Enjoying December

So Christmas is in less than a week, and for the first time ever, I'm actually bummed that it's almost here.  I have so enjoyed this month and all the fun things we've done.

Other than seeing Santa at the mall, we haven't done too many Christmas-y things outside of our home since Ila is still so small.  But we've done plenty of Christmas-y stuff here at home!

We blare Christmas music from the time we wake up until the time that Dustin comes home from work and asks, "WHY IS THE MUSIC SO LOUD?"  Each morning begins with Eden searching for her elf and ends with a game of Christmas Bingo and a reading of the nativity story.  And in between that we dance to Christmas music, do Christmas crafts, read Christmas books, and there have been many viewings of Rudolph, Frosty, The Grinch and Charlie Brown Christmas!  And the one time this month that it got really cold, I was quick to make hot chocolate for us to drink while we watched a movie!

Eden... this age... oh man!  Watching this holiday so far through her eyes is such a gift.

I debated for a really long time on whether or not we were going to do the whole Santa thing.  I've been thinking about it ever since Eden was born, going back and forth, back and forth, but I didn't have to make a decision until this year since the past two Christmases, while wonderful and cute, were pretty much over Eden's head.

In the end, I decided to go with Santa.  I wanted her to have that magic.  I remember my excitement when I was a kid... going to bed on Christmas Eve, so giddy... waking up on Christmas morning and seeing evidence that HE CAME!   SANTA WAS HERE IN MY  HOUSE!  RUDOLPH WAS ON MY ROOF!  I want my kids to experience that!

I'm putting a different spin on some things, doing it my way though.  For example, we're not doing the whole naughty/nice thing since, in my opinion, it goes against the whole Jesus forgives thing.

And I'm going to do my best to always make sure that Santa is the smallest part of our Christmas celebrations.  This is her knowledge of Christmas so far:

"Eden, whose birthday are we celebrating right now?"
"Jesus!"
"Who gets presents when it's Jesus's birthday?"
"Everybody!"
"Who is Jesus's mama?"
"Mary!"
"Who is Jesus's daddy?"
"God!"
"Who is going to bring you a present for Jesus's birthday?"
"Santa!"

So, as I mentioned, we're doing the Elf on a Shelf.  My mom got her for us, but since we're not doing the naughty/nice thing, I just told Eden that Santa sent an elf to play with her, and he'll pick her up when he drops off her present on Christmas Eve.  She was waiting for Eden on December 1st.  I hide her every night, and Eden looks for her first thing every morning.

Her little binoculars that Dustin got her are apparently necessary to find Mary.

I love having a 2 year old to share my insane enthusiasm with!  She is just amazed by our tree.

Her room is decorated too.

Dustin picked that Minnie Mouse out for her and got it all set up, and Eden literally gasped when she saw it.  

We made some decorations for Eden's little area.

Give the girl a glue stick, and she is HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY!

The glitter trees were a big hit.  She told me a thousand times, "I LOVE GLITTER!  I LOVE SPARKLY!"  And she colored in the top star on the chalkboard.  I was impressed.

She made ornaments for all the grandparents, and she did a GREAT job!  I showed her the picture of what they were supposed to look like, and she did it!

She loves to bake cookies.

I measure out all the ingredients, and she dumps everything into the stand mixer.  Once we have our dough, I roll it out, she cuts out the cookies, I bake and glaze the cookies, and she puts the sprinkles on.  We're a good team.

We've also colored lots of pictures of the Baby Jesus, made A TON of candy canes out of pipe cleaners and beads (she loved that!) and decorated a bunch more construction paper Christmas trees.

And Ila just watches us do all this stuff.  She's still just laying around looking cute - now while wearing Christmas outfits. :)

Eden was so cute when we went to see Santa at the mall.  She could not WAIT to go see him and was so excited on the drive there!  She lit up when she saw him and started waving to him.  But the second she was actually on his lap, she was completely overcome with shyness.  She was very careful to never look directly at him and forgot all about her plans of telling him she wanted a trampoline.  But after Ila took her turn with Santa, Eden mustered up enough courage to run back, stand in front of him, say, "I want a trampoline, please" and rush back to me.

I arranged Ila ever so carefully on Santa, and then Santa moved her and messed up her shirt!  Way to go, Santa!  Ila wants to know what the heck is going on!  Also, while taking her picture, the photographer asked me if it was her first Christmas!  I waited until we left before I laughed.

When Ila was born, Susie's sister told me that she wanted to make her something, and asked if there was anything in particular that I wanted.  I saw these reindeer hats on etsy and asked if she could make both Eden and Ila one.  When she came to visit Susie earlier this week, Sharon made one and Susie made one.  They're so dang cute!

