Insta-December

December was truly delightful! The weather continued to be gorgeous right up until the holidays, and then we even got a little snow storm on Christmas! Our festivities were simpler than usual (we're blaming it on the newborn fog!), but I don't think the girls minded too much.

- how do you not stop what you're doing and stare at a sleeping newborn? - thea loved looking at the lights - bath time - these two are already best buds -

- elli drew this picture of our family and King Jesus at church - charlie loves playing 'rock, paper, scissors' - first trip to the zoo for thea - she was giving me the sweetest gummy smiles until i pulled out the camera. this is what i remember of this month: thea wrapped up in the moby while her big sisters played -

- playing outside - watching the light show at botanica - charlie carefully studied how elli was kneeling and copied her exactly - helping out with tummy time -

- sweetest smiles - thea's favorite way to get tummy time - caroline asked to borrow my phone to snap this picture - making cookies with my charlie... her big sisters got to do all these traditions just themselves, so when i have just her, i try to make the most of it! - 

- snuggle time - incredibly inaccurate nativity reenactments and the cutest bed-head ever! - eight weeks: full of smiles, especially for her big sisters, and really trying to talk. eats about every three hours and takes a mini nap between each feeding, sleeping six to eight hours at night! her nicknames are "ladybug," "pie-pants" (elli and caroline), and "oh-phea-uh-uh-uh" (charlie). she is the first person everyone asks for in the morning and the last person they kiss at night - practicing gift-giving and receiving in preparation for christmas... thea needs to work on her poker face! -

- the first snow! barely a flurry, but they didn't care - eggnog, ornaments and rockin' around the christmas tree - sweet mama to her "bay-bays" - i taught the girls to wrap presents this year, and they're officially hired -

- i love peeking in on rest time... cara is reading books to her baby pooh bear - baby snuggles - roasting beets for her "rainbow salad" on her birthday - measuring the table to make sure she gets the star exactly in the middle! - 

- i'm trying to get better about taking pictures of all four girls - #genschgirlies - i just happened to be taking a picture when thea surprised us with her first roll! - happy birthday, elinor! - 

- christmas eve eve - thea and her biggest fan - christmas pjs... i'm not sure how many years i'll be able to get them all to match - drunk on milk and cookies. ok, maybe just milk for her this year - 

- the christmas of star wars: between thanksgiving and christmas, we got our hands on the entire collection of star wars movies and then got to take elli and cara to see the new one in the theater! - we pretty much dominated breakoutkc - charlie and malachi - birthday buddies, elli and uncle adam - 

- snow! - these two weren't quite sure what to do - the big girls, however, knew exactly what to do! - the agony and the ecstasy -