Merry Christmas!

(Christmas evening at gma and gpa's)

(Christmas weekend at gma and granddad's)

(Christmas night at home)

Merry Christmas!

Just a quick note to say Merry Christmas to you! We spent a fun weekend with mama's family and have returned home to celebrate here at home. We woke this morning to open gifts and have a french toast breakfast. We played with new toys and baked a birthday cake for Jesus and are waiting for naptime to conclude so we can go to daddy's family celebration this evening. Pictures will come later, but for now, thank the Lord for giving us his son on this blessed morning!

This is the first Christmas season that Libby is actively participating in, and it's been lots of fun. She had a great time helping decorate the tree, and she's very curious about when our stockings will be filled with presents! But, more importantly, she's excited to celebrate Jesus' birthday, and of course enjoy more hot chocolate tea with marshmallows any time mama will let her.

These two kids just love each other!

Libby had a blast tonight when Aunt Em and Uncle Jon came to visit with Grandma and Grandpa. And, a big thanks to Aunts Lucy and Wendy for the very popular presents!

Xander Time

Xander has been getting lots of love and giving lots of grins, not to mention working on improving his language skills every day!

Happy Birthday Barnabas!

On Saturday, Barnabas turned 1. He had a feast for breakfast (notice the candle), another for dinner, and mama and daddy went out with Nick and Brittany to celebrate at a local restaurant!

More Chit Chat

Well, later I'll put up some recent photos, but here are some recent conversations that gave me a grin. Sometimes she's just silly and funny, sometimes she says things that really show thought and impress me. Speaking of impressing me - this morning Libby took of her jammies (including unbuttoning them) all by herself and dressed herself from head to toe (minus her shoes) all by herself. Now that she's so self sufficient I'll have more time for long baths and pedicures. Anyway, on with the Libby-talk.

D: Are you finished with your apple crunchies? (cereal)
L: Speaking of apple crunchies, can we go outside and play frisbee?

L: i'm thirsty for
M: (interrupting) milk?
L: no, i'm thirsty for
M: (interrupting) ice water?
L: no, i'm thirsty - mom, i'm trying to talk here.
M: i'm sorry. i'm interrupting you.
L: i forgive you.

L: what were you talking about? (a typical question the moment mom gets off the phone)
M: i was talking to daddy about borrowing grandma and grandpa's carpet shampooer. i think grandma and grandpa might come over tonight and bring you presents from aunt lucy and aunt wendy, and i thought maybe grandpa larry could bring the carpet shampooer with them.
L: well that will be fun!!! but grandpa larry will be carrying lots of heavy things!
M: yes, he will.
L: he is very strong. and so is daddy. grandpa larry and daddy are two strong mans. they have very strong arms. like this: (flexing muscles). well, but i don't have strong arms. see?

L: those cars are going up a hill!
M: yes, they are and we're about to go up the hill too. .......... see, we're up on top of the hill!
L: yes we are! i wonder what is under the street. probably dirt and bugs.
(later in the conversation, inspired by talk of bugs)
L: but did you know that daddy really likes spiders?
M: no, i don't think daddy really does like spiders.
L: well, larry does. brian's daddy. did you know that larry is brian's daddy? and larry really likes spiders.


okay, that's all i remember for now. if i think of more later i'll add!

Family Trivia

A big high five goes out to anyone who can tell me the name of this dog:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving! We celebrated this day giving thanks for our family. Aunts Sarah and Brett came to our home, and thanks to Aunt Sarah we had a delicious feast. Aunt Brett's car broke down shortly into her journey, so I spent the day going to get her and bringing her back to our home. When we got back into town it was dinner time and Aunt Sarah had taken care of the feast with daddy's help. We don't have any traditional pictures of the family at the table. But, as the following days ensued Aunt Brett helped keep us on task with our photography - mainly photographing her with our babies. We had a fun weekend, shopping, playing, rearranging our furniture, putting up our Christmas tree, and trying trying trying to stay warm. Throughout our days together, coming and going and playing and relaxing, Brett remembers to get out the camera at times that I would often forget. So, here are the results of her quick thinking at various times over the past few days.

