Merry Christmas from E and J!

Today was a wonderful Sunday before Christmas (and my birthday for those in the know) and Mr. Everett and Miss Juliana are ringing in the Christmas season in their own special way. Frist of all, they sat on Santa's lap at the ward Christmas party last night.
Everett, as you can see, was a bit leery of that Santa fellow, but Juliana sat there like a champ. And then today in Nursery, he created his own Christmas card using only THREE fingers. I was impressed!
And Juliana celebrated Christmas at church in style, gracing everyone with a celebratory red velvet and creamy silk dress with red and green embroidered overlay. Touche!

The Girlier Side of Life

Since I became a mom to a boy first, I'm totally not used to "decorating" the head of my child. For whatever reason, I've really had to work hard at remembering that Juliana CAN wear bows, ribbons and other fun stuff. So thank you Jessica for giving me a nudge and sending not only a super cool bow, but also a very cute onesie!

She starts off being a little unsure about this whole bow business...
to becoming a bow pro...
to being utterly surprised at how dang big that bow is!

Thankfully Thankful

As a mom my days can sometimes be a bit monotonous. Getting and keeping kids clothed, fed, rested, clean and happy, while essential, are not always full of excitement. Sometimes my days are so full of the same kinds of activities that they blend together and all of a sudden I realize it's Friday. While I'm overjoyed to be a mom and wouldn't trade my two little tykes for anything in the world, I'm soooooo glad when we have a day or when I capture a moment that just makes me happy. Behold, one darling girl with the cutest, chubbiest legs and arms and one handsome, sweet, loving boy who are both so awesome:

Melmo Poo Poo

That's right my fine readers, apparently stuffed animals have potty issues too. At least according to my two-year-old. Everett brought me his stuffed "Melmo" yesterday exclaiming that Melmo had poo pooed. Thinking it was pretty cute I told Everett that we needed to change Melmo's diaper. Everett dutifully brought his beloved Melmo upstairs to his room and grabbed one of his diapers. Being the sensible mom that I am, I decided Juliana's size 1 diaper would be a better fit. Behold, the diapered Melmo:

And just so you know, Melmo's poo poo is stinky (according to Everett)

Is this the sign of a mom that spends a majority of her day in conversation with a two year old that I found this whole episode incredibly cute and highly entertaining?

Change of Address

Thanks Emily for reminding me that some folks might not have our current address. Rather than post it here any Bob, Chuck or Larry to stumble across, please shoot me an email and I'll reply with the address of our current abode. (I'm thinking for Christmas card purposes, if we're lucky enough to be on any of y'all's list). Happy Holidays!

Tuckered Out

When it comes to my kids' sleep schedules, I am nothing if not diligent. Nap times and bed times are pretty firm. It takes something pretty special and significant for me to compromise my children's sleep.

So a couple of weeks ago Everett woke up later than normal, which pushed his nap time back a tad. But when nap time rolled around, he was outside with Grandpa "helping" him cut the grass. And I got busy doing other things, so I thought, "We'll skip the nap and hopefully have an earlier bedtime tonight."

Later than evening I was in the midst of cooking dinner, so I put on "Toy Story 2" for Everett (currently one of his faves). A few minutes later I went in to bring him to the table and this is what I saw:

It wasn't even 6:30 yet! I felt like a horrible mom for letting him fall asleep on the floor, waaay early, and without dinner. But he was out. I put him to bed and he woke up the next morning at 8 raring to go.

Moral of the story? I'm not nearly as hard-nosed about sleep as I like to think!

And to conclude, a shot of the fab foursome at Ty and Kami's Open House last weekend: