Christmas Traditions

 Each family has their own way of decorating their tree for Christmas.  I have always been fond of a color scheme for our tree (red, silver and gold for the past 3 year).  But what really makes a tree special are the personal ornaments that are unique and tell a story.  Dustin's mom gave me a ton of Hallmark ornaments that possess the year they were given.  My mom gave me a lot of personalized oranaments, year ornaments and my favorite, the ones I made for her in grade school.  I can't wait for Parker and Carleigh to start doing that so our tree can have even more personality.

One of the traditions we had in my family growing up was to get a clay ornament each year.  My mom always picked them and they were made to look like us and relavent to our interests at the time.  A lot of them broke over the years, but the gymnast perservered and we have her prominently on display on our red, silver and gold tree!  Clay baked ornaments have come a long way in 20 years but my gymnast with the broken leg and missing arm bring me back to 1993 and the daily dance/tumbling classes I had like it was yesterday.

So this year, in addition to the Hallmark ornaments Andrea has given us for the kids for this year, I ordered the whole family clay baked ornaments.  They don't use popsicle sticks anymore, the glaze isn't as shiny and they seem to hold up a lot better.

Carleigh got the ballerina dancer because she will start classes in January and loves to wear ballerina clothes.  Parker's is a "first Christmas" baby ornament but only because we don't know his interests yet (besides sleeping).

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I got myself a runner ornament for obvious reasons and Dusty's is a golffer!  I love them and can't wait to add to our clay collection next year!

The End of an Era

If you know Carleigh well, you know that her kiki could be used to leverage anything!  I've never seen a child so attached and I have plenty of friends whose children use pacifiers.  I think back and it's always been this way.  She was waking because her kiki (she named it this) fell out at 4 weeks old.  Thank goodness Parker's not so attached, though he now will take a paci. 

So at 29 months old, I finally felt it was time Carleigh gave up her kiki.  I went about the process last Sunday after the self-proclaimed cool downs (where she goes to her room and sits in her bed to calm down and can suck on her kiki) had reached an all time high.  Since Parker's arrival, these cool downs have been happening more frequently making the rule of no kiki except at naps and bedtime null (because she had to leave it in her bed).

At naptime last Sunday she went to her bed to find a broken kiki.  I thought at first I'd see if that dissuaded her.  She didn't like it but when I told her they were all broken because she sucked on them too much and too hard, she resigned herself to have to suck on a broken kiki.  I realized we were going to have to go cold turkey.

So Sunday night, I bravely told her the broken ones were in the trash and there were no more.  Emphasizing that she was a big girl and promising a reward if she could do it (I'm not above bribery), the first night she fell asleep with me at her side to calm her and only awoke at 4 am (I thought she'd wake much more).  She wailed and cried for the kiki for a full hour.  It was torturous for me and Dustin couldn't believe I was attempting this feat.  She awoke Monday morning and was very proud of herself for being a big girl.  The next nap day she didn't even fight me about it and kept saying she didn't need a kiki.  Monday day night she fell asleep on her own and only sleeptalked "kiki" once around 4 am.  After that, we've had a virtually seemless transition.  She knows they aren't around anymore and the train table she got as a reward is a constant reminder that a new chapter (the kikiless one) has begun. 

This was her stash that I threw away (if they weren't around, I couldn't cave in).

What we've noticed more than anything is that she is sleeping better than ever at night!  For the past few nights, she hasn't awoken at all!  She used to awaken if she couldn't find her kiki in the middle of the night and search for it and put it back in.  Even a small waking like that can disrupt sleep so I'm so happy that she's sleeping sounder and seems to have come to grips that kikis are gone.  We've had only one meltdown about them this whole week and it quickly disappated when I threatened to return the train table to Gigi and Bubba.

I'm so proud of my big girl!  Next on our big girl to-do list: potty training.  She has no interest in it now so I'm not pressing the issue but by 3, she better be ready!

