playtime.

FINALLY. they have welcomed me into playing with their things... karis' toys and boxes christmas presents are coming in. maybe, just maybe, they do still love me.

merry christmas from SOME of the lybrands...

you might notice who is missing from this "family" picture.

i would say that we are devastated, but we are getting used to it. kind of.

we'll forgive them if we get more christmas presents than the kid. we shall see...

nativity, snow & carolina basketball usher us into december!

last week meg pulled out some christmas decorations to start celebrating karis' first christmas {sidenote: they never celebrated either libby's or my first christmas. just sayin'.}

anyway, at some point, this happened to the precious moments nativity scene:
{which libby and i may or may not have had something to do with...}

at first, we were a little nervous about our big mess up. but then meg came home from her college life small group after reading through luke 2 and she got all excited about what we'd done with the nativity scene {FINALLY, we did something right!}

the circumstances of Jesus' birth were pure chaos: a scandalous pregnancy, the first ever census called by caesar, camels breaking down as folks headed to their hometowns, booked hotels, angels singing, magi fighting the traffic to get to Jesus... and we think christmas is busy for US? but this is what Jesus was born into. His birth was one of the greatest things to happen to the world, and yet it came silently, tucked away in an indescript barn in bethlehem. such humble beginnings...that came in the midst of chaos.

anyway...meg got real excited about that and we're just thankful we're not in trouble!

we also celebrated two other firsts this past saturday:
1. karis' first ever SNOW! {again, they never celebrated this for us. but we didn't care much because we had so much fun playing in it!}
2. karis' first ever unc basketball game that she watched. which they WON!

here we all are {above}... brett & karis watching the game, libby looking at the snow, and i'm just excited to get some daggum attention.

{karis bundled up to brave the snowy cold weather}

oh...i forgot. the OTHER thing they're all excited about with karis {can you sense my jealousy?} is that she is smiling! now, i would remind you that they never celebrated that with me or libby, but alas, we dogs can't smile. oh well. she's got us beat on that one.

...and just in case you need proof that they love karis more than me, here it is:

{meg's choice for cuddling in 2010}

{meg's choice for cuddling circa 2008}

life is good. real good.

well, it was thanksgiving last week. while meg and brett and karis were off celebrating and being all ooey gooey talking about things they were thankful for and stuffing themselves with delicious food at the beach with brett's family, sam & i were stuck in the kennel.

so here's one thing i'm thankful for today: getting back at 'em for sticking us in that kennel by stealing karis' paci. it was surprisingly delightful and calming. i understand why the kid likes 'em so much.

{note the PLETHORA of leaves in this picture...i'm thinking meg & brett don't rake the leaves so it will cover up our poop in the backyard. or maybe just because they are lazy. take your pick.}

things brett and meg and karis were thankful for last week: naps. and karis sleeping 7-9 hours a night! {except for the very last night when she had a melt down and slept from 2 a.m.-6 a.m. ...all i'm saying is that's what they get for putting us in the kennel.}


another thing we are all thankful for: smiles and LIFE IS GOOD PJ's! big news at the house this week, karis smiled for the first time at the beach. meg says she smiled there because she was so glad to not have to worry about swallowing dog hair or being licked by me. also, she apparently overate on thanksgiving with the rest of them because she has gone from newborn clothes to 0-3 months {at 2 months old...she might fit into 3-6 months when she's a year old. :)} which means she got to wear these new pj's which took even me away from my jealousy to sheer joy.

{they say "buttercup" on them... HOW CUTE?!?!?}

thing we are all SO thankful for: the nap nanny. that's the pink thing karis is sleeping on. ever since we got it, little miss thang has been sleeping for 6-9 hours a night CONSISTENTLY! {note how she has worked her way out of her swaddle and how her paci now grows out of her ear...}

...and even though sam and i put up a tough front, we are most thankful {only second to Jesus :)} for this precious little girl who lets us lick her and tolerates our dog hair on everything :)

Free Gift.

Karis=Grace

Grace=Free Gift from Jesus

Here's your first Christmas gift from Jesus & the Lybrands:

a day in the life of karis

tummy time with me & sam
{not sure why sam is so much less interested than i am...}

brett & karis take a nap
{we may or may not be jealous that karis gets to cuddle with meg & brett now...}

dressing up for halloween

{meg & brett were lame and didn't have candy for the trick or treaters... meg said something about not having time to get to the store and brett said something about how much candy costs... excuses excuses is what i say. they got their payback in having to stress out TWO nights about having to explain their lame-o selves to sweet little children since no one know whether or not trick or treating was happening on saturday or sunday. suckers.}

photo shoot by "mommy" {as karis calls her} showing off another onesie by jenny conklin and representing the yl

sneezing
{possible reason for sneezing: not sure the last time we saw meg vacuum that carpet...}

cuddling with daddy after bath time.
{thank you kaitlin briley for adorable frog towel :)}

...and while breastfeeding {sorry folks, no pictures for that :)} "mommy" and karis are reading created for commitment by a. wetherell johnson, founder of bsf. here are a few quotes from the book they are praying:

"Lord, i am willing at whatever cost that Thy death be worked out in me."

"Lord, I am hungry at any cost for You and if this is Your purpose for me, i'll go through with it, but please make sure i am in Your will."

two babies: one in a pumpkin onesie and One who rescued us all

fall has arrived! yesterday i {libby} was freaking out because storms were looming over alamance county... meg was trying to watch a little tv and feed karis when all of a sudden she scooped karis up and grabbed her camera and went outside. of course, we were totally curious... what mom in her right mind hears that there is a tornado warning and takes her 4 week old daughter into the outdoors??? {no need to call dss, folks. it all turned out okay.} she said it was something about how the lighting was great...

{special thanks to our friend, jenny conklin, for the adorable onesie!}

so a new routine we've gotten into this week is that we all {me, sam, brett, karis & meg} all get up into the bed and read karis the Jesus storybook bible and then sing "i love to tell the story". meg is VERY excited about the Jesus story book bible and thinks it's the greatest thing in the entire world.rejoicing today that He came to earth just in the same way karis did, as an infant... he relied on someone else to change his diapers, he got his nourishment from mary's breastmilk, he had to be carried around to get from one place to another. all because of his "never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love" as the storybook bible puts it...here's a section from it:

"and there, in the stable, amongst the chickens and the donkeys and the cows, in the quiet of the night, God gave the world His wonderful gift. the baby that would change the world was born. His baby Son.

mary and joseph wrapped Him up to keep Him warm. They made a soft bed of straw and used the animals' feeding trough as His cradle. and they gazed in wonder at God's Great Gift, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger.

mary and joseph named Him Jesus, "Emmanuel"--which means "God has come to live with us."

because, of course, He had."

{swaddling clothes being modeled by karis}