Oh look who’s behind again! Christmas was just so lovely, I just don’t want to forget! So here’s a few hundred photos from then till now ;)

Something about this Winter was just so magical! I don’t know if it was the expectant feeling of welcoming a new little one any day or just the Christmas spirit in the air but it sure was lovely! The kids and I baked almost every day. I gained 30 pounds. It was fantastic! There was much heater sitting and giggling and yup, plenty of fighting but for some reason I forget to take out my camera in those moments ;)

I just love their little friendship. They have their fair share of screaming and fights, but the moments where they play together nicely are worth the whole lot! They are so protective of each other and seeing them love on their new baby brother is just the best. Kids man, they sure are great.

This kid channelled his inner boy band and all of a sudden felt like a little boy and not :'( my :'( baby :'( anymore!

And if you only knew how much he talks about his Papi. It’s all he asked for for Christmas “Papi” …every time he hears Bentley bark at someone at the door, he goes screaming towards it “PAPI!!!!” When he was getting a hang of whispering, Abbie would almost always whisper to watch a “moooooovie” and Luke wanted to join in so he comes up and whispers ever so softly “Papi Papi Papi…” It’s the dearest thing.

I mentioned we baked…

Like, so much. Definitely made up for not having a kitchen last season :)

My floors will forever have crumbs ;)

There were naps

And surprise little gifts from Mr. Mark!

I kept getting bigger and bigger. I missed the bump when Abbie was born. I do not miss the bump with toddlers around. I think they thought it was a trampoline this whole time… I’m really shocked he didn’t come out with a dented head…

We took our last family picture as a family of FOUR!

And then there was Christmas :) I just loved walking in the door to all those twinkling lights… never actually captured by camera but it brings me joy to remember nonetheless!

The night before Christmas… and a visual reminder of why we always vow next year we will only give the kids one present each… still, is there anything more magical than all the glowy lights and all the presents under the tree the night before Christmas? I dare say not. These are excellent sentences I’m putting together. We have a newborn. Also, you know your brain is fried when you’re missing all your emoticons to describe your actual feelings and are left to search for words. When you start thinking in pictures, we gossa problem.

What is Christmas without Apple Sam!? :)

How sweet is my aunt on the floor with my kids? I swear, I have the best most loving family :]

The first year I got Greg to put up lights on the side of our house instead of just on the front. It was a big deal :D

Goggles: the best gift they received? ….or the worst… cause I find myself putting them on them at least 17 times a day.

And then the panic set in cause the baby was due any day and poor Lukie all of a sudden spiked a 104 fever! I just hate when my babies are sick and you don’t know whats wrong. So we prayed that baby would wait till the Lord’s perfect timing and this sweet busy little man would heal quickly and by His goodness, everything worked out. Those rosy cheeks though… and the cuddling… didn’t hate that part ;)

I was a disco ball for New Years. Oddly enough, I thought this would be a good, festive look… until we were headed out the door and I glanced in the mirror and noticed I was dressed in an unintended costume.

And then!

And then!

And then!!!!

I just noticed the other day, his hands aren’t wrinkly anymore :'( IT ALL GOES TOO FAST!!!!!!

Just lookit those beautiful lil eyes. AHHHH I can’t get enough of this lil guy. If that wasn’t abundantly clear.

It’s sort of a fight between me and Abbie on who gets to hold him the most ;) She keeps asking and I think… mmm…. nope. MINE! Just kidding but actually it is kinda hard to give him up hehe I never want to but her massive love for him is pretty irresistible too. And just in case you think it’s this sweet scene all the time and where is Luke? Well,

This is how the majority of my pictures turn out these days ;) Luke gets so excited to hold him, he clenches his little fists and shakes and all the pictures tend to turn out blurry ;)

And then, this sweet girl turned four! Oh I can’t wait to see what she becomes… because this is all her. She came down in this ensemble and began to pose.

and pose

and pose

and you can bet Luke didn’t pick out that outfit.

the godmother there did.

because she’s the best.

Truly.

I asked her, if she could have anything for her birthday breakfast, what she would have. Blueberries, pancakes, and blueberry muffins :D so a carb breakfast it was.

And then we went to paint pottery and experience the downfall of missed naps ;)

Plus first time making that poor stroller work for three! Just wish I could remember where I put those attachments so Luke didn’t have to be crammed quite so tightly in that seat ;)

But aren’t they the cutest little concentrated souls :) They carry their proud creations down every morning and Luke calls his truck his “RAH truck” which of course means monster truck. If speaking Abbie was hard, Luke is a whole nother ball game.

And then this guy <3

And then it was home again to celebrate with the rest of our family! I so wanted to throw her a proper birthday party with actual friends but I keep repeating my moms words of “life is not a Hallmark card” and figure, a week after giving birth might not be the right year for such an event. Plus, next year is the big FIVE! I might as well start my weeping now.

Luke :) hehe these kids are my favorite :D Abbie asked for steak, asparagus …and broccoli. Always throwing me surprises, that one! Oh and the night before, she decided she wanted a chocolate mermaid cake. … … … ok.

I should be winning all the Pinterest awards ;) again, life is not a Hallmark card. Plus she saw it before we could bring it out and ruined any chance of a surprise. Me and my hormones might have excused ourselves to sulk because the silliest things get me down these days. Sigh. I’m so good at adulting. However, the most fatal error we made on this here day was to let her slip away after dinner and go lay down on the couch. There was still cake and presents to be had! And three kids in, we should KNOW: never. ever. wake a sleeping child.

She did not like her cake.

She did not like her presents.

She did like her scepter. But you know? Some birthdays just don’t turn out perfect with joyous dancing and a wonderfully happy little child… and that’s ok. It’s your birthday and you can cry if you want to, they say. I added some gold stars to my excellent parenting skills as shown by my tantrum throwing overly tired kids and called it a night. I’m winning so many parenting awards these days. So many.

Luckily, with a solid nap, the extreme new baby smothering commenced.

And we continued on with our smitten-ness of this little lad.

We sure love him <3

But basically we are back to heater sits, and cheersing our apples. Can’t complain :) Sure love this little family of mine!

Happy February!