The Keene Family

I've been wanting to get a picture of the four of us to put up in our house to replace the picture without Haley, and we also wanted a Christmas card picture. It is tough to schedule a photo shoot between Jim's schedule and naptimes, but we managed. The weather cooperated too! I paid a high school student who I had as a seventh grader to come take our pictures. We are very happy with the results! It is so hard to get a decent picture of an infant... I am just happy she was awake and isn't all flopped over. :) The framer We also got one cute one of just JT... And got surprised by a very friendly squirrel!

I love Black Friday. It is the official start of the Christmas season. I was not tempted at all to put up my decorations when it started snowing earlier in the week because I have my own little traditions for Black Friday. First, I go shopping. I didn't go crazy, but I did arrive at the mall at 5:30 with Starbucks in hand. I hit Sears and Macy's and the OH MY GOSH 50% off everything at GAP sale. The best part there was listening to everyone ask the salespeople clarifying questions, "Um, is this 50% off too?" and "Just checking... is it 50% off everything? Even this?" The poor employees kept smiling and saying, "Yes. Everything. All of it. Whatever the price is on the tag, cut in half." I got Haley a ton of clothes that I absolutely love. And now we have matching jeans. :) Next Target and Bed Bath & Beyond, and then I headed home. When I got home, Jim had Christmas music playing and the house lights on, and hot breakfast on the table. Gotta lov...

It was a small group for Thanksgiving this year, but that was just as well... everyone has been sick! I got a cold three weeks ago and it snuck back on me, and JT and Haley have been stuffy and coughy. Then Jim came down with something horrible and my mom got bronchitis and a sinus infection. We made the most of our day anyway, and my dad did a great job taking over for my mom as kitchen assistant and baby holder. It was also our first Thanksgiving in a long time (ever?) with six inches of snow on the ground. JT enjoying his slippers to keep his toes toasty warm Haley spent the morning in her play mat The bird comes out of the oven! Grandma showing JT how to knit Grandpa helping mash potatoes The feast Post-dinner relaxing My mom made Haley a new hat and some baby Ugg boots to match. Oh-so-cute! She wore them to church today and got quite a few compliments!

Haley is now about 23 inches long and I think she weighs almost 10 pounds. Woo hoo! She is cooing and gurgling, loves to smile, and does not enjoy being on her tummy. Haley gave me a fabulous three-month-old present, too: she slept for 11 hours straight! At the ten hour mark I had to peek in her room and make sure she was still breathing... and I had to wake her up eventually because it was going to start making us late. Crazy! It has taken a few different attempts to take her official three month pictures and I am still not thrilled with any of them. I get pictures of her smiling often but for some reason she doesn't want to cooperate when I get my little in-home studio all set up. These are the best of about a hundred. :) (What happened to my lighting? Grrr.) JT came running in for one photo shoot ("whatcha doin guys?") and wanted to help out. Pretty soon JT and Slider are sitting where Haley is supposed to be, Haley is screaming, Jim is laughing, and I gave up. We did ...

It started snowing on Sunday and really hasn't stopped since then! This morning JT was excited to check out the window when he woke up and see "what happened at my house?" Sure enough, we had more snow! Today was grocery shopping day, and a little snow is not quite enough for me to get out of routine. So we bundled up and got in the Volvo. I am so glad that my friend Jen let me borrow her baby bunting. Haley stayed cozy warm inside her outfit all morning long! When we got outside and I was dusting off the car and letting my seat heater do its job, JT stood and watched the snow fall. He did not want to touch it or catch it or play in it. "It's cold," he said, very matter-of-factly. He is happy to observe. I bet if his dad had been home, there would have been some more playing. :) We made it to the chiropractor and two grocery stores in Winter Driving Mode and then came home. We opted out of gymnastics tonight, and I'm sooooo glad we did. It took Jim 5 fou...

THE STORY: Almost nine years ago, we bought our first "married" purchase: a new 2002 Mazda Protege. It had five miles on the engine, and it was my first ever car with a moon roof. We have loved our little Mazda. While not super spacious inside, it gets great gas mileage and fits our family of four. It has 155,175 miles on it and has never had a problem. (I scanned in this picture... try not to be jealous of my cool denim skirt.) Then... two weeks ago, while driving on 405 to meet our friends at 3-2-1 Bounce, I had to come to a quick stop in the merge/exit lane. Unfortunately, the driver in the car behind me was distracted by a truck changing lanes and didn't see us until it was too late for her to stop. I saw the car coming in my rearview mirror and said, "Oh my gosh!" and then she hit us. We got slammed into the car in front of us as well. I turned around and looked at JT and said, "Are you okay?" His lower lip quivered a little and then he said, ...

We're back in action with gymnastics and it is so fun to see the huge difference in JT's physical abilities since we stopped last spring for swimming lessons. He can follow the directions and move his body in lots of new ways. So fun! Obviously, I had to make a compilation video.

Today I was supposed to work but schools were closed due to the widespread power outages from last night's windstorms. My mom had spent the night to babysit all day, so instead we had a nice family day with story time, a walk, and naps for all. :) I think Haley was glad that I was home because she was super smiley! Gotta love an extra day at home with my kids.

JT does a craft every week at church in his class and he is so proud to show it to us when he comes out. We make a big deal about it, too, and hang it up at home for the week. He has been having fun trying out some new art at home as well. This week he got to try markers for the first time. He loved them so much that he cried when we had to pick up for bedtime. He plays with Playdoh often, but the new thing here is using alphabet cookie cutters to spell things and practice his letters. He can now recognize T, Z, and O. (At Costco, pointing to the letters on the side of the building: "Hey, T right there!")

We are big believers in the idea that children get many of their sleep habits from what we do after they are born. There are some things that come built right in, of course, but other things are created habits. We try to create sleepers who can sleep through things, like loud movies and fun times downstairs. JT will sleep through a tsunami. (Try as we might, however, he does wake up to the garbage truck every Thursday morning at 7:30... grrrr...) A friend commented a few weeks ago that she doesn't use her Sonicare toothbrush in the mornings because she doesn't want to wake up her children. I about died . And then Haley fell asleep in the middle of the kitchen floor on her playmat the other day, and I filmed this little clip. Let the training begin! :)

The other night at dinner, JT decided to pretend his spoon was an airplane and flew his cuban beef picadillo and rice into his mouth. Wonder where he got that idea?

Some miscellaneous additions for the week (as well as some Flip Clips)... First, Haley usually falls asleep with her binky and spits it out at some point. Sometimes it gets stuck in her swaddle blanket and rests on her nose. How does she sleep like this? On Jim's work days, he gets up around noon and has breakfast while the rest of us have lunch. Then he gets some quality time with both kids before their naps. Haley is starting to enjoy her playmat. I had to break out pictures of when JT was a baby to remember how to assemble it, and finally got it to work. She also just started to notice her mobile. I love her dangling flowers and I was so excited to see her notice them. Her eyes got really wide and she just stared for a long time. Since she has begun to show interest in toys and movement, I started dangling a scrunchy colorful ball next to her diaper changing pad. She kicks it often and is starting to bat at it. Fun stuff. JT still asks frequently one of three things: "smooc...

We have had a beautiful couple of fall days lately. We had a big windstorm so all of the leaves came off the trees, but then we had two days of dry sunshine. You could walk the neighborhood and see at least one family out making piles and taking pictures. Of course, we did too! Dad, please can we do the leaf blower NOW?! Tossing leaves Getting thrown in the pile Soft landing Framer! Having fun with Dad