We have been trying to get Isaac's Christmas program formatted and downloaded for a couple of weeks now, but have encountered multiple glitches. But at last, though not of fabulous quality, here it is!! :)

This is the very first thing that Isaac has ever performed in, and we weren't sure if he would retreat, stand quietly, show off, or what. Not too surprisingly the 'or what' happened. Chris claims that in true form, just like his mother (though she protests this), he hammed it up and stole the show. With the intermittent 'shout-outs' to mama, the 'look what I can do' tricks, the purposeful singing of the wrong words and overall just being cute. If you watch nothing else - you have to catch the last minute where he comes up with his own personal closing move. Not sure who decided to put him front row center stage, but am sure they might be questioning that choice.

Sarah spoke to my mom yesterday and she was lamenting the woes of winter in Louisville. Of course the weather has been extremely harsh here in Summerville...I say pack up and come where summer seemingly never ends. Looks like I'll get to wear short on Christmas day again.

So I have been a little jealous that so many of my friends are having pictures taken of their little ones for Christmas. Not having any dollars to put toward such an endeavor - I thought to myself - I'll take my own pictures - how hard can this be? Feel free to laugh out loud here as you take into consideration the fact that I have a little digital camera, a three year old, 11 month old, no extra hands, no experience, and little patience! It is not what I envisioned, they are not 'high quality', but in the end they are my sweethearts and pretty darn cute at that. Note to self - photography is not my gift - start saving for next Christmas. :) Here are the best of them...

Some people are still confused about all this sub-prime mortgage stuff and how we have gotten into such a financial mess. Dilbert is one of my all time favorite comics and this particular strip is so clarifying.

Tonight I was able to enjoy spending 'girl time' with my Lacie Grace. Chris and Isaac decided to spend the evening together at the movies - so we girls decided to have a little fun, as well. The evening was filled with such things as 'peek-a-boo', rolling the ball, and singing - oh, my was there singing. I even went out on a limb and we painted our nails. Thankfully it is a light color so the fact that it went all over her (because not surprisingly a 10 month old won't sit still!) is barely noticeable. We even cuddled together in the rocking chair just before bedtime. It was an incredibly sweet night. The highlight of the evening, without question, had to be during bathtime. Bravely, we dove into a 'bubble bath' together. And there I had more fun watching her in the water. She was mesmerized by it. As it fell out of the faucet, she sat there carefully examining it as it landed at the base of the tub. Slowly she would reach out to touch it and then wrinkle her forhead when she was unable to grab it in her hand. Relentlessly she repeated this process - diligently trying to grasp this strange new thing. Once the faucet was off - her attention then turned to what she realized she was sitting in. She'd slap the water - tickling herself when she got splashed in the face. She'd barely touch the water - trying to understand why she could see her leg just underneath. She tried to put her nose up to it, but as this is generally not a good idea (water and babies don't mix) - I foiled that for her. But her investigaton continued throughout the entire bath. Don't misunderstand me - this was not the first bath she has taken in her 10+ months of life - but because I was in there with her - it was the deepest amount of water she had ever bathed in and it was terribly intriguing to her.

When we moved here to SC, we came for the sole purpose of living our lives completely for the Lord. Living our lives in such a way where through chance meetings at the grocery store, work related events, extracurricular activities - we would live out our love for and relationship with Christ. Sometimes this is easy and sometimes it is not. Those moments of selfishness enter in, those moments of stress become distracting or those moments of laziness overwhelm. Watching my Lacie play in the water tonight - gave me such a wake up call. I need Christ to be such a part of my life that as He 'pours out of me' it mesmerizes others. Where there is something about Who they see in me that they find themselves drawing closer to it, wanting to know more about it, seeking to grab hold to it. I know that I fall short so often. I give into those selfish moments. I fill my day with routine and lists - attempting to squeeze time in with Him, if possible. I become far too easily distracted with the 'stuff' of this world. Through the curious wonderings of a precious baby girl and a season surrounding the birth an amazing baby boy - I find myself humbled, challenged, and ready to jump in that much deeper.

We had an awesome Thanksgiving in Kentucky. Chris was able to have the entire week off which actually allowed for him to have some down time. Hooray. We got to spend the week with grandma, papa, John David and his fiance Nichole. And Tim, Emily and Melody (who is the world's best cuddle bug - hands down. And my new favorite sweetheart!) came down too making it a full and fun house. I am sad to say that Lacie took the idea of vacationing to heart and decided to vacation from sleeping - literally - slept very little while we were there. She has will-power, I'll give her that! Isaac had an absolute blast - though we barely saw him. He soaked in every minute of papa and grandma, but once his cousin Austin arrived on the scene - he was gone. Austin - you rock man! We got to see old friends of ours, Nate and Cam and their kiddos (who are all beautiful, by the way) and got to hug on extended family, as well. I got to have some 'girlfriend' time with my girl, Sara (who is also beautiful, by the way) and we ate at BD's - hello! :) We got to relax and jam out to guitar hero - the entire week and I'm proud to say that Emily and I won hand-and-foot - three, count them THREE times (despite the best efforts of some to cheat - we won't name names, Tim and Dad), officially breaking Emily's Cinnamon curse! You go girl! It was a great week to laugh, play, relax and enjoy family! (Pics are up now!) We have so much to be thankful for - and this week was just icing on the cake! Love you family!!

This has been a big week for Lacie Grace! Although she's not been feeling her best - trying to get more teeth, struggling with congestion, and so forth - this has been a BIG week for Lacie Grace! She tried to use a sippy cup for the first time - not a fan by the way. She started to ride in a real carseat - no more baby carriers for her thank you very much! And she took her first 'big girl' bath! Our baby girl is growing up too fast!!