Preparing for Christmas

Well, this is at least the fourth post that I've started in the past month, only to give up because there's just too much for me to write about that I just can't decide what is most important. So... I'm just going to start randomly writing, hoping that I'll catch up on the past month or so with time.

The holidays are always my favorite time of year. They are also the most busy. Between traveling, shopping, concerts, baking, cooking, wrapping, well you already know the drill. It's A LOT! But, I'm enjoying it all. The Christmas music is always blaring in the car and at the office, and sometimes in our bedroom upstairs until Jake gets tired of it, shakes his finger at me, turns off the stereo, and says, "Don't." Too cute! He's also very interested in Santa. Not that he really understands the concept... he just likes the inflatable Santa outside and the Santa in the rocking chair inside. He's slightly intimidated by them, but really likes to point at them, saying, "Santa... ho,ho,ho."

Bailey, on the other hand, totally understands the concept of Santa and is eager to give us a variety of options for Santa to bring her on Christmas morning. She's a little curious about the fact that he is constantly watching. I think it has her a little scared, but is truly helping me in getting her to behave! :) I know... it's sad that I depend on that.

I'm feeling ADD today and I just have to say... I'm SO totally excited about Christmas!!! I can't wait to see the kids' faces on Christmas morning. Mom and I spent time early on the day after Thanksgiving to get some really awesome gifts for them and I just can't wait for them to see. I'll spill the beans after Christmas! :)

The one thing that I'm a little disappointed by is that the kiddos aren't that into Christmas movies. I LOVE Christmas movies... all the classics - Rudolph, Frosty, The Santa Clause... you name it and I love it. I'm sure that with time they will grow to love these classics just like me. I hope so. :)

Making money...

For several months now, Bailey asks me why Brad and I have to go to work. My answer is always the same. I tell her about how we work so that we can have nice things, do fun things (like vacations, shopping, eating out, and going to places like Chuck E. Cheese's or the lake), and have food to eat and a place to live. She has often had various opinions about our jobs. At one point, she told a little boy at the playground that her daddy didn't have a good job and didn't make a lot of money. She proceeded to tell him that I did have a good job and made a lot of money. My, oh my, how misconstrued her perception was! Of course, I did explain to her that daddy does have a good job and that he makes a lot more money than mommy. After a lengthy conversation, I understood that the reason she thought my job was better than Brad's was because I get to spend more time with her and Jake. We thought that was pretty intelligent for a three-year old to understand!

Well, today I got to see Bailey's impression of our jobs firsthand. We were pretending - I was the little girl and Bailey was my mom. She pretended that she was at work and came home to see me and Jake. She hugged us and kissed us as she came in the room. Then, she said, "I have to sit this heavy bag down... it's got all the money I made today at work." She proceeded to act like she was heaving a huge sack of money (Santa style) and pretended to sling it on to the ground. I was trying to hide my laughter when I asked what she did at work to make all that money. Her response, as she moved her hands like she was typing, "I moved my hands as fast as I could on the computer and I made more and more money!"

I guess that's almost accurate! :)

Growing up???

I'm not sure what's going on with my little man, but I think he's decided that he's not a baby anymore. My little baby has now graduated from using his pacifier (at least for now!). No more pacifier... we lost the only one he loved and he has decided that it's just not worth it to get addicted to a different one. So... we're taking full advantage and using this to break him from it. And I should be so thrilled that he's done with it (no more searching the toy boxes, under the couches, in the drawers, under his bed, etc. for the little thing). However, instead of being really excited about it, I'm kind of sad. This means he's growing up and into the terrible twos (which I am now seeing some hints at). It also makes me curious. We forgot his beloved blankie at my mom's a few weeks ago. I'm curious to see if he rejects it because he hasn't seen it in so long. I really hope not. I love to see his little face light up when he sees the blanket on his bed! We shall see...

A few favorites

Where is the video camera when I need it? The battery is almost always dead when I actually think to grab it... and grab it soon, I must. :) The kids are doing and saying some of the cutest things most recently.

Here are a couple of my favorites... and if I can catch it on video and figure out how to get it on my computer and here, I will most certainly do so.

Jake's form of dancing is now not only a little bounce with his knees bent, but a little hop. He's figured out how to pull both feet off the ground at the same time and land. The focus it takes for him to do this is probably what makes it so adorable... he stares down at his feet as if his eyes can tell them what to do. His facial expressions and eyes seem to work in telling everyone else what to do... why not try his feet?!

