He's Home!! (and other things too)

Ok, sorry. I accidently lied about getting this up as soon as I wanted. But here it is. The video is of Alex coming down the escalator and then mom running to him nearly knocking him down. He is taller! For those of you who came to his little homecoming you know how much taller he is spiritually as well. He gave an amazing talk and then even sang!!! with Krista and Kayla and me. It was a special moment for us. He learned the tenor part and everything. I'm so proud of him. I've taken well over 200 pics in the last week. So, they are in a slideshow to spare you and me the time of looking at them all. The first set are the pics from the airport when we went to see Uncle Ace come home. My mom had tears in her eyes just waiting for him. Three missionaries got off the plane and came down before the other three did and my mom was FRIEKING OUT! But he came and all was well. The next set are Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning pics. It was really funny when the girls woke up Christmas morning. I don't wrap the presents until the night before because the girls get into them. So when they woke up there were presents under the tree and they were so excited. That's the first thing they noticed. We showed them that Santa had brought them things and they each ran to the other person's side. They stood there looking at them confused because it wasn't what they wanted. Then they figured it out and switched sides. I got it on video...but I'll spare you! So, funny story about Maddie's dog. She has been asking for a dog for as long as I can remember. We found this awesome dog that talks and tells you when they need to be fed and brushed and what not. So we told her that Santa had called and told us that he was giving her this dog first to make sure that she understood how much responsibility and time it takes for a dog. I went on and on about feeding it, bathing it, walking it, and so on and so forth. I finished by telling her that Santa said if she takes really good care of this dog then maybe for her birthday she could get a real one. That won me a "look" from Jason. Maddie said "well, that sounds like way to much work. I'll just have a turtle." So now she's telling everyone that she's getting a turtle for her birthday.

The last set are from Snow Tubing. That was a lot of fun! My parents gave us some new snow tubes for Christmas and they worked Swell. It was really deep snow and hard to get up the hill. The girls cried about that and had to be pulled up the hill in one of the sleds. Maddie jsut couldn't take it anymore and just plopped down and cried. Emma got bowled over by her cousin Zach and scraped her face up a bit. I thought she'd be done but she kept right on going and through a fit when it was time to go. It was perfect weather! Not to cold, no wind and a nice warm sunshine.

It was a very busy week but as you can see from the pictures, a very fun week! I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a fun New Year. We are having a Murder Party and so of course there will be pics!

FYI-the header is a Nativity picture that my mother in-law wanted of the kids. There are some funny stories behind that! My nephew Tyler (the one howling in the back) DID NOT want his picture taken or to wear that towel. I extracted my little nephew Ashton out of another photo and made it so he's looking at the star. I made this as a calendar page for my mother in-law and I was quite proud of it. So, that's why it's the header for the next few days.

Traditions!

When I was younger, it was a tradition to go to the Nutcracker. My mom, sisters, aunts, cousins and grandma would all go together on a Saturday afternoon. I looked forward to it every year. Even at that young age I couldn't wait to be a mom and take my girls to the Nutcracker. This was the year that my dream came true! My mom, sisters and my girls and their cousins all got together on a Friday night and went to see the Nutcracker. It wasn't Ballet West but it still brought back memories. The girls were so excited and loved every minute of it. I let Emma wear her Christmas dress and Maddie wore a new dress as well, though not her Christmas one. I wanted it to be a big deal and something really special for them. By the second half they were both dancing and twirling. At the very end as we were walking out to the car they both said to me "I wish I could go up on the stage and be a pretty dancer!" Maddie told me that her favorite dancer was the "Flower Queen" and Emma liked the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Prince. She told me that she is the princess and her cousin Macin is the prince. Although the day's events leading up to the Nutcracker was one of the worst of my life (well, ok, maybe not that bad) the evening was wonderful and worth every minute to see the awe and wonder on my girls' faces. Maddie was a little confused though. The girls watch Barbie Nutcracker at least once a day and she anxiously awaited the "Rock Giant" to make his appearance. If you've seen the movie then you know what I mean. She was a little disheartened when I told her that there was no rock giant in this Nutcracker.

