Christmas. Continued.

THE FISH!!!

Christmas

Christmas was as good as it was hyped up to be this year... perhaps better. Santa came:

And the kids are spoiled rotten by many other non-magical persons...

who even use tissue paper in their wrapping!!!

Coop's big "get" from Santa was a fish - Nemo - not pictured here but likely to have a large impression on the Cox-Kowalski household in the coming years (months??? not sure how long this guy will live).


He also go a bajillion trains and other art stuff. He was and remains in spoiled kid euphoria, but REALLY REALLY REALLY likes to "help" or play with all of Daphne's new toys, too. Daphne is suspicious.

Speaking of Daph, she is ready for any sort of outing, since she received a full wardrobe of clothes to go along with more toys than we have room for (or, WOULD have room for if we lived in a grown up house with real furniture, and didn't just donate every inch of floor space to toys and kid stuff. Fortunately for our kids, we are not quite grown ups yet).

*I have no idea why I can't space things out properly on here anymore.*

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Despite the fact that we are Chicagoans, we have BARELY seen snow this winter... As a matter of fact, all we got was a minor dusting last week. I got up with the kids (on day 1 of a much fought for vacation...) and told Cooper to look outside, and when he saw the dusting of snow on the ground, he said "Is it beginning to look a lot like Christmas?"

That kid.

Needless to say, he is HYPED about Christmas. I will only listen to people with 4 year olds for arguments against 3 year olds being the most fun to have at Christmas, because, I admit, i cannot speculate what next year will be like, but ohmygosh is this year amazing??? Yes, yes it is. This year is by far the most fun Christmas of my life (and my parents used to Christmas up Christmas like no others (I spend each year trying to live up to what I grew up with, and if possible, surpass it)).

In the words of my dear husband "I loved Christmas as a kid, and couldn't imagine anything better, but now, I realize it is even better to be a DAD at Christmas than a kid."

Yes. Yes it is. especially because it is so clearly evident that Cooper cannot imagine ANYTHING better than Christmas.

He uses good nice words. He listens. He does nice things for Daphne. He sings Christmas carols to himself while building train tracks, going to sleep, walking. We have been on nighttime drives to look at Christmas lights twice, with hot cocoa and cookies. This kid is on CLOUD SANTA!!!

I am curious what December 26 will bring when we no longer have leverage...

Daphne is blissfully clueless at what is a mere day away. She is continuing to be happy and loud and in charge. She tells us what a "good girl" she is,and she will "go go go!" I want to put her in my pocket, both to have her with me always and to maybe muffle some of the noise.

I am feeling... rejuvenated? maybe, though not sure. I am feeling happy. Blissfully happy. I truly cannot imagine feeling more happy and satisfied than I do right now. I feel blessed. I feel loved. I feel overwhelmed with the love I have for those around me in this house, and outside this house.

May you have a very Merry every day.

More to come with pictures of the littles and a better update on everything... but for tonight, I leave you with the JOY/HORROR OF SANTA!!!

She's Walking, Can't You See???

No, you can't. Because promptly after doing it once for Cooper (and Steve a little) while I was getting pants to wear to work out of the closet, she fell, then did it once more (FOUR STEPS) and as soon as I picked up a camera, she refused to do it again...

But we have entered the land of biped Daphne.

God help us.

If Only We All Looked So Good

Of course I am posting swimsuit pics of Daphne in December.

Cause if not for Grandpa's hotel, that 12 month swimsuit would have gone to waste...

Polar Express (Or, alternate title, Renting Above Our Means)

Even though we have participated two years in a row in the crazy free Halloween festivities that are put on in the place we live - a neighborhood we could never afford to buy in (I don't think we could afford to pay the taxes on a house, let alone for the house itself...), I was still somewhat baffled at the "Polar Express" trips that were offered to villages via the parks district. For a modest price, you could board the train and go on a 3 hour ride that included picking up Santa, hearing the Polar Express story, drinking chocolate milk and eating cookies. I was like, "SIGN US UP!" Then I realized that "us" included Daphne. And that the 3 hour block was during her nap. So I told Steve, "Sign YOURSELVES up" or rather - "Can we get a refund for 2 of those tickets?" (which we could, cause it is a hot ticket item).

