December Happenings

We've had a busy month, as December usually is. Quinten had his six month check-up at the beginning of the month. Fifteen pounds even, which may seem small to all of you, but we think it's great! When you start out under six pounds and your parents are Andrew and I, we think he's doing well. :) And, considering Callie and Leah were both under twenty pounds at a year, he's huge! I took him in to the night clinic on Saturday- he's gained another pound this month (16.3 now) and he's got an ear infection. The kid hates his medicine- it took me 20 minutes to get it in him this morning and I think half of it was spit out on me or himself... headstrong little thing. I guess he fits into our house well. Quinten is such a great baby. He's happy almost always, he smiles at everyone, and his sisters still adore him. He is really loud, but it's not the same as the girls. The girls all starting making sounds and talking so early. Quinten just grunts and squeals. It's funny to listen to, but I'm sure will be a huge adjustment for me when I expect him to tell me what he wants for breakfast and he still can't do it. The difference between boys and girls, I guess. We're still trying to figure it all out.
We managed to decorate our Gingerbread house this year. The girls love doing it... Andrew and I- not so much. I forgot how long the thing is supposed to sit for the walls to harden before you put the candy on. We started it way too late and didn't leave it nearly as long as it should have been left. It was a long night, bedtime kept getting pushed back, but they had a great time.
Callie loves to pose for pictures. It's almost impossible to get a picture of her just smiling normal. I actually have to ask for it and then it still only happens sometimes.
The finished product.
One evening the girls asked to decorate sugar cookies. It was too late to start a batch of dough (well, too late for my tired self to start a batch) so I decided we'd make cupcakes instead and decorate them- quicker, cleaner, just as fun. You'll see by the pictures below what kind of fun they had...
Leah's were so caked with sprinkles that you couldn't see the frosting at all. Yep, she actually ate this one after she was done. Actually, all she ate was the frosting and the sprinkles... gross. You can see by her mouth that she was taste testing along the way. But, she loved it and kept saying, "Oh, it's beautiful!" I'm glad she thought so.
Callie's- not as bad as Leah's, but still had its fair share of sprinkles. She also ate the top of her cupcake and left the rest.
This is my conservative child. Even if Alexa wasn't years older than the other two, I could almost guarantee her cupcake would look just like this. That's just Alexa. She's very conscious of what she is doing, careful to do it right, and hates making mistakes. I love her, but I wonder sometimes what this careful attitude will do to her in years to come. She is way too hard on herself.
We've since decorated sugar cookies (in case anyone was wondering), but as usual, I failed to take pictures. However, given the pictures above, I'm sure you have a fairly good vision.
This is the kids in their Christmas clothes after church on Sunday. Quinten spends the majority of his day with his tongue hanging out. It's quite cute. And of course, there's Callie- not smiling but trying her hand at something else- literally, in this case.
This may be the last year Alexa will allow all of them to match. I think she thinks she is too old for it. I've pushed it the last couple years,but I may have to change my tune next year. Who knows? Maybe I can get away with one more year after this... it's just so cute. :) I even wore a black skirt and red shirt to church too... It's not normally something I try to do, but once a year isn't so bad. I tried to convince Andrew to wear his matching tie... no dice. He's not into that sort of thing, even on holidays. :)