Bailey is learning to sing Christmas carols. And despite the fact that her voice is not the best in the world, she is actually quite good at remembering the words! For the past few days, we have been singing Jingle Bells and You Better Watch Out (just think Will Ferrell in Elf). Much to her father's chagrin, we have enjoyed belting out the Christmas songs that I LOVE so much and have even broken out the Christmas cd a couple of times (mostly when Brad's not around). :) Jake is actually trying to sing a little too, but he usually just yells "San" (for Santa, I'm quite sure) and does his little hoppy dance.

One of the other things that Jake has been doing that is cute (and somewhat annoying) is yelling at the tv. His older sister thinks that every time a commercial with any toy, and I do mean any toy, comes on tv that she has to yell and tell us that she wants it. So, imagine. I'm in the shower and Bailey comes busting in the bathroom screaming like the world has ended. My thoughts race to Jake and what he could have possibly jumped off of... as soon as I soak the floor by swinging the door open, I hear, "I want that... I want that... I want that..." and then she fumbles her way through the description of whichever toy it is she's seen. Now that Jake has seen this happen at least 50 times a day, he jumps up and down when a commercial (any commmercial) comes on tv and yells some gargled, what I would call "Jake language" while he points at the tv. Cute... absolutely... tiring... 9 times out of ten.

One more and I'm off to bed... my mom sent me a forward yesterday where they polled children about what love is. I'm sure you might have seen the forward... it's been around for a while and I've read it a few times before getting it yesterday. As I re-read it though, there were some really great responses. So, that got me and my mom thinking and wondering what Bailey would say. So, I asked Bailey, "What is love?" And she looked at me so sweet, smiled and said, "A kiss." She turned and just kept working on her computer game. I thought it was so simple and sweet... too bad that everything in this world isn't that easy. It would be a much better place for sure!

Where did fall go??

My kids love playing outside... especially my little man. He thinks that every morning we should get up, put shoes on, and exit the back door (all after eating breakfast, of course). However, that doesn't seem to be a possibility any more. In late October, we went outside to play on the swingset, all bundled up because it was already feeling a little wintry outside. I had planned to write a blog back then about how quickly it went from the mid-70s to the low 40s and upper 30s. Despite the cool temps, I still get a daily request (or a dozen) to go outside. Here are a few pictures of my babies bundled up on their swingset from that October day.

Everybody's Wigglin'!

Thanks to our good friend Rebecca, we were able to go to the Wiggles concert tonight! The kids had an absolute blast... they were both more excited than I expected them to be. Jake's little face lit up so much when they came out to Toot Toot Chugga Chugga Big Red Car. :) He was smiling from ear to ear and clapping his hands. He kept pointing at them and then looking at me, as if to say, "Are they really here?!" Bailey was equally impressed. She thought it was fabulous, especially when they came out into the crowd. She was hoping they'd come over to us... even Jake tried to wave them down. I think Rebecca and I enjoyed it as much as the kids did! We took a ton of pictures, but only a few of mine were focused... some only had a portion of the kids' faces. It's hard to take pics close up, especially with one on our lap! :)

Here are a few of the pictures from the night... the other child in the photos is Rebecca's little boy and one of Jake's very best friends, Joseph.

Halloween

I will never forget the Halloween that I celebrated the first year that I was with Brad. Colt was just a little boy, I guess he was only 8 years old (yes, time flies). Brad helped me and mom get Colt all dressed up as some scary monster thing and Brad painted his face. It was cute... his face and the fact that Brad painted it. And, Brad shared one of his memories from his childhood with us on that day... he told me about a time he could remember his dad painting his face for Halloween when he was a little boy. And, his eyes were shining as he remembered it. I guess that's when I knew that Halloween would have to be special for our family.

Well, we didn't paint the kids' faces (they are a little young for that) and we didn't do anything majorly different than most people. We carved pumpkins - Brad is a total pro at using the carving kits to make creative pumpkins. We trick-or-treated in our neighborhood, identified the candy that we would steal from the kids and eat once they were asleep, and enjoyed watching them learn about a holiday of bumming candy from your neighbors. But, it was special nonetheless. I am sure there will be many years of overly extravagant painted faces, scary scenes in the yard, and pranks that we wish our kids wouldn't play a part in. For now, we are satisfied with our two little ones being hopped up on sugar and crashing shortly after that! :)

The kids really enjoyed the act of trick-or-treating. Jake was a little hesitant at first. He wasn't really sure what we were doing... but he shortly figured out that he was getting candy by walking up to people's front doors and was not interested in being contained to a stroller while his sister got all the treats. So, he made his little way, all on his own, to many homes in our neighborhood, charming all the older women with his sweet little smile and grunty "Dank ew (thank you)." Bailey is still wondering when we can go again, because it really is fun to go and get tons of free candy from your neighbors. She often asks if we can go to their house again for more candy. :)

Here are a few of our favorite pics of our little butterfly and monkey.

