The magic of Christmas

After weeks of waiting Christmas finally arrived for Alyssa and Lauren, and I think it was all they anticipated and more.

We arrived at Nana and Papa's house on Friday, December 23, and the fun began!

On Christmas Eve the girls finally got to see Drew again. Alyssa had been talking about holding him for weeks now, so she was quite excited when he finally arrived.

Lauren, although she loved Drew, was much more into Scooter. She loved chasing him around and would even call "Doo" and try to catch his tail.

Before bed that night, Alyssa got a plate of cookies ready for Santa.


We tried to take a picture of both girls in their pajamas with the cookies in front of the tree. Look closely at the series of pictures and you'll be able to tell that Santa got one less cookie than he should have!




Both girls then headed back to bed where they had the first of their presents waiting, new books about Christmas. Lauren loves her new book about what she could have done had she been in Bethlehem the night Jesus was born, and Alyssa enjoys her book about "What is Christmas?" but she makes up her own story, she still has yet to let us read it to her. They both went to bed well with all the excitement of knowing that Santa would be there over night.

Alyssa woke up really early and came into bed with Aaron & I and fell back to sleep. Lauren woke up quite early as well, screaming around 5:15 or 5:30. So that's when we all started to get up. Alyssa waited patiently for everyone to get up and then we headed out to the living room to see if Santa had come around 6:30. I don't think that they knew quite what to think of all those presents under the tree; it can be a bit overwhelming.



After the initial shock wore off though, they dove right in to their presents. Alyssa loved opening all of her presents and she was so excited to receive everything. It was kind of fun because as she'd open things, I'd try to tell her who things were from and as she opened, without really looking up and in her quiet voice, she'd say "Thank you so-and-so." She absolutely loved it. She got her overalls, Barbie, socks, puzzles, and many, many toys. She also got 2 aprons to help me while baking (so did Lauren!), a cash register, lots of play-doh toys and more.



Lauren, on the other hand, took three days to open all of her gifts. She was much more into climbing on the boxes, chasing Scooter, and pushing the buttons on the cash register. But she too got a ton of gifts - the Weebles treehouse, a CD player, a shopping cart, a new baby, a keyboard, and some coloring things as well.


Overall I think she found the process to be quite exhausting.

We all then got dressed and headed to church. It was a great service, complete with lots of singing, a great message, and a baptism. Alyssa went up front for the time with the children and passed out candy canes to members of the congregation and during the prayer concerns/announcements, when the pastor asked if there were any birthdays, Alyssa raised her hand and told him that it was Jesus'. I learned though that we need to talk more with them about heaven because during one of the songs when we sang heaven, Alyssa asked "Who is Kevin?" (which is our neighbor who also goes to that church)

After a quick change of clothes, we headed down to Great Grandmas. What a fun day. We were a little surprised by how quickly Alyssa warmed up to all of her family. Much to my surprise, she even said grace, and I think it was even loud enough for some people to hear! It made me laugh because during lunch Alyssa asked my two cousin's kids (ages 12 and 8) what they got for Christmas. Lauren was a little slower to warm up to everyone, but if they had food (i.e. sweets), she'd be their best friend. It was so great to see everyone and catch up with family.

Neither girl had a nap that day, and Lauren was EXHAUSTED by the time we left Great Grandmas. She didn't even make it to the post office (which is like .1 miles away) before she fell asleep.

Over the next few days, we enjoyed spending time with family and friends...

Alyssa & Mitchell saying good-bye

Alyssa, Mitchell & Lauren making silly faces

Alyssa, Lauren & Mitchell taking a break

Alyssa, Michael & Lauren riding the Story bus at the mall

Alyssa & Michael playing ring-a-round-the-rosie at the mall

We also also enjoyed playing with our new toys. A family favorite to play is marching band.



Alyssa hasn't stopped talking about her different friends and family in Pennsylvania. And Lauren is still quite taken with "Ho ho ho" and "nose" (this is what she calls Rudolph). It will be sad when we take all the decorations down over the next few days and all that excitement kind of fades away. It was so much fun and so worth the drive (Praise the Lord for no car sickness and safe travels!). We hope that you too had a magical Christmas with family and friends.

Bye Bye Thumb

It started early.




December 2008 (~1.5 months)


February 2009 (~3 months)


April 2009 (~5 months)

And we encouraged it. It was quite nice that she could self-soothe, and to this day we credit it for getting her to sleep through the night at 6 weeks and as much as 12-13 hours by 2-3 months. And at times it was even quite cute. The moment she was nervous, shy, sad, angry, or tired, in the mouth went the thumb.


