Cow Girls Don't Cry?

The end of unawareness

We were blissfully saying and doing whatever we pleased...
We stopped using words that we didn't want her to repeat, but continued to have conversations in front of her that we didn't think she would comprehend. We started spelling words that signaled treats (e.g., I-C-E C-R-E-A-M), but thought we could write off events with quick explanations that would remain unquestioned. We were W-R-O-N-G!!!

Over Christmas, Grandma M brought Cora & Quinn's gifts to Cleveland to open with the family, but had mine & Landon's gifts shipped here. When Grandma M arrived, Landon and I had presents to open. We thought Cora would be happy to help us open ours... W-R-O-N-G! She kept saying, "Where's my present?" and I finally dug Reese's present (coming after Christmas) out for her to open.

Yesterday, we went for the second time to St. Benedict's in Mt. Pleasant. Our typical church (The Cathedral) is very traditional, but St. Benedict's brings the children forward to exit to children's church. I'm not big on nursery's, and Cora is too little for children's church, so we tried to distract her as the kids marched by us. Cora's head popped up in the pew and she announced, "Where are all those girls and boys going?". She was loud enough for anyone nearby to hear and determined enough to make sure we knew not to try to trick her. (Yes, I took her to children's church. Yes, she was the youngest one in the room. Yes, we'll probably be going every Sunday that we go to St. Benedicts. She loved it).

On our way home, I told Landon that I had found a great recipe for chicken salad to prepare for dinner. Our afternoon was punctuated by Cora going to her little kitchen to prepare chicken salad. I wonder what else we said in the car when we thought she wasn't listening.

Landon picked up a new welcome mat yesterday. This morning, as she stepped onto the house threshold, Cora looked down and exclaimed, "Ooooooh! That's fun! A new mat! It's very pretty!"

 Which would make us sound very welcoming... but... the mat is in contrast to our sign...

Heather's Christmas present to me was this "No Soliciting" sign. After hearing me rant, time and time again, that in this day and age I think it is outrageous that ANY company would send people door-to-door... and after seeing my typical polite and friendly self send solicitors packing with an earful... Heather sent me this as a prank.

It was meant to be funny.

But I found it to be one of the most useful things I've ever received.

Hold your horses

Landon: Cora, thanks for being patient.
Cora: I held my horses already.

Happy Christmas Morning

Good morning.
The annual "first view of the tree" pic on Christmas morning. It's a good thing that there are always people here on Christmas morning to capture it for us!

Boots from Aunt Feather. Panties over her diaper, refusal to wear clothes, and those boots. Goodness!

Um, we may have forgotten to leave cookies for Santa.

Landon makes the best of having girls.

Mia: "The 8 hour drive was worth it for this cuddle time"

Quinn's first Christmas present: The Little People Nativity Scene.

Quinn received a TON of presents over the holiday season, yet everytime I turned around, she had swiped one of the non-breakable red bulbs from the bottom of the tree.

Had to have been there to understand.
This present was a prank from Landon.
If you were with us on our Muse evening, you know that we might not eat there again EVEN IF someone else pays for it. True story.

Doesn't it look like they are in a nice garden? They're in their new princess castle tent, which takes up the entire space in any room it's in. The joy of having little girls!

Cora's new Doctor kit. She prefers to administer medicine first, check ears second.

HOURS of playing on Christmas Day.

Twas the Night Before Christmas...

We hosted what has become our annual Christmas Eve drop-in.
I snapped a few pics early on, then got caught up in the hub-ub of the party.

BABIES!
On our first Christmas at our house, we hosted a dinner party that included three other couples with babies under 6 months old. The Cantrell's were there with Toby (2 months older than Cora). Here, the Cantrell's were back with Toby and their TWINS 6 weeks younger than Quinn.

I think I can say this without shocking anyone or hurting anyone's feelings or stepping on anyone's toes:

Other than Landon and I, my dad is Cora's favorite person.

If you've been around Cora for anytime at all, you know that the most frequent person she mentions is Papaw. When she talks stream of consciousness, it often involves Papaw.

"I have a swing at Papaw's house". "Papaw has a tractor" (actually, it's a lawnmower). "Papaw likes green beans". "I was talking to my Papaw". "Papaw's FUNNY!"

If I even mention Mia, Cora starts spouting what she's going to do when she sees Papaw.

If you look at that last picture, you'll understand why. There's dad, standing around in casual conversation, with lovey draped over his shoulder like it's an accessory!

O Christmas Tree!

"It's not going in our yard, Audrey. It's going in our living room."

Christmas Presents and Big E's Arrival

We had our Cleveland "Christmas" on our final night in Parma. It worked out great, because it was also the night that Eric was scheduled to arrive in Parma. The only glitch was that there was enough snow to even get the Parma-ites a little antsy about being out in the snow.

My kids are such a fan of "Big E".

E moving to town when Landon did was one of the most "never could have planned it better" blessings.

E was the first at the hospital when Cora was born - was in the room to help us name her.

He was Cora's regular babysitter for a semester of Monday nights, has onesies made specifically in his honor ("Big E's Chick Magnet"), and is working on teaching Quinn how to walk.

They were a little thrown off to see him in Cleveland.

Aunt Paula worked all week on "Who is Big E's Mommy?"

I don't think she figured it out until Big E walked in the door.

Cora received about 10 presents, most of them toys.

Yet these house shoes, probably purchased for Grandma Lechleitner, were her favorites. Go figure.

This pic of Uncle Thane cracks me up because it so isn't his look.

Uncle Thane, in a plaid shirt, drinking a beer, wearing a toboggan. Ha!

Quinny playing with Godmother and Godfather.

The scene the next morning as we escaped from Cleveland.

Over 6 inches!