On Sibling Sweetness

In the first couple of days after we brought Charlie home from the hospital, I began to wonder if we’d messed our first kiddo up by introducing a sibling. Beckett, our ultra-calm, sweet, well-behaved boy, turned into an EVIL PERSON. Not kidding, he went from mellow to violent and - having never been through this - I was sure it was an irreversible tragedy. 

Luckily, the misery lasted only a couple of days. Beckett’s sweet personality returned, and his interest in this new creature grew quickly. 

Until tonight, I had actually forgotten about those terrifying days at the beginning. Watching them now, you’d never know they got off to such a rough start. These two ADORE each other. I love watching them play together, carry on tiny mini-human conversations, and bring their cars, little people, and action figures to life with the highest-pitched voices you’ve ever heard. Of course, they have their moments of rivalry, but in general, they LOVE being together. 


Beckett likes to help his little sister. He gets her snacks and fills her cup, calls for me when she needs help, and [usually] shares better than I’d expect a four-year old to. Charlie wants to know where her brother is at all times, follows his lead in just about anything, and flips out if she thinks we’re leaving him behind. She’ll tell you, in the most dramatic & forceful of ways, “I NEED BE-HETT!!”

Sometimes I worry because I’ve been told they’ll grow out of the sweetness. It’s so sad to think of them growing apart. But then I know sibling pairs who are the best of friends all throughout childhood and into adulthood. 

For now, I just pray fervently for the latter. And I remind myself to soak up all of these sweet moments! Any advice or encouragement from the mommas of pairs out there? What do I have to look forward to? 

One Million Cousin Slumber Parties

Tonight marks the third slumber party this cousin crew has had in the last two. weeks. Talk about cousin love. And it's pretty much amazing.

They're at such a good age. With only stepping occasionally to referee or remind someone to be kind, the kids pretty much run and entertain themselves. HOLY. AWESOMENESS. Half of the time, the boys pair off and express themselves by jumping off of something, while the girls are off tending to their babies (which is super cute to eavesdrop on, by the way).

The rest of the time, they're running in a pack, riding bikes inside the house and making more noise than I generally care to have. But it's so fun to watch them grow and bond together and it makes us so grateful for the choice to be here.

Tonight they played for hours, then came together to make homemade pizzas, which they basically thought was the best thing ever.. Kids are so easy to entertain. LoL. They finished the evening with a move and crashed by 9:30. Nice.

Totally #WorthTheMove.

New Year, New School!

Today was the day. We put both of the kids in "school" (Parents Day Out) at a local church. Beckett was in a program a year and a half ago when we were still in STL, but this was Charlie's first experience. And this picture pretty much sums up their feelings on the situation. 

Charlie, however, loved her backpack. We pulled them out of the Amazon box last night and Charlie paraded around the house with her new unicorn accessory like she was MISS THANG. I think Brian got a little emotional realizing how big she is. It's overwhelming for this mommy heart too. As of now, we're not sure we'll have any more kids so it's kinda crazy to watch them get so big so quickly! How is she old enough to rock this little backpack??

On the way to school, we stopped and picked up dad so he could join us for the first day drop off. We walked Beckett into his room and even though he had never even seen the school, he immediately jumped in and started playing. It makes it easier to know he understands what's happening. 

Charlie was slightly trickier but it actually went WAY better than we anticipated. Her teacher just swooped her out of dad's arms and shuffled excitedly off to watch the rain out the window while mom and dad snuck out. Charlie was obviously very concerned about the situation but she didn't pitch the fit we anticipated, so dad and I were pleasantly surprised! We peeked at Beckett on the way out, the director reassured us they'd be loved on all day, and off we were!

I actually didn't realize how nervous I was about their day until I got to school for pick up and received SUCH positive and encouraging reports from the teachers!  Miss Pam, Charlie's teacher, said that Charlie had a GREAT day. She assured me that Charlie didn't cry one bit! I was incredibly surprised by this news, and significantly more relieved than I expected to be. Huge sigh of relief! Both kids came out looking positive and happy and obviously comfortable with their teachers. I could physically feel the tension, that I hadn't even realized was there, release from my body. When did this become my life?! These are milestones, people. 

Speaking of milestones, I was also way too entertained to have my very first experience in the car rider line. I'm officially legit. Joining the ranks of the other minivan mommas, sipping their coffee and waving at the fellow carpool sisters. I have arrived.

Is Bay-ee Jeeyus!

Mark my words, there will be no shelf elves in this house. Not because you elf moms aren't stinkin' cute, but because I am not the mom who can keep up with the daily adventures of an elf. 

However, this year we decided to hop on the advent bandwagon. And, by the way, it was not a graceful hop. It was more like a rushed, frantic plop onto the bandwagon as it rushed by. But WE'RE ON IT. Actually, we started 2 days late because I ran out of ink and didn't get the cards all printed. There have also been several days already where we've had to catch up on the day before. So I'm really on top of things. 

The number one goal was to do something simple that would remind & teach us all of the true reason for the season. I liked the idea of a book gift a day, because that's something I knew Buck & Chuck would both get excited about. Brian and I wrapped 25 books, most of which we already had. On the front of each I taped a number to correspond with the date, starting with 1. On the back of each number I put a verse. I used this blogger's verse order for reference, and I made my own cards.

