Christmas is Coming!

Well, I know Christmas has already come and gone, but I'm running a little behind, so bare with me. It has become a new family tradition to decorate sugar cookies together in early December and give them, along with some other of our favorite cookies, to neighbors as our way of saying Merry Christmas! Jonah seems to really enjoy it and they are time consuming, but very yummy and cute when it's all said and done. This year, Jonah was on sprinkle duty (again) and we had a slight incident.

Everything was going well...

The cookies were looking good...

But then somewhere between this move and sitting back in his chair....

this happened.

Oops!

Sorry if your cookies was sprinkleless. :) We had fun at least. More Christmas posts to come...

Happy Birthday, Abs!

On December 4th our little gal celebrated her first year of life outside the womb. This is a rather long post, but it highlights the week of festivities. First, her cake on the actual birthday.

The old bait and switch.

Can you tell Jonah likes attention?

Now for the party. Abby and her cousin Ryan had a joint family party, so it was all about superheros and princesses. Here is the princess herself awaiting the arrival of guests.

There were a few games, all of which involved the kids rescuing the princess from the evil villain (aka Uncle Reed). Here they are detaining him beyond his strength.The princess in her "cage" anxiously awaiting the aid of her rescuers.
She's saved!
What you can barely see here is the celebration in the basement for a successful mission. It was a dance party with glow sticks in the dark basement. I think the kids could have done this for hours. We had to have an encore after dinner.
The chaos that is opening gifts.

Hunting

A blog from Brian...

The first shot of the new gun proved to be a killer. The fowl of Nebraska are not safe anymore. Notice the red basketball shoes. Would you rather look good or be good? I think the bird speaks for itself. Chef Nick cooked up a mighty tasty pheasant. We're living off the land, baby.

Keeping Busy

Well, since our little princess is turning one tomorrow, I figured it's time to show a few pictues of what she's into these days. One of those things being mischief.

Sneaking in the cupboard, thinking no ones watching...

She got a sneak peak of birthday cake at mommy's birthday.

Hanging out in the plastic cups and bowls drawer...

Giggling!

We love our sweet pea and are so thankful that the Lord intrusted us with her. She is a little ball of energy and laughter and have loved spending every minute of her first year of life with her. Happy birthday, Abby!

Some Blessings of Mommyhood

Well, being a mommy certainly isn't a cake walk, but there have been some especially sweet moments lately that make it easier to forget the exhaustion. Hopefully this is an encouragement and reminder to other moms out there that there are blessings amidst the splattered yogurt, snotty noses, and poopy diapers. (Or was that just my day?)

A few of my favorite moments:

... Jonah tucking my hair behind my ear
... Abby falling asleep laying on my chest
... Both kids laughing together in the tub
... Watching Jonah diligently rake the leaves with his daddy and then jump into the pile.
... Abby babbling "da da da da" most of her waking hours while searching for her daddy
... Playing "basketball camp" with Jonah when he made me the team and he was the coach. My favorite line was when he said "STOP! No talking and put the balls on the ground please." Can you tell we saw daddy in action last Saturday?
... Abby's adorable squeeking, smiling, and snuggling. She is every bit as cute and precious as she looks.
... Hearing Jonah help recite the three Bible verses that he now has memorized and also repeat to me what it means that God is faithful, eternal, and foreknows. What a blessing it is to watch Brian teach him the attributes of God and see his eagerness to learn!
... Watching Abby take her first steps with a big smile on her face, knowing soon enough she and Jonah will be running around together. I'm guessing she'll become "team" and he'll be "coach" before she knows what's happening. :)

Here are a few of the lastest pictures... Children are a blessing!

The Amazing Race

About a month ago (I apologize for being long overdue), my old college roomie and friend Maggie and her daughter Marie stopped by for the day. Marie and Jonah are 7 weeks apart and pretty much would be best buds if they lived near each other. Here are the pictures to prove it.

We decided running from fence to fence would be fun. Wait a minute... where'd Marie go?

Way to finish strong Marie.
The carry your kid race didn't go so well for Jonah... he wanted to run. Sorry I didn't take more pictures... Maggie's blog is better. Either way, it was a blast to see you guys and you make a great excuse to head on up to Minnesota! Once you get there we'll plan something. Can't wait to meet crazy haired Renee!

Stepping out Against the Opposition

Abby is taking a few of her first steps... American Gladiator style.

Take 2

For Papa

What a big baby

I went upstairs to get Abby up from her nap and do a few other things. By the time I came back down to the basement, this is what I saw:

Watching from Afar...

Abby has become a big fan of watching the boys mow from the front door while mommy cooks. Daddy and Jonah equally enjoy waving at the fuzzy head in the window, so I decided to get a few pictures. Sorry these are a little out of focus...

They are starting to play together! Jonah absolutely loves to have a playmate and the more mobile and interactive that she becomes, the more fun they have.

A Mommy First

I turned a new page in the realm of mommyhood today when I did Abby's hair for the first time. It's been desperately needed, but just a little too short. Today, it's a little too long to just leave alone. So up it went. How'd I do? Not terrible for a first timer, but I'm going to need a better strategy. Do they have something like a baby straight jacket so you can actually get them to hold their head still for 1/2 a second while you put the rubberband in? That'd be great. I'm also realizing that I need to add an extra 10 minutes to the time it takes us to get out the door. She sure does look cute though!

Church Music at it's Finest

Brian and I were trying to decide who we thought came up with the idea to do this whole little performance and we're betting it was the guy in the middle. Your thoughts?

New Photographer on Duty

While I was taking pictures the other day of Abby, Jonah wanted a turn. Well, all it took was one click and Jonah had a new hobby. He was all over the house taking pictures of everything in sight. And I mean everything...

Here's Abby waking up from a nap...

The backyard...
Abby's room...
A toilet.............?
And mommy and daddy.

He went off for 15 mintues and brought me back the camera. When I looked at the pictures, I saw that he had taken pictures in every room in the house, except the basement, and even some of the backyard. I think he has a real eye. He took the last one after daddy came home and we showed him the pictures. Not too bad, eh?

What's happening?

Well, things just keep hopping in the Conklin household. Jonah has a few new tricks up his sleeves these days. One of which is drawing faces. He can name and draw eyes, ears, a mouth, a nose, and hair. Way to go Jonah! This should make for some more interesting artwork.
Jonah and Abby can sort of play together a little bit more, so that's been fun to see. We have to say phrases like "be gentle" and "ask mommy and daddy if you want to hold Abby, please" and "Jonah.... Jonah.... put Abby down sweetie!" often, but Abby will just be a tough girl I guess. Besides, she thinks her brother is hilarious, so that is his perfect companion.
Abby likes to wave and say hello when you come and go. She also loves to eat, as you can tell, but is not so interested in baby food as much as anything she can pick up on her own. If you put it in her mouth, it's sick. If she picks up the same thing and puts it in, it's delicious. Girls will be girls I guess.

I love this picture because it shows the personality best of our crazy little guy. He is a blast to be around, but man, this guy can go go go. Example: Jonah was in bed for the night and about 45 minutes after we had put him to bed we still heard some noise and decided it was time to put an end to his fun. Well, Brian went in to find Jonah in bed... with his lamp. He had unplugged his lamp, taken it off the dresser and brought it in to bed, and then unscrewed the bottom off and was working on the shade. What a strange boy. Needless to say, we're moving the dresser. (Please note we just moved the bed away from the window four days ago due to the tempting blinds). Mom bought a copy of "Raising Your Spirited Child". Why is it so hard to out think a two year old? He is such a blessing though, and someday this spunk will be channeled to accomplish some pretty amazing things.