Christmas Week, 2009

I fell into the blogging trap. This past week has been so eventful and I haven't had time to record it all. I figure one generic post and I will be on track.

Christmas Eve was very quiet at our house. We had a nice dinner of...Taco Bell. Yes, you read that right T-A-C-O-B-E-L-L. As Steve and I were eating our nachos we decided we needed to somehow find an invite to someones house next year.

After dinner we started the new tradition of Topless-Sugar-Cookie-baking. It was tons of fun. Especially since we started them at 7:30. As we were cutting them out it dawned on me that we still had to cool them, and decorate them. I ended up only making 9 cookies and letting them cool outside so we could frost them and get the kids in bed.

After we made the cookies, the kids got to open their Christmas PJ's.

Then we went outside to feed Santa's reindeer. I think Steve had more fun throwing the glitter than the kids.

Then I decided I needed a picture with the kids. Please excuse the no-makeup look. It was Christmas Eve and Santa had too many other things to do besides get herself looking presentable.

This was the calm before the storm. Much to our surprise, Steve and I had everything set up and ready to go by 11:30. I think that is a record for us. I had assembled everything a few days before, which I am so glad a did. The kitchen took me 3 HOURS!!! to put together. I was swearing up a storm with that one! (but don't worry, nobody heard me because I was by myself) Each little piece of plastic had to be clipped out of a giant web of plastic parts and then screwed together with some other tiny plastic part.

Thomas was up and ready to go by 7:00 am. We tried to keep him contained until Clara woke up, but he wasn't having it. We decided to wake her up which was a huge mistake. She wasn't too happy and was very temperamental all morning.

Thomas wasn't.

I gave both the boys BYU hats to wear on boy-days. I also gave Steve tickets to see Brain Regan and a weekend away in May. (I guess it was a gift for both of us because he is required to take me.)

Steve gave me the Flip camera I have been wanting. Now you are all going to be bombarded with home videos. Aren't you so excited!

One of the gifts we gave Clara was a Kai-Lan doll. She loves this show and goes around saying her Chinese phrases. I got her the doll so she would continue to do it.

These were the BEST. GIFTS. EVER. I had never seen them before but snagged them at a toy conference I participated in during the summer. The past couple of years I have been able to go and critique toys for Creative Child Magazine. As payment you get to take the toys you choose home with you. I saw these Rody horses and thought the kids might like them. When I got home I checked them out on Amazon and they retail for $45.00 (small) and $100.00 (large). Major Score!!! I had no idea they were that expensive. I thought they would just be like large plastic beach balls shaped like a horse. They're not. These things are made of industrial latex and each one holds up to 400lbs. You can get some serious air bouncing on these things. I know because I think I spent more time on it than the kids did Christmas morning. I have rearranged my furniture in the family room to make a permanent spot for them.

Every time we took Thomas to see Santa he told him that all he wanted was a Buddy the Elf Toy. Guess what? They don't make them. I searched the Internet and couldn't find anything. The only thing I found was a bobble head. When Thomas ripped open the package he only saw the picture of buddy, he was thrilled. Then he turned the box over to reveal the "toy." It is kind of frightening. Thomas had this weird smile on his face and just said. "His head is kind of big."

Now for the fun part.... This stuff I don't have pictures of, so you are going to have to do some mental imaging.

For Christmas, my Mom gave everyone in the family a trip to Disneyland. We have been looking forward to this trip since July. Steve and I were going to leave on Saturday to avoid the Las Vegas to California traffic after a 3 day weekend but decided it couldn't be that bad.

Saturday night we were getting everything packed. I was heading upstairs to get laundry and Steve was headed out to the garage to get stuff in the car. Both of us heard the same thing at the same time. Clara puking her guts out. We came into the living room to find nice piles vomit all over our carpet. We were hoping that it was the leftover taco bell she ate but it wasn't. She had the full blown flu and spent the entire night throwing up. I felt so bad for her. Her and I spent the night downstairs and were up pretty much every 45 minutes.

By morning she seemed better and we figured it was just a 24 hour bug. We thought we could leave at noon or so and get to CA as the "24 hours" was coming to a close. She was acting normal, keeping sprite and crackers down, we thought we were good to go.

