Paisley is 4 | Christmas

Six month appointment, check. Everleigh weighed in at 15 pounds 12 ounces (42nd percentile). I thought going in to the appointment that she would be our chunkiest. I was wrong. Hudson beat her by a pound! :) She is 25.9 in long (53 percentile) and her HC was 42.5 cm (46th percentile). She's a healthy, happy baby!

I've mentioned before that I totally despise rough-housing. I still do. The boys, however, love it. Thank goodness for daddies!

Paisley had her last dance practice this past week. She will be performing her routine this week at a Blugold game! Here she is with her friend, Lydia. Paisley even went over to Lydia's house for a play date last week-- her very first play date at a friends house without mommy there. When I went to pick her up, she acted like she owned the place, so I think she warmed right up. We're looking forward to having Lydia over to our zoo sometime soon!

And then...we went to visit Santa Clause. Just enter a big SIGH right here. We stood in line for 45 minutes. The kids were actually really good...except when Madden ate someone else's snack off of their stroller (LOL)....

And then it was our turn. Poor Santa. It took extra enforcement to get the kids near Santa. And this is how it went. The girls loved him. The boys...not so much.

And then the Christmas celebrations began!!!

Christmas Eve we spend with my side of the family, Christmas day with Craig's. This year I asked forced my family to all be in one picture! Sad that all of the pictures are blurry though!!

Really what my family looks like...

Knowing I have 4 squirrly kids, I wasn't expecting a good picture. But I was expecting a picture. First we got Madden on the couch....

...but he got down. So, we put Hudson up there....

...and ended up with Paisley and Everleigh. :)

December 25th is a pretty special day in every ones house....but even more special in ours. It's Paisley's Birthday too!! We woke up, opened gifts from Santa, played, had breakfast, played, and then headed over to G&G Bergs for more celebrating!! We topped off the day with Paisley's Birthday gifts and celebrated her 4th Birthday!

Our little guy, Oscar Miller isn't the only doggy anymore! My Grandma recently got toy poodle, Boo and the Lokken's got a Maltese named Izzy. There isn't anything cuter than a teeny tiny puppy!!

Oscar, the wise old dog...

Boo, the shy poodle...

Izzy, the fluffy white pup...

And more pictures from Christmas/Birthday...

I love that Ever and the new, talking, dancing toy are having a stare down. Pretty sure Everleigh won.

Paisley LOVES "Just Dance 3" --Sleeping Beauty, Tinkerbelle and Cinderella have all participated too.

We are looking forward to celebrating Paisley's birthday again next weekend...but Happy birthday, big girl. I hope that you always know how much you are loved!

We had a really nice Christmas. Each year, I try my best to focus on what really matters. Don't get me wrong, I want to buy my kids whatever I can...and I love the silly traditions that go along with Christmas. But. The last two months have been especially hard on our family. We've been facing lots of challenges. It's really hard being a grown up. It's hard to know that when life has its downs, it too, will have it's ups. Over Christmas, with every hug and kiss, I thanked the Lord for my family. I really did. Every single time. Because in the end, that's all that matters. I'm thankful that Christmas has forced me to believe that he has a plan. I'm kind of a control freak, and for once, I'm going to let him take the lead. There is so much I don't understand. And again was reminded of that a few hours ago when we got a devastating phone call that at just 59, Craig's Godfather, Marv passed away. We are so sad...and we will never forget. Death leaves a heartache no one can heal, but we're left with memories that no one can steal.  

Faith makes things possible, not easy. Merry Christmas, with love,  from the Bergs.