Breaking the Gingerbread House

It is tradition that the gingerbread houses be broken on New Year's Day. Not ones to argue with tradition, we did just that.

Evan tried to shoot it down with his nerf gun, which Ethan thought hilarious. It did not break the house.

So, equipping the three children with metal weapons, we told them to start breaking the house. Julia tried first. (Please note Elisabeth's faces throughout these pictures. They are priceless.)

Then it was Ethan's turn. Holy cow, that kid has an arm. He knocked the roof off right away.

While my girls gingerly hit the house with their weapons, Ethan proceeded to beat the crap out of it.

And completely obliterated it.


Look at that face. Don't you just want to smother it with kisses?!

Now is when we let the children eat as much of the house as they want. Of course, Julia chose a ginormous piece to feast on.

Ethan felt there were still more things to destroy.

Not Julia, though. She felt that things just needed eaten. Cause she's starving, people. Starving!

I have no idea what Elisabeth is doing here, but I crack up every time I see her making this face!

Look, the house is now crumbs.

Needless to say, this year's gingerbread house breaking was well received by the children.

When Katt and Myle came to visit

When Kyle, Matt and Ethan came to visit us, we didn't have a lot planned (besides making the children play together and wear each other out).

Of course, Elisabeth wanted to take them to Lil' Biggs. The girl stinking loves that place and makes everyone who visits go with her.
This is where I tell you that, for the first time in her life, I let Julia touch sand.

I know, I know. Sand is a normal attraction to children. Lots of parents even have sandboxes in their back yards. Well, I hate sand. Hate it. I hate how it gets everywhere (hair, clothes, toes, shoes, cars) and is almost impossible to get rid of. So, when we visit Lil' Biggs, I just tell Julia it's closed. But, Ethan loves sand (since Kyle doesn't have near the sand issues I do), so when Julia saw him playing in it, she was most excited.

First, she delicately touched it. Then she smiled a huge smile at me and started grabbing handfuls of sand and kind of throwing it around. Then she tried to walk on it and found it wasn't sturdy. So, she crawled across to Ethan. Then she took a big handful, put it in her mouth, and ate it. Then she cried and Evan had to go take her to get a drink.

I promise to work on my sand issues and expose them to her more.

But, Ethan loved it. :)


Kyle and Matt stayed two nights at a hotel and then two nights with us. So, of course, we took the kids swimming.

All three of the kids are fish, so they had oodles of fun.





We visited Evan's workplace.


For New Year's Eve, we stayed home. The cats made sure to make Kyle feel warm and snuggly while she napped.

I made appetizers for dinner. They were yummers.

The boys bought some beer and were excited to use Evan's steins he got while he was in Germany the summer that I was pregnant with Elisabeth.

Here's something that was absolutely awesome. At midnight, they shot off fireworks from the top of Pikes Peak and we could see them from our back deck.

My pictures kind of stink, but it was absolutely awesome!!!


On their final day, we all just hung out.

Julia warmed up to Matt and found him hilarious.



And we let Ethan open up his birthday presents early since we won't be there when he actually turns three. :(



We missed them all as soon as they walked out the door. Next time, we're going to visit them at their house and play there. :)

Rock-A-Bye

This is Julia when she was around a month old. She was still quite yellowed with jaundice. I love her face here. She still makes that face when she's sleeping even now.

Evan is out watching football with the guys from work, which meant I was in charge of the night time routine. I always get pouty when I have to do the bedtime routine because 1.Julia goes to sleep so much faster for Evan and 2.I enjoy saying my goodnights from the living room and finally getting to take my deep breath because my parenting is done for the day.

But, tonight was pretty easy-peasy. Julia's been going to bed around 7:30 lately, and I'm not about to disrupt that. We shared a fudge-cicle, put on her jammies, brushed her teeth (her absolute favorite part), found her pacifier (which we've been leaving in her room after she wakes up) and then we head to the rocking chair.

Yep. I still rock her. You would not believe how many people are shocked to hear that. Even the lady who I bought my rocking chair from (well, I guess it's a glider) was surprised. She asked if I was having another baby (after seeing my girls in the car) (or maybe judging from my figure) (ugh) and I said, no, that I needed it for my youngest.

"Oh. Well, how old is she?"
"Fourteen months."
"Oh. And you still rock her?"
"Yep."

She needs it. Just like she still needs to hold my hand walking down stairs. Just like she still needs a bib.

With Elisabeth, I know that I was still rocking her at 18 months. I believe I had cut down the whole shake-bounce-beat-her-butt-dance-for-45-minutes that was required to make her sleep and that we'd evolved into a less jarring, more normal rocking-in-a-chair routine. She was around two before she didn't require rocking anymore. Of course, then it was a whole different song and dance to make her sleep (involving an incredible amount of stuffed animals and books in her bed, lots of kisses and hugs, a prayer and a scripted good-bye-at-the-door-speech that I had to say perfectly or we started all over again).

I guess what bothers me when other people (mainly moms, which always kind of baffles me) wonder why we still have to rock Julia to sleep is this--who cares? I mean, really, if rocking is what makes my child feel safe enough to fall asleep without screaming and crying, then who cares?

