A Merry Christmas to All!

We love Christmas! Here is how we celebrated today:
Opening stockings

Enjoying our "fire in the fireplace"

Cinnamon rolls for breakfast

Thanking one another for gifts

Then we went to church, came home, and Skyped with all of our grandparents. That tired Josh right out.

Eating Christmas dinner

Decorating our rocketship and castle while watching The Forgotten Carols


Getting ready for bed with our new pajamas

And then Larkin played with Josh.


We had a wonderful, quiet Christmas! How was yours?

Using a Pacifier . . . Without the Pacifier

We know other babies do this too, but we think it is incredibly adorable/entertaining to watch Josh self-soothe using his imaginary pacifier. He is SUCH a cute kid!

Why Our Kids Are the Greatest

This is not a post to brag about how great we are as parents. If there is one thing parenthood has taught me and Larkin, it is that these kids came to us with their own personalities. We simply recognize that we have been entrusted with the three most amazing kids ever.

Recent examples of the kids' awesomeness:
1. Will and Larkin were breaking the wishbone from a chicken on Saturday. William grabbed his side, said "I wish our family can be together forever!", and YANKED that bone before Larkin could react. When he saw that he had won, sweet William started jumping up and down saying, "I won! We can be together forever!"

2. Anna was writing/coloring her letter to Santa last night. We heard Will say, "Your dollhouse is pink." I said, "Anna, you got a dollhouse last year. You don't need one this year." Anna replied, "I'm telling Santa thank you for my dollhouse!" All on her own, this thoughtful girl was using her letter to Santa as a thank you card.

3. Will couldn't decide what to ask Santa for this year. He came to me and Larkin and said, "He can just give me whatever he wants to give me, and I'll be happy with it." What other four-year-old is so easy-going when it comes to getting gifts from Santa?!

4. Joshua set his own sleep schedule at two months old that includes sleeping 8+ hours at night. He loves us so much! He also regales us with songs and giggles and smiles all the time.


Again, we have the three best kids ever. Ever.

Will and Anna Tell the Christmas Story

We've been working with the twins to help them understand why we celebrate Christmas to avoid them getting too wrapped up in the whole Santa/presents aspect. I think it's working.

I especially like how Josh's favorite part is when Jesus is born.

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!!!

Holiday Tradition

FAQ: Josh

Since Josh has been in our family, there are some questions that we've been asked repeatedly. So here are our answers, in case you were curious.

1. Is Josh a good baby?
Answer: Yes! He is so incredibly laid back. It's great! He'll cry when he's hungry or needs a new diaper, but he doesn't fuss much other than that. For example, this morning I set him up on the couch to go change the laundry. I left him like this:
As I was changing the laundry, I heard him start to fuss and then stop. When I came back, he was like this:

He fell, and he didn't even care. That's just how he is.

2. Is one baby easier than two?
Answer: Only like A MILLION TIMES easier! The twins weren't difficult babies; there were simply two of them. I don't think Larkin and I realized how much work it was to take care of the twins until Josh came along. That being said, we'd have another set of twins in a heartbeat.

3. How does he sleep?
Answer: Like this.
Sorry - that is a Le Sueur family joke. Really, he sleeps between six and eight hours a night. He usually falls asleep between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. and doesn't wake up until between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. - sometimes less, sometimes more.

4. How are the twins with him?
Answer: They adore him! Holy cow, these kids fawn over him, even when he's sad. Anna calls him "Bud" or "Buddy." When he cries, she tells him, "You're so handsome! What a handsome baby boy!" to help him feel better. Will keeps himself busy while Josh sleeps, and as soon as he wakes up, Will runs over to him to say hi and asks to hold him. Yesterday, for example, Will fed Josh his bottle. After he was done eating, Will held him for a while - until Josh accidentally pooped on him. After both boys got cleaned up from that, Will immediately sat back on the couch and asked to hold Josh again. He told him (completely unprompted by me or Larkin), "I forgive you for pooping on me, Josh, because you forgive me when I set a bad example for you." Oh my word, I love my kids!

5. He's so big!
Answer: Okay, that's not a question, but we get it all the time. Yes, he is quite long. (We'll find out how long at his checkup next week.) He has outgrown most of his 0-3 month clothes, and he's not quite 2 months old yet. He obviously has the Le Sueur/Oliphant genes in him. He most definitely didn't get that trait from me.

6. Who does he look most like?
Answer: He has my nose, as do Will and Anna. He has Larkin's oval-shaped face. He is a handsome, HANDSOME baby boy! Let's face facts here, though. Larkin is his father. How could Josh be anything except a gorgeous little boy? Honestly.

And that's our Joshua! Did I miss any questions?

