The McPherson Chronicles

What a whirlwind! Christmas is always so chaotic, in the best of ways. We fit so much into just a few days and at the end our heads are spinning as we try to make sense of what just happened and who gave the kids each present. This year the kids (caught myself typing "girls" by the way and had to change it to kids thanks to Andrew) were just as blessed with toys, clothes, books and presents galore from their grandparents, aunt, uncles and cousins. How is it that every year we say we are going to cut back and we still end up with so much stuff? The girls loved everything they got and I think we've managed to unpackage, play with and/or wear every single gift already. Some of the things I can remember: remote control trucks, remote control dogs, movies, Frozen figurines, horses, Jake & the Neverland Pirate play sets, Disney princess dresses, books, a train table/set, art supplies, clothes, stuffed animals, pajamas, princess piggy banks, games, and Dr stuff. The girls ...

     

We just can't get enough Christmas tree decorating around here. The girls seem to think it's their mission to decorate everyone's tree, at this point. We helped Nana with her tree, then our own and finally Grandma and Grandpa's tree. They all look beautiful and the girls are quite proud of their work. Here are some pictures of the fun.  Nana's Tree    Tummy time by our tree  

Andrew's already 6 weeks old, which is ridiculous to me. Why does time fly by so fast with kids? In the past few days he has started smiling at us which is the BEST thing. It's my favorite baby milestone followed closely by laughing and walking. I love seeing his big smile and you just never know when he's going to do it and when he's going to hold out on you and really make you work for it. It's hard to get good pictures of it since the smiles pass so quickly so here's the best I've gotten so far.

  (Photo actually taken at 6 weeks. We'll be more on top of it from here on out.)

We are getting in the holiday spirit around here! Kevin put up Christmas lights last weekend and we pulled out the decorations. The girls are so excited about all the little every day things that come along with the countdown to Christmas. They get up and search the house for Happy the Elf every morning, then they check their advent calendars to see what their gift is for the day and open a door on our little countdown house. They make every little thing so exciting. I think we'll get our tree this weekend, which is my favorite part. I love turning on Christmas songs and pulling out the ornaments and watching the girls hang everything on the bottom 1/3rd of the tree. They light up with every single ornament we unwrap and remember whose it is, where it came from etc. Plus the smell of the tree every time we walk in the house all season long is the best. This will be Andrew's first Christmas, which, even though he's way too young to remember or participate in much, makes ...