My baby will be four months next week and its definitely been a chaotic four months.  During the month of October, we celebrated three birthdays and Halloween.  I procrastinated until literally the last minute to pull together everyone's costume.  Audrey desperately wanted to be BatGirl, which still boggles my mind because she's never seen BatMan or BatGirl cartoons or movies.  Ethan really could have cared less what I dressed him in, but I wanted all three to mesh well.  I found an easy Robin tutorial on Pinterest and even though she was covered up most of the night, pulled her costume off pretty well.

The next weekend, Elle and Kinsey had a joint baptism on November 7th at Saint Francis, officiated by none other than Father Clint.  

Then the following weekend, I squeezed my post partum body into a formal gown to attend the Marine Corp's Ball on November 13th.  I'm so glad Elle took a bottle for my mom and I set aside my vanity issues to attend because this was by far the most formal ball we've ever been to.  After the commandant spoke and we inhaled our dinner, we had to rush home so that my chest wouldn't explode.

Gaga came for a wonderful visit to watch the kids for ball and to meet Elle for the first time.  Audrey and her were two little peas in a pod the entire time.  

On November 21, I ran my first 10K 9 weeks postpartum.  I've been running since as long as I can remember, and was running up until 36 weeks, so training afterwards wasn't too challenging.  I honestly just run so I can eat.  

Which I did, on Thanksgiving.  This was a superb dinner, that I wish I could recreate all over again every night. 

This was taken on Thanksgiving day, and I just love this father/daughter moment. 

After Thanksgiving, we dove right into Christmas, and just like in 2011, set up a tripod for our Christmas photo in Prince William Park.  We probably took hundreds and only had one single decent shot, mainly because we had a photobomber on our hands.

We tried to do as many Christmas activities in the area, like this light display in Meadowland Botanical Gardens, where there was a huge s'more pit at the end.  

This is very random, but one day Audrey came downstairs and had chosen this adorable outfit.  She looked so put together, so grown up, so mature, that I had to snap a picture.  Now that I have a tiny baby at home, she really has seemed to grow up so suddenly.  

I'll pause here to reflect on 5.5 year old Audrey.  She loves school.  She has never once complained about going every morning and seems to really enjoy herself.  Her teachers say she is bright, one of the smartest in her class and will go far, but is extremely strong willed.  No surprise there.  They say she is very social; everyone wants to be around her (when I pick her up from school everyone is yelling "bye Audrey!") and all the boys want to sit next to her.  She is tough as nails on the playground and will roll around and throw elbows with the boys, but as soon as she gets home, will change into her skirt and matching jewelry.  She is making amazing progress in her reading and with a little help, can almost read the entire Cat in the Hat book.  She is persistent.  Stubborn.  But beyond sincere and compassionate.  She is determined and ambitious.  She is athletic and (somewhat) obedient.  She is our Audrey and I wouldn't have her any other way.   Right now, we all love to watch Guy's Grocery Games on The Food Network, so I let her recreate the recipes in our kitchen.  There is always a huge mess that follows, but this is an interest of hers that I always encourage.  

We'll move onto my two year old little Ethan, and this picture of him falling asleep while eating chips is the most perfect image of our life right now.  I exhaust him every day.  We love to stay busy and be out of the house and only home for naps.  This is how I functioned with Audrey and having a packed, set schedule makes for a very happy mom.  The busier the better.  Our days consist of the Quantico library story time, a local MOPS group, gymnastics (at two different places!), the CDC, runs in the stroller and trips to the park, and mandatory stops at Wegmans.  We went to a trial Spanish Immersion class for toddlers a few weeks ago and I'm still contemplating starting him...it was hilarious to watch his face track the Spanish.  He also loves mixing ingredients and cooking in the kitchen, loves drawing.  Boy does this kid love drawing.  He could draw circles and triangles all day. He knows all of his shapes and colors, can count to fourteen, sings BINGO and Jingle Bells, and is almost fluent with his ABC song.  His vocabulary has skyrocketed since he turned two and he can communicate great.  He loves his sisters and misses Audrey while she is at school, but has turned his attention to Elle during the day, giving her kisses and hugs and bringing her toys.  He has a wonderful personality; as we say, he is just happy to be here.

 

And my sweet baby Elle.  She is still resistant to a bottle, but has started sleeping through the night (sometimes) so I can't complain.  She loves songs, loves her carseat, loves stroller rides, but more than anything, loves Daddy.  He walks into the room and she just lights up and smiles.  But for me?  Nada.  I'm just the food truck.

Now that the kid recap is done, we can proceed with Christmas 2015, which included a visit from Grandpa Bill and Grandma J.   Elle really developed her facial expressions during this time.  

Audrey was so excited on Christmas morning to find that Santa left her exactly what she asked for:  a purple Elsa watch.  Her face says it all.

Ethan is obsessed with trains and Santa was nice enough to bring AND put together this train table that has kept him occupied constantly since.  

  

This was taken Christmas Eve night, after mass.  Saint Francis was packed, we had to stand, the church was a heater, and Ethan was miserable.  This picture pretty much summed up our night at church.   Keeping it real.