Merry Christmas

We have had so much fun this Christmas! Julian is really starting to appreciate all the fun things we're getting to see and do during the season. He loves opening his advent calendars every day and has decorated cookies, made a gingerbread house, gone to Christmas at the Zoo, decorated ornaments, helped Mommy bake, given (and gotten) gifts, and more.
We went to get the obligatory pictures with Santa and J wasn't afraid to sit with him. He even told him he wanted an iPod for Christmas! (Sorry, buddy.) Evie didn't seem to mind sitting with a stranger either.
I started this post a few days ago and now here it is 11:30 pm on Christmas Eve. Santa has already been to our house and all Mommy really wants for Christmas is for my sick little girl to sleep well tonight.

We had a fun party at Mom's house tonight and afterward we went to see some really cool Christmas lights (or as Julian says "Crimas Yites"). Tomorrow morning we'll have our own little family Christmas and I can't wait to snuggle up with a cup of coffee and my fleece-wrapped baby to watch that little guy tear into some gifts (Buzz! Woody! Sparty!!) Then it's off to breakfast at Grandma and Grandpa's and what is sure to be a crazy fun time with the cousins.

Now I only wonder after all this build-up, how many months before J stops talking about Christmas?
Merry Christmas to all and Happy Birthday Jesus!

4 Months Old & Bragging for Posterity

Happy Four Months Evelyn! Time is going by so fast, I cannot believe she's this big already. She is getting better with toys and can hold them and shake them and get them into her mouth now. She laughs and smiles so easily and just loves to make noise.

What a little lady...already crossing her legs and folding her hands.

Her doctor appointment went well and she's right on track. She is 50th percentile for height and between 50th and 75th for weight. She was not a fan of the shots, but calmed right down once I picked her up to commiserate.

Julian was awfully worried for her though, since he had just gotten shots himself. He kept warning her "Evie, shots hurt."

A favorite nap spot

Helping Mommy get her work done

Julian's two year appointment was mostly uneventful. The shots were much harder this time since he knew what was going on and screamed "Ouch! Stop!" after the first one. He made a full recovery though and got to pick out a toy afterward for being so brave. The doctor was happy with all his accomplishments and we tried not to brag too much.

But what good is my blog if I can't brag a little here? :) Besides, I look at this as sort of a virtual baby book.

J has gotten so good with colors, numbers, letters and shapes! He knows pretty much all colors and has learned heart, star, square, circle, triangle, and diamond.

He counts to three like this: "one, two, one". But he can go from about 7 to 15 once he gets on a roll. He knows most of 1-9 by sight. The other day, Mitch was holding our coffee mugs and Julian pointed at them and said "two cups".

He also knows almost the whole alphabet by sight and can make an "o" by himself. And he can even read!! ;) He knows the word "Meijer" and reads it off anything Meijer brand in the house. It doesn't even have to be in red and blue for him to recognize it.

But before you think he's a complete genius, here he is eating paint...

Christmas Pictures

Well, you've already seen most of the pictures we had taken at the top of the blog. We sure didn't get very many. Even though Julian was very excited and kept saying "pictures....ready", as soon as we tried to get him to sit down in the studio, it was another story.

He sat still for milliseconds at a time and I give the photographer a lot of credit for even getting the few shots she did. And Little Miss Evelyn didn't feel like cracking a smile even once. Oh well.
To be honest, I'm just happy it takes the pressure off me. The whole excuse for getting my nice camera was so we wouldn't have to pay to get professional pics done all the time. (Not implying mine are professional quality...we were just looking for a step up from snapshots.) But I wanted nice Christmas pictures, and thought trying to wrangle the kids and take my own would be too hard. Now, if I get some nice ones along the way, they'll just be a bonus.

Like these ones for instance... :)