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Today, December 31, 2008 is Eli's 8th birthday! It feels just like yesterday we were driving this 7 pd. baby home in the snow in Brent's jeep. I remember how surreal it felt. I am trying to write this post without crying and it is really difficult! They are happy tears! God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams! We love you Eli and our prayer for you is that you would become a man after God's own heart! Happy 8th Birthday!I will praise the Lord with my whole heart. Psalm 111: 1a
For the last few years, we have gone to David and Brenda's house for a Christmas Eve Brunch. This is just our Christmas with David, Brenda, Pat, Leanne, and the boys. I made French Toast Casserole and Brenda did a yummy new recipe called Breakfast Bake(for any of you girls that get the Kraft Food and Family magazine, it is in the latest winter edition). We also had biscuits, eggs, and bacon. We ate breakfast while Edan took his morning nap. After he woke up we proceeded with opening gifts. We start from the oldest to the youngest so Eli went first:
Air Jordan Shoes! Woohoo! He was super excited. For some reason these shoes were at the top of his Christmas list!! Next was Jake:
We got him a backpack bible! Jake had seen Eli's before and when Brent was around he would ask him for a bible. After Jake realized what it was he was so happy! This was his reaction:
Next, Emma:
What a wonderful way to start out Christmas Eve morning! Eli and Emma have great grandparents and they love them so much!
Edan turned 7 months old on December 22nd. He is doing well with his baby food ever since we started Prevacid. We are up to 1 whole pill a day. He likes most food(he despises peas and is just now taking a liking to bananas). He still loves his milk and his bottle. He takes about 26 oz. daily. His paci and blankie are his best friends when he naps. He naps 3 times a day and does very well going to sleep, he lays down and can soothe himself. He is also doing well sleeping at nighttime. We will normally have to go into his room twice a night to put his paci back in but he just rolls over and goes back to sleep. I will be glad when he can find his paci on his own! He is very laid back and LOVES Eli and Emma! They can get him to laugh and smile like no other! My favorite time is when I am driving and all the sudden Edan bursts out cackling because of something his brother or sister has done! He is sitting without support and loves blocks and hand toys.:
Edan is babbling some...mostly just squealing trying to get someone's attention! He is working on his pincher grasp, I got him some puffs over Christmas and the first day he seemed to like them but since them is gagging on them some. We will keep working on that! Edan is such a sweet baby. He is very content and is only fussy when he is sleepy, hungry, or needs a diaper change. I love his smile and I love him very much!
About a month ago, Emma fell and her bottom two teeth became loose. I didn't want to rush and pull them because I knew her permanent teeth weren't ready to come in. Anyway, on December 23rd, she came running to me and one of her teeth on the bottom was literally hanging by a thread. She wanted me to pull it, so this is her before with her teeth:
She sat very calmly and let me explain to her how I was going to get the tooth out:
I started to wiggle it and move it around:
So, I said, "Ok Emma, here it comes", I went in for one and two came out! I thought she would cry or wimper but nothing, she was so brave! 
It was neat because Emma got to use the same tooth fairy pillow that I used when I was a little girl! That night we had a Christmas party and Emma was racking up on the money! I think she collected $10...when she woke up the next morning the tooth fairy left her $2! She went to Target and used it for Junie B. Jones chapter books! It was a little strange seeing her without her teeth...she isn't old enough yet!!!
On December 19, Eli, Emma, and Edan went to David and Brenda's house for their annual Christmas Overnight Pajama Party! This was Edan's first time away overnight so I was a bit anxious, but he did fantastic! After dinner, they were on a mission to decorate cookies and make rice krispie squares. The cookies were piled high with sprinkles and icing! It looks like Jake and Eli had a hard time putting the icing on the cookie!:
It looks like Emma and Max were more concerned with decorating perfect cookies!:
While Eli, Emma, Jake, and Max were making their treats, Edan was playing with a car and watching!:
After they finished with the sweets, they piled up in the middle of the floor and watched the movie Elf. It looks like Brenda is wondering what she got herself into!:
Eli, Emma, and Edan had such a great time! The next night we were putting Emma to bed and she started crying and said she missed Granna's house! I am glad that they have such a great time with their cousins!: 
Thank you Pappy and Granna for such a fun-filled night! It was especially nice because Brent and I were able to have a date/shopping night!
Christmas #1(it is pretty bad when you number them, or it could be good because we have such a large family!) was on December 22nd with my Dad, Grandad, Bradley, Laura, and the girls, and some other really great friends of the family. I cooked dinner and we opened presents at our house. We don't see my grandad very often but when we do, Emma is in love with him!
I made a cranberry apricot pork loin with green beans, squash casserole, spinach maria, corn, and Kristi brought a pea salad. It was yummy and a great way to start off our Christmas festivities! After the scrumptious dinner we opened gifts! Kristi brought Emma a beautiful cross, and made Edan a blanket just like she did for Eli and Emma. It has safari animals on it and will be perfect in his room! Eli was excited about his transformer!:
My dad brought each one a bag with their name on it. It was stuffed with fun things; crayons, puzzles, candy, and books.
