Christmas

Christmas started for us on Thanksgiving.  Almost every day afterward we did something Christmas-ey and we had Christmas music playing all the time.  We had several baking days, delivered lots of cookies and presents, and best of all found opportunities to serve.  Two days before Christmas we hosted a Christmas party at our house.  That is becoming a fun tradition, and I once again forgot that I owned a camera during it.  :)  On Christmas Eve we had to cancel our plans because Alex had thrown up several times that morning.  That was a double disappointment because this was also our first year not going to my mom's house for Christmas Eve.  So I was missing family in addition.  It wasn't feeling at all like the holiday to me.  BUT...we did remedy that situation.  We sang Christmas carols (which helped a lot) and then we did something I knew my family was doing without us: played a game.  The kids were thrilled to learn an adult game (Rummikub), although we didn't play until the very late hours of the evening as in years past.  After that we stayed up quite late reading a Christmas book (The Christmas Barn...a good one) before the kids very willingly went to bed. 

Christmas morning found healthy kids who all slept in!  I really thought this would be the year they'd wake early, but I guess we wore them out sufficiently the night before.  Jim and I were the first up and even had to wake them so we'd have time to eat and open stockings before church.  After a simple, but yummy breakfast of smoothies and biscuits with gravy, we got everyone ready for church.  Then we opened stockings.   

That is, after I took these pictures.  I've included this one because I love how Alex smiles for the camera.  He is so funny.

Stockings were fun and we had just the right amount of time to enjoy them before it was time to go.

One of my favorite Christmas traditions are the letters that Jim and I put in each other's stockings each year.  Writing his always helps me refocus on how much I appreciate him, and reading mine from him is such a sweet boost. 

Annie and Logan were surprisingly good for church (Jim had to take Alex out).  They even sat quietly by themselves when I went up to sing with the choir.  We had a nice sacrament meeting and then the rest of the usual classes were cancelled for the day.

After church we opened presents.  I was a little worried that this would be the year our kids acted spoiled over their presents because we had a LOT under the tree.  We've never had all our presents in one place because they'd always receive most of their gifts a few at a time at our various family celebrations.  So I was very happy with my kiddos this Christmas.  They were very excited about each and every gift, and we even had to pull them away several times to open more. 

The first thing they wanted to open was the large package my dad had sent us.  It was a croquet set and we're excited to use it when the weather permits.     

After that we passed out the presents one at a time, and I didn't take many more pictures.  The kids were given a nice variety of small toys, games, puzzles, and clothing.  My gift to Jim was a pile of presents to open: quite a few things he needed plus a giftcard to a bookstore (his fun gift).  Jim gave me a fun gift, a Kindle, and I've already read several books on it.  We're such nerds.  (As I type this, Jim is at the bookstore spending his giftcard.)  :)

Our special present to the kids were framed pictures of their favorite temples.  Logan has been placing his all over the house so he can see it displayed in whatever room he is in.

Long story short: Jim is becoming a salaried employee for John Deere in two more weeks, and his welcome gift arrived just before Christmas.  So I saved it for him to open that day.  I love it.

I was planning to make Annie an apron for Christmas this year, but then I was so sick followed by the miscarriage that I didn't make time to do it.  However, I was able to choose a free item after hosting a 31 party for a friend.  So I chose this cute little apron and embroidered the A on it after it arrived.  She's excited to have her own apron now.

After presents, we relaxed a lot and played with the things we'd opened.  We've enjoyed the family games and puzzles we were given this year. 

Jim's mom made the kids pajamas, so they all wore them to bed that night, and I got another cute picture.

Plus a silly picture.

Generosity

We've had some sweet experiences with Logan during the last couple of weeks.  The first one happened two weeks ago.  We were getting ready to go somewhere and I asked the kids to put on their tennis shoes.  Annie got hers and informed us that they hurt her feet.  It wasn't the first time she'd complained, so I went to see if I had bigger shoes for her.  Much to my surprise, not only did I not have bigger tennis shoes for her, but I actually had no shoes larger than the ones she is currently wearing.  That's not a big deal, just a first for us, so I briefly mentioned to Jim that we needed to think about getting her a few pairs of shoes soon.  That's all that was said and we weren't worried about it.  Some minutes later, Logan approached me with his piggy bank and asked me to help him open it.  I asked him why and he told me that he wanted to get his money out to buy Annie shoes because she needed them.  I didn't want to deny him an opportunity to be generous, so we opened it up for him and he started pulling money out.  By the time he decided he had enough, he'd pulled out almost $4, which was most of his life savings to date.  :)  So off to the store we went, and found two pairs (though not tennis shoes) at a great price.  Logan gave his money to the cashier himself, and Jim made up the difference.  We were so pleased with our boy that day.  (In my defense because I picked them out, those pink mary jane's are very sturdy shoes and will match most of Annie's mostly pink wardrobe.  I really do think she'll get a lot of use out of them...probably more than tennis shoes even.)

