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.