It's not even Thanksgiving yet...

and we've already celebrated Christmas with my family, but it sure was fun! With Mike being a high school basketball coach, it's always been challenging for us to get home to Missouri in December (because of his practice and game schedule). Since we have three kiddos now, it was virtually impossible for me to find a way to make it work this year without his help. I couldn't picture myself flying (do they let you fly with two lap children...ha?!) or driving (10-12 hrs) with three kids by myself...especially considering the ages they are right now (maybe I'll be brave enough in a year or two). Anyway, it was so nice to have my whole fam make the trek here to Ohio to celebrate...even if it was a little early! There were eight extra bodies in our house, but the chaos was fun.

Last week, in preparation for their arrival, we put up our Christmas tree. Ben LOVES helping with the tree, so I let him stay up extra late with me to help put on all of the ornaments. Nattie is not quite as helpful as her big brother, even though she thinks she is! My mom and dad shipped all their presents to me in advance, so it was fun to immediately have lots of pretty packages to put beneath the tree (especially since I didn't have to do the wrapping!).

I asked my mom if she would make us some new stockings this year, since I didn't have any that matched for Nat or Andy. I sent her some links to different ones I liked online and she made me the ones below. She is amazingly talented and I LOVE them. She even kept extra material in case we decide to have more babies someday (always thinking!).

Present time! Natalie got a kitchen from my parents and some play food and Ben got a cash register, so now they can play store together. Emma got a medical kit and my mom made her a pair of scrubs to go along with it (her mom, Jenny, is a nurse). Audrey and Andy were little enough to not really give a hoot about presents, which was a good thing (you can only deal with so many kids opening gifts at once!).

Mom also made aprons and chef hats for Nattie and Emma to wear while they "cook" in their kitchens (Emma has her own kitchen at home). I thought they were so cute...even Ben liked the hat.

I love my family...

An attempt at getting a picture of all the kids in their Christmas jammies...I took about 50 other pictures that were hilariously awful just to get this "not even that good" shot...oh well! Grammy had to make her way into the picture to try to control things a bit. After this, I'm pretty sure Ben, Nattie and Emma got naked and chased each other around the house (don't ask?!). :)

Just hanging out...

The big kids. We got out of the house on Sunday evening and went to Winking Lizard. What's a trip to Ohio without going there, right?

Ben got a box full of old costumes that my brothers wore for Halloween over the years. He tried them on one time while we were visiting my parents and has talked about them ever since. Grammy cleaned them up and VOILA...they made a fun and special Christmas present. The glasses and "stache" below came in the box. Looking good, Benny!

This just makes me smile...

Finally, here are a few pictures of my boys from yesterday afternoon. Andy is 12 weeks old already...crazy! Ben got some MagnaTiles as one of his gifts and loves them already (so do Nattie and Mike...cool toy!). He asked me to come check out his church and all of its "steebles." Hey, at least he knows what a steeple is, right? :) I was kind of impressed.

Mom, Dad, Adam, Jenny, Emma, Audrey, Eric and Erin...thanks for coming! We loved celebrating with you! Love you and miss you already! (Surprisingly, my house actually seems quiet now (kind of)). :)