We got on the road and then hit traffic. I was so wrong about it not being that bad. It took us 2 hours to get to State Line, normally a 45 minute drive. The drive to Disneyland takes 4 hours at the most. It took us 9 hours. That includes all the traffic, the stopping for bathroom breaks, and then stopping because Clara puked in the car. Luckily we were in Victorville and they had a Kohls because I wasn't thinking and didn't pack her any extra clothes. She only had enough for the time we would be there. I had to take her in the store, buy her some jammies and then take her into the restroom to get her cleaned up. I felt so bad for her and I felt like a bad mommy for bringing her on the trip.

We finally made it to Anaheim around 9 pm. The kids crashed and so did Steve and I. The next morning we decided Steve would stay in the hotel with Clara and Thomas and I would go to Disneyland. Thomas and I had a great time with Grandma. Steve said he had a great time with Clara (have I ever mentioned what a great husband / dad he is!). By the time we got back from the park she was back to her normal self. It's a good thing she is only 2 and didn't have any idea what she had missed out on.

It really was a great Christmas, just lots of unplanned excitement.

I love her...

Clara has been watching Frosting the Noman. A lot. (I may be turned in for child neglect if anyone finds out how many times she watches it a day.) As a result, my 2-year-old has the entire dialogue of the show memorized, and yells...

"NO MONEY, NO TICKET!!!"

I hope it doesn't end after Christmas because it makes my day!

New Christamas Tradition

We just go home from a quick weekend trip. We took the kids up to St. George for the Festival of Lights and Live Nativity at Tuachan in St. George. We had originally planned on getting up early yesterday morning and making the quick drive, but getting up early turned into sleeping in and leaving at noon.

We had a great time. We watched the Nativity in the amphitheater in the canyon, took a train ride, sat on Santa's lap and enjoyed some hot chocolate.

This picture should have turned out a lot better, but a family with 7 little boys jumped in front of us. By the time they finished taking their picture, our kids were done and wouldn't stand still.

The only family picture we took while on the trip...can you see all of us?

This is the third Santa the kids have met with this season. Clara has become quite comfortable with him. Thomas was discussing what else he should add to his list while we were in line. I told him that the first list was the one the elves had and they were all finished making the toys. He was a little bummed that he couldn't add anything, but the elves-being-finished-with-their-work- story seemed to satisfy him.

This little girl gave us a run for our money last night. We were hoping she would sleep in the car on the way up...we should have known better. She fell asleep about 30 minutes before we pulled into the hotel. She did fine while we went to dinner and the whole time we were at the nativity, but when we got back to the room, she went bonkers. She was bouncing off the wall and having a horrible time falling asleep. After about an hour and a half of us trying to get her to stay in bed, she finally gave in at 11:02 pm - I was watching every minute pass and did the happy dance once she was out!

This morning we woke up, had breakfast and then met up with my BFF and her family for lunch. (They happened to be traveling home from Cedar). We were going to go get swirly cones and drive over to the temple to walk around, but by the time we left the restaurant it was freezing cold and nobody wanted ice cream, let a lone walk around outside.

It was a great, quick trip, one we plan on making a yearly tradition.

The random stuff in my mind.

I am sure I am like every other woman out there...there is too much to do to be blogging. I have my timer sitting in front of me. The chicken nuggets will be out of the oven in 10 minutes, and I will press publish post in 10 minutes.

- For about a week I have been working off a punch list. It seems like I cross one thing off the list only to add another. I am trying my hardest to get everything done by this weekend. I would really like to enjoy the week of Christmas instead of running around and being exhausted. I want to enjoy Christmas afternoon with my family instead of being so worn out from all the activities of trying to get ready for Christmas. I'll be busy this week, but next week I am putting my foot down. (really, I am going to try)

-Last night I was driving home from my BFF's house and came across one of those musical light displays - you know the ones that coordinate the lights to the music. The kids and I sat in the car for 20 minutes enjoying the lights and the Christmas tunes. It was wonderful. They even did a reading of the nativity. It brought tears to my eyes. I am so grateful for my Savior and the opportunity we have to center Christmas around his birth rather than all the other stuff.

- It makes me very happy that Clara is so excited to see a Baby Jesus on someone's lawn. Jesus gets just as big of a scream as Santa.

