A Very Merry Christmas

The Christmas festivities began on Christmas Eve at Alison's house with a yummy dinner and nativity program. If you're wondering what my dorky husband is doing in this picture, every year his wiseman outfit gets a little more elaborate.

Christmas morning we woke up and opened presents with just our family. Jordan was very excited about his tool bench and tools. I'm glad too, because he likes carrying around Andrew's tools and banging on things...like the Christmas tree ornaments. We then went to the Stout's for a yummy breakfast and more presents. Andrew headed off to work and I went to my parent's to spend some time with them.

As you can see, Jordan was very tired by the end of the day....and so was I.

Winter Wonderland

It has been a quiet week here at our house, even though the same can't be said of the weather around here. I am a big wimp when it comes to snow and being cold. Sometimes I wonder how I survived walking around for hours in freezing temps. month after month while serving my mission in NY. There must have been some divine intervention, because now I can barely make it to the car without complaining of how cold it is. We are very glad to have 2 Subarus to help us get around in the snow. Andrew's work is also very glad because he has turned into the shuttle service. Every morning he gets a list of people he's supposed to pick up and drop off and he even gets paid by the mile. His co-workers were saying the other day that there's no use calling in and saying you can't make it because of the weather, they'll just send Andrew to get you. It's always interesting to hear about his adventures when he gets home. Yesterday he came across a Tahoe that was spinning it's tires and couldn't make it up a hill in a neighborhood. Andrew talked to the guy and offered to help and he kind of just looked at him like he was crazy and said, "You can try if you want." Andrew hooked up the Tahoe to the tow ball on his Forester and pulled it up the hill with no problem. He's very proud of that, as you can imagine. We are staying warm and cozy and are looking forward to Christmas in just a few days. Here are some pictures from the week....

Christmas Fun

Yeah! We got our Christmas tree. Jordan had fun helping us decorate, or should I say "undecorate." He's finally got used to the idea that the ornaments stay on the tree.

Our ward had a Christmas party with the theme of "A Night In Bethlehem." Jordan went dressed as a shepherd, and a darn cute one, I might add.

Jordan loved playing this drum at the party. In fact, at one point some other kids came and started playing with it, so Jordan just picked it up and started walking around with it.

I love this picture with Santa. Jordan is always inspecting things very closely. He closes one eye and puts whatever he's looking at right by his open eye. You can't really tell from the picture, but he's checking out a candy cane. He was kind of timid to sit on Santa's lap, but went along with it. That night when Andrew was saying prayers with Jordan before bed, he put up his blanket under Andrew's nose and said, "Santa."

Mom had Jordan, Tyson and Luke (the grandkids not in school) over one afternoon to make Christmas cookies. Yes, Christmas is FUN!!!!!

Megan's Fascination

Megan's favorite things to play with are her feet and her tongue. I guess it's not a bad idea. They're always right there. She doesn't have to worry about dropping them or her brother ripping them away from her. Here is just sampling of the many pictures we've taken of her sticking her tongue out.

Our Mini Tree

Andrew and I bought this little 2 foot tree our first Christmas when we were living in Provo and were too poor to buy a Christmas tree. Plus, even if we had bought one we didn't have any decorations to put on it. Sadly, it is our Christmas tree once again. Last year I had what I thought was a cold the whole month of December. When it miraculously went away the very day we took out our Christmas tree I realized that I was allergic to Christmas trees. We are going to buy an artificial tree and picked one out at Lowe's, but are holding out for a couple of weeks when it goes on sale. This mini tree will have to do until then. I was actually somewhat relieved when I discovered my allergy. Every year Andrew likes to get a tree permit and go up to the mountains to cut down a tree in the forest. It sounds fun, but in reality it is always a very scary experience. One year my dad almost drove us all off a cliff, and the last time we went it was just our little family and Andrew managed to get us stuck in the snow...with a baby...up a mountain...on a snow covered dirt road...with no cell phone coverage...in the cold...not a pleasant experience. Luckily, he was the hero and managed to get us out. Yes, I don't mind my allergies one bit.

