Lately

Lately we've been doing a lot of this:

Zack pushing Anna around in the cozy coupe thinking he's so big. and Anna loving it. (most of the time) It's all fun and games until Anna decides to start pushing herself and poor Zack gets dragged along the back. It doesn't seem to phase him though.

Listening to Taylor Swift. Still Anna's fav. I asked her if she wanted to go to the concert this summer and she said, "No, I already did that before." I guess once was enough in her book.

and dancing to Taylor Swift. And fairy songs. and Disney princess songs. It's pretty magical at our house these days. If only we could get the animals to come in and help clean and do the laundry. It would be great if they could make me a new dress too.

Enjoying warmer warmer weather. Zack loves holding on to anything that is like a stick. Even if it's a princess wand.

And Anna still loves the swing.

And bubbles.

So why not do them both at the same time?

And my very favorite, lately we've been doing lots of snuggling. Because who doesn't love snuggling with their kids? I need to get it in while I still can!

And of course we've had meltdowns, and time outs, and some not so great days too. But no need to document those for posterity now. Although they probably would make some good stories. For the most part, lately, we're doing pretty good. And I like it.

11 months

11 months old.

I can't believe it!

You took your first steps on your 11 month bday. They were a little wobbly, but you managed to make it 3 or 4 good steps before the wobbly-ness got the best of you. And here are some 11 month old pics in your birthday suit. Because it's the cutest suit you have.

Love you sweet boy!

10 months

Oh sweet boy. 10 months old.

I wish I was a better blogger and would have written something down when you actually turned 10 months. It's so sad and a little depressing how quickly things just blur together.

But I did actually remember to take pictures, so give me a little credit there. And know that we adored all that you were doing at 10 months. Crawling all around and doing all sorts of other cool tricks.

Christmas-ness

Oh how we love Christmas at our house! There's just so much to be Merry about! Anna has been on perma-excitement all month. Every morning she wakes up and runs in our room, "Mom, let's go see where Buddy the Elf is today!" (Buddy is our Elf who keeps his eye on us for Santa.) She loves that little Elf and talks to him sometimes and wonders if he's cold. I'm just glad he comes around because good behavior is a little more frequent when he appears at the beginning of the month.

Before Grandma G left, we got to make gingerbread houses with her. Anna still prefers eating the decorations to actually decorating, but that's the fun in it anyway right? We were so glad to have Grandma G around to share some of the Christmas season with.
Anna really got into gift giving. Throughout the month, she has randomly selected things from her playroom to wrap up and give to each of us. Zack's gift was wrapped up in an empty oatmeal box, others were scrunched up in paper, and my favorite was the one she wrapped for me. I must have left the masking tape out and so this is how she wrapped up my gift...

A beautiful dress up necklace wrapped in a roll of masking tape and then zipped up in a ziploc bag. The girl's got skills. She was so excited to give it to me, she couldn't wait until Christmas, so she gave it to me the day after she wrapped it.

She also decorated her room. Notice the star ornament. very festive. She told me it was just like the star for Baby Jesus.

It's tradition to wear your Christmas best to church the Sunday before Christmas. Well, Anna is quite the fashionista these days and apparently the darling Christmas dress I had bought for her would not do. It had a collar for crying out loud. I was not aware that she had developed a strong dislike for collars. "I do NOT like collars! I will NOT wear it!" sigh...the cute red and black smocked dress with the round collar might have to wait for another girl to join our family. So, after fighting the battle all month (we tried for Dave's department Christmas party too) I surrendered and offered her last year's and even the year before's Christmas outfits. She chose the one from 2 years ago, and surprisingly it still fit! My petite 4 year old is wearing her 18-24 month skirt. I'll have to find the picture from when she was 2 and add it to this post. I must admit, she does look quite cute, even without a collar.

And here's one with Zack.

Zack was not happy about the pictures. Anna was so sweet trying to comfort him. I love this next picture with her arm around him.

And here's one of Zack in his Santa suit.

