we have a lot to get ready for around here! holiday parties, christmas shopping, and not to mention the little baby who will hopefully enter our lives before the new year! needless to say, we are excitedly busy around here. the kids are extra excited. for one, we have a little elf who is hiding out in our digs, keeping his eye on them. they love it, but i can't say i have noticed a change in their behavior! secondly, they have advent calendars filled with chocolate that they get to open every morning. yummy! they can't wait to open the new door every morning and the chocolates are usually eaten before 7am. ada insists that the advent calendar is a countdown until the day her sister is born. i think she thinks i am giving birth to baby jesus (she has stated over and over again that jesus has NOT been born yet.) it is all very confusing to her, but i pray that this baby is NOT born christmas day nor received the name jesus! i love love love christmas morning and can't wait to spend it with everyone!
elias is even starting to accept the fact that we are going to have a new baby around the house. at first he was carrying a little motorcycle wrapped up in a blanket around everywhere. he fed it (read: smooshed clementines which he peeled himself all over it), patted it when it was crying, and threw it across the room when it was happy. nowadays he has progressed to carrying a little baby doll which he calls "pirate" underneath his shirt all day. he makes it milk or coffee depending on the time of day and takes very sweet care of it. it still makes me terrified for the new "real" little one coming, but at least he is making an attempt to be nurturing!
our week and weekend we filled with special events and cold weather. all fun and festive of course. we have made enough peppermint bark to feed a small army (or ONE pregnant woman!) as ada has her christmas performance and cookie exchange at school this thursday. keep your eyes peeled for a video of her singing. she has been practicing incessantly (but NOT sleeping so we will see how her mood is the day of her performance!) ah, sleep. i miss you so much... i will not dwell on this, i am well aware that it will only get worse before it gets better.
on a totally separate note, we took the kids out to dinner tonight at a little restaurant that is made out old train cars. a really neat place although the food was nothing too impressive. elias was so excited that he couldn't eat even one bite. he thought we were going to ride the choo choo train as we ate. then he just became confused as to why it wasn't moving. then, he decided to morph in to buzz lightyear and the rest of the meal yelled "i'm buzz lightyear, space ranger" holding his hands up above his head like superman. we couldn't stop laughing at him. i'm not sure the other patrons were that impressed, but i couldn't bring myself to tell him to be quiet.
ok- i should go. i really should eat dessert before i go to bed. peppermint bark, anyone?
at the christmas tree lighting in our neighborhood.
riding the carousel at a mall we will never return to! i wouldn't share this picture except for that fact that the store behind ada is called MANTRAP. once i get my figure back i might just head there. reza is sure to be impressed!
riding the choo choo train. once the ride was over elias refused to get off (even when the worker tried to pull him out of the train car!) "i wanna ride choo choo train again!" he yelled over and over.
watching the chapel hill/carrboro christmas parade yesterday. snow was flurrying and trader joe's was passing out peppermint sandwich cookies. i didn't even question whether or not my children could eat unwrapped sandwich cookies out of a strangers hand! like i said, no mother of the year awards happening over here!
elias ate so much candy!
ada and auntie shannon making the second gingerbread house of the season! HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY AUNTIE SHANNON! We love you so much. This year is going to be the most amazing year of your life (she's having a baby boy- due April 8th!)
we've sent our letters to the north pole. 
we're opening our advent calendars.
we've made cut out cookies (which i do NOT recommend doing with a two year old!)
and decorated them too!
then we ate them all, so we will have to make more! yummy!
at the christmas tree lighting in our neighborhood.
riding the carousel at a mall we will never return to! i wouldn't share this picture except for that fact that the store behind ada is called MANTRAP. once i get my figure back i might just head there. reza is sure to be impressed!
riding the choo choo train. once the ride was over elias refused to get off (even when the worker tried to pull him out of the train car!) "i wanna ride choo choo train again!" he yelled over and over.
watching the chapel hill/carrboro christmas parade yesterday. snow was flurrying and trader joe's was passing out peppermint sandwich cookies. i didn't even question whether or not my children could eat unwrapped sandwich cookies out of a strangers hand! like i said, no mother of the year awards happening over here!
elias ate so much candy!
ada and auntie shannon making the second gingerbread house of the season! HAPPY 29th BIRTHDAY AUNTIE SHANNON! We love you so much. This year is going to be the most amazing year of your life (she's having a baby boy- due April 8th!)
sugar!
i thought we would make this house a little closer to christmas, but ada insisted that we make it now. she is definitely in the christmas spirit!
lias is our own engine driver! he takes us, and all of his friends on rides up and down the driveway shouting "ALL ABOARD!"
wrestle-mania!