So it was, last weekend, Steve and Coop, set to board the Polar Express:

(Did I mention it came with hats and grab bags and what not for the kids??? Including a 24 piece puzzle which I would have thought was too advanced for Coop, but I would have been proven wrong, now leading to me ordering 2 more difficult puzzles from Amazon a few days ago and being weirdly pumped that in a few years we could cover an entire kitchen table with a puzzle and spend evenings puzzling together... omg I am such a dork...)

Yeah - he is still smiling like this for the camera...

Steve said it was so weird to realize that Coop was, like, popular. Kids from his pre-school and basketball class were fighting over who got to sit next to him. Don't get me wrong, I think Coop is GLORIOUS, AMAZING, THE BEST, ETC. and I want him to be my BFF forever and ever, but, well... let's just say, we thought perhaps you had to be a bit more... "seasoned" to get his humor.

And, apparently, once again, he would have proven me wrong, cause, apparently, that kid is a HIT with the kids.

Girl Time. Briefly.

It may be brief...

And even a little painful...

She may have better things to do...

But I am going to do it anyway, cause I think deep down she likes it...

Maybe.

A Birthday. In Pictures.

In no particular order (because my phone loads them that way...).

God, I love this one year old girl.

One: So Thankful We Made It.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LITTLE GIRL!!!

One. YOU ARE ONE! ONE ONE ONE ONE ONE!

I got to be honest, there were days when neither your dad nor I thought we would all three make it to see this day... and since I am quite convinced you are about a million times smarter than either of us, well... let's just say, I am glad to be here!

I can totally understand WHY you woke up at 4:00am this morning. I mean, why not party in the wee hours of the morning on your birthday? right? But, see, the thing is, usually people party INTO the wee hours, and don't wake up to START partying in the wee hours.

I was happy to see you and sang you a quiet happy birthday while you cooed quietly back at me... before you spent the next hour screaming at me when I put you back to bed. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Welcome to Daphne at one. Big hugs. Big laughs. Slobbery kisses. Big smiles. and BIG LUNGS.

This year has been wonderful and you are divine, but OMG sweet child, you have the most strong will that I have ever come up against. Including my own. And oh, lordy, mama, I was not ready for that. But then, I am so incredibly happy to have a strong willed little lady who will go out into the world and say WORLD, BOW DOWN TO ME!!! And, you know what, I think the world totally will. I mean, have you SEEN you? You are beautiful. And that dimple, oh that dimple.

You are a chatterbox deluxe, and can say a slew of words: 'mama', 'dada', 'papa'(Grandpa), 'baba'(bottle), 'ba-be' (baby), 'ba' (ball), 'uh-uh' (uh-oh), 'guh guh' (go go!). It is a totally bizarre experience to have someone so little uttering sounds at me that actually mean something. Your brother waited until he was about 250% of your age before narrating his own world (and then never stopped...) and so it seems so incredibly early... why are you growing up?

Your hair is finally really coming in - it is getting mullet-y in the back, with a snappy little wave / curl, and I can FINALLY, FINALLY, FINALLY put it in a little poney-tail on top of your head.

SohelpmeGod, I love having a daughter.

How did I not see this coming?

How did this year come and go so fast?

How can someone try every ounce of patience I have and yet make me smile every single time I look at her?

Every day you have grown more wonderful, and I cannot wait to see what will come of every day that passes after this.

We love you. We adore you. We are so proud of you.

And we wish you the happiest birthday of all.

Trust me, today, like every other day before and after, I am thankful for you.

Weekend

How we spend our down time....

Trying out new styles

Cheering on the Cowboys

Looking at that smile

And this one, too

Building towes

And knocking them down

Always on the run

Not Exactly What I Had In Mind.

When I randomly started this... this Me and Daphne side by side floor photo thing, I hadn't really planned on "starting this" or starting anything. It was a random act of iPhone. Then it became a thing, and I try to capture a her and me, me and she, mom and daughter moment every so often, with the hope that one day she would look back at these and roll her eyes and think "my mom is soooo lame"... "but she loves me."

That is all well and good... but... the thing is... SHE is not participating so well anymore... and I got ONE picture BARELY before snapping her in motion and me... trying to protect myself (and laughing).

Can't say they aren't candid.