Father Christmas

Clint hasn't had much time off recently, so I've had to grab little bits of time with him to do a few holiday things.  When we heard about a historic Christmas village in downtown Dallas, we had to go check it out (it didn't hurt that I got Junior League meeting credit for going :).  So we got the kids dressed up and off we went!

We forgot the double stroller and the Baby Bjorn, but we made do... :)

Charlie was most interested in the "Big Choo Choo," seen behind Clint here.  He wasn't sure what to make of the period costumes.

I was very excited about the "pictures with Santa" that were advertised, but we were a bit disappointed with the jolly old guy once we saw him.  Clint decided that maybe they were trying to show how people couldn't be too picky in the pioneer village--Santa might just have to be a large-ish guy with a red beard (and a green robe???).  Turns out it was Father Christmas.  Seriously??  As you can tell, Charlie was not impressed.

Evie: "You really took me out of my warm coat for a picture with THIS guy?"

Period carolers.  Suspicious Charlie wouldn't touch the candy cane they offered him.

The historic village was fun, but it did not check "pictures with Santa" off my to-do list! :)

It's (Finally) Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I feel like I am behind on everything Christmas this year (and Evie is a very good excuse, thankyouverymuch), but we are getting there.  Slowly but surely, I have gotten the house decorated, and Clint, Charlie, Evie and I recently went out to pick out our Christmas tree (or "Big Tree!," as Charlie's dubbed it).  

Charlie negotiated a very good price for the tree...

The tree experts.

Evie had surprisingly strong opinions.  The girl loves Douglas firs.

I wanted this tree, but the kids opted for a traditional one.

Decorating the house has been so fun...but I've realized that I really need more Christmas decorations.  Guess who's going to be shopping the post-Christmas sales... :)

This is my favorite decoration.  It was my grandmother's, and I always loved it at her house as a child.  Apparently I fiddled with it enough that she eventually gave it to me. :)

Stockings hung with care...

And here is our expert tree decorator.  This guy LOVES hanging ornaments (and by hanging, I mean thrusting the ornament in the branches over and over until it finally sticks).  Unfortunately, we ran out of non-breakable ornaments too quickly for his taste, leading to a small tantrum that cut our decorating experience short.  Oh well, more decorating next year, right?

[Charlie also loves un-decorating the tree.  I keep finding our ornaments scattered around the house, and have been having to move them higher and higher up the tree.  He has someone managed to reach some ornaments (the small ceramic truck, in particular :) hung VERY high on the tree.  I did not see him get it down, so I have no idea how he managed this.  What a monkey!]

Big Tree!

Evie quickly got in her reindeer pajamas in order to take the obligatory pajama pictures next to the tree.

Charlie got in his matching pajamas, but we couldn't quite make the picture work.  I will keep trying... :)

My attempt at homemade ornaments is below.  Evie cooperated nicely for her footprint ornament (on the left), however, Charlie was not so cooperative for his handprint.  For some reason, the "monkney" totally freaked out at the idea of putting his hand in the clay.  I finally had to settle for a fingerprint (right) (and had to do my fair share of consoling even after that!).  Oh well, at least the ornament is unique!

And finally, the newest addition to our tree, in honor of the newest addition to our family...the little mouse. :)

Our halls are finally decked!  Yay!

So many changes...

I feel like these two little kids are growing up so fast.  Some days I want to freeze time and spend more time with them at this stage and other days, when they are particularly fussy, the passage of time doesn't seem quite so dreadful. :)  But, like it or not, they are changing and growing up.  That was brought home to me the other day when Evie started cooing.  Seriously??  I am still thinking of her as a brand-newborn and all of a sudden she's smiling and "talking."  So weird [and SO adorable--her tiny, high little voice is really sweet. :)]. And then, today, I went to get Charlie up from his nap and was surprised to find that he wasn't in his crib--he was playing on the floor of his room!  I'm going to stick with the crib for a while and see how it goes, but I can't believe we're getting closer to a "big boy" bed.  [Go figure; after much debate, I decided not to move Charlie out of his crib and purchased Evie her own, and she hasn't even slept in it yet!]  Charlie is really into climbing on/out of everything right now.  Luckily, he usually gives me a heads up--when I hear him saying "monkney, monkney" ("monkey"), he is climbing on something. :) 

The last few days have been a bit crazy (Clint's been working crazy hours and Charlie's going through a clingy phase this week), but there have been some funny moments.  Charlie's new favorite words are "yay" and "okay," and his exaggerated, Texas-accented way of saying them just crack me up.  Everyone gets a yay--it was "Yay Meggie!" over and over when we purchased her Christmas gift, "Yay Dada!" every night when we get the phone call that Clint's on his way home, "Yay Mama!" when I get him out of bed, etc. :)  And thanks to Goldbug in Richard Scarry's "Cars, Trucks, and Things that Go," Charlie has developed a fascination with bugs.  He now leaps across the table to get the fly that's trapped in our house, and brings me little dead bugs that he finds, each time with a very excited "a bug!"

