(Almost) A Griswold Christmas

I really really really am trying to keep things SIMPLE this Christmas season, but I just can't do a fake tree. Call me Becky. 

We loaded up yesterday and drove the whole 2 miles to Papa Noel's to buy our tree - direct from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina! The whole outing probably took 30 minutes or less, but it felt like a major undertaking. 

Here is my best shot of the kids enjoying the winter wonderland. Awesome, I know.

 Maggie had a great time, as usual.

Okay, so we didn't exactly trek into the woods and chop it down ourselves, but we still felt like Uncle Eddie should be coming over soon...

We got what we came for - a tree that's just "this much" taller than Dadda (per Owen). It's up in our living room waiting patiently for me to put lights on it, so the kids (who are not waiting quite as patiently) can put the ornaments up... I guess I should get off the computer and get to work.

Three Little People We're Really Thanksful For

A general kiddo update is overdue and I'm still in a Thanskgiving-y kind of mood. Perhaps its the effects of so much pumpkin pie. 

Miss Maggie  - I am soooo thankful for this little gal.  She is such a great little sister - meaning she handles the well-meaning but sometimes dangerous attention of her older siblings very very well. She also handles our circumstantial inability to respond to her cries as quickly as we would a first/only child.

 I am soooo thankful that she is such a great sleeper. She sort of just did that on her own. Granted, we had a rough few months where she was going to bed really really late (like 2am) but even then she'd sleep for an abnormally long stretch. That bedtime has been eeking up over the past few months and now she's a 7 to 7 kid of girl. It's AWESOME. And in the last month or so she's gotten on a pretty regular nap schedule too - around 10am and 2pm. Can I say AWESOME again?

 It's pretty superficial - but can I just say that I'm so thankful for her HUGE smile and those dimples (right cheek and chin)????!!!! Melt my heart and make me chuckle all at the same time. Have I mentioned she dies laughing when I sneeze? It's better than her favorite toy. (Speaking of toys, I'm also thankful she is big enough for the exersaucer. Especially since she still can't sit up. Or roll over.)

Okay - so this was a "game-changer". This little angle has been a stubborn one when it comes to food - no bottle for her. But she has taken to rice cereal! Yea!!! I mean yea as in "finally she'll eat something from someone other than me" and also a sarcastic yea because this stuff is soooo messy. Perhaps she decided it was time for the hard stuff so she'd be guaranteed more regular baths?

 Bee was there for her first rice cereal adventure and it was a total success. (Miss M had started to associate Bee with a bottle and cry every time she saw her...not okay!...so this was good on a number of levels.

 Liked it so much she just had to have the spoon.

Miss Rebecca - I am so thankful for this crazy little stinker. She is so full of sweetness, spirit and SONG! The girl is singing all the time. Here are her lyrics to a few of our favorites:

From the Bob the Builder theme song: Doo a diddy, one and two (Scoop, Muck and Dizzy...Rolly too)

Batte batte choco-late (from a Dora episode)

Every song from Marry Poppins (Mary Punkins)
 - Let's do fly kite, up to high high...sendihsoaaaaring

-Tuppins a birrr, tuppins a birr

And of course all the songs from church and school - her seasonal favorite has been one about a ghost saying boo...but I don't know it so I can't even begin to interpret what she's singing... but she LOVES the clean up song "Clean up clean up abody ewhere". (She is the best cleaner-upper in our family.)

 She got all geared up to rider her glider bike but then got distracted (above).

Holding cousin Baby Bear (below).

 New parts of her two-year old vocabulary:

• a-o-u / wudu (I love you)
• what dat? what doin? whah doin dat? (ahh, the neverending questions!)
• donny (sorry) - often preemptive, not because she's sorry, but to avoid punishment she sees coming. (but she is good about appoloziging to Owen and Maggie for accidental stuff.)
• Ahknow (I don't know)
• Party hat - EVERYTHING is a party hat to Rebecca. This is one of my favorite things about her - she is goofy! She puts anything and everything on her head or your head and then calls it a party hat and giggles giggles giggles.
• Hey you guys! - her greeting to just about everyone. This girl has never met anyone who doesn't deserve a friendly salutation (or a kiss/hug goodbye).
• (uh)Becca - okay, this one makes me sort of sad. She has moved on from Bep Bep for Becca to actually saying Becca and if you ask her to say Rebecca she says Uhbecca. Either way, she's growing up! :(
• I hear all kids can be particular about bedtime routine stuff but I think ours take the cake. We have had so much household drama over the right blankets the right way - it boggles the mind. And now Rebecca has joined the fun. She has these two (baby) blankets. One is soft/fuzzy on both sides. It has to be folded into a pillow (because she won't sleep with the little pillow I bought her) and the other one which is satiny on one side has to be her blanket - but its too small to actually cover her well...so, drama. Anyways, this nightly drama-fest is filled with her saying "cuddle me, cuddle me!" which means cover me, tuck me in, make my blankets bigger and just right!!! And then we end with "big cuddle, big cuddle" which means - cover me more, tuck me in tighter and righter! This girl luuuvs her two pink binkies!

