Dr. Adam

Being the doctor- 

is much more fun than being the patient.

Christmas Happenings In Pictures

Visiting a candy shop to make candy canes

Having fun with food- 

Making ornaments-

including my new favorite one-

Watching the snow fall- 

Enjoying our first Christmas concert- 

...There were never such devoted sisters

Speaking of Sleep

A few weeks back, Leah was the last to wake up at naptime.  She came downstairs to find Adam, Emma, and I playing.  "Mom!" she declared.  "It's supposed to be naptime!" I explained to her that naptime was over, and that she had already slept for 2 hours.  "Oh," she said.  "Well... that was short!"

My children have no concept of time.  Minutes, hours, days, and years all run together for them.  Apparently days and nights fall into the same category.

They always come and check to see if it's time to get up.  One of them will tiptoe into our room around 7:00 (where I'm usually still in bed, trying to catch a few more winks before the day starts) and ask, "is it morning time yet?".  And if I say no, they go back to bed!  Even if it's 8:00 in the morning.  I wonder how long that trick will last.


Leah came into our room at 7:00 this morning and informed me that I never sent Daddy in to kiss them good night.  She was right, I said so and sent her back to bed.  And the kids slept on until 7:30, when Jason discovered that Adam had thrown up in the night.  So our day began with laundry and baths, after which both kids thought they were supposed to go back to bed because it was the middle of the night.  I really should have let them!

Adam fell asleep in the car today and slept for 40 minutes, then came home and said, "Mommy, I'm tiiiired.  I want to take a nap."  Music to my ears. 

I even convinced my big girl to rest on the couch for a bit.

Now if I could just get Miss Emma to stop this new waking-up-every-two-hours-all-night-long trick that she has started, I'd be set!

Being The Mom

Sometimes I really love being wrong... like when Adam lands wrong from a big jump and I'm worried that he might have a broken foot or a sprained ankle because he won't walk.  Thankfully, a quick trip to Urgent Care an an x-ray showed that everything is just fine, although he's limping around now.  I was happy to be wrong about that one. 

While waiting to see the doctor, Adam found a way to keep himself busy.  He said, "Das a really big earwax!"

And sometimes I really hate being right... like when I tell a cupcake-snatching Adam that if he doesn't stop eating so many cupcakes he is going to get sick and throw up... and then he does.  In the middle of the night.  And doesn't wake up to tell anyone, just rolls around in it until morning.

I would have been happy to have been wrong about that one, too.

Mesmerized

We might need a bigger swing set come spring...

Conversations

Leah is fascinated with the definitions of words.  She wants to know why it's called Christmas, why it's called TV, why it's called breakfast.  Some are pretty easy to explain, others (like tape or crepe paper, not so much).  My life is like a never-ending game of Balderdash.  We had pancakes for dinner the other night, but we couldn't just call that dinner.  So breakfast for dinner is officially called "Break-din" in our home now.

*****

Christmas is a time for celebrating.  Leah declared, "Mom!  We can have a pancake breakfast to celebrate Jesus' birthday!"  I think He'd like that.

*****

While decorating for Christmas, we reviewed the concept of a nativity.  I gave the name of each piece of the nativity as Leah studied them.  "This is a wise man... this is a wise man..."

Holding up the third character, she asked, "And is this the foolish man?"

 *****

Leah asks me to define words all the time, and then tries to use them in her conversations.  She wanted the definition of "scolding" and seemed to like my definition of "getting upset with someone because they aren't doing what you want them to do".  The next day, while lamenting over the lack of packages that were arriving on our doorstep with her name on them, said, "The next time I see the mailman, I am going to scold him!"

A Moment of Silence

Three weeks shy of her fifth birthday, Leah and I have come to the mutual consensus that she no longer has to take a nap every day. 

Doesn't mean she might not need it, but no nap has made for an earlier bedtime and a fun bit of "big girl time with Mom" every afternoon.  Of course, I'm still requiring a nice chunk of "quiet time", which I need to figure out the parameters for because, despite her hoping and pleading, not napping does not equal 2 hours of screen time every afternoon while your younger siblings sleep.

I made the mistake of telling Leah that she is a big enough girl to not nap anymore, and she seems to think that means she CAN'T take a nap anymore.  She actually sauntered over to the couch the other day (with the "I'm so obviously trying to do something you don't want me to do" look on her face that is generally reserved for misbehavior like chewing on her headband or sneaking an extra cookie) and casually said, "I'm just going to lay here for a minute with a blanket."  She wanted to take a nap, but it seems that now she thinks she is no longer allowed to.  I try to point out to her frequently how even tired old mommy likes to take a nap every now and again.  Okay, every day, but I guess that's a thing of the past for me now, too.

The transition hasn't been entirely smooth.  She falls asleep in the car anytime we go out in the afternoon, and she's a bit of a grump nearing dinnertime, but we'll get there eventually.  I'll sure miss naptime, though.  Boy did we have a good run.

I hope they call me on a mission...

...when I have grown a foot or two.

