Big girl bed

Norah has been showing us signs that she was ready for a big girl bed for the past month. When we were in Nebraska and at Joe's parents, she took multiple naps in a big bed, and did great. At home, she had started wanting to take naps in Kylah's bed, and she did great and stayed in bed. So, we decided it was time.

Joey helped daddy assemble the big girl bed (the toddler bed).

Can't you just see how excited she is?!

We tried to convince her that with having a big girl bed that it was time to get rid of the paci as well, but at bedtime we realized she wasn't quite ready for that yet. And since we are not ready to fight that battle yet, we let her still have her paci at bedtime (we are planning to fight that battle when we get back after Christmas...) 

Here is a picture of her sleeping in her big girl bed her first night.

She has really shocked me. She has done so well. She stays in her bed when it's time to go to bed or take a nap. I don't think she has gotten out of her bed once since she's had the big bed (even when her sister gets out of bed!)  Like Joe said, when she's ready to do something she does it! (like potty training!)

Now, we will hope that she will decide she is ready to be rid of the paci when we are ready for her to be!

A Mandair Christmas

With Christmas fast approaching, we decided that this past weekend was the best time to have our annual Manthe/Adair Christmas celebration. (Mandair is the name we used to put on the waiting list when we used to go out to eat when we were all first married...I think we need to bring that back!) :)

Anyway, we have been looking forward to this fun night, and the kids have been looking forward to this fun night. The snow was about to put a damper on our celebration, but Dave and Meredith braved the ice and snow and made it to our house (thankfully Dave has a truck!)

The kids all dressed up nice (well, actually we made Connor and Joey put nice clothes on for this picture, and they put back on their comfy clothes about 2 seconds after this picture!)

These two are just too much! Precious!

And little Andrew couldn't be any cuter.

All of the kids exchanged gifts with each other. I'll spare you the pictures of everyone opening gifts (since they'll be plenty of those on Christmas!), but I do have to share this picture of Joey. He is always the most expressive gift opener. I love it!

Norah loves her Uncle Dave.

Meredith and I had a fun night. We actually beat the guys in Spades later in the night! That's a good night! :)

These two are our little mini-me's.

We fed the kids before the adults ate. The kids got steak (not the great kind!), macaroni and cheese, hotdogs and broccoli.

While Joe was still cooking our fabulous dinner, we made good use of the snow and made snow ice cream with the kids.

It was a hit!

Kylah loved the snow ice cream (and she needs to stop growing up and getting so beautiful!)

Move time for the kids while the adults enjoyed their dinner. (The adult dinner consisted of filet mignon, grilled shrimp, asparagus, and baked potato. It was fabulous!!)

Connor, Audrey and Matty got to spend the night, so it was a fun morning with all the kiddos. Really, they play so well with our kids that we love having them around. Joe cooked a big breakfast of pancakes, eggs and bacon, which all the kids loved.

After breakfast: wrestling. :)

Snow time

We got quite the ice/snow storm this past weekend. We haven't really had any snow at all for the past two winters (not since the winter Norah was born when we got all the crazy snow!)

To say the kids were excited about the snow is definitely an understatement. 

It started icing and snowing Thursday afternoon last week, so I got off early from work. School had already been cancelled for that day, so the kids had been anticipating the snow all day. They were so excited to go outside to get a taste of it (don't worry, they were only out there long enough to get a snowflake on their tongues and for me to get a picture!)

We got even more snow overnight, so on Friday it was a snow day for everyone. Northwest Arkansas pretty much shuts down if it snows, so most businesses were closed on Friday. It was fun to have an unexpected family day at home!

As soon as they could the kids were ready to get all bundled up to go out and play in the snow.

Joey lasted the longest, of course.

Kylah loved it too (although she didn't last quite as long as Joey---mostly because we didn't have the right kind of pants for her this first day...poor thing).

Norah probably doesn't remember ever seeing snow before (she saw it in Kansas last year, but a year is a lot of time for a 2 year old!)

Luckily my friend Callie was a little more prepared than us and had some sleds that she shared with us (and luckily they live right up the street from us so we could all be outside together!)

Kylah got a ride too!

Norah even got a turn. She like it until she got a face full of snow....

 

I actually went down once too with Joe, which was really fun. But, the girls had had enough by that time, so we headed inside.

The best part of sledding and playing in the snow: Hot Chocolate!!

The next day we braved the roads and headed over to Dave and Mere's house for some more sledding. They have a nice hill on the side of their house that is perfect for sledding.

Joe  and Joey found a fun way to sled down the hill!

Meredith and I were a little smarter this time and stayed inside with the littles. They stayed warm and happy and so did we! :)

Kylah and Audrey came inside and enjoyed some more hot chocolate after they were done sledding. So cute!

On Sunday after church Joe took Joey and Kylah out again to an even bigger hill, but I stayed home with Norah so she could nap (so no pictures...) They had a blast from what I hear. 

So now it's Monday night. School was cancelled today, and has already been cancelled for tomorrow. I'm not sure when they will ever go back! Someday maybe Arkansas will invest in a few more snow plows and salt trucks! :)

friends from Nebraska

 I just realized that I had pictures on my phone of the kids with their friends in Nebraska. Amy and Sarah were both lifesavers watching my kids for me while I was there so I could spend time at my aunt's house. 

My kids had so much fun.

Olivia and Kylah have become such good little friends. (I didn't get any pictures of Logan and Joey).  These kiddos all play so well together, and it's fun to see how good of friends they still are even though we don't see them very often!

 Berkeley and Norah had a great time together. They are two little peas in a pod. They are both little bossy things (they definitely didn't get that from their mothers!), but somehow they didn't fight with each other. Berkeley is a mini Sarah and it's so fun to see them together!

 

Movie time! Norah keeps talking about Berkeley and wonders when we can see her again. I think I need to talk Sarah and Tom into making a trip to Arkansas! "Luckily" Berkeley gave Norah some tap shoes to take home with her, so we have a (loud) reminder of Berkeley. :)

Thanksgiving week

 Alright, time to get caught up on the blog.  :)

On the Saturday before Thanksgiving, the kids and I headed up to Nebraska. My aunt (my dad's sister) has been very sick, and we wanted to head up to see her, my dad and my cousins. It was a tiring trip (emotionally and physically), but it was so good to be there and help and to spend some time with my dad. My dad and I spent quite a bit of time together in the car driving to and from my aunt's house and dropping/picking up the kids, which was great. We haven't spent that much time alone together for a long time, and it was so good to be together. Thankfully, Amy and Sarah were both more than willing to watch my kiddos multiple times for me so I could be with my aunt and cousins. 

The kids loved seeing Papa!

 Norah was a little handful while we were in Nebraska (I think she missed her daddy...), but Norah loves her Papa and loved being around him!

We actually stayed at my uncle's house (my dad's brother). They have two little dachshund's, and my kids love those dogs. Both dogs were more than happy to let my kids pet them and rub their bellies. I often found Norah laying on the dog pillow with one of the dogs petting them. :)

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Wednesday afternoon the kids and I headed to Kansas to meet Joe at his parent's house for Thanksgiving. I took a nap when I got there, and then Joe let me sleep in every morning we were there, so I got caught up on my sleep! Wonderful!

Kylah helped Nana make some homemade cranberry sauce on Thanksgiving Day.

She's such a beautiful little chef.

Joe played some games with Norah while dinner was cooking. Did I mention Joe is training to run a marathon in March?! Amazing!

When it's chilly outside, my kids can often be found playing inside with Nana's doll houses. They love all the accessories she has, and they will spend hours here. (Joey mainly loves organizing the house, while Kylah loves to actually pretend with the dolls).

We were missing three out of the six brothers, so it was actually a quieter (relatively!) holiday than we have had in the past. The little girls had their own little table.

Dinner was fabulous and consisted of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing (real and stovetop), cheesy cauliflower, cranberries, sweet potato casserole (Val's recipe), corn casserole, and homemade rolls. Yum!

Joey got to sit with us at the adult table!

It was great to see Great Grandma, who joined us for Thanksgiving dinner. Sarah especially loved that GG gave her rides on her walker! :)

Joey loving on Great Grandma.

The kids were pretty excited when it was time for dessert. Joey has decided he now loves pumpkin pie. Kylah is like me and would much rather eat something chocolate!

Norah is so loving (when she's not throwing a fit...), and I love this picture!

Norah and Naomi were having fun running away from Uncle Jason (well, except when Uncle Jason pretended to eat Norah and she started bawling...). Norah was happy to be "caught" by him, though.

They would run to Nana (and jump on her!) and she would keep them safe.

On Friday Nana made Christmas cookies with the kids.

Norah and Naomi got to have their own little mini baking session in the morning. There may or may not have been some saliva in those cookies from all the licking...

The older kids got a turn later that afternoon. They definitely enjoyed licking bowls and eating the finished product! (By the way, if you are wondering, yes, my girls are wearing the same outfits they were wearing the day before. They found these dresses that used to be Mackenzie and Bella's and they wouldn't take them off!)

Grandpa played quite a few games of checkers with Joey.

It was time to decorate Nana's tree on Saturday. She had a lot of little helpers!

Here they are patiently waiting their turn to hang an ornament. :)

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After being gone from home for over a week, I was very glad to get home and sleep in my own bed. We actually picked out our tree and decorated it on Sunday evening (we always get a real tree). The kids had a great time seeing all of their old ornaments and things they have made. I love it that we get more and more ornaments each year! We gave the kids creative freedom to put their ornaments wherever they wanted, and it turned out pretty well! (I think Joe may have lifted Norah up to let her decorate the top half of the tree.) :)

I failed to get pictures while we were actually decorating our tree, but here is the finished product!

The countdown has begun to Christmas, and the kids are so excited!