Christmas

For Christmas this year we stayed home and both agreed that it was nice to not mess with the crowds, blizzards, and chaos of flying with 2 kids at Christmas-time! We will be flying to CA in March (Uncle Matt is getting married!) , Joel to Wisco in July (bachelor party), and then Wisco in August (Ryan's wedding). Anyway here's a few pics from the holidays--I didn't take too many.

Emily gave us the "elf on the shelf" this year. It's an elf that watches over the girls each day and then at night he flies to the North Pole and tells Santa if they've been good (it comes with a book that tells all about the elf). Each morning he comes back and is sitting in a different spot in the house. They LOVED looking for him each morning. Here they are talking to him (he's in the rain boot) and asking him what he did at Santa's house the night before.

Decorating cookies with Cat-mama on Christmas Eve. My favorite quote from Willa, "HEY! Santa ate all my cookies!! We gotta get 'em back!!"

Santa brought the girls a dollhouse, some "sewing stuff" for Larkin (she loves to sew), and lots of games we can all play together. We opened presents at our house Christmas morning, and then drove to Round Rock and opened even more presents! Larkin kept saying, "Maybe when I wake up from my nap Santa will come again!"


Larkin with her "princess crown." She is really into princesses and the color pink right now!!

Planting the seed

A few moms from our playgroup and I sponsored a needy family for Christmas. We chose a family that has two kids, a 9 yr old boy and a 10 yr old girl. They live in east Austin in a tiny house (300 sq feet) and the mom just had heart surgery. The dad is unemployed. When I called her on the phone to see what her needs were, she was so excited to hear that she had a sponsor. She said they needed groceries, clothing, and toys for the kids. She kept saying that they were just having a very hard time right now and thanked me profusely for helping.

It's been neat to see Larkin's reaction to all of this. When I first told her about the family, she pretty much just understood that a little boy was cold and didn't have a coat, so we were going to buy him one. Then after a few days she started asking questions like, "Why doesn't the boy have a coat?" and "Why don't they have any money? Why don't they have a job?"

Once everyone brought all the presents over so that Emily and I could deliver them, Larkin said, "I wish people would come over and bring ME presents!!" I turned that comment around and talked about how happy the little boy and girl were going to be when they got their gifts. She agreed but still thought people bringing her gifts was a great idea. Can't blame her!

Larkin came with me to drop the gifts off. She didn't say anything while we were there, but she did carry a gift inside all by herself and keeps talking about how she wants to wrap her front door in wrapping paper "just like our family." The family invited us inside their house and the kids were so incredibly excited and grateful for the gifts. As we left we could hear them all squealing behind the door. There were five of us who pitched in together to help them, so they got quite the jackpot of gifts, food, and clothes!

This afternoon Larkin and Willa were flipping through my cookie cookbook and Larkin was trying to pick out the cookies she wanted to make today. She pointed at some of them to make for Daddy, some for Willa, and some for "our family" (meaning the family we adopted.)

Then tonight I read Larkin Jack and Beanstalk at bedtime, and when it talked about how poor the mom and Jack were Larkin immediately interrupted me and said, "We should give them some food! But they probably live far away."

Joel and I agreed that this is something that we want to do with the girls every year, so next year we're going to adopt a family by ourselves and all go deliver the gifts together.

If anyone is interested in adopting a family this year or in the future, google Christmas Bureau of Austin.

Potty-time

Someone wants to be just like her big sister! Willa is refusing to wear a diaper on most mornings-"No! I want unner-wear! No diaper!!" Here's some pics of her in her undies after eating some spaghetti! Larkin is her cheering squad for potty training and always supervises closely. Willa has told Larkin, "Get out. I need my privacy!" but Larkin doesn't listen. Oh, those sisters!

Luminations

Last weekend we went to Luminations at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. They light up the trails there with paper bags and candles and you can walk through in the dark. The girls loved it! Their favorite part was chasing each other down the long pathways and giggling as they darted around other people. This first picture was me experimenting with the settings on my camera. As you can see, I have not yet learned how to photograph well in the dark!!

