Pin the strawberry on her shirt!

Yes, Erin painted this!

 Snacktime

 The beautiful party girl

 two peas in a pod

 Yay for a sleeping baby during the party so I could play with the girls

 The berrykins need their berries to make the city run (is that right?!) so the girls did a race to see who could carry these tiny pink berries (balloons) back to their egg carton on a spoon and fill it up first. The very best part of this game and the musical strawberries game (not pictured because I was anticipating Kate's meltdown when she got out haha) was the Strawberry Shortcake theme song that was playing. I really like that song :)

 I think Ansley won this one!

Happy birthday, dear Julia, and thanks for inviting us to your special and fun party! We love you!

 Last Friday morning Vivian had a bad fall. It took her a really long time to calm down, which is not like her, but we just thought she was being overly dramatic. I even took her to preschool but she was continuing to cry uncontrollably so I brought her back home. My dad was here with Hank and we talked to her for a while, calmed her down, and got her to go back to preschool...and from then on out it was just a lot of confusion. She was complaining some, but not a lot, and we couldn't tell if there was really a problem or not. She could do some things with it, but then other things we asked her to try with it were just not happening.

At church on Sunday Aaron mentioned the situation to one of our church members who is a pediatrician, and he watched Vivian during the service and came up to us afterwards to say that we probably should take her in to get it checked out because he noticed that she just wasn't using that arm at all. 

I took her on Monday morning and the doctor seemed unsure...she did all the standard tests to see if she could do certain things, felt all the important joints, etc, but no flinching from our little tough girl. It seemed that she wasn't convinced that something wasn't wrong, but couldn't pinpoint the actual problem, so she told me bring her back on Wednesday if she wasn't getting better. 

I waited until Thursday. The only deciding factor was that she wasn't using her arm for anything...she would reach for everything with the other arm. She would only bend her arm at the elbow but not raise it without thinking...only if we asked her to try or were putting her shirt on or something. 

So Thursday morning I asked Aaron to go with me to get it checked again. I'm soooo thankful that I asked him and that he was able to go because we ended up being there all morning for the x-ray. He took Vivian while I stayed in the waiting area with Kate and Hank. Dr. B said he was so close to not even sending her to x-ray it because in her exam she didn't really show pain and she could squeeze his fingers tightly, etc. I sort of think that he went with the x-ray only because I brought Aaron to the appointment with me. Hard to explain, but maybe somebody reading this knows what I mean...

Anyway back to Thursday...we were SHOCKED to see the scan on his computer screen when it came in...definitely a minor break in the bone at the top of her arm. Poor girl. I immediately felt soooo horrible for how I had been yanking her arm around all week trying to figure out if it hurt or not!

He made an appointment for us with an orthopedist for an hour later, so I ran Aaron home so he could stay with Hank (he was very flexible that morning but definitely needed to get in a crib to sleep) and I took the two girls back to Lewis Gale for that. She was set up in this sling, quick and easy! 

Sorry for the long story, I just wanted to have a record of it so I wouldn't forget :) 

Last night they dressed up for the Christmas program at church. She was a little upset, saying that she didn't want anyone to see her because her sling wasn't pretty, but we got through that quickly with just a little encouragement.

Three weeks until we go back to get another x-ray to see about the healing. We are not worried at all, these little growing bones heal so quickly!

PS My wonderful camera is broken. So we shall have to bear with the phone pictures until it gets fixed!

...with Daddy at bedtime 

Love her cheesin'!

Hey, Daddy, look at my booger...

 I love this picture!! She was trying so hard.

Kate was very engaged in the whole experience. She was doing the cheers and chants, participating with the crowd. Both girls thought the band was cool, especially since they have been learning about all the specific instruments in their Melody Makers class each week this fall. 

Aaron said several times after it was over that he had a really great time with them.

 Aunt Brooke was there! Mike, Peggy, and Ben were there, too. And Stephen and Michael joined us! Lots of people to make sure the girls' hands were warm. :)

And the Wolfpack won!

They played on this tiny carousel and were not bothered at all that we wouldn't put money in it.

We went to our first Christmas parade with the girls last Friday and it was a hit! 

They were easy to manage and were interested in everything that was happening. 

The parade itself wasn't extraordinary and there were really only a couple of impressive floats, but the experience of it was the fun part. 

The most exciting part was seeing Uncle Joey and Tasha in it...she was leading her baton girls and Joey was riding on the truck, responsible for the fire batons. 

We were scheduled to have small group that night so we met the families there instead. We left the babies (Hank and Presley) at home where it was warm and Destiny stayed with them. Everyone is excited about the season!

 When awake, this is his favorite pasttime: fingers or fist in the mouth for chewing. He's going to start having to wear a bib all the time now with the excessive slobbering. 

I think his hair is growing some, or filling in. It's pretty light. His eyes are still blue.

He is 15 lbs, 2 oz.

He is 24 inches long.

Dr. B said he would describe him as a medium-sized baby.

He has been struggling with some respiratory issues (wheezing, congestion) but hopefully it's almost behind us (until the girls bring home the next cold germs from preschool or church!).

 He is taking (4) good naps at home but doesn't sleep well in the car seat. If he does fall asleep in the car, he will wake up as soon as the car cuts off or I take the seat out. Usually I am at home, or I might leave once a day so only one of his naps is messed up, but Thursdays we are out almost all day. He handles it well and doesn't fuss too much about missing that sleep.

Each nap is about 1.5 or 2 hours long, but the last one is just a 30 or 45 min. nap to get him to the end of the day. He is starting the bedtime routine (including bath) around 6:20 each night and is asleep by 6:50 or 7 at the latest. I am still very anxious to have the 9 am nap and the 1 pm nap, but I can't get him to be happy staying awake that long.

He's drinking about 6 oz. at each feeding (5 times a day) and 4 oz. at the night feeding.

He is going longer at night for eating: the most has been 10.5 hours! I usually feed him somewhere between 4 and 5:30, and then he goes back to sleep until around 7 a.m.

I am thankful for the progress in this area and am looking forward to no night wakings. I think it's reasonable to expect in the next 2 months, considering where we've come from!

 He loves being 4 months old!

He has laughed a few times for us but it's not a regular thing we can get him to do yet.

I've seen him roll from his tummy to his back a few times in the last week.

He loves for us to sing to him, and his face lights up anytime V or K get close enough for him to get a good look at them.

He is reaching for toys on his playmat and can keep one in his hand to bring to his mouth for chewing. He can't reach out for toys while on his tummy, though. Always something to look forward to!

 We celebrated today by trying some cereal with him. It was uneventful...he wasn't that great with the spoon and keeping the cereal in his mouth, but he didn't make a big fuss about it, either. We just tried a few spoonfuls for fun! The girls thought it was hilarious.

The gift of life: wow. It's amazing. And that we've been entrusted with it is even more amazing. He (and V and K) are such an undeserved blessing for us. 

 Granny loves her babies.

Hank started to not feel well that day, but was still giving out lots of grins.

 Kate and Tasha were sweet to read a new book together when we first arrived.

 Vivian told Granddaddy some jokes.

 Uncle Joey and the little man just taking it all in.

 Nancy brought her masks again this year to entertain us. We had a good time laughing at each other and seeing Vivian and Kate react to them.

That night we all played a board game and I went to bed early while Aaron went out with Stephen and Michael to a movie. We are always so comfortable staying at Grandma's and are thankful for her hosting each year. It is an enjoyable part of our travels!