My kiddos

I've done a terrible job this year about documenting the little phases and quirks my sweet kids are going through. This is not good, since I have a terrible memory and am sure to forget all of their stages unless they're written down. Here's a quick recap of everything I can remember at this early hour before I head off to work:

Huston has been in a "why?" phase for months now. He can ask a string of questions like you would not believe. I keep thinking that I need to record some of them, but they're so frequent and so rapid-fire that I never can seem to remember exactly how they go. However, the other day on the way home from the store, it went something like this: "Hey. Hey. Hey, mommy. Hey, mommy, why did those people take their blue lights down? Why is Christmas over? When is it going to be Christmas again? When is it going to be Halloween? Why do we just wear costumes for Halloween? Hey, mommy, are we going to take our Christmas tree down?"

That doesn't even do it justice, but you get the idea.

Huston watches his favorite episode of Thomas (Creaky Cranky) almost daily and can recite it from memory. You'll hear him muttering around the house as he acts out the episode little snippets of the dialogue. He went back to preschool yesterday for the first time after Christmas break and came home singing "skid-a-ma-rink-a-doooo.... I loooove you." So adorable! I love when he comes home singing new songs.

He loves Arden and always really likes when she's around - he doesn't like me to put her to sleep for naps or bedtime, and is always anxious for her to wake up. When they run around and squeal and laugh together, nothing makes my heart happier. But he can also be such a brother to her. It seems like everyday there is some set of toys he has decided to protect for the day, that he doesn't want her anywhere near. And of course those are the toys that Arden will most want to have for the day. How do they start this sibling fighting so young? Arden kicks up the screaming if she thinks you're looking and that she might get her way. She knows how to use the drama to her advantage. I have to keep an eye on her because something I'll think Huston's done something to her, but she's really just screaming because she wants something.

His vocabulary continues to impress us, and I love how he'll say the same things back to us that we say to him.

Arden is a hilarious little ball of energy. She loves accessories, as I think I mentioned in the last post, and will wear necklaces all day long. She also likes putting her little backpack on her back and walking around the house with that on while carrying her lunch box. She loves climbing up and sitting in chairs that are her size, gets thrilled when she gets to bounce around and fall down on the couch or on our bed, and still loves stuffed animals.

Although she's not really talking yet, she understands almost everything and certainly has her own way of communicating. Over the Christmas break, she learned how to put her hands up (like the picture below) to ask "Where'd it go?" She loves to drop things and then whip those hands into position and look at you. Sometimes she says something like "d' go?" when she does this. She says "woof woof" when you ask her what a dog says, and can smack her lips together when you ask her what a fish says. I'm almost positive she says "liiiiiii" for light and some version of the word diaper. And "da da" is a frequent word with her, too. The other day we were outside and some birds flew across the sky and she yelled "buh - deeeeeeee." But she never would repeat it. She been like that for months now - we'll be sure that she's said a word so clearly, but she never will repeat it. She signs "please," waves bye-bye when she feels like it, and has an adorable exaggerated head nod for "yes."

*Edited to add* How could I forget to write that one of Arden's favorite things to do is read books? Every time she sees a book, she brings it right up to you, ready to sit in your lap and be read to. She never seems to tire of reading stories. Lately she has started to look through the books on her own and babble through them like she's reading them to herself. It's so adorable!

And now, I must leave these crazy, sweet kids sleeping in their beds, while I go to work. *sigh*

Merry Christmas!

Huston and Arden had a great Christmas and we all had fun celebrating Christ's birth with our families. One of my favorite parts of this holiday season was hearing Huston sing the songs he learned in preschool around the house. He sang "Children Go Where I Send Thee" almost constantly the past few weeks (along with Rudolph, Silent Night, Away in a Manger, and a few others), and it was so cute. Of course, when it came time for his little Christmas program, he clammed up and refused to sing a word. He just covered his eyes and made weird faces the whole time. Typical Huston.

Huston got a tricycle on Christmas morning, which intrigued him for awhile (and he even got on it and rode it a little bit), but then he insisted we keep it out in the garage. I brought it back in the house against his wishes and he hasn't played with it much since then. He is so funny about gifts and toys. He did better about opening his presents this year, but at my parents' house I had to bribe him with a cookie to open his last three gifts. He just doesn't care that much about presents. His obsession for at least the last two months has been eyeglasses, and he did get some of those for Christmas. He has quite a collection and just likes to wear them and play with them. Every time his Mimi comes over he collects all of her reading glasses from her purse and won't let them out of his sweaty little hands until it's time for her to leave.

Arden loved opening her gifts this year! She got a darling zebra raincoat from her Mimi and Grandpa, and some dolls and a baby stroller, among other things. She is such a girlie girl and loves to wear accessories of all kinds. Every time she sees a necklace it has to go around her neck, and she loves to walk around the house with daddy's belt wrapped around her waist twice and buckled, or with a hat on her head. Such a contrast to Huston, who, within the span of just a few hours on Christmas Eve, refused to wear the button down shirt I wanted him to wear to church, his jacket, and then the pajamas I bought him that matched Arden's. I gave in to him on all three because he can put up quite the protest when it comes to clothes. At least I have Arden to pretty up!

