Silent Night....not =) Christmas 2013

 
Beyond thankful for that tiny baby that was born in a stable. Every year we are so thankful, but this year even more so when you see the majesty through the eyes of little two year olds. Our precious little girls LOVE the story of baby Jesus being born so reading it over and over and over again allowed it to sink a little deeper into our hearts this year. What a sweet time we had celebrating the birth of our Savior with our precious family we have been entrusted with. There probably won't be a time in our lives that we feel like our laps are any fuller than they are this Christmas. At least with little ones! =0)

 
 
 
This year we celebrated Christmas day with the Currie Clan, which meant we had five GIRLS under the age of three! (what a blessing and what chaos!) So much laughter, joy, giggles, and squeals of delight and frustration all wrapped up in our time down in Clayton. We had the best time! From spending time with extended family on Kendall's side on Christmas Eve, to reading the story of Jesus with all three of our girls under the tree, to waking up on Christmas morning with excited little ones to baking a cake for Jesus' birthday celebration, it was a year to remember. I hope we will always savor and cherish the joy that little ones have in the tiniest of packages! Speaking of packages, the twins especially enjoyed opening presents and had a hard time waiting until everyone was ready before ripping open the first ones. Teaching patience to two two year olds on Christmas morning is a recipe for disaster, ha! The day was as perfectly relaxing as we could have hoped for and we really just enjoyed some down time all being together under one roof! Such sweet times!

 
 
With a day in between to recover, do a few loads of laundry, and make sure there were no new ants swarming our new house, we loaded up the car once again to celebrate with the Williams side of the family. While there were the same amount of kids, the loudness level (obviously an inherited trait, ha!) went up a few decibels no doubt! The three toddlers ran out around screaming, playing, watching the train circle the tree, and doing what little ones do best! We figured as long as no one got hurt we could yell over them to have some decent conversations sprinkled in. =0) Again, Maddie Grace & Makenzie knew exactly what to do with the nicely wrapped presents and even more than playing with what was inside, they just loved opening them the best! We had such a wonderful week of Christmas celebrating with both sides of our families and are ever so grateful to God for blessing us with families who love Him. Who want their hearts to continue to be transformed into His likeness more and more each day. We are so fortunate and we give Him all the glory for the great things He has done!

 
 
 

And the singing of Away in a Manger has continued for weeks past Christmas as a favorite bedtime song! =)

Baby Ashton Kate's 2 Month Update!

2 MONTH STATS:

 (really 2.5mo-from Jan.9th appt)

Weight: 11 lbs 14 oz. (51%)

Height: 22.5in (34%)

To our adorable little Ashton Kate,

You have been the perfect addition to our family! You melt our hearts on a daily basis with your sweet disposition! We can hardly remember what life was like before you entered our world. We are completely in love with you and totally smitten over your cuteness! Really, you are just precious! Your sisters equally adore you and want to hold you all the time. We have to remind them that when you're crying might not be the best time to smother you. =) You are a patient little one and for that we are so thankful. You hardly ever cry out to eat even if we are running behind schedule. You are such a joy to our lives and your daddy and I fight to get to have some special alone time holding you! You are so peaceful and content 99.9% of the time so any time we spend with you is such sweet time! We praise God for His immeasureable grace in blessing us with our third daughter. You are a true joy to us sweet girl! We cannot wait to see your little personality continue to blossom and to see what will characterize who you are! We hope and pray for your heart to know Christ and we pray God grants us great grace to love you and point you to Him each and every day! We love you baby Ashton Kate! You're growing way too fast for our liking! Slow down so we can savor each milestone in your life! We love you so much!
Love, Mommy & Daddy

 

Here are a few milestones for this second month of your life: (from 1-2 months old)
-7 feedings-usually going one 4-4.5 hr stretch at night but at 6 wks we had our first night of a 6 hr stretch- you went from 10pm to 4am and what a treat that was for mommy!!

-Fussy/uncomfortable nursing stretch for a week but that appeared to pass once mommy figured out you were crying because you were full and she didn't need to keep trying to feed you more!
-You rolled from  your tummy to your side and back for the first time on Dec.1st-probably a fluke but have to record it because I guess it's still a first =)
-Seemed to laugh for the first time at 5 wks
-You are so intent when listening to mommy sing nursery rhymes and will follow hand motions up and down and to the side when mommy does the Itsy Bitsy spider. =)
-Beginning to make noises at 5.5 wks
-Really kicking your legs and starting to enjoy your play mat at 6 wks
-Slept from 10-4 again on Dec. 11th  (6wks) and mommy still woke you up (probably should let you sleep but just worried a little =)
-Moved to size one diapers at 5.5wks
-At 7 wks normal schedule is nurse every 3 hrs during the day and usually go 5 hr stretch and 3.5-4 hr stretch
-Went nearly 7 hrs between feedings at 7 wks old
-First stuffy nose =( 7 wks
-Rolled over twice from tummy to back!! Dec 21-7.5 wks-the day we moved into our new house
-Moved into your new house-Dec. 20-21st
-Celebrated your 1st Christmas :)
-Talking, smiling, and cooing a ton-7-8 wks and it is beyond precious!!
-1st bath-New Years Eve night and loved it! You were all smiles and kept kicking your legs and splashing!

