1 day and counting...

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

2 days and counting...

and picking out a tree is so much fun!

3 days and counting...

and we love this nearby house at Christmastime. It's so lit up that they have a donations box and a wishing well to offset their increased power bill. The kids beg to go by frequently and so we do, and actually get out of the mini at least once each December to get a closer look. Probably later this week Santa will be there, albeit a skinny, unconvincing version. It just wouldn't be Christmas without Boultier Street. {Even Milla was duly impressed.}

4 months old

Oh, my sweet baby girl. How is it that four months can pass both slowly and far too quickly?

At the four month check-up she weighed in at 14 pounds, 11 ounces at the 95%tile. {Look at those big thigh rolls... num num!}

We are loving this girl's smiles and giggles. I'm not sure what we did without her. Maybe one {hopefully soon} day, I can count on her to sleep through the night every night. She can do it, but doesn't always. We're starting to work on a nap schedule and she's trying to decide if she's on board with us or not. And she may never crawl because she detests tummy time. Absolutely. Throws. A. Fit.

I'm so looking forward to watching this one grow even more into the little girl God made her to be.

4 days and counting...

and this was our first attempt at a gingerbread house. The kids enjoyed decorating it at my mom's house. Apparently it wasn't very tasty, however.

Elijah

Remember these recently posted Christmas photos of my sweet first born?

My, how he's grown.

{please don't judge my sad Wii cake. he loved it anyway.}

5 days and counting...

and this year's preschool program was as sweet as ever. Miles {who really hates the pressure and attention of performing on stage} did a great job as one of the wise men, complete with a few necessary hand motions during the song just the three of them sang. Yay, Miles, because sometimes you just have to do things you don't want to do. And Ella relished her roll as a little lion. She particularly enjoyed when all the animals fell asleep. Very cute.

6 days and counting...

and this is Christmas morning from three years ago. We thought our poor Milesy had a broken nose here, from climbing out of his crib in a not-so-deft manner. It ended up just to be a very bad bruise, and the last night he spent in a crib. A happier memory is that he called Santa by the most precious name that year... "Sampta." Oh, how I loved it.

7 days and counting...

and this is the one I should have used for our Christmas card, and I sort of thought I did... but somehow {my fault entirely} I ordered the first card I had saved instead of the second card that had this picture on the front. I thought I was doing the right thing... but my brain isn't functioning quite at top performance these days. {I wonder why?}

8 days and counting...

and this was three years ago, close to this very day. Today we'll enjoy the middles {that's what I now call Miles and Ella} in their preschool Christmas program. This picture was taken just after the preschool program back then, when my Ella wasn't even in school yet. Today she'll be a lion at the birth of Christ. A stretch I know, but they go with the animal costumes they have available. I can't wait to see my little lion and my {very} wise man. I'll share pictures later... but you already knew that.

9 days and counting...

and this sweet picture of Elijah's first encounter with Santa just happened to be taken on his very first birthday. Love it.

10 days and counting...

and Milla kept me warm during this year's Christmas parade.
Ten days isn't long when there's still so much to do...

11 days and counting...

and we had a lovely time at Callaway Gardens last week. We all enjoyed Fantasy in Lights, even Milla until about halfway through our ride. I felt her sweet little head slump down against me, having given in to the allure of sleep.

Our one big problem of the evening, the thing that almost had me panicked, was that when our ride was done it was 9pm. And we had not had dinner. Blood sugar was running low in the mini as we rode into the huge metropolis that is Pine Mountain. Subway? Closed. KFC? Closed. Local pizzeria? Closed. Family restaurant? Closed.

Milla screaming. Ella whining. Boys fighting. Nursing baby in van as husband is trying to gather some sort of dinner together in a gas station. Peanut butter, jelly, cheez its, plastic spoons, drinks. What? They are sold out of bread. No. Way.

