And Finally...Long Overdue Post, Part 3

January (and February)!

As of John's 8 month birthday, he had a whopping EIGHT teeth, and that's the count as of today, too.  If I remember correctly, Susannah was getting her 3rd tooth at 9 months old... He's ahead of the curve there, for sure!  Which I guess makes up for his percentiles being a little lower than we'd like them to be; but the doc says he's a heathy, thriving babe, so we're happy and thankful.  One new thing he's doing is giving kisses upon request, and it's so, so sweet.  He still could not be happier and is absolutely adored by his sister.  Though her constant loving (and occasional scolding, "John Acker!  No do dat!") occasionally gets on his nerves, he is so entertained by Susannah's antics, which encourages her silliness like crazy.  It's wonderful entertainment!

Susannah's vocabulary has absolutely blown up over the past 2 months.  Her two favorite phrases are "Ohhh, that's right!" and "Just one more minute."  She's talking in full sentences all the time now and is a little parrot, repeating everything we say; so now we've really got to watch our tongues.  It's amazing the little things we say (i.e. crap, dumb, and other accidental words I'd rather not type out) that we don't even realize and don't want our little ones taking to church nursery!  One of my favorite verses is Proverbs 18:21, "The tongue has the power of life and death..."  We need to be really careful that not only are our words adding to the LIFE of our children, but that the words they repeat to their little friends are adding life to them!  That's a real convicting and challenging lesson.

We were also so happy that Pops and Figgy came for a visit in February!  Susannah and John had the BEST time with them (as did Pete and I), and Susannah even had a bunkmate in her Figgy! (Had I mentioned that Susannah now has bunkbeds?)  Susannah now often says, "Toodaloo!" thanks to Figgy.  It's the cutest!

And now for the picture highlights (in no particular order):

Susannah and Daddy went on a fancy date to the Daddy-Daughter Banquet!  AND I COULD HAVE DIED THEY WERE SO CUTE.

See?  I MELTED UNTIL I ALMOST DIED.

And this is where I almost died again, right before they left.

John's not loving the seating arrangement here.

Ready to be in the woods!

The just about summarizes our boy's personality perfectly.  So happy and excited all the time!

These two buds...

Susannah is practicing to be a flower girl this summer!

Baking and smiling HARD about it.

She loves to look at books by herself now before falling asleep at naptime and ends up falling asleep with the book.

Loving life!

My pretty girl!

The boy loves the swing more than anything in life (besides his mommy).

Hanging out in her bunk bed!

Tickling the ivories

We had some snow at some point over the past 2 months...?

"Fing owl towel!"  (that's "swing" owl towel in Susannah.)  These kids love for Daddy to swing them every single night after dinner in this one particular towel.

Out to dinner with Figgy and Pops!

And a fun video for you, too:

Here's hoping it won't be all that long before I post again!

Long Overdue Post, Part 2

And it's taken me over a month from our last long overdue entry to write this post; so now I have even more things to catch up on!  Nonetheless, we'll make this a 3-part series of months-late summaries and get caught up...eventually.

DECEMBER 2015 was great fun!  John started teething again, but it took almost an entire month of chewing on everything and drooling like crazy before any more came in... and boy did they come in!  In the last few days of December and first couple of January (a week total), Johnny Boy got FOUR new teeth, bringing his count up to 6.  Buddy Man was a champ, though, and was still just as happy as can be the entire time.  What a good babe.  And he has even more now; but we'll talk about that in Part 3.

The kids and I were able to spend almost 2 full weeks in Collierville with my family for the Christmas holiday.  I flew with the two of them by myself on the way down, and of course, things couldn't be easy.  I rarely update Facebook with a personal, this-is-what's-going-on-with-me post, but I felt the need to after my experience:

"SPRINTING through the Charlotte airport last night from one gate to the next with a wide-eyed baby strapped to my front, a backpack strapped to my back, a Winnie the Pooh backpack sliding down my arm, a wheeled carry-on bumblebee suitcase dragging behind, and a stroller holding a giggling toddler ("wheeeeee!") leading the way isn't necessarily an ideal situation, but it does make one feel kind of like Superwoman when one reaches the gate just in the nick of time, even though Superwoman probably never sweats like that AND gets to wear a fancy cape."

