Ten of My Favorite Memories from this December

1.  Nicholas told jokes for his talent at the Wells Christmas Eve Party.  He did a great job wearing his Santa hat and his slinky eyes.  We had practiced two jokes, but he choose to go with his own material.  His jokes went something like this: "What do you get when you cross a girl, a shoe, a clock, and a piano?....A clockgoshoe!!!"

2.  The kids loved dressing up like wise men during the Wells family nativity.  Lexi especially loved all the sparkly things she got to wear.  For the Muhlestein nativity they were very uncooperative but cute sheep.

3.  We went to Frozen on Christmas Eve morning as a family.  It was fabulous!  The kids loved it, but Nicholas thought the Ice Monster was too scary.

4.  Lexi got 4 pairs of shoes for Christmas and loved them all.  Nicholas also got a pair of boots.  True Texas children!

5.  We made lots of Christmas cookies.  Nicholas loved the dough much better than the cookies.  We dropped them off at neighbors and took lots to the Christmas Eve Party.  Nicholas called himself the "Cookie Dough Monster" and told me, "I just can't help it!  I'm so attracted to the dough."

6.  Jack, our Christmas elf, came and visited for the month of December.  He stayed out of reach most of the month, but did get touched by Lexi one time and had to get magic sent from the North Pole.  Nicholas really wanted her to get coal as punishment.  In this picture, Nicholas is saying goodbye to Jack.

7.  I was in charge of the decorations for the ward party.  It was a lot of work and worry.  I ended up wrapping every small box in our house and using them as centerpieces.  The kids had fun unwrapping them later.  Nicholas went up on stage with the Primary children to sing and ended up playing in the curtains.  Got to love him anyway.

8.  We ate Pat's BBQ for Christmas Eve dinner at the Muhlesteins.

9.  I got a lot of emergency supplies, food storage, and laminating pouches for Christmas.  Joseph got a ladder and a circular saw.  Lexi got princess things, Minnie Mouse things, shoes, and a doll.  Nicholas got a headlight, bike, flashlight, boots, new iPad games, and angry bird stuff.

10.  Joseph is currently working the night shift so he made it to most Christmas events, but kept falling asleep.  He is the best.  We postponed our family Christmas until the evening because Joseph wouldn't make it home in time to open the gifts.  Nicholas was okay with that because we promised him all the iPad time he wanted on Christmas morning and new games to keep him busy.

2013 Christmas Card

We love you all and wish you a

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Nicholas' Prayer Tonight Included...

"Please don't let Jack (our Elf on the Shelf) see us when we do naughty things.  Please help Santa bring us lots of presents..."

At the end to the prayer, Joseph and I couldn't bring ourselves to say Amen.  We had a little discussion about how it would be better to not do naughty things in the first place instead of trying to figure out ways that we can hide our actions from Jack.

Nicholas, being such a brilliant young man, has also been trying to use Jack to his advantage this Christmas season.  I often hear him having quiet discussions with Jack about how Mom put him in time out or took away his games.  He is trying to get me in trouble with Santa.  In his mind, I'm definitely the one deserving coal this year.

The Many Faces of Lexi

The above is my favorite face.  She uses this face instead of saying yes in response to a question.

Happy or sad, she is the cutest little girl in the world!!

Lexi's Fashion Sense

Lexi's go to outfit is this purple princess dress, pink cowgirl princess hat, kitty binoculars, and purple sparkly shoes.  She likes it for special events, sleeping, and just lounging around the house.  The outfit isn't fully complete without each of these specific items.  Sometimes wands, wings, and other things are added but the core of this ensemble are the above mentioned items.

Notice how she points her toe in the below picture to highlight her purple shoes.  The purple shoes are the most valued piece of her outfit.  Probably because Mom lets her wear them a lot more than the rest of her acessories.  Beware if you remove these shoes not only will you upset this princess, but the smell is also pretty deadly.

Below are featured a few other combinations she tried before she settled on her current favorite.

Two Years of Lexi Collage

Official Stats from the Doctors

Lexi
Height: 34.96 inches (80th percentile)
Weight 29 lbs 12.2 oz (84th percentile)

Nicholas
Height: 41.73 inches (79th percentile)
Weight: 43 lbs 3.4 oz (92th percentile)

Lexi got one shot and Nicholas got three today at the doctor.  Lexi was great thanks to the big cup of milk I had ready to soothe her.  Nicholas was too upset on the other hand to eat the candy I brought him.  He cried for 20 minutes afterwards.  He screamed all the way out of the building,  "I don't like this place.  It is no fun.  Lets get out of her." He got lots of sympathetic smiles on the way out as we left.  I bet a lot of people have these exact same feelings when it comes to the University Hospital.  I bet many wish they could be as vocal about them as little Nicholas.

Nicholas at 4

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Teeth: First trip to the dentist on 10/10.  He was shockingly good.  One of the major reasons I took him was because of his crooked bottom teeth collect plaque and I couldn't get him to cooperate enough to keep them clean.  I asked the dentist for advice on how to clean them.  He took a closer look at them and the x-rays and found out they are fused together.  The teeth have separate roots and came in separately but they grew together.  It will be awesome to see what happens when they fall out.

