Happy December

The month of December is always a good one. We celebrated Broc's birthday at Buffalo Wild Wings with family and friends, followed by an evening at home with a present hunt and cake. Then, Broc and I celebrated further by going to a Wings game. Personally, I am so glad Broc was born. He takes care of ALL of us and selflessly provides. He lightens the most frustrating days with laughter,snuggles and family wrestling of course!

The kids helped decorate the tree this year and to my surprise only one ornament fell pray of Miles the not so gentle giant. We already have many inches of snow, which really makes it feel like Christmastime. Just 8 days to go!

We Love Sarah Ayer

Miss Sarah Ayer is a fantastic photographer and an even better friend. She took time out of her crazy busy schedule to visit us, meet Jeb and take family photos to fulfill Grandma Barnes' Christmas wish. We are so grateful to have a Sarah!

Treating

Our good friends invited us to go trick or treating with them and boy oh boy, these kiddos hit the candy jackpot. We all braved the rainy weather, but it paid off in full size candy bars and chocolate galore. Piper wanted to be Hello Kitty, Miles got stuck wearing a clearanced out dinosaur costume and Jeb stayed close and dry in the wrap. This was Miles' first year going door to door asking for candy. After he realized what was happening, he held that pumpkin bucket with an iron grip. All in all, we had a super fun evening. Happy munching!

A trip to the Apple Orchard

Jeb

Our sweetest Jeb is almost 6 weeks old already. My, how time flies.

Meet the new guy

Meeting Jeb for the first time brought on feelings of relief, joy and surprise. I actually remember having these thoughts in this exact order. We have a healthy (phew!), baby (hooray!), boy (what?!). Jeb Edgar Barnes was born at 8:11 am weighed 7 lbs 11 oz and measured 21 inches in length. He is now 3 weeks old, but we are still getting to know him. For now, we've figured out that he resembles both our kids, but favors Miles a little more. He likes to eat, sleep and be bounced. He does not enjoy being poked in the eye by little curious fingers, but loves being read to by Piper (not me because, ain't nobody got time for that. Right, Christa?).
On other news, Piper started kindergarten 2 weeks ago. She really seems to like it, but has a rather short memory. Most of our conversations go like this:
"Piper, I missed you! How was your day?"
"It was great!"
"What did you do?"
"Oh... I don't remember"
Yep, It's kind of a let down. However, her teacher keeps us updated with the basics, so we can ask questions that will jump start her memory. Without a busing system, we have to get Piper to school by 8 am, and pick her up when school lets out. Our days and nights have suddenly become very busy and I'm realizing that this is just the beginning of being very busy. This is my favorite line from one of  Piper's books, Children Make Terrible Pets by Peter Brown. Lucille Beatrice Bear: "I guess children do make terrible pets" Mother Bear: "They really are the worst." It's a good read and it may be true for bears, but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Pool Party

Piper requested a pool party for her 5th birthday. We don't have a pool, so this presented a challenge. We ended up borrowing cousins Luke and Julia's giant inflatable water slide and filling a large kiddi pool. It went well and all the kids had a grand, wet time. The day was followed by a requested bonfire to include s'more making and firefly catching. Piper selflessly (or perhaps obliviously) shared her party with cousin Kaitlin who turned 2. I think it was a success in that no child was bored, all were sugared up and at least ours were well worn out days afterward.