Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree...

Every year we go out in search of the perfect Christmas tree. We decided to go out Saturday, and I was a little nervous, but it went better than I had anticipated!  Considering Jessalyn's sudden clingyness and the tantrum she threw that last time I took her out to play in the snow, and add to that fact that we went at NAP time, I thought it would be a quick trip.  Since it's about a 30 minute drive to the tree farm, we waited until we got there to bundle the kids up and much to my surprise Jessalyn willingly let me put on her her snow pants, hat and mittens.  In less than 5 minutes we were off!  I carried Jessalyn until my arms started hurting and then asked Aaron to take her.  His response: "No, she'll be fine, just put her down" (Seriously?!  Didn't he remember the horrible fit she threw last time?  Apparently not...)  I can only imagine the look on my face, but since he wasn't going to carry her I had no choice...

...and again I was surprised - she took off running!  "See?  It's just because I'm here," he boasted.  You've got to be kidding me!  She was totally fine!   

While we searched for our tree we played hide-n-seek between the trees, chased each other and even pretended that we were soldier guys trying to get to our tree before "the bad guys" could get us, running as fast as we could.
 

 Walking with Daddy : ) 

 

 Dominic's stick arrow for fighting the bad guys.

 Looking for our tree...

 Jessalyn likes this one!  

 Playing in the snow! 

We waited in the car while Aaron loaded up the tree and snacked on candy canes... 

  

 Jessalyn's face when Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer came on the radio! 

 

 Dominic: Rudolph the red nose reindeer, had a very shiny nose

If you ever saw it, you would say it glows

All of the other reindeer used to laugh and call him names

They never let Rudolph play in any deer games

: ) 

When we got home we set to work decorating cookies and our tree while watching Rudolph! 

 

While we always put the "kid friendly" ornaments toward the bottom of the tree and the breakable/favorite ornaments go up top we don't usually let the kids play with their ornaments.  However, the tree has been up been for a day and a half and I'm constantly telling Jessalyn to leave the ornaments on the tree...I'm not sure if I can handle another 3 weeks of this!  I can feel my resolve cracking each time her little hand reaches toward an ornament.  Besides, what's the point of putting the kids' ornaments on the bottom if they can't play with them?

Presents are another story - they won't be out until Santa comes.  Putting them out now would be too much temptation...

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

Since Aaron had the day off yesterday we took the kids to see Santa, but we decided not to tell the kids until we got to the mall and let them find him.  As soon as the kids saw him they were so excited (and much to our surprise there was no line to stand in)!

When it was our turn, we set the kids on Santa's lap and Jessalyn lost it!  Dominic was kind of shy, but he sat there like a big boy.  They took about 7 pictures and Jessalyn was screaming in every one.  The last one was my favorite -  it's super cute!  The whole ordeal took less than 5 minutes and as soon as I picked Jessalyn up she was fine... (a little over dramatic? I think so.)

After our visit with Santa, Dominic asked to ride on one of the cars (we don't usually, but since it was a special day I figured, why not?).  Then we walked around the mall to finish up some Christmas shopping...



Me: "Do you want to go see Santa?"
Jessalyn: "No want to see Santa!"  


Aaron: "Jessalyn, do you want to see Santa?"
Jessalyn: "No, Santa cry."
Aaron: "Did Santa cry when you sat on his lap?"
Jessalyn: "Yup, Santa cry."











  

Dominic: "I didn't sit on Santa's lap.  I sat on his leg and Jessalyn sat on the other.  A lap is two legs, not just one."








My poor baby - she wasn't feeling good and when we got home and checked her temp it was 101*, so we all sat on the couch and watched Rudolph.  I can't wait until we have the tree up and we can sit and watch Christmas movies with the tree lights on!

Hopefully Jessalyn will feel better soon, but until then I see lots of snuggles and kisses in our future!

So far...

We've been busy this last week with Thanksgiving, my birthday and watching baby Fulton! 

The kids are so excited to have Fulton come "play" with us!  They are so good with him and they get along!  It's like they call a truce, until he's sleeping and then all bets are off.  Dominic likes to help with Fulton and play with him, while Jessalyn just likes to try to feed him things, "Here, take a bite baby!"