The second experience happened on a Sunday.  Jim and I were talking about a family that we'd like to do something nice for, and Logan heard us say that things were hard for them.  Logan has been telling me for weeks that he wanted to give something of his to someone in need, but at that point hadn't hit on someone who could use his toys or other things he thought of to give away.  He finally figured it out!  So, he got his piggy bank out again, and started dumping the rest of its contents.  He took the rest of his money out (about $1) and decided he wanted to give all but a few cents to the family.  He said he was keeping a few coins to help our family (but not himself).  Annie then followed his example and donated the majority of her piggy bank.  We did indeed give their donation to that family (though not quite in the same form), and once again were very pleased with our boy (and our girl).  He taught us a good lesson with these two experiences.  Our young child essentially gave all of his money to help others in need, and showed us how generous we should strive to be. 

Twue Wove, That Bwessed Awangement...

...that dweam within a dweam...

Today we get the chance to look back at the last seven years.  I can honestly say that I love him more now than I did then!  It's amazing to look at all the changes and experiences we've had in just seven years.  I can't believe how much we've grown. 

Happy Anniversary sweetheart!

Time to Move On!

I thought I'd post an update here.  After four days of thinking I could miscarry any minute, I finally did this morning.  It was 4.5 hours of labor pain.  The first couple of hours were manageable, though quite painful, and the last couple were absolutely miserable.  I never had a break from the contractions the last two hours; they went back and forth between very painful and excrutiating.  The contractions were much worse than with my first miscarriage.  Thankfully it was all over about half an hour before the kids woke up and it went as smooth as possible.  I'm glad it was relatively short, but it further confirmed to me that I never want to have a baby without an epidural!  I am in AWE of women who have natural births!  I can definitely see the advantage to being at home, though.  As compared to having a baby in the hospital, I was much more comfortable on my couch without being hooked up to an IV and other tubes. 

I am very happy with the timing of this.  It started well before Jim had to leave for work, so he was able to be here with me the whole time, and the kids didn't have to see me in pain.  Today has been a good day to be an invalid since we didn't have anything planned.  I'm feeling like if I can get enough rest today, that I'll be back to normal tomorrow.  Then we can really enjoy this holiday week!  I'm so glad to be able to move on now.     

Not So Happy News

I debate about making this post even as I write it, but at the same time I want it known since we'd so widely announced our pregnancy.  We've learned that I'm going to miscarry.  About a week ago, I woke up without nausea or exhaustion and immediately felt like something was wrong because I never feel that good during my first trimester.  I've had a strong feeling since that day that I was going to miscarry, and today we had that confirmed.  Interestingly, development stopped probably on the same day I began to feel worried.  I'm grateful that Heavenly Father prepared me for this news, and grateful that I can relax and allow things to take their course in the comfort of my own home without worry.  I've been through this before and really am not scared at all.  Now it's just a matter of waiting.  I actually feel more emotionally calm now that I have this confirmation.  I'm very disappointed.  I used to think that the more kids you had, the easier it would be to be patient for the subsequent ones.  I've learned that I'm just the opposite.  I want each one more intensely than the last and I'll admit that this miscarriage has already been more difficult than the first.  I'm a very open person, as anyone who knows me is aware of, and talking about this doesn't bother me at all.  It's not a subject to walk on eggshells about, for me anyway.  On the positive side, I have been counting my blessings this week and that has really helped.  I am very richly blessed and my life is good and full.       

Children's Museum

As one of the prizes for their summer reading program, the kids all received a pass for free admission to a nearby children's museum.  We'd heard good things about the museum, and the passes were going to expire at the new year, so we went recently.  Considering it's $7 for admission for everyone (even Alex), I'd say we had a good deal for only spending $14 to take the whole family...and we stayed for 5 hours.  We definitely got our money's worth.

There was a pretend children's hospital with ambulance.  Annie and Alex made a beeline for that first.  Oh, and before I get too deep in the pictures, I will point out that this was was one of those activities where the kids weren't at all interested in looking at me when I called their names.  Plus they were moving non-stop, so there's a lot of blur.  In the ambulance...

Logan headed to the pretend grocery store first, and after a few minutes the rest of us joined him.

Annie had the amazing bottomless pit cart!  She made good choices, though; that's a LOT of fruit and vegetables, plus a turkey on the bottom.

Logan was meticulous with what he put in his cart.  He and Jim went through adding up the costs and being aware of how much play money Logan had to spend.

Jim rang up the kids.  I loved it.

Next we headed back over to the pretend children's hospital.  Logan and Annie were very much into taking care of the newborn babies.  (That's their favorite pretend right now that I'm pregnant.)  Here Annie was being so cute trying to put a diaper on the baby.

After dragging the kids away from the hospital (with a promise to return) we found a room with various cool tracks.  There were some golfball roller coasters, a train table, and this pinewood derby track.  The kids were even able to assemble and take apart the cars.  Surprisingly, Annie spent a VERY long time working on the cars while her brothers went from activity to activity.

