dressed in {christmas} best!

DISCLAIMER: 

okay, so one of my children prefers to be in front of the camera more than the other one. i swear this is not a sign of favoritism at all......i simply have more luck getting longer sessions from my one-year-old than i do my three-year-old.  

weird, huh?  

lol

this little doll face doesn't mind the camera, though she really isn't into sitting still these days.  when i placed her on top of that crate it kept her in place for a few minutes....then she realized she could climb down...

and back up. ;)  love her 'so proud of myself' expressions!

she is getting a huge craving for independence these days, and is really starting to come into her own with expressing her opinions.  she is not nearly as verbal as hendrix was at this age, and we are finding that she is constantly getting frustrated with us for not understanding what her grunts and points mean......but we are working through that.  hendrix is becoming an expert interpreter.... (i.e. blaire says she wants cookies. )

oh, and she is a reader.  just like her brother. and her mom. and i guess her dad too.  we are just a big happy family of bookworms.

she still lets me dress up that little head of hair with bows and headbands.....and thank goodness, she is finally getting enough hair to seem girly even when i don't put an accessory on her head.  it is still blonde as ever, and oh, so fine.  yeap, she definitely got my hair!  (i was hopeful that she would get daddy's curls..........oh well).

have i mentioned that she is a walker now?  she still kind of looks like this - arms out a bit stiff and awkward, sort of stumbly like she is worried her shoes will come off with each step she takes.......but it is becoming her go-to form of transportation very quickly.  

she is growing up right before our eyes.  i kind of feel like i am stretching the word when i call them my babies....

oh and this little man.  he is just that.  growing into a little man.

he is smart, and funny, and quirky and independent, and feisty and oh, so energetic (as always!) he is an expert negotiator, and he is a fierce protector of that little miss up top.  they are super great pals, and i feel so blessed to watch their relationship blossom right before my eyes.

he really is a joy to this mama's heart (and randomly, he started calling me 'mama' these last few days, which quick frankly, i adore!)

he is finally getting past that stinkin' cheese face stage (the one where he pulled out that crazy plastic grin whenever i grabbed my camera......and of course it was more often than not just too big and too fake that it made his nose all scrunched up and even his eyes all squinty.....).  

but i really love this grin.

he flashes it a million and twenty times a day.  i'm so glad that he has taken after me and decided that smiling all day really does do the soul good. ;)  

(his daddy is, bless his heart, just a lot more stingy with his smiles). 

happy holidays from my cute littles.

hope your home is full of warmth and smiles too!