Christmas Break pt.1

I was really looking forward to Christmas break this year. It would be nice to not be tied to the school schedule and to do fun activities during the day. Willa has really been enjoying school, but she loves to have a lazy morning and just play around the house. Even on Saturdays, she doesn't usually want to go places and we have to drag her out.

Our ward did a Christmas pajamas breakfast for their party and I have to say, it was one of the best organized ward meals I've ever been to. The girls were happy to see Santa there. There was also a point where this hot cocoa song suddenly got blared on the speakers and the youth all came out in white chefs hats with cups and hot cocoa for everyone. It was so sweet and cute.

June had a cute preschool party. She was really looking forward to it because she missed her Thanksgiving party due to Strep throat.

I got to volunteer for Willa's class party. It's fun to see her in her classroom and see who she interacts with. She and a sweet little girl named Clara have now been seated at the same table for two rotations because apparently they are the calmest in the class and do a good job of helping three rowdy boys be on better behavior. I asked Willa about this and she said that sometimes she puts her finger to her lips like her teachers says to do - but they don't really listen. Ha ha.

Willa had her Christmas piano recital, which was my least favorite recital so far. The room was way too small and the recital too long. It should have been divided into two recitals. As it was, we had to stand in the hallway not really being able to even see. After she was finished playing, we left because there was at least another hour of music on program and I was not about to try to entertain June in the hallway for it when we couldn't even see (and barely hear) what was happening. Still, she played a solo and also a trio. The trio was very cute, she had been practicing with these two little boys for a while. I don't know what happened to the video I took - or if I even took any - so here is a video of a rehearsal with one of the boys. The teacher is playing the third part on another piano, but for the recital (and also for the stake Christmas fireside) the kids were small enough to all squeeze onto one piano bench and one piano.

And the annual chocolate piano from her teacher - looks better than it tastes

We made gingerbread houses and Ryan had the brilliant idea that we decorate all the walls and the roof pieces before we stuck them together. It was awesome and so much easier! The girls were able to do more of the frosting and sticking the candy on than if we'd already stuck them together. Then, when that was dry we frosted them to standing.

One morning before Christmas the girls were extremely busy in their room for quite a while. Finally, they called me in to show me that they had completely removed everything from the floor of the room and put in on their beds. We're talking books, bookshelves, toy bins, etc. They had so much fun doing it and it made the room look so nice and clean. It was perfect because I got to carefully put everything back just how I wanted it and cleaned out a bunch of junk to make room for upcoming Christmas gifts.

Finally, we had a few colder days when it froze over night. The girls went to play next door and this is what the neighbors invited them to do. I just laughed. Las Vegas Sledding. And, sorry - I don't know how to rotate it.

It's a boy!

Yes, it's that time again! Last week, I actually did take the girls to get a treat and then to the library in sweatpants. I'm so ashamed. I think I had other pants on that morning, but they were so restrictive so I changed in the afternoon and then didn't think about it again until we were at Bahamas Bucks and I looked down and saw I was wearing sweatpants and fleece boots - a winning combination.

Happily, I'm pregnant so I only have to feel about 50% guilty about all the weight gain. I think this time around my body knew what was coming and decided not to procrastinate. It said, let's get all the weight on now and all the discomforts - that way we won't be stressed trying to prepare in the last trimester. I'm 25 weeks right now and due April 22nd.

Due to my "advanced maternal age" I had to do a high risk ultrasound. The baby is doing great and it's a boy! 

I would have been happy to have another little girl. I feel like I know girls and can do girls. A week or two before we found out what it was, I was going through baby clothes and was excited to bring out favorite little outfits and bows again. I feel a little sad to pack those away for a while longer (or forever, who knows). A boy will be very sweet, though, and I can't wait to not have to brush out snarls in his hair while he screams at me (though, I am a little sad that he'll probably be born with luscious locks like my girls but that I'll have to start trimming them up almost immediately - it's a pride thing). It's very exciting and I'm excited to have a clean slate to get new baby clothes and to see what this new personality brings. Are we going to have to barricade everything? Buy balls? Fence in the pool? Do sports? I have no idea. Maybe he'll just be happy playing dollhouse with his sisters.