We took the kids to the Christmas Eve service at our church and I loved having them with us in the sanctuary as we sang Christmas carols. Christmas day was spent at my parents' house and the kids had fun running around and playing with their cousins, eating too many sweets, and opening a mountain of gifts. Fun times all around!

Away in a Manger

I was cleaning the house when I got home from school this week, and I really wanted to take this ENORMOUS box out to the trash in the garage, but I hadn't gotten around to it yet. My plans changed, however, when Huston woke up from his nap and almost immediately wrapped Bear Bear up in Blankie (swaddled him, if you will) and put him in the box and said, "Look, Mommy! Bear Bear's sleeping in a manger, just like Baby Jesus!" The rest of the afternoon and this week, he has continued to pretend that the box is a manger, and will say things like, "Do you want to come see Bear Bear sleeping in a manger?" and "Bear Bear's just a tiny baby." Yesterday Bear Bear was crying, and Huston sang him "Away in a Manger" to get him back to sleep.

So if you come to my house and trip over this giant box when you walk in the door, please forgive me. Now, at least, you'll know why it's there.

ardenthanks

Shutterfly is doing another great promotion for bloggers. Click here to learn more. I love using Shutterfly for all of my invitations and thank you cards. Here's the thank you card I made for Arden's first birthday:

Hello There Thank You 3x5 folded card

Create custom thank you cards at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

Arden's Thank You

Okay, even though I haven't even posted about Arden's birthday part yet, not to mention Halloween or Thanksgiving or anything else that's been happening lately, I have to post this link to a thank you card I made for Arden's birthday. Shutterfly is doing another great promotion for bloggers where you can receive a $25 gift certificate for posting a link to your card project. So here it is!

Shutterfly Cards!

We interrupt this program...

for a friendly little promotion! I read on my friend Ashlee's blog (thanks Ashlee!) about how Shutterfly is giving bloggers 50 free Christmas cards. Go here to find out more! It's an awesome deal if you're a blogger, and was too good for me to pass up, considering how much I love Shutterfly! I have made countless photo books through their site, including one a year each for Huston and Arden to keep track of all of their milestones. Since Arden's birthday is coming up next week, I need to start working on her one-year book soon! I've also made tons of gifts through their site, including wall calendars with pictures of the kids for the grandparents and great-grandparents and personalized stationary cards for friends and family.

They have a great selection of Christmas cards - I always spend hours pouring over all the choices and almost as much time trying to pick out the perfect pictures to send to our family and friends. I almost always choose a design that allows me to use more than one picture, because I can never narrow it down to just one!

Here's a sweet one that let's you use lots of pictures. You gotta love a card that let's you include a monogram, too!

Here's another one that I like that let's you highlight your kiddos:

I also like these for something funky and fun or these for something more traditional and classic or these for something a little vintage-y.

Go here to check out Shutterfly's selection of Christmas and holiday cards:

http://www.shutterfly.com/cards-stationery/christmas-cards

Go here to check out their wall calendars:

http://www.shutterfly.com/calendars/wall-calendars

and go here to check out some cool options for canvas art:

http://www.shutterfly.com/home-decor/canvas-wall-art

So Big!

Arden is a little over 11 months now. That big first birthday is coming up fast (and Mommy is not ready for it - emotionally or actually). Here's a quick update on her sweet personality.

Arden is walking around like an adorable little toddler now. She had a slower transition to walking than Huston did, taking her first steps on August 26th, then having a big walking breakthrough on grandparent's day (September 12th), then continuing to do a mix of walking and crawling until about three weeks ago when she decided that she preferred walking and would purposefully get back up into a walking position anytime she fell down, instead of continuing her journey by crawling, which is what she did before. So now she is toddling all over the place, and I just can't get enough of her little tiny self step, step, stepping all over the house.

She loves stuffed animals right now, especially Huston's giant dog that Mimi got him from Ikea. It is enormous compared to her, but she gets so happy when she sees it and will carry it all over the house and talk to it and lie down on it. She snuggles and squeals with almost any stuffed animal you hand her, but that's her favorite by far.

She is soooo much more verbal than Huston was at this stage, jabbering to herself all the time, pointing at things and making sounds, and saying things that sound like "Hi," when she waves. She still loves dogs (and most animals) and makes the most adorable "woofing" sound. She raises her hands over her head when you ask, "How big is Arden?" and she LOVES reading books. Just in the past two weeks or so this has become an obsession with her. Her favorite is Pat the Bunny, and she does everything the book says. She pats the bunny, feels daddy's scratchy face, smells the flowers, looks in the mirror - it is so cute!

She loves pointing to things and making little noises to indicate her wants. She likes all kinds of drinks and always wants to taste what you have in your glass. She thinks whatever Huston is playing with must be cool, and always tries to play with his toys. She is determined and can really show her temper when she doesn't get her way, but is overall pretty laid back and calm. She likes playing with car keys, splashing in the bathtub, running around outside, swinging at the park, and just exploring the world.

She's my little sweetie pie.