Christmas

You shouldn't see a face like this on Christmas Day - especially with the amount of toys piled up behind this guys head! We tried to have some semblance of order in our present unwrapping. The idea was to have each kid take turns sitting on the bench and open one of their presents while everyone else watched. Sounded like a good plan, but didn't quite happen with 4 kids 4 and under. Everyone wanted to unwrap each of the presents, which was fine until everyone wanted the present too. There were sad faces, a little crying and some hitting by Isaac going on at times.

There was also a lot of happy faces and even some dancing on Samuel's part.

At times the kids even shared their new toys

So I finally gave in and got Bella a princess trunk with dress up clothes. Since she's been going to Joy School with her group of little girls she's finally become aware that there are better toys for her than trucks and light sabers. This is actually the perfect gift for a girl that changes her clothes so many times a day. She wanted everyone to get in on the dress up action - as you can see she had Grandpa even wearing a necklace.

Santa showed a lot of restraint this year - after moving all the toys for the basement remodel I did not want one more toy in this house! But Grandma still managed to get too many presents for everyone even though she claimed she had also not gotten them very many gifts.

This was my present from Chuck - a yoga mat! (He also bought one for himself) I laughed when I opened it because I will definitely need this in a few more weeks, but it wasn't as funny as when a couple of days after I had Samuel he brought me home a gift he was so excited about - it was a scale that would track your weight loss - just what you need after you've had a c-section and swollen up like a whale!

Chuck and I have developed a great "present" relationship for every occasion because neither one of us likes to think up ideas or give presents. We always just say lets not buy each other anything or we buy our own gift - it works great for us! My problem is I hate spending money on myself and Chuck is also very frugal. We can spend all sorts of money on the kids, but we don't like to spend it on ourselves.

After all the gifts were open the kids were having a great time playing with everything. This picture makes me laugh because Grandpa Clayton put in his earplugs and somehow managed to fall asleep on the couch with so much madness going on all around.

We had a great Christmas!

Christmas Eve

We had a wonderful Christmas Holiday with Grandma Jerri Lynn, Grandpa Clayton, Trina, Wes and Kambree staying with us. On Christmas Eve we had our traditional fried shrimp and french fries for dinner. Then we had a not so spiritual reenactment of the nativity. Bella was very excited about being Mary and Samuel of course wanted to be the Wise Man, he also had to be Joseph because we are lacking in numbers, Isaac just wanted to sit by Bella with the baby and Kambree wanted the baby for herself. She managed to steal the baby from Bella who then started crying and at some point Isaac was also crying and Kambree just kept saying baby over and over again. Chuck recorded the whole ordeal and I haven't watched it, but I'm sure it makes for some great comedy!

We sang a few songs around the piano. Good thing for Chuck because he's the only one that can really sing very well.

Then we went outside to roast marshmallows and make smores.

We always let the kids open their PJ's and one game that we then play together. This year we got the kids a really fun game called "The Cat in the Hat, I Can Do That". It was funny watching the kids completing various tasks found in the game.

We always take a picture of our little family on Christmas Eve around the tree then I put the picture in an ornament that we hang on the tree. Each year when I get these ornaments out it brings back so many memories and the kids love seeing themselves when they were younger. Let's just say I've been pregnant in too many of these pictures!

December Happenings

A few days before Christmas we took the kids to see the lights at the Temple. This is one of my favorite December activities. It took us a solid ½ hour to get the kids all bundled up. (Can I just say how thankful I am it doesn't get that cold here - I just would hate to go through this ordeal every time we left the house!) By the time we finally got in the car Chuck wasn’t sure the outing was going to be worth all the effort.

But it was really fun to hear the kids talk about all the homes that were decorated on the way and when we got to the Temple Isaac kept saying, “Wow, lights!”. It was a little chilly outside, but we managed to watch the nativity and then went inside to look around and warm up.

We walked through the Reflections of Christ display which was really amazing. Samuel was very interested in the pictures and would ask me about each one. When we got to the pictures of Christ being taken by the Roman soldiers he said, “Why is Jesus covered with blood?”. I was trying not to shed tears as I told Samuel about this picture and the next one with Jesus on the cross. The pictures were so beautiful and the spirit was very strong, at least for Samuel and I. Chuck was trying to keep track of Bella and Isaac and Isaac was busy playing peek-a-boo with a Young Women’s Group right behind us.

One of the sweetest things was when we were looking at the statue of Christ in the lobby and there was a whole group of people listening to a Sister Missionary Isaac walked up to the statue and loudly said, "Jesus".



Making Gingerbread Cookies

This is the first year that I have made gingerbread cookies and I didn't make them from scratch I just bought the packet - I'm all about the easy route when it comes to cooking! The kids had a lot of fun cutting out the cookies. At times they were fighting over who had what color of cookie cutter – there was a boy and girl gingerbread cutter. Their favorite part was eating the gingerbread dough. After Isaac went down for a nap we decorated the cookies.

They were yummy!

Progress

This is what our basement currently looks like. It's getting close to being done! Paint and carpet should be finished within a week. The built in cabinets won't be done until the end of Jan., but that's okay because the toy closet will be finished and all the toys can go back downstairs!

In the meantime this is what I have been living with most days. Dust and little footprints everywhere, random people in and out of the house all day, not being able to leave because of all the guys coming and going, people saying they'll show up then not coming while I wait around for them (contractors can be annoying!). But it's almost done and I'm so excited!

Some days I do miss my privacy! Last week Isaac had a severe blow out and so I was trying to hoist this smelly, heavy naked child with poop all over him up to the kids bathtub. As I climbed the two concrete stairs in the above picture one of the guys working on the basement had just come up the stairs. The poor guy took one look at the situation and all he could say was, "Oooh"! My response, "One of the joys of Motherhood"!

Fat Baby Part 2

Today Bella was playing when she suddently asked me, "Mommy, what we going to name the baby?" Before I could say anything she said, "Oh yeah, Fat Baby". Then she said, "Can we name her Princess Fat Baby"?

I'm starting to think no matter what this little ones name is the kids are going to call her Fat Baby.

Fat Baby!

Tonight as I was putting the kids to bed Samuel, Bella and I were sitting on the couch in Samuel's room. I did our usual treasure hunt (back rub) then asked each of them what their favorite part of the day was. As we were talking the baby started moving so they were each feeling my belly, asking questions and getting really excited that the baby was awake.

I asked Samuel what we should name the baby. I ask him this every so often because he comes up with some pretty funny suggestions. Anyway he said, "We should name her Fat Baby". I then asked why should we name her that. He stretched both his little arms around my belly and said, "Because look at how Fat She Is!".

At least he thinks it's the baby that's fat not his mommy!

Gingerbread House

Tonight for FHE we had a great time decorating our gingerbread house. During the time it took to mix up the frosting Isaac was trying desperately to break into any package of candy he could. (Doesn't he look so cute in his little Ranger Hat)

And just look at my blossoming belly.

When we finally opened the packages of candy it was like a feeding frenzy the kids were going wild trying to stuff candy in their mouths as fast as they could. We had to quickly put a halt to that then they got down to the business of decorating.

Isaac would lick every piece of candy smile and then stick it on. Soon he had the other kids doing the same. Somehow something that's cute for the baby isn't quite as cute for the slightly older kids!

Once we finished, Samuel and Bella got down and were retrieving all the little pieces of candy that had fallen on the floor. At one point, Samuel started spitting and saying oh yuck. I asked him what was wrong and he had gotten a piece of hair with his candy. That's what happens when you eat off the floor!

The finished product.

The Sorry State of the Christmas Tree

So I really do feel bad that I didn't get a picture of the tree the first day we put it up because it really did look nice. But it's gone downhill quickly and I wonder how it will look by the time Christmas gets here. Now I know you can't decorate the bottom of a tree with a 19 month old, but I didn't realize he would drag things over to the tree so he could reach up higher and higher to remove more and more decorations. And everyday I look at the tree to find new and interesting things resting in the branches.

If you look closely at this picture you can see one of the ball ornaments flying at the tree. This is one of Isaac's favorite things to do. He will grab the "balls" as he calls them off the tree then stand back and try and throw them back on the tree.

As I said I've found some pretty interesting "decorations" in the tree. If you look closely you will notice a red and a green glove. They blend into the decor so who knows how long they were hanging there before I discovered them.

And I discovered Samuel's PJ's hanging on the back of the tree. I guess he figured throwing them on the tree was easier than putting them away in his closet.

