Crab for Dinner

Johanna and Eric and Annette went crabbing this afternoon.  They only caught two, and guess who got crab for dinner?!  This girl.  This is the first time I've ever had to kill a live animal (except for that time I shot a squirrel, which doesn't totally count), and I have to say that I felt kind of bad about it.  I mean, not awful.  But pretty bad.  Then, once they were cooked and  I was rushing to get dinner finished before Nick got home, and all 3 girls were purposefully trying to do everything in their power to not let me fix dinner, I sat there cracking the shell with my teeth.  After twenty minutes of picking out crab and looking down at the tiny pile on the plate, I pretty much decided that I don't have time in my life for crab.  But thank you Jojo and Eric for providing us with this delicious meal.  If you guys ever go crabbing again, we will gladly come eat your already picked left overs!!!!

Follow the yellow brick road!

Well, it wasn't exactly a yellow brick road.  Talullah had created a trail of snacks and had Havanna following her from the bedrooms back into the living room, eating along the way.  What silly girls!

And, it's CHRISTMAS!!!

Dad reading the Christmas story to his girls.

This one says Talullah!  She can recognize the "T", so she knows.

Go Padres!

What?!  No way.  A trip to The Spa?!?!

Go, Berlyn, Go!

Stocking time!

It was all just too much action for Havanna.

She's ready for her scooter, too!

Talullah is taking pictures with her very own camera.

Wearing the scarf I made her, all the bows she got,  and ready to read another princess story.

Good job, Nana.  Berlyn loves her Minnie Mouse!

Talullah and daddy.

And, the grand finale... the BOUNCE HOUSE!!!

I've never seen Berlyn in such a deep sleep.  Operation Christmas: Success!

 Wow.  First presents from Grammy.  Then Christmas Eve at Uncle Nates.  Now Christmas day and we're celebrating even more?!?!  We had Nana and Papa over after a quiet morning with just our family.  The girls woke up at 7.   We were all in my bed and when Talullah opened her eyes, I whispered "Merry Christmas." She grinned ear to ear told her sleeping daddy.  "It's CHRISTMAS!!!"  There was no sleeping after that.  We jumped up to shower and prepare for the day.  We ate some of the delicious left over cinnamon rolls while dad read the Christmas story from the Jesus Storybook Bible.  Then, Talullah decided she wanted to read her 'favorite' story, which ended up being about Joseph.  She obviously wasn't in a hurry for the presents.  We called Papa and Nana and they came over with even more gifts.  We can't wait for sunny days to take the scooters outside or to blow up the bounce house and have friends over.  It's not about the presents, I know.  But what a blessing.  What a blessing that God has given us so much.  So many friends and family who love and spoil our family all year round.  I look at the array of cards that covers ever inch of space on the piano, and I'm truly amazed.  We live a wonderful life.  Merry Christmas to all, and too all a good night!

Christmas Eve with the Downey's!

Berlyn loves her Aunt Dallass

Havanna's opening a present from Grandma Downey

Wesley's home for the holiday!  Brianna and Wesley

For me?!

BEAUTIFUL GIRLS!

Bri and Berlyn

Brothers

All of the girls!!!

All of the boys!

Just us!

And, everybody!  Well, almost.  Bri is taking the picture.

 We celebrated Christmas with Nick's side of the family up at Nate and Dallass' new house in Eureka.  With 8 cousins, the eldest being 7, it seems like any event would be chaos.  Not this year!  The kids played so well together.  We opened presents and ate a delicious feast.  It's the most wonderful time.... of the year!!!

Oh no!

It's just days before Christmas, and we're all getting sick!  Berlyn caught it first, and my poor baby was miserable.  Then, Havanna's two top teeth started popping through, which meant one fussy little baby.  Now I've come down with a head cold.  What do we do when the momma's sick?!?!  Who takes care of me?!?!  Looks like it's cereal for dinner, kids.

Say CHEESE!

 What a ham.  This girl is always smiling!!!

