Potty Training?

Nora peed in the potty at will today! I was so excited! She actually wanted to go sit on the little potty, and she knew what she was doing (she was concentrating so hard)!

About 20 minutes later, she peed on the couch (right about the moment that I was emailing Willis to tell him the good news, in fact). So . . . I'm thinking it was a tad bit of a fluke.

This marks the second time she's peed in the potty on purpose, though. So, maybe someday soon we'll be down to one kid in diapers?

Diaper Pail Doggy

Every time Nora wakes up from her nap, she runs over to her diaper pail (if it's empty—with no liner in it), and she opens it up, looks inside, and goes, "Doggy!"

I have no idea why she does that. I wonder if she dreams about a dog climbing in there or something. It's so crazy strange!

Wakeful Boy

Suddenly, my little baby that was sleeping so well has become quite wakeful in the night. I currently have a giggling, cooing baby boy in my lap as I am typing this. And, sadly, he's been consistent with this since we got home this past weekend. Oi.

I guess it could be worse. He could be screaming.

Christmas Photos!

Here are some photos from Christmas and just after! I'll narrate for you.


Nora and Willis on Christmas morning at the Browns.


The whole fam.


Nora rather enjoyed playing with the clementines.


Henry in his Santa suit with Grandma.


He enjoyed himself.


This is quite possibly the only time Nora actually tried to open a present on her own,
and I'm pretty sure she got sidetracked while opening this one.
She didn't quite get it (not that I am complaining).


She's playing with some new stuffed animals here while her unopened presents are piling.


Breakfast with Penguin. (And yes. She is sitting on some encyclopedias.)


Who needs toys!?


"Hat!"


The Dill clan (a large chunk of them, anyway).


You can see even more people here.


Granddad helping Nora with her Melissa and Doug stacking/nesting toy that she got from both Mom and Julie (we have a spare—sweet!).


Henry's hanging out in the background while Nora plays.


Marlene tried putting both babies in her sling, and of course, I had to take some pics.


So stinkin' cute.


Sweet, little bundle!


Nora is modeling some pajama pants that were made for her by her aunt Jody.


I had to chase her around to get photos of her.


These were all taken within the same minute.


"Henry sleeping."


"TV on!"


Here is a cute onesie we received from the Larsens.


How stinking sweet is that? Thanks, guys!

We still haven't had our own, little family Christmas. We plan to do ours on Saturday morning. I'm looking forward to it! These little buggers sure make Christmas even more special than it already was.We hope you and yours had a Merry Christmas!

Design Blog Entry: Soaps

Christmas Soaps!

He's My Sweetie

Courtney Love

I wiped out four times on Christmas Eve between our porch and the trash can on our curb, and since then, I've been a bit of an ugly mess. In fact, Courtney Love just called, and she wants her legs back.

Don't get it? Watch the video, and you will understand.

Toddlin' in a Winter Wonderland

Facebook video link.

Happy Christmasing!

Henry's dressed for a day of work at Berkheimer. (We went to the office last week, and I'm just now uploading pictures from that. Sheesh.)
Check 'im out. After I got him dressed, I discovered a red, long-sleeved onesie that I could've put under his collared Berkheimer onesie. I wasn't about to undress him again, though. (People kept asking if he was a Bears fan, and it got a little painful—and I knew they'd be doing that. I knew it.)


Nora almost let me get a photo of her hair and shirt. She has been seriously insistent about those green shoes. I will even try to hide them from her, and she'll always think to yell, "Green shoes" when it's time to put on her shoes. It's nuts! They're almost too small, and when they are, I have no idea what I'm going to do about that. I'm pretty sure a tantrum will be on the horizon for that day.


My little Christmas Zebra.


She legitimately asked to put this on. She saw it hanging in her closet, and she yelled, "ZEBRA! ZEBRA!" I asked her, "Do you really want to put that on right now," and she said, "Yes."

Just this moment, Nora was making Henry laugh really hard in his play gym. Then, once things were quiet, she asked me to put Henry in the baby swing (which is amazing because she usually just tries to climb into the swing herself, and she's totally not allowed in there). Now, she's playing near him, and he's watching her from the swing. They're so stinkin' sweet.Yesterday, Nora was playing with a stuffed dog of hers, and she kept calling him Duncan. My in-laws have a Scottish Terrier named Duncan, and, for some reason, she feels that this stuffed dog looks like him. (Duncan is black, and the dog she has is brown and white. I guess he has some wiry hair? Maybe that's how she justifies it?)

Nora keeps talking about "Beebee Jesus" and singing "Santa come towwwn!" She's never even met Santa. She's just heard the song, and she apparently likes it. We're having a blast over here!

Last night, while Nora was dressed in her zebra costume, I popped a coat on her, and we walked to the neighbors' houses to deliver cookies. She was truly a Christmas Zebra. She loves the snow, and I have a feeling she's going to be begging to get out in it today since it's coming down so hard (and beautifully). I might have to let her.

Okay, we've got stuff to do. Maybe I'll get to squeeze in another post before Christmas, but if I don't, have a Happy One! Ours is certainly going to be white!

