Christmas in Malibu

We love the huge Christmas tree that Pepperdine puts up in the middle of campus at Christmastime!  We were hoping to go to the Christmas tree lighting this year, but the drizzly weather kept us inside...maybe next year.

 Merry Christmas from Malibu!

 These are our great friends, Peter and Katy with Liam.  We took their picture in front of the tree last year and this year and I still haven't sent them the pictures yet!  We had good intentions!

 After their naps these girls are ready for the church Christmas party and pageant!  Thanks to Nana for making their sweet dresses!

 Cassia feel asleep during dinner so we put her in her car seat and put her under the tree.  She is the best present!

Bailey was a Friendly Beast in the Christmas Pageant and got to carry this fancy mask across the stage.

 Then the Friendly Beasts get to sit in the stable and eat a yummy snack!

Santa and Mrs. Claus came at the end of the party.  The look on Bailey's face is priceless.  This is going to be a great Christmas!

Someone should have told Thomas and me to stand
behind Mr. and Mrs. Claus--we look a bit silly!

Even though it's usually warm here in December, we love the traditions that make it feel like Christmas!  Albuquerque pictures are next...

Amber's Visit

My friend, Amber, came to visit us for a week to meet Cassia and have some girl time!  

Yes, we are matchy but we didn't plan on being matchy
 like we used to when we were growing up!  :)

 A beautiful morning...we love our ocean view!

 Bailey got really sick the week Amber was here, which was a bummer.  We couldn't get out and do much, so we stayed in and were crafty instead.  I should say Amber is very crafty and so I asked her to help me with a few projects.  :)

All this crafting makes a girl tired!

 My mom made Cassia's name for her room and Amber and I glued the ric-rac on and put it in the frame.  It turned out really cute!

 After checking out Amber's Pinterest account, we thought it would be fun to make the girls matching Christmas tree shirts.  Amber made Cassia's tree and then I made Bailey's.  I think they turned out great and it was fun to have something that matched!  Next year I have enough ribbon for another fun project.  Amber also made hair bows for the girls that matched their Christmas dresses.  Thank you, Amber!

 We missed out on cookie decorating with friends one day, but we still got to decorate cookies (thanks Holly and Kim!) and they were delicious!

You can tell from this face that she was still not feeling
well, but had perked up since the beginning of the week.

Amber was a trooper~Bailey coughed and sneezed all over her all week, but she survived and made it home without getting sick!

Amber and Bailey are good buddies!

Thanks, Amber, for coming to visit and for spending time with our family!

2 Months Old

What a beautiful day December 6th was!  We headed to park to play with friends that morning and got to jump in a big pile of leaves.

 Bailey looks huge in this baby swing!

 While Bailey was swinging, Cassia was sleeping!

 Bailey--3 years and 10 months old; Cassia--2 months old

Big Smile!

 Cassia is a good sleeper at 2 months and since sleeping=growing, she's doing a lot of growing!  She has really filled out!  At her 2 month appointment she weighed 13 lbs. 6 oz. and was 23 inches long.  (I don't remember the exact %s, but she's up in the 80th and 90th percentiles for weight and height!)  She's smiling and really starting to coo at us.  Cassia is pretty easy going and usually just cries when she's hungry or tired.  We love you, sweet Cassia!

All tuckered out after all those pictures!

Sweetness!  This smile just melts your heart! 

December!

We had a Christmas party with all of the Young Married Small Groups at the beginning of December.  These are the kiddos that were there that night.

Liam, James, Noelle with Lucy, Bailey with Cassia,
and Isaiah with Mazzlyn

Isaiah reading a story to Bailey

 Bailey took a few pictures of Christmas around our house...

The tree that Bailey helped decorate--
there were a lot of ornaments hanging on
the lowest branches!  :)

Our stockings were hung by the chimney with care...
(I love the perspective Bailey had of these!)

Bailey's Nativity from Nino and JoeJoe

Our Christmas tree that Thomas'
grandma made for us.  Bailey enjoyed
putting all the light bulbs in (and out
and in again!).

Sweet Smile

We're back in business!  

Here is a Cassia smile at 6 weeks.  The picture is a little blurry, but her sunshiny smile is just too cute!

Look at those cheeks!

Bright eyes!  All 3 of these pictures were taken in just a few minutes.  :)

Out of Space

Well...I'm out of free picture space for the blog.  I've tried to upgrade my storage 4 times now and I'm getting technical error messages.  Bummer.  I'll keep trying, but I can't upload any more pictures at the moment.  So sorry!

1st Bottle

(This post was supposed to go before Grandpa's visit, but I guess I forgot to publish it.  I'm hoping to catch up at least through Christmas before January is over this week!  Stay tuned...)

We've got lots of catching up to do! :)

Bailey and Daddy gave Cassia her first bottle when she was 7 weeks old.  She loved it and drank it all up!

On the same night, we decided to get out our Christmas tree.  This is the reaction we got...

Yes, I know she's wearing shorts and short sleeves, but it was a lovely November day!  :)

Grandpa's Visit

We were excited that Grandpa came to meet Cassia a few days after Thanksgiving.  He was here for 24 hours and we enjoyed getting to see him!

Cassia wasted no time in taking a nap with Grandpa!

After going to Paradise Cove for a yummy dinner, we pulled out the Christmas boxes and Bailey loved unwrapping all of the ornaments!  She laid them all out on the couch and then helped put them on the tree.

 Bailey had so much fun with Grandpa reading stories, taking a nap, and doing puzzles together!  We love you, Grandpa!

 Bailey decided to try out our camera again and took some pics of Cassia...

Happy Thanksgiving

Catch up time!  

This November, we started a new tradition for our family (thanks, Em for the idea!).  My friend, Kim, my mom, and I made these Thankful Trees out of felt and fabric and we hung ours on the back of our front door. 

Each night we would climb in Bailey's bed and tell at least one thing we were thankful for.  It was so fun and sweet to hear what Bailey would say.  Mentioned almost every night was "my baby sister" and some of our favorites included Nana and Papa, Grandma and Grandpa, Hannah puppy, guacamole, carrots, mountains, beautiful curtains, flowers, books, her princess dress, clean laundry, the beach, lollipops and milkshakes.

We were able to spend Thanksgiving in Temecula with Craig and Patti this year.  Since we were so close to the San Diego Safari Park (although Thomas took the scenic route!), we decided to drive down a day early and go to the park.  We enjoyed seeing some of the animals we missed the first time, as well as a baby gorilla and this close up with a cheetah!

Bailey wanted to look through every telescope!

Gorgeous day and weather and view!

We enjoyed getting to relax at Craig and Patti's house!

Happy Thanksgiving!  We are so thankful to be a family of four and for all of our family and friends.

Bailey took this picture for us and then decided to take lots of pictures and they turned out pretty good as you can see below.

Thomas found a great deal on a TV and actually
 went down to Sears on Thanksgiving night with
Craig and Ada to see if he could get one, but people
 had been standing in line ALL day long and
there was only a limited number of TVs.  Crazy people!

Craig and Bailey taking pics of each other.

Thanks, Patti for taking good care of us!

Maybe Bailey will be a photographer when she grows up.

She also learned to take some self portraits!  :)

Thanks, Carnes, for adopting us for Thanksgiving!  Can we make our reservation for next year?