Bella likes to add a few of her toys every now and then. Here is a princess and a pony. Today there were also a few stuffed animals.

I'm not sure how this is possible, but I caught Bella inside the tree actually trying to walk around - and of course she was in her swimsuit. I did buy the kids their own little tree where they could put all their decorations and arrange it as they liked, but apparently it's not as fun as the big tree!

Christmas Stockings

Today I helped the kids decorate their Christmas stockings. (I'm a little behind on the crafts this month. We still have the gingerbread house to decorate and the gingerbread men cookies to make.) Anytime all 3 kids are involved in a project it is always exciting. It began with Isaac and Bella fighting over the fuzzies. Isaac gets upset anytime he has to share anything so he was crying and throwing things around. Which is what he does when he gets upset.


Oh the sad face!

Samuel and Bella have come a long way in their decorating skills. This year they actually got the eyes in the right place. The kids were really having a lot of fun and so we spent well over an hour at the table with this little project. I finally had to tell them we had to clean up because it was time for lunch. I think they could have gone on for quite awhile longer.

Isaac was finally happy when the other kids gave up and just let him have what he wanted.

The finished products. Samuel made me laugh when Bella glued the bow on her gingerbread woman. He said, "Oh, she is so cute!". And I love that Isaac glued his eyes on the feet.

I Knew This Day Was Coming

I knew this day was coming when a few weeks ago I discovered that Samuel had cut the hair on several of Bella's dolls. He lost his Star Wars toys for a few days and we decided if he ruined anyone's toys again he would have to throw away some of his toys. He agreed he wouldn't cut anymore doll hair.

Fast forward to this morning. It was a typical crazy Sunday morning. Isaac had been up since 5 a.m., church starts at 9:00 and Chuck has meetings so he isn't here to help get the kids ready. This morning before he left he said his meeting would be over at 8:15 so he would be home to help me get the kids ready so I planned accordingly. Well about 8:30 I realized he wasn't coming home to help which put us behind and things were falling apart at the seams. Needless to say I arrived at church with a few tears squeezing their way out as I tried to keep it together with Bella holding her breakfast cereal in a Ziploc bag, Isaac had no shoes or socks on yet and I hadn't combed Samuel's hair which for some reason looked worse than usual.

We made it into Sacrament meeting just a little late and I was still trying not to cry as I just felt overwhelmed and wondered how I'm going to make this happen when I have a new baby. It was at this point I turned to try and fix Samuel's hair and noticed it had been cut. I remembered seeing the scissors and hair lying on the bathroom counter, but thought Chuck had trimmed a little of his hair this morning before he left. Apparently not! I asked Samuel if he had cut his hair. He looked at me and said, "Not today, mom". I had to suppress a laugh because this was the best thing that could have happened to me. Suddenly I didn't feel like crying anymore instead I was just trying not to laugh as I showed Chuck what Samuel had done. It turns out he had cut it last night after we got home from the ward Christmas party.

When we got home from church I had a talk with Samuel. I asked him why he cut his hair and he said, "Well mom I didn't cut the dolls hair so it's okay." Samuel is very by the book so I realized I needed to make it clear that he shouldn't cut his hair, Bella's hair, Isaac's hair or for that matter anything but paper. He then said, "But mom, what if I need a hair cut?". Anyway it was an easy fix because with boys you can just shave it off and it's no big deal - except Samuel's hair has never been this short and I do love his hair being longer. Just hoping we don't have this same conversation with Bella after she's cut her hair because it seems like all kids eventually do this.

See the chunk of missing hair right in the front - it tells you how my morning was going that I didn't notice until we got to church.

No more hair! Samuel was actually really sad when Chuck was shaving off all his hair. He kept telling Chuck not to cut the sides and that no one was going to like his new hair.

I NEED Ice!!

Over the past month I have developed this crazy need to chew on ice. I will chomp down at least 10 cups or more of ice a day. I love the stuff and just can't seem to get enough of it. I thought it was just a crazy phase I was going through needing something to keep my mouth busy so I didn't keep eating everything else in the house. Then the other night Chuck came into bed and said he'd just been listening to a podcast on food cravings and they said that if you're pregnant and crave ice it can mean your anemic and you should talk to your doctor. I started laughing thinking he was joking. But then I listened to the podcast myself and started doing a little research. Sure enough it can be a sign of anemia. So I guess I'll talk to the doctor about my constant need to eat delicious ice at my next appointment and hopefully he won't think I'm too weird!