Jason spent some quality "guy" time with Nathan and went to his mom's house to watch a few games. Unfortunately he also took the diaper bag without my knowledge and had both my camera and my wallet. So I don't have very many pictures to show you right now. (grrrr)

Another family tradition is to go to Temple Square to see the lights and to hear mom sing. This year it was on a Sunday. We left brother with Grandma Childs and rode the "train" and had a fun time seeing all the ######### lights and listening to the Choir sing. I usually don't get a lot of time to look at the lights because I have to rehearse with the choir, but I still enjoy going and being with my family.

Here we are on the train going to the Temple:

Here are some pics at the Temple. Jason wanted his picture with the orange lights and the girls wanted their picture with the red lights. Maddie's favorite part was the Christus and Emma really wanted to see the Baby Jesus (Jason took those pictures).

Christmas seems to get more stressful every year. I'm glad that we have these few traditions to enjoy the season and spend it with family. The Temple is such a peaceful place and I love to go there. Maddie remembers when she was able to go to the Temple to be sealed to Jason. She thinks we were getting married and she really remembers playing with the toys there. But she remembers that it was a special day and when she gets a little older we will tell her just how special it really was. Emma says that when she grows up she wants to be married in the Temple and she wants me to give her flowers like Maddie did for me when I was married. I think she saw that in a picture somewhere.

Tomorrow my little brother Alex returns from his mission! So, there will be fun pictures and stories for tomorrow. I'm also going to a Christmas party with all of my High School Madrigal friends. I'm really excited to see them again. I missed the 10 year reunion, due to having my baby, so it will be nice to have a quiet time to visit with them. Should be some fun pics and stories from that as well. Well, I guess this post is getting long enough. I have a million things to do anyway. Stay tuned....

Christmas "Weasels"

Here at our house we have a bad case of the "Christmas Weasels." Emma has it the worst. Last night we did one of our family traditions of going to the dollar store to let the girls buy a present for each other. Madalynn picked out first for Emma. When we went to the store next door to get Emma and leave Maddie with Daddy, Emma wanted to know what her present was that was hiding in Maddie's coat. I had made sure that Maddie kept this a secret. So Emma, being the diva she is, through a fantastic fit in the store. I pretty much had to drag her to the dollar store to pick her present for Maddie. Jason promised her that I would show her the toy that Maddie picked for her, winning himself a look of shock and hurt from Madd's and the look of death from me. Of course HE could promise her that. HE didn't have to deal with it when I didn't deliver! So off we went to the store. She kept asking me to show her the toy...I kept trying to distract her by helping her find something for Maddie. Once we found the perfect gift I then had to distract her by giving her the money to pay. When we were standing in line she wanted me to tell her what her present was. I refused and explained several times that she would find out after we wrapped it up and put it under the tree and opened them on Christmas morning. Yet another Oscar winning performance as she threw the toy and flung herself to the ground sobbing. The best part (and the Oscar clencher) was that her pants had slipped down and we had full cheekage showing high up in the air. Classic! Pretty soon I threatened to take her dollar away and bring her toy back. She stood up and waited her turn to pay the lady. The highlight of the night I think. More distractions as I tried to help her hide her present safely in her coat and we walked back to get Maddie and daddy and I kept telling her that it was a secret and she couldn't tell Maddie what she got for her. She tried to "weasel" it out of me by guessing what it was. I told her no on everything. That worked until we actually found Maddie. Then the "weaseling" began. She figured that guessing didn't work with me but it might work with Maddie. Fortunately, Jason and I were both there to influence Maddie not to tell. Then Emma started negotiating saying that she would tell Maddie what her present was if she would tell her. Maddie fought and fought and didn't give in. We packed up in the car and Emma kept trying to look back and see if she could catch a glimpse of her present, all the while trying to trick Maddie into telling what her present was. Pretty soon, Maddie caught the "Christmas Weasels" and SHE tried to get her present out of Emma. Emma held on for a little while and then she held it up for Maddie to see. Fortunately it was dark and Maddie could only see the shape of the box which didn't give her any clues. Maddie told on Emma for showing her the present. And so it has begun. The Christmas epidemic of the "weasels." Jason tried to get out of the girls what he was getting for Christmas. I gave him the look that says "do you really think I'm that stupid to take those two shopping for you? They always tell you the second we get home!" Quite the adventure. Emma has learned at a young age. They're both amateurs. When I was young, Krista and I could trick the other one into telling what our presents were. But we were both smart as well. We would either lie about what we were giving or get the other person to tell us what we got and then not tell them what we got them. Kayla was the easiest to get things out of. There were never any surprises with her! Aahhh, those were the good old days!

