So we had our Christmas here last weekend. We're leaving to get on a plane to the Midwest this afternoon. Due to lack of time, here are the pics, with very little narration.
N putting together the kitchen the night before.
The finished product.
S with her stocking.
N being ridiculous.
Presents!!!
Kiss me, I'm Pirish!
Making breakfast
Eating breakfast
Christmas doughnuts
M with his new elephant
S in her new Chirstmas dress
So I finished another project. Yea!!! Only 64 more to go!!! This one was actually done last week. I made M two new blankets for Christmas. I am a firm believer that all children should have two lovey, snuggle blankets because then they don't get quite as worn and you never have to worry about one of them being stuck in the wash at bedtime. So I made these out of fleece with blanket binding so there are two soft textures to choose from. Now, don't fool yourself into believing I'm a handy, talented seamstress. Because I'm NOT. I'm sort of teaching myself as I go. The one on top is my second attempt and it went much better than the first which looks horrible. But M won't care.
Here's Boo in her toy room (looks good doesn't it?) making her baby a "bag" after her bath. See, S likes it when her daddy slings her in the bath towel, "making her a bag." He then swings, twists, and generally causes mayhem with S in the towel. She loves it.
Guess WHAT!!!! My little prince slept from 7:30 last night until 6:30 this morning!!!! Woohoo! Yea for real sleep! The last time I slept through the night was when M was only a few weeks old and N took him downstairs and slept with him on the couch. Before that it was probably in my first trimester. I love sleep. Really. A lot. I do, honest.
And S has been staying in her bed through the night for the past three or four days. Yea for her too!!!!
And M attempted sitting for the first time on Sunday, which I think I've already mentioned. Well, he's been doing great ever since. On Tuesday he went almost thirty seconds. Since then I've quit timing it but I think he might have beat that record once or twice. I love when babies start sitting up. It's new freedom for both of us.
And (this is a lot of ands) S has been spending more time playing on her own and enjoying it, I think. It's not a lot more but anything is better than nothing. She's just so cute when she's in her toy room taking care of her babies, playing kitchen, and just generally being a good little mom!
Oh, but I've switched my M Hypothesis again. We switched him back to soy formula and he's been puking like crazy. Can a baby be allergic to soy but not milk? I sure hope so cause otherwise we're doomed to never eat again! But on the plus size, it is a great diet. I'm not sure but I think I've lost some of my baby weight. I didn't know my weight before and I don't know it now but I feel like I've lost weight. So we'll just say I did because it makes me happy.
So, I have decided that M may not have allergies at all but perhaps undiagnosed reflux that he's now growing out of. Granted, next week I may have a different hypothesis, but for now I'm sticking with this one. So today we switched him from the disgusting, smelly concoction that they call hypoallergenic formula to soy formula. If he doesn't increase his spitting up then we will assume that he's not allergic to soy and I can start eating again! Yea for real food!
And speaking of real food, it's difficult to eat sweets when soy, dairy, and peanut is off limits. A serious hardship for one with a sweet-tooth like mine. But today I had one, count them ONE, Swedish Fish that S said I could have. I looked at the ingredients and found sugar, corn syrup, and more sugar. Hooray for sugar!
My Handsome Face eating his lunch. I love that he holds his own bottle. Oh, and he's five months now. And he sat up by himself for the first time Sunday. It was only for a few seconds and not very deliberate, but we're working on it. I'm hoping for real sitting up action by Christmas or New Year's.
Cuties, aren't they?
S with the rainbow we made today.
Going for a walk in the not really cold weather but nonetheless wearing our "the wind is too much for us" gear. Oh! And S put this jacket on all by herself. I came downstairs and she had done up the zipper and everything! I told her to put it on but I had no idea she could handle the zipper alone!
Only here do you see chili peppers as lights at Christmas.
Thi is M after his nap. When he went down, he was swaddled and turned the other direction.
This is what usually greets me at the end of sleepy time.
ok, these are for Rachael, to make her feel better about life.
My house mid-morning.
Now, for redemption, this is what it looked like before I went to bed.
So Christmas is almost here!!! Yea! I love Christmas, but I hate getting up early. N disagrees on this point. His family wakes up four hours before dawn, then wakes everyone else up, then they open presents. In my family, we always had to wait until everyone woke up on their own - and my little sister could sleep! When I was younger, this drove me crazy, but now I kind of like it. Although, my dad has to work on Christmas (he's a paramedic with the fire dept) so we have to get up early anyway this year. N is very happy about this. Two years ago, when we were last at my family's for Christmas, I found him in the living room at four in the morning, sitting there all by himself reading a book. I think I was up because of S. He's nutsy.
