Teddy Bear Hair

This girl.  She cracks me up.  And she has new way to make me laugh...I don't know about the rest of you but we have a dog, and binkies.  Put those two things together and you get the occasional dog-hair-on-the-binkie emergency.  The kids are used to it- they hand me the binkie and say it's "icky" or they come to me with their tounge out and say "dog hair."  Once it was a mama hair and so sometimes they say "mama hair."  Recently Evie had a clump of little hairs in her mouth and I pulled it off her tounge correcting her "dog hair" with "nope, it's a teddy bear hair" since it appeared her new teddy (aptly named Baby Jesus Teddy Bear...oye) had been shedding in her bed.  Ever since that incident, whenever Evie gets something in her mouth that she doesn't want in there, she comes to me and says, totally dead-pan and straight faced (aside from the crinkled nose of displeasure): "Teddy bear hair" (which sounds like "Teddy bahr hahr.")  I dare you not to laugh...

Baby Jesus

I cannot not blog about this.  It just happened and I immediately dropped everything to write this story down.

Evelyn has been having a difficult time going to sleep lately for naps.  She hangs out in her room alright, but I often have to go in several times and remind her to get back in bed.  That's the rule- you can be awake, but you must be playing quietly enough that mama does not know you're out of bed or else you'll get put back in!

Anywho, I hadn't heard anything for awhile and thought it was safe to just confirm everyone was sleeping before I got started on my next project.  When I entered Evie's room she'd stripped the bedding off the bed and was nowhere to be found.

Then, quietly from behind her bed I heard her say "Baby Jesus."  Evelyn inherited my old nightstand.  I got it a garage sale and it's pretty old.  The top is a regular table, the underside has a spot for magazines or books placed on an angle.  There are two slats of wood that form a sort of "V."

Evidently Evelyn recognized this "V" shape as very manger-esk.  She had carefully laid her little blanket in there and I can only assume her next step was to place her little baby doll in as a Baby Jesus stand in.

She threw a fit when I reached over for the blanket (not having put two-and-two together yet), yelling "Baby Jesus, Baby Jesus!" So I put it back in place and while I did not want to reprimand her for what can only be described as "the best pretend-play ever."  I gently told her to stay in bed from now on...

Night night Baby Jesus.  And Evelyn.

Things to Remember

I have to remind myself occasionally to write these posts that highlight cute kid moments.  Since I left my camera at a family get-together and cannot post cute kid pics this seems like the perfect opportunity.  So here are some "lately" moments from the kiddos.

Elijah in the car-
Eli- "A train!  Thomas!"
Mommy- "We don't watch Thomas, how do you know who that is?" (thinking I was pretty much talking to myself, I did not expect an answer)
Eli- "Eli watch Thomas at Gramma house!"
(This is probably one of the longest sentences he has ever uttered, caught me totally off-guard)

Evelyn at a Live Nativity where Christmas music about the birthday of Jesus was playing-
"Happy Burfday Baby Jesus!"

Both kids in regards to Samson licking them-
"Sammy!  No bite Eli!"  "Sammy! No bite Evie!"

Evelyn in response to someone asking her what her full name is-
"Ebie....Hope....Hee-sta"

Elijah after a shower with Mommy, Daddy put him in his bed all wrapped in a towel to wait till we could get him dressed.  When I went to get him he said: "Eli sooo nuggly!"  He repeated this perfectly adorable phrase tonight when I tucked him in bed.  He wrapped both arms around himself and said "sooo nuggly!"  Good grief child.

Evelyn's favorite phrase is "See you soon, Mama!"  Or "dada," or whoever else is leaving...

The minute we get in the car, both kids ask to listen to "Bone Away."  Carrie Underwoods- Blown Away...

And now for some of the not-so-cute: It seems like lately it's a constant dance to keep both kids from dissolving into terrible fights of sibling rivalry.  Every light switch that gets turned on, every button that needs pushing (elevators, van doors, etc.), every piece of trash taken to the trash can MUST be able to be done twice.  It's difficult for me to say no every. single. time.  Sometimes it's easier to let them turn a light off, then turn it back on so the other can turn it off (but I draw the line there), but boy does that stop the day cold and add extra second or minutes to each and every task.  I also struggle with how bossy they've gotten lately- everything must be "just so," especially for Elijah.  They now have preferences for the colors of their cups, the clothing they wear, even where Mommy sits on the couch when we watch tv together.  It's a fine balance, as I'm sure I don't have to tell other moms, between keeping the peace and also keeping them from ruling the roost.  "Choose your battles" is truly the name of the game these days!

