Kay and Asante love to sit and stare at each other through the window.  I'm not sure how gentle Asante would be with her, so we haven't let them get any closer.

Ava - Newborn Photos

I've loved photography since doing it in high school (although it wasn't digital then), and I decided to try my hand at newborn photography with Ava.  It wasn't easy, but it was fun.  I spent many hours looking at and editing them.  I had around 500 photos to sort through, but these ended up as some of my favorites. 

Christmas Day 2012

We followed our normal Christmas Day routine: opening gifts at home, eating cinnamon rolls, and the spending the rest of the day at Mom's.  

Katherine's big gift from us was a sewing machine - now we just have to learn how to use it.  Joey's was a metal detector that he has wanted since earlier this year when my cousin came to visit and found Jon's wedding ring in our backyard.

 

We always start our morning out by reading the Christmas story.  Usually Jon reads it, but Joey and Katherine did it this year.  It was pretty cool hearing my kids read from the Bible before digging into the gifts. 

Ava was held most of the day - she was just relaxed as usual. She wore the same dress that Katherine wore on her first Christmas (made my mom), and we took pictures with her in the pose to match a picture of Katherine (laying on a Christmas blanket that was also made by mom). 

Christmas Eve 2012

We went to mom's house on the morning of Christmas Eve to open the "stocking stuffers".  The stockings were big enough for the kids to fit in.

We went back in the evening to open the "tree presents".  Overall, it was a good day and we all got lots of loot.

December Fun

School Christmas Parties

Ava's First Bath at Home - She didn't like it much.

Lots of baby holding going on...