We Wish You a Merry Christmas

"For the wages of sin is death, but the FREE GIFT of God is

eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 6:23

Merry Christmas!

Since I recently mailed out Langdon's Birth Announcement...

... consider this your Christmas Card from us for 2010:

"He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

Love, Gary, Kathryn, Mary Laine, Langdon, and Deacon

And here are some of our failed attempts:

To Langdon, On the Year That You Were Born

I have mentioned before that someday, when I actually have free time again (what's that???), I plan to turn my blog posts into a book at blurb.com. I was looking through the year in pictures done by boston.com and thought that this would be a great thing to have for the book. Here is 2010 for Langdon, and I'm hoping to go back and find the pictures from 2009 to post for Mary Laine.

Langdon, here is a glimpse of the world on the year that you were born:

The growing oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico is captured in this image from NASA's (MODIS) instrument aboard the Terra satellite. This natural-color image acquired April 29, 2010 shows a twisting patch of oil nearly 125 km (78 mi) wide. Approximately 4 million barrels (170 million gallons) were released overall. (NASA Earth Observatory/Jesse Allen/University of Wisconsin SSEC)

In this aerial photo taken in the Gulf of Mexico more than 50 miles southeast of Venice on Louisiana's tip, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig is seen burning Wednesday, April 21, 2010. Eleven men working on the platform were killed, and 17 others injured. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

Residents of Cite Soleil, a shantytown try desperately to enter the police station where an aid distribution point has been set up in Port-au-Prince on January 26, 2010. Quake-hit Haiti will need at least a decade of painstaking reconstruction, aid chiefs and donor nations warned, as homeless, scarred survivors struggled to rebuild their lives. (THONY BELIZAIRE/AFP/Getty Images)

A snowboarder flies through the Olympic rings at the start of the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, February 12, 2010. (REUTERS/David Gray)

Torchbearer Alexander Miller carries the flame followed by 28 horse riders in Sioux Valley Dakota, Manitoba on January 9th, 2010. (© VANOC/COVAN, Luca Bertacchi with IMF)

The Aurora Australis, air glow, and cloud-obscured city lights - blurred by the relative motion of the ISS during the long-exposure photograph. Two Russian spacecraft, docked to the ISS, are seen in the foreground of this April 4th, 2010 image. (NASA/JSC)

Kyrgyz riot policemen try to protect themselves during clashes with opposition supporters demonstrating against the government in Bishkek on April 7, 2010. Opposition followers killed Kyrgyzstan's interior minister, took the deputy prime minister hostage and captured state television in a deadly revolt on April 7 against President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. A source in the office of Interior Minister Moldomus Kongantiyev revealed that he had been killed in riots in the northwest hub of Talas where the first protests had erupted. (VYACHESLAV OSELEDKO/AFP/Getty Images)

A man holds up a Chilean flag in a flooded area after an earthquake in Pelluhue, some 322 kms, about 200 miles, southwest of Santiago, Chile on Sunday, Feb. 28, 2010. (AP Photo/Roberto Candia)

U.S. Marines from Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines, protect an Afghan man and his child after Taliban fighters opened fire in the town of Marjah, in Nad Ali district, Helmand province, February 13, 2010. (REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic)

Treasury Secertary Timothy Geithner (left) and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke pose for photos during the unveiling of the new $100 note at the Treasury Department April 21, 2010 in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Landon Donovan of the United States (front left) celebrates after scoring a goal with fellow team members Clint Dempsey (back left) and Edson Buddle, during the World Cup group C soccer match between the United States and Algeria at the Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, Wednesday, June 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Michael Sohn)

On February 13, 2010 NASA's Cassini spacecraft approached close to Saturn's moon Mimas, approximately 70,000 km away, and created this image of the icy satellite. Saturn's limb and upper atmosphere are visible in the background. (NASA/JPL/SSI)

Pakistani villagers raise hands to get food dropped from an army helicopter at a flood-hit area of Kot Addu, in central Pakistan on Saturday, Aug. 7, 2010. (AP Photo/Khalid Tanveer)

Chilean President Sebastian Pinera shows a message reading "We are fine in the refuge, the 33 of us", from the miners trapped in the San Esteban gold and copper mine on August 22, 2010. The miners were alive and contact was established with them 17 days after a structural collapse trapped them below ground. (HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP/Getty Images

Chilean miner Osman Araya (right) is welcomed by his wife Angelica as he comes out of the Fenix rescue capsule after been brought to the surface on October 13, 2010 following a 10-week ordeal in the collapsed San Jose mine, near Copiapo, 800 km north of Santiago, Chile. Araya was the sixth from the 33 trapped miners to be lifted from underground. (HUGO INFANTE/AFP/Getty Images)

Myanmar's pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi (center) is greeted by supporters at her National League for Democracy's party headquarters in Yangon November 15, 2010. Two days earlier, on November 13th, she was released after serving seven years under house arrest. (REUTERS/Stringer)

B.J. Parker of Lake Forrest, California, recites the National Anthem during the "Restoring Honor" event on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 2010 in Washington, D.C. Conservative broadcaster Glenn Beck hosted the event, which drew people from around the country and filled the National Mall between the Lincoln Memorial and the World War II Memorial. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

**Comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert simultaneously hosted rallies mocking this one (The Rally to Restore Sanity and the Rally to Keep Fear Alive, respectively) at the National Mall on October 30, 2010. Uncle Walker was there.**

The daughters of Pakistani Christian woman Asia Bibi pose with an image of their mother while standing outside their residence in Sheikhupura located in Pakistan's Punjab Province November 13, 2010. Asia Bibi, 45, a Christian mother of four, was sentenced to death for blasphemy, the first such conviction of a woman, Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported. Standing from left to right is Esha, 12, Sidra, 18 and Eshum, 10. (REUTERS/Adrees Latif)

San Francisco Giants' Pat Burrell (left to right) Brian Wilson, Aubrey Huff and Buster Posey celebrate after defeating the Texas Rangers to win Game 5 of the Major League Baseball championship and to clinch the World Series in Arlington, Texas on November 1, 2010. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

I Got Skilz

A few weeks ago, I got out of the house for a fun girls' night. Our pastor's wife, Cindy, is a very talented artist. She decided to host an art night for the girls in her Bible Studies. She decided to do something like Easely Amused in Jackson. She had a painting that she had finished before we got there and then walked us through how to recreate it step-by-step. I am not artistic, but would love to be. I was very impressed with how well they all turned out. It was so much fun. And since it's Christmastime, the painting was a partridge in a pear tree. It was a fun night out and now I have a Christmas painting to hang on my wall. Thanks Cindy!!

Haircut

Well, I finally gave in to the fact that Mary Laine needed another haircut. It's hard to cut it off when a) I want it to grow out and b) she has precious curls that I hate to cut in case they don't come back. But she was starting to get another mullet. It was definitely time.

Here is a picture of her first haircut that she got back in March.

Since we know that she still fits in the Bumbo, we decided to do the same thing that we did last time. We let her sit there and watch Signing Time (her favorite). She did great again! We forgot to get a before and after shot. But I think that it looks precious. And it actually makes her look older.

Happy Birthday Charlie Rogan!

Before I had Langdon, I posted about my friend Stephanie Gillespie. She and I went through our difficult pregnancies together and emailed almost everyday. It was so comforting to have someone to talk to who was right there with me. Her son Yates was born just two days before Langdon. And her daughter Charlie Rogan is only three weeks older than Mary Laine. Even though we are much too busy to email everyday now, we do find time to email occasionally about the difficulties of having two under two. She is such a dear friend and I am very thankful for her.

We were able to go to Charlie Rogan's second birthday party last weekend. It was our first time to meet both Yates and Charlie Rogan, and they are just as precious and their pictures. I can't wait to see them grow up together. It meant so much to us to be included in her day.

I am so sad that we don't have a picture of Charlie Rogan facing the camera - we'll get one the next time that we get together.

Here I've got Yates and Stephanie has Langdon. These boys have already been through so much together and they don't even know it :-)

Life Around the House

Last week, I decided to pull out the Bumbo to see if Langdon could comfortably sit in it - and he is ready! It's so much fun to be entering a new stage so that we can pull out new toys. Here is a picture of Langdon's first time in the Bumbo and a comparison shot to Mary Laine when she first started sitting in it (she was about 6 weeks - she was freakishly strong, well, still is, actually).

And here is Mary Laine throwing a fit because Langdon was sitting in the Bumbo and she wasn't allowed to. I have a feeling that we have alot of tantrums in our immediate future as Langdon is more able to play with toys and keep things away from big sis.

Don't think that she got her way because she was whining, but after she calmed down, I let her have a turn. I honestly didn't think that she would fit in it anymore, but I was wrong.

When she's not jealous of his toys, Mary Laine really is very sweet with Langdon and is always asking to "hold his hand" or "kiss him on the cheek".

This little toy is just out of Langdon's reach, but he seems determined to get it - it keeps him entertained for a long time.

Mary Laine and I are both loving the fact that I am off of bedrest and can finally play with her again. Here we are playing a game of peek-a-boo.

Langdon loves his time with his Daddy.

And poor Deacon just puts up with us all - when he's not busy chewing on the baby toys.

Two Months

It's hard to believe that Langdon has already been with us for two months. In some ways it seems like it was just yesterday that we were in Jackson wondering how much longer we would have to wait, and in some ways it's hard to remember life without him. He has really started to smile for us alot, and he is also cooing - trying to carry on conversations with us. Other than staring at us, his favorite thing to do is bat at his toys on his playgym.

After about a week or so of waking up every 3 hours for milk, I finally had to let him cry it out last night. It was awful - but we both made it. They say that it takes 3-5 days to get them into a new pattern, so I'm really hoping that we're closer to the 3-day mark. I'll let you know how it goes.

I had a little photo session with Langdon today. Yes, he spit up on his outfit just before I started snapping the pictures - don't judge. If this was your baby and you only owned one smocked Christmas outfit, you'd have done it too. Also, I had to include the second picture of him giving me a big smile, even though it's not at a great angle. I tried to get him to smile again once I zoomed in, but of course he wouldn't cooperate. And then as soon as I put the camera down, he was all smiles. But even his serious face melts my heart! :-)