August 2009 (~9 months)


June 2010 (~19 months)


December 2010 (~2 years, 1 month)

But we knew that it was something that would eventually have to go. Our pediatrician in Minnesota talked to us at her 1-year and 18-month appointments about different things to put on the thumb to discourage her from doing it, but we didn't want to try to break her of it when there was going to be so much change (new baby, move, etc.). Then our pediatrician at her 2-year appointment said we'd be fighting a losing battle to try and do it then but that we'd need to at some point. But how do you get a little one to give up their thumb? All our friends were dealing with getting rid of pacifiers, no one else had a thumb sucker. And our friends with older kids all said, they would just outgrow it...in response to our question of at what age, they'd say 6+ years. So we didn't know what we'd do.

Shortly before Alyssa's third birthday, we started talking to her about it. We told her that once she turned 3, she'd be a big girl and that big girls didn't suck their thumbs. And she'd tell you that too if you asked her about her birthday. So her birthday came, and we held our breath to see what would happen.

The first day, she wore socks to daycare to remind her and she'd sit on her hands in the car so she wouldn't suck her thumbs there. Every once in a while, she'd slip up and suck her thumb. When you asked her about it, she would tell you "I just want to be two for a little bit." And at night while reading books, she'd let baby suck her thumb for her. It was too cute.

But pretty soon, I couldn't remember the last time she sucked her thumb. She was a little slower to give it up at day care, but one day, she just crawled up on Miss Gwen's lap and told her that she wasn't going to do it anymore. They came up with a plan, a way for Miss Gwen to remind her to take her thumb out ("uh-oh" was the code word) and within a week or so, the thumb was gone there too.

So we made her a chart to work toward a prize - her choice? going to a hotel and swimming. Well, this morning she put the last sticker on her chart, so in the next week or so we'll be headed to a hotel to celebrate her giving up sucking her thumb. She's so proud of herself and so are we. She's a very determined little girl and she kept working toward her goal.



We're not real sure what she does while she's sleeping/napping. We don't see her with her thumb in when we're in the room ever, but if we had to guess, it still goes in on occasion. Alyssa was very proud to tell the doctor about it at her 3-year check-up and the doctor gave her a high-five. She told us not to worry about night time and that she's done a great job. Way to go Alyssa!

Santa Take 2

One of the things I've been so thankful for up until recently was the fact that the girls never really asked for anything in stores. She'd go shopping with you, but she would never say "I want X." But by encouraging her to think about what she wanted from Santa for Christmas, I think I awoke that tendency in her. Over the past few weeks, she's been saying "I want" a lot more, especially in stores. It came to a head about a week ago in Target when she saw Princess Barbie dolls at the checkout. She kept saying "I want a Barbie" over and over, and I ended up carrying her out crying from the store.

Telling her that Christmas was coming and she didn't need anything right then didn't seem to help. She then decided she need to tell Santa that she wanted a Barbie, so she needed to go back to the mall and see him again. So to the mall we went this afternoon....the line was quite a bit longer than the last time. She waited for over an hour to sit on the big guy's lap to tell him she wanted a Snow White Barbie. When it was finally our turn (she never once complained about how long it was taking), she went up, sat on his lap.



Here's how the conversation went:

Santa: Hi.
Alyssa: Where are your reindeer?
Santa: Where are my reindeer? They're on the roof. There's no room for them in here. Have you been a good girl?
Alyssa: Mmhmm
Santa: Do you pick up all your toys?
Alyssa: Mmhmm
Santa: What would you like for Christmas?
Alyssa: Socks, a Barbie, and snow.

Got to love her. I sure hope Santa brings her a Barbie doll! We'll have to wait and see...

On another note, Aaron and I took turns taking Lauren into different stores to keep her occupied. While I was in one store, she all of a sudden said "Uh oh" and turns around looking. I said "Uh oh what?" and turned around and looked. There on the floor about 5 feet back was Lauren's show. I went and grabbed it and said "You little stinker" and she gave me that smile that only she can give. Good thing she said "Uh oh!", but she's a sneaky little cutie!

Christmas = cookies

Christmas for me is synonymous with cookies. For those of you who know my family, you'll know why. And although I may not be the world's great cook (nor do I enjoy trying to be creative in the kitchen), I do enjoy baking. Aaron accepts my need to make lots of different cookies, even if we don't necessarily have anyone to give them to, and this year has proven to be no different. I've been working to make a variety of cookies - for parties, for gifts, and just for us to enjoy. But what I have really enjoyed this year is making them with my little helpers.

Alyssa has been right beside as we've made cookies this year. She has cracked eggs, mixed and beaten ingredients, decorated cookies, and more. I think she's both enjoyed it and learned a lot from the process. She's been patient through all of it and has learned about the different ingredients and even a little bit of math.







Lauren always wanted to be right in the mix as well. She loves to do whatever her big sister is doing, and she found it very challenging to not be able to do it all (next year, she'll be ready!). She was, however, able to smash oreos pretty well.





But what both girls were best at is being the taste testers - you can see for yourself in these pictures.