Then when I went to go visit my Godmother, she had these Santa hats made for the girls!

I am SO HAPPY to have people in my life to make my children these wonderful homemade things, because I sure can't do it!  

5 more days.  There is a TON of stuff to cram into those five days!

Ila - Two Months!

To sum up Ila in one word: FEISTY!

Who knew something so little could be so feisty?  I LOVE IT!

She still rarely cries, but she has this little yell that she does... just one little "WAH!"... to let us know that she ain't happy!  If you're holding her, but you're not holding her jussstttt the way that she wants to be held - WAH!  If her pacifier falls out but I don't notice IMMEDIATELY - WAH!  If I'm talking to her and she wants me to stop so she can go to sleep - WAH!  Seriously.  We always say she's yelling at us, and now when she does it, Eden says, "Ila!  Why you yellin' at us?"

We like to joke that she's a bad baby because she yells at us, but really, she couldn't be better!  She has already slept through the night a couple of times, and even when she doesn't make it all night, she usually gives me a good six hours.  Since this is so the complete opposite of Eden, and because I am so used to a baby that was still waking up multiple times well over a year old, this completely freaked me out at first.  I was just convinced that there was something wrong with her.  I kept asking Dustin, "Do you think she's okay?  Do you think she's sick?  Does she feel warm to you?  What do you think is wrong with her?"  He finally got it through my head that she just actually SLEEPS and to be happy about it!

She's starting to smile more and more.  She did it for the first time on Thanksgiving, and it was when she saw ME!  Yay!  But now, her biggest smiles are reserved for her big sister.  She lights up when Eden gets in her face... which is still all the time.  Eden is constantly, like, laying on top of her.  "Eden!  You can't lay on her!  You'll hurt her!"  She says, "BUT I LOVE HER!  I WANT TO KISS HER!"

She can also already roll over.  She did it for the first time at one month and six days.  I couldn't believe it!  I was both "you go girl" and "nooooo, slowwww down" at the same time.  Eden is her biggest cheerleader for rolling over too.  It still takes a lot of effort for her to be able to do it, so Eden and I are always down on the floor next to her with Eden yelling, "Come on, Ila!  You can do it!  Roll!"  Then Eden starts rolling all around the floor so that Ila can see what she's supposed to do.  :)

You know what's really great to have in the house for two month olds?  Christmas trees!  She loves to just lay and stare.  She hangs out at the tree when I'm busy doing other things.

Ila is laying next to me while I type.  She wants to be held.  She looked at me and said, "WAH!"  Good timing; I'm done.

If You're Happy And You Know It...

clap your hands.

*clap, clap*

That song has been stuck in my head for days.  I have no idea what songs are popular right now.  I couldn't name one song that's current on the radio these days.  All we listen to is Toddler Radio and the Frozen soundtrack.

That song is appropriate right now though because I AM SO HAPPY!  We've had a great week, a great Thanksgiving, and now it's time to move on to CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

We celebrated with my dad's side of the family on Wednesday night at my Pops and Granny's house.  Eden and I made a pie to bring.  Because Eden really wanted to make a pie.  Because in Tangled, Rapunzel made a pie.  So we had to make a pie.  And since I take pictures of everything, here is the very first Thanksgiving pie that Eden and I ever made together - German Chocolate Pie.

Oh look!  Eden's shirt matches my title.  I didn't even do that on purpose!  Probably another reason why that particular song has been stuck in my head for two days though!

We spent yesterday with Dustin's parents.

Ila's first Thanksgiving:

Eden thought her dress said "thanksgiving".  Dustin started to correct her, but I stopped him because she was so proud of herself for being able to "read".

This year I was most thankful for TWO girls!

Dustin's parents planted pumpkin seeds behind their house this summer, and yesterday after we ate, Eden and Dustin's dad went and picked all the good ones.  We piled them up, Eden climbed all over them, we took some pictures, Eden picked her favorite to bring home with us (the smallest one again) and the rest are being fed to her cows.  She loved it!

Dustin and I finished the day by watching Planes, Trains and Automobiles.  We watch it every single Thanksgiving because TRADITION!  And when that movie ended last night, it meant that it was time to completely put Thanksgiving behind us and move on to CHRISTMAS things!  YAYYY!!!

Oh, I almost forgot... Sunday pictures!  We went to church for the first time on Sunday since Ila was born.  Eden had a complete freak-out/melt-down because we wouldn't let her dance in the aisle when the first hymn played.  It was another first!  The first time her daddy had to take her out of church to discipline her!  At least she looked cute when everyone turned to stare at us!

