THE TABOR TIMES

Christmas had so much more meaning for me this year. All throughout December, I heard the song "A Baby Changes Everything". And each time I heard it, I kept thinking about how much a baby really does change everything. It certainly has for us. But for Mary, her baby's birth not only changed her life and her relationship with her husband, her baby's birth changed the world. God chose to send his Son, the world's Savior, in the most humble way - as a baby. Having a baby of my own, made me think more of what Mary must have gone through on that Christmas night so many years ago. She knew the magnitude of who her Son was. How humbling and yet scary that must have been for her. The week before Christmas was a difficult week emotionally for me. I was reminded all week of those whose holiday wouldn't be the most joyous of times. My heart was heavy for those who have lost loved ones - parents, grandparents, siblings, children, spouses, friends. My heart was particular...

Kendall turned 5 months old on December 8th....which means that in two days she will be 6 months old.... which means I am WAY behind on getting this post up. But nonetheless, here are Kendall's 5-month pictures. This month was so much fun! She started rolling over in both directions. She also started giggling some and smiling a lot more.  Our little girl is the joy of our lives! Happy 5 months! I don't know what it is about the horse.  But the poor thing gets taken down every time. This girl is an active little one. Of course, it would be hard to sit in the middle of 6 stuffed animals  and NOT play with them! "Seriously, are we done yet?"

  Last Saturday, the 3 of us went to the Foster Care Christmas party for my work. It's an awesome time for the foster kids to get their faces painted, make Christmas crafts, eat lots of good food, and have their picture made with Santa. Ryan and I were the "photographers" for the event, which was a lot of fun. The kids really had a good time. It's so sweet to see their faces light up when they see Santa walk in the room! We also had a special visit from Buddy the Elf, which the kids thought was great! And thanks to the generosity of so many people in Atlanta, each foster parent took home a huge bag filled with toys for each child for Christmas morning. People were so generous! To top off the festivities, Kendall got her first picture with Santa! From the moment I handed her off, she just stared at him. No smiling, no crying - but lots of furrowed brow goodness (of course!). Towards the end of the picture taking, she reached up to touch his beard. She was wondering ...

Last night, while we were getting Kendall ready for bed, Ryan was changing out the diaper genie and Kendall was intently staring at him. As soon as he looked up at her, she just died laughing. It was the cutest thing, and luckily I got some of it on video! She hasn't laughed like this very much, so we are just loving hearing her giggles. They did this over and over and Kendall laughed so hard every time.  She thinks Ryan is SO funny and he is just eating it up! Tonight she laughed really hard every time he ate his celery and said, "Crunch, crunch crunch". This girl is easy to please! (Sorry for the sometimes crazy motions with the camera, I had to put it behind my shoulder several times so that she would ignore me and look at Ryan.)

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went to pick out our Christmas tree. Since Kendall isn't old enough this year to enjoy a hay ride, apple cider, and all that a tree farm has to offer, we decided to just stick to our usual plan and go pick a tree out at Home Depot. We picked the first tree we looked at, and it didn't disappoint! Aunt Lauren went with us to help document Kendall's first Christmas tree experience. Family pic Kendall and Aunt Lauren Very serious about picking out a tree! I'm not sure what I think about her already making this face when I kiss her! Isn't she too young for that? Haha.

Since Kendall turned 4 months a few weeks ago, we thought we would see how she would do with some rice cereal. She did awesome with it and really seemed to enjoy it. She kept grabbing my arm anytime I came near her with the spoon. We're probably going to stick with this only for a month or more, but I can't wait to start feeding her other foods. Grabbing mom's wrist for more The signature furrowed brow What a mess! But so much fun. All clean!

My precious Kendall, You are 4 months old! Your daddy and I can't believe that the time has already gone by so quickly. Sometimes it seems like you were born last week, and other times we can't remember what life was like without you here. You are the absolute joy of our lives. We are truly enjoying each and every moment with you. You are smiling and cooing so much these days. Every time you make a noise, we stop what we are doing and just listen like it's the first time we've ever heard it. You're doing this great "pterodactyl" noise that makes us laugh. It makes you laugh sometimes too! It's like you know you're funny so you keep doing it over and over. You are doing new things all the time. It's so neat to watch you learn! You have rolled over from your stomach to your back on several different occasions. You really aren't very fond of "tummy time" so your motivation to roll over is so you don't have to be on your stom...