Lilyana had so much fun..she climbed into a gift bag!
Edan and Rebekah didn't know what to think about all the paper and bags! They were loving it!
On December 13, we went to a Christmas Luncheon at Vicki's house. She makes everything so special with food, carriage rides, and a special surprise visitor. Eli, Emma, and Edan were excited about going to their Aunt Vicki's house. They looked so cute!: 
While we were waiting on the special visitor, we waited outside to go on a carriage ride. This is us on the carriage:
After the ride, all the children were waiting on SANTA to arrive. We waited in Vicki's front lawn, here is Emma and Lilyana waiting patiently:
After waiting and waiting and waiting(Santa got lost) Santa FINALLY came! He drove up Vicki's long driveway in a convertible white car. All the children greeted him with hugs. Here is Emma giving Santa a big welcome hug:
All the children were SOOO excited that he finally came, they followed him in and offered him all kinds of sweet treats. He made his way into the living room with his elf. The elf called the kids up one by one, here is Eli, Emma, and Edan sitting on Santa's lap.:
This was such a fun day! After Santa talked with all the children he said his goodbyes. Emma decided at the last minute to give Santa one more gigantic hug and wished him a Merry Christmas! She was so sweet to him!
I stand amazed and humbled at the generosity of our friends and family during this trial our family has been going through the last 3 months. Now that we are coming out of it, I can reflect back and see how amazing God's power and timing is. We truly have been surrounded with love, not only by our Lord, but by our precious friends and loved ones. This week, Brent was offered a position at Omega, a subcontracting business for Y-12 in Oak Ridge. This job has been in the works for several weeks now, but it is finally a for sure thing! He accepted the position and his first day was Wednesday! Praise the Lord! I am not going to lie to you, these last few months have been very difficult and rocky at times, but only by God's grace have we been able to have His perfect peace and rest. We want to thank our LifeGroup again for the generous Christmas gift. Our party was the December 12th and our home mortgage came out the 15th. The amount our LifeGroup gave us was $20 dollars short of the what our mortgage is. It only reassured us again, that God knows all, He knew how much we needed and that is what we got. This was a prayer answered and God provided us with what we needed!! Thank you, Lord! We have had several people leave us cash, gift cards, taken us grocery shopping, sent us encouragement cards, countless meals paid for, given us food, formula, and diapers for the baby, but most importantly, prayed for us. I could go on and on about how God has used people and different situations to speak, minister, and provide for our family. Just this week, some of our precious friends brought us a Walmart gift card that was desperately needed for groceries. I can honestly say that even though this has been a trying time, we have drawn close to God and depended on him for EVERYTHING! This is where we should all be on a daily basis...God has a way of showing us that we need Him, not only for the big things, but also for small things. Again, during this Christmas season, we want to thank everyone for thier unfailing love, undeniable generosity, and unselfish giving. Oh, how Christ must be blessed! Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD forever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength. Isaiah 26:3-4
This is Edan's first Christmas so I had to get him a Santa suit! He looks so adorable in it! Eli and Emma think he is hilarious! Here he is in front of the Christmas tree:
I think he is the cutest little Santa I have ever seen!!!
Today, December 31, 2008 is Eli's 8th birthday! It feels just like yesterday we were driving this 7 pd. baby home in the snow in Brent's jeep. I remember how surreal it felt. I am trying to write this post without crying and it is really difficult! They are happy tears! God has blessed us beyond our wildest dreams! We love you Eli and our prayer for you is that you would become a man after God's own heart! Happy 8th Birthday!
Edan turned 7 months old on December 22nd. He is doing well with his baby food ever since we started Prevacid. We are up to 1 whole pill a day. He likes most food(he despises peas and is just now taking a liking to bananas). He still loves his milk and his bottle. He takes about 26 oz. daily. His paci and blankie are his best friends when he naps. He naps 3 times a day and does very well going to sleep, he lays down and can soothe himself. He is also doing well sleeping at nighttime. We will normally have to go into his room twice a night to put his paci back in but he just rolls over and goes back to sleep. I will be glad when he can find his paci on his own! He is very laid back and LOVES Eli and Emma! They can get him to laugh and smile like no other! My favorite time is when I am driving and all the sudden Edan bursts out cackling because of something his brother or sister has done! He is sitting without support and loves blocks and hand toys.:
On December 19, Eli, Emma, and Edan went to David and Brenda's house for their annual Christmas Overnight Pajama Party! This was Edan's first time away overnight so I was a bit anxious, but he did fantastic! After dinner, they were on a mission to decorate cookies and make rice krispie squares. The cookies were piled high with sprinkles and icing! It looks like Jake and Eli had a hard time putting the icing on the cookie!:
He starts to get tired and lose his balance. Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! 
I couldn't catch him before he fell, well I guess I could have if I wasn't taking pictures! Anyway, he managed to get back on his tummy and before long he was happy Edan again!