Fun at Home

Aunt Brett and Aunt Sarah came to spend the weekend with us. Aunt Sarah and daddy worked on Thanksgiving dinner and mama noticed Libby had convinced Aunt Brett to do some building (it probably didn't take much arm twisting), and our adoring little pup Barns wanted to sit and watch construction.

Last night at bedtime Libby asked if she could hold Xander. As we were getting ready to take a picture I saw Libby carefully and seriously giving Xander his binkie. She's always so concerned about him.

Look how big he looks on her. It must be the angle, because he's not that big - though he is getting so big! He's grown so long, I still need to measure, but I know he's too long to wear his 1 piece 0-3 month jammies. He's wearing some 6 month jammies here!

I love how tenderly she is looking at him and touching him here - but again, doesn't he seem so big?! See below for another perspective.

Xander and I cuddle on the loveseat. We love the way he positions his legs. You can't tell that easily, but he has one stretched out and one bent, and as I type this he's laying similarly but with his two arms up by his head. I love sleeping babies.

First Snow

Wednedsay morning we had our first snow of the season. To celebrate, we have a tradition of "hot chocolate on the first snow." So, before going to bed Tuesday evening we each enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and we played Libby's new memory game. She has lots of fun finding matches of My Little Pony cards, but she liked the hot chocolate most of all. She's a little thrown off because we usually drink hot tea (mama and daddy), and out of these red cups. So, for the past two days she's been asking if she can have "hot chocolate tea, with marshmallows."

Libby and daddy say "cheers" (she loves "cheering")

looking for a match

she got a match!

this picture is completely not flattering, but that hot chocolate mustache is just too funny to hide

i only wish i had a picture of her tipping the cup completely bottoms up to get the last of the marshmallows.

Thanksgiving at Grandma and Granddad's

Last weekend we took a trip to Grandma and Granddad's to celebrate Thanksgiving with them a bit early. We had a good time, as you can see from the pictures below.

Granddad found mama's old bouncing horse that she and Aunt Brett and Uncle Mason had enjoyed for years. Libby thought it was a bit wobbly and she was too scared to ride it, but granddad showed her how fun "Silver" was once you got her out on the open prairie.

A few minutes later little Alexander revealed to grandma his sweet smiles.

Libby agrees, bouncing on this pony is a lot of fun!

We visited Great-Grandma Mary before coming home, and both kids enjoyed our time at her house. Xander was smiley and Libby got a new puzzle!

Little Miss Can't Be Wrong

Hello there everyone. This post is for those of you who enjoy reading about our little family, I have no new pictures at this time. Welllll, that's not entirely true, but I am not posting new pictures at this time. Soon enough I'll have a couple from our weekend at Grandma and Granddad's celebrating an early Thanksgiving.

In the meantime, this morning Libby and Xander and I were off to do some grocery shopping when Libby asked for something to help her clean her hands since they were a bit dirty from her snack. I handed her a diaper wipe and she set to work cleaning up. Soon after, she said:

L: ouch! my eye itches.
M: well be careful not to get the wipes in your eye.
L: did you give me two wipes?
M: no, you only need one.
L: well, I just heard you say, "well, be careful not to get the wipes in your eye." --- like, two wipes.
M: you're right, I did say wipes. I should have said wipe.
L: yes, you should have said, "well, be careful not to get the one wipe in your eye."
M: yes, you're right.
L: well, can you say it mama?
M: "well, be careful not to get the wipe in your eye."
L: no, you should say, "one wipe."
M: "well, be careful not to get the one wipe in your eye."
L: oh! (pause) okay. thank you mama.

I don't know why I humored her and corrected myself so extensively, because this surely doesn't help with her confidence level (bringing it back down to earth). When I told daddy about the conversation he laughed and commented that she corrected me in the same way I correct her, pointing out the fault and asking her to say her sentence again properly. Then he instructed me to go write the conversation down immediately, so here I am.

This also reminds me of an incident last week, where Libby was changing Baby Sue's diaper.