Lauren was the one that you couldn't take your eyes off of during the process. While making peanut butter blossoms, Aaron & Alyssa left some wrapped Hershey Kisses on the kitchen table to bring some over and put them on the cookies. Lauren snuck up to the table and managed to get a few opened and in her mouth before we could catch her. She's quick!

My greatest concern for Christmas is how I'm going to keep Lauren away from all the sweets at Great Grandma's on Christmas day. I can't quite hide them like I do at home, so we'll just have to keep her busy. And well, if that doesn't work, I guess everyone will get to be a witness to her tantrums/meltdowns that results from her not getting her way. Guess she's got my sweet tooth.

The Trifecta of Celebrations

What a weekend! Three different celebrations all in one weekend - Alyssa's birthday (take 2), Thanksgiving, and Christmas. What more could you ask for? Grammy, Papa & Auntie Stacy came to visit for Thanksgiving weekend, and we filled that weekend with lots of fun activities.

Because they had missed Alyssa's birthday, we celebrated Alyssa' birthday when they arrived on Wednesday night. We ate the leftover frozen cake from her original birthday, sang Happy Birthday, and she opened more presents...a trampoline from Auntie Stacy, a camera from Aunt Sarah, and a remote control car a hamburger playdoh kit and more from Grammy & Papa. Both girls have really been enjoying the new presents.



We all woke up early on Thursday morning to head to the Grand Rapids Turkey Trot. I ran the 5k with all of them cheering me on, and then Alyssa ran a 1K with Auntie Stacy and Papa. She is really enjoying running and races, she even got a ribbon for finishing this one - 80th out of 84! But she enjoyed every last minute of it, and still pulls up the pictures on her camera of her running.

We came home to brunch and play time. While Aaron and I began preparations for the meal, Alyssa, Grammy & Auntie Stacy made some gingerbread houses.





Friday morning found Stacy and I up early and at the malls for the most pleasant shopping experience ever - no lines, no crowds and nearly front row parking spots! That evening, we all headed to Fifth Third Ball Park for the Nite Lites display. Both girls enjoyed getting out of their car seats and admiring the lights. Lauren watched them all, and Alyssa exclaimed in glee at some of the displays. One of my favorite moments was when she saw a gingerbread baby and shouted, "I am the gingerbread baby, fresh from the pan. If you want me catch me if you can."

Saturday found us at the mall again for Christmas pictures. Alyssa expressed interest in going to see Santa, so we headed his way. We had passed by him just a few weeks earlier, and she wouldn't hardly look at him, but she was determined this day. She got out of the stroller and walked up with Auntie Stacy to meet the big guy. Lauren and I followed behind him. When it was her turn, she hopped up on to his lap. You could tell she was nervous as she kept putting her fingers in her mouth, but she managed to tell him that she wanted puzzles and overalls for Christmas. She was so excited to get a candy cane from him when she finished. Lauren, on the other hand, wasn't so sure about "Ho ho ho". She just clung on to Stacy and I.









From there we headed to a garden shop to meet some of Santa's reindeer. To our surprise, Santa was there as well. Alyssa wanted to sit on his lap again, and this time, she asked him "How did you get here so fast Santa"...seriously?! He wasn't quite sure how to answer that.

That evening we celebrated Christmas, complete with more presents. The girls are really enjoying some new "babies" that have been named Little Audrey and simply "Baby." Lauren enjoys pushing her baby around in the carriage, feeding her bottles and giving her hugs. Both girls are enjoying a new table and chairs as well as lots of other toys.

All in all, it was a fun weekend, filled with lots of laughter (unfortunately my mind has been preoccupied with school and has forgotten some of them). Thanks to the Menkes for making the trip out to see us!

More quotable quotes

Alyssa continues to make us laugh with what she says sometimes, here are a few of our favorites from the past few weeks...

Alyssa: Hey mama.
Me: Yes, Alyssa?
Alyssa: Is your momma a llama?

Alyssa: Hey Dad. Hey Dad. Daddy. Hey dad. (Aaron is getting annoyed at this by now.)
Aaron: Yeah?
Alyssa: Do you know the muffin man?

On the way to gymnastics:
Alyssa: It's so dark I can hardly see myself.
Me: Can you see the moon?
Alyssa: The moon isn't out, it's raining. It's in its home behind the clouds.

When walking into the bathroom where one of the light bulbs was burnt out, she looked at Aaron and said: "Uh oh, we need to change the meatball!"

Her new-found love of playing with language, keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing!

Cheese

Since she was just itty bitty, we have cherished every one of Lauren's smiles. Back then, they were a pleasant change from her crying, but now they just make us laugh. She has got the craziest little smile, and it fits her personality so perfectly because it's cute but kind of mischievous. You can almost see her spirit coming through in this smile. You can't help but smile back at her when she scrunches her face all up and shows you those teeth. What do you think?









She can really ham it up, huh?

And speaking of teeth, the last eye tooth has poked through, so our little 17 month old now has 16 teeth! I think that might be it for a while (thank goodness!)