Our Christmas

Christmas was such a fun experience this year. Gabe woke up in the morning and I told her Merry Christmas. She looked at me, and said, "It's Christmas Eve Mommy. Santa is gonna come down our chimney" I said, "No honey, it's Christmas. Santa already came." Don't ask me where she was the day before when we were telling her all day he was coming that night. Her eyes went huge, and she whispers, "He brought me presents?" I told her yes, and that we needed to go and get her Daddy. She goes running down the hall at warp speed to wake him screaming, "Daddy! Wake up! No more sleep, santa brought presents!" She was SOOOOO excited.
She was bouncing around as we were opening presents. She had a hard time waiting for her turn to come around again to open another present, not cause she wanted to open another one (though she did enjoy that), but because she wanted to play with what she had just opened. After every gift she just wanted to play with what she got. We made her wait until the end, and it wasn't coming fast enough. Too many fun things. She loved helping Ollie open his presents. He has recently started reaching out to grab everything. So he was very fun when he was grabbing at the wrapping paper. Not bad for his first Christmas.
Our kids definitely got spoiled from all of their grandparents. Thanks for the fun things we got this year from you all! We spent the rest of the day relaxing, playing with toys/goodies, and munching on yummy food. Just how we like our Christmas to be. I hope everyone else had a nice Holiday!





Ollie "opening" his presents

Santa brought our family a few new board games. This year they were kid games. Gabe enjoyed the pretty pretty princess game. Daddy was very good at winning, with Gabe not far behind. I actually kept having to put all my jewelry back (I lost a lot). And I got stuck with that blasted black ring everytime. I figure I'll declare a rematch on new years, I'm determined to be a princess. ;)

Christmas Eve

The week before Christmas, Adam worked lots of extra hours, so he could take the 23rd off as well. It was nice to have him for such a nice long weekend with the family. Our Christmas Eve was nice, easy going, and fun. We spent the day baking, wrapping last minute gifts, hanging out, and eating some yummy food. We had our traditional Christmas Eve dinner, which turned out really good. Afterwards we read about the birth of Christ, and acted it out with our fisher price nativity to try to help Gabe understand it.

Meeting Santa

Last night was the night. Gabe got to meet Santa. A guy in Adam's work group does it every year in his neighborhood Culta-sac. All the houses go all out on their houses decorating with lights. That was Ollie's favorite part. He was pretty fascinated. They do a food drive and Santa walks around talking to people. You could drop off a gift prior, so your kids can get one from him. We dropped off a dress, so Gabe could exchange her BOPS for it. On the way down we realized we forgot her bops! How stupid is that? We ended up just stopping at a grocery store to buy a pack. We really wanted her to physically be able to hand them to him. (Best five bucks we ever spent)
Anyway we were walking up the street and Gabe heard bells. She asked what it was, and we told her it was Santa. She was very excited. She kept saying, "Santa! I hear him. I hear him." We walked up and he says, "Gabrielle, how are you?" It was very nice and personable. It made her more comfortable. I think it actually was better she didnt have to sit on his lap. She asked him about his elves and reindeer. It was cute. He then handed her a present, and we asked her what she was going to give him for it. She says to him, "Hang on one minute." Reaches in her pockets and says, "Here ya go, One and Two." She didn't even hesitate. He explained how happy it made him, and that he'd take good care of them for her. We talked a little longer, took some pics, he gave her a festive sucker, and we were on our way. She loved it, and has been talking about it all morning. She was sad Mrs Claus wasn't there though. She really wanted to meet her. What a fun activity, we were glad we did it.
Last night she didn't even ask for her BOPS and went right to bed. We were amazed. Thank goodness for Froggy to help her transition. She did wake up a few times and came into our room, but she never asked for one. We'll see how things continue. She didn't even realize we didn't give him all of her BOPS, thank goodness. I think she was too caught up in the moment of meeting him. Well so far so good. I hope everyone has a nice Christmas eve, and a nice Christmas Morning to wake up to. MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!