We had a great time while we were there, and we even had some professional pictures done, which is where we got that fancy pic at the top.

We celebrated NYE on NYDay with our best friends here in Franklin, and we had a great time.  I copied Eric and Lauren's "balloon drop" celebration from their last year's NYE party, and the kids loved it, though you wouldn't think Susannah did based on her face (see below).

So here's the month of December in pictures!  (Well, the month of December + January 1...)

This girl is AMAZING on an airplane.  She is so well behaved and (surprisingly) makes friends with everyone!

We went to see Hudson's Christmas program, and this is just the cutest picture.

My peeps

This boy is Eric Ware's kid: cuddling with his toy guitar.

Making gingerbread houses at Aunt Lauren and Uncle E's house!

Susannah and Uncle E bonded over the glow-in-the-dark drumsticks.

The beginning of the Polar Express Experience, brought to you by Lauren Ware.  A magical night!

Going hard.

The boy snuggled with me like this for almost 20 minutes.  My babes NEVER snuggle!  It was glorious!

Watching The Polar Express in their very own train cars with melted snow and popcorn.

John and Hendricks -- Matching cousins!

Uncle Bear's cookie baking/decorating contest!

Focused in.

Family pic with our sparklers on Christmas Night.

A rare group, but a good group.  I love my siblings SO MUCH!

Long Overdue Post, Part 1

Man, have I been slacking on updating the blog!  We've had milestones come and go, trips to see family, and lots of funny stories; and it's just been the toughest finding time to write some of this stuff down with pictures to entertain, as well!  Nonetheless, I'm getting down to business tonight and recalling the things I can for your reading pleasure.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Harrisonburg with Pete's family again this year, which was a blast.  Rip, Carissa, Sydnie, and Maddie all were able to come up from TX again, and (as you can imagine) Susannah played hard-to-get the ENTIRE time and John was their best friend immediately.  Those two babes are so different it's hilarious.  The Gilberts came a few days after we arrived, and Susannah immediately blossomed into a beautiful, hyper little girl, but kept her smiles and giggles strictly on reserve for girlie time.  Shy little stoic girl.

John turned 6 months old while we were there and started solid foods; he was initially not a fan.  His first taste was oatmeal, and he did not like it one bit.  Once we tried some avocados, though, he began to mostly tolerate food, which is still about where we are now.  He still dislikes oatmeal and tolerates fruits and vegetables.

John also got his first two teeth, bottom middles, in early November.  I'll save the current tooth-count for Part 2 of my Long Overdue Post, but Boy has been teething like a champ.  He drools like crazy and chews on EVERYTHING like crazy and his naps are cut short 95% of the time because of discomfort, but he is still hands-down the happiest baby you've ever seen.  He smiles most of the day and is generally pleased with life.  I hope that sweet spirit sticks around because I've heard that redheads can be pretty fiery!

And now Part One's pictures:

We totally decorated before Thanksgiving.

So many caption options here...

Cooking with Figgy

His first bite.  Such a cute reaction of disgust!

It was COLD the first few days, and this girl loved it!

One of my favorite moments ever.  After reading this book to Susannah before her nap, she asked to keep looking at it.  I said yes and left the room.  I went back to check on her about 10 minutes later, and Sweet Girl had fallen asleep reading.  Warms this English Major's heart!

Sydnie and Rip!  I hate I didn't get a picture of Maddie and Carissa, too!

At an overlook in Massanutten 

Might be the cutest picture of them EVER

My happy boy!

Basically how Susannah is all the time with Charis and her sisters: she watches and laughs and watches and laughs!

Thanksgiving family pic

Possibly the best picture you've ever seen.  "Don't look now, but Dad totally needs to XYZ!"

Now that Thanksgiving has passed, Christmas dresses for the next 5 weeks!

Part Two will cover December's events!