Christmas Morning

What an exciting day we had yesterday! Micah actually slept until 5:45. Around 6:00 we opened stockings and played with Micah's gift from Santa, then at 7:00 my parents came down and we had breakfast. After that we opened the rest of the gifts and then lounged around until more family came over at 1:00. It was a very exciting day. I think all of us were in bed by 8:00.

I can't believe we made it through the day without a picture of Micah in his spiderman costume. It was one of his favorite gifts... muscles and all.

Letters to Santa

Micah wrote three notes to Santa and placed them on the bricks by our fireplace where Santa would see them.

This is where he put them:

"This one says that I want Elefun for christmas"

"This one shows how I can draw straight lines."

"This one shows how sharp my teeth are."

I never thought about telling Santa so many details. Amelia loves to play the piano when Mom or Dad play. Here she is playing with Dad.

Welcome, Wests!

My in-laws have embraced the world of blogging. Welcome, Tim and Diane! Check out their blog if you are interested in traveling in an RV.

Mamma's been busy

Yesterday I got to indulge my obsessive-compulsive side for a bit. We went over to a friend's house and decorated gingerbread houses. I got to do it all by myself and be as detail-oriented as I wanted. My friend's husband even took Amelia out to run errands, so I didn't have her tugging at my ankles the whole time. It was HEAVENLY! Here is the final result:

Micah keeps asking when we get to eat it. I told him Christmas day.

Babies are like dishes...

let me explain:
You know when a dish has had food on it for a period of hours and you try to wash it off, it doesn't come off so easily? You start by scrubbing, realizing that you would have to use your finger nails to get all of the stuck-on stuff off, you decide to soak it in soapy water instead. Babies are the same way. When they have diarrhea sometime during the night and you don't know it until the next morning when it has climbed all the way up the back and down the legs, a swipe of the wet-wipe is not going to do the job. I put Amelia in the bath about 5:45 this morning and started to wipe with a washcloth and soon realized that it was not working. I decided to lather her up with soap and just let her soak. It worked much better. I did have to cover her body in diaper-rash cream, though. It looked almost like a burn all over her bottom and up her back. I felt so sorry for her. She spent the day snuggled up with somebody. Clearly, she's not feeling well.

Midnight Baths

are apparently not as much fun as they seem, especially when you have to get throw-up washed out of your hair. Here is how it all went down: Yesterday, Amelia ate nothing for breakfast, nothing for lunch, and one chicken nugget from McDonalds for dinner. We didn't think much of it, she probably had crackers during hearts at home and I know she had some at Jessie's. She went to bed fine last night and about 1AM she screamed, so Ryan went down and yes, she had thrown up all over her hair and her pajamas. There was hardly any in the crib. So, I whisked her up to the bathtub. Here is how the conversation went:
me: Do you want to take a bath?
A: yeah. (in a pathetic, whiny, tired voice)
me: Should we start the water?
A: yeah.
I lift her up over and into the tub.
me: Is it too hot?
A: yeah.
I feel the water, its perfectly luke-warm.
me: No its not, its fine.
A: yeah.
me: Should we get the toys?
A: yeah.
me: Here they are, do you want to play with the pandas?
A: yeah.
I put them on the side of the tub, she doesn't touch them.
me: Are you a tired girl?
A: yeah.
I wash her up, clean her off and she never touches the toys.
me: Are you ready to get out?
A: yeah. (she's NEVER ready to get out of the tub)
me: Should we dry you off?
A: yeah.
me: Should we get some warm jammies on?
A: yeah.
Then finally, the sheets were changed, Ryan had started laundry and we were almost ready to put her back to bed. She grabs her blanket and binkie and says, "nigh-night." We pick her up and pray again.
me: It's time to go nigh-night.
A: no.

Wipe Yourself...

...is what I told Micah after lifting him out of the tub to go poop for the third time in 5 minutes. Oh yes, he went each time. Each time he flushed and I put him back in the tub. Each time he said, "Mom, I changed my mind. I have to go poop some more." Luckily he is healthy again, so his bowel control is back to normal. Okay, I know, too much information. Just thought I'd give you a glimpse of our evening.

Those crazy kids...

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1132722081

Amelia

I haven't written about her in a while. She is talking (and repeating) so much more these days. She answers yah or no to everything (she used to just shake her head). For example: She'll take some bowls out of the drawer and I'll say, "Oh, go put them back." and she'll say, "no."

Elmo:
The other day I was getting ready to change her diaper and she was holding one, so I said, "Who's on your diaper?" Clear as day she said, "Elmo." I said, "Yeah! That's right. Good job honey!" Then she brought it to me to put on her and I looked and it was cookie monster.

Boxes:
Amelia loves to climb into any boxes. The other day, she was climbing into the top of a puzzle box (4in. x 4 in.). She got both feet in and then tried to sit down (like an elephant sitting on a folding chair). She lost her balance and took a face-plant onto the kitchen floor. She had a big goose-egg on her head the rest of the day.

Yesterday, we were at some friends' house who have two cats. Amelia LOVES the cats. She'll lay down on the floor with her hands on her cheeks and just stare at them. Well, she picked one of the cats up and put it into a box that was there.

Growling:
Somehow, Amelia picked up growling. She growls at everything. If she sees an animal, she growls. If she's wrestling, she growls. If she's excited that we're going to McDonalds, she growls and screams at the same time.

Baby:
She loves her baby. Her baby does everything Amelia does. Baby needs her diaper changed. Baby has a binkie. Baby goes to bed many times a day. Baby even drinks Amelia's milk and eats the granola bars that Amelia gets out of the cupboard.

Just a little update on Amelia.