'Tis the season

First thing-- before getting into holiday stuff, i'd just like to share erica's first three-word-combination. "That mine too." Normally its just "mine too," but she's added "that" to it. it cracks me up that she says "too." its as if she realizes that something doesnt belong to just her. actually, when she says it, she's normally referring to something that isnt hers AT ALL, but she's trying to talk me into letting her have it. Example: i was putting a bunch of jingle bells in a jar as decoration, and erica shimmied on over to me, sat in my lap, and said, "that mine too." she wanted to play with them and hear them ring.

Well, i promised pictures from thanksgiving. So, here we go. I dont have many-- sorry. well, i took lots of pictures, but its often a tad bit hard to load them all up onto blogger.

#1. When nathaniel and erica were together the wednesday before thanksgiving, they decided to wash the dishes. So, they stood up on a chair next to the sink and splashed around in the water. they thought it was a lot of fun. Kind of ironic, b/c most adults HATE doing dishes.

#2. When with my family, we played outside for quite a bit of time. My dad had a push-cart that the kids took turns sitting on, and someone would push them up and down the street. In this picture, andrew's pushing the wagon. Erica is in the front, and my cousin's two kids are behind her.

#3. We had a picture of all the kids last year. this year, there's a new edition to the family! [my brother and his wife have a new baby girl.] Erica is the first kid on the left.

thats the end of my thanksgiving pictures. i told you not to get your hopes up. sorry. there was just too much fun going on, i forgot to take pictures most of the time. now, moving on...

#4. Erica woke up two mornings ago, feeling quite tired still and very attached to her stuffed animals. i sat her in her strawberry shorcake chair, and she said "dog, dog," b/c she wanted to hold him. so i gave him to her. then "frog, frog." so i put the frog slippers on her feet. then "moo, moo," "tut-el," [turtle], "duck," "sheep," "doll," etc. Finally, she was holding so many that all that i could see was her head. I thought that was definitely picture-worthy.

#5. My parents came over Sunday to help me decorate for Christmas. Andrew was busy, and i needed help, especially in regards to keeping erica out of trouble. We had a good time, and things look pretty good. There's no tree yet. Andrew's not sure if we're gonna get one or not. They're a lot of work. But, our window ledge is nicely decorated with snowmen.

#6. Last Christmas, erica got a "Little People" nativity set. she was too little to really understand what any of the peices were. But now, she recognizes the cow, sheep, trees, camel, and especially the baby. she LOVES babies. she carries around the baby everywhere she goes, and gives him little kisses. its kinda cute. She doesnt quite grasp what an angel is. she keeps putting the sheep on top of the stable instead of the angel. Oh well. She's only 21 months old.