-Clara started balling when Santa walked into the Christmas party today. Unfortunatly, I was across the restaurant getting my salad when he made his appearance. When I got back to the table, all the other moms were trying to comfort her. She jumped into my arms and burried her face in my chest. I felt so bad for her, I know how she felt. I was terrified of Santa until I was 11. I think I was the only kid in existence that was relieved when they found out he wasn't real and it was just our parents. It was funny how fast she came around to him once she realized he had a present for her.

.

-Today was Thomas's preschool Christmas party. It was at Chuck E. Cheese. I forgot how much I like that place. I haven't been since I was about 10. I think I used more tokens than both of the kids put together. I was showing Clara the ins and outs of skee ball and I became quite good at the little game where you had to bounce a ball inside a frogs mouth.

.

-While at Chuck E. Cheese, a little girl in front of me was cashing in her tickets at the machine. I was really jealous that she had 100 tickets and I only had 71. My poor kids had to walk out with plastic tops. I'll bet she got something really cool like a plastic kaleidoscope.

.

-Today was the first time since becoming a Mom (5 years) that I found myself with a nasty, poopy diaper and no wipes in the car. I ended up changing Clara's diaper on a filing cabinet in the bank restroom and using wet paper towels. Now that I have typed that sentence..why is there a filing cabinet in the bank's restroom? I appologize to anyone who walked in there after us.

.
The timer went off a few minutes ago. I guess I better stick to my words.

She gets this from my side of the gene pool...

To answer your questions...

1. Yes, this is what she looks like when she is screaming.

2. No, she did not eat her dinner and is now eating cereal for her dinner.

3. Yes, we can afford a baby doll.

Okay..maybe they were right.

Next time you are out to dinner and the waiter tells you that the dessert will turn the kids' mouths blue...believe him.

I'd like to thank....

my cute friend Cathy for posting this on her blog. Because of her, I now....

1. get to watch this YouTube video more times than I can count. Each and everyday.
2. have replaced the original, disturbing words at the beginning of Bohemian Rhapsody with "mama" repeated over and over.
3. need to purchase this song on itunes and make it one of our ipod friends.

This is what 30 minutes of peace looks like. And just so you know...the video is only 4 minutes long. The little ones know how to click on replay.

Reach out and touch someone...

Steve reads Thomas stories out of the Scriptures every night. Last night he was telling Thomas the story about how Jesus called 12 disciples to administer with him. Thomas turned to Steve and asked...

"Jesus had a telephone?"

Happy Birthday!

I can't believe my baby girl is 2!

(please excuse he huge double chin)

There is so much I can say about our little Clara Jane. She is such a joy to have in our family. She is spunky, independent, and very funny. She loves to cuddle, give hugs and kisses and loves to play with her brother.

My favorite things right now...

When she falls down she yells out "I'm Okay" even if she is in a room all by herself.

She says bless you when someone sneezes. Many times I have been downstairs while she is playing upstairs, when I sneeze and I will hear this little voice from the play room say "bless you."

She loves to put on make up. It is how I am able to do her hair. I stick her on the counter with a bottle of lotion and tell her it is make-up. She will occupy herself with it for a good 10 minutes.

She will not stay in her crib. We need to get her a bed, I just keep procrastinating hoping some how she will un-learn how to climb out.

She loves to play with her babies.

She has mastered the scream. (I guess that is not my favorite)

She loves chocolate and has quite a sweet tooth.

We love her so much and are so glad she is part of our little family.

Because it's always all about her.

My friend Heidi came over yesterday morning to have me take some shots of her kids. I was telling Derek* how to stand when we had a little visitor who wanted to get in on the action. I didn't ask her to stand next to him or pose like him, she just did it on her own. She already had her shirt off because that's just the way she rolls.

I really hope that 20 years down the road they fall in love and get married because this would make a great picture for their wedding invitation.

I was glad that Clara wasn't in the shot for this next one. It didn't turn out too well because we were sitting under a green tarp, however I thought it was pretty funny as did Derek and Ashton's mom.

I thought the rest of the cowboy shots turned out pretty cute. Ashton wasn't too cooperative for the shoot, but the back of her head was.

*When I was asking permission to post the pictures of Derek, I was told I could take credit for the pictures, but I had to give Heidi and Mike credit for creating the model.