8 weeks old

Yesterday marked 8 weeks for Parker and I have to admit that I am enjoying this first few months a lot more than I did with Carleigh.  Her eating and sleeping habits really took their toll on me and until we figured out what was wrong with her, I did my best to enjoy my time with her, but I know it was an anxious and foggy time.  Parker loves to eat (though we've had an increase in projectile vomitting this week even with the GER medicine) and sleeping is still probably his favorite pasttime!

Monkeying Around

I think I may have titled a post this back in Carleigh's first year ... but she does a lot of monkeying around!  Carter and Tara came over yesterday and while Tara and I were exchaning baby clothes, the kids were in Carleigh's room doing this:

Carleigh's been singing "no more monkeys jumping on the bed" recently and what do you know?  She doesn't take the songs' advice!

Caught in the act but happy as can be!

There were lots of hugs..

Even for Parker!  Carter was so good with him and a natural big brother!

Did I mention hugging already?  Though it looks like wrestling, these are Carter's enthusiastic hugs!

The hugs were well received with lots of laughter!

My Little Fashionista

Opinionated and often unreasonable about her clothing choices, today's ensemble made me smile!  I was saving this dress for one of our upcoming holiday gatherings, but Carleigh went in her closet today and pointed straight at this Gigi-made chevron dress and said "I wanna wear that."  It is beautiful and chevron print is very fashionable this season! 

So I gave in (and we'll still be wearing it Christmas Eve).  She kept saying to "look at me" so I decided to snap a few pics so one day she can say what amazing taste in clothing she had!

I love that I have my girl and boy so I get to experience everything unique about each!

My Sentiments Exactly

Last night before bed, Carleigh and I were cozied up together on the couch upstairs watching Bambi.  We've watched it countless times and normally when Bambi's mother gets shot and Carleigh asks where she went, I reply with "the hunters hurt her."  The truth, but not the whole truth.

Last night was no different, except that when I told her that the hunters hurt Bambi's mommy, she turned around and looked at mewith a trembling lip and tears about to spill over her eyes and said "who would want to hurt a deer?"  Startled by her realization, I said, "the hunters, sweetie."  The tears spilled over her eyelids and she asked again, "where did Bambi's mommy go?" This is common lately to repeat her question over and over until she gets an answer that she likes.  I said "don't worry, Bambi will be okay but his mommy is gone." Again she asked, "where did she go?"  I tried to ignore the questions and said to just watch.  Carleigh's response, "turn it off, Mommy!  I don't want to watch it anymore!"  She still isn't sure about what death is but she knew that what happened in the movie was bad and it made her so sad, that I teared up, too. 

As I refect about what I coud've said to better explain what happened, I realize that nothing would've made it okay in her eyes.  It's funny but I am so proud of the compassion Carleigh has gained and is continuing to develop.  My two cents: I still don't understand why anyone besides their natural predators would want to hurt a deer.

Daddy on the otherhand took two links of deer sausage to work today.

Carleigh's best girl friend

"Where's Hannah, Mommy?" "What's Hannah's favorite princess?" "When does Hannah get home from school?"  "Where's Hannah?" "That's Hannah and that's me" (referring to her dolls in her dollhouse).  These are just a few of the daily questions/statements I hear from Carleigh as soon as we awake.  The girl is Hannah-crazy! 

I see why, of course. 1) Hannah is older (nearly 4) 2) Hannah loves to play with Carleigh 3) Hannah has super cool toys 4) Hannah's interests are similar (princesses, princesses and more princesses!) 5) Hannah is straight up amazing!

Everyone loves a baby!

(The 1st two pics were shot sans flash in order not to startle Parker, yet resulted in poor image quality. My apologies)

Now that Parker is awake more, he's never at a loss for attention.

Whether it come from family or his canine companions, no one can resist him!  Gigi had to fight Tyson to get in on the Parker kissing!

No matter to Tyson, he was just happy to get in on the action!

Ladies Man!

His onesie was a hit at the gym, library and our playdate!  Thanks, Gigi!

Swaddle graduate!

Parker is officially out of the swaddle at 7 weeks!  Bring on the snuggly blankets, Mom!