There's been lots of changes happening all around us lately!  To start, we had to find a new babysitter because Sarah (our old sitter) is expecting her 4th child in less than a month!  We are so excited for this new addition to their loving family, but this also meant that we needed to find a new sitter for Tenley.  We were lucky enough to find an Amish woman who babysits out of her home with her daughter.  She came with fantastic references and we know another child's family that goes there.  After we met with Miss Iva we thought it would be a great fit.  So Tenley has been there for three weeks now.  We had a rough go at it at first.  Switching sitters at this age is tough anyway, but it brought on some separation anxiety that we've never had to deal with before.  Tenley has always been VERY outgoing and will go to anyone at any time!  But now we see the "stranger danger" side!  While it's very flattering to know she would rather be with us, it's absolutely heartbreaking to have to leave her at the sitter, the church nursery, or even grandma and grandpa's when we know she's upset.  But today- after three weeks- we finally had a morning with NO TEARS!  I walked out the door after dropping her off and I wanted to celebrate!  But just that quick I thought, "aw...my little girl is growing up."  I suppose that's pretty normal.  During this time though, there's been other changes at home.  Mike has switched jobs - He's now working at Chore Time in Milford. He is really enjoying it and it's so amazing to us to see God's hand in getting him there.  He's truly been at work since the day we moved back to Nappanee.  

Here's a few things that Tenley has been up to in the past couple weeks!

Tenley had a playdate with Eli a couple weeks ago!  They played together great.  It's so much fun to watch them interact together now that they are getting older!  Tenley shared her book with Eli and he shared his juice! Ha.  

Here's a sweet picture I got of her on my phone the other day.  I love my days home with her!  I know that when she starts school I'm really going to miss those days.

In the mornings I usually let her watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse on tv while I'm getting things ready for the day or picking up after breakfast.  She has never shown much interest in tv and is usually too busy to care!  But when Mickey comes on she gets so excited!  She loves to sit up on the couch like a big girl, or she will pull daddy's big Notre Dame pillow in front of the tv and lay down on it to watch.  We would love to take her to Disney World before she gets into school, so I'm glad that she'll be so excited to see Minnie and Mickey!

Sliden'

Tenley got a slide for Christmas and we got it out the other night.  She loved it!  Yesterday morning she ran right for it and wanted to slide some more!  Here's what I caught.

Update

Does anyone else feel like life is just really flying by!?  I had such a goal to keep this updated more, not only for grandparents in Florida, but also for myself- so I'll remember these milestones.  Hopefully I can keep up a little bit better than I have been.

We have had a very strange and mild winter here, but we finally got a big snow a couple weeks ago.  The first snow we got we took Tenley for a ride in her sled that she got from her Great Grandma Huber for Christmas.  We pulled her around the yard and she seemed to enjoy it...until she fell off.  That was the end of our snow adventure.  So with this last snow we thought we would try it again.  She did well for a little while, she seemed to enjoy walking in her boots.  Here's a picture of her in all her gear.  Cutest little snowboarder isn't she?  

But then when we tried to sit her down in the snow, she wouldn't have it!  She didn't want to touch the snow at all.  Isn't that funny?  We tried several times and finally decided that her incessant screaming wasn't going to stop any time soon, so we took her back inside.  Oh well, we'll keep trying!  

I want to remember all the funny moments that make Mike and I look at each other and think "Where does she come up with these things".  This was one of those moments... 

Silly girl!!!  She has a fascination with her nose lately.  She's always touching it or trying to blow it or sticking fingers in it!!  Hopefully this little fascination passes quickly! :)  

I'll try and get a new video of her up soon.  We just took one the other day of her dancing that is so funny!  

