Cutest Mess Maker Ever

One day in early February I had put Josh in his room for a few minutes (door open but gate closed), needing to attend to something else. What was it that I needed to do so? Something with Lauren? Take a shower? I can't recall... Anyway, I heard quite a racket going on in his room and wondered what on earth he could be doing. I wasn't overly concerned since his room is pretty child-proofed and there wasn't anything that he could hurt himself with.

When I peered into his room, this was the face that greeted me:

This was him pointing at the big pile of books and toys that he had thrown into his crib as he said "MESS!"

The realization is setting in that he might have done something that he wasn't supposed to (meanwhile I've got my serious face on but I am cracking up on the inside).

Me: "Joshua, did you throw all those books in your bed?"
Josh: "uh-huh"

the pile:

This is me handing him the books out of the bed so that he can put them back on the shelf, which I have to admit, he readily did without fussing at all. This (at least for us) signals a big difference between girls and boys. If this had happened with Lauren, there would have been way more drama associated with the clean-up. Not so much with the boy. On the other hand, intentional destruction and mess making was never as fun a game for her as it is for him. This is much more of a regular occurrence in our household now...
*sigh*

Me: "Good job, Buddy! Keep going."
Josh: "mo-mo books" (more more books)

Such a sweet face....Josh: "ah-dah" (all done)

All that hard work made him work up quite an appetite. :-) Here he is making the sign for "eat". :-)

Winter Days

I took a post-holiday break from picture-taking with a few exceptions...

Random snack time for Lauren and Josh: apples and cheese, which are a favorite snack for both kids. Joshua usually asks for an apple every day.

Lauren in her Cubbies vest: she goes to AWANA every Sunday evening. It's a fun Bible study for kids, with an emphasis on Bible verse memorization. She has a wonderful time and has some super teachers who really do an awesome job every week.

I thought she looked super tall in this picture and then I remembered that she was standing on a stool....

One of our treasured visits with sweet Waverly. She is my friend's daughter who has special needs and occasionally we take care of her when her parents need some rest or some time away together. You can read more about her story by clicking on the link below:

Waverly's Journey

Getting in some cuddle time...

The kids love to have her here with our family and they dote on her just like she is their own little sister.

Two beautiful girls

Christmas Celebrations - Visit from Nana and G.G.

We had a wonderful visit with my Mom and Grandmother right after Christmas and into the New Year. My Grandmother had recently suffered a stroke so we were unsure if she would be able to make the trip. She was very tired, but she did fine and we enjoyed getting to see her and my mom and extend our holiday celebrations.

Four generations of women in our family!

Merry Christmas

We celebrated on Christmas Eve by going to a beautiful worship service and then got the kids ready for bed so that Santa could "visit" our house! Here are a couple of pictures of the kids after the service.





Of course, before they went to bed, we had to leave a note for Santa along with his cookies and milk... Lauren did a pretty good job tracing the words that I wrote and then "signing" her and Joshua's name. (She told me what she wanted to write)


While some of us were sleeping, Santa got right to work and brought some amazing things for our good little girl and boy. He even left the kids a note before he left to thank them for the cookies.



Christmas Day was so much fun. It was really great to see the kids be so excited. We had a relaxed morning and just enjoyed the family time together.

Here are a few of the pictures from Christmas morning:

A Toddler Milestone

I distinctly remember the day that Lauren pulled up in a chair by herself and the proud grin that she had on her face. Joshua had a similarly pleased-with-himself look on his face when he pulled himself up for the first time around Christmas.

Christmas Celebrations - Gma and Gpa

We had a super time with Jason's parents a couple days before Christmas. The kids were sooo excited to see them and to open presents. We had a wonderful dinner together, complete with my grandmother's secret family recipes for cheese hors d'oeuvres and JD Icy. Yum. Jason's mom also brought one of my favorites - apple dumplings. SO good!

There were so many cute photos of the kids, so we posted this link to our favorites. Enjoy.

Christmas 2011 with G'ma and G'pa

Christmas Celebrations - Preschool Program

In years past, Lauren has been very reserved and shy when it comes to performances, especially when there is a large audience. I was so proud of her during this Christmas program because she really participated and had a good time. I saw a couple of nervous glances as she searched the crowd, but she saw us and waved and had a big smile on her face. Once the music started, she was focused on her singing and hand-motions. :-)









Daddy came to watch his sweet girl sing.


Lauren with her preschool teacher after the program.