Now, I'm not saying that she falls asleep perfectly every night and always has. No, siree bob. First off, that girl has only been sleeping through the night consistently for about 4 or 5 months. She would wake up at least once in the night for comfort until she was over a year. And, there are times when she wakes up as soon as we lay her down and then she requires human contact until she falls back asleep. And I've had to walk away for a while because I'm too frustrated to deal with her. But, 99% of the time, just laying in our arms while we rock her to sleep is all she needs. So, we'll keep doing it until she doesn't need it anymore. Then I'll be more than happy to report what sort of weird-o routine she'll need to go to sleep.

Cause you all know that, if they're our kids, it's bound to be special.

Grump

I always hate when I'm grumpy at the girls. It makes me feel guilty. Because, overall, they are really, really good girls. But, because I'm their mother and because I'm with them all the ding-dong time, they overwhelm me.

Quickly.

And, today, I am defeated.

I know part of it is that I was very sick for two days, so I'm physically drained. And, I know that another part is that we've had a very long winter break where I didn't get my alone time(aka: bookclub) either because of illness or weather. I haven't recharged in over a month.

But, seriously, how many times can Julia say "Mom" in a minute? She was saying it so often today while I was grocery shopping that I couldn't concentrate on what I was buying or what was left on my list. A lady in the same aisle as us chuckled at Julia and her repeated "Mom"s, and I almost reached over and slapped the woman for laughing since I was so close to crying and leaving my baby and the cart in the store just so I could sit in my car in absolute silence.

And, why is Elisabeth either the most intense storyteller that has ever walked the planet (stories full of so much detail and repeating that I interrupt to finish sentences for her, only to have her lose her train of thought and start ALL OVER) or a comatose tv watcher that I can't even get to finish a sentence because she can't turn away from the television. It is rare that there is a happy medium with her.

And, why does my cat eat plastic? Is that normal? Why does he walk in front of my feet so that I keep falling over him and cursing?


When the girls do get under my skin, though, I can't help imagining when they leave for college. What I'll do with my time. The places Evan and I will go. How late I'll sleep in. Oh, I know that just because they leave for college doesn't mean they won't be out forever. Please remember, I've moved back home myself as a grown-up. But, I can't help it. I could read all day long. I could shower whenever I want. Cook whatever foods I think are fantastic. Watch any thing I want on television. Run errands for as long as I need to. The possibilities are endless, I tell you! Endless!!!

Don't worry. I'm not trying to wish them away any time sooner. Well, today I am. But, normally, I don't try to wish them away any time sooner. I know that they won't be this small forever. I know that all the things that are bothering me now will turn into pre-teen and then teenager things that will be even worse and I'll long for these nuisances.

However, for today, I am going to wish them away to college. It's what's keeping me going today. That and Diet Coke.

Cousins.

These three are about as much cute as any person can handle.


They all played so well together when Kyle, Matt and Ethan were here.

I find it so amusing to watch how they interact together.

With Julia and Ethan, it's a little like watching a slow ticking time bomb.

Because they're so much a like (not "so much" as "exactly"), and due to their closeness in age, it takes a lot of adult supervision to make sure things are fair and that no one is going to gouge an eye out for, say, a golf ball.

They're never going to remember a time when they weren't together. With less than a year and a half between them, they'll be instant playmates for life.


And then there's Elisabeth and Ethan.

With a little over 4 years age difference, their relationship is one of pure, undeniable love.

She loved him the minute she met him. She would bring him bottles in his bassinet and sing to him while Kyle nursed him. She would "read" him books and do dances to entertain him. When she talks about Ethan, it's usually in a proud, parental way. She's constantly thinking of things she needs to teach him.

And he adores his "B". He follows her around and belly laughs hysterically at everything she says and does. He even tried to convince her to go back home to Pekin with him.

I love watching the three of them together. I can hardly wait until Kyle's done growing the fourth addition to this cousinage to see how he'll fit into our bunch.

Back to Basics.

After weeks of Christmasing and visitors and whatnot, we are back to our normal routine today. Elisabeth went to school. Evan went to work. Julia and I went to the Y. And the cats...well, they don't care what day it is as long as they're together.

Our cats are super weird.

Anyway, I kind of slacked off on my exercising during December. I find it hard when the school and work routine is on break not to just take a break from my routine as well. But, yesterday, while Julia was napping and Evan and Elisabeth were feeling sick with upset tummies on the couch, I headed off to the Y to begin my normal workout routine again. And while I've done pretty well this month (with maintaining most of the month and only up 2 pounds after all the feasting), I need to get back into the groove of actually losing weight. I swear, it's the battle of my life, this weight loss battle.

Along with my daily routine being back to normal, I've volunteered to be an assistant organizer for my mom's group I'm involved in. Nothing too extravagant, but I do get to help plan the meetings and schedule the play dates and whatnot. And, since I do so love my mommy group, I wanted to help the organizer out since it can be a bit overwhelming. Next week I'm hosting a book exchange and I am jazzed to see what books I'll be able to get my grubby little hands on. I love books.

Julia also loves books. And writing. I think she'll be our artist.





She also currently enjoys pretending to go to sleep. She loves to play this while I'm trying to fold laundry.




Her arm is doing much better and we have an appointment on Thursday to get more x-rays and to get the brace off.
Oh, and this tent?

Best $18.00 I've ever spent! She stinking loves that thing and is actually PLAYING BY HERSELF! Which is all I ever wanted for Christmas.

Julia also has added quite a few words to her vocabulary, but our favoritest word she's added? Happy.

She walks around and says "Happy!" in the squeakist, happiest voice. It makes us happy to hear how happy she is.