Santa's been one-upped by Mimi!

Ben couldn't believe his luck after getting the play-kitchen he desperately hoped Santa would bring him. That was until we arrived at Mimi's house for Christmas Eve! She has outdone herself by giving Ben and Emily their very own mini-bounce house! Never have I seen two more joyous children than Ben and Emily while playing in their bouncy. Thank God it's too big for our apartment. If we had this at home, they'd never stop jumping! Thank-you so much, Mimi=)

Santa Comes A Little Early

Aren't Ben and Emily just the luckiest kids ever?! Santa dropped their special present off a day early because he knew they'd want to play with it a lot and wouldn't get the chance on Christmas morning. So, he had his best elf(read:me) stay up extra late to put it together and wrap it up. Silly Santa(read:Dan) left the box in the kitchen, though, so the surprise was ruined while we were waiting to open it. Nonetheless, the little kitchen Ben has been pining away for was a huge hit with them, both. They've played with it nonstop since opening it. Isn't Santa wonderful? Stay tuned for more fun pictures from the rest of our Christmas adventures! Next stop: Mimi's house for Christmas Eve dinner.

Emmie Visits Santa Claus

Ben point-blank refused to even go near the Big Guy. I tried to hold him, and he just screamed, "Help me! Get me outta here! I need to get away!!!". Surprisingly, Emily did great, though! She wouldn't smile, but she sat on his lap contentedly while her picture was taken. At least we got one Santa pic this year!

Katie Comes to Play

My BFF from high school/Emmies godmother, Katie stopped by this morning to bring the kids some gifts! They both got adorable sweaters and spent some quality time playing with Katie. We had tons of fun hanging out together. Ben loved showing her his new kitchen and other new toys he's gotten since seeing her last. Emily just had fun sitting on her lap=)

Mega Bloks are Mega FUN

Much to Ben's delight(and my dismay), my cousin brought him a huge bag of Mega Bloks for Christmas. He's had these in the past and never really enjoyed them but once his best girl, Nina played with him he quickly learned how much fun it can be to play with these giant legos. They had a blast building towers and knocking them down. I was super-surprised to see Ben playing with them again! It almost makes it OK that there are 100 giant legos currently scattered around my living room(because half the fun of Mega Bloks is dumping the whole bag out at once, especially if mama has just put them all away).

Ben-isms

Here are a few funny phrases from Ben lately!

"This is the yum-est yogurt I ever had!"
he said, while eating(duh) yogurt.

"Oh mommy. That's weely weediculous",
his response when I made the statement that the reason his pacifiers don't work is because he bit through them causing me to throw them away.

A strange convo we had one afternoon:

Ben-"Uh, momma? What happened to my ear?"
Me-"I don't know, Ben, did you hurt it?"
B-"No...what happened to it?"
M-"Did you put something in it?"
B-"No, mama."
M-"Um, ok. Well, I don't know then."
B-"Me needer, mama. I'm just not sure"

He went through a period of speech-delay after Emily was born, and he's starting to catch up. Dan and I are loving every minute of his new-found conversation skills.

Emmie the Ornament Bandit

The bottom 2/3 of our tree is either completely bare or constantly rearranged. Emily is the world's best Ornament Thief and has made it her mission to drive me crazy. Ben understands that you don't take the ornaments off the tree(except for your own, special ornament meant just for this reason. THAT ornament can come and go as they see fit). Since Emily is still learning, he's taken it upon himself to monitor her ornament antics. Whenever he catches her, he yells, "Emmie! Don't toucha the ornaments!"(yes, he often speaks with an Italian accent, don't ask me why.) She then decides to run away from him, causing him to chase and tackle her for the ornament. Sometimes this results in laughter, but usually results in screams of indignation, or owies. Between them and the cat, I cannot wait to take this effing tree down. Two more days. Mark my words: this biotch is going down on the 26th!

The thief, inspecting her cache.

She especially likes Dan's Family Guy ornament(Peter Griffin, naked with a present over his junk. Errrrm, Emmie?

What's with the vampire pacifier? She's just a really big Twilight fan.