Yeah for the Construction Mess!

I AM SO EXCITED that the basement is under construction and moving very quickly. The same contractor that built our home is finishing the basement and he asked me the other day why I always do these things when I'm pregnant. My only explanation is that I get a little crazy and feel the need to finish BIG projects.

The past couple of days have been crazy and dirty around here as various crews have invaded our home. I think I had about 8 men downstairs today going in and out of the house with their dirty feet. Yesterday the framers were tearing down part of the wall and it was so loud and messy. I'm not sure I could actually live through some major home renovation. I think when that time comes we'll just have to build again. But I must say, I do love the smell of lumber!

Last week the plumber was here and Samuel was downstairs with the guy for 2 1/2 hours. When he came in he was wearing a cowboy hat and Samuel said, "Hey, I like your hat." Then he turned to me and said, "Mom look it's a real cowboy." Then he started calling him cowboy. I just had to laugh and I almost felt bad for the guy as Samuel would say, "Hey cowboy do you know..." and then he would rattle off some fact. I could hear Samuel telling him all about black holes and that they sucked everything into them because they have so much gravity. I finally wandered downstairs and the guy said, "I've been learning all about asteroids, space and dinosaurs." Once we read a book, Samuel commits the facts to memory and then will spew them forth to anyone who is willing to listen, or in this case, can't get away from him! Awhile later Samuel brought me up a pipe and said, "Mom look this is the pipe and here is the P-trap. That's what catches the pee." I just laughed wondering if the plumber had actually told him that.


One bad thing about finishing the basement is the kids have lost their toy room for a few weeks and we have so many toys they are everywhere. In our closet, in our shower, piled in each of the bedrooms. I feel like we have been overtaken by toys - they are everywhere! Granted Chuck and I have bought the kids way too many toys, but Grandma has also contributed to this problem. I can't wait to have the new and improved play room back!

December Happenings

We love going to the live Nativity every year. Luckily we got our trip in this year before it turned too cold. I was telling Chuck for the past several years that we have gone to the Nativity I have been pregnant twice or just had a brand new baby. There is something about being in this state that makes me really feel for Mary. I tear up every time I see her riding the donkey and then entering the stable. What an amazing woman she must have been!

We always arrive early so we can ride the little train before seeing the Nativity. This year Samuel was so excited that we got to ride in the very last seat. The funny thing was that I almost couldn't fit because those last two rows are so close together. I was trying to squish my belly through and Samuel told me, "just turn sideways mom." The kids were so excited about seeing the lights.

The token picture with Santa. Somehow Santa managed to not drop Isaac while I quickly got one picture. He was screaming and doing his arch and kick maneuver which makes it really difficult to keep a hold of the kid.

Samuel loves Santa and has never thrown a fit about sitting on his lap even when he was little. And of course I have no picture with Bella on Santa's lap since she was a new baby because she refuses to get anywhere near him. I should have taken a picture of her standing a long ways away from us. Chuck made me laugh when he said, "Why wouldn't she want to sit on an old fat guys lap?".

Trina and I had our traditional Christmas candy making weekend. (Notice Bella again in the swimsuit).

Making the turtles. When I saw this picture and some of the other pictures of me I couldn't believe how huge I look. We don't have a full length mirror in our home and it's times like these when I am thankful for that! The really sad thing is that Trina is 20 weeks pregnant and you can't even tell. I on the other hand look about ready to pop and I still have between 8 and 9 weeks left! The doctor did make me feel good this week when I went to my appointment because he said, "you look a little small, but you're measuring right on." I'm not sure why he would think I was looking small, but it made my day!

Chuck and Samuel were hoovering nearby waiting to lick the pan.

For some reason the babies wouldn't go to bed the night we were making candy. So lucky Chuck was entertaining both of them while we were busy.

Samuel was so excited to wake up to a little bit of snow on Tuesday morning. After I dropped Bella off at Joy School I let him go out and play before it melted away. He was only out there about 15 minutes, but he loved it. He keeps telling me he wants to live where it snows, but then he starts complaining about the cold 2 seconds later. I keep trying to tell the kids snow is not really that much fun and we are so lucky the snow only dusts us every once in awhile!