Family Christmas, Durham 2016

Because we travel to see our families at Christmas, we always set aside a day before we travel so that we can have a “family” Christmas day. It’s an effort to establish some Christmas traditions in our home for our family (note: we enjoy traveling to see our families at Christmas; we also just like to have a “Christmas morning” in our own home, as well). Also, by having a celebrate-at-home day, we don’t have to travel with the gifts that we give each other. Every little bit of space in the van helps, folks.

The past couple of years, we’ve tried to do a “Christmas Eve” prior to our “Christmas morning.” We’re getting into a groove of sorts. We make appetizer-y, party foods for supper and watch a Christmas movie, letting Claire drink hot chocolate, even though it’s close to bedtime. We’re wild. We watched Home Alone this year, not because it’s a family favorite or anything, but because Brad and I were the game makers for the Boswell Family Christmas Eve (movie-themed) Party. Annnnnd the movie was Home Alone. We used Christmas Eve as another study prep session. We don’t mess around.

The morning of our Christmas Eve, we also took Claire to the museum- which isn’t out of the ordinary- but we went, specifically, to ride the train. Train rides aren’t included in our museum membership, so it’s a special treat to ride the train. Of course, it was 20 degrees during our ride… But it was very fun, none-the-less. She had a blast, and then we went to warm up in the humid butterfly house. I also let her watch the Curious George Christmas movie when we got home, which put us all in a festive mood.

Not too many people were crazy about riding the train with us in the cold...

For most of Claire’s life, she’s gotten a stocking and one present from us for Christmas. This year was no different (for both girls this time). We are so blessed with such a lot of generous friends and family that the girls come home with many, many lovely gifts, so we do a much smaller Christmas among ourselves. This year, Claire got two big sets of Duplos (which had actually been toys at my granddaddy’s house for several years and are now getting new life), and Lily got one of those wooden bead mazes for babies. Claire’s stocking had some cookies, marshmallows, mini play-doh cups and cookie cutters, a box of Finding Dory band-aids, and a headlamp (which is maybe her favorite of the bunch). Lily’s stocking had a set of 8 animal bath toys that are perfect for little gummy mouths. Everyone had a great time playing with their new treats, so we count it as a win.

Well, I didn't have the right size box or bag for Lily's gift. So this happened. Bless it.

Brad and I give each other a couple more gifts than we give the children, which I think Claire noticed this time around. We both have a good time picking out things we think the other will like. This year, I got Brad the book about the making of the Broadway show Hamilton, as he is a big fan + a GIGANTIC mug, as he drinks massive amount of coffee these days in preparation for his prelims + a book of Piano Guys piano music, as he is having the best time with our new (to us) piano. And stocking stuff, including the new racquetballs that he totally saw beforehand. Oops. He got me quite a few fun things AND A NEW COMFORTER FOR OUR BED! I’d been wanting one for a while, but a recent bout of lots of baby spit up + diaper overflows + ineffective washing accelerated that desire. Brad wins! He also sneaked around while we were at Harry Potter World and bought me me a GIGANTIC mug. Only mine is extra exciting because little, tiny Marauder’s Map footprints appear when the mug is full of hot liquid. So fun!

Comforter!

We were finished with all of our celebrating before 9 (obviously…we have very small children), at which point we ate some of Brad’s cinnamon rolls. GUYS. If you’ve never had Brad’s cinnamon rolls, you have not lived. They are fantastic! And after that sugar rush of a breakfast, I started prepping for our afternoon plans. I’d arranged for 3 of Claire’s little friends to come over to decorate cookies as a mini-Christmas party. I got zero pictures of the party, but it was a roaring success for little girls and parents. I can probably be talked into hosting another one next year. I was able to rustle up 4 aprons for them to wear, and I used my makes-actually-perfect-sugar-cookies recipe so that decorating went as smoothly as I could have hoped. I baked a batch of cookies beforehand so that they could cool in time to decorate, but I had a batch of uncooked dough ready for the girls so that they could use the cookie cutters that they wanted to. Then, I just did a switcharoo in the kitchen, raw dough for cooked, and we trucked right along. It was quite fun.

We had a really nice family Christmas, and especially enjoyed having Lily with us this year. It was a great beginning to our celebrations.

Letter to my Little Lily: 8 Months

Lily-baby,

This past month went by in the blink of an eye. Since my last letter, you've celebrated your first Thanksgiving and begun celebrating your first Christmas season. It's been so fun to see you enjoying all of the fun and bustle going on around you. You are still the happiest baby that there ever was, and you are thoroughly enjoying life.