So I was thinking about Christmas Eve, along with Christmas mornings, and I remember at least one Christmas when I was little that my sibs and I all took our mattresses off the bed and piled them next to each other on the floor. We slept in one giant bed together. It was fun. That's all.
I love spending time with my husband. Strange, but true. Especially considering how strange HE is. One of my absolute favorite things to do with him is read. We've done this on and off our entire marriage. We'll pick out a book and read it to one another. But I must confess, I prefer him reading to me rather than the other way around. What can I say? I'm lazy. But anyways, we've read some really fun things. We just finished a book called Al Capone Does My Shirts. It was really good. It's about a boy who moves with his family to Alcatraz so that they can live in San Francisco where there's a school for his autistic sister. Currently we're reading The Candy Shoppe War by Brandon Mull. Incidentally, I know the author. We also read his Fablehaven books. We usually pick light-hearted, fun books. Often they're for young adults or fantasy (or both).
It's nice because it gives us something to do once the kids are in bed that we both enjoy. Often we'll snuggle in bed or on the couch with hot chocolate. (What could be better? Chocolate goes with everything!) Then we read until one of us (ok, me) says they're too tired to go on and it's time for bed. I really like it because we often don't have anything interesting to say to one another. I mean, how often does anyone want to hear about dirty diapers and tantrums? And circuit boards aren't really at the top of the fascinating list. But instead of turning on the tv, we can read, and in this way we're still interacting with one another. Oh, and then later it gives us something to talk about!
Oh - and it's fun to laugh together. Like when we read Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. Those books have some great lines.
Just real quick (I'm going to bed).
S, I think, has finally passed the "I need to beat up my brother to get back at my mommy" stage. I can't even remember the last time she went to time out.
So we had the following conversation today which was just to cute. S was all over M, loving him and getting him to laugh.
"You love your brother don't you?"
"Yeeeaaaa."
"You know, when he gets bigger he can play with you!"
(eyes go big and a little grin appears)
"And when he's bigger he will have teeth and can eat my grapes!"
Addition for today, the day after this post: S went to time out today. See previous post.
So, do your kids ever drive you crazy?
This is a rhetorical question. If I posed it seriously I imagine by inbox would be overflowing by noon.
I think it is a prerequisite that all children must receive training on "how to make your parents nutsy" before leaving the hospital. At the core of this training is this basic principle: just when your parents think things are going to settle down a little, switch tactics.
For example, my dear, sweet, precious, darling (yes, I'm trying to convince myself), little S took a very long time this summer to start staying in bed. She had been able to climb out of her crib by herself for a long time, but she usually only did this at playtime. When she was in her crib for sleeping purposes, she stayed put until we came to her, no matter the circumstances. Sounds sublime, right? It was. Then she decided to change things up a bit. She started getting out of bed. ALL THE TIME. We tried everything. The most outrageous was putting her twin mattress (we weren't using it yet) on TOP of the crib (which was turned around so the back was facing out) to make a sort of box. She got out of it. Finally N turned the doorknob around so the lock was on the outside. She still got out, but she was trapped. And amazingly once she realized there was no getting out of this one, she would go BACK to bed and fall asleep. Wonderful! Problem solved you may say.
The problem is NEVER solved with a two-year-old.
So our story continues. S did really well for awhile. We didn't even have to lock the door anymore. She just stayed there - or at least only got out once. But then something changed. She's now waking up two to three times a night and coming into our room for no reason. I have to get up, put her back in bed, along with the random requests for more drinks, songs, etc. And if Dad tries to do it she screams and wakes up her brother. Between the two little ones, it all adds up to me getting out of bed four to six times a night while their papa gets to sleep away (not that it's his fault). On the weekends he tries to let me sleep in at least but S screams cause she only wants Mommy and that makes M scream too. And then she's whiny and cries all day long. It's REALLY irritating.
But every now and then she redeems herself. I was huffing around the kitchen, feeling thoroughly annoyed with her and trying to cook my breakfast (because everything simple is on the off limits list) when I got burned by hot water from the pan lid. I was silently cursing my fate and running cold water on my hand when S comes up and wraps her arms around my legs, patting the back with her hands, and telling me it'll be alright.
