Many Small Children

Our close friends the Burkes came to visit us on Saturday. So that meant that between our two families we have 6 children ages 4 and under. It was a party. And to think, at one point we were friends with Chris and Amy before any of us even had any children. Just a couple of free spirits going to Wendys after church-ha!

We had pizza for lunch, picnic style and sat all the children in front of a Mickey Mouse. We know how to survive!


After lunch Amy and I escaped to Starbucks and to get pedicures. We are tired mamas and needed some pampering.
For dinner I made a quick spaghetti dinner which ended up being very messy. 

One of the best things though was since our children all line up in age and gender, they did a great job of just entertaining themselves in our playroom all day. It was like having a preschool class here!

Silas and Hampton

Everett and Wyatt

Eleanor and Clara

And the very best part!? The next time we see the Burkes we'll have 8 children amongst us! Baby Burke and Boy Williamson make their debut soon! We're adding 2 more boys to our crew.

It was a crazy, wonderful day. 

 

 

 

 

 

Full of Christmas Cheer

Well the children were certainly dressed Christmasy this morning, but were not into my picture taking! They cannot escape looking precious though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Eleanor

Oh my sweet Eleanor.
Eleanor's whole 15 months of life we have called her our sweet Eleanor. And whereas she is incredibly sweet, she is now truly living up to one of her beloved nick names of Sassy.
The girl has a mind of her own! I am so happy she can hold her own with her two big brothers. She squawks at them when they get into her space, or tries to wrestle when her when she doesn't want to. She steals their toys and runs away or knocks down their towers of blocks.
Eleanor says about 5-10 words consistently. She answers yes/no questions. She understands SO much! She can follow simple commands. We laugh at the high pitch of her voice. So cute.
Eleanor eats mostly everything! She is definitely not like mama though and doesn't really care for sweets.
She walked at 13 months and now practically runs. She is very agile like her brother Everett. Poor Hampton wins the prize as of now as the uncoordinated one.
Eleanor has a security item which is a fuzzy pink bunny we named Honey Bunny. She sleeps with him for naps and bed and loves to chew on his ears. So he is always icky. But she loves him.
In fact, she loves all her stuffed animals and carries them around and hugs them. Such a sweet spirit.
Eleanor is  currently completely attached to me. Mama cannot leave a room without her breaking down into tears. She loves for me to hold her. So this usually means if I want to run upstairs for a cup of water or something quick, baby girl goes with me. But I don't mind. I am pretty attached to her too.
Eleanor is the prettiest, sweetest, most lovely girl I know. Her smile is contagious and we all cannot get enough of her!

 

 

 

 

Slowing Down

I am continually reminding myself to slow it down a notch. I am now in the 3rd trimester of this pregnancy, and with 3 littles-it's getting kind of tough. I am tired a lot. One thing I try to take advantage of are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings when Ev is at preschool. Things are easier with just 2 children. So even though this morning I made a dozen home made muffins and mopped all the floors, I did take time to sit on our recliner in the playroom and just watch Hampton and Eleanor play.

Hampton did some puzzles, and played with trains......

And Eleanor did what she does best-wandering around getting into everything.

 

 

And a messy playroom just means we had fun!

 

My Hampton

In keeping up with what I want to remember about our children during this stage of life, I move on to Hampton. Oh, where do I begin with Hampy? He is one of the funniest, most outgoing, spirited children I have ever met. In fact, we often question where in the world he came from....but our so happy God has given him to us!
Most of the time he is so jolly, but lately he has had more moments of disobedience and getting in "trouble." When he is put in time out he yells, "I am in trouble!" Repeatedly. It is so hard not to giggle, because even in "trouble" Hampton is so darn cute.
Hampton and Everett have been such pals lately. They are finally at that age where they play together so well and get into all sorts of shenanigans. At bedtime we hear they conspiring or giggling and then in the early morning we hear they talking about which one is going to go wake up Daddy.
Hampton is also in love with babies, particularly "his baby" being Eleanor. He loves her too hard and will knock her over. She is now starting to grunt back at him in irritation.
Hampton is so smart. He can do a 25-30 piece puzzle and knows all his letters. He picks up on things very quickly and his language has expanded so much. His articulation has improved as well.
He is so wanting to go to preschool (next year). He stomps right into Everett's classroom and says, "Hi Stevens" to Ev's teacher and gets so upset about leaving.
He is very much into trains. Okay, obsessed with trains. All things trains.
He is very observant and picks up on the emotions of others (like Ev). This morning Everett was having a hard time with going to church and Hampton said, "Everett just wants to go home, but I need to go play with my friends." He then proceeded into his classroom and didn't even look back.
He just got weaned off his medication to help the hemangioma on his eye.
He now sleeps in a toddler bed.
I am considering potty training right after Christmas. It needs to be done. I attempted to buy him so new  underwear a few weeks ago to motivate him and he said, "No thanks. I wear diapers."
He is so affectionate. He loves to give hugs and kisses or wrestle.
Parenting Hampton is pure joy (even in his naughtiness!). He is the most content, loving, funny, and outgoing little boy.

He is now in a toddler bed, but sleeps on the floor!
 

 

Outdoor Play

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Turkey Hangover

All that turkey and play wore our babies out!


They were asleep within minutes of leaving Athens.

 

But a warm bath and new Christmas jammies re-energized them!