Pinterest

Have you ventured over to Pinterest yet?!  If you haven't- do it!  Sure it sucks up all your spare time and makes you feel like you need to cook more, shop for new clothes, be craftier, etc.  BUT there's so many great ideas.  I have been complaining since we moved into this house about the lack of counter space in the kitchen.  I have wanted an island for so long, but the cost to buy one is ridiculous- even for one of those tiny little butcher block carts!!  So I went to Pinterest to try and find ideas.  I found the idea of turning an old dresser into an island.  It seemed like the hardest part was finding the right dresser, so I started looking!  Low and behold, I found the perfect one on craigslist with a marble top already on it!  So we got it at a great price and I finally finished it!  We now have a fantastic island!!  I love it so much and I'm pretty proud of it, if I do say so myself!  I wanted it to look antiqued and rustic, so I just gave it one coat of paint and made sure you could still see the wood grain underneath.  I added new hardware, some felt pads on the legs so we could move it around and then secured the marble top!  Here's our new addition:

Christmas 2010

Here's Tenley last year- Her first Christmas.  At this time of year, I start looking back and think about how far we've come!  Tenley is running around, talking so much and into everything!  I loved the stage she was in last Christmas, but I really love this stage.  Seeing Christmas and all it brings through her eyes is a true gift.

Christmas 2011

Christmas Fun!

Here's a little Christmas fun!

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate?  Hot Chocolate
2. Colored or white lights on the tree and house?  White.
3. Do you hang mistletoe?  No, wouldn't even know where to get it.
4. When do you put up your decorations?  Usually Thanksgiving weekend, but the more we have to put out, the earlier I start.  It's just too much work to only have up for a few weeks!
5. What is your favorite holiday dish? Cherry Cheesecake.
6. Favorite holiday memory as a child?  Orange Cinnamon rolls on christmas morning and stockings!
7. When and how did you learn the truth about Santa? Not sure how old I was, but I remember sitting at the top of the stairs watching my parents put out the presents.  I put two and two together :)
8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?  Sometimes I think.  I like the idea of giving Christmas pj's on Christmas Eve every year.
9. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? White lights, lots of Barbie ornaments that my grandma has been giving me for years, red and gold ornaments and Mike's ornaments from childhood.
10. Snow!  Love it or dread it?  Love it over Christmas, could be ok without it after that.
11. Can you ice skate?  Yes
12. Do you remember your favorite gift?  I've had a lot of great gifts.  Can't name just one.
13. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Time with family and celebrating Jesus on his birthday.
14. What is your favorite holiday dessert?  Cherry Cheesecake, Cinnamon pudding.
15. What is your favorite holiday tradition?  So many!  But we're trying to start our own traditions with Tenley.  We are going to go look at the lights on the 23rd, read the Christmas story out of the Bible on Christmas morning and I would like to bake a birthday cake for Jesus too! 
16. What tops your tree?  Nothing :(  We don't have a tree topper this year.
17. Which do you prefer, giving or receiving gifts?  I love to give!  I try and put a lot of thought into it.
18. Candy canes ... yuck or yum?  Ehh..they are okay. I like the ones that are flavored instead of just mint.
19. Favorite Christmas show?  THE CHRISTMAS STORY!!!
20. Saddest Christmas song?  Oh my word.  I heard one the other day with a little girl singing about how all she wants is her dad home for Christmas because he's in Afganistan.  I lost it.  So sad.
21. What is your favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night
    
    

It's Beginning...

...to feel like Christmas!  The tree is up, the house is decorated.  Christmas presents are starting to pile up waiting to be wrapped!  I love this time of year.  I love it even more watching everything through Tenley's eyes.  This year it's so important to me that we start our own family traditions.  Tenley's eyes light up when we turn on the lights on the tree, I can't wait to take her to look at the Christmas lights in Winding Brook.  I know that she might not remember this year, but I will never forget it.  This is the year she will actually be interested in the presents (or the wrapping paper and boxes!) and she can sit and listen as we read the Christmas story out of the Bible.  I need to remind myself to slow down this holiday season and soak up every moment!

I took some pictures of Tenley recently for our Christmas cards.  Here's one of them that you'll see on our cards!