There's just something about this boy...

His eyes, his dimples, his soft blonde hair, the sweet way he says "Mama" and "I wove you"... I could just eat him up!!

Ann Evelyn, child of the covenant

Ann Evelyn was baptized on Sunday at our church. Our dear associate pastor, Bob Brunson, baptized her, and my dad said a beautiful prayer for her. Wilson was called at noon on Saturday and asked to fill in at the pulpit... so he preached the sermon at her baptism. Ann Evelyn was precious... listened, smiled, and just seemed to take it all in. The boys were cute. Forrest fell asleep during the prayer before the baptism so he slept on Wilson's shoulder during the baptism. My dad was holding Andrew. (He was up there with us since he was going to be saying a prayer for her.) Andrew grabbed hold of sleeping Forrest's hand and held it during the prayers. Precious. Andrew was so sweet about his sister's special day. He loves to look at the album of pictures from his baptism so I think that he had an idea of what was going on. And of course, he was excited about the "party" we were having after. Even though it was really just lunch with our family, it was a party to him. We were blessed to have family join us for the occasion. It was a wonderful day.

"I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you." Genesis 17:7

"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Acts 2:38-39

All I wanted for Christmas...

What a wonderful Christmas we had with our sweet little family! Wilson accurately nicknamed Andrew "Mr. Christmas". He LOVED it! Decorating, wrapping (& unwrapping on Christmas morning :)) presents, singing Christmas carols, reading Christmas books, making cookies, opening Christmas cards, looking at lights and decorations, coloring Christmas pages... anything we did over the holidays that was related to Christmas was so fun and exciting to Andrew. He loved decorating the tree and stayed with it until the last ornament was hung. After which he said, "Can we decorate some more tomorrow, Mama?" The night before we took the tree down I told Andrew that he needed to say 'good-bye' to the Christmas tree because we'd be taking it down that night after he went to bed. He thought for a moment before he said, "Ok, but can we go pick out a new tree tomorrow and decorate it tomorrow night?" I think he'd be content to celebrate Christmas year 'round! Me, too, sweet boy!

I think one of my most favorite things about Christmas was hearing Andrew sing Christmas carols. I was amazed at how many he knew so well! From Jingle Bells and Here Comes Santa Claus to Silent Night and O Come all Ye Faithful, he was always singing - and still is. :) What a sweet sound to my ears. Andrew has a love for music. I pray that he'll continue to and the Lord will use it to glorify Him. It was a blessing to have this refreshing joy in our home brought to us by our sweet Andrew. One day Wilson said to Andrew, "I love your Christmas spirit, Andrew." Andrew quickly replied, "I love your Christmas spirit, too, Dada." This became almost a daily conversation between the two of them.

Forrest loved the special things that the holidays brought, too. He loved looking at "Frosty", "Thomas", and "Santa Claus" in the front yard. (Yes, we had blow-ups.) Whenever we came home at night and the blow-ups were lit, Forrest wanted to walk to the front yard to say hello. So cute. He loved looking for Frosty, Rudolph, and Santa Claus in decorations, on TV, in books. It was like they were his friends, and he called them by name whenever he saw them. :) The boys definitely understood about Santa this year. And we also had a special visitor with us over the holidays... our Elf, Jack. Andrew and Forrest loved finding him each morning. Andrew would talk to him a little, and even Forrest would say "Hi Jack" or "Bye Jack" when coming and going.

The boys also seemed to really understand the Christmas story and Baby Jesus' birth. They loved playing with the nativity sets and listening to Christmas devotions. Forrest would look for "Baby Jesus" the same way he would for Santa. And he loved picking up the baby from the nativity set. Whenever Baby Jesus was missing from the nativity, we knew Forrest had most likely placed it somewhere - and he usually could find him for us. It was precious to share the story of Jesus' birth with our boys and see them taking it in. Andrew and I made Jesus a birthday cake - remember he loves parties and celebrations, so it was very fitting for us to make a cake for Jesus and sing to him.

Ann Evelyn had a wonderful first Christmas. She loves watching her brothers and being a part of all that they do. She was a sweetheart over the holidays, as usual!

So what did everyone want for Christmas?

Well, if you asked Andrew... a yo-yo, candy canes, and a trumpet! He would respond with yo-yo and candy canes all of December. Trumpet was added the week of Christmas! Since he said it several times, we knew he wasn't going to let it go. Santa had to have some special help to find that trumpet!

And for Forrest... he wouldn't actually name anything to Santa (however he might now... he's been gradually talking more and more in the past couple of months) but he LOVES Handy Manny - he carries the tools around all the time to "fix it". So Santa knew he'd be so excited about his new tool box and Manny's truck!

And for Baby Girl... some sweet little girl things... some pink for her room, clothes, and girly toys. She loves her baby doll, a colorful teething ring, and her musical flowers.

And for Wilson and me... we just loved being with our sweet little ones. Words cannot explain how overwhelmed I feel by the Lord's blessings on our family. What a precious, priceless gift to spend so much time together and to reflect on our Savior's birth. I think we all received so much more than we could have ever wanted, and so much more than we deserve for Christmas. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Happy New Year, friends!

Christmas Morning!

Good Morning, Ann Evelyn!

The boys LOVED looking in their stockings. An apple was at the very bottom, and they thought it was the perfect snack!

The trumpet!! He was sooo excited! :)

And he was super excited about his yo-yo! He actually got 3 yo-yos - Santa left one at our house, and at each of the grandparents' houses, too!

Forrest grabbed 'Felipe' right away. He was a little overwhelmed looking at everything Santa brought. He had to take it in a little... Andrew just jumped right in and started playing.

Ann Evelyn was precious with her doll. She held her and looked at her. Then, she'd kiss the doll's face. I don't know if it was all kissing or if there was some teething going on, too, but it was so, so cute!

Too big, too fast!

Happy 5 months to our Baby Girl! She's just getting too big, too fast! We went for a sick visit to the doctor yesterday (yucky cold, cough, & fluid in her ears and so, her first antibiotic), and she weighed in at a whopping 20.4 pounds! She's a big girl! It's not just her weight that reminds me of how she's growing... she's working on sitting up, loving her cereal, quite interactive with toys and our family, and has settled into a great schedule. She's as sweet as ever and is quite the little princess in our family, adored by her brothers and parents alike. We are loving every minute with her!!

And speaking of growing too fast... two little boys are doing the same.

I'm so behind with my posting, but I really hope to catch up soon!!