"Ho, ho, ho...Happy Merry Christmas!"

(That's how Julian says Merry Christmas.)
I'll spare you the long boring story about how we ended up spending a total of about 5 hours over the course of two nights in Kalamazoo just to get these God-forsaken pictures taken. All I'll say is it was a complete goat rodeo.
But, it was worth it cause we got some great Christmas pictures of the kidlets. And they thought it was worth it because they got ice cream afterwards (at 8:00 at night!)
Julian, as you can imagine, is more into Christmas than ever. He's warming up to the idea of Santa, but isn't all that interested. He likes to say ho, ho, ho and thinks he looks like Grandpa Gump...but that's about the extent of it.
He loves to open the days of his Advent calendar, although since I started it a week late, he has a hard time not ripping open 7 doors each day. We've been Christmas crafting our little hearts out and I love how much he likes to do "projects" with me. We've done the obligatory cookie decorating, ornament and family gift making, and daily tree redecorating.

Oh wait, you don't completely overhaul your tree on a daily basis?

Well, if you're jealous (which I'm sure you are), I'm sure J would be available for a consultation on how to best utilize your tree space. Apparently, the really "in" look this year is putting all ornaments in the same square foot, right in the front. And don't bother hanging them, just jam them into the branches. Or better yet, toss them in. Perfect.
Evelyn doesn't have any expectations as far as Christmas goes. She's just loving all of it. This is the year she'll be just as excited about the wrapping paper and boxes as the gifts inside.
Although she does have strong feelings about Christmas cookies. (She's in favor, in case you wondered.)
I'm afraid she is in cahoots with J in the daily tree dismantling as well. She likes to carefully choose an ornament and bring it to me wherever I am and wait for me to say "oooh, pretty." If I don't say it, she'll lock eyes with me and show me what I'm supposed to do. "Oooo"...and waits... Come on now Momma, you know your line.
Both kids have a love affair with Christmas lights. Their favorite is the house with the "crazy lights" where the whole house is a light show set to music. We park across the street, turn up the music, unbuckle the kids, and get the whole van rockin' with our dance party. Then on the way home, it's customary to "ooh" and "ahhh" over every other house with lights so as to come down gently from the crazy light high. Even Evie says it (all one word: "ooooaahh") which makes Julian, Daddy, and I laugh every time.
I'm looking so forward to Christmas morning with my little family. Not just to finally give them the gifts that have been begging to be given every day since I picked them out; but for the time together as we make our own traditions and memories.
"The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other." -- Burton Hillis

Oh and PS: Thank you for all the beautiful Christmas cards you've sent. Can we please consider this our Christmas card to you?

And PPS: If it seems like there are more pics of Evie, I wasn't playing favorites, it's because she was much more cooperative. :) I have a lot of J outtakes.

Like so...

Happy Merry Christmas!!

It Ain't All Sunshine & Roses (AKA: The 3-Year-Old Post)

I think we all know by now, my kids are my everything. And I'm so lucky to stay at home with them. I couldn't imagine a more fun or fulfilling job in the world. But dear, sweet Lord they have been giving me a run for my money lately.

Feel free to blame the over-a-month-long blog absence on one Julian Fowler.

I have very few new pictures. (The ones I'm putting in here have nothing to do with this post. But who wants to see pictures of tantrums?) There hasn't been time to pull my camera out between cleaning up the constant messes, picking up the crying children, or feeding, diapering, cleaning, and disciplining said crying, whining, fit-throwing children.

Boy has it ever been one step forward, three steps back lately. Just trying to get out the door would be a hilarious scene if it weren't happening to me. I start to feel like Ben Stiller in every movie he's ever been in where bad things just keep hitting one after another until it's not even funny anymore and you just feel sorry for the guy.

Miss Evelyn got a mouthful of teeth all at once. She was not happy about it. Thank goodness, that seems to be better now. She's back to happy, funny, chatty girl.

See my new teeth? (There are a few way back there...2 year molars? Her teeth are coming in all out of order.)

See? See??

Julian fights naptime and bedtime tooth and nail nearly every day. (I'm loathe to admit it, but I think he may be done with naps. That is so sad for me.)

I think that that whole "terrible twos" thing is completely off base. I didn't think two was a tough age at all. Now three...that has been a whole new adventure. Three has been fun with all the new things he's learning and saying, his expanded vocabulary amazes us and makes us laugh. He is growing into his own little person for sure. But my question is: Why does that little person hate sleep?

He's still sweet and sensitive and funny and loving. He is smart as ever...actually reading now. He can read and spell several words and we are just in disbelief every time he does it out of nowhere. But he is getting more strong-willed and contradictory by the day. He'll ask questions and if you answer differently than what he wants to hear, he'll say "No, it's not." He is loud and rough and tumble and into everything. He has a short fuse, a short attention span, and lots of curiosity.

If it were up to him, he'd spend the perfect day at home jumping on couches, throwing the football into everything (the TV, Evie's face, the dogs), tearing down the Christmas tree, slapping the dogs around, making excruciatingly loud noises, and getting every last item out of every last drawer and strewing it all across the house.

I try getting him outside as much as I can to blow off some steam, but Evie tends to put the kibosh on that pretty quick. She wants to do what she wants to do (run in the road, sit in puddles, climb things she shouldn't) and then gets cold about ten minutes in and wants to go back inside.

A chilly trip to Kellogg Forest

But you know? I don't think he's naughty. I think he's three. And trying to learn a little about independence. I'm not trying to complain...no one said raising kids was easy. And it is always worth it.

Besides, now when Evie turns three and I'm standing open-mouthed at her new attitude, I'll desperately search my blog thinking "I swear Julian went through this same thing at three..." So hello, future me. It did happen and you lived through it once. Just try to find the humor in it all. And take deep breaths. Lots of deep breaths.

So, I take a minute, pray for a little more patience, and go dive back into year three with my favorite boy.

Mickey's Birthday Party

One of my favorite projects we've done together. Every day he told me something he was thankful for.

Halloween

We had a great time last night. J was excited to wear his costume and had been practicing all day what to say when the doors opened.
I made spur of the moment costumes for Mitch & I to surprise Julian and he loved them. We woke him up from his nap dressed as Minnie and Mickey -- he was speechless, and couldn't stop grinning.
Trick-or-treating was slow going, but I loved that Evie was able to walk up to a couple doors too.
We trick-or-treated to Grandpa and Grandpa Gump, Grandma, and Mimi.
Julian was still talking about Mimi's beard last night in bed at 11:00. She told him she was "Grandpa" instead of Grandma and his little mind was blown. Evie just thought it was hilarious.
In the last week, we've also hit up the Zoo Boo, carved (and painted) pumpkins, and had wild and crazy skeleton dance parties.