Santa

Halle said, "Daddy, are you going to do Santa today?"

Here is what she meant:Little Santa baby:

Merry Christmas!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JESUS!

WE LOVE YOU!

Parker Christmas

Friday:

We got to Jonesboro on Friday night for Kristi's and Josh's wedding rehersal. Here is Halle practicing:

Saturday:

After the rehersal we stayed at Kristi's house. Here is Jake and Cate, getting ready to head to the church for the wedding:Halle loved the way the vent puffed out her dress!The Cousins (Halle, Caleb, Jake, Cate):Halle did such a good job as flower girl! She turned around twice, but she ended up making it the entire way down the aisle- she even turned the corner and threw flowers across the front of the church and all the way back down the side aisle!

Sunday:

After church we hung out at the house. Here is Cate drifting off in Daddy's arms:

Halle loves both boys, but I think she REALLY likes Jake. He did such a great job playing with her!

Here is his masterpiece:Halle's masterpiece:

Monday:

I took several pictures at the Parker-side Christmas, but only one turned out very well. Here is Cate with Aunt Suzanne and Uncle Erby:

Tuesday:

Tuesday night was the Coffman-side Christmas (JD's mom's family.) Here is David reading the Christmas story before the craziness begins:Cate listens to the story:Halle "listens" to the story:Christmas Chaos:Wednesday:

Wednesday morning Halle got to decorate Christmas cookies with Mema and Papa (and Gran-Gran and Aunt Saundra):Some shots before we left:

Cate, Pepa & Gran-Gran:Halle & Papa Coffman:Us & the Coffmans: We had such a good time- it was great to see everyone!!

**I don't have a picture of it, but Speed Scrabble was the hit of Christmas. I think Jonathan (who got REALLY lucky with the letters) and I were the champions. Okay. So Jon was. But I did win twice!

THANKS FOR TEACHING US THAT GAME, BETHANY!!

Lazy Day

If you squint you can see her tooth. It's right in front of that glare on her tongue- see it?! :)

Halle said, "Her foot's in there! Just like a swimming pool!":"Playing":ChEEEEEEse:

11-4

We won tonight!! I had a sinking suspicion all afternoon that we wouldn't get it done (bad things happen in 3's right? KU, Northwest...) Sinking 22 of 26 free throws sealed the deal. Yay, Royals!!

7 months

Cate updates:
Sleeping: Last night she slept from 8:30 to 8:30 without waking up once! No feeding, no diaper changes... I woke up in a panic around 7:00. And then blissfully fell back asleep. What a wonderful thing: completely uninterrupted sleep!
Eating: She eats pretty much all baby food now- I think she will be ready for the lumpier stuff soon, though. She also LOVES teething biscuits. I hate them. They make the grossest messes, but they let me get LOTS of things done!
Playing: Cate loves anything she can get in her mouth. So. Pretty much anything. She also likes to pull up on anything she can grab- she used Halle the other day. Halle laughed and then pushed her down before I could stop her.

Santarella

Direct quote:

"Mommy- I'm Cinderella. AND I'm Santa Claus. AND I'm 'bout to play with my car. So watch me."

Too funny.Cate's reaction to most everything Halle does/says:

(Imagine a squeal of laughter.)Off on a date (ball game with hospitality room supper!):

10-4

We traveled with the team to Joplin last night to watch them play Ozark Christian College- we won by about 10 or 15. It was our first experience riding the team bus. Halle loved it. Cate slept.

Halle enjoying her pre-game meal in the gym lobby:

Santa Babies

Cate's New Trick

So I just went in to check on the girls- I knew they weren't napping because I could hear Halle talking and Cate laughing. Here is what I found:Yes. Cate is standing. Time to lower the crib ALREADY!

Here she is a few minutes later when I checked again:

Oh my.

So I just went in to check on Halle. It always takes a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dark, and ever since she was a baby it has been my habit to put my hand on her chest to make sure she's breathing (neurotic- yes.) It felt a little too smooth. As my eyes slowly adjusted, I pulled back the covers to find... nothing. No clothes. No diaper. No socks. They were all wadded in a ball under her head. There is nothing more funny than a two year old. I'm convinced.

Shopping, Shopping, Shopping!

This was the weekend for our annual shopping trip with my mom, grandma and sister-in-law. My dad snuck in this year for awhile, he's a GREAT Halle-sitter! :)

Papa and Halle check out the reindeer:

"In-and-Out" (of the van) was the name of the game:Halle's favorite shoe store:Halle danced, Cate cracked up:Halle got a new book called, "Little Pea"- I think we've read it 6 times since we've been home (she was only up for an hour before bed!!):Caty-Cate got her first tooth this weekend! She was such a trooper- no whining at all!