music to my ears...

jillian already loves chattering. she'll spend a full half an hour talking to me...or the Christmas tree...or anything else nearby. :) watch out elizabeth...looks like we have another little conversationalist on our hands!

this little smile...

...really makes me want about four more! i mean, seriously, could i have asked for a happier little girl!

once upon a december evening...

....our family headed to what elizabeth likes to call "the big city"...to see what elizabeth likes to call "the tallest tower"....otherwise known as, we headed downtown to see the circle (and monument).

you might remember our trip from last year (and yes, the girls are wearing the same hats both years...which is nice since i happen to think they are super cute!).

this is quickly becoming one of our favorite december traditions to stick in the muffin advent calendar. take a peek at the fun we had!

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milestones and randoms...

i know...lots of posts lately...realizing i need to take the time to jot down the "little" things i want to remember...

...like elizabeth-isms...she calls the big red guy "santa club"...and is quite obsessed with the movie "toy story" (gotta like free kid movie rentals at family video!) and the guy she calls "boz lightyour"

...or milestones like our little tummy sleeper finally realizing she could, in fact, continue sleeping rather than screaming and flailing like a trapper turtle, when she rolls onto her back. and that rolling onto her back thing is a constant now...she also manages to snake her arm through the crib slats no more where we put her down in the crib.

...or milestones like kate officially making the move to her big girl bed. yesterday morning she came bursting (and i mean BURSTING) into my room at 6:30 in the morning, beaming with pride and telling me how she slept in her "dot bed" (her big girl bed has dot sheets). last night she fell sound asleep without needing one reminder to say in the bed, and this morning she was still there, laughing and giggling with her sister until i opened the door to get them up around 7:45. my favorite is that she chose a Gideon New Testament as a sleeping companion...that's what the little brown book next to her is. this morning her first request was that i read her some Bible. precious!

...or these outtakes. i was attempting to get a photo of jillian with the tree in the background. then elizabeth asked if she could hold jillian...and then kate wanted a turn....and then i thought, oh my, a picture of all three together would be grand. HA! :) the first pic summarizes that attempt...a not-so-cooperative elizabeth, cheeseball kate, and slipping further down from sissy's grip jillian! the second just tells it all...LOVE that look on jillian's face!

my new look

a big thanks to jackie...a sweet bloggity friend who i also had the privilege of meeting in real life this summer (and who i will hopefully get to meet again and again since her family lives super close to me--though she doesn't...bummer!)...who is responsible for the new look you see here on my blog! we were a bit overdue for some updated pictures (like ones that included jillian!) and profile info. if you are in need of an update i would highly recommend jackie...go here to check out her blog design info. :)

thanks jackie! and, oh my, i do so hope we get to meet up in real life again soon...and this time let our girls run around together and giggle while we enjoy some good conversation!

randomness...

what we've been up to...

~meeting daddy to chow down on costco hotdogs for lunch after MOPS

~enjoying some mommy time out...or, for daddy, enjoying his first night solo with all three girls

~painting masterpieces~
...i have a picture...but for some reason it keeps uploading sideways...ugh!

~kate is officially sleeping in her big girl bed...it might have taken returning her to her bed fourteen or so times before she actually stayed...but, hey, it is the end result that counts...right!? score one for persistence!

~jillian has mastered the art of rolling from her tummy to her back...she especially likes to show this skill off in the middle of the night...and then cry frantically until someone comes to roll her back onto her tummy. she flipped herself over at naptime this afternoon, and i made her stay like that...and she is finally sleeping soundly on her back...but it tooks some tears. sweet baby girl, i love you, but you flip yourself, you live with the results...hmm...that sounds cruel...but seriously...

~enjoying our advent calendar and devotional book...we made this as a MOPS creative activity this year...so fabulous!

~celebrating december with some family fun and our muffin tin advent. we filled the 24 holes with an activity for each day...on the 1st we made homemade hot cocoa mix to enjoy throughout the month. of course, we also enjoyed a mugful! yesterday we made sock and rice snowmen (i'll share a picture once they are done)...we had rice everywhere when we were done, but the girls had a blast filling the sock with rice! tonight we'll be watching "frosty" and eating popcorn (with extra friends since it is our turn to watch the date swap kiddos). so fun to intentionally spend time not only reflecting on Jesus through our advent calendar but also be intentional about our family activities!

~addressing Christmas cards and finishing up some shopping online

~lest you think jillian is missing out on the fun....never fear...she is in the Christmas spirit! and at he moment she is crying mid-nap...poor little turtle, trapped on her back...perhaps mama should go give you a "mercy flip". :)

the one i don't know what to title...

december 1st...wow! i want to share ten smiles today...i really do...and yet, i'm not going to. why? honestly, i'm just pooped. i had a three of my girl-friends over this morning with their little ones...and it was a rich morning of conversation, bustling kiddos, crockpot pumpkin lattes. yesterday was full of picking up the pieces after a couple days down at mike's parents...laundry, ironing the stack of mike's dress shirts that has been piling up forever!, getting ready for starting our december muffin tin advent and devotional advent calendar, and more.

but truly, it isn't that i can't find time to blog my smiles today. i could. i'm just on emotional overload...i have been since saturday. while we were decorating the Christmas tree elizabeth came across the willow tree ornament we bought in remembrance of the baby we miscarried last year. she had been asking about all the ornaments...where they came from, when we got them, etc....and mike shared with her that mommy had a baby in her tummy that died and so on....and the tears started. and then they kind of poured. and then mike and i finally found a quiet moment with the two of us alone to hang that special ornament, and they came again. and for whatever reason, the loss of that precious baby is quite fresh right now....i remember this time last year...still grieving the loss of that baby...not yet aware of the plans God would have in store for us in the coming year. and honestly, it is the strangest bittersweetness...knowing that if that baby had lived we would not have jillian. and while the emotions are on edge...the tears are ready to spill over at any given moment...it is not truly a sad emotion...just full. (don't know if that makes sense). God has brought us SOOOO far in the past year. through the experience of the miscarriage i experienced His "closeness" in a way i never had before...that feeling and knowing that He is carrying you...that beautiful tension of joy in the midst of sorrow. and, oh my, how richly He has blessed us with the birth of jillian...with life. how richly we are blessed with the gift of not one, not two, but three beautiful and amazing daughters. we are blessed with moments like i blogged about sunday night...we are blessed with giggles and laughter....we are blessed even in the midst of the tantrums or arguments. that, sweet friends, is where my heart is right now...it sort of feels laid bare for whatever reason. i am so looking forward to this month...and not just because of Christmas morning--although i am looking forward to Christmas. but more than that, i am looking forward to celebrating the entire month long...to drawing near to Jesus through our advent devotional....to enjoying fun family time as we "countdown" with our muffin tin advent calendar....to being intentional....to cranking up the Christmas music and reflecting on Jesus as i sip a warm mug of coffee.

that is where i am.

and...though i don't have the words to go with them....here are a few pictures of our smiles.

frosty the marshmallow man...dessert for the girls last night at dinner!