 Mr. Owen - what a big boy!! You've already seen him on his bike (Thanksgiving post). We're so proud. [I have to make fun of Kyle a little bit here. We were at the bike shop and it was down to two bikes that both fit Owen well. One was white and black with some red (matched his helmet - same brand). The other was blue. The first would have been easier to pass on to the girls (assuming they may balk at the clearly boyish blue bike). Kyle, had a temporary parental regression and asked Owen which one he liked better. Say what???!!! Kyle - what are you doing??? Of course, Owen picked the blue one. Silly Dadda. Kyle then spent the next 10 minutes trying to convince Owen the other one was cooler because it matched his helmet. Still a no-go. Never ask a question you don't want the answer to. Silly Dadda!]

A few weeks ago Owen got to go on another specicial grandparent-sponsored adventure - to ride a real steam train from Cedar Park to Bertram. It's about an hour and a half there with a stop over at the train station and then back. Owen had a blast! Thank you Nana!

I am just so thankful for this little guy - really for everything that comes out of his mouth - most of which makes me laugh...

Recently he told Aunt Mel (when he spent the night with them) that he would "appreciate" sleeping in Uncle Luke's office (by himself) instead of in a room with a cousin. I think he needed a break from being kept up at night by someone else playing...

We have shared some of his jokes with you. They're not improving much. But that doesn't mean they're not hilarious. He was telling some the other day and told me they were for Maggie. 

He told me the other day that the BEST thing about our new house is that it's soooo close to the Children's Museum. (It's not really that close - but he figured out its closer than our house now.) 

He has started to show some interest in outer space. Kyle has jumped on that interest like a something  on a something (fill in your favorite southern phrase). Books, iPad apps, time outside at night with the telescope. Dadda has a new hobby (thanks to Owen). So, they've been talking about science a lot. And scientific things. And using scientific jargin. When I told Owen we were out of juice he replied that  "my theory is we need to go to the store and get some more". His theory was correct. 

I am so thankful for these three happy healthy kiddos.

Two Thanksgivings and LOTS to be Thanksful For

We always say that one of the (many) things we're thankful for related to living in the same city as most of our family is that we don't have to travel for the holidays anymore. And on top of that - we usually get to celebrate the holidays several times! This year we had two wonderful turkey dinners...

Do you believe me when I say it's hard to wrangle three, no, six kiddos and help Franny (even just a little) prepare the spread, and take pictures? That's why there aren't many photos from this year. But here are a few...

Nana on the front porch w/ our three. Hey - they're not all smiling, but they're all looking in the general direction of the camera and I say that's a win!

 Crazy pre-game Aggies. (The faces weren't so happy come 11:30 pm. Major bummer.)

 The Muke (Mel+Luke) Mezger three - have you all met BABY BLAIR yet? (Or, Baby Bear as Rebecca calls her.)

 (What was left of) Luke's incredible deep-fried turkey. Um, yum!

 Some sweet sibling moments.

 Tisses for Ahnie.

 And a sneak peak of the Thanksgiving highlight...

 Owen on his BIG BOY BIKE!

 This big boy bike was Owen's (belated) birthday present. We got it on Wednesday and he rode it (with training wheels) but since he has already gotten the hang of balancing (thanks to the glider bike from last year and a little friendly competition with Bailey - who has a very similar bike and is riding hers without training wheels)...the training wheels came off!

 So much fun! The "I can do it!" face.

 Vroom vroom. Even making turns.

 While Kyle did a little work on the glider bike (to make it Rebecca's size - pictures to come) - Bee and I tried to keep Owen goin'. (It's much harder than it looks in heels/boots!)

 Kisses for Bee - the 2nd Thanksgiving meal was excellent. Worlds best potatoes and rolls.

Special thanks to Bee and Nana for allowing me to totally bail on really helping with either meal this year - although I will say the Costco pumpkin pies I brought were delish. Life won't always be this crazy and someday (next year?!) I'll actually want to spend a day shopping and a day cooking all for a one hour (or less) meal, right? Yes, I will. :)

Happy Three Halloweens

October is so much fun. It's the month o' Halloween! We got to celebrate three times...

First (actually 2nd) - with some of our international friends - pumpkin carving is a very American tradition, even though other countries are starting to adopt the dressing up part of the holiday. We got a group together and hung out at the patio of EZ's to carve up some pumpkins and then eat.

 Our friends Yiyi and Fei with their first pumpkin!