L: oh no! baby sue (libby's doll) has a wet diaper. yuck, some of her tinkle got on my shirt.
M: uh oh, well you better change her diaper. and, let's leave baby sue's jammies off and i'll put them in the washer with your laundry in a few minutes.
L: no, i don't want to wash her jammies.
M: well libby, they're very dirty. we need to wash them (we really did). plus, baby sue just got tinkle on them so i think it would be a good idea to put them in with your clothes.
L: she did not get tinkle on her jammies.
M: yes, she did. i thought she got tinkle on her jammies that even leaked through to your shirt...
L: no, she got tinkle on my shirt after i took her jammies off.
M: (sensing defeat)
L: see mama, feel her jammies. they're dry!
M: (feeling baby sue's dry jammies, and desperately wanting to sass: well your shirt is dry too little miss! but biting my tongue.)

Okay, that's all I have time for now. Doesn't parenting reveal the natural condition of our hearts? That sin that creeps in so easily - seeing it in my kids reminds me of my own. But what a joyous task to try to teach them the way of the Lord and watch for him to work in their hearts.

hopefully pictures soon - but no promises. I need a nap!

First Smiles

Tuesday afternoon my little guy was very wakeful and preventing me from getting anything really accomplished around the house, so I gave up and played with him. Look at my reward. As soon as I sat down with him on my lap and gazed into his eyes with a big, "hi there Xander" his whole face lit up and he beamed. Of course, I then had to jump up and grab the camera and try to accomplish this feat again, and it was easy. These are pictures of his 5th or 6th smiles, and they do not do him justice. It's very difficult to photograph and baby's smile. He won't smile at the camera of course, but responds to mama's voice and eye contact, so I have to manage to solicit a big grin and then magically capture it by clicking my right index finger while not looking into the viewfinder. These were the best I could do for now. Of course, we might have more and better pictures to show as practice does make perfect, and Libby and I now have a new favorite past-time that involves high pitched candy sweet voices and big bright eyes fawning over our little man.

1 month old

Well, to commemorate Xander's 1 month birthday, I took some pictures of him in the buff. Here are a couple of them. I do have a really cute one of his bottom half, but I better get my hubby's permission before I post it. There's a part of me that thinks that exposing him to the world is wrong, though I know most of you are family and close friends. But, here he is - and posing with his big sister. My favorite thing about taking these pictures was discovering that it is a truth that there is something inherently sweet about a baby's naked bottom. As Xander lay and mama snapped some pictures, Libby looked at him and said, "oh look at his little bottom!" in a super sweet voice that any mother would have used. She'd never heard us say anything like that about anyone's bottom, so I knew at that moment that the preciousness of a baby's bottom is absolute truth. Even a 2 year old can see it.

Libby changes baby Jane's diaper, for probably the 5th time that day. She really enjoys caring for her dolls, and changes diapers routinely, even telling me about how stinky or wet or clean and dry each diaper was. Later, she'll help me fold the laundry in the basket behind her. Truly, she's gifted in folding - she gets that from her daddy. The two of them should take the task and make it their own. :)




In an attempt to make dinner, I put Xander in his papasan and Barns quickly joined him for a nap on the floor. I thought it was a cute scene so I took some different pictures of the two of them. Barnabas is so big! He is doing well with Xander. It took him some time to get over the "newness" of having our baby in the house - Barnabas wanted to sniff him any chance he got. But, he now leaves our little one alone (for the most part, occasionally I catch him approaching) but is interested in being near him. Aside from being twice the size that we expected him to be, he does have the personality we expected from a labradoodle. Barnabas is very much a people-pleaser. He wants to be near us at every moment, and that includes the kids, as you can see.

This was the next day. I put Xander in his papasan so I could shower and just after I put him down I heard a very loud sloppy sucking sound. The binkie is behind his hand, and he has found his thumb. Which is the lesser of the two evils, I do not know! But, I left it at that and he was asleep in no time.

Libby and mama gave Xander a bath the other day and he really liked it (for a while). We discovered that he especially likes baths when the heater is blowing near him, and Libby is holding his little hands.

Kind of a cool effect...

Here are the two little friends, Libby and the Professor Hudson. Sometimes Hudson can't get enough Libby, following her and chasing her and hugging her. There was a time when she would start to be bothered by his constant attention. Well, now the times are changing. Libby is now the persuer, and Hudson is on the receiving end, and it's his turn to get annoyed with Libby's constant attention. She tends to him like a big sister in this case. As we left Fazoli's, Libby scurried around saying, "okay Hudson, okay, hold my hand, we're going out into the parking lot." The held on and stayed safe.

Here they do a little spinning do-si-do.