4 Mos

Nathan had his 4 month check-up today. He will be four months in a few days. When we weighed him he only weighed in at 11.4 pounds. I was a little worried about that because he hasn't been eating very well. The doctor and I talked for about 20 minutes about the various things to do to bring his weight back up. He wanted to weigh him again in 3 weeks to see if he had gained any weight at all. Then he did his check-up and said "with thighs like that there's no way he can weigh only 11 pounds." So he brought the nurse in to weigh him again. This time he weighed 15.4 pounds. The doctor told the nurse to turn off the machine and weigh him one more time...again 15.4 pounds. The doctor looked at me and said "disregard everything we've talked about for the last 20 minutes. See you in two months." Little Bud had to have shots. The first leg didn't bother him at all. He didn't even flinch. Just smiled at the nurse and kicked his legs. The second one stung a little going in and he cried just a tiny bit. More out of annoyance I think because he calmed right down. Such a brave boy! I always hate it when my babies get shots and they look at you with those big, hurt-filled eyes seeming to ask you "why are you letting them hurt me?" It always makes me cry. Fortunately there were no tears shed on my part! Looks like everything is ok. Incidentally, Maddie weighed about 17 pounds when she was a year old! I hope this little guy doesn't continue packing on the pounds the way he is. Otherwise, we'll have to send him to work with Grandma Newby (she works at Weight Watchers!)

Baby's Laugh

I've been trying to get a good video of Nathan laughing and so far this is the best that I can come up with. What he really likes is when Jason puts him on my shoulders and does a little drumming on my head. Nathan thinks that is hilarious! In the movie Tinkerbell we learn that when a baby first laughs a fairy's life takes flight. There was a binkie on the arm of the couch right next to me that caught his attention, but then he focuses on the task at hand.

Emma gave Nathan her Cinderella Barbie doll to play with. He hugged and talked to it. It was so cute. I'm afraid that he will be playing with Barbie dolls for a little while. As soon as he can sit up I know Jason will have a car in one hand and a baseball in the other!

Finally!

I finally got around to changing my background! I hope you like it. The picture was taken when Nathan was two weeks old. I'm in the process of making a slide show of all the pictures from that photo shoot. (Yay for you-you get to look at another slide show!) Anyway, this will be just a recap of what has happened since my last post. Thanksgiving was fabulous! We went to my parents house and had a delicious dinner. The pies were the best part...I wonder who brought those? My mother did a lovely pole dance for us. It's true! She'll deny it if you ask her but she did it. During my brother Bryan's performance on his Bass Guitar rendition of Mr. Grinch (select Gary Hoey's Mr. Grinch on my playlist) my mother started pole dancing! It was quite hilarious. My mother is getting a little more risque in her old age. Since then I have had choir concerts and piano recitals. My students played in their recital on Saturday. They all did such a good job! I was very proud of them. I played "We Three Kings" in the style of Beethoven's Feur Elise. One of my students asked me if it was from Harry Potter. Looks like I need to spend a few lessons on the classics! Now I get a break from piano lessons for the rest of the month. What will I do with my time...? Well, I'll keep this relatively short. I'll have some cute pictures of my baby and girls coming up soon. I have been so crazy busy with Vinyl Lettering orders. If anybody wants anything get your order in now! I'm not too backed up yet, but it's getting there. Jason got in a little bit of hunting over Thanksgiving weekend. Fortunately (or unfortunately in his case) he didn't kill anything. Well, I've got to get working on my christmas projects. Until next time....