December

December was a full month for us! 

Josiah's preschool class put on a short Christmas program of songs. They were all so funny! I really enjoyed getting to watch him sing, do the motions, and interact with the other kids. For a while now he wouldn't tell me what they were doing at school because he kept saying "It's a surprise for you!!" I was really proud of his singing and following instructions. He loves his class and adores his teachers. 

Enjoy some video clips of him singing and acting silly! 

We had a surprise this month of Josiah's first loose tooth!! To be honest, I almost cried! The losing of the first tooth signifies the beginning of him growing up...for real. I didn't think kids lost teeth until kindergarten, but he's an early teeth loser. 

I didn't even know he had a loose tooth until one day he told me he kept feeling something funny in his mouth. I looked and his permanent tooth was already coming in behind the baby tooth. For 3 days he wiggled that tooth so hard. He was very excited to lose it! A few older friends from church are losing teeth and we had recently read a Bernstein Bears book about losing teeth. He asked me if the tooth fairy was real. I ask him what he thought. He said, "Yep, I'm going to put my tooth under my pillow when it comes out and she's going to change it into a coin!!" 

I tried multiple times to pull it out myself, but could never get a good grip on it. I even tied some string around the base of the tooth (my dad used to do that with me and my siblings' teeth), but the string kept slipping off. Then one night before bed he was eating a banana. Afterwards he asked me to try to pull the tooth. He opened his mouth and the tooth was gone!! He must have swallowed it with the banana! 

This was his reaction when I told him it wasn't there...

Then we took a lot of pictures. He was so proud to lose his first tooth! And he wanted me to send the pictures to his Uncle Peter, who's a dentist. So I did.

I'm not quite sure how the new tooth is going to fit... it's twice the size of his baby tooth and pretty far back there!

He was all smiles!!
And he wasn't too upset by the fact that there would be no tooth fairy, since there was no tooth to change into a coin. I told him there were plenty more teeth to fall out!

This picture makes me laugh because when I was a kid I used to lay just like that on the floor with my feet propped up on that very TV shelf when it was at my parents house.

Being a kid is grand.

Leah is all over the place now. She's into everything. Not walking unassisted yet, but close. Josiah walks around the house holding her hands as she walks, they both think it's hilarious!

Leah's hair is a fashion statement all it's own. Her curls are getting thicker and longer. She looks like a wild, rocker girl from a band when she starts dancing and throwing her head around to the music. She is always making us laugh!

He wants me to take a picture of his growing tooth almost every day. haha

Lately, Paul has become very attached to this brown, stuffed puppy. He carries it everywhere we go. He feeds him, puts him down for a nap, cares for him and doctor's him when he's sick, and is very kind and loving to him. He is always in imagination land with his puppies, cars, or trains. 

On this particular day the puppy (who doesn't have a name other than "Puppy"), was very sick. Paul worked hard for hours taking care of him, making us be quiet so he could sleep, wiping him down, changing his diaper, checking his heart, and keeping him warm with towels. 

The day before Christmas it started snowing. Everyone was thrilled to have a white Christmas! 

This is the first year we didn't have to travel at all. We enjoyed staying home, in our PJ's, no bags to pack or planes to catch, we just had a good time hanging out in our warm, cozy house while the snow piled up outside. 

The boys didn't want to cooperate for a picture on Christmas Eve.. that's why the next 10 pictures are of Leah! She looked SO BEAUTIFUL in her red dress that my mom & dad sent her. Right now she is so fun and delightful. I love this age. She's so busy, always moving, though, so it's hard to get a good picture!

Our tree was graced with many homemade decorations that Josiah made at school. I just love them all! I don't think art will be his strength, though. hahaha

Leah loved removing the ornaments from the tree and touching the lights.

Christmas morning was laid back. Leah and I slept until 9:30!! She's my kind of girl, she loves to sleep like her momma. Paul was enamored by everything that morning. He took forever opening his stocking, pulling one thing out at a time and exclaiming, "OH WOW! Wook at dis! Is it for me?! Oh wow! I wuv it." He would say that for every thing, all morning. Each time he would open something new he would stop and play with it with wonder and amazement. Josiah on the other hand, barreled through opening his presents as fast as he could. We are so grateful to our families for all of the wonderful, thoughtful, and generous gifts you sent for us and our children.

Paul's favorite thing to play with are the wood trains. He received several more pieces of tracks, bridges, tunnels, and other things. He was THRILLED!

Leah enjoying her new music player. She has an inner beat and loves to wiggle her body to the music.

Josiah is really into dress-up. I found this costume after halloween for 90% off.. just $3 for it! SCORE! He has not taken it off since he opened it.

A toy store blew up in our house... Mom, Dad, I know you are laughing!

This picture makes me laugh! It's a cap-gun that my dad got the boys. Leah looks like she's ready for the wild west.

This year was the first time I have ever made a Christmas meal all by myself!
We had ham, mashed potatoes, purple hull peas, green bean casserole, homemade bread, lemon meringue pie and chocolate pie. I had never made a lemon meringue pie before, but Justin loves them so I thought I'd give it a try. It was much more complicated than I anticipated, but my Betty Crocker cookbook had great instructions. I was most worried about making the meringue for the top, but it turned out surprisingly well and tasted so good!

And this is my mom's recipe for chocolate pie, the best chocolate pie on the earth. I've eaten many chocolate pies in my almost 30 years of life, and none even compare to this one. My crust looks terrible, I am an awful homemade crust maker. It tastes fine, just doesn't look fine, I need a pie crust refresher course. 

Day #3 of the costume. Must.Wash.Soon. Boy wonder stinks. 

The snow has just kept falling. It's a beautiful winter wonderland. 

This is the view from the clinic where I work. (I worked on Wednesday to help with the post-holiday vacation influx of sick kiddos). The clinic overlooks a beautiful park and creek. 

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!