Christmas, Singing Songs, Body Parts

We got back to Austin after a great 10 days in Houston Monday afternoon. We were lucky enough to spend some time with Matt and Lindsay pre-Christmas in Austin for a day. Isabel really took to Lindsay and they had fun playing together. After Brian got off of work Friday, December 23rd in the afternoon we loaded up the car to the brim and took off for Houston. GGB, Aunt Jenn, Aunt Joanne, Uncle Rich, Lucas and Grandma and Grandpa were all waiting for us. We arrived just minutes after Aunt Jenn did. All the flights were on time. Christmas miracle! We met Greg, Matt and Lindsay dowtown Saturday morning for a tour of the St. Arnold's Brewery. It was really fun and the beer was great. Santa Claus found us in Houston and delivered presents that night! Woohoo! Isabel and Logan watched the Polar Express Christmas Eve and loved it. It was pretty cute. Santa brought lots of great toys including a pink big wheel and Tangled dvd/giant coloring book (as requested) for Isabel and lots of Elmo for Lucas and Logan. Santa even ate the cookies and drank the milk we set out. Oh, and his reindeer like candy canes. Christmas Day we went over to Grammy and Papaw's house and exchanged presents with them. Mommy was feeling a little overwhelmed and may have had a slight meltdown, but that's ok, nothing was broken. Grammy served a delicious meal and we all stuffed ourselves.

Other things we did over the holiday included-saw 'Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (great!), went to the Children's Museum in The Woodlands twice (once for the NYE party), ran 16.5 miles, ate way too much food, hit up the mall, ate sushi with Jenn, played Monopoly with the electronic banker (game changer), played way too little Pinochle, drank way too much, hit up the spa, played with Lucas and Lila, bought Christmas outfits for next year, did NOT overspend on presents this year. Sorry about that everyone, but this lady stuck to a budget and did not budge.

It was a really great holiday and break from the normal routine. Unfortunately Logan is still at the age where he's tough to manage and just wants his regular people (me and Brian), so that makes things tough for everyone else when we're gone. Logan is definitely happy to be back in his home and environment. He's my tough cookie, but I love that little cuddle bug.

Isabel kept talking about her new big girl bed on the trip back to Austin. We briefly mentioned it to her a while ago and she must have heard me talking about transitioning her after the holidays because she knew that it was 'after the holidays' and time for her big girl bed. Brian and I tried to tell her that we would see about buying one sometime 'this week,' but it was very clear that she wanted it ASAP. After her afternoon nap the day we got back to Austin we went to Buy Buy Baby and let her pick out a pink princess bed. To say that she loves it would be a huge understatement. Right after Brian finished putting it together she told us 'night night' and wanted us to leave and let her go to bed. When she gets upset or frustrated she tells me that she wants to go upstairs and sleep in her princess bed. It's freaking awesome! I'm crossing my fingers that the novelty doesn't wear off anytime soon. Bedtime and naptime have been so (so!) much easier these days.

Isabel has also just begun singing songs. She actually remembers the words and sings with some sort of melody. It's ridiculously cute. Her favorites are 'the ABCs.' 'Jingle Bells,' 'Jingle Bell Rock,' and some Princess song that she made up. She busted out 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer' yesterday and did a damn good job of it. Talking to her has been getting more and more fun. She's super fun and I love to hear what she'll say next. We're still working on aggressive behaviours with her, although this week they've been directed at her preschool teachers and not her friends. It's funny, her teacher says she's the first one over to comfort a hurt friend, but also the most aggressive. I guess it's all or nothing with her. Wonder where she gets that trait from? She's been SO much better with the biting and didn't bite Logan or Lucas over the holidays.

Logan is learning his body parts! This is so exciting! He loves to show off his 'head,' 'mouth.' nose,' 'tummy,' 'toes,' 'hands,' ears,' and 'eyes.' He also loves to give hugs and is trying to give kisses. He's sort of blowing kisses and is waving bye and hi. Sometimes. His vocabulary is still a little small, but all of my kids have been slower talkers. These are the words he's saying regularly.

Mama

Dada

Ball

Uh-oh

all done

dog

He also shakes his head for yes and no. Mostly for no.

Today we took Tank in to the vet to get the mass removed that suddenly popped up last weekend. Seriously it appeared overnight. We took Tank tot he ER Vet on NYE and they did a needle biopsy, but couldn't tell what it was. So we scheduled Tank for a much needed teeth cleaning and mass removal today. Tank needed 19 teeth removed. Yes, 19. He apparently has 42, so NBD (no big deal), right? I picked him up and he's suprisingly chipper and has been eating like a champ. Tank has cut into any vacation/disposable income for the year, so AWESOME! We can't complain too much though, because in the 9 years we've had him this and his prosthetic eyes have been the 2 biggest expenses. I'm hoping that the old dog hangs around for a while longer so that the teeth cleaning wasn't all for not. I kid. Sort of. On the plus side he doesn't smell like death rot anymore. People can actually stand to be in the same room with him for more than 30 seconds again. It's amazing what a good teeth cleaning/rotten teeth removal will do for your social life.