A couple of Saturdays ago, I went to a baby shower for Cyrstal and her soon-to-be-born baby girl Sophia. We all met at Abuelo's in Roanoke for lunch, cupcakes, prayers, and gifts! It was a fun afternoon. Sophia is due in a couple of weeks, and Chandler is her older sister (she's in Vivian's class at church).

Caleb Alexander Harris is here! He arrived yesterday around 6:30 p.m., weighing 8 lbs. 7 oz. He is a precious little boy. He will grow up alongside our girls as part of our small group that meets twice a month, and we can't wait to know him and pour love on him! Ashely with her newborn. Daddy Zach and brother Cohen were at home taking a nap when I was visiting this afternoon. Cohen is 22 months old.

There was a full house when I was there...lots of visitors wanting to cuddle with him! This is Destiny. Destiny and her mom are our official small group babysitters, so they will get to know Caleb very well!

The Bollings were there...fun! Kristin was the one who threw Ashely such a beautiful baby shower back in October.

So sweet.

Love you, Ashely! Congratulations!

On Friday we had the Shaffers (all 7 of them!) over for dinner. It was fun to prepare for them and then enjoy a meal with them.About 2 months ago, we got a new dining room table that allows us to have more people sit with us (up to 10 people if they squeeze on the bench...9 comfortably, though). We are looking forward to hosting unity dinners and inviting families with larger numbers, or maybe even being that large family at the table one day! I was very excited about this new addition to our home. Since we've been married, we've had 3 hand-me-down tables, so this is the first that we've actually been able to pick out ourselves.

About that dancing post:
Aaron sometimes gets his guitar out to practice after he gets home from work. V and K love it.
This particular night, I had gotten V's rug from her room to shake it out on the front porch. When I finished, I set it down to dance with them, and they started using it as their dance floor. How inspiring :)
In the video, V is in her own world, singing her own song. If you listen carefully, you can hear her. Can anyone guess what song she's singing?!

Aaron cut wood with Dennis on Saturday. It's starting to get colder...we're ready now, though!

This morning at the breakfast table I was reading to them and Vivian was studying the pictures.
Vivian: See little girl praying, Mommy?
Me: No, that's not a little girl. That's Jesus praying to his Father.
Vivian: Oh. (thinks for a second). He needs a haircut, Mommy.

It's almost 70 degrees here today (about the same every day this week) and it's the middle of November! We are very grateful, and have been playing outside a lot while we have the chance. Vivian served lunch for lots of people (her little piles cracked me up!). Yum, gotta love rocks.

Kate tried to seesaw by herself after Vivian moved on to something else. Didn't work so well, but she liked climbing on and off just the same.

Pushing her baby to school!

Transferring dirt

The rest of the pictures are from yesterday afternoon. The sun was starting to go down, but we played until time to go to church.

Here V was making an opening in the bush and saying, "Kate, put your arm in here!"

She thought it was so fun.

Then they played peekaboo through all the bushes.

Kate coming around to surprise Vivian!

"Enough pushing...I'll just carry it where it needs to go!"
She's efficient. Maybe she'll be a good problem-solver like her Daddy.

I love playing outside! We thank God for these warm days!

***I wrote this post on Friday, but hadn't posted it yet because I haven't had a chance to take a good picture of her. It's already so late, though, so I'll just share it with you now and try to get a picture soon!***

Speaking of birthdays, Kate is 15 months old today. I can see why this is a stand-out month, because she is changing so much and so fast now. I haven't done an update on her since she was 11 months old, so there is a lot to know about her. I'll try to hit the highlights.



*I have no weight/height stats for her because we haven't been to the doctor since August. Our pediatrician doesn't have 15 month well-checks. I'll update as soon as I get them.

*She wakes between 6:45 and 7:15 am, and goes to bed between 7:15 and 7:45 am. She usually sleeps on her stomach, with her head buried in the corner of the crib. She is sleeping with one or two blankets and stuffed animals now. She naps from 1-4 on a normal day. If we are driving in the car for more than 15 minutes around 10:30 or 11 am, she might doze in her car seat for a few minutes. She is still pretty young to wait until 1pm for a nap, but if I keep her busy she can do it easily.

*She is still at a stage where she's eating a lot. She loves waffles, yogurt, most fruits, peas, sometimes broccoli, mashed potatoes, cheese, sweets (especially m&m's). She hasn't decided about PB&J, which I am a little nervous about because it's such a staple, easy kids food! I am still seeing an allergic reaction to plain scrambled eggs (face breaks out with red splotches around the mouth).

*She drinks milk, unlike her sister! Usually about 8 ounces a day.