Apologetically...

Sorry it's been a while since my last blog... I have now been contacted by at least three concerned friends, checking in to make sure that I'm OK. I guess that's a sign that I definitely need to catch up on my blogs! I can't believe that it's been a few weeks! Needless to say, it's been busy and I guess that's why I haven't taken the time to write. Good thing about this is that I started this blog to record all the precious things about my kids - the funny things they do and say - so that I can remember it when I'm older. Sadly, if you all weren't pressuring me to continue writing, I probably wouldn't. So... make sure you remind me when it's been a while! :)

And I'm even more sorry that now that you have me on here, you might get more blogs than you ever wanted. :)

In need of a chill pill

I guess my husband and I just really are true opposites. Some would say that we compliment each other well... and I would agree with that, with the exception of the days when we're at each other's throats because of our differences. All in all, we're really happy together. We are best friends on most days (except when I'm with my mom or Cilla... they just understand me all too well because they are SO much like me). Brad and I have survived a lot of hills and valleys, probably more than anything because I have a very patient husband who is willing to deal with my obnoxious mouth, hotheadedness, and stubborness. Sometimes that very patience is what makes me want to kill him... but more often than not, it's what makes me love him so much.

As parents, I can see these same roles even more defined. I am usually always the "bad guy" with the kids... enforcing the rules, threatening to "bust a butt" or take a toy away, and always the one who loses my cool or gets stubborn about some ridiculous little rule that no one in their right mind would really care about. It's just after saying things 100 times a day and being ignored 99 of those times, I get frustrated and decide that I will MAKE them listen to me. Sometimes it works, but more often I look like a raving lunatic. I get the fun parts of my children's lives because I'm home with them more than Brad, but I also get the bad part of being the disciplinarian. Not an easy job. But it wouldn't be that bad if I could just have a little more patience like Brad. (Don't get the big head, honey... I'm still pretty stubborn and probably won't ever admit this again!)

All of these thoughts were going through my mind tonight as I rocked my little blonde baby boy to sleep. I had a perfect example of my lack of patience and my husband's over abundance of it right after bath time. Yes, after bath time, Bailey always wants her daddy to get her out of the tub. This hasn't really bothered me, mainly because it forces Brad to help me and I can just get my wild man Jake out of the tub and dressed. So, I've known why Bailey wants her daddy for a while, but really took the time to think about it tonight. You see, Brad takes the time to wrap her up in a towel like a baby, holds her in front of the mirror and says, "Is that my baby girl?" and then allows her to jump on her bed naked for as long as she wants. Every night I spoil the fun by coming in and making her get dressed. Why? I don't know. I think that's what has been on my mind tonight. Why must she get dressed on my time schedule? Who died and made me keeper of the clock? So, I was "enforcing" my rule tonight when Brad just looked at me and said, "I told her I'd get her dressed when she was ready." Well, knowing Bailey that wouldn't happen until midnight... but he was right and I was wrong. He gave her permission and I tried to take it away. I was doing what I hate for him to do to me... I was going over his head. So... I quickly shut up. Yes, she is finally dressed and all is fine in the world. Maybe it's time for me to take the advice that my brothers and I always gave my dad when we were kids... Take a chill pill. :)

But I love him...

It is official... Bailey has now transformed to a pre-teen at the tender age of 3. My concerns about boys, dating, and all that goes with are being realized way too early. You see, I was told a few weeks ago about Bailey's new boyfriend, Austin. I thought I would crack up when they told me about how they hold hands during circle time, kiss on the playground, and can be found hugging intermittenly throughout the day. Completely innocent, affectionate children...

We have been teasing her about not kissing him so much, hoping that she'll understand that she needs to tone it down without discouraging her from being innocently affectionate with her friends. We both thought we'd just die laughing when Brad told Bailey she couldn't kiss boys anymore and she replied, in tears, "But daddy... I love him." It was definitely the worst case of foreshadowing yet!

I got the opportunity to see Bailey with Austin today when Jake and I went with her on a school field trip to Bi-Water Farm. They were adorable... and Austin is by far the cutest kid in her class. I completely understand why they are such good friends. He's a very smart, cute little boy. He's very sweet and a lot like Bailey. They really were like little best friends, sitting together on the hay ride, looking for pumpkins holding hands, and checking out all of the animals together. It was really sweet to see... even if it was a little strange. :)