End of November

All of our grandparents left We had a lot of fun the last week in November! We took our little family on a few walks, which Dad totally orchestrated. I always forget how hard it is to just get everyone out of the house. An entire walk without at least one breakdown seems impossible, and I was unable to push and carry the big kids because I had Kenzie in the Moby Wrap. Our walks usually last only 10-15 minutes, but I hope to extend that time so we can do some longer hikes this summer.

I only took one picture on Thanksgiving, but it was a great day. I was really grateful to have a slow-paced, relaxed holiday. Amber and I got our two families together for a small but wonderful dinner (the kid picture is missing Maely, who was on a trip with G&G). I wasn't prepared for how hard it is to juggle cooking, baking, feeding and caring for a newborn, and recovering all at the same time. I'm so glad we did it, and very grateful for all the help from a wonderful husband and other family members who are quick to help. I don't think I held Kenzie at all while we were at Amber's, there are many empty hands (especially Dan) who love to have a baby in them. Later in the evening, Chrissy and Doug brought their kids for a game night, which was very fun. We ended up with kids chatting instead of resting upstairs, baby races on the ceiling, and less game playing than we envisioned :).

The Friday after Thanksgiving has always been the day to decorate for Christmas. I really wanted this to be true for our family, as we only halfway decorated last year. So after working part of the day, Alex went outside to put up our lights and other outdoor decorations. He started when there was plenty of daylight, but didn't finish until it was dark outside. I was so glad to have them up and working! We had outdoor light difficulty last year, but bought some fancy LED lights on an after Christmas sale, and were better prepared this year. We also had some additions of candy canes and a blow-up Santa from Alex's parents, which completed the look. The kids were so excited every day to see Santa blow up when Daddy got home from work.

Friday the 28th was also Kenzie's 2 week birthday! I will admit that we just haven't taken as many pictures of her as we did the other kids at this age. I promised myself (as a fourth child) that I wouldn't succumb to the curse of having no pictures of the younger children, but I still battle that. I'm glad that we have smart phones and can capture little moments all the time, and hope that I don't forget to photograph the milestones. Makenzie Brooke is a beautiful girl, who loves to demonstrate her eye-crossing skills :) She is starting to be awake more, but still sleeps through every encounter with other people. I'm beginning to think that sleeping is her best defense mechanism against the crazy at our house. Either way, we are so happy to spend each day watching and helping her grow and learn.

As a bonus, have I mentioned how fun family story time is? Just juggling all the kids that want to be on our lap is a struggle, but all the commentary and interludes are so fun. This is our first Christmas book of the season, 'The Sweet Smell of Christmas'. One of my favorite all-time Christmas books, this story brings back memories of my own childhood and family storytimes with my parents. I'm so glad to see my kids getting excited about each smell they get to 'scratch', and noticing those smells when we have them in real life (just after this, while we were making hot chocolate, Olivia ran over with the book, comparing the smell from the stove with the sticker in the book. She said she liked the stove smell better. I have to agree, even Swiss Miss is higher quality chocolate than the writers of this book were able to replicate in sticker form!