*Her language growth continually surprises us! I can't even think of all the words she says, but here are some examples: bath, ball, bug, book, Bible, bye-bye, thank you, no, shoes, juice, done, mama, mommy, daddy (da-eee), papa, eat, m&m's, uh-oh, duck, star, nite-nite. She says "no" a lot lately.

*She likes to scream. She does it for fun, she does it to get my attention, and she does it when she and V are fighting over something. It's really loud.

*She is not learning obedience very quickly. For example, she puts her feet on the table during meals and plays in the toilet water if the lid isn't down, even though she is disciplined for these things every single time she does them.

*She dislikes having her diaper or clothes changed. She squirms or fights it unless I have a book for her to see or sing a song with her.

*She has a mouthful of teeth. She just got two more starting last week, and she only lacks two teeth before she will have all of the same ones that Vivian does.

*She started walking a week or so after her first birthday. She has been gaining momentum ever since. She's becoming much more stable. It is so precious to see her walk as fast as she can with her arms up to Aaron when he comes home from work.

*She recognizes the letter "O" of the alphabet (Aaron said he heard her point out "A" too...?), and tries to count- we heard her count last night to 6 or 7? but the only really audible number was 2.

*If we are home in the mornings, she plays in her crib for about 45 minutes with her toys.

*She plays peekaboo...she can put her hands near or over her eyes, tilt her head back, and laugh! Then she looks at you with great expectation of you yelling peekaboo.

*Her eyes are still blue and her hair is a shade or two darker than Vivian's strawberry blonde.

*She wears 18 months clothes and size 4.5 or 5 shoe.

*She loves music! Either she waves her left arm, or she stomps her foot to the beat. And she goes crazy in the car or house when certain songs come on (right now it's "Glory, All Glory", "Our Great God", "Sing, Sing, Sing", "Clap Your Hands", "He's Amazing"). I will try to get a video of her stomping her foot because it is hilarious!

*She makes her sister laugh often, and she also leads her sister into disobedience often. It is so weird how Vivian watches to see what Kate does before she decides what she's going to do (whether she's going to obey or not). If I catch them doing something they aren't supposed to do (and I know that Vivian would have never done it if Kate hadn't started it), Vivian will say, "Kate did it". I am serious. I know it's hard to believe, but it's true. She's so little, but she has such sway and leadership!

*She understands most instructions.

*She gets frustrated (screaming) when she can't do something that she's trying to do.

*She has a very outgoing, aggressive, playful personality. She loves to wrestle with Daddy, laugh, play hide-and-seek, chase and be chased.

Today our dear friend Julia turns 2. We stopped by her house to sing happy birthday and give her a gift that V picked out and wrapped (by wrapped, I mean put it in the gift bag and ripped the tissue paper into tiny, tiny little pieces to sprinkle over it...she had so much fun doing that last night). Julia is a very cute 2-year-old. We are so thankful that God has given V and K such a gift to be her friend!

She's great at smiling for the camera. Wherever the camera was pointed, she moved herself to make sure she would be in the picture...haha! She needs to teach V some camera smiling skills.

Oh, and we love baby Mason, too! :) He was all smiles when we visited.

Happy Birthday, Julia!

Today Kate took a bad nap, so I got her up early and we played/wrestled in our bed while we waited for sister to wake. She is so much fun. Rolling around in the crib during the nap really does a number on her hair. So does smearing peanut butter in it the night before at dinner, with no bath after church

okay, time to go get Vivian!

Each Tuesday since September, I have been taking Vivian to the Salem Library for a story time. She is really starting to get into it. The librarian does about the same songs each time, so the kids are learning them and get excited for them. She mixes hand motion songs, puppets, and reading books for about 30 minutes. The kids sit on carpet squares and it's fun for me to see Vivian react to a structured setting like this. If we have time, we go look at books together afterward.

Last week we had a Halloween party. Parents brought snacks and that's all kids need to have a good time!
Vivian is in the front

Ansley and Julia are a part of the group! And so are Jax and Lilah. Actually, if you can believe this...it was a surprise to me and Vivian that they were there on that first day we started!

Vivian peed in her potty tonight for the first time ever. I didn't think she could actually do it :) Let's not get too excited, though...I'm not planning to start training now. But at least we know it's possible! She seemed proud of herself. Hooray!

Last night we went over to Joey and Sierra's house to trick-or-treat in their neighborhood. Sierra's sister and nephews went along too, but they were much faster than us. It's a good atmosphere...the homes are decorated and people sat outside ready to greet and give candy. Vivian got the hang of it pretty quickly and became very attached to her pumpkin bucket. The first thing she said when she woke up this morning was, "Where's my bucket?"
We plan to make it a tradition to trick-or-treat with Uncle Joey and Aunt Sierra!