The pictures are a little busy, but this is the girls’ new bunk bed. It is their big Christmas gift from their parents. They got it a few days early because it wasn’t going to be possible for us to get it put together and remain a surprise for Christmas. They were thrilled with it.

Emily is sleeping on the top of the bunk bed. She has graduated to a twin bed. We got her the canopy for the top to help her feel comfortable sleeping so high. Blue is her favorite color so she thinks it is perfect. She has been sleeping really well in it. The first night was a long one because of the excitement of the new bed. But every other night she has slept the whole night with no fear or incidents. She had been in the habit of coming out to the couch to sleep part way through the night and that has stopped. Nap time has gone well too.

Julia is sleeping in the floor space below the bed. We opted to keep her on her toddler mattress. The smaller mattress give her extra space to have some storage cubbies and play space. When she grows longer we will get her a bigger mattress, but until then she can play in her own special area. Julia has been thrilled with her new space too. She struggles with the ladder to climb up to the top, but we are going to get some handles to give her some help. Since the new bed has come she has requested to nap in her own bed instead of the pack ‘n play. The girls have successfully taken naps together since then. They are highly motivated to go to sleep so that no one has to move to the pack ‘n play.

We chose this bunk bed because it was lower to the ground making it’s presence in the room less overwhelming. Because the girls are younger it makes the transition easier too. The new bed has allowed the play table to be put in their room which they have really liked. Sometime in the near future they will both get new bedspreads that their Mama is making for them.

This year the girls participated for the first time in our church nativity program. They got to pick what supporting part they were going to play. They seemed indecisive about their choice until Mama told them what their best friends would be. That clinched it – ANGELS! The girls only went to the practice on the day of the nativity because all they needed to do was stand there and look angelic. Grammy gave each girl their “angel hair”. The curls seemed to make them extra angelic. We had been practicing the songs at home and neither girl was interested in singing them. Emily at one point told us she wasn’t going to sing at the program. When the time came though they were both singing with the songs. I guess they picked up more than they were letting on.

The program was sweet, and we’re glad the girls got to participate and did well. There was no jumping off the stage, crying, or impromptu talking. For part of the time they sweetly held hands with each other and their friends.

Little Angelic one!

Our Sweet Angels!

We went to see Santa as a surprise activity after church one Sunday. It was a sunny and warm day. We had to stand in line for about 30 minutes to see Santa at a local nursery. They had reindeer to see and the girls enjoyed wandering among the trees too. Santa was visiting in his sleigh. We asked Julia if she wanted to sit with Santa and she said “no”. She was willing to sit next to him if she sat with Mama though. Both girls took turns talking to Santa. Emily went first and was willing to talk his hear off. Julia told Santa several things she was interested in too.

They enjoyed themselves a lot. We do need to make a repeat visit to see him because Emily wanted to refine what she wants.

The Tappan family and Edwards family have a holiday tradition of watching the Nutcracker ballet together during the holiday season. This year we went to the daytime school presentation of the Nutcracker. It turned out that the presentation fell on Maeve’s birthday so it was part of her celebration. Ashley picked back row seats so our active kids wouldn’t disturb any others.

Both of our girls made it through the performance watching with interest. During the intermission the Sugar Plum Fairy came out to tell the kids about the story. She, also with the help of the the Nutcracker prince, demonstrated a pantomime. The pantomime told the story of the Nutcracker’s fight with the King Rat and Clara’s assistance. The girls enjoyed doing it with them. We have repeatedly acted out the pantomime (with words too). The favorite part is the “rat face”. When we decorated the Christmas tree and the girls found our nutcracker character set of nutcracker ornaments. The girls were so excited. We have heard Julia say “King Rat” a lot lately.

It is so much fun to have great memories from holiday activities!

This is our version of the rat face.

Maybe we will get in trouble for this post later in life, but we are so proud of Julia! We have been working on potty training with more consistency since Julia’s birthday. She has had periods of time of interest and dis-interest in doing it. We weren’t sure if she was really ready so we were reluctant to make it a requirement.

We had to take Julia to a dermatologist in early December and her treatment made wearing diapers uncomfortable. Starting the next day, Julia asked to wear only panties all the time since the panties were more comfortable. For about a week, we did a lot of reminding, extra trips, and extra laundry, but her interest in independence kicked in and over the past three weeks we have had very few accidents and a little BIG girl who takes herself without prompting. So Amazing! She got her prize and her merit badge is coming.

As I can’t say it enough, I will say it one more time – We are so proud of you, Julia!

Mama made strawberry milkshakes from the last of our summer strawberries as an evening treat. The girls were playing after a bath and when Julia heard the blender running she came to investigate. “Wha dat?” and “For Me?” were her first questions. She talked non-stop for a while trying to figure out what all the noise was for. She seemed to have an opinion about everything including what cup she wanted to drink from. Who knew that all we had to do to get her to talk was to make milkshakes? They were yummy!