Life With Three Littles Under Our Roof!

 Phew! The fact that I am even sitting down for a minute to type means we are doing much better NOW than we were THEN...life for us has been so full and so rich, but oh so exhausting and overwhelming at times. We knew our hearts would be full and our laps would be too, but the daily challenge of getting three little ones fed, dressed, fed again, put down for naps, fed again, bathed and pajamas on, put down for bedtime, & then fed again can wear you down...especially when not one of these three precious ones sleeps through the night & neither of the twins enjoys the process of going to sleep on their own. So unfortunately for this daddy who is working long hours, he is also responsible for taking care of the twins needs at night and mommy tends to the littlest one's care. I think it's safe to say at this point, daddy wishes he could provide the food Ashton Kate needs! =) Kendall and I just smile at each other each night and say Good Luck, because let's be truthful, there are not many GOOD NIGHTS at our house these days past few months! And really, crazy is seriously all we know since the twins entered our world. For whatever reason, maybe specifically our sanctification as believers, the Lord has chosen to bless us with twins who are not the easiest...they bring us great joy but they sure have tested our patience in the eating and sleeping department. (and now obedience department) I hope one day when they are old enough for us to explain just how difficult some of the days have been, that we can also tell them of the gracious love from a merciful Savior, who has carried us through each day and night! And that apart from His grace each day, mommy and daddy would never have been able to remain loving and patient as we strived to show them Christ each day in all things.

So just for Mommy's memory, I wanted to write down what a day in our life looks like with three little ones under 2.5 years old looks like on a daily basis. Having been up multiple times with Ashton Kate and then 10+ times on a rough night for the twins, we start our day anywhere from 7-815ish generally. Mommy usually feeds AK either upstairs in the rocker or downstairs while they play. Then we make our way to the kitchen for breakfast. They fight over which sippy cup they are going to have for the day, ha, and mommy can't get everything ready fast enough for their liking. The twins eat breakfast, mommy puts AK down for a nap and this is where they can have some undivided playtime with mommy. Probably the highlight of their day. They pick out what they want to play with: MG usually requests Princess Legos and Mak asks to play babies. We usually do both! And somewhere in that one hour of freedom (if you can call it that, ha!) I try to get the kitchen cleaned up from breakfast! By now, it is time to feed Ashton Kate again. So we do that while the girls play, aka make HUGE messes because they love that no one has their eye completely on them =) and then it's lunch time. I scramble to get food in their tummies once again and then it's nap time. Nap time is always a challenging part of our day but once the twins finally stop requesting baby milks, trips to the potty, getting their nose wiped, needing their blankets put on them again, and any other delay tactic they can think of, I can finally have a moment of sanity. It's usually time to feed AK once again (seems to happen quite often!) Either that, or it takes forever to get the girls asleep! It seems lately that every time I finish feeding again, one of the twins is awake, usually Makenzie, and then begins our wait for daddy to get home from work! We play, watch a movie, and attempt to find something we might could eat for dinner! Daddy arrives and he's never sure whether all three will be crying or whether they will be all smiles from day to day, but either way, mommy is rejoicing to have some help! Then we begin our crazy last few hours of the day. We do dinner, baths every other day, and then begins the bedtime battle. In between these things, we try to at least speak to each other =) Not always possible between the temper tantrums and meltdowns at the end of the day! Then we do family worship time together as a family in the twins room and attempt to corral them from making laps around the room and to sit still during Bible time. Some nights go great, others well...you get the picture! The lights go out around 8/8:30ish and then we wait to see how long it will be before they are asleep....usually not less than an hour these past few months. Safe to say it's our most miserable time of the day. They have total meltdowns if someone isn't "sitting" in the chair and tending to their every need. Once we move into the new house, it's bedtime boot camp once again!

 
 
All of this is written not to complain or whine about how hard life is for us, but just so one day we can look back and smile and know that we survived. It might not have always been pretty, but we made it! And along the way, we made countless memories, hopefully loved our girls well, and grew in our walks with Christ as a result, because we are dependent on HIM to thrive in a day rather than just survive! We know this season of 'littleness' will pass quickly and we remind ourselves of this truth often. It keeps our hearts in check and a smile on our face. And we pray for JOY, often!

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

During the month of December, we attempted to take advantage of every exciting activity there was to be had in Auburn, AL for the twins to experience the Christmas season. =) From parades to twinkling lights, seeing Santa & baking cookies,  to riding the train to "Santa's Workshop," what joy it is to see little faces light up with excitement and happiness! Really! What a fun age this is to experience all of these things with our precious girls. We loved each and every fun memory during this magical season and especially seeing it through the eyes of 2 year olds who think everything is magnificent! We kept hearing "lights are EVERYWHERE..." and in their precious little mind they were! =)