My Little Helper, Maverick

Maverick is such a good little 'helper' lately. He loves to say "I help" and get right in the action. Each morning he helps me feed the dogs and also make a smoothie for breakfast.

Here he is 'helping' me make pumpkin muffins. He gets most of the ingredients in the bowl!




He also loves to help care for baby Macallan. He helped me give him a bath the other day. No Macallan is not in the tub anymore...for safety sake I could only sneak a couple of pictures in when we were done with the bath.

Macallan is laying below in the bouncy seat.

All nice and clean and bundled up in a towel.

He pats Macallan's head about 200 times a day. Macallan usually doesn't mind, as long as he's gentle. I'm not sure if his patting is causing Macallan to cry below or if he's patting him on the head to tell him "it's okay" to get him to stop crying. Take your pick.

Cute Christmas Onesie

How cute is this little Christmas onesie that my friend gave Macallan as a gift? I think it's nearly as cute as his smiley little face!

And have a look at that old man hair do! Just like his brothers, he lost all of the hair on his "dome". It's starting to come back in and is short and fuzzy - irresistible for me to rub!






Macallan is a big fan of Mitchell. Maverick is a bit rougher with Macallan, but Mitchell is so gentle and attentive.

As you can tell, this little guy just gets no attention :)

Look at this cheeseball! These kind of pictures make me want to go get him out of his bed just to squeeze him....almost.

Neighborhood Santa Get-together

Our neighbor (Bob) dresses up like Santa each year and spoils the neighborhood kids with Christmas gifts. It is so much fun!

Maverick wouldn't sit on Santa's lap at Bass Pro, but there must have been something a little more familiar about this one!





Mitchell was thrilled to add to his collection of transformers.






We didn't want the kids to see Bob walk back to his house, so he snuck out the front door while the kiddos watched for his sleigh out the back window...man, were they disappointed.

Macallan was a happy camper, as usual. And, yes, I do hold my own baby sometimes...I just can't take pictures at the same time. :)

Now for the secondary entertainment of the night...the men all received "Forever Lazies" as gifts. They are basically like whole body pajamas. Of course, they had to immediately try them on!



Even Grace thought they were comfy!

Preschool Birthday Celebration

Mitchell got to celebrate his birthday at preschool a little early. He was "child of the day" on their last day of school in December, which is the highlight of Mitchell's life. He is child of the day once a month, and talks about it all of the time!

We brought rice krispy ornaments (made by Gran - THANKS!) and had a little celebration with his classmates.

I can't believe he's going to be FOUR!

Gran and Pops meet Macallan

Gran and Pops made the trip up from Oklahoma to meet Macallan...and spoil the boys rotten. We celebrated Christmas a little early and the boys have been entertained with their tanks, transformers, fish video and jello jigglers ever since!

Getting the boys to cooperate for a picture is a constant struggle!

Six Weeks Old!

Macallan is already six weeks old and is still the happiest little baby :) He is so easy going and just along for the ride.


He is liking his baths more and more. We are planning to take the big boys swimming today, but I'm thinking 6 weeks might be a little too young for Macallan's first swim. :)

His big brothers are still big fans of the little guy (a little too much). He gets lots of kisses and hugs!

We even got to spend a little more time outdoors this week since it was so warm! He really seemed to enjoy the fresh air.

We are enjoying every moment with him and are so excited for his upcoming role as Baby Jesus in our church's Christmas Eve program. Pictures sure to follow!

Progressive Dinner

We started a Christmas tradition with our neighbors last year to do a progressive dinner.

We started with appetizers at the Chalfie's house.





Soup and salad at the Weber's house





Main course at our house


...and closed the night with dessert at the Babler's (no pictures) :(


We drew names and did a "As seen on TV" gift exchange. I'm the proud owner of a new Slushy maker!

We played a game at each house too...as you can see, it was a fun filled evening!

All NINE of the kiddos shared babysitters and played at the Chalfie's. The babysitter brought her new puppy for entertainment. It worked!




Maverick was literally sleeping on top of a topless Lily upon our return....hmmm.....cute at 2, not so cute later in life!

It is so nice to have a great group of friends whose kids enjoy each others company as much as the adults!