Peace offerings.

A call night at work last week interrupted my plans to return to normal.  I had washed and dried 5 loads of laundry and piled them on my bedroom rug.  I meant to take a picture of the towering mountain so that it could serve as a visual representation of the chaos of our home.  I didn't take a picture (that's something someone who is doing more than surviving would do).  Over the course of the next few days the laundry pile disintegrated into a thick covering over the entire 5x8 rug.  This was due in part to it's appeal as a landing zone for our budding 4 year old Buzz Lightyear.  I thought to take a picture of it in its new form as a gigantic mess.  Once again, something I was incapable of at the time.  However, it would have been a much more accurate representation of our lives than the first picture.  We tiptoed through the rug for a good 5 days.  I finally finished another work week on Wednesday morning and promptly parked myself in front of the disaster.  Who knew folding laundry could feel like a luxury?

We have spent the last 3 days putting our lives back together.  I have accomplished most of my goals for that time period.  Most.  One of my goals was to upload all of our pictures from Thanksgiving to present.  I can't find the memory stick reader.  I thought I would come across it in my cleaning adventures, but it has not shown itself.  Because of my dedication to you faithful out there, I stopped by the store and just bought a new one.  I plugged it in and...nothing.  The thing doesn't work.  I somehow managed to buy a faulty one.  Dun dun dun.  I have since hooked up one camera to the computer directly and pulled off our Christmas pictures.  All of the fun Thanksgiving and beyond from our point-and-shoot are still crying poor picture cries, as they remain trapped on the memory stick at present.  So, sorry about that.  Delayed but not denied,  I promise.  So, let me take a few minutes to talk about what the kiddos are up to these days since I can't narrate our adventures through pictures.

Evangeline is growing incredibly fast.  So. fast.  She has gone from 3-6 month clothes to 9-12 month clothes in the 3 months since she has been home.  She now weighs a little over 19 pounds.  She is getting stronger and more adventurous each day.  She is able to stand on her own, but she quickly falls once she realizes how terrifying her accidental feat is.  I still think she will be walking by her first birthday.  She cruises around everything and manages to scale anything that will bear her weight.  She thinks it is hilarious to climb the stairs, and she belly laughs when she thinks she has gotten too far ahead (hasn't happened yet).  She likes to eat anything and everything, and she much prefers table food to baby food these days.  Her absolute favorites are raspberries and blackberries.  She inhales them in one blink and then looks back at us and whines for more.  Expensive taste, young lady.  She taps her right foot when she is content.  It happens often.  Always the right, not ever the left.  She got her top two teeth this month and now they are starting to grow in.  They are still hard to see unless she pulls her top lip open really wide in a smile.  She is still battling "stranger danger."  She doesn't have any interest in being held by someone outside of her close circle, but she will definitely still play and smile at you.  She really is enjoying playing games and teasing us.  She plays peek-a-boo and enjoys offering us objects and then yanking them away as soon as we reach for it.  She thinks it is sooo funny...so do we when we get to see the way she smiles so slyly.

Josiah is the ever amazing little man.  The things he says (and the way he articulates them) keep us on our toes always.  Not a day goes by that I haven't giggled at something he has to say about life.  We are tackling appropriate tone and attitude right now, as he is having a good time discovering what is appropriate.  He is a sweet boy and very quickly turns it around after one look at my facial response.  He is on a Toy Story kick right now.  He got the movie for his birthday and I think he watched it 17 times last week.  At least, that's how many times he would have watched it if we said "yes" every time he asked.  He also got a Buzz Lightyear with the movie, and he keeps it close by for the 4D effect.  He jumps off of everything declaring, "to infinity and beyond!"  His form is perfect.  It is also very dangerous at times, depending on what the anticipated landing zone is.  He really likes playing board games.  We have started to play a game or two with him in the evenings once Evangeline goes to bed.  His absolute favorite is Candy Land.  We also play Memory and yesterday we tried Snorta for the first time.  My favorite family pastime right now is our Family Dance Party.  We have been having both spontaneous and planned family dance parties, most often to Josiah's favorite: Something in the Water by Brooke Fraser.

We still are trying to navigate the Santa issue.  I told Josiah we weren't inviting Santa to our house because we were only going to celebrate Jesus.  I don't know if he believed me or not.  He definitely thinks Santa is, most factually, in existence.  Everyone besides mom and dad (school, the grocery clerk, the tv ads, etc) have told him so.  Jonathan and I have still yet to reach a consensus on what the best plan is, so we are continuing to pray about it and try to decide how to move forward.  Personally, I think our decision would be much easier if our culture didn't inundate us with Santa everywhere.  I can't hole my kids up in the house from October on, so figuring out the right language and culture to help frame this in context for our family is difficult.  My major beef with Santa is the fact that he couldn't go get his own holiday in June or something.  We will continue to pray about how to veto (or at least marginalize) Santa to a position that fits our family's goals and is age appropriate.

I hope you enjoy the kiddo Christmas pics.  The last month in review coming soon!