School christmas program

December 17, 2013-Today is the day that the kids have their school program that they have been practicing for.  All the days of hearing them come home singing songs is coming down to this. I look forward to it every year.  It was very cute to watch.  Maleah just stood there taking it all in, which was really good for it being her first time in front of a crowd.  Noah actually sang some and didn't stand there with his ears covered. And, he gave us an extra show as he unbuttoned his vest and pulled at his tie and shirt while singing.  We were a little concerned that he was going to keep taking his clothes off. It was pretty funny.   I know he will die reading this later, but I have video to prove this!

More Maleah-isms

1) Looking up at our stockings Maleah points and says "Look snowmen boots!"
2) While driving to school one morning Maleah points and the sky and says "Oh no! The stars fell down!"  It took me a moment to realized what she was talking about, but it was that there were no stars in the sky due to it being day time.

2013 Christmas is here!

This is a VERY special Christmas for our family this year.  First, this is the first christmas we have had with dad being here in two years. Second, this is dad's 1st christmas with Maleah. And Third, we have family coming into town to celebrate with us! (1st time ever)  I am so very excited about it! 

To get things started we got the trees and decorations up.  The big tree is full of 12 years of ornaments celebrating all sorts of milestones such as our wedding and birth of our two favorite kiddos.

The second is a new addition, sort of.  This is an accumulation of a few homemade ornaments, school made ornaments and a whole bunch that we made and sent dad in Afghanistan.  Now, they hang on our small dining room tree as a reminder of our family's journey over the past couple of years.

 And finally, after 8 years the ole hubby put some lights up on the house!  I am so happy to have some Christmas cheer on the outside of our home.  Grandpa and Grandma are make the long journey to join us on this exciting Christmas which will top off all of this!

Oh, and speaking of long trips.  Henry, our Elf arrived on time.  He has been a little silly this year.  The kids love seeing him and finding the treats he brings.  Here are a couple of pics of him.  Not sure if that is allowed by santa though!  

Ha Ha- SLED ZEPPELIN!

Moving to the "big bed"

November 2013-One thing that I very much felt guilty about was moving Noah out of his crib before he was ready.  So, since we have no more babies on the way the plan with Maleah was to let her stay in  her crib as long as possible.  That was all fine and well until a few repeated nights of Maleah climbing out of her crib not only at nap time but in the middle of the night.  Because of the thought of her hurting herself we converted her crib the the toddler bed.  This didn't go over very well.  We spent many nights sleeping on the floor next to her and many weeks of her not sleeping through the night.  (It was like having a new born all over again!) What has happened to my baby girl who has been such a great sleeper?  Finally after about 5 weeks we decided to try converting her bed into a full bed, which would at least give me a better place to sleep in the transition stage. It really didn't change much.  Now, well into December we have made it to the point where she will sleep through the night, but not on her bed! She likes to sleep on the floor with her blankie and pillow next to the gate at her door. Silly girl.  Perhaps the really heartache for this mama is not really all the lost hours of sleep, but rather the realization that I no longer have any babies in my house.  My kids are growing up and that bring a very surreal feeling to my world.

It's your job

Today Maleah fell asleep on our way to the store (and this was a much needed nap) so I told Noah that we would need to sit in the parking lot for a bit. After talking about his day and some deep mama-son discussions I decided to go get a salad. It came with toast which I gave to Noah as a treat. He takes a bite and then responds "mom, this feels greasy. I bet it has gluten in it. Why would you feed me gluten?" I quickly told him that it was a treat and he could have said no he didn't want it. His priceless reply was "Actually I would say no thank you. And it's your job not to feed this to me." I think this kid has got his food down! And I won't be sneaking any gluten by him.