Some video

Tom figured out how to get the video we have taken of Kira off his cell phone so here are a few of our favorites...

These two were taken just this week. She has just started to roll over!

This video was taken when she was just starting to "talk"

This last one is of her talking now...

At the request of the Lindsay clan...

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Snow Day!!!

What a weekend for snow! How fun!! Last time I remember it snowing like this, was 1996 and I spent most of the day helping Dad shovel out the driveway (this was before he had a snow blower). Well, we decided to brave the cold and wind to take Kira out to experience her first snow day.

Here she is with Daddy getting ready to go out...

"Baby it's cold outside..."
The lovely family....(Tom's got his hand over her mouth b/c it was really windy)


Playing inside...

Little cutie pie...


Christmas is coming up this week! Can't believe it's almost here. Here's a rundown of where we'll be...

Christmas Eve: Sherf family (Tom's Dad's side)

Christmas Day: Dehart family and Maro family

Dec. 26: Yoder family

Dec. 27: Hymn sing (I am running this as a senior sponsored event in my church)

Dec. 31: New Year's Eve party at Dehart's (I doubt I'll make it til midnight)

Jan. 1: Wallin Christmas

The rest of the year: recover from all the parties

Pictures to follow!!

Thanksgiving Madness

Well, thanksgiving has come and gone and it has been another year of great family gatherings! The thanksgiving celebration started the Sunday before thanksgiving with the Maros at a country club. The Maros normally have their party at the Grandparents house but Tom's grandmother has been sick so the decision was made to ease her burden and have dinner out with everyone.

The happy couple....

Grandmom Maro. Kira was getting a little tired of being out at this point, hence the lower lip.

She is thinking, "no more pictures! Take me home!!"

The ladies of the Maro family.

Thanksgiving day morning, I took Kira out to Philly for the parade with Tom's mom and step dad. She really seemed to enjoy herself. A good time had by all. The proud grammy.
Later that day...we drove over to see Tom's Dad and family. Unfortunately, this was the only picture I took that night. This is Tom's step-mom holding Kira.
The next day, we drove over to my parents house for the Wallin family gathering.
Then, on Saturday we celebrated thanksgiving with the Dehart family. The Dehart's are Tom's step-father's side of the family. Every year they get together at a bowling alley and then meet afterwards at the Dehart house for desert and fellowship.
The Dehart cousins all together for a shot.

Finally, on Sunday, Mom graciously allowed me to use her house to host the end of the season choir party. Family is wonderful isn't it? Can't wait for Christmas to do it all over again! Plus, at Christmas, we will see the Yoders (my mom's side) who haven't seen Kira yet.

The grass withers and the flowers fade...

But the word of the Lord endures forever! That may sound morbid to you but I think of that verse in relation to growing older and Kira's growth since she's been born.

All these pictures by the way are complements of our talented neighbor and friend, Sarah Zimmerman. Sarah is going to photography school next year and graciously spent FOUR HOURS last night uploading and editing all the pictures she has taken of Kira over the last four months.

Looking at her pictures just reminds me how fast time flies. These two below were taken when Kira was only one week old.

I thought she was so tiny then and she pretty much slept all the time, except when eating!

Fast forward almost four months and we now have an alert, active, adorable (any other "a" words?) little girl that has brought us more joy than we ever thought possible. I just love spending my days playing with her and watching her grow day by day.

She has turned into quite a ham in the bathtub!

As Thanksgiving approaches, we are often led to turn our thoughts to the things that we are thankful for. Of course, the big blessing we got this year was Kira (not only that, but I lived to tell about it!). But it is not just at Thanksgiving that I feel thankfulness for her, it has been every single day since I brought her home.

We have a busy week ahead...tomorrow choir sings in church for the three services, then it's off to thanksgiving dinner with Tom's mom's family. Thanksgiving day is spent with Tom's Dad and family, black friday with my family, Saturday with Tom's step-father's family and final choir party on the following Sunday. It will be pretty much a week of parties and turkey. I feel tired just thinking about it! :)

Vising Grammy D. today...

Sorry it's blurry, took the pic with my phone b/c of course I forgot my camera today!!

More Halloween pics

She had just woken up from a nap so she still looks dazed in these pictures to me...

And NO! Of course we did not take her trick or treating! I just dressed her up in her outfit and walked her around school and in chapel for Tom and the students to see.

