Yes and No

Emory June is really coming into her own.  (I have missed quite a bit of time here, but I will try to go back and blog about that later).  She is so sweet, but is starting to have an opinion of her own, even if she doesn't know what it means.  Check it out.

First Friends

It is fun to watch your kids make friends.  Granted, they don't have much of a say in who they hang out with at first, but that starts to slowly change over time, and they actually remember people by name, and say that they miss them or want to see them.  Here are a couple of friends.  (Side note: I've really been a slacker with the camera as of late, so many dear friends are not on here - we still love you!)

 EmJ and Elliot

 Owen, Jackson, Liam, and Georgia

 Jacoby, Georgia, Landyn, and Jackson

 Now just being silly.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving – I know, I am one holiday behind.  I am secretly proud of myself for getting this up before New Year’s, so I am not two holidays back…haha.

Anyway, Brian’s family came up for Thanksgiving this year: His mom, brother Justin, Uncle DJ, cousin Aubry, and Gram.  It was so wonderful to have the house full of family.  My family came over as well on Thanksgiving Day, and we enjoyed a meal with 15 or so people.  I love sharing the kids with them.  We just think that they are wonderful (good thing, huh?) and it is fun to see our family get to see and experience what we get to live with every day.  Mary, Brian’s mom, took the kids to StrideRite for her traditional shoe shopping spree for them, and Georgia came home with 3 – yes, 3 new pairs of shoes!  Jackson was beyond thrilled with some light up dinosaur shoes, and EmJ has so many shoes passed down to me from my friend Amber that I don’t know if she will ever be able to wear them all, so we passed on shoes for her.  Georgia got to spend a few nights with Grandma at her hotel – she thought that she was hot stuff.  DJ taught me how to make a new and simple recipe for fudge (want the recipe?) – Rachel Ray brought this to Oprah – so easy and only 4 ingredients!  Aubry is a senior in high school and is pleasant and thoughtful.  Gram is continually work, work, working away.  The woman never has an idle moment.  She knitted Georgia a little purse, which she loves.  She is probably the most unassuming, thoughtful, selfless person that I know, and I hope to be like her someday.  Justin was attacked by the kids from the moment he arrived, and I love that the kids love him!
We truly have so much to be thankful for.  God is good and we are blessed.

 Aubry and Justin

 This girl is so cute, I just can't take it!!!

 Gram and Mary

 EmJ getting some good Uncle Justin time.

 Gram and DJ

 Is this boy handsome or what!?!

 Justin and Georgia just hanging out - haha (ok, lame pun).

 My brother, John, and Jackson

 DJ

 Brian and Justin - outside putting up Christmas wreaths.

 Mary and her boys - they both have turned out to be wonderful men and husbands...I know she is proud!

Spotlight on Emory June (and Happy Birthday too!)

So, Emory June is our youngest, and is full of spunk.  Seriously, most who encounter describe her as "smiley" and pleasant.  Probably because between her brother and sister torturing, er - playing with her, she is just happy to be alive.  When the other two at times can tire us from having to constantly discipline and redirect (they of course have their shining moments as well), EmJ is our little ray of light.  She is getting around everywhere now, and close to walking.  We just celebrated her 1st birthday, and I cannot believe a year has flown by already.  I am so excited to see her grow up into her own little personality - we just see little glimmers of it now - and how she interacts and bonds with her brother and sister.  Love you, Em!

Video of EmJ groovin'!

 

Mommy and EmJ on her b-day!

 Happy Birthday, Emory June!

 Up the stairs (so fun!) - Grandma took this great picture.

 I love this one of her - she always has her little tongue sticking out.

 Em obviously enjoyed this meal....

 If I could just get a little more!

 

EmJ as a little ladybug for Trick-or-Treat

And, last but not least, one of EmJ's first words.  Besides "dada" (and that wasn't really even directed at Brian) and "alldone" - which is hit or miss, this is her first word.  You will have to watch the video to witness it.

Spotlight on Jackson

Jackson is our sweet soul. He will lean over and say, "I love you mom". He will grab onto your cheeks and just look you in the eyes - so innocent (not to mention those long eyelashes!) Jack can play so well on his own; he likes to have the entire couch to drive his cars on..."Where my bir-day cars, mommy?" is a frequent question. He has some cars from the movie Cars that he received for his b-day, and has since referred to them as his bir-day cars.

Here is a little conversation with Jackson.  He is a talker in the morning...yap, yap, yap.  Brian and I have both noticed this in him, and Brian said something like "I know I wasn't like that as a kid."  I know, try not to laugh out loud at this comment.  So, I present to you an unofficial poll - which 2 year old would be more likely to never stop talking: 2 year old Brian or 2 year old Molly?

Spotlight on Georgia

So, I want to do a little post on each of the kids.  I love how they each have their own unique personalities, faces, mannerisms, yet they are each a part both Brian and me.  It is fun to see some of us in them as well.

Georgia, our oldest, is full of spunk.  She is dramatic.  I have no earthly idea how she got so girly, as her mom is not into the girly stuff at all.  She has some very expressive faces.  Georgia is a great helper (sometimes a little too good).  I love how if I crawl into bed to snuggle with her, she will put her arm around me and kiss me on the head.  I was reading her a book ("Just in Case you ever Wonder" by Max Lucado) and it talks about how heaven will be wonderful - there will be no crying, no being hungy, no mean people.  Georgia asked, "Mommy, where do all the mean people go?"  I promise, those were her exact words.  Funny that she thought through that.  I explained to her that we can all be mean sometimes, and Jesus forgives us so that we can be with him in heaven.  Crazy the questions that 4 year olds have.  I love you, Georgia girl.

Georgia's self-portrait

Good morning!

This is her puzzled face - LOVE IT!

Georgia plays soccer!

Georgia played soccer for the first season this fall.  It was so fun (and hard) to watch her play.  I am not sure if you can even call it "playing" at this age - we were glad if she was just able to kick the ball!  Having grown up playing soccer, it was difficult to watch the kids just run around in a big group.  Mostly, Georgia just ran where everyone else did, whether the ball was there or not.  We had many a pep talk ... "watch the ball, not the people".  Overall, a really fun experience.  I definitely will always remember when Georgia was in the first game, she just had a grin on her face the entire time.  She ran by me, grinning, and waved.  It just warms my heart even thinking about it now.  :)  At the bottom if a brief clip of how 4 year olds look when they play soccer (if you can handle watching it!)

Georgia and her friend, Siena, passing the ball.

Jackson LOVED playing soccer - he always was saying "that's MY soccer team"!

Georgia all lined up ready to score!

GOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!  You can't see the ball, but it went in.  Look how subtly proud Georgia is.  Love it!

Jackson was probably one of the best players even though he wasn't on the team!  He did have a few minutes of playing time when I was the substitute coach.  He did great!

Liam and Jack cheering on the team.

The ball is somewhere in there - it pretty much just moves around in a big glob of people like this.

Team Portrait.  Top Row: Coach Sarah, Sammy, Liam, Megan, Coach Ellie.  Bottom Row: Sam, Georgia, Jack, Siena, and Izzy