We had a little Christmas party for Anna and her friends. My friend Laura brought her nativity set and we did the little play. We drew names and Anna was quite upset she was a wiseman instead of Mary. But after some tears and some coaxing, she decided the shiny purple robe and crown were pretty cool too.

Although you can still see the envy in her eyes in this picture. So funny.

We made little gingerbread nativities and wrapped some presents to donate to the child abuse center. It was a fun way to wrap up the final Christmas festivities before Christmas Eve.

December goes by too fast!

how lucky am I?

It's Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Christmas is in the air and I LOVE it! My favorite time of year got even better when I became a mom. It's so magical and joyful and I get excited about it in October. Although this year it just doesn't seem like it could possibly be the end of November yet.

Even before Thanksgiving, we got into the Christmas spirit. What better way to kick off the season than the Festival of Trees? First things first, meet with the big guy! Anna was excited and shy with Santa. And this was Zack and Santa's first meeting. It didn't go over well. Zack stared at him for a good 90 seconds without moving.
After his analysis was complete it was easy to tell that Santa did not pass. Zack did not approve. His serious face became squishy and sad and the waterworks began.
Maybe he'll go over better next year with Zack. Anna however, still loved Santa and Mrs. Claus and especially the elf because she's the one that gave her a candy cane.

Anna loved all of the other activities. She made lots of crafts and even got a Christmas Tree painted on her face. Which was the result of a major meltdown the next morning before church when she realized it had washed off in the tub.

That night we went on a little "Christmas Stroll" at a little shopping village nearby. We met some carolers and even got to see Santa AGAIN! Lucky girl!

This past week Anna and I had fun putting together a Christmas Box for a child in a 3rd world country. We found fun toys she would like, some treats, and hygiene stuff like toothbrushes and combs. It was a lot of fun and Anna got really excited about it, even though she really wanted some of the candy in there!

We wrapped it all up.

And dropped it off here. To add to this awesome stack of boxes.

I couldn't help but get a little emotional when I saw this. (There were even more boxes lined up against the other wall.) And this is only one church of many across the country collecting the boxes. I can only imagine the happiness and joy they will bring when they get to their destination. I love finding pockets of goodness in this crazy mixed up world of ours. It's so important to me to teach my children to give and help others and this was a great opportunity to do just that. Anna really loved it and I hope we are able to do it every year.

the problem with having an older sister

Never Grow Up

This song has been playing over and over in my head all week. Maybe it's because Anna keeps telling me how she doesn't want to be a Mommy. She just wants to stay a little girl and for me to stay her mommy. (which I love) Maybe it's because lately she really is growing up. I can tell by the way she talks and the things she's doing, and even in the way she looks at herself in the mirror. And Zack's crawling all around and is not my little newborn baby anymore. And maybe it's because I cried when I first heard this song, reminding me of how fleeting these years are that I have with them. Because even though I go crazy some days, and I can feel like a hero and a failure in the same day, and I'm still trying to figure it out, I really do love it. And I don't want them to ever grow up. I'm so content with how things are right now. Plus the more I hear about what's going on at schools and the world out there, I just want to keep them in our own little bubble for as long as possible.

And speaking of time passing too fast, I have been horrible at keeping up with this blog of ours. So to try and make up for it, here are some pictures of our little duo over the past month or so.

I really really don't want them to grow up. They're just too cute the way they are right now.

Your little hands wrapped around my finger
And it's so quiet in the world tonight

Your little eyelids flutter cause you're dreaming
So I tuck you in and turn on your favorite nightlight

To you, everything's funny
You got nothing to regret
I'd give all I have honey
If you could stay like that
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little
Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple I won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
No one will desert you
Just try to never grow up
Never grow up

Take pictures in your mind of your childhood room
Memorize what is sounded like what your dad gets home
Remember the footsteps, remember the words said
And all your little brother's favorite songs
I just realized everything I had is someday gonna be gone

Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
Just stay this little Oh darling don't you ever grow up, don't you ever grow up
It could stay this simple
Won't let nobody hurt you
Won't let no one break your heart
And even though you want to, please try to never grow up
Don't you ever grow up
Just never grow up

-Taylor Swift