You're sitting like a champ these days and almost never topple over anymore. You can also army crawl really well. The tricky thing is that you haven't quite figured out how to go from a sitting position to your tummy- a situation that Daddy and I work to our advantage. Because you're our second baby, we are very aware that we should prevent your independent mobility for as long as possible. So, we often just sit you on your bottom, leaving us free to walk away with a safety blanket of sorts. One day, you'll figure out how to get on your stomach and all will be lost, but until then, we're doing it our way. We're also not-so-secretly hoping you'll scoot like Claire did. And guess what? You are starting to scoot a taddy bit! Victorrrrrrry!

Army crawling.

Sitting!

Another fun thing from this last month is that you're making some new fun sounds! It seems that your favorite one to make is "ta." You say it in the sweetest little baby voice, and we try to get you to say it all the time. Daddy is also working- hard.core- to get you to say "da da." Claire has joined him in trying to help you say "da da," which makes him really happy. I've been working on getting you to recognize and identify Daddy, Claire, and me. I tell myself that it's working, but it has not been objectively confirmed.

You've also been blowing big raspberries and rolling your tongue. It seems that the Boswells are 2 for 2 with passing along our genetic ability for tongue rolling. Maybe I should draw a punnett square for you to prove our tongue rolling superiority in this family. I'm sure you'll be so happy to have that one day.

We are marching along with the solid foods, too. You still mostly love everything. We've taken a little more of a pragmatic approach with you, as we started giving you "table food" a lot more quickly than we did Claire. And you're rocking it! I still make baby purees for you and serve you some at almost every meal, but I also give you things off of my plate (really small, soft bites, seeing as how you still don't have teeth). Just last night, we gave you an apple slice to gnaw on, and you went to town. You gnawed and sucked on it until it was basically just a peel left. And, you seemed pretty proud of yourself, I must say. Your pincer grip is still in the works, but we put Cheerios on your tray regularly to give you practice. It seems to catch you off-guard every time you actually pick one up, surprising you and causing you to drop it. Oh well. You'll get there.

In a parenting move that might be somewhat questionable, we- just this month- stopped swaddling you at sleeping times. I KNOW. Crazy. In our defense, you are a crazy flail-er and we have these awesomely massive swaddle blankets (courtesy of our beloved Devers). We kept swaddling you because you were just so restless if left to your own devices. But one day, we faced the music and realized it was time. You LOVED the freedom! It took a few days for you to actually lay down in your crib (rather than rolling onto your tummy and happily popping your head above your- BREATHABLE MESH- bumper). You still pop up occasionally, but you've figured out that the crib is for sleeping, which has been a huge relief to Daddy and me. Whew.

This is your preferred sleeping position.

You love your Jenny Jump Up, playing with Claire, chewing on teething rings, taking baths, and being right in the middle of the action. Smiling is your favorite, and it takes quite a lot to upset you. Your sleeping patterns are settling into a routine that works for all of us, and we could not have asked for a happier, more content little baby. 

Lily, we love you so much more than I could ever put into words. Thank you for being you.

Week 32

Week 33

Week 34

8 months. You were particularly wiggly for this one. Most of the pictures looked like this:

Silly girl.

Thanksgiving 2016

As Christmas is *almost* upon us, it seems about time to recap our Thanksgiving celebration. Better late than never.

We spent Thanksgiving in Alabama this year! And, we made the trip down in one day (as opposed to our usual stopover in Johnson City to break the trip up). It gave us a bit more time in Madison, but it did make for a long day (10 hours of car time). Oof. Have I ever mentioned that the children don't sleep in the car? They don't. They don't scream or anything, but they completely skip naps...and our children REALLY NEED THEIR NAPS. 

Despite that, they were excellent sports! It was so exciting to be at Nana's and Poppy's that they pushed through the sleepiness in pretty good spirits. Throughout our week there, we were able to see both sides of my family, including a whole posse of Brassarts from Florida that I had never even met before! Several of my dad's cousins and their families were up in Alabama for a wedding, and Mom and Dad hosted a large dinner for everyone on Thanksgiving. It ended up being lots of fun.

We had fun prepping Thanksgiving with Mom/Nana, visiting with aunts and uncles, playing with Amiee's pets (Elphie and Winnie), eating food from Huntsville favorites, seeing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and the Gilmore Girls reboot, playing with little cousins, and just spending time with my parents and sister. Oh, and Brad went up to UAH to study in the library quite a bit...as one does on Thanksgiving break. 

So much to be thankful for and such a wonderful time had by all!

Claire and Poppy in matching striped shirts for their breakfast date!

Claire using Poppy's stethoscope to listen to Lily's heart.

In an effort to keep mischief-making to a minimum while we prepped for Thanksgiving meals 1 and 2, we put Claire to work cleaning the kitchen floor. Guys, she did a fantastic job!

Mom pulled out an old dance costume of mine (from when I was 4), and Claire wore it basically everyday. Including under an apron while making pecan pies with Amiee.

When not vacuuming, Claire was "making the party." She was so cute...taking random objects and grouping them together as decorations.

