Waiting for Christmas

We're struggling to make it through the last week before Christmas. Emmett is so excited he can hardly contain himself. His heart nearly broke on Casey's birthday when we only got to open two presents and couldn't move on to the huge pile of loot waiting under the tree. We sing lots of Christmas songs, dance, play, and try to keep our sanity as we wait for the much anticipated Christmas Eve to arrive.

Emmett spends a lot of time inventing new "tricks" to show me. Many of these tricks involve leaping off of the arms of couches and directly onto his head/face and jumping on the master bed until he flies over the edge. Generally he doesn't cry, or if he does, it's short lived. I'm relieved that this is one of his safer tricks, but I have to say that I've been encouraging the acrobatics. It's nice to see Emmett taking risks for a change and honestly, our furniture was old when we got it, so I'm not really concerned about wear and tear.

Darwin takes the brunt of Emmett's excessive energy, but has found a great hiding place for when he gets tired of being jumped on and pushed and pulled around the house. Today he sat under the tree for at least an hour while Emmett searched for him.

The weather has been bitterly cold, reaching down into the single digits and having highs in the low teens. We never got the lights up on our house because it snowed right after Thanksgiving and never melted between storms.

Today was a little warmer, meaning that we were generally seeing temperatures in the low 30s. It snowed all day long and I couldn't convince Emmett to go outside and play because he was afraid of the cold. Finally at night I got him and Bethany to put on their snow suits and venture outside. Emmett still said it was cold, but it wasn't the biting, miserable, freeze your boogers kind of cold that has previously made him cry, so he did alright and the kids had fun.
 

Emmett was not, in fact, deliberately white washing Bethany. He's trying to give her hugs and keep her safe as I pulled them around the back yard. I'm sure someday this will become more deliberate, but for now he had the best of intentions.

I love the look of distrust on Bethany's face after I helped the them sit back up. She definitely gets credit for not crying!

Although he generally stays indoor this time of year, Darwin came outside with us and followed Emmett around the back yard the entire time. He bounced around and dug holes in the snow and played harder than any of us. Dog-cat, right?

Emmett is actually having fun making his snow angel. He's just bracing himself for the camera's flash. And as a side note, does anyone know where I can find size 9 boots for this child so he's not wearing tennis shoes in the cold? Poor kid!

Loving big brother and cute little sis.

We're having fun, but I must admit, I'm glad Christmas is next week because I'm not sure if this cute little monkey of ours will be able to take the suspense much longer. And honestly, there are moments when I'm not sure if I can either!