It's the most wonderful time of the year!

Christmastime is here and we have been very busy with all the preparations. Last weekend we went to the Christmas Luminary in my parents neighborhood. Brody enjoyed seeing all the houses decorated with Christmas lights and we even got to see Santa Claus. Brody sat on a bench with him and he gave Brody a candy cane. We have been getting last minute things together around the house and it looks like we have everything ready for this upcoming weekend. It always seems like we spend months preparing for Christmas and then it is over in a few minutes. We are very excited to see Brody's reaction this year as he seems to be understanding a little more and we know he will really enjoy opening gifts this year.

Briana had her 4 month check up last Thursday. She is doing great and everything is happening right when it should be. She weighs 14 pounds 8 ounces and is 25 inches long. This puts her in the 40 percentile for both, which is better than her 2 month appointment when she was in the 2 percentile for height. She is a little over a pound smaller than Brody was at this point. She has started to loose her baby hair, she had a few bald patches on top earlier last week but now it seems to be falling out in most places (except the back). Brody did the same thing at around 6 months. It will be interesting to see what color her hair turns out to be. Briana is rolling constantly from stomach to back and is cooing all the time. She has just started to really started to laugh out loud and I have to say it is one of the best sounds in the world.

Brody is also doing great. He is very into stickers and art right now and we are always working on some type of art project. He continues to love to learn and can tell you all his letters, letter sounds and something that goes along with each letter. He is now working on having us spell words on a dry erase board so he can spell and sound them out. It is hard to believe but next month we will be going to check out his preschool as sign up for the fall is in February. I have very mixed emotions about it as my little boy is growing up, but I am also really excited for him as I know he will do so great in school. He continues to pick up new words and phrases all the time and he really does have the cutest little voice!

This weekend we started our holiday celebrations by celebrating with our friends the Luchsinger's on Friday night and the Johnson's on Saturday night. It is always fun for us to get together and for the kids to get together to play. Briana and Jacob are only six weeks apart so it is always cute to see them together and they light up when they see each other. Yesterday we went to my Aunt's house in Cedar Rapids to celebrate with my Dad's side of the family. It's always nice to see all the family and get together. Saturday and Sunday of this week will also be lots of celebrating for us with our immediate and extended families. We would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! Have a safe and joyous holiday!!