Lincoln's Nursery

Here's the nursery tour!  We were so blessed when we moved to add a third room to our space.  This has made it wonderful for guests, for rough nights when Mike needs to be up early and has opened up my room during naptime (Logan used to sleep in my room so the kids' didn't disturb each other).  I knew when we found out the baby was a boy that I wanted two things: navy and chevron.  We actually let Brody do quite a bit of the designing knowing that eventually he'd move in with Lincoln and they'd have a "boys" room.  

Here's the view from the entrance:

Brody proudly picked out a tool/vehicle themed room for them.  He was especially proud of the little airplane nightlight that sits on the nightstand.  We found that at a garage sale! 

The verse above the guest bed is 1 Kings 2:2-3 which is the life verse we've chosen for our boys. 

“So be strong, act like a man, ³ and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go"

We found the bedding for both boys at Pottery Barn.

Logan and I made the bunting to go above his bed, she wanted to make sure that she had a stamp in the room, as well.  :)

Our first purchase for sweet Lincoln was his "my-my."  

Then we bought his backpack to take with him to the nursery.  Amazing that after three kids the huge diaper bag seems excessive and inconvenient.  I love that we can just throw a few diapers in there and go now!

Usually we wait until baby's first Christmas to get them their chair but we ended up with an extra insert and only needed to buy the cover.  So, we went ahead and purchased it when it went on sale Black Friday.  

Here is the closeup of the guest/Brody's bed sheets.

And the prints we found on Etsy.  Brody really wanted trucks in the room, and this was a fun way to bring that element in!

I LOVE this room.  Probably love it so much because it's the only room in the house that is (almost) always clean.  Ha!  

Light Em Up 2013

The kids and I, once again, participated in the Light Em Up challenge this year during the month of December.  We've decided that we want to focus all of our time and energy leading up to Christmas loving and serving others.  We want to make sure that the Christmas season doesn't end up being one of, "me, me, me" but one that shows what Christ did for us and commands us to do: love.  

We started with our candy canes!  We cut labels, taped and got them all ready together.

Logan got very into it.  She always wanted to have candy canes on hand to give to others!

We gave them out to grocery store workers, workers at department stores, we even taped them to shopping carts for the next patrons to discover.

It's always fun to give these out and enjoy the reactions when the servers realize we are trying to serve THEM in this way!

Brody was a little more hesitant to hand them out, but always made sure our stash in the diaper bag was replenished if it ran low!

Here the kids are doing our Jesse tree, this year.  It's another Christmas tradition that we have.  It essentially allows us to see the thread of Jesus throughout the entire Bible leading up to his birth.  It's a fantastic way to focus us on the real reason we celebrate and also allows us to tie in our Light Em Up activities by relating some of the things we do to the stories.

 We love the Jesse Tree tradition so much that one of our LEU projects this year was to make a few of them for other families!

The kids' favorite project this year, though, was coloring a big card and putting together a big candy box for our garbage collectors.  Every week Brody stands by the window or door and watches the truck roll by, so when I suggested we do something for them, he was more than thrilled!

We got up and got dressed at about 6 that morning to put our stuff out for them so that we didn't miss them.  It was a little cold!  We actually were able to park the car down the street when the garbage collectors arrived and the kids were able to see the laughs and smiles that erupted when they realized that the sign and candy was for them.

Our next project was hot chocolate jars.  We made these for all of the teachers in our lives!  So, Logan's ballet teacher got one, we made them for MOPS teachers and Sunday School teachers.

 It was kind of a mess, but I was glad I relinquished control and allowed them to put them together.

Logan and I also spent an afternoon baking goodies for our pediatric office and for the employees at Mike's store!

Here she is getting ready to deliver at the Dr.'s office....

It was such a fantastic way to celebrate what Christ did for us.  We were so thankful to be able to participate and I was so blessed every time either kid said, "What about doing ........... for a light em up!"  They have become such givers, it amazes me to see their selflessness.  I feel so blessed at the opportunity the Lord has given me to shepherd their little hearts.  We've decided to find small LEU projects to do throughout the year, because it's just too much fun to only do in December!!

Lincoln's Newborn Photos

Our one big splurge after Lincoln was born was newborn pictures.  With the other two we've had sweet, wonderful photographer friends offer to do our shots for us but we aren't near any of them.  There's a girl in our church who specializes in newborn pictures and I've been swooning over her pictures since after Brody was born, so when I found out she was free in our time frame I booked her!  I'm so, so, so glad I did, she came to our house, set up backdrops and props and spent nearly 4 hours with us capturing some of these precious moments.