They also loved pretending to blow out the candles!

There is a lookout tower that has a view of the whole city. Here's some of the lighted pathways.

Everyday they are looking more and more alike! They are also the same weight now (28 lbs). Willa's belly is MUCH bigger than Larkin's. Willa is big and round and Larkin is tall and thin--but somehow it evens out and they can wear a lot of the same clothes now!

Santa

Emily and I took the girls to the mall today to deliver the kids' letters to Santa and to ride the train. We waited in line for maybe 15 minutes and then got to see Santa. All week Willa has been saying that she will not sit on Santa's lap--only Daddy should sit on Santa.

We walked up to Santa and they both gave him their letters, and then we had a short conversation with him about the cookies we will be leaving out for him. I got them to sit in his lap for maybe 20 seconds, but then Willa started freaking out and that scared Larkin, so we didn't get a picture. But at least we made it to his lap! I'm hopeful now for next year!!

Willa got a little scared of the train, so Daphne and Larkin rode it without her. They giggled and talked to each other as it circled round and round.

The three musketeers!

Uncle Matt and Uncle Pat's visit

Uncle Matt had a training to give in Waco this week, so Patrick bought a ticket too and came down as well. Cat-mama and Papa took us to our favorite German place, the Walburg restaurant near Georgetown. It was great to have everyone together again!

Matt and his girlfriend Laura. Laura gave Larkin a new dress (she's wearing it here) and so Larkin immediately fell in love with her!!

independent play

I am falling behind on this blog, but here's a few pics I took last week. The girls are starting to have a fascination with bunkbeds (Larkin begs me for one all the time--and wants to sleep on the top!). Now they've started creating their own with the coffee table. Willa really should sleep on the top though b/c all she does is bonk her head continously on the bottom!!!


After breakfast they are always in a good mood and usually run off and play together without me. Everyday they decide to do something different, but a few times this week they made beds on the floor and read books to themselves. They run around and collect all the items they need (perfect pillow, specific blankets, babies, etc.) and then make their beds. They even turned off the lights and pretended to go to sleep. I came in with the camera but was told, "Get outta here, we're playing with our babies. Don't talk to us please."

Reading to pink bear and baby Cara.

"Cara likes it when I put my arm around her like this when we go to sleep." Immediately after she said that I heard, "Now go somewhere else Mommy. I'm sleeping."

snip snip!

Well, it had to happen sooner or later! Larkin and I were cutting and painting paper snowflakes this afternoon with grown up scissors. She's very good with scissors now and I don't really have to worry about her cutting her fingers. We had finished all the cutting and she was just painting her snowflakes, so I ran to the bathroom (but left the scissors on the table--big mistake!). When I returned, I couldn't find her. Then she came out from under the kitchen table with my pair of scissors and I immediately said, "Oh my God! You cut your hair??!!" and then I started giggling.

She denied it at first but once she realized that I wasn't mad, she really was quite proud of herself!! I'm just glad that I had her hair in a ponytail--she wasn't able to grab anything other than her bangs. No telling what she would have done if ALL her hair had been down!! Needless to say Mommy's scissors will be locked away for a long time!!!

We wish you a wedgie Christmas??

Their idea, not mine!! Willa loves to give herself wedgies with these pants, and Larkin decided to do it too! So far this is the front runner for our Christmas card this year, so I better get busy!!

give the girl some cake!

Here's a cute pic of Willa at her friend Liam's (doctor themed) birthday party. She does this face a lot now and usually exhales, pushes up her fat cheeks and frowns, and says, "I'm sad." I'm pretty sure she was sad in this pic because she wanted the cake but had to wait a bit!

Is it Christmas now??

For Thanksgiving, we went to Cat-mama and Papa's house. Despite their excellent cooking, the girls hardly ate any turkey (they are going to be vegetarians, I just know it!)...but they did chow down on the marshmallow topped sweet potatoes! On the drive home, Larkin said, "Thanksgiving is over, so is it Christmas now? Is Santa coming tomorrow?!?"