Birthday Parties and More

We celebrated Daddy's birthday this month! We surprised him at work with lunch and balloons a day early. On his actual birthday, he got a personalized birthday dinner: bacon-wrapped sirloin (with sauteed mushrooms and bleu cheese crumbles), bacon-wrapped shrimp, roasted garlic mashed potatoes, broccoli salad, and ciabatta rolls. Instead of cake, he blew out candles on cream cheese-frosted brownies.

This is how Josh spent most of his time during Daddy's birthday party:

And this like this:


Today, Anna was invited to a friend's birthday party. It was a princess tea party, and Anna got to dress up in her princess dress to attend.

To help Will feel better about staying home, he was allowed to wear his new Batman costume. It was pretty cute to watch Batman playing with Thomas the Tank Engine.


In other news, Josh is growing up too fast.

Comparison of Babies

I made an interesting observation the other day.

Joshua at 6 weeks

William at 6 months

Notice any similarities? They're wearing the same sleeper. The exact same sleeper. At a five-month age difference. I kind of don't know how to feel about that.

Best Ever Restaurant Experience

Larkin, Joshua, and I were invited to a very exclusive new restaurant the other day by the head chef and waitress themselves. The nearby location was a definite perk to our dining experience.

We walked upstairs and were greeted by the very bubbly and excited waitress. The chef handed Larkin and Josh their menu (One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish) and took their order, while the waitress focused on the other customers.


(Notice their attention to detail: the customers sitting in chairs, the menus, their "aprons," the tablecloth on the back table, etc. Larkin and I were blown away at how the twins thought of everything!)

Larkin said the food was excellent. I wasn't offered a menu or the food. I was asked to be part of the restaurant staff. . .

. . . as the dishwasher.

I didn't mind the job, though, because I got a medal at the end for being the best dishwasher. The chef also awarded himself a medal for being the best chef.

Who else wants to come eat at Chez Will and Anna?

Grandma's Visit

Grandma Rice came to stay with us after Josh was born to help us out when Larkin returned to work. She was kind enough to make dinners for us, play with the kids, hold Josh, watch the twins during Josh's doctor appointment, etc. I think she was able to relax a little, too.

I'm lazy about taking pictures, but here is Grandma with Josh and making donuts with Will and Anna.




We're so happy that Grandma was able to visit us! We had a great week!

Impromptu Primary with Will

Will has had a fever for a couple of days, so he stayed home from church with me and Joshua this morning. Will was kind of sad about this because the boy loves Primary! I had worried about his transition from nursery to Primary, but after about 10 minutes on his first Sunday in Primary, he was perfectly happy. He has never put up a fight or cried or resisted going to Primary at all. I want to help him keep that enthusiasm for Primary and teach him the importance of what happens there each Sunday. So, since Will couldn't go to Primary today, we brought Primary to him.

First we had a lesson. Thank goodness for the Church manuals available online! We found the lesson that the rest of his class will be learning about today, and we discussed it, just the two of us (three if you count Josh). We learned that families can be together forever.

Then Will colored a picture of the temple, and we drew a picture of our whole family. It was fun to draw our family now that we have Josh to add to the rest of us!

Poor Will! This is what happens when your mom is the Primary chorister. He had to have his own private singing time. He loved it, though. (He's a good sport.)

This time was so special for me (and for him, I hope). It was wonderful for me, as his mother, to hear his answers to some of the questions I asked during our lesson. This kid knows his stuff! And it was great to hear his excitement when he talked about our family, especially his excitement now that Joshua is here. (It also felt good that he knew all the verses to all the songs for our Primary program. I must be doing something right in the Primary!) I loved having this one-on-one time with Will. I don't hope that Anna will be sick next week, but I do hope to have a similar opportunity with her sometime soon.

After our Primary today, I let Will play with the camera. Here are some pictures that he took - minus the miscellaneous picture of the end table, carpet, framed picture of the wall, etc.



I love my William so much!!!!!

Introducing Joshua!

He is here!!!!!! Joshua Brig Le Sueur was born on 8/29/11, at 12:44 p.m., weighing 8 lb 3 oz, and measuring 21" long. He's a handsome, quiet, sleepy, snuggly, happy, sweet, perfect baby.

On the way to the hospital

All clean!

Meeting the twins

More pictures are posted on Le Sueur Street, and even more will be posted this week. We're so happy to have Josh as part of our family!

Three-Legged Races

We played a bunch of games at Le Sueur Family Vacation this year, but the three-legged races deserve a blog post all of their own.

It started with a race of all four 3-year-olds: Connor and Will vs. Bella and Anna. Obviously the boys were a little more serious about the game than the girls.

Later, that race was followed by a parent/child race: Larkin and Will vs. Allyson and Anna vs. Heather and Connor. I like Larkin's advice to Will before the race started.

"No cheating, all right?"

My favorite part of this video was Heather and Connor's finish. I think Connor grew bored with the race part-way through.

