I always forget the things Kennedy says that I want to share so I thought I'd post this before I forget. We have the possibility for some snow tomorrow which I told her and she said she'd pray for it so she says "Dear Jesus, please give me snow". Then she says did Jesus hear me? I said yes and she said will he give me snow? I said we'll have to see. I reminded her awhile later that we may or may not get snow. She says, why not, didn't Jesus hear me? I again said yes and tried to explain (not very well obviously) that while He always hears us He can't always give everyone everything they ask for. And she says "but I don't want everything, I just want one thing - snow". So funny!

I just checked the forecast in Boone and it's supposed to snow 6 out of the next 7 days. I'm so jealous!! I think we might just have to make a trip up there next week.

I happend upon a toy store this week that was the neatest toy store I've ever been to. If you live in the Charlotte area you have to check it out. It's called Toys & Co (I think they have 2 stores in SC too) and is by Wendover/Randolph roads. I never go to toy stores because I almost never by the kids new toys, I can get almost new toys for a fraction of the price at a consignment sale or on Craigslist and then I can resell them when they're done with them for the same price I bought them for. I don't really buy them that many toys anyways because they rarely play with them. But next time I do need a new toy, I'm definitely going to head over to Toys & Co. I've never seen such a variety of toys in my life. And not all the licensed kind of things like Barbie, etc. that they have at Target and ToysRus. It was just so neat. And if you're bringing you kids with you (mine were at home with our babysitter when I was there), they have lots of areas where the kids can play with things like a train set, kitchen, dollhouses, etc.

We leave this afternoon to go to Winston Salem for the wedding of Chad's sister Hannah. Chad is doing the pictures and Kennedy is a flower girl. From there I'm headed to the airport to go to Boston and see Lara. Chad will be staying home with the kids. Thanks Chad!! When I get home we'll be getting ready for Emerson's birthday party and then it'll be the week of Christmas. Wow, it came so fast. We haven't even finished decorating our house yet! We're usually done the weekend of the Thanksgiving but we just haven't had the time to get it done.

Emerson is the huggiest little baby. She just loves to hug everyone. It's so cute. She also likes to say uhoh. She's taking more steps when she lets go of one thing to walk to another.

Parker is surprising me with his ability to remember things. I unfairly assume that just because I can't understand everything he says he can't learn a lot, and that just isn't true. I pointed out to Kennedy on our wall map where Disney World was, and the next day he walks up points right at Orlando and says "mama go?". He can also point at Charlotte when I ask him where we live. And then the other day he gets up on a chair to reach up and point at Iceland and says his version of cold and shivers. I was so surprised. I had told Kennedy once that it was cold in Iceland. So I'm now trying to focus more on teaching him things too.

Kennedy is full of questions that I don't always know how to answer in a way she'll understand. Like where does God live? Why does He like to walk far away? Why do people die? Is she going to die? That discussion did not go well because I tried to answer honestly and now she keeps saying she doesn't want to die. Her reading skills are improving and she can identify all 7 continents, the Pacific and Atlantic Ocean, and Madagascar! They watched that was set there and were so excited when they saw that it was an island on the map.

Happy Birthday Emerson

Happy 1st Birthday Emerson

Here's a picture from each month of her first year of life. We have so so many pictures of her it was hard to pick just 12.

American Thanksgiving

I can't get my pictures to upload in the right order so I'll just explain them individually. Chad took pictures of these twins on Saturday. This picture was so cute I just had to share it! Kennedy has been asking lately to climb a tree. After Thanksgiving dinner we changed them in to some more casual clothes so they could go climb some trees at Grandma June's house.




We had lunch on Thanksgiving with Chad's Dad, his wife Bonnie, his brother Joseph, his sister Hannah and her fiance David. I'm not sure how it happend but we actually got a picture of everyone looking at the camera even though there was no one standing there to help the kids look at it.

After lunch everyone was pretty tired. Emerson fell asleep on me in her sling.

Chad and the kids relaxed on the sofa.

Emerson and Grandma June

I tried my best I really did but it was the end of the night and I just could not get a picture of everyone looking.

We got home at about 8:30 and after we got the kids in bed it was almost 10 and I happend to see the toys r us ad in the paper for a toy Kennedy really wanted for 67% off. They were opening at midnight so I went and got in line at 10:30. I wasn't dressed appropriately to stand in line for an hour and a half in a chilly rain. And it was really boring to wait that long and insane once I got inside. Due to bad planning by whoever was in charge at Toys r Us there was a lot of chaos and I stood in line for over 2 hours waiting to check out! That's okay though it was soooo worth it. I bought three of the one thing that Kennedy wanted, I'm going to sell 2 of them and in the end I will have gotten over $500 of toys for free thanks to the sale prices and the two things I'll sell. I would have stood in line all night for that!!

Friday I took Kennedy shopping with me. I don't think it was too much fun for her though. She kept asking to go to the toy store, which was not on our list of places we needed to visit.