Our intention was to get these on Christmas cards, but they just never got out, unfortunately.  Here are some of our favorite shots!

Graduation!!

We made it!  4 1/2 years, countless hours of studying and sitting in classes, many sleepless nights, 2 more children and many sacrifices later, we. are. DONE.  Waking up on Mike's graduation day was surreal.  On the one hand, it has felt like an eternity, but on the other, it feels like we just moved up here, eager and excited to begin our new journey.  We are so thankful for our time at Southeastern, for the people we've met and ministered with/to, for the many opportunities to show the love of Christ, for the laughter, the tears, the hard work and the opportunity to learn.  The Lord has truly blessed our time here.

Sadly, while I made it to the graduation, I didn't get to watch the moment where Mike walked across the stage.  I was busy doing what I've been doing behind the scenes for the last 4 1/2 years and caring for one of our little ones who had a potty emergency.  :)  Thankful for the reminder that this was just a ceremony and that my calling is so much bigger and more important.  I'm glad that Mike's dad was here and able to capture the moment for us so that I could see it in pictures.

And of course, there were many pictures taken afterwards!

Daddy and his newbie: 

All of us:

Our little family came here as a family of three and we'll leave a as a family of five.

Our precious friends who journeyed with us from day one.  We met as we were unloading our car the day we arrived.  They loved our children for us, we cried together in mourning, we rejoiced together each time one of us was expecting, we lived life together and we are sad to see this part of the journey end.  We started with one itty bitty 6 month old and finished with 5 children between the two families!

We were also really excited that Papa was able to come and attend with us.  There are so many people who helped make seminary through prayer, encouraging words, even financially.  We wish everyone who has helped us, prayed for and with us over the years, and encouraged us could be here for this.  The kids sure did enjoy some one on one time with him!

We're excited to see where our next steps take us!!

Since We've Been Home

This month went by SO fast, I couldn't believe it when I sat down to write Link's 1 month blog and realized that I hadn't updated at all since he was born.  So, here's a quick rundown in pictures.

Lincoln came home a couple days after birth.  He looked absolutely itty bitty in his carseat (though, he's filled it out nicely, since).  We were so excited to bring him home and start our journey as a family of FIVE!

The kids have taken numerous turns holding the baby.  Logan will sit with him for very long stretches of time, Brody takes him, enjoys him for a minute and then is ready to hand him back.  I think he's ready for his baby brother to grow up so they can play catch, tackle and "rough home."

Mimi flew in the night Lincoln was born and stayed for almost a week.  It was so nice to have an extra set of hands as we adjusted to being outnumbered--especially since our older two were sick when we got back!  It was equally nice that she's a pediatric nurse and could help mend their sniffles.

They were even more excited when they realized saying goodbye only meant for about a month since the whole Churchill clan will be joining us around Christmas for our first full family Christmas in....6 years?

Thanksgiving was next.  When I was pregnant, I was absolutely certain I'd pass my due date since I went a little over 41 weeks with Brody.  I was sure I'd be pregnant on Thanksgiving with the hopes of cooking my way into labor.  Thankfully, he was here and we were able to enjoy Thanksgiving with lots of newborn snuggles, Turkey and fellowship with family and friends.

We had our good friends, the Wilson's over for Thanksgiving as one last hoorah before they moved to Florida.  We are so sad to see them gone but know the Lord is going to do great things with them in the sunshine state.  Uncle John, Aunt Lindsey and Caleb came for Thanksgiving, too!!  Here are all of the cousins together:

After Thanksgiving the kids and I got quickly to work on our Operation Christmas Child boxes.  It's not easy taking two kids under 5 into Target, telling them to pick whatever they may like and then telling them that they can't keep it.  But they took it in stride and filled our cart with Doc McStuffins, Thomas the Train, Sofia the First, Airplanes and Ninja Turtles.  Then they enjoyed packing up boxes for kiddos who may not otherwise get Christmas gift's this year.  It was the first of our Light Em Up projects that we did this year, I'll blog about those when we're totally finished with them.

What was little Ju-Ju doing all of this time?  Sleeping.

And more sleeping.

Lincoln slept most of his first month away.  He made the transition from 2-3 a breeze.