Merry Christmas!

My favorite is the part where Beaker really begins to panic. :)
Thanks, Sis.
I love that Swedish Chef.

Alright!

That's it! Who taught the baby to do motor lips after every bite of prunes and rice cereal? I offered a dragonlike "Nooooooo!" after every splattering, but it didn't do any good except get me a scolding from the 3 year old about being nice. I told the boy it wasn't funny.
The look on his face made it apparent that he didn't believe me.

Yes, Cole too.

Who needs toys? Just hang up some mirrors and my kids will be completely entertained by their own reflections.

I love that it seems he's having a conversation with himself.

It's a miracle I haven't kissed this kid's cheeks off.

Are you surprised?

I'm not.

I like how she's left the window open for all kinds of behavior preceding Christmas.

A Tribute to my Cole Lio Lio

Oh, he's a sweet one. Check out those chicken legs!!! Can you believe that?! At his 4 month appt. he was in the 99th percentile in height and a little over 50th in weight. My long, skinny boy. Cole is such a good natured baby. He cries when he's hungry or tired. That's it. He's so patient with me. His little laugh is usually this fantastic sucking in sound as he bobs his head, unless he really gets laughing, which only his sister can get him to do so far. He's got this great boy hairline and a lighter color is starting to grow in. So far it looks like this kid is going to keep his blue eyes. I can see his father in him, my Grandpa Jack, and especially the resemblance to his sister. He's a thumb sucker, and when given the chance, he's a toe sucker too. Those long skinny legs make it easy to get the toes to the mouth. :)

I love love love it when he stares at me and "talks". When he does this, he usually is reaching up and touching my face. Consider the heart melted at that point.
He is so quick to smile. There is a big mirror hung right above the changing table. It doesn't matter what mood this kid is in, if you hold him up to the mirror, he will smile. Usually a laugh follows.
He is finding his voice. He "sang" all through church today. Either he was doing that or calling for dolphins.

Cole has some strong legs. I stand by this post. Maybe he'll swim or play soccer too. When he gets to kicking in his bouncer, that thing looks ready to take off.

His drool is well timed. If you hold him up in the air, you are almost gauranteed a slobber drop in the face.
Cole adores his big sister. He is perfectly happy to lay by her while she plays with toys because that means he gets to be with her and watch. He thinks she's hilarious. He doesn't mind all the affection she pours on him. Tessa always says, "Oh, he's so cute." I concur.

Tessa's Birthday Pics

She had already opened the gifts from grandparents, thus the Snow White headband and fairy skirt. :)

Her main gift was a bin with "dressing ups" in it. This girl loves costumes and had just a couple that she was always putting on. (And the after Halloween sale was perfect.)

Jake's favorite:

"I don't know who Dorothy is, but maybe she'd pose like this!"

Along with these, she also got a "Mulan dress." She was so excited about her dress up bin and can't wait to have friends over to play.

She requested a pink birthday cake with sprinkles. That's it. After weeks of making it sound like she wanted a huge art project of a cake, she settle on a pink cake. Can do, sister. So, we sang to her and watched her scrape off all that pink frosting into her mouth. She might have had a bite of actual cake. Maybe I'll just get her a tub of icing next year in place of the cake.

She's My Sunshine Morning Girl

And we've been blessed to enjoy three years so far with her. She's my funny drama queen, the sweetest one I know, and my best little girl friend. She turned three years old today. In her words,"Happy Birthday, everybody!"
Her debut:

One for the money:

Two for the show:
Three to get ready:

And......slow it down, kid. It breaks my heart to know that one day that squeaky little voice will be just a memory.

We had a really nice and quiet evening of presents and cake with just us and some grandparents via telephone.

She got dress ups for her birthday. :) Pics coming soon.