Another month has passed too quickly, so I'd better share a couple pictures of the little one.  Not that she's very little, except compared to her brother!  I'll throw some pictures of him in as well.

*Note: Becky came by the other evening and remarked that Cooper doesn't look nearly as chunky in real life as she does in pictures.  It's true.  Apparently the camera adds ten pounds even if one is only fourteen(ish) pounds to begin with!  :)

Three months

And for comparison:

Two months

One month

This is all I get these days if I ask him to look my direction.  :)

Festivities

We've really been enjoying this Christmas season.  Judson is at such a fun age and is so excited about everything.  We drove around looking at Christmas lights the other night and he was almost beside himself.  I ended up recording him on my phone because it was just too cute.

I'm almost finished with an Advent calendar I've been making (it's fully functional, just needs some finishing touches...I'll definitely post pictures when it's completely done), and each day Judson's gotten some sort of surprise.  It's mostly things I'm pulling out of the Christmas stuff - his Little People Nativity, a few of the Christmas books I set aside when I got the rest out for him, one piece of my Nativity set per day, and so on.  He loves it!  His Nativity set was one of the first things I got out.  He was thrilled...and instantly realized the animals were very similar to the cow and farmer that came with his Little People tractor.  :) 

Baby Jesus takes over the angel's place atop the manger

The angel and camel take over the tractor

Baby Jesus has slept, eaten meals, and even danced with Judson.  It's really funny.

The other day I ventured into the mall with the kiddos (and had an EXTREMELY pleasant experience, thankfully).  As soon as we got into the Christian bookstore he said, "There's Mary and Joseph!"  Of course everyone in there loved that.

I bought a gingerbread kit (with the house preassembled) at Costco for $9.99.  I definitely think it was the way to go.  It was actually the first house I've ever decorated, I think.  We had lots of fun doing it, and it was just the right amount of activity for Judson.  (There's a tree and two gingerbread men, too...)

Tree-decorating was lots of fun as well.  I worried we'd run out of ornaments  at the rate Judson was putting them on each branch.  :) I don't have a picture of the finished product yet, but I'm hoping to get a good picture of the kids in front of the tree soon.  If not, I will not be sending out Christmas cards this year.  Please don't remove me from your card list.  I'll do better next year.

See the little guy with the green pants and blue shirt in the middle?  Not an ornament, but Judson wanted to hang him and I got a hook to stay in his hat. 

Judson kept saying, "Put more balls on," so eventually I had to concede and let the Beaver ornaments go on.  :)  I asked Nate if he helped Judson get all six candy canes on one branch, but he said no.  :)

I left all the ornaments where Judson placed them, but Selah Arnold (21 months) removed some of them this weekend, so it doesn't look quite as funny.

Finally, we went to ZooLights again - this time with my parents and Morgan, Anna, and Macy.  It was a bit of a fiasco, but we had fun and learned some valuable lessons.  (Most importantly: go mid-week!)

When I chose Judson's jacket color, I forgot Mandy had given us this hat last year.  It matches perfectly...and really cracks me up.

We hope you're enjoying the preparation for Jesus' birthday as much as we are!

4GEN Farm

It's almost midnight and I'd really love to be in bed, but I'm waiting for a certain little someone to fall asleep...and then stay that way.  As I've said before, she's a terrific sleeper, but getting her down for the night is still a bit of a challenge.  And since there's nothing more painful (sleep-wise) than being woken twenty minutes after falling asleep, I try to stay up until I'm sure she's really out.  (Currently she's making all sorts of noise, but unless she starts wailing, she's on her own.)

Anyway, that's way off topic.  I'm really blogging about our Christmas tree cutting experience.  We weren't able to go on Saturday, which was completely gorgeous, but Sunday was a decent day too.  Lots of fog, but it lifted briefly when we got to the tree farm.

Last year I had this ideal plan in my mind and, of course, the experience didn't turn out the way I'd hoped.  It poured the day we went, Nate's brothers and their wives came, but certain members of the group weren't really happy about being there, Judson was terrified of Santa, our tree turned out to be fairly ugly, and the list goes on.

This year, I had no preconceived notions about our outing.  I just wanted to find somewhere close and  not have to spend too much.  (Nate doesn't like it when we get to a place and then I make him leave because their trees are outrageously expensive.  I think I've only done that once or twice...  :)

I finally picked a place within about ten minutes of here and we headed out.  We really are in the heart of Christmas tree farms out here.  They're EVERYWHERE.  I almost changed my mind while en route because I saw a sign that said $15.  Well, I sure am glad I didn't.

We had to drive on a gravel road for a ways and during that time, we passed at least four other commercial tree farms.  Judson kept saying, "Cut THAT Kissmiss tree," as we passed farm after farm.  4Gen Farm was on a hill and in a gorgeous location. 

We had to hike up a hill and Judson had a blast.  We found a beautiful tree really quickly and then got to ride down the hill in a pickup (the guys rode in the back, which Judson loved).  The tree only cost $20, and then we got to choose a charity that would receive $5 of our purchase.  We chose "Marion-Polk Food Share," a local food distribution charity where we volunteer once a month.  Very cool!

We had cocoa and cookies and even got a decent family picture.  What a perfect tree-hunting experience!  Thank you, Lord!

Carrying our flag, which we could wave if we needed someone to cut our tree for us or carry it down the hill.  We didn't use the flag, but Judson sure enjoyed hauling it up the hill!  :)

Daddy was about to get him...

Our tree.  Nate always picks.  I've given up trying to pick.  He's really good at it.  I wasn't a fan of the Beaver Santa hat, but I didn't have a say.  :)

Trying to show Cooper's face (Cheryl made the great blanket.  It is SO COZY!)

Helping Daddy cut the tree down

Family picture.  I wasn't even going to ask anyone to take one, and then one of the ladies who worked there volunteered.  It made my day, because I hate asking people to do it for us, yet I always want pictures of the whole family.

Swings, cookies, and dirt...three of his favorites :)