Ramblings at Midnight

Hope everyone is enjoying the final countdown to Christmas. I'm so excited about seeing Isabella open her presents this year that I feel like the kid waiting for Christmas morning. Of course, Amelia will be cute as well, and I'm excited about it being her first Christmas, but this is the first year that I think Isabella will be so much fun. I asked her yesterday if she wanted a present for Christmas and she said yes, and I said "Just one present?" to which she responded "No, I want twos presents" --- how cute is that, to which I thought, man we could have gotten off really cheap this year just buying her two little presents. :) I actually wrapped a couple presents and put them under the tree just last night. I hadn't done it before because I believe Isabella has my "patience" and "curiousity" where she would have a hard time resisting trying to open or peek at the presents --- trust me, I had my share of sneaking around to find presents when I was a kid. She keeps staring at the presents, touching them, asking about them, in anticipation of opening them. It was fun tonight, she and I wrapped up the gifts she will be giving everyone -- I think I mentioned that I took her to the dollar store and had her shop for her cousins, Papa and Noni, Uncle Mike, Aunt "Mimi" and Daddy. We got them gifts from us, but I wanted her to pick out things for them to give them. I had to ask her before we got in the store what kinds of things each of them liked -- if not she would look at the first thing in front of her or something she would like and say "Daddy would like this doll" Anyway, its kind of cute the things she picked out because of what she knows that they like -- I honestly did not try to change what she picked out so some of the gifts are kind of funny -- like hairbows with lady bugs on them for my sil because she said "Aunt Mimi likes ladybugs. She'd like hairbows" :) I guess Olivia will end up wearing them. The other thing I have learned is that this child cannot keep a secret. She bought her Daddy a pen and told him last night just that. When I told her not to tell Daddy because its a surprise, she got all "pouty" and said "But I got him a pen" (Like, why can't I tell him, its the truth.) We also started playing this game where she hides these little --- I can't think of the proper terminology for those little weeble wobble shaped people (ours are nutcrackers) that open up and have another one inside and then another, etc. Anyway, she hides her eyes and I take each of them and hide it around the room and she comes to find them. Then she wants me to hide my eyes and she will hide them, but when I open my eyes and start looking, she runs over to one and says "Right here!" She's too excited that she shows me, no matter how hard I try to get her to let me find them, she will at least stand right next to them even if she isn't pointing at it. Cute, but you might want to be careful what you tell her. :) The good thing is, she also tells on herself because she can't even keep that a secret. The picture was taken last week while visiting a "gingerbread village" -- my poor girls had to wear their bibs once again, they are going to think they had no other clothes to wear all December, I'm sure this will end up being some kind of joke with them when they are teenagers. :) I had hoped to put them all bundled in Christmas/wintery sweaters, but we are having very warm weather - even for us - this year. Just today it was in the high 60s or low 70s. Definitely not bundling up kind of weather. I haven't even used my winter coat once this season. Not complaining, we don't get white Christmases and last year we had a terrible ice storm and had a few big trees fall way to close to our house, so I'll take a sunny Christmas over that any day. Again, I hope everyone is enjoying the holidays!