Halloween and other stuff

So, it's been a while since I posted anything...mainly because I have been having issues with her sleep still which basically means I am not sleeping either. She sleeps alright at night but still hasn't been really taking naps during the day. Today I tried swaddling her for her naps and it seemed to help her sleep a little longer without waking up. The other thing I discovered lately is that she has a severe reaction to peanuts. I had been given a container of trail mix with peanuts and chocolate a week ago and I was chomping away on it day after day, all the while wondering why she was projectile vomiting and very fussy. I even took her to the doctor who asked me if I had been eating peanuts lately or if I had been overly consuming dairy! Anyway, hopefully we got this figured out b/c since then, I have given up all dairy and peanuts and she seems to be getting better.

Now, I know there are some that boycott Halloween but we had this little bumblebee outfit for Kira that was just too cute! On Friday I dressed her up in it and walked her up to the office for all of Tom's coworkers to see. I think she was probably wondering, "What am i wearing?! This thing is hot!!"

Sunday I was over Mom's house as usual and we spent a little time making faces at her and trying to take a picture at just the right moment during one of her smiles! HA!

I haven't taken her out in the jogging stroller until recently. Now she seems to be big enough that she doesn't slide down in the seat when I sit her in it. Today was nice enough, I took her out for a walk. Tomorrow is supposed to be even nicer so I will probably take the stroller with me to church.

Ummm, she still likes being in the Ergo, boy am I glad that I have this carrier! (Thanks family!) I have been trying to get her to sleep in her crib for her naps but she seems to sleep most soundly if she is in there. But a reassuring talk with Christy this week helped me be okay with this situation. I love this girl! She has brought us so much joy it is more than I imagined it would be! I am very happy to hold her and enjoy every second.

We have had some crazy weather this week...Thursday it got all the way up to 75 so I trekked out to a field near our house where some students were playing flag football and we watched the game and helped keep stats! She seemed to enjoy being outside, she kicked her legs, smiled and just looked around for quite a while.
I just had to include another one of her with her glasses on! She doesn't have the coordination to pull them off yet so we have been throwing them on her a lot lately and watching her just try to look through them. :)

My busy husband

Lately, the blog has been consumed by Kira...not that that is a bad thing, but there are other things going on. Tom has been enjoying his new position at work, the only problem is, he works a full day at the office, comes home and, because he has two jobs right now, often has meetings and work at night as well. Last night was a perfect example of this...he worked all day, came home, made dinner for an event, and ended up dealing with an issue until late last night. Just to give you an idea, when I got up out of bed at midnight to feed Kira, he had just walked in the door. We knew going into this that it would be a difficult year but we made that commitment knowing that it would only be like this for a year.

That is why I encourage him, when he gets a chance, to get away. Surfing is the only outlet for him right now, where no one can reach him with a problem or issue by phone. He can release stress and enjoy himself and come back refreshed.

Monday, he was fortunate enough to have a day off and a friend snapped these pics of him. I believe the water temp is in the fifties right now so it would be insane to try to surf without a wetsuit.

When I come to the shore with Tom to spend time with him and watch him surf, he always asks me, "how was the spray?" When a surfer does a cutback, the larger the spray, the more impressive the move. You can see he has "spray" in this pic!
This picture is a perfect example of what Tom would call "getting tubed." It is when the wave curls over your body while you are surfing through it.
Coming out of the tube....

More spray on a cutback.

Nice right? Make you want to take up surfing? I have to say, Tom is very focused when he has a hobby, and he is a very good surfer.
I love the beach, but mostly the ocean. Watching the waves roll up onto the shore is a constant reminder to me of God's power and strength in creation. The ocean is vast and strong. We are small and weak in comparison and when I look at its vast expanse, there is no denying God's existence. Thinking of the ocean always gives me encouragement knowing how great and mighty God is to have created everything on the earth.

3 generations

another pic from hanging out with the fam. sunday...

Children are a blessing

Children truly are a gift and a blessing from God! These two pictures were taken with my phone so they are a little blurry since she is a little wiggler :)

This first picture, I took one morning this week when I was really tired and feeling a little down. I was holding Kira early in the morning and I looked down at her and she smiled so big back up at me. It made me realize I needed to be grateful for her instead of complaining in my heart over my lack of sleep. Time goes by so fast, I really felt at that moment the importance of enjoying this special time I have with her, and the blessing of being able to be at home with her and watch her grow every day.

Today, after church, I took Kira over to my mom and dad's house while I waited for choir to start. My mom was playing patty cake with her and she was smiling so big, I managed to get one shot with my phone.

Amy also stopped by with her kids as a last minute decision and it was so nice to see her, even if it was only for a little bit. I am so blessed to have such a great family who loves each other!