lots to catch up on

time is slipping by so quickly with the busyness of this time of year and the juggling of all the balls we seem to have in the air right now. i'm trying to keep things as simple, slow, low-key, etc as possible so i can savor every minute of this time i have with my family during the holidays, with being off work and all. january and all things bank of america will be here before i know it so i'm hopeful that december is slow and sweet.

just as sweet as these 2:

buxton is being sooo sweet to his little sister. he wants to kiss her all the time. he has learned what the word "gentle" means and says it over and over, every time he gets close to her. now just cause he is saying it, doesn't mean he always doing it. like below it looks like he's going to give her a good smack (but it was just a nice pat):

here's a couple thanksgiving photos from our time with the heffner's.

buxton, elin, and their great-grandpa:

and here is my dad, step-mom and 2 half-sisters:

we are so fortunate to live close to penland tree farm and also be good friends with the owners. getting our christmas tree here is loads of fun every year. this year ben's mom and step-dad joined us!

buxton and mawmaw on the hay ride!

it really is so beautiful there:

they have a mulch hill with a tunnel:

and lots of tractors!

this year we bought a live white pine with root ball intact. we are going to plant it in the yard after christmas. see how excited buxton was about our tree (this is the one)!

and sweet baby girl was all bundled up and patiently waited for us to make our selection:

so i was feeling bold (even though i was truly really tired from all the thanksgiving travel) and decided to go for another family photo. i am showing 3 pics so you can see exactly how this went:

and a few really sweet ones to end on. this was at my mom and bill's (who were totally decorated for christmas on thanksgiving) thanksgiving night -our 2nd meal of the day:

and my little sugar plum:

boys, etc!

on sunday we finally got to spend some time with the lowrance's and ehrenreich's, and buxton and beckett finally got to play together. margaret and i talk about how much they would enjoy each other all the time but living a couple hours apart makes the hang time difficult to achieve. these boys, one month apart, are so much alike. beckett just melts my heart and those curls, oh those curls!!

sliding together on the double slide:

jason and amy with amy and matt's parents:

us girls:

2 peas in a pod:

this is our first ever attempt at a family photo with all 4 of us. yes it's sad that elin is 6 weeks old and this is our first family photo, but honestly we may not try for this again for awhile. it was stressful!

see below to see some excerpts of how it went:

(me fixing elin's shirt while she screams in hunger)

(still screaming. too bad cause buxton is totally in character here)

(whiny buxton...awesome!)

elin has gotten sooo long and her taking 4+ ounces per feeding since almost the beginning is starting to take affect. ben took this on his phone since he liked her shirt so much:

and here she is getting some tummy time. she's doing really well with trying to hold her head up and is very active when she's not sleeping. she continues to be such and easy baby, only crying for food or sleep and never needing to be "put" to sleep at night. after she eats she goes right back to her crib without a peep. i love how mary told me that an easy baby is a little kiss to me from God. she said He knew I would need this kiss with a 20 month old boy brother. God is so good!

since we've had a lot of snotty noses in the house recently i have to tell everyone about this awesome device that has helped us a lot with these noses. it's called the Nosefrida. if you think this is gross get over it cause it's not and oh so effective. jenn gave me this as a gift and i think it is the best gift ever! target, amazon, drugstores, etc are carrying them now so go get one, like now.

and please pray for amy this week, as she is having her double mastectomy on thursday. please pray for her peace of mind, the doctor (dr. moore), adam and charis, amy's healing/recovery and that this surgery overall be better than, or not as difficult on her as anticipated. our awesome God is going to hold her hand every step of the way and I pray that she feels His presence at all times!

our zoo outing

on monday we took a trip to the nc zoo in asheboro. it was a quick trip but we had just enough time to see everything there that buxton would be interested in. and just enough time to totally wear him out without completely exhausting him. ben and i hadn't been to the zoo in ages, so it was fun for us for sure.

the black bear and gorilla (no pic of gorilla) came really close so we could get a really good look. i never knew how majestic gorillas are, or how big!

this path is what you travel on to see all the animals, and it is so beautiful. we finally got to see the fall leaves and what a treat that was!

1 month

our baby girl turned 1 month old today. i can not believe it has already been a month. nothing in my life right now makes a full month passing seem right, including my incision site (but i'm probably to blame for this...you know doing too much). life has been very full this last month. besides bringing home a new baby and raising a 20 month old, we've been busy with changes at twin tops and being more active at church. the twin tops changes involve ben taking the restaurant over so howdy can retire. the first official day was monday! this is very exciting and very stressful at the same time. so far ben has done an extraordinary job. he's been home a lot less, which will be the case for awhile, but we are managing. the timing is really good with me being on maternity leave until january.

and elin is still SUCH a easy and sweet baby. she is eating really well, hence the fuller cheeks, and sleeping great. she went another 5 hours between feedings last night so i am feeling great today.

i had to get some pics of her in the "1 month" outfit that was buxton's:

here is buxton. i think she is just a petite version of him, with better skin. :)

And I'm so happy to post that God blessed Catherine and Trey with 2 beautiful babies on Monday! Their blog link is in my list for more info. They are all doing really well!

fun fun

we had so much fun at the webster's annual halloween bash! it was much crazier this year with all the kiddos walking now so we are very appreciative to jenn and bob for opening their home to us for this. i'm also appreciative to all those that helped me at the party with buxton, since i had both kiddos solo. there was so much yummy food and the kids had a blast. i made these (except mine didn't look this good) and all were eaten so i guess that means they were a hit.

our hosts, from Juno:

trying to get all the kids in one picture:

buxton's first pumpkin!

before trick or treating in the hood on sunday we played in the yard, enjoying our new grass:

and the leaves:

this mum is so pretty. i just love it!

when you can't get your kid to sit in front of something for a pic, use the dog!