Ila's first Sunday pictures:

soooo sleepy!

Gosh she's precious!

Lately

Last Friday, Eden and I had a Mama/Eden Day.  I figured Eden could use a day where she had me all to herself.  That morning I told her we were going to have a fun day just the two of us, but I didn't tell her any of the things I had planned.  I let her find out as we went.

First we went out for donuts.

Then I pulled out a Princess Rapunzel dress and told her that we were going to see Rapunzel and all the other princesses.  I swear she actually gasped!  We went to Disney on Ice!

And it was amazing.  I cried.  Really.  Because Eden was so. dang. happy.  Mickey and Minnie came out first, and Eden immediately started bouncing up and down in excitement.  To her, it REALLY WAS Mickey and Minnie Mouse.  She thought they were the real deal.  And I couldn't help but tear up watching her.  And I continued to tear up throughout the entire show.  As each princess came out, Eden would shout their name.  Again, she really thought it was Rapunzel and Cinderella and Ariel and Elsa.  AND OLAF.  She started SCREAMING his name over and over and clapping when he made his appearance.  They were celebrities to her.  I encouraged it, telling her, "Look Eden, Snow White is waving to YOU" and "Eden! Eden! Mickey is blowing YOU kisses!"  She stood there in awe, waving and blowing kisses to them all.  She was out of her seat the entire time, clapping and twirling and dancing to the music.  She was so into it.  And we had the best seats.  I bought front row seats, but I didn't realize that that meant we would actually be right on the ice.  It was awesome!  I could've reached out and touched the skaters.  When bubbles came down during The Little Mermaid, Eden was able to pop them, and when it "snowed" during Frozen, it landed on us too, and Eden had little white flecks in her hair. 

That Disney on Ice show is one of my favorite moments of Eden's entire life.  I will never forget her excitement and wonder as she watched all of the characters.  Oh the magical world of two year olds!

After the show, I spent way too much money on all the Disney souvenirs and the obligatory overpriced picture of Eden next to a cardboard Cinderella cutout.  But she was so happy.

Our next stop was the American Girl Doll store.  I let Eden pick out one accessory for her Bitty Baby.

And finally we went and had cupcakes for lunch.  That's it.  Just cupcakes.  That was our whole lunch.

Eden stayed in her princess dress for our stop at the mall and the bakery.  And a few wonderful people came up to her and asked her if she was a princess and gushed about how pretty she was, and she lit up like a Christmas tree.  Those people made her so happy.  If ever you see a little girl out and about dressed up like a princess, go make her day and tell her how pretty she is!

Other things:

We went "hunting".   To Eden, hunting is sitting in a deer stand watching deer and then getting out to run around and pick flowers.  It was Ila's first time, woohoo!

We had a girls-only movie night in my bed one night when Dustin was out of town.

This is Eden all dressed up to watch Cinderella one morning.  If we're at home, Eden is usually in a princess dress.  On the rare occasion that she isn't, she has her doctor coat on and goes around giving everyone from me and Ila to the dogs to her stuffed animals "check-ups".  Just this morning I stepped on one of her toys and said, "Ow, I hurt my foot", and she got all excited and ran to get her doctor tools to give me a check-up.  I even got a shot.  (My favorite part is the end of the check-up when Eden tells you, "You're good to go!"  So cute!)  And if she isn't in a princess dress or a doctor coat, she's usually naked.  I have the hardest time keeping her clothed when we're at home.  At least she only takes her clothes off at our house - no incidents in public yet!

Those pictures are from Ila's first bath a couple of weeks ago.  I like them because all four of us and Drake (he freaks out if he's in a different room from us) were crammed into our teeny-tiny bathroom for the occasion.  Eden insisted on helping.  Dustin was there to take pictures.  Drake was being a baby.  It was sweet.  And Ila was as calm as she could be for her first bath - even when her big sister was dumping water all over her.

Eden got to ride a horse at a birthday party a couple of weekends ago.  A big horse, not a pony!  It was her first horse ride, and she LOVED it!  Here she's waiting patiently for her turn, and I just really like this photo - mainly because her outfit is so cute!  Those are Dustin's first little pair of boots.  (You may notice that this is the same day as Ila's bath.)

She's adorable!

So is Ila!  Pretty much all Ila does is lay around and look cute.

She's good at it.

Eden's asleep and Dustin is out of town again, so I'm fixing to go do pretty much my favorite thing to do these days... go lay in bed and watch a movie while Ila sleeps on my chest!  :)