Libby

Little Libby is growing up and picking up new words every day.  Today I heard her say her name for the very first time so of course I had to make her say it again and video tape it.  She is adorable and I worry that I will forget the sound of her sweet voice if I don't record it!

Girl Time

Sarah invited Caroline and I to attend a production of the Little Mermaid that was being done in downtown Marietta.  We bundled up after the snow storm and had a sweet night together.

Hello, are you a teenager?!

Caroline looked at me at one point during the show and said, "I love this!"

 All worth it!

Snuggled up with Libby and Caroline one afternoon, while watching Frozen.

The girls and our first ever snowman or woman!  They named her Sally!  It was so precious to hear Caroline talk about Sally!  She always wanted to make sure she was ok and she was so worried about her melting.

Ice Storm #1

Craziest ice storm ever - I had a meeting scheduled at church at 11:30.  Ladies come in from outside talking about the flurries coming down.  We meet for 30 minutes and one of the pastors came in to tell us the church is closing due to weather.  We all decide to meet for 20 more minutes and then head out.  Mark had already planned on picking the girls up that day because I was going to work a full day.  By the time he gets to the church around 12:30, he says the roads are bad and that I need to hop in.  We head for home which normally takes 20 minutes tops.  3 hours later we finally pulled into the driveway.  I was soooo thankful that Mark was home and that we had the girls and the foster kiddos with us.  I could never have imagined that it would happen so quickly and that our 3 hour drive would be nothing compared to the 16 hour or more drives of many around Atlanta!

We all watched in shock as it changed our little home.

Libby was not so fond of all the white stuff. 

Caroline was our little snow angel though!  She loved it!

She did a million snow angels in the yard!

The next day Libby was a little more willing to participate.  

We had an awesome time sledding down our neighbors front yard.  

I saw someone else on facebook using a laundry basket and it worked awesome!  Good to know for us southerners! 

The snow days allowed for lots of dress up, play and color time.  I'll admit the days at home were not nearly as stressful as I thought they would be!

Cabbage Patch Hospital

For Christmas last year, Mark and I decided that we would take the girls to have experiences for Christmas instead of buying a ton of presents.  This is our main gift to Kelsey as well.  This year we talked for months about taking the girls to the Cabbage Patch Hospital in North Georgia.  On Christmas Eve, we decided to look up information on the Cabbage Patch Hospital and came across reviews.  Review after review used the word "creepy!"  We were laughing hysterically reading the reviews and Mark promptly made the decision that we were not going.  I was bummed that night for sure but didn't make a big fuss about it.  We decided to take them downtown or somewhere else.  However, a week or so passed and Mark said that he would put up with the creepy so off we went.

We took the girls to stay at a hotel with an indoor pool.  This is them checking it out when we first got there.

We took them out for a fancy pizza dinner and then promptly plopped into bed.  The girls were so sweet and did a wonderful job sleeping in the hotel.  :-)

The next morning we headed off to the Cabbage Patch Hospital and it was every bit as creepy and funny as people said.  Don't you love the baby head coming out of the cabbage?!

 All of the magic happens at this tree.  A doctor comes and announces that a baby will be born.  There are lots of twinkling lights and movement among the cabbages.  Sadly I can't remember all of these silly terms that they used but they are all adjusted to fit the cabbage theme.

After a baby is born they let you hold it.  Kelsey had a little practice.  I thought that there would be much more to the "hospital" than there actually was.  Of course, the hospital is really a giant gift shop, with a little play area!  It was entertaining to go once and we can laugh about it but I would definitely never go again.

The girls enjoyed their time playing though and all three came away with babies.  We even had to take an adoption pledge before leaving!

Good times were had by all!

Christmas!

Per the norm, I'm running behind so I'll catch up in pictures.

We had an unseasonably warm day in December so the girls put on their swimsuits or took off their clothes and ran through the sprinklers with the neighbors.  I love this picture with Christmas lights in the background!

We got to do our fair share of Christmas celebrating.  I took the girls to the Christmas concert at church!  It was fabulous and the girls really enjoyed it - this picture was during a short break. :-)

I also took the girls to the "Happy Birthday Jesus" party that the preschool hosts.  The girls enjoyed doing some crafts and eating some goodies.

Caroline also participated in the Christmas program for the preschool.  I had no idea what a "big deal" it was but next year we'll be calling in the grandparents.  They were adorable!

I love watching the girls play together.  They are such good friends - most of the time.  This kitchen wins the prize as the best toy ever.  No Christmas presents are needed after that gift.

Caroline's preschool has a "cooking class" once and month and during December they did gingerbread houses.

Libby petting the goat at the Live Nativity.

Caroline set up the nativity at home.  I love that she included lots of her little people - reminds me that we are "all at ground level at the foot of the cross."

Shopping and wrapping were quite an adventure this year!  Since we had just gotten our 2 new foster kids, we were super behind with preparations.  However, it all worked out - just a day or two before Christmas!  Super thankful for a husband who is willing to sit and wrap with me!

The girls got some unexpected presents from Grandma and Papa.  They were belated birthday presents and were well loved.

I love dressing the girls the same - I've never really gone overboard with this idea.  However, I'm already getting a little sad because I don't think I'll have much longer and they will be over it. :-)

Matching Christmas pj's may last for a long time though!

Christmas cookies with daddy!

Gigi and Granddude stayed at our house for Christmas this year!  It was such a blessing!!  We ended up really having our hands full over Christmas break.  In foster care training, they told us the first month is the honeymoon (not sure I would call it that exactly) and then it ends!  Boy did the honeymoon end.  Christmas day and the day after were probably 2 of the longest days in my home ever.  We were so thankful for their positive attitude through it all and their helping hands!!

One of the girls very favorite Christmas presents!  A singing princess castle!  They both love to sing and dance so it was perfect!

Love the back of Caroline.

Table full of family and love!