Because I am a big teacher-nerd and can't pass up a chance to incorporate some extra tidbit of knowledge, I made Beckett a big calendar to go along with our daily gifts. Each day, we're talking about today's date and then finding the gift that corresponds with the date. We read the verse, talk about it, and use pictures from books to put it in the context of a story. This seems like a long process but really, it's not. After we're done, Beckett tapes the verse on the appropriate date on our calendar. 

We're 15 days in and so far so good(ish)! This is our first year truly introducing the story of Christmas to the kiddos. I worried about doing it justice but I have been so encouraged and pleased with the verse a day idea. I worried that it would be difficult to explain or elaborate on one single verse, but we've actually had nice little interactions based on the verse and corresponding images. Not only do I feel like Beckett is grasping the basic concept of the verses, but I am also deeply enjoying re-experiencing the Christmas story verse by verse. The experience has likely been more meaningful and special for me than for Beckett. 

So far, Beckett can name the "characters" and give their very basic role in the story. He knows the angel Gabriel said, "Don't be afraid!," he knows that Mary has a baby, and he knows that we're working up to Christmas day, which is the day Mary had the baby. Also, if you ask him whose birthday we're celebrating, he'll answer enthusiastically, "Is Bay-ee Jeeyus!" MELT.

Charlie has spent most of her time ripping apart my cute board and opening books before it's time, but whatever man. She's having fun too. 

I hope we continue to do something similar every year!

A New House Means More Trees!

Have I mentioned that we moved? Well, we did. You see, we traveled or had family in town 22 out of 30 days in November, plus had Harvest of Talents, Beckett's birthday, and three Thanksgivings. So we thought it would be a good month to also pack and clean one house and re-establish ourselves in another. Ha! I'm being sarcastic, if you're not picking it up, but actually I'm proud of our little family for taking it all in stride. I told my roommates (my grad school roommates, to be clear, who I still just call "my roommates") that at this point, our lives are so crazy all the time that throwing in a move doesn't even seem out of the ordinary. It truly just felt like, "just another day in the life..." This is our fifth house in five years of marriage. We've got this.

We are still in East Tennessee though! We moved from a tiny, temporary place to a larger home we can be more comfortable in for all of next year. Which brings me to today's point. NOW WE HAVE ROOM FOR MORE TREES!! 

Tree number one went up last night! Because I'm a big fan of the classy, white lights, Brian challenged me to create a tree with colorful lights. I think he forgot that I did so two years ago, but I'm always up for a challenge! Especially one that means designing a new tree! Because more than half of our belongings are still in STL, we picked out a small tree and a few little items to decorate it. 

The new house has an eat in kitchen, and we don't have enough furniture for two dining areas, so we decided to turn the carpeted formal dining room into a Kids Library. SWOON. [By the way. WHY do people put carpet in dining rooms?? These people obviously don't have children and prefer their chairs don't slide in and out easily. Stop the madness.] This little tree made its home in this little library and I am just in love. 

Of course, we put the kids in Christmas jammies and worked on it together. Kind of. Beckett was entertained for a little while and interested in learning how to hang the ornaments. His sweet personality makes my heart swell. 

Charlie, on the other hand, played the role of tree un-doer. She started out the evening by unraveling all of my glittery purple tulle, spreading glitter like Christmas cheer. 

Then she exploded her diaper, ruining her jammies in the process, and then ran away during the diaper change, which resulted in this gem. 

Contrary to what this picture seems to show, she is actually taking the tree apart. Thank you, Charlie. This should be a fun month of chasing her away from trees. 

We love how this sweet little tree turned out and are excited to make this new house [yet another] home!

A Christmas Excursion in Chicago!

Anybody else obsessed with Christmas in the city?! Because I'm SWOONING. Tonight was my first chance to take my favorite littles into one of my favorite cities in the wooorld to see the Christmas goodness. The last couple of years have been too bitterly cold. But tonight was a PERFECT balance of just cold enough to warrant bundling but not cold enough to be uncomfortable. Thank you, Mother Nature. [Don't mind my kids. They just woke up!]

Tonight Nana, Papa, the kiddos, and I hauled into the city for a quick-ish Christmas excursion. Generally, I would take the train into the city but kids warrant convenience so we drove. Best decision ever. We parked at millennial park, so that it could first be our first and last stop! 
The tree lighting was Saturday but we decided to skip the madness and wait until today. Hello, Christmas tree! 

Then we shuffled down to Macy's. Because it's what Christmas dreams are made of. The window displays seem straight out of every amazing Christmas movie and Christmas Lane reminds me of the Christmas Place in Pigeon Forge. Love. 

Guys. I knew my daughter and I were a lot alike but her enthrallment (?) with the Christmas displays made my heart swell. I wish you could hear her high pitched musings. She was even often better behaved than her brother. That's unusual in our world. 

Beckett was less impressed and has been working on living up to the reputations of 3-year olds everywhere, so we got a lot of this. 

He did find a few things to amuse him, though. They sat in the Macy's floor for a while after Papa introduced him to these cutie creatures. Smart man. Gave me a second to take in the ornament overwhelm. 

After Macy's, we headed to Giordanno's. Because it's Chicago. Of course we didn't think about the 45 minute wait for pizza, so that experience mostly consisted of finding new ways to entertain two toddlers, but it was totally worth it. 

On the walk back, we took in the magic of the city lights and checked out the tree all lit up in the dark. Figures we would haul all the way down to the city to see one single tree and then forget to take photos of it, though! It was a quick trip, but it made for a very fun an magical afternoon!