I love my kids...

I love that Evie gets so excited to wear matching jammies with her sister.

I love that Evie is very into giving presents right now. I am lying on the couch wearing my duckie jammies and a pink plastic bead necklace that she gave me for my "birthday". (Apparently I just turned 3, I was 2, and now I am 3...)

I love that both Jake and Evie can't do enough to help with the baby, there have been flat out races down the hall to be the first to get wipes or diapers.

I love that Jake is secure enough in his boy-hood to tell me he wants me to make him some pajama pants out of blue floral fabric he found in my stash. I was teasing him that I would sew lace on the bottom and his response, "No Mom. Lace would be too much."

I love that he is so literal it is really hard to get a rise out of him.

I also love that if I ask Jake to get me daytime clothes for Lila he will not only make sure her shirt and pants are matching, he will also pick out a hair bow too.

I love that we have a new family tradition on Saturday nights. Family Popcorn Movie Night. I love that something as simple as her own little bowl of popcorn sends Evie into transports of happiness.

I love that they both have such tender hearts.

I don't love that I traumatized them by choosing Willow for our last family movie night. Evie spent the whole time sobbing, "Why is she going to kill the baby?!" After the brownies flew across the screen yelling, "I stole the baby!" she was done and we had to turn it off. Even though I repeatedly assured her that the movie ends happily and the baby doesn't die.

I love that Evie keeps referring to brownies (the fairy variety) as muffins.

I love that Lila has figured out how to talk on the phone and grabs ours at every opportunity. She holds it up to the side of her head and says "hi... hi... hi..."

I don't love that she has a hereditary condition known as Helen Keller baby syndrome. (For those of you who have never heard of this condition, it is where anytime anyone around her has food she makes a bee line for your plate and then grabs for it and yells until you share. I am afraid I will be reduced to eating behind a newspaper any day now...)

I love that when Jake has a nightmare and comes upstairs he will get in bed with Evie instead of us.

I don't love that so much when he gets sick and throws up all over both of them, resulting in three screaming, crying kids at 4 am and extra laundry.

I love that whenever Evie gets hurt, which happens quite often through her reckless enthusiasms, Jake is right by her side holding her hand and telling her it will be ok. He even told me when she got her "flat" lip that he wished that it had happened to him so she wouldn't be in pain.

I love that my kids enjoy singing and music, and that Evie sings everything right now. A sample of her latest song, "I am in Walmart with all of my family, and we are shopping and buying some bread and some cheese and some pickles and some toilet paper..." It was a very long song.

I love that Jake makes lists about everything and that Evie can write her letter E, even though it has four lines to the side instead of three.

I love that every night after I give them a good night kiss they negotiate for 5 more apiece. Good thing moms have unlimited kisses at their disposal.

I love that even after two days of sick kids and not leaving my house I can still think of reasons why I love my children.