Underwear

That's right, we're wearing underwear...all day long...even when we leave the house. Miles was totally reluctant, but it was time so we just took away the diapers and went cold turkey. He did great...only two accidents in the first two days and none since! He was not happy about this underwear business so for the first few days we bribed him with candy for each trip to the bathroom. That was all he needed to get on board. It feels so good to only have one kid in diapers.

Number Shirts

Miles will only wear shirts with numbers on them. I thought it was a phase, but it's been a couple of months now. It kind of started with a shirt he got in Disney World with a big 71 on the back. It's his favorite shirt and he would wear it every single day if I let him. In fact he sometimes wears it backwards because he likes to see the numbers. We happened to have a couple other number shirts and I hit up the resale store scouring for more, but we're still wearing the same few shirts every day. He's picky too. If the number is too small he won't wear it..."it's so small I can barely see it," he told me once. So, I decided to add some numbers to the rejected numberless shirts he has to see if he would agree to wear them again.

Merry Christmas!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. ~Burton Hillis

The Darkest Night

The winter solstice is the shortest day and the longest night. Because we are tilting further away from the sun than any other point in the year it is also the darkest night. This year the solstice happened to start on the same night as a total lunar eclipse. These two events last coincided 372 yrs ago, yet we knew it was coming and scientists had it all mapped out down to the minute. Awesome, right?

Humans have celebrated the solstice since the Stone Age. It's a welcome of the sun's rebirth. Around 2am we reached the total eclipse...Miles woke up and we asked him if he wanted to look at the moon. He did so we carted him out to see the purple, red ball in the sky.

To me this eclipse was amazing because it is an example of nature's awe and it is a reminder that our insignificant existence is but a blip on the timetable of the universe. I also like that it serves as a testament to the power of knowledge and the truth that comes from scientific thought. In ancient times when moon lore was popular and eclipses were seen as bad omens or mystical events Aristotle observed the rounded shadow of the Earth on the moon's surface during an eclipse and made the bold declaration that the Earth was round. It's a little bit humbling to think that I can make that same observation from my front yard. Thank you Aristotle!

Emmett Update

Within the last week Emmett got two more teeth. He's a bit of a late bloomer, but now it seems like they're all coming at once. I can see another one just about to break through so he'll have five teeth any day now. There's been a lot of fussing especially at night.

I have officially started party planning for Emmett's first birthday which is less than a month away. Where has the time gone!?! I think I'm going with a monkey theme...fitting because Emmett is a little monkey. He's walking with push toys now and climbing. He's so much braver than Miles was/is.

Emmett's learning more words and I can tell he understands most of what is said to him. Last night he said glasses. Grabbing glasses off my face is a favorite game. I think that's his fourth word. He can also say mama, cat, and hi.

He loves peek a boo and will try to throw any piece of fabric over his head to start the game...blankets, washcloths, clothes.

He loves music and can't help but bounce to the beat anytime he hears a song.

He is Miles' #1 fan. He wants to play with Miles all the time. It's not just about the toys Miles has because the instant Miles puts a toy down it becomes undesirable. He just loves attention from Miles. One of their most favorite things to do together is play in the ball pit. Last night Miles got in the pit and Emmett crawled up to play from the edge. Miles said, "hey brother you need a boost?" He then attempted to pull Emmett in. When that didn't work he got out and tried pushing from behind. When that didn't work he grabbed Emmett by the jammies and was attempting to pick him up. It wasn't the smoothest entry, but Emmett didn't complain and it was adorable to watch.

Sunday Funday

We haven't had any family outings recently because Casey and I have hardly been home at the same time since Thanksgiving. I get restless at home by myself with the kids so we try to get out and do something fun at least once each weekend. Last week we went to the library and this week I decided to venture out to the zoo. It turned out to be perfect. It was cold, but not uncomfortably so. The zoo was vacant...it really felt like we were the only people there which was a little odd, but nice to not have any crowds to deal with. The animals were out and active, which usually isn't the case when it's too warm.

In all my trips to the OKC zoo I have never seen the lions up close. Usually you can catch a glimpse of one sleeping on the hilltop if you are lucky. Sunday we saw one female standing on the hill. We walked up so I could point her out to Miles and she starts walking down towards us. Another female emerges and follows her down. A short while later the male comes bounding towards us. They all three stayed at the bottom of the hill right at the fence line and we got a perfect view.

Christmas Countdown

This weekend we baked our first batch of Christmas cookies. See the one with the obscene amount of sprinkles on the far left? That's the one Miles made for himself. :)

Baby's First Christmas

I just love how his little hairs stick up in back!

Festival of Light

Tonight we took advantage of Casey's day off and headed out to the Festival of Light in Chickasha. This has already become a family tradition. I showed Miles some of last year's photos to help him remember and the first thing he said was, "where's Emmett?" It's so odd to think that this time last year we didn't have Emmett because it feels like he's always been a part of our family.

Traditions in the Making

I love holidays...all of them, but I love Christmas because it comes at a time of year that's otherwise cold and bleak; plus, it's a whole festive month. It's a fun time to have a young family because every holiday activity is a potential family tradition. This past week we...

Decorated our gingerbread house



Visited the Chesapeake lights (our very first trip)

Brothers

Sometimes being a brother is even better than being a superhero. ~Marc Brown

Night Waking

Poor Emmett's been a fussy mess lately and has been waking up a lot at night. We're thinking maybe he has teeth on the way. So far he's still just got the two teeth.

A Brisk Winter Day

We enjoyed a sunny afternoon outside to avoid the winter doldrums of being cooped up inside. Emmett loved his first slide and Miles had fun showing him how it's done.







As soon as we came inside Emmett discovered the cats' water dish and had a small lake in our utility room. He's quick!

Decking the Halls

We are trimmed inside and out! It took some doing, but with my two helpers I got it done. Emmett has been surprisingly good with the tree, but I think we'll hold off on presents until the last minute.