Here are the stocking I've made. When I made mine and Andrew's when we were first married it was the first real sewing project I'd ever done. I always loved having handmade stockings growing up. Someday maybe we'll actually have a mantle to hang them on. Until then the wall will have to do.

First Feeding

Megan had her first rice cereal today....well, kind of. Most of it ended up on the bib. It involved a lot of interesting faces, gagging and drooling. At one point, she was looking at me with this confused face that said, "What are you doing to me?" Jordan was very entertained by the whole experience and thought it would be funny to chew up his own food and spit it out. It all made out for a very messy lunch.

Thanksgiving Highlights

All of the grandkids were in town so we got a group shot. Trying to get 13 children under the age of 8 to hold still for the camera was quite the experience. I love that my mom and dad are laughing in this picture.

Megan and Matthew are just 6 days apart.

Jordan loved eating this turkey made out of oreos and candy corn at the Stout's. He is very particular about getting his hands dirty, so he managed to eat it without actually having to touch it.

I thought I'd get a shot of my mom's beautiful table before we all descended upon it. All in all, Thanksgiving was a great time to eat good food and be with family. It doesn't get any better than that.

Highlight of the week

Saturday night I played in a concert with the Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra. I had been looking for an orchestra to join ever since I moved back from Utah, but couldn't find one that didn't have Sunday afternoon concerts. I heard that one of my old friends from my Tacoma Youth Symphony days, Alan Shen, had started up an orchestra and I looked into it. I joined last year and had a blast playing again, and this year Alison and Adam are playing with us too. To make it even better, Alison and I sit right next to eachother. How perfect is that? I made it through the concert even though I was battling a cold, had a killer headache and was going on no sleep. Andrew was snoring so loud the night before because he also has a cold. In the past, I've just put in earplugs, but that's not really an option when there's a baby I need to be listening for. After a couple of hours of tossing and turning, kicking him, pushing and prodding him (which he doesn't remember), I finally ended up on Megan's bedroom floor with the fan turned on full blast to muffle the sound of his snoring. What a night!

I just had to put this sweet picture of the kids on here. Megan absolutely adores her brother. She just gazes at him and waits for him to interact with her. When he does, she just lights up with the biggest smile.

Silly Kids.....

Jordan was taking a really long nap today and he needed to wake up because it was almost 5:00. Andrew decided to just put Megan in there with him. He got a huge smile on his face when he saw her and they had fun just hanging out in the crib together. I can't seem to get Jordan excited about sleeping in his big bed. He'll "pretend" sleep in it, but when it comes time for the real thing he cries for his crib. I don't really mind him being in it because he doesn't crawl out of it, it's just that Megan needs the crib now. She is looking very big in her swing that she's been sleeping in.

Megan's Jenny Jump Up arrived in the mail today. Jordan decided she needed to wear the shades.

Jordan has this fascination with our mixing bowls. He loves wearing them and having everyone else wear them too. There was one time this week when all 4 of us were wearing mixing bowls on our heads.

No explanation- Just Chillin'

Jordan's mixed up words

In Jordan's little 2-year old world, he thinks he's got things figured out pretty well. Lately he's been saying some pretty funny things that I wanted to jot down so I don't forget them.

1. For some reason, Jordan thinks the word for "share" is "prophet." I'm not sure why this is, but when he gives Megan a toy he always says, "prophet." It goes the other way too. When she's touching one of his toys, he runs over, ripps it out of her hand and says, "NO PROPHET!"
2. The other day I was making dinner and I had a Mormon Tabernacle Choir CD playing. Jordan kept coming up to me and saying "ARMS." He kept saying it and was getting more and more agitated. It wasn't until he folded his arms that I realized every time a choir piece ended, Jordan thought a prayer needed to be said, just like church. That was one blessed dinner because by the time it made it's way onto the table, we had said half a dozen prayers.
3. One night Jordan kept saying "strong" and pulling on his shirt. I realized that "strong" meant to have his shirt off. I took it off and later that night when I put his pajamas on, Jordan said "Bye Bye strong." I didn't know where this had come from, but when I told Andrew about it later he said that they had been watching TV when a bow flex commercial came on, Andrew told Jordan that the man was strong.
4. Whenever Jordan walks into a room, he always says, "Hi Jordan." He never says "Hi Mommy" or "Hi Daddy." "Hi Jordan" is his universal greeting.
5. Jordan has been "trying" to put together sentences. All he does is just adds Dig-a-dig-a-dig-a to the beginning of whatever he's saying. Dig-a-dig-a-dig-a drink, or dig-a-dig-a-dig-a outside.
6. One last thing that just made me smile was last week when I was practicing my viola for symphony practice that night. Usually when I practice Jordan doesn't pay much attention to me. He was just sitting next to me and was quietly coloring. Every time I stopped playing, he would look up at me and say, "GOOD JOB!" What a fun little boy to have in our family!