The Living Nativity

There is a local church that has a HUGE living nativity every year, and it has become one of my favorite Christmas traditions in Indiana.  Two years in a roll we have forgotten our camera, but a few pictures from our phones show what the scenes are like.  There are scenes that depict stories from the Bible, take you through the busy city of Bethlehem (guarded by Roman soldiers),

 to the stable full of animals and the baby Jesus, (this is last year's visit- look at tiny Adam!)

 past the shepherds being visited by an angel

and the wise men (complete with camels)

 and on through stories of Jesus' ministry on Earth, his death, resurrection and the Second Coming.  

In short, it is amazing. 

My favorite part is walking through Bethlehem- you weave through crowds of people selling fruits, bartering for goods and suddenly stumble upon a very pregnant Mary sitting on a donkey, her husband Joseph pleading with an innkeeper for a place in the inn.  It is heart-wrenching to hear his desperation, then turn to the next scene to see Joseph and Mary holding the baby Jesus in a stable full of straw and smelly sheep.  What an incredible entrance into the world for our Savior.

And of course, we all love the cookies and hot chocolate at the end.  And, as usual, Miss Emma slept through most of it.  Such a sweetie.

I have found that it is really easy to just not focus on the true meaning of Christmas.  There is enough shopping, traveling, and generally craziness to go around- the month could be here and gone without thinking twice about the birth of Christ.  But I love the moments like these that we find to pause and truly reflect on what we are celebrating, and that makes me love the Christmas season more and more every year.

You've Had a Birthday!

We always love kicking off December with a birthday celebration for Jason!  This year's festivities included a surprise lunch party at school, a dinner date at the local burgers and fries joint, and a pirate-themed treasure hunt/trivia game with physical challenges for presents led by two squawky parrots named Leah and Adam.  The kids were amazed by the ring of fire around his birthday cake, I was just glad the smoke alarms didn't go off! 

How grateful we are to have such a great daddy and husband as Jason!

Brainstorming

Yule Slide!

It's that time again for our annual trip down the Yule Slide at the Children's Museum.  This year, Leah and Adam went by themselves

 and I took Miss Emma.

I think she liked it!

The Children's Museum never disappoints, whether we stay from open to close or only for a few hours. 

We went to the ward Christmas party at the church right after the museum, and I think the party was louder than the museum!  We Mormons sure do know how to have fun!

Corn Box

It snowed last week, signaling the start of the long, cold, gray winter.  That means more inside toys come out to play.  Leah and Adam have been loving the corn box that I pulled out for them the other day. 

Leah thinks the corn box is fun, though not quite as magical as the sand box at her preschool.

Adam finds the corn box so fascinating, he woke up at 4:00 IN THE MORNING, went downstairs, turned the lights on, pulled it (and the brown sugar) out and started playing with it before coming back upstairs to give Emma a blanket he had brought up with him.  He started hoisting it into her bassinet, and that's when I woke up and realized what I'd just slept through.

Heaven help me when I have teenagers. 

Sweet Sleeping Butterfly Baby

She just looked too cozy to move over to her "baskinet".

Haul Out The Holly

Despite warnings to myself last year, we pulled the Christmas tree out the two days after Thanksgiving.  This year it makes more sense, as we will only have a few weeks to enjoy it before we head west for the holidays.  And the kids knew- the minute Thanksgiving was over, they were ready to move onto Christmas.  I told them I needed a chance to digest my turkey before I could decorate for Christmas, but finally- finally!- on Saturday, we pulled everything out.

And, of course, it was magical and fun, because everything about Christmas is magical and fun.  Adam got to hang the star this year (I think I'm going to have to start keeping track of this privilege), and the kids had a great time sorting through the ornaments and listening to the stories that go along with our favorites.

We like to collect ornaments in place of traditional souvenirs to remember our journeys throughout the year.  This year we added a Washington Monument ornament and an ornament for Emma's first Christmas.

We also added a beautiful snowflake I received from a visiting teaching friend, a nativity ornament from my sister's trip to Mexico, and a tiny Christmas tree decorate with jewelry from my Grandma Gardner's jewelry box.  It's always fun to look back on the ornaments we've added in past years, too- whether it's the pizza guy from Chicago or the snowman from one of our first trips to Colorado when we were dating, the seahorse from the aquarium or the tiny Pinocchio from Jason's trip to Italy- each one has a great memory to go with it.

And after the tree was all set up and decorated (with no broken ornaments this year- impressive!) we enjoyed another favorite tradition- drinking hot chocolate and enjoying our hard work by the light of the tree.

And of course someone knocked over their mug 2.5 seconds after we took the picture... I think that may be part of the tradition!  No biggie, though.  That's what the blanket was for.

 

And I finally finished my Christmas tree skirt- started 16 months ago- and was able to put it under the Christmas tree.  It was my first "real" quilting project, and I'll be honest, it might be my last, at least for a while.

Welcome Christmastime again!

First Preschool Program

We were delighted to attend Leah's first preschool program a few weeks back for Thanksgiving.  She had been singing the songs at the top of her lungs and doing the motions with full gusto at home.  We couldn't wait to see the action live with her whole class.

Of course, Leah is an observer.  Always has been.  She likes to check things out and know what is going on around her before she is willing to join in.  She had fun with the program, and joined in with the singing... and shouting.

But most of all, she loved finding her way back to our family for apple cider and cookies afterward.  And what a treat to get to visit with one of her beloved teachers, Miss Dee.

Check out the sparkle in her eyes.  That is one happy girl.