More evidence of "making the party."

And even more.

Playing in the leaves!

With Bo and Lily!

Amiee and Lily looking so sweet together.

Sisters

Elphie (cat) and Winnie (dog). This is actually a picture of them from Amiee's apartment, but I didn't have a good one from Thanksgiving. And I needed you to see how cute they are. For those wondering what kind of dog Winnie is, she's a mini teddy bear goldendoodle.

I have a pretty wonderful family. So glad we could spend Thanksgiving with them.

Around here lately: November 2016 edition

I’m going to measure those three lights since they blinked out. She decided that “measuring” the burnt out lightbulbs (with a yardstick) would fix the problem.

Can I watch Snoofy, Mommy? Snoopy.

Look, Mommy! Jesus is going back to glory! While watching “Superbook.”

I love hugging Lily. I want to keep her forever.

After Brad asked Lily to please stop growing up: She has to keep growing. You can’t ask her to stop, Daddy.

I just love that song and want it to stay with me. Referring to the theme song from “The West Wing.”

This is NOT a beautiful day anymore. It has turned into nighttime.

Where’s LILY BOO BOO?

That’s a very nice room. Referring to the Oval Office (on “The West Wing”).

You’re my favorite girl, Mommy. And Lily is my other favorite girl.

Claire: One day, will you drop me off at the airport?
Erin: Where will you go?
Claire: To see TAKIA in MINNESOTA!

Said to Brad while eating Brad’s homemade donuts: My nose is itchy. Could you un-itch it since I’m holding my donut?

Daddy, you’re startling me. Said in a diva-esque voice, while Brad worked on getting the fireplace working.

After I asked her about why we celebrate Thanksgiving: We talk about things and we take care of people and I care about you.

Claire: Why are my sunglasses broken?
Erin: Because you stepped on them.
Claire: Why did I do that?
Erin: I don’t know. Why do you think?
Claire: Because of true love. (she had been thinking about “Frozen” that morning)

Did I do the thing just right to take a nap so I’ll feel good at church? We’ve had a very unfortunate relapse with nursery at church, as a result of Claire not taking a nap one afternoon and then having a meltdown at church. Thus, she asks- almost every day- if she did what she supposed to this time.

I’m getting itchy, but I can’t scratch with my hands because they’re sticky. Elbow thinks he can do it.

I made some sun! said after opening the bathroom door, allowing sunlight to filter into the bedroom.

Bye, and thanks for talking! If you need anything, just come downstairs. Said to Brad, as she left his office on the 3^rd floor.

After spotting a cobweb on our ceiling: No webs allowed in here!

While driving through the tunnels in the mountains around Asheville:
Erin: What are you doing, Claire?
Claire: I’m trying to spot another hole we can go in. (tunnel)

Following my dad’s truck on our way to dinner, Dad made it through a light that we got stopped at:
Stop, Poppy’s truck, stop! Wait for us! It’s getting away, Daddy!

Why did that thing grow taller? (referring to an overpass)

The babber of towel. (the tower of Babel)

After blowing her nose: I got all the runny out.

Watching my Dad trying to wrangle the cats into their crates for a trip to the vet for shots: Oh, I know, Robey. It’s ok. Remember when I got my flu shot? I was so brave! You’ll be ok!

The night before a breakfast date with my dad:

I want to go to bed and go to sleep and wake up so we can go on our DATE!

Oh no, Winnie! Elphie is getting away! Let's go get her! Winnie and Elphie are Amiee's dog and cat. They were very good sports about playing with Claire.

Poppy, are you doing a good job not getting pizza sauce in your hair? Yes, he was. She, however, was not doing as great a job.

Claire: Mommy, are you marrying Daddy in this picture? 

Erin: Yes.

Claire continues looking at the double frame of pictures from my wedding, points to the other picture in the frame.

Claire: And are you marrying Nana and Bo?

Erin: Um, no. That's not how it works.

While you're gone to get your hair cut, I'm going to be good good good for Nana and Bo!

I saved the tissues! She rescued them from Elphie the Cat's clutches.

Would you guys get the spicy out of my mouth? Would you make the spicy colder?

Oh Elphie, you're so beautiful and precious!

Back up, Elphie. Back up, baby.

Oh, Winnie! No being wild!

If I don't decorate for the party, the party won't be made!

So does me! (So do I)

Bo, you're too tall for me. You got in my way!

He blowed in my face!

We tried to call Gran, but she wasn't a-babe-able.

COWS! They're so happy they have water and their grass.

What's that pink? (or brown or blue or white...it's her way of asking what something is; she just calls it by it's color)

The woman is Gran, and Gran is my friend! I really want to hold her.

I losed my shoe! Like Cinderella.

Holding up her dog named Genevieve (from Madeline) Mommy, is this the noblest dog in France?