Dominic: I think we should keep him.  I love him and I think he likes me!






 Dominic: Fulton smells like something really good.  He smells like ketchup!  (I'm not sure which is more weird, the fact that he thinks Fulton smells like ketchup or that he thinks ketchup smells good...)

Dominic has been asking every day for the last month, when Santa is going to come to our house (thanks to the stores that start putting Christmas stuff out right after Halloween).  He always says the same thing when he asks: "Santa will come to our house when it snows and we have our tree and we make cookies!"  So of course as soon as he saw the snow yesterday morning, the first thing out of his mouth was, "We need to get our tree so Santa can come and bring me presents!"

Speaking of Santa, a friend of mine told me about this really cool website where you can send your child a video message from Santa (and the best part, aside from the kids' excitement, is that it's FREE!).  Here are Dominic's videos -  http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/nTwc0_MtXrxxraRYqum1Fw  and http://www.portablenorthpole.tv/watch/guest/P6qddJDEUOS3iH9Jc1rR-A  (for some reason when I made Jessalyn's video they wouldn't say her name, so she wasn't interested)  Dominic was so excited that Santa sent him a message!  After watching the video at least 5 times, I finally caved and took the kids outside...



25 minutes to get dressed + 45 minutes of playing in the snow = Pure excitement for Dom and an hour long temper tantrum for Jessalyn...







Dom kept asking if we could make a snowman that would talk to him (I think he's watched Frosty the Snowman one too many times...)





I guess we'll just wait and see how the rest of winter goes...

It's been a while...

 Wow - I knew it had been a while since I had blogged last, but I didn't realize it was way back in May!  We've been really busy, but I figured that now that both kids are talking CONSTANTLY I'd attempt to get back into blogging...

We have FINALLY reached the stage where the kids get along (occasionally), though more often than not we're refereeing disagreement.  Initially, whenever Jessalyn would burst out into tears crying, "No Dominic!", we would immediately ask Dominic what he did to make her cry.  After further investigation, we came to the conclusion that our sweet little girl isn't as innocent as she wants us to believe.  She is an instigator!  Now don't get me wrong, Dominic still picks on her, but 60% of the time Jessalyn is the cause of the drama...

Their little personalities amaze me - they both love to sing and listen to music, read and play by themselves.  Both of the kids are pretty independent, but Jessalyn more so than Dominic. 

Jessalyn is such a vocal little person.  She walks into the room and says, "Hi Mom!" and goes about her business.  She loves food, her baby and binky, food, books, food...oh and did I mention food?  She will do just about anything if there's food involved, including climbing up on the table to see what food she can find, raiding the cabinets pulling out miscellaneous food items saying, "Food please?", and stealing it off other people's plates (after she has finished off her portion).  Just this morning she ate through a banana peel to get to the banana...she was hiding so I wouldn't catch her.  I have only found one thing she won't eat - macaroni and cheese, not that I blame her.  Since she has an older brother, she's really interested in boy things, but I'm forcing her into liking girly things!  Just wait until Christmas little girl... : )

Jessalyn's quote of the day: "No Dominic!  Be nice a me!" 

 Dominic is into anything super hero, pirates, soldiers/knights related and he has a HUGE imagination.  In the morning he'll be Batman, around lunch he is "soldier guy", and before bedtime he's a pirate with a peg leg.  He loves to make up songs and sing them at the top of his lungs, usually repeating the "chorus" over and over and over!  : )  Right now he's obsessed with the Magic School Bus and watches them over and over, soaking them up!  It's amazing how much he retains, even though it doesn't seem like he's paying attention and he likes to tell the rest of us how muscles get oxygen and bees make honey. 

Dominic's quote of the day:  "I was running and then I had to stop because my muscles gave out - they didn't have enough oxygen!"

...and a Super Hero

Earlier this week Dominic came up to me (rocking his Batman cape, with his bat-a-rangs tucked in his underwear) and said: "Hi there, I'm Batman.  Do you need any help?  Just call BATMAN if you have trouble and I'll come save you!  Have a good day, ma'am!"  I burst out laughing and ran for the camera...

