Calling Santa.....

So London is a great child with her brother, Madden. He absolutely adores her and she adores him right back. This being said, she has not been a great child to me. Thanksgiving day was embarrassing. She was grumpy, needed a nap, and only ate candy from our gingerbread houses that we were making. The only good thing about that craft was that it made her happy to eat the candy. London has been so naughty in fact that I made a phone call to Santa. This is how it went: Me: "Hey Santa this is Shelley...no, London's not being a good girl.....yeah, should I send back those presents?......" London stood there watching me quietly. She then stuck out her palm and said, "Let me talk to him." Uuhhh.......this was not going to the way I planned. Clearly, she was going to explain herself to him. "No," I said, "Only Mommy and Daddy can talk to Santa." This confused her somewhat and she threw a tantrum. I said, "Uh oh, Santa told me to send back those presents." I knew this would send her into immediate obedience. "Go ahead!" is what she said to me. Hmmm......I'm at a loss. So, watching "Elf" was the next step. Good news!! She now wants to be on the nice list really badly. So, later the other night she said, "Mom, you inspire me!" Where she got that line kind of confused me....so I rewound the movie she was watching (Ratatouille) and what do you know?! There was the inspiring line. Lesson learned, the way to get to my naughty girl is through movies, not Santa.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm grateful for so many things. Tyler got home this morning and I know it's going to be a great day....

Food Network Anyone?

London cracks me up and it amazes me the things she picks up from other people. For example:

• I like the food network, I'll admit it. I walked into the bathroom the other day and London was talking to herself in the mirror. "Welcome back," she said, "I'm London. Today we'll be making sour cream aliciousness (deliciousness)." I laughed and she said, "You can have the cream and I'll have the salt." Then she said, "Oh, we'll make a tart too." I asked her if she knew what a tart was and she rolled her eyes and said, "It's like a pie, MOM!"
• I have a bad shoulder and try to hide from London most of the time the pain and my Dr.'s appts. However, the other day I asked her to do something and she said, "I'm so sorry but, I can't because my shoulder hurts."
• London asked me if she could watch a movie and I said no. She ran into the other room where my mom was and said, "You've gotta be kidding me!" over and over again. I'm ashamed to say that I repeat this line every time she poops in her diaper.

The girl in funny. It was my birthday the other day and her and Mimi went shopping for a present. They came back and I asked how the shopping was. She said, "Mimi bought you a shirt!" My mom said to London that it was supposed to be a secret and she just gave a naughty smile. Ah children, such joys. Thank you to my parents for making my b-day so nice and always helping me with my kids. You're the best!

Halloween, a Blessing, and First Times.....

For Halloween, Grandma and Grandpa were in town and decided to take London trick or treating. Since they had other grandchildren to go see, we ended up being the first people out in my parents' neighborhood. The first door we got to she said, "Greetin Treatin!" I have no idea where she heard that but, I thought it was hilarious. Because most of the people weren't home London didn't get a ton of candy. This is good because Mom is on a no sugar diet and I would have thrown her candy away the next day anyways. London was once again her princess and Madden was a pumpkin. But, being the cautious mother that I am, Madden did not go "Greetin, Treatin." When we got back from Trick or Treating, we found Sammy in a beautiful peacoat and pink hat that London usually wears. He's beautiful, what can I say? After a week of preparing for Madden's blessing on Sunday by myself, it finally came to fruition. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER again will I have a blessing day when Tyler lands and gets home a half hour before it starts. I almost had a heart attack and feel pretty sure that it caused an ulcer. However, Tyler's mom was in town and we tried to accommodate everyone. Along with it being Madden's first Halloween, first father's blessing, he also had his first rice cereal. He loves it and gobbles it as well as you could imagine. If I don't shovel it in fast enough he whimpers or gets angry with me. It's pretty funny because he's clearly not starving. The same week as the blessing, Mom wanted a picture of all her grandkids and bought them all beautiful outfits. Unfortunately, most of the kids were not cooperating and the two infants seemed to be doing better than everyone else. Madden is becoming such a fun little boy. Just the other day he was caught lounging just like his daddy does in his bouncer. He's so dang cute that I can't even stand it sometimes. It's crazy how fast our family has grown and what great blessings our children are to us. Tyler and I say every night how much we love our children. Even when London is throwing tantrums and constantly asking to make muffins or cookies, I just think she's so cute and special. Life is good.