Evie: One Month Old

I cannot believe the mouse is one month old [I know this post is almost 2 weeks late.  Don't judge.].  It is painful to me how fast time is moving right now.  I thought the pregnancy went fast, but it was nothing compared to Evie's newborn days!  Evie is an amazing [Clint calls her "e-mazing" :)] baby.  She is so good that it's a bit scary, as I can forget she's around.  I have put her down for a nap in her bassinet and stopped by to check on her, only to find her wide awake in there, just looking around happily.  Evie is patient, calm, and just as sweet as can be.  She really doesn't have a "fussy" time of the day, which is a relief after her brother, who required an hour or more of bouncing on an exercise ball every night.  But our favorite thing about Evie is her big, wide-open eyes.  They look so wise and inquisitive; I just love it when they are open and looking around.  And Evie is just beginning to smile.  No "real" smiles yet, but she does crinkle up her mouth and looks like she is trying to smile when we talk to her.  I think a real smile is right around the corner. :)  Although Evie is great during the day, we are still figuring out the nights--some are really good, with only one feeding, while others involve a bit more feeding and cuddling.  Evie never asks for much, though--she mostly just likes to be held, and is the sweetest cuddler I know. :)
Evie had her one-month appointment this week (at 5 weeks old).  Her current stats are:
Weight: 9 lbs., 5 oz. (60%)
Length: 21.25 in. (60%)
Head: 14.75 in. (65%)

Love this little face!

Notice a hand coming in the frame?  Someone has decided that the mouse has had enough time alone in the spotlight...

...and here comes Charlie, taking his rightful place in front of the camera lens. :)

A gratuitous kiss for the camera...

...and then on to the fun.  Charlie LOVES pointing out Evie's various body parts, especially her mouth and eyes (eeek!).

Another kiss, when he remembers that there's a camera in front of him.

And then back to the mouth.  Time to rescue poor Evie!

At only one month old, Evie doesn't have a ton of favorite things (aside from eating, cuddling, and burping), but she has really been enjoying our evening dance parties.  The three of us have done some wild dancing!

Dance parties get even crazier when Dada (or in this case, Papa) joins in.  Charlie was thrilled with his energetic dance partner!

Evie is also a pretty big fan of her baths.  My calm little mouse is so good about hanging out patiently in her tub while I bathe Charlie.  She is such a sweetie--and I think I may have a future spa-junkie on my hands. :)

We love you SO much Miss E.  I cannot believe how much you've captured our hearts [including that of your brother, who now refuses to go off to bed before he's gotten to kiss you :)] in only one short month!

Evie's Big Debut

Two of my best friends, Ann and Bethany, threw the most adorable little sip n' see for Evie to meet some of my Dallas friends.  It was a gorgeous party with wonderful food (I have eaten way too many of those petit fours in the past few days :).  It was so fun to get away for a few hours and visit with my friends and show off Miss Evie.  My mom was in town, so she got to join as well, and I loved having her there with us.  What a fun party!  [Luckily, Charlie decided he would stay at our house with Papa and the two of them had a blast.  They went for a drive (they would not disclose who drove), pumped gas (which apparently was a huge hit), and went on a hunt for construction sites.  Charlie proudly reported that he had seen a "backhoe" and a dumpster.  Evie and I were very jealous of all that fun! :)]

Evie was so excited about her big party that she put on her first dress (a gorgeous hand-me-down from Julia and Katie).  [As a side note, dressing girls is so much more complicated that dressing boys.  I am still figuring out how to put a whole outfit together: a dress, matching sweater, matching tights, matching shoes, matching diaper cover, bow (as you can see, I still haven't gotten the hang of it--Miss Evie is missing tights, shoes, and a bow!).]  Evie looks wide awake here, but looks are deceiving.  The little mouse slept through the entire party!

Starting to smile! :)

Me, sleeping Evie, and our sweet hostesses.

 Thank you Ann and Bethany for such a wonderful party!