At 6:30 this morning Larkin was up and at it, and begging Daddy to put up the Christmas tree and the lights outside. By noon we had the tree up, decorated, and all the lights in the front yard up as well!! While we were assembling the tree, Willa was on the back deck helping to bring in the tree pieces. I heard Larkin say, "Daddy, Willa is watering the tree!!" We came out to find this:

While decorating the tree, the girls took a few breaks to dance together to the Christmas music. They love to hold hands and dance in a circle.

Now that all the decorations are up (and 80% of my shopping is already done!) we're going to have to find lots of holiday activities to keep us busy these next few weeks. Hurry up, Santa!!
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Here's a few more pics that we took recently--

Willa building a huge tower of blocks with Cat-mama. She started building it from the very bottom, then ran and got her step-stool all by herself. I didn't quite capture it on film, but she had a look of total concentration while stacking each and every block sky-high!

Eventally it toppled onto Cat-mama and she thought that was hilarious!
One night the girls got into the stash of wire hangers, and they stuck them on every knob in the house!!

Welcome to the fam, Jaime!

Joel's brother Ryan is now engaged! Ryan (a fishing guide) took his girlfriend Jaime musky fishing-after she caught a musky he told her to take his picture holding the fish...if you look closely, you can see that he has the ring on his finger in this pic! Then after she took the picture (she was oblivious about the ring), he proposed!
Their wedding will be next August in Wisconsin. Joel is the best man, and the girls are going to be flower girls! Larkin can't wait to get her dress-she keeps telling me, "Mommy, let's get ready for the wedding!!"

"Terrible Cough!"

Well I returned from NYC on a Monday, and by Tuesday both girls had pretty bad colds! Larkin is back to normal now, but Willa's cold turned into an ear infection (just like every other cold she's ever had--this girl is a good candidate for ear tubes soon). The antibiotics weren't working on her and so they upped her to a stronger medicine today. We're hoping to have our old Willa back soon-she has been MISERABLE. We've spent a lot of time on the couch. It's felt like I have an infant again-she wants to be carried everywhere and I can't get anything done because I'm constantly carrying her!! She even fell asleep on me two or three times-something she hasn't done in over a year.

Larkin has been very sweet and tries hard to comfort Willa when she cries. There were a few times though when all Willa wanted to do was sit in my lap and whimper, and Larkin would say, "Willa, why don't you want to play with me? Play with me! Come on! Let's play my little ponies!! You can be Sarah!" You know she's being sweet when she lets Willa be her favorite pony!!

NYC

Well my trip away was a success for everyone! Joel did a great job with the girls and had everyone under control for 4 full days! The girls asked for me on the first day, but after that they settled into a (busy) routine and didn't seem to miss me too much! I must say though that I think the three of them bonded quite a bit while I was gone--the past couple days the girls have really missed him when he's away at work and keep talking about all the fun things they did together!

Joel kept the girls very entertained-they went to the zoo, listened to live music at Central Market for dinner, a Celtic festival with our friends Matt and Emily (and daughter Daphne), Cat-mama and Papa's house, the park, etc. He was even able to convince Larkin to finally change out of her dress that she'd been wearing for 5 days (and nights!) straight--a real accomplishment--she was obsessed with this dress!! :)

My trip went very well--all my flights were on time and it was so nice to just not have any responsibility for a few days!! With all the down-time traveling on the plane, subway, trains, etc., I was even able to finish the last 500 pages of my 600 page book!

One of the first things we did while I was there was to get a haircut--awesome that I did not have to arrange a babysitter or coordinate with Joel's schedule!!! Patrick kept me very busy touring NYC, and I have the sore leg muscles to prove it. I had been there before once with Joel, so many of the touristy sites I had already seen--but we did do some things that were on my list, like the Metropolitan Museum (got to put my Art History classes to use!). We saw a lot of Dutch paintings, Impressionist art, and a really neat photography exhibit. That place is huge though and it would take you a week to see it all!

