Freeze-it Moments

When Emma was just little and Walker was a baby I made the mistake of hanging dozens and dozens of snowflakes over their bed and crib.  Since then our Christmas decorating isn't complete until their bedroom has been turned into a winter wonderland, complete with a gingerbread house I painted for them last year.  I'm sure it is a tradition that I will love once all of them are old enough to cut out their own snowflakes but with just Emma and I it was quite the endeavour.  We also added a little Christmas tree that acts as their nightlight while they are falling asleep.

Sometimes there are moments where one of my children says or does something and I wish that I could freeze them in that second so that I won't ever forget it.  Today I had several of those moments.

Walker, Lillian and I all look forward to 3:30 when Emma finishes kindergarten.  Not the snowsuits and mittens and hats and loading everyone in the van and waiting part but the part where she comes running towards us from the school.  Today as she was telling me about her day and was getting into the van she looked so beautiful and grown up.  Sometimes when she looks that way to me I feel like someone has an iron grip on my heart and is squeezing so hard I can't breathe but today it just made me happy and proud to be the mother of such a beautiful little thing.

 
Today for the first time in all of his little life Walker and I made a craft together, just the two of us.  We have made countless crafts with Emma but generally he ends up getting bored and leaving or just cutting a paper into a million pieces because Emma demands most of my attention in those instances.  He was so excited to sit down and work on something together without any big or little sister (Lillian was sleeping) to interrupt that it almost made me sad that I hadn't thought to do this with him earlier. 

We used 3/4 of a bottle of glue and half a bag of cotton balls but it was well worth it to listen to him whisper to himself what he would do next and see the pride in his little art project once he was finished.

Lillian has the sweetest disposition and makes all of us so happy.  In the last couple of days she has found her voice and her tongue so she spends most of the day looking like this...

and sounding like someone who has a tongue depressor in her mouth and is being told to say "AHHH"
She has also learned how to roll from her back to her stomach, something that the other two couldn't do until they were one.  We can already tell that she is going to do her best to keep up with her older brother and sister.

 

 Bridgett seems to be pretty excited about the prospect of having another little one to play with too!