This pregnancy seems a little more tough a little earlier. I don't know if it's because it's the third, because I'm older, or because I just don't remember it clearly since June was nearly four years ago. Still, it's been relatively easy and I haven't been nauseated so I can't complain. I had a miscarriage back in April or May that was tough mainly because it was a missed miscarriage - meaning that I never actually miscarried - the baby just didn't have a heartbeat. We waited a month for it to pass on its own and I even took medicine from the doctor that should have induced the miscarriage, but it didn't work. Eventually I had to have a D&C, which was relatively easy but just annoying to have to do. It was also annoying and slightly traumatic to still be "pregnant" with lots of pregnancy hormones left inside me and feeling some symptoms for almost an entire month after finding out there was no heartbeat.

The moral of that story, is that we are happy and blessed to be expecting a healthy baby and that I'm having a healthy pregnancy so far. We told the girls around 19 or 20 weeks and they have been so excited. Willa was really too young to know what was going on when I had June, so it's been a new experience to have them very aware now. Though, they didn't notice my stomach getting bigger until I told them I was pregnant and then Willa asked, "Mom, was your tummy not always this big?" "No!!"

This, that, and Thanksgiving

Bridgett got glasses. She doesn't have to wear them all the time, but two girls are still very exciting to be matching.

 

Hike with the Thalmans

We were so excited to have cousins come in for Thanksgiving again this year. We are getting spoiled. The O'Kelley's came and Robert's family. That meant lots of cousins around the same age with whom to play/fight/play - in that order.

June and Scarlett - just a little over three months apart.

We wanted to have a little cousin piano recital, Dylan and Willa played but Claire got cold feet.

June and Scarlett decided to do a duet. It was....lovely....

At the park one morning with Slate.

Slate is about six months older than June, but much more mature :).

We have a great few days. On Thanksgiving Day, everyone left to go see Moana while I stayed to cook. Carey stayed as my sous-chef, and little Aero stayed to take a nap. It was so nice to cook without interruptions! Probably the highlight for me was when Shannon cleaned the kitchen after Thanksgiving dinner. I had a killer headache and having someone clean up was sooo helpful. Plus, having Shannon clean up is like winning the lottery. If we compare cleaning styles - I'm probably like a older model Honda. I get the job done, I'm dependable, but there's nothing exciting going on here. Shannon is like the BMW or Rolls Royce of cleaning. The kitchen gleamed. It was fun to show everyone the new house and to have room for everyone. In the spirit of the Jews at the end of Passover, I'd like to say "Next year, there will/might be furniture!"

St. George Marathon

And also, sometime back in October and totally out of chronological order, Ryan ran the St. George Marathon. We all went up and my brother and his family were so nice to open up their house to us. Their boys are so good to Willa and June, my girls love going there.

The night before, they had a little festival and we signed the girls up for a little 100 yard fun run. It was so cute! They were very serious and Willa was such a responsible sister keeping track of June. In fact, at the end they didn't come up through the gates like the other kids and we were looking everywhere for them. After a few minutes, we heard someone on the PA system. Willa had been smart enough to find an adult for help. They got medals, which was very special for them, and cotton candy which was almost equally as special.

Thumbs up!

 Ryan got to hang out with the sub-elites and the elites the morning of the race. They have their own special corral right up at the front. He was worried that he hadn't put a fast enough time down and that they wouldn't let him up there and he wouldn't get to cross the starting line with the gun. Poor guy, it's hard to realize how the rest of us plebs live. Luckily, his fears were unfounded. He had a great start and was off and going until about mile 19. You know what they say about not running in new shoes? This was kind of one of those things. He'd done a long run in some new racing shoes, but not broken them in like his other shoes. There was considerable less drop in these shoes and adding all the downhills with the distance, he started to get bad calf cramps. In fact, he had to actually walk three or four times, which is anathema to Ryan. Still, he survived and got 19th place with a time of 2:35. Full of excuses as always. I think if the calves hadn't been a problem, he would've probably been in the top ten because he was smokin'. 