We had dinner at my dad's Friday night and it was a late night again. Saturday Chad did pictures of the twins in the morning and I can't remember what we did the rest of the day.

Sunday Chad did more pictures, we looked at some houses and then we went to get our Christmas tree. Unfortunately I guess we got there too late in the week because all of the 9' trees were gone so we had to get a smaller one. Who knew they sold out of a size of Christmas tree before December? I guess they get more in but they didn't know when. We went to another tree lot but their trees were twice the price of Walmart so back to Walmart we went. Hopefully by the time we get it all decorated we won't notice the difference in size.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

As usual, we've been keeping busy. Mostly for my mom who likes to know what we've been up to, I'll try to quickly fill you in on what we've been doing. I don't really like to stay at home too much so most of the time we are on the go.
Last weekend we went to the Southern Christmas Show Friday night. It's been a family tradition since we moved to Charlotte the first time and whenever we've lived here we make sure to go. We went on a Friday night and took all three kids (who usually go to bed at 7) because there are lots of fun Christmas things for them to see and it's the unofficial start to the Christmas season at our house. The kids were so so good while we were there and we had a really great night. The next day my dad took Kennedy and Parker to the Renaissance Festival and it just so happend to be "Pirate Christmas" day so Parker of course loved that. Sunday I went to the Panthers game with my dad and they won!! They're not having a winning season so it was great to go and really great to be there when they won. I love football. Someday I hope to go to all 16 of the Panthers games in on season.
Our weekdays are generally filled with babysitting, speech therapy, play groups, homeschool co-op, cleaning, cooking, laundry, homeschooling and working. Each week passes amazingly fast and I can never believe it's the weekend again.
Thursday night Chad and I went to the Panthers vs. Dolphins game. That was fun too, but they didn't win that won. Friday night we went to the SouthPark tree lighthing. They have free bounce houses and little train rides which the kids love. I have to say, it was incredibly depressing to go to a tree lighting when it was 70 degrees during the day. Hard to feel in much of a Christmas mood. After we went home and got the kids in bed I went to see "The Blind Side". It was based on a true story and I really enjoyed it. I would recommend it if you're looking for a movie to see. I can't even remember what we did the rest of the weekend.
Emerson has not been sleeping well at all. I was looking in her mouth today and it looks like her two front teeth are just about to break through the skin so I pray that happens quickly so she might start sleeping better. She's started saying "uh oh".
Parker has just started saying three word sentences which I am very happy to hear. Not all the words are always clear and complete but it's a step in the right direction for him.
There was something I wanted to post about Kennedy but I can't remember now what it was. I'll have to do it right away next time I remember.

At the tree lighting

It really wasn't that cold out but Parker loves hats and I wanted them to look like it was at least sort of time for Christmas. I think it was 60 when we got there, but there were a lot of people in hats and coats and mitts. I know that's funny to all of my Canadian family. We were swimming in Kenora this summer when it was 60!

This was us on this same weekend a year ago getting our Christmas tree so we could have it set up before the baby was born (and feeling like the baby was NEVER going to arrive!)

I just got Parker's Christmas outfit (the shirt matches Kennedy and Emerson's dresses but they aren't here yet) and had to try it on him. Here he is.

Emerson has recently discovered how to put things on her arms like bracelets and purses. She was trying to get my very big purse on her shoulder but couldn't so Chad found her a much smaller one. The little one made her lose her balance.

I got Emerson what I think might be one of the most adorable outfits ever this weekend. I can't wait for her to wear it. I wish they had a matching one for Kennedy but they only made it in baby sizes. The price tag is still on it because if it goes on sale more before she wears it than I can get a price adjustment.

The littlest Panthers fan. Although we're not having a great season, we still love the Panthers. We think Emerson should be their team spokesbaby! She has a very cute matching bow but she took it off right before the picture and then I couldn't find it.

I get to go to the game this Sunday with my dad and I'm so excited!

I know you might wonder why we have so many more pictures of Emerson than the other two. This is why. Kennedy and Parker rarely want to cooperate for a picture. See below! This is what happend when I insisted Kennedy sit down so I could get a picture.

Emerson started taking a few steps 2 weeks ago. She usually just takes one step and then falls forward but the past few days she's been taking a couple of steps before falling. I would love forher to start walking because she wants to keep up with Kennedy and Parker so she doesn't want to be in the carrier anymore when we're out somewhere. A crawling baby at the park or Carowinds just doesn't work out very well!

This week we've really noticed a difference in Parker's speech. He's trying to say more words on his own which is a big improvement. And the words he says are sounding more like the actual words which is exciting.

Not much new going on with Kennedy. She does say the funniest things, I have to start writing them down so I can remember them.

Saturday was my birthday. Chad surprised me with dinner with some friends which was fun. Thanks for all the cards and calls and birthday wishes from everyone!