Addie Grace

Our good friends CJ and Courtney had their baby girl Addie Grace! We are so excited for them! We really hope that Addie Grace and Abby become good friends. From their first "play date" they seemed to have hit it off. Abby was just so interested in Addie Grace. She'd reach for her and I think she was trying to wake her to play! Courtney got a great picture of their first meeting! Addie Grace is so little. It was so hard to remember Abby ever being that small and light. I'm just so happy that they are all healthy and doing well!!

Friends

I'm amazed how every year Christmas shopping and Christmas decorations are pushed back earlier and earlier. It seems like we're not even out of Halloween before Christmas is knocking on our door. Unfortunately my mom and my step-dad have their birthdays the same week as Christmas. I can imagine at times they feel like they can be overlooked but not tonight.

Josh, Abby and I were invited to partake in what my parent's have referred to as "The Bunco Cult". A small group made out of four couples but filled with so much heart and soul. I know it feels great to find a great friend but in a way it warms me so much to see that my parent's too have found those friends. These are the people who will share so many milestones with us; the birthdays, the births of grandchildren, their son's deployments, and other obstacles that require strength of not only yourself but of others. I only pray that one day I can see that my daughter has found those friends that my parents have found and the friends that I found.

And on that note I will leave a picture of just one of those remarkable people we shared dinner with tonight. Our dear friend "Aunt Bonnie".

"But frienship is precious, not only in the shade, but in the sunshine of life; and thanks to a benevolent arrangement of things, the greater part of life is sunshine."

~Thomas Jefferson

With Love,

Kristen

Christmas Part I

Abby had her first Saathoff Christmas in Illinois. She did very well on her trip up except for the last 45 minutes we got a little tired of being in her car seat. Once we got her out and got her fed she calmed down quite a bit. It was just a little bump in the road. Our cousin Megan and her husband Andy have a new camera and Megan used Abby as her model this weekend while playing with her camera. Megan got so many GREAT pictures of Abby. I have included just a couple of her photos. We had a wonderful time with family and cannot wait to see the rest of our families this week! We hope everyone has a great Christmas!

Love,

The Liles

This is my favorite!!

Playing Catch-Up

Hello family and friends!

I am so sorry it's taken me so long to post an update. I would love to say it's because things have been so busy but they really have been pretty calm around here. We have gotten into a wonderful routine. One that has Abby sleeping anywhere from 8 - 10 hours a night! I know...it's so great! Sometimes when she tosses and turns I try to remember what it was like the first few weeks when we could only get an hour or two at a time. I remind myself how lucky we are that she's sleeping so well. Of course in order for her to be sleeping so well she has to be getting enough nutrition and by the looks of her chubby little cheeks she's getting plenty!

Abby reminds me so much of her daddy. I can already tell she's daddy's little girl. For example she's my little heater. Josh and Abby seem to have the same tolerance for heat...none! You may remember Josh sweating pails on our wedding day...she's not quite there yet but it wouldn't surprise me. Abby also needs to be stimulated a lot. She gets antsy and bored if she's not playing or looking at something. So we allowed her to open a Christmas gift early....

This isn't the best picture because Josh apparently blocked out her face but you get the idea. It's a little jungle activity mat and she LOVES it. She's constantly reaching and playing. There's a monkey on there and she's drawn to it every time. This also helps with her rolling over. Abby hasn't rolled over to her stomach but she's always rocking from her back to her side! It's amazing to watch her accomplish these milestones.

Since the last time I posted we celebrated Abby's first Thanksgiving! She was all dressed up and had a great time. We were very fortunate to spend Thanksgiving day with Josh's family and his Grandmother "Mimi" was able to leave the nursing home and join us! It was a great gift to us all to be together again and for Abby to meet her Great Grandmother. Here is a picture of Abby dressed up for Thanksgiving.

Yesterday we had a play date with my best friend Heather and her daughter Lily. Abby and Lily are only two days apart so we're hoping they become best friends too. It was so cute to see them together. This was the first time they were together that they acknowledged each other. For this play date they had lunch together, a nice shopping spree at Target and then giggled as I took a lot of pictures. They are so stinking cute!! Poor Abby looks so bald next to Lily!

We were so blessed yesterday with for starters great friends to share the day with but also for the wonderful weather. When I woke up it was 49 degrees and it got so warm....well warm for December. Today however has been completely miserable....cold, cold and more cold. So I'm trying to put extra layers on Abby and keeping her bundled up. I'm using hats, thick clothing, and extra blankets. Sometimes I'm jealous that she gets to be toted around in her car seat snuggled under all the blankets but she doesn't seem to enjoy it as much I would.

Abby has become more interactive and alert. She loves to talk (another trait she gets from her daddy). Sometimes I wonder when the mommy in her will appear. The closest we get is that she can become shy at times. It's really cute though she just burrows in Josh's or my chest and then peek to see what's going on.

There's no question that this is the greatest gift God has given us. Everyday we're reminded just lucky we are to have such a wonderful, healthy baby. We definitely had something to be very thankful for this Thanksgiving. We are looking forward to this Christmas. For us Liles it all begins this weekend. We can't wait to get up to Kankakee (my hometown) to visit our family. This will be the first time in a few years that we will all be together. There will be over 30 of us! I hope that as Abby grows up she finds family just as important as Josh and I both do. We are very fortunate to have so many people who love us including you reading this!

We hope that you're able to have a great Christmas with your families too! If you're travelling like so many do this time of the year please be careful. Hopefully I'm able to hop back on here before the end of the year but if not have a happy and safe New Years. This New Year's Josh and I will be celebrating five years together! It's hard to believe how so much changes in just five years! It's great!!

Well we love you all and hope to hear from you all soon. Please take care and have a safe holiday season!!

Love always,

The Liles