Christmas Family Pictures

Fir the first time in about 6 years, we had all of the families in one area for a Churchill Christmas celebration.  We all gathered on the 27th, opened presents, ate, and celebrated being one big family!  We were extra thrilled that Aunt JoAnne and Great Grandpa were able to join us.  Thankfully, I was able to find a photographer in the area who was in town the day we were all together and she came and documented the event for us!

This picture speaks 1,000 words, I am so thankful we have it and will treasure it forever.

Logan was a little bit of a camera diva the whole time, but the photographer didn't seem to mind and pulled her aside several times to just snap some of her.

We each got a set of family pictures taken, too!

Brody was a little uncooperative and since we were outside felt as though he should have been able to play football, ride on his scooter, or do anything but take pictures, really.  That's why he's absent in a few!

Also why he didn't want to look up for the big family picture.  Pouting seemed more appropriate given the situation.

Logan and Lincoln hammed it up for the camera, more!

And we were able to get one good sibling shot with the promise of marshmallows:

Also some cute cousin shots (with more marshmallows):

It was nice to be together with all of my siblings and their spouses, we know this won't happen often.

We rounded off with a little Logan photo shoot :)

And Mimi with her only granddaughter: 

We were so thankful that Maria (of Maria Estes Photography for Raleigh residents) was able to come out and put our special time on film!!

3 Months!

Link is 3 months old!!  Here's what he's up to:

Weight: 15lbs

Height: 22in.

Clothing size: 3-6 month

Diaper size: 3 disposable, smallest setting in the one size cloth diapers.

Hair color: blond

Things he's doing:  blowing bubbles, holding his head up, some smiling (random), snuggles a lot.

Eating: Every 3-4 hours during the day, about 6-7 at night.

This month, we got to spend a little more time with cousin Caleb!  We love having them around.

He's smiling a little more.

He's started to use his bumbo!

He is so loved!!

I could watch him for hours and hours, but with two older children and a house to manage, I don't get to do that often.  He's such a blessing to our family and we are so thankful that God placed him into our family.

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!