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LOVE

 I feel like a walking dichotomy at the moment.  I googled the definition just to be certain and here is what I found: "A division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different."  Pretty accurate and here is why...I have never been a toddler person.  By that I of course mean other people's toddlers because I've never had any of my own until now.  I love other people's babies (although the infant stage was hard for me as mom with two to care for, I still LOVE a good baby snuggle), but once they hit toddler hood I've always been kind of hands-off.  Even with my own nieces, nephews, and friends' kids...I love them, in the way that you love family and friends, but from about 2-4 years old I have just always felt this disconnect.
Additionally, while I am still SO THANKFUL to be done with 3-a-day naps, bottles, up-all-night crying, and babies that cannot communicate, toddler-hood (and the "terrible twos") have officially descended upon our household and are rearing their ugly heads.  (I feel like I need to add at this point too however that we are not done having children, just that in the future we hope to have them one at a time;)...

 Here's where the disconnect comes in...I am LOVING this stage way more than I ever thought I would!  I'm exhausted, I feel like my brain is on planning overload most of the time, I sometimes talk in toddlereese, I'm occasionally desperate for adult company, and of course I still feel like I'm losing my mind on a regular basis, BUT...the personalities, interaction, and just all-out craziness emerging from my two year olds right now is SUCH A BLAST.  We had such a fun day yesterday.  It started out with the Grand Rapids Jaycees Santa Parade in downtown GR.  I'd wanted to go last year but we missed it, which honestly is probably not a bad thing considering how well the twinners sat through...anything....last year.  But this year was perfect, even better than the parades we attended earlier this summer, they seemed to really get it and we just really had fun.

 Don't let Elijah's stoicism fool you...he had fun, but about halfway through I think he just got a little overwhelmed and tired.  He was content to be held or sit quietly on the curb and take it all in.  Near the end of the parade the Davenport University Rugby Team came by and were asking for a little boy who would hug the rugby ball for a picture.  None of the other kids were stepping up so I sent Eli up there and he happily hugged the ball for a picture.  The best part was- they let him keep the ball!  They just walked away leaving him with this giant red/white/black ball!  It's been a hit ever since, he loves to carry it around or sit in his carseat with it on his lap beating it like a drum.  Pretty sweet if you ask me, I searched all over Daveport's website to see if they'd posted the pic anywhere but I haven't seen it.

 Evelyn met and made friends with "Gracie" the big, beautiful Bernese Mountain Dog (I hope to have one of these one day!).  I just love this picture, Evelyn must seen Santa coming and Gracie is obviously hoping Santa has dog treats.

 And there he is!  After almost two hours of parade he was there!  In his bright red sleigh with 8 tiny reindeer :)

 We finished up the day with dinner and games at The Tallman's house with all of our great church friends: The Paarlbergs, Westhouses, and Shelley's.  Six toddlers, all within 9 months of eachother- lots of fun!  Spaghetti was a hit, and a big thank you to Jessica and Rebecca for watching the kids so the parents could play :)

Cheeseball loves to smile for the camera in between slurping spaghetti noodles!

Halloween 2012

Halloween, love it or hate it, it's so much fun with little ones!  This year we had a little "pack" of monsters.  The two girls- Evelyn and Molly were both Sully from Monster's Inc (Though Molly was much fluffier as I had to wash Evelyn's costume and made the mistake of putting it in the dryer- doh!), and Elijah was a cuddly little green, furry, horned monster with no specific name. 
They melted my hearts as they bravely walked up to each door saying "Hawoween!"  or "Twick oh Tweet!" and following it up with "See you soon!" as they departed for the next house.  The twins got to hitch a ride with uncle Brad on the sit n stand, which was really nice as short little legs can make it a slooooow process.
Much to my chagrin though, they are still subject to picking the prettiest, most eye catching packaging rather than the boring brown (chocloate!) packages which often contain the yummier candy.  Twice they each chose a butterscotch disk, mini reeces cup, or rootbeer barrel when other, more enticing (bigger!) candies were right on top of the same bowl.  Sigh.  We'll have to work on that for next year....

Happy Halloween from our 2 Little Monsters!