 Kyle and Rebecca

 Me ad Lily.

 Christal and Nathan.

Celebration #2 (which actually happened first): The World's Best Book Club. It was my turn to host, so of course I bummed off my mom and we had it at her place. The perfect place - no (sweet) husband trying to get three kiddos to bed, and her Halloween decorations are spooky and kooky and perfect. The real Hostess with the Mostess: Bruelda the (Friendly/Kooky/Crazy?) Witch.

We read Dracula by Bram Stoker. (If you think you know the story because you know the cartoon/teen vamp version of Dracula - you are wrong!) We dressed up...a Lady Bug, Princess Elizabeth, a Garden Gnome, Lucy (from Dracula), Momma with a Bun in the Oven!, and Piglet. 

 Our book club is so awesome Rachel Zoe even dropped by. Bananas. I die!

My Dracula brownie/cake.

 This cheese may have actually tasted good but it looked so gross it pretty much didn't get eaten.

 Witch finger bread sticks. Yummy!

Okay, now on to Halloween #3 - the one about the kids!

Bee (in her Bee costume) dropped by after nap to help us get suited up and out the door for the Muke's party. Bee helping Boots (look familiar?) get her hat on...

 Still not quite awake from her nap.

 Owen was SO excited about his cow costume - it was a total hodge-podge, but it worked! The hat is from Owen's Co-op Gin - outside of Ralls, TX - where my McElroy grandparents lived - I thought it was a nice touch - and the horns are just lightly stitched on so the hat can be saved! The suite is from a school play (?) that Uncle Luke (?) was in in roughly 3rd grade - mostly, we know that it was in Nana's costume stash and had an awesome tail. And the cow bell was Bee saving the day (again) by running by Hobby Lobby.

 Bee, Boots, Cow.

 Garden Gnome Family.

 Headline: GARDEN GNOME GIVES BIRTH TO COW, MONKEY AND BABY GNOME!

 Cows make silly faces.

 So...if you're thinking - hey, Alison - why are you always dressing Kyle up in stupid costumes? Remember Diego? Remember the Fat Chef? Well...I am the good wife here. Check out these poor husbands! My Garden Gnome husband has nothing on Mr. Potato Head and Winnie the Pooh!

 And the lovely wifies. Is Melissa not THE BEST Jessie the cowgirl (from Toy Story)? She even had a little pull-string in the back! You've seen Piglet before. And Christal - the world's cutest non-cartoon cowgirl.

 Here are a couple group shots from the party. Unfortunately I was inside feeding Maggie so we're not featured. But you'll see the rest of our crew...

 And all sorts of other interesting beings...

 Of course the party ended with trick-or-treating. Here is Aunt Mel's speed-trick-or-treating group. Seriously - they ran from house to house. And no, she didn't go into labor...

That's what Thanksgiving is for!

The Real October Update

(This is the top of five new posts, so scroll down...Yes, I have been hoarding them and now we're all caught up!)

MAGGIE

Sweet Maggie is almost 5 months old - I can hardly believe it! At her four month appointment she weighted 17 pounds 2 ounces (97th%) and was 25.75 inches long (97th%).

 The biggest news from her end is that her bedtime has moved up considerably. I'd like to take credit for this, but she pretty much did it on her own. Since September its just been inching forward in 1/2 hour increments. It was at 9-10 for a while. Now she's ready to start her bedtime-dinner routine by 7:30 or so, usually in bed by 8:30. Let me be clear - THIS IS AWESOME! It means Kyle and I actually have some time together when all three kids are (theoretically) in bed! It's quiet. So quiet. We have actually gotten to talk to each. And read. And watch old episodes of The Office. Seriously - we love Maggie, but this is life-giving! (And the timing couldn't be better with all we have to do for the house!)

She's still not a fan of the bottle. And by not a fan I mean - hates it with a passion and pretty much refuses to take it. Probably our fault for not introducing it sooner. A few weeks ago, with our pediatrician's approval, I left Maggie with Kyle (armed with bottles and a freezer full of milk) while the kids were at my dad's. The theory was that eventually she'd get hungry enough to take the bottle. And it worked. But not for almost 24 hours. Yep, 24 hours. (Don't call CPS - remember those 4-month size stats.) The next day it was 5 hours. But then no repeat. We can't get consistency and she puts up an extremely painful fight. So...I think we've both lost hope a little bit. But...the silver lining (I'm hoping!!!) is that we can start introducing solid foods now. And if she will take that from a grandparent or babysitter than (from my perspective) its the same as taking a bottle - we can leave her for a couple of hours and know she's fine and so her caretaker. We'll keep you posted...