Two things probably jumped out about these pictures: 1) the fact that he's wearing a Spiderman shirt (he doesn't have a Batman shirt); 2) he isn't wearing pants - Super Heroes don't wear pants ("Is that Superman's underwear?  Where are Robin's pants?")

Since Dominic's birthday is Wednesday (and we just had a huge party for Jessalyn's birthday) we decided to have a small party with Grandma and Grandpa, Auntie Em and all of the Uncles (as long as there is cake and a couple of presents he won't care).  Any guesses as to the theme?  Now all I have to do is figure out what you get a Super Hero for his birthday...  I'm toying with a few ideas.  I figure Super Heroes seem pretty into themselves (and this one is no exception) so I was thinking about redecorating his room with posters of his fellow supers and super hero bedding...but we'll see!

A Birthday Girl...

My sweet, adorable, curious, cuddly baby girl is one!

To celebrate we got a little cake for her to eat at midnight.  We lit the candle and woke her up by singing Happy Birthday and (after "thawing" the cake) she dug right in!

Following a yummy lunch at Olive Garden (at her request), we took her to Coldstone for another birthday treat - Banana ice cream with graham crackers mixed in.  I know, it sounds gross, but she loved it and I have to admit, it was pretty tasty!

On Saturday we had a party and she was a good sport - smiling and being social, although she wouldn't walk for her guests.  Uncle Daniel made her a smash cake and she DEVOURED it!  

Even though she's busy exploring all of her new books and toys, she is still getting in some practice walking!  Yesterday she was walking all around - as long as she was walking towards me.  It won't be long now before she's running to keep up with Dominic (or running away from him...)!

So Big!

Jessalyn learned the "So Big" game.  Every time you ask her how big she is, she throws her arms up and gets really excited - it's so cute!  Sometimes when she's sitting in her highchair I'll look over and she will have her arms in the air staring at me, waiting for me to ask her how big she is.

 Just this past week she started crawling back to Dominic's room.  The minute you set her down on the floor she heads that way  - she then proceeds to pull his toys out and wait for him to come in to play with her.  I love hearing them talking and laughing with each other.  When I go peek in on them he's  usually playing with something trying to make her laugh and she's just sitting there grinning at him.  This is what I have been looking forward too!  Don't get me wrong - we still have issues with Dominic picking on her at times, but I love when they play together!  Usually when Dominic is taking a nap she crawls over to his door and cries because she wants to go in there and if you try to move her, she goes right back.  I tell myself it's because she misses him...but it's probably just that she wants to play with his toys...

WHY?

Well, we have officially reached the "Why?" stage.  So far it's not too bad (granted it only started yesterday).  I have a feeling this phase will get old fast - I'll just have to remind myself that he's curious.

While we were playing at the park...
Dominic: Why is that duck swimming in the water over there?
Me: Because ducks like to swim
Dominic: Why?
Me: That's what ducks do. 
Dominic: Why?
Me: That's how God made them. 
Dominic: Oh.  Look he's coming over to me!  Why?  'Cuz he wants to eat me?
Me: No, the duck doesn't want to eat you, he just wants to say hi. 
Dominic: Why?  He can't talk, he quacks.  
Me:You're right, he's just coming to watch you. 
Dominic:Why? 
Me: Because he likes you.
Dominic: I like him too...I'll just sit here and look at him for a second, ok Mom? 

He sat there and watched the duck for a few minutes until they both lost interest and went their separate ways.  I could sit and watch him all day, as he soaks up the world around him.  It amazes me how much curiosity such a little person can have!  Even though I don't want him to grow up (maybe just outgrow some behaviors), I can't wait to see what he will grow up to be...whatever he does, I know he will be amazing! 

All Dressed Up

Since I didn't get any pictures of the kids dressed in their Easter outfits, I got them all dressed up and took them out in the backyard and snapped a couple of pictures...

Dominic did so well!  Usually the minute you get the camera out, he acts shy and won't cooperate, but today he was great - and I didn't even have to bribe him with anything!  Jessalyn on the other hand decided she was not going to look at me, she just wanted to push around her stroller.  I might be a little biased, but they are the 2 cutest kids ever!  I can't believe that in exactly one month from today Dominic will be three (and in 18 days Jessalyn will be 1)! 

