Christmas 2014!

If it is even possible, this year's Christmas was more magical than last year. There's just something about adding another baby to the family that brings even more of the Christmas spirit alive. And Mellany is getting to such a fun age where she is beginning to understand why we celebrate Christmas and have presents and bake cookies and Santa and his elf that comes to visit.....it's just so much fun!! 

We traveled to Kansas City for a good majority of the Christmas holiday but we also had a few celebrations here at home.....

Before leaving for Kansas City we had the Pieper family over for pizza, cookie decorating and The Polar Express. It was such a fun night and Mellany and Whit had a blast eating/decorating gingerbread cookies. 

Isn't Quinn's face priceless?!

We also got a "Frozen" performance from the "Whit & Mel Band"

Traveling to KC....took most of the day...made a couple of stops....Mellany brushed up on her photography skills. I think she did pretty good!

Our first day in KC took us to Union Station to ride the train and look at the amazing train exhibit they set up for the holidays. The kids had an absolute blast. The line to see santa was something like 2 hours long so we didn't do that, but nobody really seemed to mind :)

We also got to visit with Jess, Elsie & Breck Herbel and exchange gifts! The age difference between the two girls and two boys is literally just a few weeks! The kiddos had a blast playing and it was so nice to visit with Jess in person.

Savannah Kate arrived!!!! Thankfully I was in KC when she decided to make her debut, so I made the trek to Columbia to meet the little lady and of course hang out with the whole Thornton clan for a few hours. There is just something about holding a newborn baby that makes a mama's heart melt! 

Mellany and Johnny had a blast with Nana and daddy while mama was in Columbia

Christmas Eve with the Barrett Family

SOOOO glad my mama came too!

Johnny really seemed to be fond of Santa

With Mellany, we had really talked to her about Santa coming and giving her a bag of goodies and that there was no need to be scared or cry, that he was very nice. She had stated that she didn't want to sit on his lap though and we told her that was just fine. So, when Santa called her name, she walked right up next to him, took her picture, grabbed the bag of goodies and walked away. She then turned to me and said "Mama, it's not scary....I didn't cry!!" :) I was so proud!

After the Barrett side of the family left, it was time to spread reindeer glitter on the front lawn and gather the cookies (3 to be specific) and chocolate milk for Santa.

Santa came!!

Johnny was loving on his Uncle Derek!

Amy got super crafty this Christmas and made this amazing collage for Johnny's room. I could not be more in love with it!!

Mellany was a huge fan of her new necklace, and dresses and opening presents

Each year, Virginia gives something special to Amy & Johnny in honor of John. This year, she used his clothes to make a quilt.....it was incredible! There wasn't a dry eye on any of the women in the house....such a special gift that we will forever cherish! 

Christmas Day with the Mama Jones family....checking out Gammy's snowmen....definitely a holiday favorite that the kids will always remember I think

Mellany did the honor of passing out presents....in Ariel Jammies and Elsa shoes of course

Capri loved her Bumblebee

Uncle Brad & Aunt Mae Mae got Mellany a Belle dress up kit.....which had to immediately be put on

Mellany is ALWAYS willing to help with dishes

Christmas at Papa & Teresa's....trying to get a group pic of the babies 

Mellany got to pass out presents there too

Mom gave Brad, Amiee, John and I a date night for Christmas. We had so much fun enjoying ourselves that this was the only picture I took....Dave and Busters....acting like big kids....because we could! 

Hinshaw Christmas Dinner......the only picture I got....and a pretty good one I must say!

Heading home to IN!

....and the aftermath! This took a couple of weeks to sort through and put away....at this point I think the only thing left is to put the toy box together and hang a few pieces on the wall

We made sure the dart board was up though....our new favorite hobby!

 We are so thankful for the time that we got to spend with everyone!! It was definitely bittersweet to come home! Our Christmas was definitely Merry!! :) 

Johnny: 7 Months!

With the holidays in full swing, Johnny's 7 month birthday came and went even quicker than normal. I am really trying to savor every moment of our little guys "infanthood" as it is just moving at a super fast rate.

Here's a little bit about our sweet baby this month:

• He is wearing 6-12 month and 9 month clothes. He still swims in him in them but he is so long that he has to have the bigger sizes so his feet aren't curling and isn't showing bare legs.
• Throughout each day he likes to play in the baby einstein jumper, winnie the pooh walker, bumbo, johnny jump up and his floor mat.
• He is so content. He can roll over, but he usually doesn't because he is just fine laying down on his back. We joke that he is going to go straight from sitting to walking ha!
• The love that he has for his sister is so heartwarming. He still looks for her constantly if he cannot see her, if she comes over to him to play he grins from ear to ear and will laugh hysterically at any silly thing she does. I am so praying that this lasts forever! 
• He has all the sudden really discovered his voice and hands. He is always "talking" and reaching for anything he can get his hands on, especially our phones. 

Sleeping:

He is sleeping great....I cannot complain at all. On an average day, he will nap for about 45 minutes in the morning, 2 hours in the afternoon and sleep from about 8pm-8am. He does prefer to just be laid down to go to sleep, which makes me kind of sad, but if that's how he'd rather go to sleep and that's what gets him there, I'm good with it. He might whine for just a minute and play for a couple minutes longer (especially with his crib bumper--he loves to pull it down) but he is usually asleep before I even make it all the way back to the living room. 

Eating Habits/New Foods:

Johnny is really loving food! Baby-Led Weaning is going great for everyone involved!! I am so amazed how much babies can "gum" food to eat. I am really glad that our pediatrician suggested we skip purees altogether, it has made mealtimes very simple for us and hopefully he won't be a picky eater in the long run (since textures aren't really changing). New foods: Avocado, peaches, carrots, peas, Vegetable Rice Husks (Mum mums).

He is still taking a bottle at 8:00am (8oz), 11:00am (6oz), 4:00pm (8oz) and 7:00pm (6oz) and isn't spitting up hardly at all. He has the occasional incident that drenches me, but I think its safe to say we might use two burp cloths a week compared to one every feeding!! Yay for not smelling like the stinky formula!! :) 

New Discoveries:

Jumping! Our baby boy LOVES to jump. He has recently been put in the "Johnny Jump Up" and will bounce for hours if you let him! And now, he tries jumping any time he can-when he's being held, when he's laying or sitting on the floor, etc.

Accomplishments:

Sitting up completely on his own!! He really prefers sitting to laying down now and really likes the freedom that it brings him. I only imagine that he will be learning to crawl quickly now that he's had a little taste of freedom....

Places:

Pediatrician's Office, Kids Club at the gym, Mellany's preschool and Christmas program, and Kansas City for his first Christmas. Just like at Thanksgiving, on Christmas day, we made the trip to Children's Mercy Urgent Care because we thought he had an ear infection. Turns out we were right this time. We picked up his prescriptions and within no time at all he was back to normal. 

Special Memories:

CHRISTMAS!!! We traveled to Kansas City for Christmas (for over a week) and other than the visit to Children's Mercy Urgent Care,  he was literally just along for the ride. He did so well being passed from person to person and actually got into opening the gifts (or at least playing with the paper) during the times he was actually awake during gift opening. 

7 Month Photo Shoot

7 Month Videos

"Talking"