Little Lady and Gentleman

I love taking pictures of my kiddos in their adorable Sunday clothes, but most of the time they change out of them before I get home from choir practice. Or she refused to do her hair. The kids looked so cute this week, so I advised them before church to stay in their outfits. Miss V and Mr C were not fighting, no spills on his sweater, and it wasn't thundering outside. Conditions were perfect, apart from Miss V making ridiculous face whenever I asked her to smile.

I'm so glad they have each other, for hugs, playing house, and building forts.  I'm so grateful Miss V finally decided to try the short hair again! We love it so much. And yes, Grandmas and Grandpas, I know I still need to give you printouts.

Miss V's "beach look"

Miss V pictured Mr C and me

Celebrating the Commode

He is potty-trained! Mr C is older than I thought he would be, but I waited to move forward with toilet-training when he showed some interest. Stage one was a little simpler, involving a 20-30 minute timer setting on my phone as a reminder, but stage two eluded us.

Mario and Spiderman underpants helped. The sticker chart motivated. Finally, after a few days of Mommy (me) scrubbing those characters in the toilet with the toilet brush, the young lad came up to me to announce the feeling! I've tried to celebrate with him at every successful experience since. Those moments, and hearing him tell family, "I'm being trained!" were my highlights. Those and every dry underpants moment since.

His long-term eyes-on-the-prize goal was Chuck E. Cheese's. We played together last night in Mr C's honor. Anyone need some size 5 diapers?

Nicole A. H. Porter and Zak Porter, proud parents of a potty-trained son

Christmas Adam with the Hoopers

Before Christmas Eve comes Christmas Adam in my family. Another day to celebrate. It worked for everyone to gather before the main day, and then Zak and I could spend time with our little family at home. My siblings and their spouses are hilarious. Plus, with Grandma and Grandpa being healthy, we got to enjoy all of their treats. Thanks, neighbors! They were delicious!

 I've had Decembers of trying to fit every single tradition into a family gather, but now I've reached a serene point. If we don't go caroling as a family or watch every single Christmas movie, I'm ok. We may or may not perform the nativity with my parents and my little family. I just like being together and talking with them. We did end up doing a super-short-Joy-School version of the Nativity and playing some carols on the pipes. We stayed overnight, and got to enjoy ourselves. Mom goes above and beyond making the house feel like Christmas. It has reached the point where I have vowed to never put that much effort into my own decorations, but I enjoy the feeling as soon as I step into the great room. As their children have traveled around the globe, Mom and Dad have gotten an impressive international collection of ornaments on the tree. Also a leg lamp. Fröhliche Weihnachten!

Miss V as Mary, Mr C as Joseph

Mr C as Joseph

Nate a Sheep #1

Grandpa Hooper as Wise Man #1