***sigh***

The first night Berlyn asked to lay next to Talullah, I cringed when Nick put them together and left the room. We both shook our heads, just waiting to have to go back in to discipline them for playing at bedtime.  Much to our surprise, the girls never made a peep.  We went to check on them and found both sound asleep, side by side.  This was quite possibly the most heart warming moment as a mother of daughters.  A moment that you picture in your mind: your girls growing up best friends, cuddling at night and giggling themselves to sleep.  It's been a week now, and the girls have slept in that tiny toddler bed every night.  Well, most of the night anyway.  Somehow, by the time I wake up, there's a family of 5 all crammed into my king size bed.  Last night I even put away the play pen and designated Berlyn's crib as Havanna's.  Soon enough we will make the triple bunk bed for the girls, but for now... this suits us just fine.

Crafts with kids

West and Summer came over for a couple hours so that their parents could get some alone time.  They need it, considering they have their 3rd coming along pretty soon!  West is probably Talullah's favorite friend.  When she hasn't seen him for awhile, she will let out a deep sigh and lean her head on her hand and say something like "I miss West.  I have never got to see him in forever."  When the two are together, they argue like an old married couple.  We were driving home from swim lessons one day and Michele and I had to get involved.  "No, Talooowah!  You're not the strongest.  GOD IS!"   "Nuh, uh.  I'm the strongest.  SEE!!!"  We look back and see Talullah holding up her arms, showing off the non existent muscles. When Talullah got her scooter for Christmas, she rode it around the house and then came to me and asked if she could call West to "show him how good I am."

It's begining to look like Christmas!

My parents kept the big girls overnight, so I took full advantage of my time with only one set of baby hands to control.  I started wrapping all the presents and trying to finish up some of the Christmas presents I've been working on as projects.  It's one step forward, two steps back, when there is a baby near crafting supplies.  With that charming smile, it's hard to get upset about the extra work created.  Havanna is always so happy!

Play Time

 Talullah and Berlyn LOVE to dance.  While I was at work, dad put on some music and let these girls run wild circles around our room.  They had their dolls swinging high, throwing them up in the air.  What a sweet, festive spirit.
Sometimes when I'm at the computer (either updating this blog or browsing craigslist), I try to put a toy in front of Havanna to distract her from wanting to sit on my lap.  Sitting on my lap leads to either bumping her head on the desk or reaching for the keyboard.  This particular day I gave her the piano with attached microphone.  Like a pro, she grabbed the mike and started humming away.  What a rock star.

The holidays are here!!!

We had our favorite couple over to make gingerbread houses.  The shack Talullah and I built only stood for about an hour before collapsing completely.  More candy went into Berlyn's mouth than ended up on their house.  And, of course, Brendan managed to construct a gorgeous Shelter Cove style bungalow to outdo us all.  Next year I vow to do several practice runs before having them over.

Time to eat!

Go Padres!

This just might be the sweetest picture of little Berlyn that I have seen yet.  This precious girl adores her daddy.  She has caught on to her dad's fascination with baseball.  Everytime we pass a field or a tv and she sees a game, she yells "Go Padres!"  If she picks up anything long and skinny around the house, she throws it over her shoulder and gets ready to take a swing.

She's a mover and a shaker!

Havanna is on the move.  Once she figured out the hand to knee coordination, this little girl is EVERYWHERE.  I know these pictures are a little blurry, but they were so sweet I just had to post them.  Is it obvious that these sisters love each other, or what?!

Sleepy Girl

"Uhm.. MooOOm?!"  Talullah called me back to our bedroom where her and Berlyn had been watching a show.  Berlyn had crashed sometime during the episode.

Georgia

Before our plane even landed, I was trying to convince Nick to move us all to Georgia.  The bright leaves on every tree, the sound of them crunching under our feet as we walked through the campsite, the pot pie and fried okra.  The accent?!  I'm completely won over.  Having visited the south during more extreme weather months, all my pleas didn't sway Nick one bit.  We did have a great time during the short trip, though.  The big girls had stayed back home with Nana and Papa, so after the anxiety of being so many miles from them wore down (but never off), we enjoyed our time doting on Havanna and giving her lots of love.  We went to the NIM museum on the base and stayed in an adorably rustic cabin just minutes away.  Nevermind the fist size cockroach I discovered in the bathroom.  We spent a night in Atlanta with Nick's cousin Allison and had the opportunity to visit the Aquarium and the Coke Museum.  All in all, it was a great trip.  Next time, I'm sacrificing our bank account and just taking all the kids with us though.  Five days without my daughters was too much for me!