Christmas and Family

We stayed in Des Moines for Christmas this year. We enjoyed spending time with Luke's family. Brooks had no idea it was Christmas but looks cute in his new clothes! McCabe loved being with family and capturing everyones attention. Leighton loved playing with his new train set (and when I say loved, I really mean it, he played with his trains non-stop). Luke liked the abundance of food (and his new cowboy boots) and I thoroughly enjoyed all of the above in addition to playing cards!

Luke always tries so hard to get one of the kids to cuddle with him. McCabe is resisting! Leighton enjoying his trains.

McCabe just looked too cute sleeping Christmas morning so I had to take this picture!

We are so thankful for all the time with family, the food, the gifts and even the weather. It is always nice to have a white Christmas!

Christmas and Jesus

I have been reading for years about the faith of a child. This year I got to experince that fact afresh. We started reading the story of Jesus' birth in Luke chapter 2 while sitting by the manger scene. Leighton not only retained much of the story but he didn't even question it. He just heard it and believed.

I am amazed at God's great love for us. He send his own son to die on the cross for MY sins.

A Savior has been born.
And I need a savior.

It is good news.
It is of great joy.
It is for all people.

I hope that many accept this truth and this GIFT with child like faith. It happened as the bible says and it is true!

Luke 2
1Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth.
2This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
3And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.
4Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David,
5in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child.
6While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth.
7And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
8In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night.
9And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.
10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12"This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,
14"Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."
15When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us."
16So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.
17When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child.
18And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds.
19But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart.
20The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

The Hukee household wishes you a very Merry Christmas filled with great joy and great truth!

The Kiddos

December was another month of many blessings. I love every picture of my boys but they don't come close to communcating the joys, laughter, and precious moments in our home. We need a video camera on 24/7 in order to really capture our life. Ill try my best to articulate some of the milestone, stories, and memorable moments of the past month.

Brooks is a delight. He is growing well, sleeping well, smiling well, and is an incredibly content little baby. Below are some updates.

He is afraid of his brothers and communicates that through HUGE eyes whenever they come near.
He sleeps 10-11 hours if swaddled appropriately.
He loves warm baths!
He smiles a lot and looks just like Leighton when he used to smile at his age.
He can kick out of any pajams's that snap in the legs creating a pajama cape of sorts.
His toes are precious!
His belly is precious!
He is delightful, content, peaceful, and cuddly.

McCabe is now 18 months. This wild man is hilarious.

He can't go a day without eating sweets or bruising his head.

His vocabulary is expanding and we love communicating with him. He loves to say the following words and phrases: no, yep, I have some, Where'd Teighton (Leighton) Go?, What did Teighton do?, Where'd daddy go?, What did daddy do?, Where'd Brooksy go?, What did Brooksy do?, shoot hoops, I go get it, byebye daddy, and several other things as well. The best part is how he says these thing and how oftem he says them.

He has mastered a soft squeal when someone takes a toy.

He loves running away from mom and dad.

He is in a twin bed sharing a room with Leighton and considers it his duty to keep Leighton awake.

When he is wild, he is WILD and when he is sweet, he is SWEET.

He is the thirstiest person alive!

He steals my water all the time.

If he had it his way it would always be snack time.

He gives very wet but very sweet kisses!

Mmmmm, cake!

Ohhhhh, Water!

Leighton loves learning and seems to remember everything. Some of my my favorite moments this month are noted below.

He has called Luke, 'babe', two times now.

He can legitimately beat me at the game, memory & loves to find matches with just about anything.

He thinks he was born in Bethlehem.

He feels entitled to three things everyday: chocolate milk, the show Thomas, and praying before bed.

He tells Grandma Hukee that she needs to buy him Henry, Gordon, Edward and Deisel for his Thomas track.

He tells Grandma Ludemann that she needs to buy him Mater the Tow truck from the movie cars. (We are working on being thankful for the toys he already has!)

He sings the song, "Jesus came, Jesus came, had a manager for a tiny bed." everytime we go to Target and encourages me to sing with him.

He sweetly, seriously, amd with much sincerity apologizes to his trains if he accidentally knocks them off the track.

He loves taking baths.

To him, crayons are so 'yesterday'; He prefers markers.

He corrects you quickly if you call his sweatpants, "pants." They are "comfy pants."

These pictures show Leighton posing as our vey own Ruddolf the Red Nose Reindeer. He fell down some unfinished stairs at our friends house and had a bright red nose for a few days.

Life is wonderful with these kids. Being a mother is the best job in the world!

Flashback to Fall

A very sacrificial and generous friend took these pictures of my babies at a park this fall. She was willing to take several pictures of my somewhat uncooperative children and even took pictures for others moms and their kids as well.

We are grateful to have these adorable pictures but do wish Luke was in them too!

Brooks' 2 Month Check Up

Brooks' 2 Month Check Up Statistics

Weight: 13 lbs (77th Percentile)
Height: 24.5 inches (92nd Percentile)

I am so thankful for each and every doctors appointment. I praise the Lord for my healthy and growing children.

Baby it's COLD Outside

It is December 1st and although we are still without snow, it is starting to get really cold. We enjoyed 20 minutes outside today all bundled up! McCabe didn't really want to go outside because he hates wearing his winter gear. Once he was outside, he hated that he couldn't pick rocks up with his mittens on. And I really felt bad for him when I noticed his eyes tearing from the cold weather!

It wasn't all bad; He remembered that running laps around the van and pushing his toy were pretty awesome!

Despite the cold weather there are still so many things to be thankful for. More cuddle time, scarves, lattes, soup, faithwalkers conference, christmas cookies, and the reminder of how amazing God is that he orderdly causes seasons to change, the sun to rise, and can sustain life renewing it in the spring. Plus it is so good for me to spend the month of December meditating on God's loving choice to send Christ to save us from sin, read about the several prophesies that were fulfilled in the Messiah, and remember the birth of Christ. The cold weather and large christmas tree in my living room help me to do that!

Hope you are all enjoying the season's blessings too!

Like Grandpa, Like Grandson

Grandpa Ludemann's huge train set and village from last Christmas ... Leighton's train set for this Christmas Season ...