Pat lives on Staten Island, which is a 25 min ferry ride from Manhattan. Here's a pic of a Fort Wadsworth, which is on Staten Island. This fort is at the entrance of NY harbor and protected NY city for 200 yrs.
Here's me freezing my tookus off underneath the Brooklyn Bridge. It was really cold the first day of my trip, but after that it stayed in the low 60s.

Pat and Sara's live on the top floor of a house that was built in the late 1800's or early 1900's...I can't remember when, but it's an old house! This is the view out of their living room window--a huge Catholic church, but if you look off in the distance you can see Manhattan. It was a little hazy on this day, so downtown is not super clear-but on clear days the view was great!

Here's a pic of Patrick in front of his work-his office is on Broadway. The day I arrived, there was a ticker tape parade for the Yankees who just won the World Series. Sara also works on Broadway, and had to get to her office by 6am to avoid the crowds and get into her building. The parade goes down Broadway and people started finding spots along the parade route at 2am. CRAAAAZY fans. We walked down the street the day after the parade, and there was paper EVERYWHERE!! You can see some of it leftover here on the ground the following day, but this picture in no way does justice to the amount of paper that we saw!!

Sara is a lawyer and was in the midst of a "fire drill" at work (her term for when things get super busy and she has to work a lot on the weekend!) so I didn't get to see her too much, but we did go to a Broadway show together. We saw West Side Story. Everyone always says that you HAVE TO see a show when you go to NYC, and now I understand why. I've never been a fan of musicals (at least not in the movie format), but West Side Story was amazing! The singing, dancing, and costumes were so beautiful to watch and it was fun to just "check-out" for a while mentally and get sucked into the show!

Here's the three of us in Times Square.

We also ate tons of great food-- toured "Little India" and had the best Indian food ever (my favorite), went to Katz's deli, and had lots of pizza and bagels!

There are a few other things that we did, but I've run out of time to tell it all. My vacation is most definitely over--Willa is here trying to type on the computer and her finger is moving dangerously close to the power key...back to reality!!

Thanks Pat and Sara for a great trip!!!

Off to the Big Apple

Well I'm leaving tomorrow to New York City to visit Uncle Patrick and Aunt Sara--and the girls will be staying with Mr. Mom. Joel is excited to take some time off and be a full time parent for a few days! I'm excited to sightsee and actually sleep in past 7am!!!!

Willa cried a little bit and said she wanted to come with me, and Larkin didn't seem phased at all that I was leaving--she just wants me to be sure and bring her back a special present--specifically a pink dress that twirls!

Let the primping begin!

Today Larkin spent well over 30 minutes in the bathroom brushing her hair. She kept wetting the brush and brushing her hair- "Look! How beautiful! I'm brushing my hair and it's getting longer! It's long like Emily's!" (Emily is Daphne's mom and our neighbor)

Then Willa decided to join her and they both crammed themselves into our tiny guest bathroom on top of a teeny-tiny step-stool. I heard lots of "Give me some space!!" and "I use the brush, you use the comb! Don't touch my brush!" and even a "Stop wasting water!"

By the time they were done the bathroom floor was covered in water droplets and their heads were soaking wet...but they were "boody-full!"

Lil' Buckaroo Ranch

I'm in a moms group for stay-home moms in my neighborhood and we get together throughout the month for field trips, playgroups, recipe club, etc. This month our field trip was to the Lil' Buckaroo Ranch. Everyone had a lot of fun feeding the goats, petting a rooster and Peter Rabbit, riding a tractor, brushing a miniature pony, and roasting marshmallows!

Larkin was brave enough to go on the tractor this time! Last year she wouldn't go near it!
Larkin brushing the pony with a special hand brush.
Watching the pony do tricks--jump! Roll over! So many giggles.


Time for roasting!
The girls with Ella and Laura, our neighbors.