(Above: Our silly picture with Santa. Got the kids all dressed up and Emmi all excited to see Santa, only to get there and have them tell us their computer system crashed so we would have to take pics with our own camera. Par for the course these days! We had a window of about 3 seconds before Bryce started bursting into tears so this is the most decent photo we got. Emmi is making a weird face and Bryce looks like he's terrified...classic Santa pic!)Last year at this time we had one crawling baby girl. This year, a walking, talking almost-2-year-old and a 5-month old. Emilie is our little smarty pants. She can sing her ABC's, count to 10, and say anything a 5-year old can say. "Mommy, I'm making guacamole," she says as she contentedly works in her play kitchen that grandma and grandpa bought her as an early Christmas present. Excuse me, are you not even two yet, and saying words (with all the correct sound pronunciation, I must say) like guacamole in a full sentence?? At home she never stops talking. Around others, she is very quiet and reserved...much like her mommy in that way. Of course, since she is almost 2, she does have that "terrible two" streak in her. Like when I ask her to do something and she says, "I busy right now mommy." Or when she points her little finger at me and sternly says, "I NOT going to time-out!!" But what fun would it be if she was ALWAYS so sweet and loving?? ;) Emmi is very excited about Santa this year. Oh, and also the Grinch. "I love the Grinch mommy," she says, and in the same thought she tells me, "Santa is coming to town!" It just makes my heart melt every time.
Bryce is also coming out of his "baby shell" a little more each week. He is our future offensive lineman, weighing in at 18 pounds, 8 ounces, only 6 pounds less than his sister. Although with those huge hands, mommy still thinks he might have a shot at quarterback. But for now, he loves to sit in his bumbo and watch his sister play, loves to stand up (with mommy's help of course), and loves to sit on the couch and watch the game (whether it be football or basketball) with daddy. As long as his tummy is full and he's not being confined to his carseat (which he hates with a vengeance), he is a happy little boy. And with that smile, those dimples, big brown eyes, and long eyelashes, I am sure I will have to chase the girls away. It's hard to believe that next Christmas he will also be running around and talking up a storm!
Just a little over 2 years ago, I didn't have either of these 2 beautiful kids in my life which is difficult to even imagine now. I wanted kids more than anything else in the world, but I didn't realize the degree of absolute, pure joy they would bring me every single day. Emmi likes to say to us, "I love you THIS much" (with arms outstretched as far as she can reach). Little does she know, that doesn't even begin to describe how much she is loved back.
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!
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