Height: 41 inches

Favorite Shows: Curious George, Caillou, Magic School Bus

Favorite iPad Games: Space Angry Birds, Star Wars Angry Birds, Cordy, Where's My Water

Favorite Superhero: Iron Man

Favorite Book: Super Power Mix Up

Sleep/Nap Schedule:  He definitely doesn't nap anymore and he is at a state where that is okay.  He has quiet rest time while Lexi naps.  It is in theory a time for him to play by himself down in his room with all his toys.  He thinks that is a sentence worse than death to have to play all by himself, so he usually ends up watching a movie instead so I can have some sanity time.  He goes down great around 8 or 8:30, usually with very minimal fighting.  He does tend to get up in the middle of the night and want a buddy.  He comes up pleading for a snuggle buddy to sleep with.  He just HATES to be alone.

Favorite Activities:  Driving his Power Wheels (especially if someone will be his "copilot"and let him drive them around), playing board games, playing iPad, cooking (he loves being my "little chef"'), playing superhero and saving others, playing with flashlights, and watching Papa play the Lombax game or any video game.

School:  I am in a little preschool co-op with two of my neighbors.  They have boys around the same age as Nicholas and we trade off whose house it is at.  Nicholas loves going every Wednesday.  We just do activities based on the letter of the day for the first hour and then the boys play for the second hour.

Favorite Sayings:

• Sure do.
• I need a snuggle. (Come on Mom.  Lets go snuggle.)
• Fuge (It is a mixture of fat and huge.  He will tell me he needs a fuge marshmallow.)
• What's for dessert?  (I can't convince him that he shouldn't get dessert every time he eats.) 
• I'm four.  (He has been telling everyone he meets this important information!)
• We are ______ buddies.  (I have been his napping buddy, cough buddy, snuggle buddy, etc.)
• Let me look at the constructions.  (He confuses the words constructions and instructions.)
• I just need a buddy.  It just is no fun to play alone.
• I'll be right back.  Don't let Lexi take my stuff. 
• I just love being your little chef.
• This is a catastrophe.  (Learned this from Donald Duck.  He usually hits his forehead with his hand when he says it.)

Lexi at 2

Height: 34 inches

Speaking: She isn't a talker.  She has such an expressive face she doesn't need to be.  She can say the following:

• Milk
• Mic (Mickey)
• Nee (Nicholas)  It is so cute when we are out and about and can't find Nicholas.  She will help me look for him and call out, "Nee.  Neeeee.   Neeeeee.""
• Shoo (Shoe)
• EEEES (Please)
• Thaaann (Thank you)
• Mama
• No
• More
• Ball
• Book
• Me
• Meow, Moo, Quack
• Bye
• Bee

Personality:  You have never met anyone more determined than Lexi.  She wants what she wants and there is no convincing her otherwise.  I really have to be careful what battles to pick with her and make sure they are worth it because I will be battling her for the next hour to get something as simple as not wearing her princess dress at the table.  She is sweet and usually pretty obedient.  She helps clean up and is very task oriented.  She has the most expressive face you have ever seen.  Her little grumpy face melts your heart, and her happy face is hilarious.  Her little tongue also starts a moving when she is really pleased.  She is very independent and can entertain herself.  She loves toys and has a hard time sharing at this stage.  She is so cute and fun.  She is the first to welcome you when you come home with a love. She loves people unless they are not letting her do what she wants. If that is the case, she shoos you away.  She is also so sweet to comfort people with little pats when they are sad.  She is usually a complete joy, but when she chooses not to be she is quite the handful.

Fashion Taste: She is such a girl.  She loves shoes, dress up, dresses, and jewelry.  She loves anything shiny, sparkly,  frilly, and girly.  She has a huge wardrobe that is so cute but she is SOOO PICKY she will only wear a few things.  She refuses to wear things in her hair for longer than a few minutes.  Then she will pull them out along with chunks of hair.

Favorite Food: Milk.  She would just drink milk if she could.  I've limited her to three cups a day.  One in the morning, because she doesn't function until after her morning milk.  One before naps and one before bed.  (After a long day, she sometimes gets an extra when she is horrible to put down at night.)  I never give it to her at meals anymore. She spends most of the meal trying to convince me otherwise.  The other day, she went to Grandma's house and she found someone to keep refilling her cup.  She was very happy when I came to pick her up.  First thing she did was show me her new best friend.  I love this stage when it is easy to buy their love.

Eating Habits: She is a battle at meal time.  She refuses to sit in her high chair and wear a bib.  She would rather eat something she found off the floor than something she found on her plate.  She refuses to try things.  She always wants to bring food to her crib to eat as she falls asleep.  It's like she wants a small food storage in case I don't ever come back to get her.  When she gets tired of what she is eating, she throws it or makes some sort of mess.  The most successful way I can get her to eat is to put on a show and have her sit on my lap.  She is good at eating vegetables when she actually agrees to eat.

Favorite Show:  Mickey Mouse Clubhouse (She is kind of obsessed.)

Favorite Games:  Playing in the bathtub, playing in the sink, playing with her new princess sit and ride bike, playing dress up, cooking in the play kitchen, building/stacking

Things She Hates: Riding in the shopping cart, sitting in her high chair, being held when she wants to not be, anyone who gets in her way of doing what she wants, things in her hair, changing out of her princess pjs, going to bed, and not being able to wear what she wants.

Sleeping: She still naps most days.  She is really difficult to get down.  She will not go to sleep until her demands are met, whether they be that she wears a specific pair of shoes to bed or takes a banana to bed with her.  In her sleepy state, she becomes fixated on something and won't let it go.  As soon as she gets it, you don't hear a peep out of her until around 2 or 3 in the morning.