And maybe she's right. It could be alright. Now if I could only get into the shower...
...having a clean family room for the first time all week.
Oh to be well-rested again. And to have a clean kitchen floor. And to not wash bed linens everyday. Or to search the house for extremely bland foods.
These were taken on November 27th, so they're kind of late in coming. But oh well....
There is no unifying theme. I just like them. And who needs themes anyway.
So the reason for the "swearing off of all things good to eat" is that M has had issues with food his entire life. It's all his fault. He's been throwing up since day one. This never really seems to bother him, it's just gross, frustrating, and difficult to keep him full sometimes. So we took him to the doctor but our pediatrician was on vacation so we saw an associate doctor. I thought it might be reflux in which case we could get meds and be done with it! After checking out his belly and all of that this doctor said he was fine, he wasn't losing weight, babies just spit up and to get over it (although he was a little nicer than that). Well, we were sad that we couldn't do anything but happy that he was healthy. Well, at M's 2 month check-up we saw his real pediatrician who took a different view of the situation. He said it could still be reflux even without weight loss along with several other possibilities like allergies and overeating. So he gave us a number of things to try. Well, after a week or so M was no longer spitting up constantly and we determined the problem had been milk. Unfortunately, my happy baby disappeared with the spitting up. He was now only being breastfed and the more time passed the more I worried he wasn't getting enough to eat. Nursing lasted 2-3 minutes - 5 at the most. So at our 4 month check-up we voiced these new concerns and the doctor gave us more things to try. Bottles came back in an effort to see if he needed more food along with new formulas to test for more allergies and sleepytime tea to calm a troubled tummy. Well, happy baby is back, along with spitting up, and he's still a fussy eater, although nursing seems to go slightly better now, even if it is only a minute or two longer.
So, the restricted diet. I'm going off of almost every allergen and he's going onto Neutramigen, the hypoallergenic formula that you can't be allergic to. All of this is to see if he continues to spit up in the next week. If he does, then I can rule out allergies and it would either have to be overeating or reflux. I'm betting on reflux. I'm hoping it's not allergies. I'd like to eat again soon.
Oh, and Kristin, I need all kinds of recipes, preferably good ones for dinner.
Ok, so I need help. I'm on a restricted diet. (Yes, just in time for the holidays. Depressing, isn't it?) There are no recipes in my cookbook that I can eat so I need yours. I can't eat the following:
And we're hoping eggs, corn, and wheat don't go too.
So if you have any ideas, please email them to me!
And on a related note, I'm also fishing for bread recipes. Particularly whole wheat bread so that I can start using my wheat in food storage. I want to try several types to find my favorite. So send them on!!!
So, we made the long trek into town today to go Christmas shopping. We kind of had to because half of the purchases I made last weekend had to be returned. Never shop for children without them there. Inevitably nothing will fit when you get home.
I was pleasantly surprised at how well-behaved the kids were. They did nothing to seriously disrupt the peace of the day. That was left to N and me. I was afraid the day was going to be ruined because we kept getting frustrated with the stroller. We have a great side-by-side double stroller. In most circumstances it works just great - but not at Christmas. They pack the aisles with all of these extra displays and there are people everywhere. We could never get to where we needed to be and it was always getting stuck. But we made it and I got more cute things for my kids. Funny how I keep going shopping and only come back with more stuff for the kids. At this rate the family isn't going to get any Christmas presents.
After lunch at McDonald's (S actually ate all of her applesauce and three chicken nuggets - yippee!) we went to Toys R Us. I don't know who had more fun - S or her dad. It was definitely the highlight of the trip. While we were still at the mall S kept telling me that she wasn't very happy because I wouldn't let her look at the toys in the department store. When I told her we were going to a huge toy store next she said:
"Do they have lots and lots of toys?"
"Yep."
Eyes going huge, "Do they have trains? Do they have lots and lots of them?"
And sure enough, she was captivated by every train we saw, and Toys R Us sure does have lots and lots of them.
Well, M finally crashed in my arms for a half hour or so at the toy store. Then they both crashed on the way home. Poor lil M went six hours with only an hour or so of sleep while he normally would have had four. S had her nap three hours late. When we got home everyone went to bed and took naps for the next hour and a half. M lasted almost three. The poor kid missed eating on time because he was passed out in bed. He was starving when he finally woke up.
