More Baby Disney

Well, the rest of the "Baby Disney" stuff came down from the attic when the Christmas decorations went up. My house now officially looks like Disney Land for infants! The jumper, the swing, the play pen, the Papasan chairs, the "tummy time" mats ....and all in duplicate! YIKES. There is barely any room in my living room for any adults. I know, I know...it's a phase, quickly to be replaced by securing everything to the walls and bumpering the tables, then quicky followed by them asking to borrow the cars keys! I am trying to enjoy every minute, but that seems a little harder to do this time around. It is hard to resist the temptation to wish for the next phase hoping it will be easier than the phase we are in currently. I think the real story is kids never get easier! How did our parents do it without all the baby disney stuff?!?!? They sure do love it.

My "Sweet Potato"

Well, another big adventure in food this morning....sweet potato! They both LOVED it, although neither has quite mastered the art of eating quite yet! I have resigned myself to stripping them before I feed them, but this morning, I decided that maybe I should strip as well....on second thought, maybe just a rain slicker! It was fun, but it sure was messy!

Cinderella

Today, images of Santa gave way to a visit from Cinderella and our Christmas tree was replaced by a play pen! Initially, Cinderella wanted to dance inside the circle, but was eventually was rescued from the "cage" by her prince...and mine....Daddy! Finally, it's intended residents got to roll around in their new digs together....it looks like Disney Land for infants in there and they seemed to like it!

"Boxing Day"

In England, the day after Christmas is called "Boxing Day." As our Christmas was yesterday, it was Boxing Day here today! We spent the day much like any other, hanging out together...except with lots of new things to play with!

Today was Christmas

Here in the Milner household, Christmas came today. David has to fly out first thing tomorrow, so Santa said he would come a day early for us. Last night we set out the milk and cookies and the magic reindeer food with Elsie and then she went to bed, only to lie awake too excited to sleep until after 10! Mommy had secretly skewed all of the advent calendars and tomorrow was Christmas! She was so excited this morning to find the cookies, milk and reindeer food gone! Santa had come and left her a camera and a princess scooter! Unlike me, I did not get many photos today because we were too busy running the video camera and had our hands full of children....what more could you ask for? Merry Christmas

Sisters

From the moment Elsie saw her new babies in the hospital, she has had an immediate attraction and bond with Tess. When she wanted to hold the babies for the first time, I went to hand her Tripp and she said "no Mummy...I want THAT one!" and that sentiment has never wavered. She loves her brother too, but the preference to bond with a little version of herself is precious to watch. I dream that they will be close, not only as children, but as adults. I have always wanted a sister and although I have had many "sisters in spirit" over the years, I hope Tess and Elsie will appreciate eachother in the way only sisters can.

Bibbitiy Bobity Boo

A while ago, a friend of mine brought this fairy costume for Elsie as a gift, complete with wings, a tutu, and a wand. I put it away for a rainy day....well she found it this morning in her closet and although today was 90 with sunshine and not rain drop in sight, today was the day for the fairy! she put it on before she left her bedroom for breakfast and has not had it off for any significant portion of the day (had to take the wings off to nap!). The funniest part is that she calls her wand her "blonde" because it is the only word she knows that sounds similar and she is not familiar with the word wand! She has been running around all day singing "Bibbity Bobbity Boo" from Cinderella and shaking her "blonde" wildly! So cute! She IS my wish come true.

Babies at the Beach

The babies first trip to the sand!

Going to the Beach

We went to the beach today with Elsie and the babies and it was magnificent! It was the babies' first trip to the beach. We should do it more often.

ANOTHER Daddy's Girl

Yet ANOTHER Daddy's Girl in the Milner household! Tess LOVES her Daddy!

Avocado Adventures

Today, we fed the babies pureed fresh avocados and they LOVED them! All of my children are genetically predisposed to loving avocados, so I was not surprised. It is a good thing they look good in green!

A Glowing Candle

Last night was the annual Christmas Spectacular at Elise's preschool and it was amazing! Elsie was a candle and she was the best candle you have ever seen! It was the most adorable show. As the show progressed, many of the chidren had small solo parts...a line here...a bar there, and considering that they were all from ages 3-5, it was impressive. Totally unbeknownst to us, Elsie too had been given a solo part....the Grand Finale...a full rendition of Jingle Bells! It brought the house down and brought me to tears. Once I figure out how to do it, I am going to post the video clip....it is a must see!

Annual Tree Lighting

Sunday night was the annual tree lighting in our beautiful neighborhood. It was attended by the Mayor of our town as well as.....of course....SANTA who arrived with all the necessary pomp and circumstance. His reindeer must have been resting up for the big day cause he arrived on board a firetruck! The tree was 80 ft tall and awesome all lit up! There was also entertainment, my favorite of which was a group of dancers from a local middle school...kind of a cross between hip hop and Riverdance...they were terrific! They had the whole crowd dancing and tapping their feet....including Elsie!

Daddy-Do List

Yesterday, before David came back from his trip, Elsie and I were out in the yard. She proudly announces "I'll be right back" and dashes into the house. She reappears with her scissors from her craft drawer and walks (a proud moment for me as many times I have said "Don't run with scissors!") over to this bush and begins cutting off little pieces! She informs me that this bush needed "the long scragglie pieces" cut off! After about 3 minutes she decided "we have to tell Daddy to cut this bush." This morning, after arriving home at midnight, David was given his "Daddy-Do List" (different from a Honey-Do List) and they went out together and trimmed the bushes. I cherish moments like these, for there will come a time when asking Elsie to help with yardwork will be met with whining and resistance, but for now, it's all fun and games. The raking is the best part!

Jack and the Bean Stalk

Elsie planted this pumpkin plant from a seed in preschool back in Oct (see Oct post). She waters it every day and it is now flowering! Hopefully we will actually get a pumpkin from it and we can do it all again!

Hands Full

Everywhere I go people come up to me and say "you sure have your hands full!" While it is mildly annonying to hear that 20 times during an hour visit to Costco, boy are they right! My hands are certainly full....full of beautiful babies and lots of joy.

Going Round the Bend

" Going Round the Bend"was an expression that my grandmother always used. I was lucky to have my Grandparents in my life.....Elsie, Tripp and Tess are too. They just left from a wonderful, crazy, whirlwind visit. They were visiting from a little place called Bend.

Taking the Cake!

After the turtles, we came home and made cake with Grandma and Grandpa who are visiting from Bend, OR. Needless to say, Elsie had a WONDERFUL time and my kitchen was a MESS! This was truly a special day for all of us.

Loggerhead Marinelife Center

Today we went to a Sea Turtle Rescue and Research Center in Juno Beach, FL. It is a really neat and wonderful place dedicated to this endangered species....worth the trip! Elsie loved getting soooo close. The pictured turtle is called Ichabod and is scheduled for release back to the wild soon. For more info go to: www.marinelife.org

Santa Clause is coming to town!

The last 2 years running, Elsie has been petrified of Santa! This year she was not terribly keen, but agreed to sit on my lap...NEXT to Santa! We rehearsed telling Santa what she would like for Christmas this year....a camera....which she did beautifully. After the picture was taken, Santa gave her a little bouncy ball party favor kinda thing as we were leaving. Later she said to me, "Mummy I asked Santa for a camera but he gave me a ball instead!" I couldn't decide whether to laugh to cry! Guess I forgot to explain the timeline! December is going to be a loooong month at my house! Ho Ho Ho