Then Larkin and Emma showed everyone how the race is supposed to be won. And William showed everyone how cheering is supposed to be done. "Go, Daddy! Go, Daddy! Go, Daddy!"

We'll post pictures of the other games and fun activities on Le Sueur Street soon. *Cross your fingers*

Summer Wrap-Up

My sister brought to my attention a little while ago that we haven't posted on the blog in a long time. In her words, "Has your summer been that boring?" Quite the contrary, actually. Our summer has been so jam-packed that we haven't had a chance to post about it. So here are the highlights.

1. Beach camping trip
Right after school let out at the beginning of June, we took the twins down to the coast and camped on the beach. It was so much fun! It was perfect because we went before it got too, too hot this summer.


2. Ohio trip
We made an unplanned, but necessary, quick trip to Ohio the following week of June. Although the circumstances for the trip were less than desirable, it was great to see my family again.



3. Utah/Idaho trip
This trip was planned, and we had a great time! We were in Utah briefly before heading up to the Le Sueur Family Vacation in Idaho, and we got to see Aunt Marie, Aunt Sally, and my old roommate, Jenny. Then we spent a great week and a half with Larkin's WHOLE family. It was awesome to have all of the family out for the week (minus Eric, who was able to come up at the end). We miss them all already, so I'm trying to talk many of them into spending Thanksgiving in Houston.



4. Scout camp
Larkin, as a dedicated Young Men's President, spent time at scout camp again this year. I don't have pictures of that, but it did keep us busy.

5. Woodbadge Boy Scout camp
Yes, Larkin spent another week at scout camp in July. This week was all training for BSA leaders, and he loved it.

6. Doctor appointments
And then more doctor appointments. And then another doctor appointment the next week. Followed by another doctor appointment. I shouldn't complain; I have had far less appointments with this pregnancy than I had with the twins. (I'm just ready for it to be over.)

7. Back to work
Larkin started easing us into his being back at work at the beginning of August. He would go into his classroom for a few hours a day instead of spending all day away from home. I must admit that it helped me a lot. However, now that school has officially started, he is back to working normal hours. I'm not ready for that. Maybe I'll have a baby next week. . . . That will give him some more time with us!

More pictures are available at Le Sueur Street - though we didn't post that many. We're trying to play catch up on that site, too.

And that has been our summer vacation! We need another vacation to recover from this one.

From the Mouths of the Twins

Will and Anna come up with some pretty funny things. I'm sure a lot of them are "you-had-to-be-there" moments that other people won't think are funny, but I wanted to document some anyway.

On discussing where we live:
Anna: We live in Houston, Texas! Houston is the city, and Texas is the apartment building.

On drinking milk:
Anna: Mom, is milk good for our bodies?
Mom: Yes, it has calcium that is good for our bones.
Anna: Oh yeah! My bones were coming out of my body, but now I drinked some milk, and my bones aren't coming out of my body anymore!

Practicing his Primary talk while dressed as a pirate:
Mom: The Book of Mormon. . .
Will: The Book of Mormon, arg!!! . . .
Mom: . . . teaches us about Jesus Christ.
Will: . . . teaches us about Jesus Christ, arg!!!
Etc. (This carried on through his whole talk. Luckily, he didn't add the "pirate-speak" when he actually gave his talk a few days later.)

At a friend's house:
Will: Where did you get this [train table]?
Friend's Mom: The kids' grandparents gave it to them.
Will: That was so kind! Did you write a thank you note?

On looking at baby pictures:
Anna: Will, is that baby you or baby me?
Will: That is baby me.
Anna: With that tube up your nose? [Will had a feeding tube up his nose for his first few days in the NICU.]
Will: Yeah, I had that tube up my nose.
Anna: (inspecting Will's face) Is it still there?

After playing dress-up:
Anna: Will, is this blue ring what you gave me when we got married?
Will: Yes. Mom, I gave Anna that ring when we got married.
Mom: You and Anna are married?
Will: No, we got married when we were grown ups.

And finally, my recent favorite quote that comes not from the twins, but from the source of their sense of humor:

Allyson: You said it in an obligatory way.
Larkin: I don't know what "obligatory" means, so I promise I didn't say it in that way.

We love our silly family!

Dress Up

The twins LOVE their dress-up box. It's fun to see what they decide to dress up as on different days. They often dress up and then put on "plays." Here are some of their recent performances.

The Adventures of Batman and Batgirl

Batman and Dorothy in Oz

Two Buzzing Bees

The Princess and the Pirate

The Cowgirl

Plays that I've missed taking pictures of:

Little Red Riding Hood and Batman vs. the Big Bad Wolf

The Ballerina and the Bee

Pocahontas and the Cowboy

I'm sure there are others that I've forgotten about. I'm excited to have Larkin home all summer so that he can fill the role of the Big Bad Wolf in my place. I've been "killed" by Batman enough to last me a while.