 One of the perks of finishing early is that it's not crowded. He was able to hobble around and get a massage without any wait time. Then he basically lay like a slug on the couch for the next day or two because he was so sore everywhere. He was surprised at the soreness. I was really sore when I did it 15 years ago, but I've always been in crummy shape. It was surprising to me that he would be so sore after all the mileage he had been putting in. I kind of hope he does it again and can race without the leg cramps, but also selfishly because another friend might be going next year so if Ryan races I can see her :). On the other hand, he was training A LOT. And was really nice to have him home a little more afterwards when his mileage went down a little.

June gives up the paci

Poor June, never did a child love a pacifier more. She LOVED(S) those things! With Willa, we were pretty good about just having it for naptime, but June always managed to haggle for more time with hers. I didn't want to take it right when she turned three, then it looked like we were getting the house and I wanted her to have a comfort for the first bit while we moved. Finally, it was getting ridiculous. She had pet names for them all and would give them little personalities and sometimes make us talk to them. She was also very particular about which one she wanted when.... You get the picture.

There is a Build-a-Bear by Ryan's work that we were walking past one day and as she looked in the windows I explained to her that she could pick out one of those bears when she gave up her pacifiers. She totally understood and totally decided that it was something she would do LATER. There was a character from Paw Patrol there that she couldn't stop talking about. How has she even seen Paw Patrol and known this character's name since we don't have cable, I have no idea. Actually, I do because I pressed her on it. Apparently, it occasionally comes up on Youtube Kids when I let her watch for a bit.

So she kept talking about Sky (the puppy) and finally she decided one day that she was ready. So we gathered them all and went to do the deed. Here she is posing with her bag of pacifiers.

 One last suck and good-bye (though, I was the one who told her to do that - I swear, I wasmore sentimental about it than she was).

 Warming the heart

 Ta Da!

 The main disappointment was that they don't let you put the pacifiers inside anymore! The worker said it just became policy down from the top a few weeks before we came in. It was kind of sad, but I gave the worker the bag of pacifiers at the end to "pay" for the pup. I'm sure it's a liability thing. These things are seriously the most expensive plush animals in the world. Unless they've woven gold thread into the fur, they should really let you fill it with nails or sharp knives if you want to. So that was a bummer, but June was resilient and then it was extra nice to walk straight up to Daddy's office to show Sky to him.

June has been doing well without pacifiers. She definitely understood that they were gone. A few times she has said that she misses them (even recently she's brought it up), but overall it's gone well. She dropped her afternoon nap for a while and would just play in her room and I was going bananas because she normally wakes up before 6 am and was so tired, but one day I forced her in bed and laid on the floor while she went to sleep. It kind of jump started her back in the habit for them. So now she does nap most days and is a much pleasanter little girl because of it!

Lost teeth!

Willa lost her first tooth sometime in October. I'm not sure when, I just remember it was wiggly for her birthday party and since she refused to wiggle it or let anyone touch it, we just let it hang there until it fell out on its own - which it did in the middle of the night. Luckily, it woke her up and she came running out of bed with it. I knew she was coming up on this milestone and had had friends lose teeth, but it just seemed so early and that there was no way it could be happening to her. I mean, all the teeth in her mouth looked extremely secure in there!!

Thar it is! You can see a giant tooth coming in behind it. A few weeks ago, we noticed that her other bottom permanent tooth was coming in. It was so far back that the baby tooth didn't get wiggly for several days. Then, it was the same old story where she wouldn't let anyone touch it. So, I just patiently waited and hoped that no one was looking too closely or judging me for allowing my daughter to go around with two rows of teeth like a little baby shark. I think that was the biggest gag for me, the shark teeth.

Like the other tooth, it fell out on its own, but this time while Willa was watching t.v. She was like, "Mom, my tooth just flipped out!" And sure enough, it had flipped out of her mouth and bounced somewhere in our enormous high-pile rug. When I say high-pile I mean serious HIGH-PILE. I love this rug, but I'm starting to regret it because it's almost impossible to care for. We broke some glass in it and even with the vacuum's hose we couldn't get down to the pieces at the bottom. What were the chances of finding a teeny wheeny baby tooth in the similar colored rug? Well, we looked and we batted and finally we pulled the couch apart and turned the rug completely over and batted it over and over again. We found a few Legos, toy money from the cash register, and the tooth! Seriously, so much can hide in this carpet, it's a little disturbing when you turn it over and toys start falling out of it.