Christmas in Southern California

I am behind in posting, but I'll catch up later. Maybe.

We had a nice day today. In the morning we had a Christmas party for our playgroup. My sweet husband was nice enough to whip up a batch of homemade peppermint marshmallows when I decided at 8:30am that I wanted to participate in the goodie exchange which started at 9:30am, despite the fact that we had no eggs and no butter. :) At the party, we had a visit from Santa. My kids were shy, of course, but eventually managed to stand in a picture and smile. Kenley told me she's embarrassed for me to post this picture because it looks like she's going to skip out of the picture. I'm glad she can't read.


Then when we got home, I let the kids play outside for a while since it was so nice out today. Kenley planned a "Christmas party" with jello (actually leaves) and rolls (actually rocks). She was dressed in such a random assortment of things from her dress-up box, and Parker looked so funny in his pirate patch, of course I had to take some pictures.

Love. This. Kid.

Lately I've been wanting to blog about my little guy Parker. In our family, Parker is sort of the eye of the hurricane. He is such a happy, mellow kid. Most of the time. Well, you know, comparatively. I treasure him right now because he rarely needs anything from me. My girls are both pretty demanding of my attention, and Parker just has love to give. If he gets attention, that's great, but if not, he's cool. He tells me he loves me "so, so much" several times a day, and comes over and wraps his arms around me for a hug. He just has the sweetest personality that I could ever imagine. This morning it was after 9 and he still hadn't moseyed out of bed, so I peeked in to check on him. There he was, sitting on his bed, just reading a book. I think with most two-year-old boys, long periods of silence generally indicate troublemaking, but with Parker, he's usually reading in his room.

An odd Parker quirk? He loves eyeballs and googly eyes. We occasionally stop by Lakeshore on Saturdays to do their weekly craft. We've done door hangers, pumpkins, flags, etc. For Kenley it is a glorious crafty, artistic experience. For Parker, it is merely an experiment to see how many vessels he can glue googly eyes onto. I currently have a construction-paper Christmas card on my fridge with a Christmas tree on it. Decorated only with googly eyes.

I LOVE that he honestly believes that my kisses heal his owies. He honestly believes that those skinny stick arms of his can pull me up off the ground. And I'm pretty sure he honestly believes that Claire's actual name is Claire-bear.

Look at that face. This picture makes me laugh out loud whenever I see it. How could anyone not adore this kid? He is the best. Oh, and even better? He's potty-trained! Good job, little buddy!

Four is Funny

I swear Kenley gets more entertaining every year. Here are some of her latest and greatest (sorry, lots of repeats from Facebook):

* When Parker was copying her: "Mo-om! Parker is following my voice!"

* "I smell good. Parker smells like yucky pickles."

* "Mom, Taylor Swift knows EVERYTHING. And so do I."

* "UGH! Wa-alllll! Why you always bang my head, wall? Every single time I run into you, you bang my head! EVERY TIME!"

* For a frame of reference for this quote, a few weeks ago we had someone come to our home to do a speech evaluation for Parker. I think that's what Kenley was thinking about when yesterday, in a fit of despair over not being able to draw a pumpkin, she told me sadly, "I think I need someone to come out and test my body. I can't say marshlellow, I can't say lellow, and I CANNOT draw a pumpkin!"

* Aaaaaaand, my newest favorite. Minutes before I took the picture below, she wheeled that stroller into the bathroom where I was doing my makeup, and asked me, "Mom, can you watch Pepper for me? Just text me if you have any problems. Okay? My number is 1-2-3-4-5."

Claire's Blessing Day

We blessed Claire this week, again surrounded by family. Because of various travel arrangements, we decided it would be easier to bless her during the week, so we did it on Friday down at the church. It was a beautiful blessing, and such a special night to have so many family members there to share it with us. We had all three sets of grandparents (including the Hamptons, who came down from Utah), and both my siblings. I was extra excited that my Grandma Teddy was also able to be there, all the way from Alaska!

Thankful for sweetness

The thing I love most about my kids is the tender relationships they have with each other. They are so sweet and loving.


First, these two. They are just two little peas in a pod. They spend all day together, playing, laughing, fighting, wrestling, snuggling, encouraging, and loving. Kenley makes up all kinds of crazy games and activities, and of course Parker willingly follows along. My whole day sounds like a variation of, "Parker! I frow this ball and you catch it! Parker! I play these Polly Pockets and you be this dog!" "Otay!"

They are just lost without each other. A few months ago, right before Claire was born, they had been fighting a lot, so James and I each took them separately out on a date. By the time an hour had passed, they were asking for each other and wanting to go home.

They also love to do nice things for each other. Today Kenley decided to clean her room, and made Parker's bed for him (note the Elmo wrapped in a washcloth, my favorite part).


I hope that they will always keep the sweet closeness they have today. I know having kids 18 months apart isn't everyone's cup of tea, but they really are best friends, and I truly feel blessed at how close they are.


They are also both enthralled with Claire. I knew Kenley would be loving and nurturing, but I didn't anticipate how sweet Parker would be with her. The other day when she was crying, he went and got her little book, and put it in front of her and started reading to her.

Seriously, if that picture doesn't make your heart melt, you are made of stone.

Here's one of Kenley yesterday. I made Claire a bottle and then went to do something, and when I came back Kenley had taken it upon herself to help me out by feeding Claire.


Kenley and Parker ALWAYS want to be around Claire. When I was trying to take a picture of Claire in her blessing dress, they were just swarming around trying to make her smile. I had to step back and take a picture of what I was dealing with. The poor kids just could not understand why I didn't want the backs of their heads in the picture.


I am thankful for my kids, but even more thankful that they have so much love for each other. It'll give me something to hold onto during the next ten years of fighting, biting, scratching, and crying!

Halloween

I am under serious threat of death from my mother to update my blog. So here are our Halloween pics! Parker was Luke Skywalker, Kenley was Taylor Swift, and Claire was a pink leopard.




Total vent but seriously NONE of our neighbors said ANYTHING about the kids' costumes. Didn't tell them they looked cute, didn't even ask who they were dressed up as. So since I worked so hard on their costumes, if you want to tell me they looked cute, I'll totally take it.

Oh, and just for fun, here's Kenley crying in the same costume when she wore it, and then Claire on Halloween. Apparently if you have to wear the pink leopard costume, your life sucks.

Star Wars Meet and Greet

So some of you already know that both my kids are OBSESSED with Star Wars. It is scary how much Kenley can tell you about all the characters and plots, and Parker also knows most of the characters in our much-loved family Star Wars Encyclopedia. Of course the blame for this lies with my sweet, geeky husband, but I have to admit I am starting to find it all quite adorable.

So my mom e-mailed me this article about a Star Wars night they were having for a fundraiser for this little 1-year-old with a terminal illness. So of course we had to go. I temporarily forgot that both my kids are pretty reserved, and easily frightened by things like that. They had all the characters in a group and you could get your picture taken with them. Kenley was too scared to even go up to the group of characters, and Parker was tentatively okay for a moment before breaking down into sobs (he told me later he was scared of the Darth Vader). Only Claire was not at all frightened, and had her picture taken with a giant Chewbacca.

But of course, depite their fears and tears, both kids LOVED getting to see all the characters and did get some pictures with characters who were just walking around the park. After the pictures, they showed the original first Star Wars movie on the outdoor screen, and that was lots of fun.

On a more sober note, they did a little slide show of this darling little girl who the fundraiser was for, and it made me just cry and cry. I am really overwhelmed with my kids right now, but I made a goal to be more appreciative and grateful that I have three healthy, beautiful children.