The Hat and the Baby

Carolyn is very interested in Opposites right now- she likes to take the hat Off and say "off" and then put it back on again and say "on!"She is growing very attached to her baby. She is so very kind and gentle with it, it's really quite touching. She's already a very motherly little soul.
She loves to rock the baby (perhaps a little unconventionally, but maybe it works better that way :)) and burp the baby. Yesterday she had the baby lying on the ottoman and told me the baby had a poopy. She lifted the baby's little legs and asked me for a "bep" (wipe) to wipe her! She has the beginnings of an imagination! :) YES!
Here she is taking the baby and a "bot" to bed. She insisted last night on taking Baby to her own bed with her... but things didn't work out so well- she pitched the baby over the side of the crib (along with all the pipes) and then cried and cried until I came in the room and she said "Baby! Pies!" I returned them to her, but after another repetition of the same game, I told her, to her great grief, that the Baby was going to sleep out in the living room.
I think she will enjoy her Christmas present- I copied the idea from a baby/bassinet combo that costs about $45- I got the baby really inexpensively and made a liner for this basket! I'm not really much of a seamstress, but I think it turned out great! :)

Parties and Projects

Last week was the Week of Parties! I think we had 5 parties all in one week! It was a very busy week, along with the usual "life stuff" and some special projects that we were working on. I think those who look back may call this "Craft Christmas" because I've actually made a lot of things for presents- pulled the ol' sewing machine out of the basement and managed to produce some things that are (I think) far from the "gnarled messes" that my first attempts at new projects typically resemble.

One of the more successful of the Christmas Projects for this year was the Christmas Cookie Forest. With some help from great friends, we made hundreds of star cookies on Saturday morning- then with a careful mix of balance and frosting, managed to stick them together to form these really cute Christmas trees!! We took some to a party and brought others around to share Christmas cheer. But I'm glad Brad took a picture because they turned out even cuter than I'd expected! A bit labor-intensive... but I think this may become a tradition over the years because it's so much fun! :)Saturday, we had a party at Heather, Rich, and Rachel's house to celebrate Christmas with our Friday playgroup. It hardly seems possible that we can have been playing together every week for almost 18 months now!! On the one hand, it feels like we've been friends a long time- and on the other, I just look at the kids and wonder what happened to the babies we used to sit around and cuddle together?!
Everybody had a great time. :)
We managed to get a halfway decent group Christmas photo.
We were experimenting with a new mode on our camera (since the flash seems to wash everything out, but unless the light is really bright, pictures seem to turn out blurry any other way), so this picture is blurry, but I love it because it shows just how our kids play "together" at this age. Everyone's trying to get some of what someone else has and there are occasional teaching moments where we have a lesson in politeness... but they do seem to have a good time together, and goodness knows, we mamas do too! I'm so thankful for these girls! They've brought so much fun into my life and I'm blessed to have them as friends. In so many ways, I was really quite lonely before Carolyn came, working full-time, odd hours much of the time, and new to the area, but she brought with her so many opportunities to get to know other moms and my heart is full this Christmas with love and friendship and belonging. We are blessed and we know the One to whom thanks is truly due. :)

A Much Needed Update

Hello from the land of merry Christmas parties, sewing projects, cookie baking, crazy pharmacy shifts... and the stomach flu which has struck us each in turn this week! I'm still trying to catch up on all my regular stuff, not to mention the many "projects" I seem to create for myself each year- it sometimes stresses me out, but most of the time this is my favorite time of the year; I love the hustle and bustle of it all- but I do feel pretty tired when it's all over! I could do without the stomach flu, though I seem to catch it every year! :)

Friday we went to the Meijer Gardens for a "different" inside place for the kids to walk around and play in. They enjoyed the freedom to roam around (supervised of course) in the large, warm, "tropical" garden area. We tried to take some pictures- mostly unsuccessfully. :)Git-down! Git-down! Carolyn knows exactly how to tell me what she wants. :)
All 4 of the kiddos on the bench.
I found these pictures when I downloaded from the camera this morning... I think Daddy's been doing Carolyn's hair again! And this explains why I found nearly all the bows we have scattered around the changing table the other morning (rather than arranged neatly clipped on long ribbons, organized by color and pattern :)).
Here's a top view! :)
If you get our Christmas letter, needless to say you won't be getting this failed attempt at family picture! I have to laugh at how furious Carolyn looks here! :)
Here are Carolyn and Christian, the son of my wonderful Dr. They were born just 3 days apart! Here are a couple of their other moments together. :)
Me and Dr. Judy, just days before the births of Carolyn and Christian
Just a few weeks old! :) Wow, have they changed since then!

The Tree

So someone (well, I) had the bright idea that going to cut down a Christmas tree would be a fun family event this year... So we got everyone all bundled up and looking cute... halfway hoping that there'd be a chance for a great family picture for our Christmas letters... but it didn't last long... not five minutes after we got out of the car, poor Carolyn experienced her first "Frosty," falling face-down in the dirty snow. She then proceeded to cry for the rest of the time we were there! Poor kid! I think the boots might be too big.
We felt so bad for her! When I finally got her back in the car and dressed in regular clothes again, she was still upset, looking at her hands and saying, "Dooty! Dooty! Dooty!" It took me a minute to realize there was sand on her hands from one of her falls! She's so sensitive to dirt! I'm afraid she may become the motivating factor for me becoming a better housekeeper someday... guess that can't be a bad thing. :)
She was considerably happier after a nap and a snack. Here she is dancing to the music from the Nutcracker. :)
We tried for a family picture with the tripod tonight... here are a couple of the out-takes. :) It's hard to get a wiggly little toddler to look in the general direction of the camera- and be still while it takes pictures! :)

Cool!

Carolyn has been "into" sunglasses for awhile now- she calls them "eyes" and frequently requests to wear them. Today she came up to me with the glasses, held them out and said "Hoo! Hoo! Hoo!" Her word for "cold" is "hoe," so it wasn't a far stretch to realize that what she meant by "Hoo" was "Cool." She wanted to look cool! This is because whenever she puts the glasses on, I always tell her that she looks so cool- and she remembers! I got a laugh out of this moment in my day and I thought you might, too. :) She certainly does look Cool!

At the Mall

While I went back to view and order my pictures with the sharks at JC Penney (with my "No Thank You" ready to go enough times until they finally believed that I really was only going to buy the cheap pictures), Carolyn played at the mall bacteria breeding ground with Rachel, Caimon, and Aidan.
Apparently, Aidan was feeling very affectionate. I was sorry I wasn't there to watch them walking around holding hands and hugging! :)
Here we all are- ready for lunch- about a half hour too late for our comfort. :) The kids made their views about the delay heard until the food got there. :)

Christmas Pictures!

On Friday, I took Carolyn to JC Penney to have Christmas pictures taken. Surprisingly (since this age group is understandably the hardest one to photograph well!), this turned out to be our best "professional" photo shoot to date! We actually managed to get Carolyn to smile at the camera- a skillful combination of the photographer knowing when to snap the picture, a friendly stuffed polar bear courtesy of Papa Craig, and as many Nilla Wafers as she asked for. :) I'm not above bribing for good pictures. These were my favorites- it was actually a harder decision than I'd expected to choose which ones to buy. If you want to see them all, go here (and input my name and this session cod: LTPP0136105640JCP). If you're thinking of ordering any, email me before you pay what they charge on line- I bought some extras for family and friends.