Well, that was the great shopping adventure. Still to come, the great presents we found (like the block hammering toy that's impossible to find!).
So the end of the month is almost here and the means Online Book Club! For all of you ex-85th Warders - you'd better be reading!!!! For anyone who hasn't heard of it, Kristin started up a blog so we could continue the much loved tradition that got abandoned when everyone moved away. Now, I know you all probably have tons of friends with new book clubs, but I don't! So I hope you participate. Besides, that original group was one of the best book club mixes I've ever seen. Here's the link, if you haven't seen it already.
eightyfifthwardbookclub.blogspot.com
Our book is The Bronze Bow. I like it so far. I don't have a car and going to the library is a pain sometimes, so when I saw that the library would let me do an e-check out, I jumped on it. I love audiobooks, especially really good recordings and this one is. But it hasn't been as convenient as I thought. I don't have an mp3 player, and so I have to listen to it at my computer in my room. Well, I don't often have the chance to do that so it's taking me forever to finish it. If I just got the book I'd probably be done in a day or two. What I really need to do is get an ipod or something so I can listen to my books while I do housework. Maybe someday when I find an extra $100 in my coat pocket. Like that's ever going to happen.
So, to finish off our Thanksgiving stories, here are some pics of the family geo-cacheing. My father-in-law loves this. He always finds several caches on the internet for us to go explore. On this particular trip we had three GPS systems in our midst. Here's John holding one in the background. S and G'ma are checking out the purple cactus in this shot.
Here's M and me. He didn't particularly enjoy geo-cacheing. The wind was too much for him and getting in and out of the car constantly (due to everyone finding the caches minutes before we even managed to get the carseats unbuckled - man they're quick) was wearing on him.
Aunt Katie and Uncle Ryan gave presents to the kids. Here's M in his new tee. Very appropriate, no? To see S's new shirt, look at the slurping the waterbottle pic on the previous post. Thanks guys!
Well, the first group departed on Friday and after that we were pretty boring. A few decided to go hiking up the mountain in the freezing cold. I thought they were nuts. Then some watched the BYU vs. Utah game. Much yelling came from that room. And we put the tree up. The best part was going shopping Saturday night while everyone else stayed at home and watched my kids. Yea for date night!
Well, we had a fabulous Thanksgiving and lived to tell the tale. Our home was bombarded (pleasantly) with 9 out-of-town relatives for a week of fun. I thought I had a relatively large house until 13 people tried living in it for a week. S was the only one who got to keep her room to herself. Grandparents filled the toy room, an aunt and uncle took the nursery, bumping M back into his cradle which was placed very lovingly in Mom's closet, and the downstairs was filled up with five singles: girls in the living room, boys in the family room. Amazingly enough, we never ran out of hot water. Well, at least I didn't.
Everyone arrived sometime between 2pm on Tuesday and 5 am on Wednesday. I had planned on sleeping through most of the arrivals, but by some series of very unfortunate circumstances (namely M unable to sleep through the commotion) I was awake everytime a new person came in the door. Oh, well.
N was very pleased to push everyone out the door on Wednesday to enjoy the fine weather and to play wiffleball. M was sleeping so I was stuck at home but I did get to see the pictures. This is mostly what S did the whole time:
And here's G'ma with her turn at bat. Notice S in the background, still slurping at Dad's waterbottles.
On Thursday S's Aunt Sarah tried to teach her some yoga tricks.
Our dinner was fabulous. N had the presence of mind to set the alarm for me because I wanted to get up early to start the turkey. But the idea didn't seem so good at 5:30 in the morning. But the bird was in the oven by 6:40 which meant dinner was promptly served at 1 o'clock. Not bad in my experience. We cooked it in a roasting bag so the meat was falling off the bone by the time N went to check the temperature. Oh, and we roasted it upside down to make the breast meat extra juicy. Highly recommend it. I put my own personal touches on my mother's dressing recipe (which was almost gone before I even got through the line), made my grandmother's homemade noodles (which left the kitchen covered in flour), and lots of other yummy dishes which I won't enumerate because I'm getting hungry just thinking about them. Too bad leftovers don't last longer.
Here's the family at various times throughout Thanksgiving Day.
These were taken a couple of weeks ago. I've been slow in posting lately. Funny how life gets in the way sometimes.