She's continuing to make lots of new noises. She loves to laugh (sort of a big gasp) when the kids play peekaboo with her. She is still sticking her tongue out almost all of the time and she drools like a little dimply monster. :)  She isn't rolling over yet, but we're playing on the floor a lot more. And we busted out the exersaucer and she's enjoying playing upright! Seems like 5 months has gone by fast...

REBECCA

Seems like potty adventure and 2-year olds go together. So, first things first. Rebecca went pee pee in the potty back in September - for Kyle. It's very important you all catch that last part. Rebecca pee pee'd in the potty for Kyle. That was pretty much an isolated event (because we're not pushing it). Then a few nights ago while I  was giving her and Owen a bath she pooped. In the tub. We responded like ninjas and got them moved to our tub so Kyle could get them cleaned up (again) and I could clean the kids poop tub. Then she pooped in our tub. Kyle had stepped away to get their soap and when he got back they were both standing out of the tub looking at the evidence. So, back to their (clean) tub. And I cleaned our tub. Rise, repeat. The same night, Rebecca pooped in the potty for Kyle. So, she poops in the bathtub for me, and in the potty for Kyle. 

While pooping adventures is not my favorite part of having a toddler, listening to her sing is! Favorites right now are anything she learns at school from Ms. Jessica (Jeh-Kah), anything her brother sings (Bob the Builder, ABC's, songs from Dahdo/Pam's) and anything form Mary Poppins. This girl love her some Mah Poppen! I'll listen to her falling asleep while singing Let's Go Fly a Kite, plus Feed the Birds. And of course the old standby's Twinkle Twinkle, Itsy Bitzy, Jesus Loves Me. Oh, and by the way - she does not want you to accompany her. This is a solo act. Unless you're Owen - maybe.

Let's talk about other news that goes with being two - fun new words/phrases!

• pinow (he is very specific about what pillows she wants in her bed)
• one poney, 2 piggies (her hair options)
• hurts ME! (what she says when pointing out very old booboos - she'll need a bandan)
• Bep-Bep (how she says her name - melt my heart) (Our friend Emmy calls her RE-becca.)
• Bee-Dee (Bailey), Ahnnie - Sisster (Maggie), Pan (Pam)
• Po me. (Follow me)
• Raaaaar (sweet and raspy - growling is not just for little boys)
• What does Swiper say? Ohhhh, Maaaaah(n)! 
• baby punki(n)! Gotta love October.
• Ont go Momma bed now! Peeeeese! Her very clear request if she wakes up in the middle of the night. I have caved on a handful of occasions. One night both she and Owen ended up in bed with me (I'm so weak when I'm sleepy!) and we eventually pushed Kyle out - to Owen's bed.
• Repeating random stuff with Owen - Oh no, my tail!!! (When he eats the tail off of a dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggett

She doesn't just copy Owen's words and games, but his bedtime stall tactics too! Owen - Momma, I don't want to go to bed. Rebecca - Momma, no ont go bed! It's like listening to a song sung in rounds. Owen likes to come out of his room at night to tell us something Rebecca needs (that we just told her, in his presence she can't have). And after we've all done all the kisses and hugs you can imagine, Rebecca will try to stall by telling us we need to give Owen another hug. Even though it makes parenting a little harder when they sort of gang up on us it's soooooo fun to watch them develop their own special relationship. They are truly playing together. And getting into trouble together...

 R has been able to climb up on this for a while, but the other day she and Owen were out playing and through the window I heard him so, "Becca, I am SO proud of you! You climbed up and back down!!!). And he was seriously SO proud. He ran in to tell me what she had done and that he had told her he was SO proud. What a lucky girl to have such a sweet big brother.

 Here they are watching a spikey caterpillar in the backyard. I'm sure Owen is teaching her all sorts of interesting things about it.

OWEN

Seems like there is less to update you about Owen - probably because he just seems to be cruising along in big boy mode. He is such a sweet big brother to his two sisters. He puts up with a lot and usually responds pretty kindly. He loves try to get Maggie to smile and laugh. He loves to get Rebecca going on some silly game - repeating silly stuff or doing silly things. He's probably figured out that she'll pretty much do whatever he tells her to (unless it has to do with sharing). 

A few weeks ago I was the "helping parent" in his preschool class and I forgot his lunch (yes, of all days). Anyways, when I told him he was so sweet about it- he sort of chuckled and said, "Silly Momma, I forgive you!" (I hadn't even asked for forgiveness yet!).

He continues to be Mr. Curiosity. Bugs, letters, maps, outer space, anything construction or train-related. And he continues to be Mr. Story. He can make up a story about anything. And if its your turn to make up a story, he'll be sure to tell you what its about and how it goes...

Here he is playing a little manly football with Kyle. Intense.

 The You Can't Get My Ball face. Watch out.

Okay, seems like that's about it!!! Thanks for hanging in there with us!