Kids Say the Darndest Things

For those of you that have the privilege of being friends with me on Facebook, you know that 99% of my status' are whatever funny thing Dominic has said that day.  Since we brought Jessalyn home from the hospital, I've been keeping a journal for him about the cute (but mostly naughty) things he says and does.  I was reading back through it this morning as I was jotting down his latest entry and again I was struck by how funny he is (of course he gets his sense of humor from me):

Today as I was cleaning the kitchen I heard Dominic moving things around in the kitchen..."Mommy look!" 
I turn around to see him standing on his stool, holding his arms out pointing to his cup of chocolate milk sitting on the table. Shouting excitedly he said, "Welcome Ladies and Gentlemen!  Introducing my CHOCOLATE MILK!"  He was so cute, I had to clap.  Taking a bow, he then said, "Thank you everybody!  Thank you very much!"  

Yesterday while we were walking around in Meijer: "Gosh dammit all!  UGH!  I don't know where the stuff is...UGH!" (no idea where he would have picked that up)

Or a few weeks ago at Old Navy in the packed dressing room: "These pants smell like fart!"

"Ah cooma ah ta ta...it means no worries for rest of your days!" (he's a big Lion King fan)

" 'Ello Mate!" (in a Australian-ish accent, which he learned from Uncle Nathan)

" 'Ello Govn'r!" (in a British-ish accent that's pretty similar to his Australian-ish accent - I guess it's from Pirates of Caribbean and he heard Aaron say it once)

"Oh thank you, sir!"

When asked why he bit Jessalyn, he replied: "Because she smells good..."

"You're my best Mommy friend!  Jessa-trice is my favorite sister friend and Daddy is my best friend!"

"Clark Kent is Superman, Peter Parker is Spider-man, Bruce Wayne is Batman...and I'm just Dominic sometimes..."

"I'm the best kid ever!"

Remember his "Is it cool?  Is it awesome?  Is it creepy?" phase?

After looking at his superhero books, he said, "Wait a minute...what the heck?  Is that Superman's underwear?  Where are Robin's pants?" 

When he's frustrated he says: "Fudge!  This damn thing is pissing me up!"

And my favorite : "Mommy, you're my favorite Mommy sometimes...I love you though!" 


I wonder what he'll come up with next...

Growing Up Too Fast

My kids are growing up. I know that's what they are supposed to do, but why do they have to do it so fast? This past weekend we attended a first birthday party for our friends adorable son, Simon, who it seems like we were just visiting at the hospital after he was born (while I was 7 months pregnant with Jessalyn). I can't believe how quickly this past year has gone! He can't be 1 already because that means that Jessalyn will be 1 soon and Dominic will be 3!

It's hard to believe that my sweet, social butterfly Jessalyn is crawling all over the place, pulling herself up on everything and trying so hard to walk. We thought Dominic would keep us busy, but something tells me that Jessalyn has been (silently) watching everything for the past 10 months, perfecting all of Dominic's schemes and is just waiting for the opportunity to make her move. Watch out world, here she comes!

And then there's Dominic. Our bright, energetic, mischievous, hilarious, independent almost 3 year old. Every day he amazes us with all of new things he can do by himself.

We recently discovered that he can sit on the "big potty" all by himself - putting one hand on the counter, he places the other on the toilet and sort of swings himself up...now I just have to figure out how to convince him that he doesn't have to lift the lid AND seat, that it is ok to sit on the seat. "I don't need my little potty anymore Mommy, Jessalyn can use it now!" What happened to that stubborn toddler I started potty training last summer, who REFUSED to keep his big boy pants dry?

Oh and then there's the fact that he thinks he can take himself for a walk. That was actually pretty funny. We were over at Grandma and Grandpa's house recently, when I heard "Hey Vergie, Dominic is outside by himself..." I ran to the back room just as Dominic walked through the door with his boots on (on the wrong feet), and I asked him what he was doing and he responds, "What? I'm home now gosh!"

I'm not ready for them to grow up!  Pretty soon they'll taller than I am...