Finding Joy in the Journey

You just gotta love daylight savings time. Both of the kids were down tonight at 7:30. Miraculously they somehow got the memo about sleeping in too, because this morning they both woke up an hour later than usual.

Something in Relief Society really got me thinking today. The lesson was on President Monson's talk "Finding Joy in the Journey" from this last conference. The teacher read this quote. "If you are still in the process of raising children, be aware that tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled will disappear all too soon and that you will- to your surprise- miss them profoundly." I just had to smile to myself when I heard that because just that morning I was sitting on the couch looking out at the rain and was annoyed by the dirty handprints all over the window.

This afternoon as I was playing with the kids on the floor and listening to them giggle and laugh at eachother I looked out the window, and instead of being annoyed at the fingerprints I actually just smiled remembering when Jordan put them there. It was a couple of days ago and he was so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa out the window when they came to drop off his "Big Boy Bed." I guess it's all about perspective. "Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows."

Here are some of my favorite pictures this week.....
Alison made homemade rootbeer at her Halloween Party. Jordan loved blowing the steam from the dry ice.
Megan's favorite toys are her feet. Whenever I put socks on her she just kicks them off.

We're off to see the Wizard......

Our ward had a Halloween party on Saturday night with a Wizard of Oz Theme. Megan was the littlest (and the cutest) Dorothy out of the group, thanks to my mom for making her darling costume. Jordan actually kept his lion costume on the whole night, which surprised me. I put it on him a few times here at home so he would get used to it, but he would only wear it for a few minutes and then say, "All done." Jordan had a lot of fun, especially trunk or treating at the end. He wouldn't say trick or treat every time, but what he would do is exclaim, "Hooray!!" every time someone put candy in his bucket. We took along our camera, but trying to take pictures while juggling the kids proved to be impossible. Luckily we got some pictures before heading out the door, which also seemed to be nearly impossible. Only one of the two of them together actually turned out. Here's our little Dorothy and Cowardly Lion........

Cute Cousins!

I couldn't resist taking some pictures of Megan and Lily in their matching outfits from our sister-in-law, Emily. I laugh every time I think about making the phone call to tell Alison that I was having a girl. There was screaming, a loud thud and then silence. Andrew walked into the room and said, "So, what did she say?" I said, "I don't know, I think she passed out." It turns out she was so excited that she dropped the phone and hung up on me. Needless to say, I'm sure this is not the last time these little girls will be wearing matching outfits. It's fun to watch them together. They don't interact much yet, but they remind me of two little kittens in a kitty box, with their legs and arms all intertwined. So Cute!!

I like how they both have a little mischievous look, like Megan just played a little joke and Lily's stewing up a way to get her back!

I was sick of my hair the other day, so I just went and had it chopped off.

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday was actually a pretty nice day, so we decided to take Jordan to the Pumkin Patch. Megan needed to take a nap, so we left her at Alison's house and headed to Maris Farm in Buckley. Jordan loved feeding the goats. Eventually there was a crowd of people just standing around watching Jordan squealing and laughing with delight every time the goats tickled his hand. They also had pig races and Jordan was pretty excited about that too. He would yell "Go, Go, Go!" Then he would try to make pig noises, which came out more like motorboat noises, and he was spitting everywhere. It was funny watching him try to pick up the huge pumpkins. He would say "Ah Man! BIG!" It was a fun little outing.