Sweet cashier says to go to the next light. There we find the Huddle House. A lovely sight. Thank you Huddle House, for warm food in cold bellies. For elevating blood sugar. For a wonderfully fun dinner, even if I did spill my tea, narrowly missing the littlest lady. From now on, I heart Huddle House.

at the Huddle House

12 days and counting...

and even though these muffins didn't rise because all the air was stirred {and stirred and stirred and stirred} out of them, I love this picture. This kind of "help" with baking makes things take a lot longer, but it sure is sweet. I'll just be sure to carefully monitor the amount of stirring next time.

13 days and counting...

and it is so hard to believe that this was taken almost five years ago. Miles' first Christmas Eve. Dad's last. I miss him.

14 days and counting...

and this was a fun day with friends two years ago.

15 days and counting...

and isn't Christmas morning wonderful?

16 days and counting...

This was our 2003 Christmas card photo. How is it this cute little munchkin is now 8?

And only 16 days left? I better get busy...

17 days and counting...

and I love this picture of Elijah's first Christmas.


He was 21 days old. So little. That dragon teether is around here somewhere, waiting for Milla to need it.

18 days and counting...

and I owe you one! We took an overnight trip last night as part of Elijah's birthday celebration, so I missed yesterday's post. I'll make it up with two pictures now. {Aren't you lucky?}


These are both from last year. The first is a 2009 Christmas card out-take. Pretty cute. A ride in Poppa's wagon with Ella being both pushed and pulled.
and yet another Christmas morning-in-pajamas-in-front-of-the-tree kind of picture. As you can tell, I heart this kind!

Back on the Advent photo schedule tomorrow, and perhaps with a few from our little bitty trip. It was so nice to get away, however brief it was.

20 days and counting...

and there's nothing better than cuddly Christmas pjs. Except the three sweet ones in the pjs.

21 days and counting...

and after six years I still love the preschool Christmas pageant. Miles made such a sweet dalmatian two years ago... this year he'll be a wise man.

22 days and counting...

and this is the Santa I saw at the parade tonight.

23 days and counting...

and remembering a little boy who once asked Santa for an accordion...

Oh, how I miss him being little. In two days he'll be eight.

advent

I had planned to have a semi-homemade advent calendar prepared for the kids to start enjoying today. In typical fashion, it sits on the kitchen table, started yet unfinished. My next thought? Get it done by Saturday and count down 20 days. Will that happen? Time will tell, but it looks doubtful. Someone needs to finish a little sewing for the girls (and they only have 24 more days to wear these Christmas clothes!) and someone else is having their 8th birthday Saturday. So, with schooling and sewing and birthday planning and celebrating and the in general feeding and care of all these people... yes, the semi-homemade advent calendar completion doesn't look promising. Let's just say I have a head start for next year, ok?

I am going to do an Advent reading plan found on youversion.com. Read what I found there about Advent:

What Is Advent? Advent comes from the Latin word adventus meaning arrival or coming. The Hebrews looked forward to the coming of a Savior or Messiah—the First Advent. Now, we are waiting expectantly for His return to sweep His bride off of our feet—the Second Advent. The Church has been waiting for Him to come back from the moment He left the first time.

Why Should I Participate in Advent? So, what does Advent have to do with celebrating the arrival of Jesus? Traditionally, Advent counts down the four weeks leading up to Christmas. Practically, Advent reminds us to look forward to His return every day. This season is about resetting Jesus Christ at the center of our lives. After all, when He comes to take us home forever, we want to be ready. Expect to be inspired, challenged, refocused, broken, motivated, unified, encouraged, and most of all, expectant.

I love that: "expect to be... expectant." I'm ready to wait for Him, aren't you? I'll try and share some of what I glean from my readings.

And just for fun, I'm totally stealing this idea from a favorite blog of mine because I love it - I will be counting down the days of advent with pictures from Christmases past. Bring on the memories! First up:





Ella's first Christmas and her first baby doll. Notice she was feeding her baby a scrap of wrapping paper. Sweet girl.