i am so excited to celebrate this year...our little family is complete! four years ago after alaina was born i decided it was time to have matching stockings. so i found some really cute ones at target. not realizing until i went to hang them that i didn't just buy four, i bought five. i never took it back because i new that there was just one more little person who needed to have their name on that stocking. even though she will never remember this christmas i am so glad she is here with us! i will remember it for her ;-)

speaking of mya, she is growing like a weed! seriously, it really hit me the other day when she was sitting in alaina'a lap....she looked huge. what the heck, where has the time gone...it really doesn't seem fair. she is finally starting to laugh more (with a lot of work on our part of course). she is really in to watching bella too! let's just say that poor little bella is getting a lot more play time because i can kill two birds with one stone....entertain the baby and play with the dog. speaking of killing, i went down stairs before a photo shoot yesterday to set up...i went over to the basement window to see if i could spot the GIGANTIC spider that has been living in window well. well, instead of a spider i saw furr...yes, furr! it was lying in the corner under a peace of plastic. i watched it to see if it was breathing, and sure enough it was.....ooooh! i ran outside to tell alan. he brought with him our neighbor who said it was a mouse. alan asked what we should do with it and he said "kill it." the next thing i know our neighbor (good ole' country boy) is down in the window well stomping on the mouse. OH MY GOODNESS!!!! it was horrible. alan was later making fun of me because they could both hear me in the house yelling like a little girl...but come on, it was nasty and sad all at the same time. if fact when i went to bed last night, the first vision i saw when i closed my eyes was a foot stomping on that thing. don't get me wrong, i am grateful that he was able to do it because i guarantee that alan nor i would have been able to do much about it. i am just glad the girls were not around!!

before i sign off i have to tell a little funny kyleeism. kylee has been very interested in nutcrackers lately (probably because they are everywhere), so i have been telling her that i would really like to take her to the "nutcracker" next year when she is eight (because that is the first time i saw it....and i LOVED it!) well, in the car tonight kylee proceeds to tell me that she doesn't think she wants to go to the nutcracker. i asked her why and this was her response....."i don't think i want to go watch a play about nutcrackers eating nuts!" i just about fell over. that was awesome...and so is she! just love that girl!!! i don't think i would want to do that either honey ;-)