Oh, and check this out: Christmas Cookies.

A Christmas Zebra

Please forgive my shriek in the middle of this.

After this little chasey-chase, the Christmas Zebra came with me to deliver Christmas cookies to our neighbors'! She's a special, sweet zebra.

Facebook video link.

Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Card.

Freelance Post!

Bark & Purr freelance project.

Sad

I just laid Henry down for his afternoon nap a little bit ago. When I laid him down, he looked like he was ready, but while I was getting Nora ready for her nap (while changing her diaper), he started wailing. Just as soon as I got Nora tossed into her bed, he quit. I walked in there to peek on him (to see if he was awake and sucking his thumb—if he was awake, I would have grabbed him), and he was totally asleep. Poor little guy. That happens to him a lot.

At lunch, he was in his bouncy seat, and he just laid there, looking at me while Nora and I ate. He was just waiting for me to look at him so he could flash me a smile. He's so stinking patient for a baby. I guess he has to be, though, since he's got a sister. Nora has to be, too, and she usually is when it's her turn to wait.

Sometimes I wish I could be everywhere at the same time. I hate it when I can't get to a crying kid. It breaks my heart. It's always so much easier when Willi is home for that very reason.

Jenny Brown Design

I don't really have time to go back and fix all my links, but I'll tell you that my creative outlet blog has moved to a new location. All my old links to the blog won't work for now. Sorry 'bout that.

Here's the link: www.jennybrowndesign.blogspot.com

I totally stayed up seriously late trying to make it pretty, and I have a feeling I may tweak it even more. I'm nutty.

These Guys Are What Christmas is All About, Charlie Brown

My Little Talker
I just love his mouth! Haha!

What Christmas is All About
"Jophes, Mawy, and baby Jes-es . . . and STAARR!"

Nativity

Today, Nora pointed out "baby Jes-es, Mawy, and Jophes" in her little, play nativity set that her grandma got for her. Her daddy's voice wasn't falling on deaf ears after all!

Tote for Cora Belle

I forgot that I posted this, too!

Stockings

I finished the stockings!

Henry's Onesie and BUGS!

Henry finally fits into the onesie that Betsy and Pam Hess
and Grandma Louse Brown got for him!


That's right, single ladies. He's a Virgo.












I even love his wonky eye.


He's so styley. Thanks, girls!


Nora and Hobbes collecting bugs.


He's a good helper.


"He's getting away!"

In other news, Nora was a bit nutty today. Three different times, I caught her pulling ALL of the ornaments off of the tree that she could reach. While it's quite funny, it was a bit maddening. I really hope I'm not spending all day tomorrow telling her not to touch the tree. Oi.

She had been so good so far.

I posted pictures of Nora's stocking on my creative outlet blog! Check it out!

Oh, the Things They Do and Say

Here are some fun photos and videos of the past few days:


Henry sleeping.


Nora likes to check on him.


"Henry sleeping," she shrieks!


Somehow, the kid sleeps through all of it. Check out Nora's hair, by the way.


She came out of her room with her sunglasses and a purse. It was pretty funny.


Attitude. (Not really.)


She's always walking away from Mommy when the camera is out.


These guys are fun.


We're dorks.

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In other news, Nora has absolutely no regard for temperature. She wanted to stay in the bath today until her lips were blue (and the water was cold). When I finally tried to get some clothes on her (she wanted some naked time afterward, too), she asked for more naked time ("Neked!?"). What a nutter!

Sunday night, she was asking to go outside, so I took her outside for a brief, little chill (to check out the neighbors' lights) just to show her how cold it was out there. I figured she'd be chilled right away and want to go back inside. Boy, was I wrong about that. Not only was she unaware that it was quite cold, but she also did not have the reaction I anticipated when I let her walk barefoot on the sidewalk (I figured she'd want me to pick her back up and we could go inside). She wanted to stay out there and have a nice, little walk, I think! She kills me!

Today, while she was naked (after her bath), I overheard her say, "Come on, guys, let's gooooo!"

She's been talking in sentences lately, and what's more: I can actually understand her most of the time. How crazy is that!? It just happened all at once!

Saturday night, I replaced all of the innards in the tank of our upstairs toilet (that is quite an undertaking, by the way), and when Willi brought her into the bathroom so that I could say goodnight to her, she saw me flush the toilet successfully. Then, she said, "Dere ya go, Mama."

It made me happy.

I got her to say, "Happy Birthday, Daddy" in the car on Sunday while he was in the grocery store, but she wouldn't say it for him when he came back. She just got embarrassed and shook her head when I'd ask her to, "Say it!"

She did finally say, "Hi, Daddy!" on the phone when we called him today. We've been trying to get her to do that for a long, long time.

In other, other news, I finished Nora's stocking today! I'll post pictures when I take some.

Willi's home now! Gotta run!

Nora's Pigtails

Nora got some pig tails today after she said to me, "Hair up!"


She's got some thick hair now!


This is how her hair gets done (she plays with stuff).


I love the little curls.


She felt she should pose with the stocking I made, and I love how she's making it kick her in the head here. She's a funny one.

Gotta run!