Our next stop was the aerospace room.  Logan couldn't wait to get up in the big plane and try on the goggles.

Jim and Logan did their flight simulator.  (Annie did it later with Jim.)  That was quite lengthy, but I stayed in there with the other kids the whole time.  It was a rather large area and I even lost a kid once or twice...  Actually, that happened several times throughout the day.  I'm glad it wasn't extremely crowded.

Alex really liked these little planes.

We then visited the Lego room, farm room, pretend pizza parlour, and the music room.  I didn't think to take any pictures, but the kids really enjoyed those rooms too.  We made a short visit to the drama room, and the kids wouldn't LET me take pictures.  They were too busy trying on costumes.  This is the only quick poor shot I took.

And the LAST room.  It was an art room with all sorts of supplies available.  We painted, glued, cut, colored, etc...  Considering we'd been there for HOURS by this time, I was really surprised how much attention they gave their art in here.  I had to peel them away.

We allowed the kids to briefly visit their favorite two rooms one final time: the track room and the hospital.  Alex was being really cute hauling around one of those baby dolls that were half his size.

One final stop at the bathroom, and we were DONE.  If we lived closer, I'd almost consider getting one of their memberships.  I'm pretty sure my kids could have played in any one of those rooms for hours.  I really enjoyed watching their creative play; it was a nice family outing.

Christmas Kickoff

We did celebrate Thanksgiving, though it was more of a Christmas kickoff in my mind.  :)  The day before we prepped most of the food.  We had all the normal fixings, and ate well, but the best thing we ate was the treat we had the day before.  I was making a big pumpkin pie, per Jim's request, and since I don't like pumpkin pie I decided to make a few mini apple pies.  The kids helped me make them, and they came out super cute and delicious.  I only made a dozen and we devoured them straight out of the oven on Wednesday.

Immediately after Thanksgiving dinner (no pictures) we put up our Christmas tree.  Then Annie crawled under it and promptly knocked it over.

Then we had a big family nap.  Aah!  We spent the evening decorating the tree and listening to Christmas music.

Ta da!  We have several clumps of ornaments at about 2 feet high, and several very bare spots at that same height.

Over the past few days, the bottom portion of our tree has been un-decorated several times, and then Logan helps re-decorate it which means the clumps are ever growing and moving.

Kids Say

I was encouraging Alex to use his spoon during a meal instead of just holding it and Logan piped up trying to make a joke, "He thinks it's just to cuddle with?"

Logan, "So acorns have peanuts in them for us to eat."

Annie's justification for being on the kitchen counter, "I'm not worried that I'm going to fall."

Annie, "What color hair do I have?"  Me, "Blonde."  Annie, "No, I have gray hair."

Logan, "Dad, I am not sad that you lost my balloon on our trip to Colorado.  I'm not mad about that anymore."  (This was 3 months afterward.)

Annie, "I like humongous food!"

Logan telling a story inspired by the fact that Jim had just eaten a spicy bite of jalapeno, "Have you ever heard of the witch pepper?  Wanna hear what this pepper was called?  The witch ghost pepper.  Seriously Dad.  This was really hot.  He ate the whole pepper in one bite and his mouth was on fire and there were flames in his brain.  And he told his parents that he needed to go to the hostipal so they took him to the hostipal."  'pause'  "Do ghosts eat ghost peppers?"  'pause'  "And that was a true story Mom."
Me, "I'm recording this bud."
Logan, "Why?"
Me, "For your posterity."
Logan, "What's posterity?
Me, "Your kids and grandkids."
Logan, "You're texting that to my prosperity?!!"
Then a little later after we'd corrected his word, "Mom am I your posterity?"

Logan, "Mom, are you an Allison or an Allidaughter?"

Logan was running around yelling, "Valitation!"  When we asked him what it meant this was his reply, "It means you throw stuff in the air in a parade.  And it means you throw stuff in the air at Christmas.  We're pretending we're throwing stuff in the air that will make us remember Jesus' birth."

Being silly I said to Annie, "Bite the wall."  Annie, "I can't."  Me, "Why not?"  Annie, "Because I don't have enough teeth!"

Logan, "Do you want to know how long I will love you?  I will love you for 21 summers and 23 64 years."

Annie, "I'm a meal, but I'm a people meal."  Logan, "I'm a loke.  I'm a deer head fake deer.  I'm a deer beside me.  I'm a block chopper."

Logan, "You have to starve if you're hungry."

Logan, "I have an idea for when Joseph Smith is alive again.  If he lives in a house that doesn't have lightbulbs, I will put some lightbulbs in so he won't have to use candles anymore."

I asked the kids what baby names they thought would be good and Logan had one that I thought was funny:  Rainbow.

Logan, "Mom!!  We just ate alfresco!"  (He was using it correctly and was very excited to realize it.)

Logan, "I feel my blood!  I feel my blood taking water to my brain!"