Surrendering her BOPS

Ollie is 3 Months Today

Man, our boy is growing like a weed. He just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I sorted through clothes for him again the other day. I started putting away some of the 3-6 month clothes, and breaking out some of the 6-9 months. I put on this 6 month sleeper thinking it would drown him, and it was too small! Ah! Now it does depend on the clothes, but for the most part he's fitting into 6-9 now. It's crazy. He is the happiest little guy EVER. Today at church I was holding him and telling my class how cranky he was cause he was refusing to go to sleep. They told me he sure didn't look cranky. He was smiling and cooing at everyone. His smile is always on his cute face. I love it. He hasn't really giggled yet, but he squeals and does this funny noise where he sucks in air. He's getting closer. He's at this tricky stage where he wants to be held outward and have you walk around when he's awake. He's not as easy going to be put down. It makes his wake times a little tricky. Can't say I blame him, I wouldn't love staring at the ceiling versus viewing things on the move. We are adjusting though. He isn't the biggest fan of the bumbo, but he tolerates it for short periods of time. I'm trying to convince him it's great, and he's not falling for it. He likes to be straight, and it already liking to stand when I hold him out. He is so stiff when you try to get him to bend. He still just tolerates tummy time, and usually just tries to eat the blanket he's on. He just barely has started to get good at lifting up his head and looking around a little. His napping is going a little better, but still kinda so-so. I don't know if I could claim he sleeps through the night, but he has been sleeping to around 5 to 5:30. I'll take it. It's been nice, but tricky, cause he and Gabe just wake each other up. If Gabe hears him, she's up for the morning and I can't get her back down. Juggling both kids at 5 am, trying not to wake Daddy has proven to be tricky. It's hard in a tiny house, everyone hears everyone. He has started grabbing onto things to Gabe's dismay. She always thinks he's trying to grab at what she's holding. And she usually gets whacked when he starts getting excited and swings his arms and legs. Good thing she adores him right? His hair is starting to grow in a little, even though he still has some good bald spots going. He now has some secret goal to pee on me. Every time I change him, it's quiet the adventure. One that he finds very amusing. He now loves to kick and splash in the bath, it makes it fun. Here are some pics of our little man at three months......






His early Christmas present from Aunt La and Uncle Trav

His Thighs are getting so chunky, I have a hard time getting pants over them. Ha!

Another Handsome Boy in the Family

I love that our Ollie boy looks like his Daddy. (In my opinion anyways) I know they aren't identical, and that's a good thing to have your own identity. I am happy that he got a lot of Adam's features. I've been scanning some of Adam's baby pictures into out computer, and I have come across some that remind me so much of Ollie. It's fun to see his Daddy passing down his handsome genes. I know It's silly I get so excited about it, but I love it. Here are some similar ones I found. What cute boys I have!





Honestly I'm not even sure what exactly it is that makes them look similar. They have the same hairline, ears, and I think the nose. Their eyes are different. Im not sure where he got his big round eyes from. I'm not sure on the mouth. When he smiles he looks like Gabe, but I think only because all of his dimples appear. The dimples being one of the only thing resembling me. (including my "butt" chin- or cleft chin to be correct) The dark hair coming from my side as well. Anyway I just figured I'd state some of my observations since I was doing a post on it.

Outside the Snow is Falling.....

and Gabe is stoked! At one week before Christmas, we are trying to patiently wait, and trying to keep Gabe distracted with new snow fall. She wakes up every day asking if it's Christmas eve, despite the numerous count downs we have around the house to let her know how many days we have left. Her next question is always if we can go play in the snow. We have this plan to go see a Santa next week, but she doesn't know that yet. (It's actually a guy Adam knows) There is no way I'm telling her about it until right before we go. This girl is so excited about Christmas, I'm not sure how life will go on for us once it's over. Hopefully all the new goodies will keep her busy for a while. Whenever we ask her what she wants for Christmas, she tells us a dress and toys. She's also a big advocate for Mrs. Claus. She has a Mickey Mouse episode where Mrs. Claus has to come and recruit Mickey and friends to help Santa. You see her more than him, so in her mind she is a very important part of Christmas. Whenever she talks about Santa, she tells us Mrs. Clause is coming too. I'd like to think that if she wants to come along for the ride, Santa takes her with. I think she has an important roll too. Taking care of that man is a big job! :0) We are also trying to convince her that if she wants Santa to bring her presents, than she has to leave all of her "Bops" (pacifiers) for him to take with him. I think the other night she finally grasped what we meant by not using them ever again. She was a little sad, but she is so excited about Christmas, we think it'll work. Everyone cross your fingers. Anyway until the big day, we have been playing in the snow, except it rained today and washed the rest away. Bummer, it was a nice distraction. Oh well. Ollie ventured out in his baby snow suit this morning. I didn't even realize they made these, but we got a hand me one down from someone. At least that's what we think it is. He was fascinated. If it wasn't windy I would have kept him out there longer, cause he liked it.






She LOVED this little sled this year. We wanna try and take her sledding soon, she would love it.

Drinking Hot Chocolate, and watching a show after playing

*Bonus Story* - Tonight we had our ward's Christmas dinner. For entertainment they had the primary kids sing Christmas songs. Gabe stood on Adam's lap so she could watch. When they were done she says, " okay my turn." She had Adam take her up to the front. No one was paying attention anymore, cause the primary kids had sat down. She got shy and embarrassed realizing there were a lot of people and wouldn't sing jingle bells. We thought it was cute she was wanting to perform too. Even though nobody noticed but us. Cute girl.

A "Fun" Week

Have you ever looked back at a week and wondered where it went, but at the same time felt like it was the longest week ever? Ha. That sums up my week. It was busy with random things, so it went by quickly, but not the type a things that are overly super exciting.

First, I tried getting creative with my sunday school lesson this week, and spent more time than I would have liked to planning it. It went okay, but not as spectacular as I would have liked. When I first started teaching I was way more creative. I've been a little lax in my planning lately. It's a busy time of the year and Ollie doesn't sleep as much in the day that he used to, so less time to plan I'm finding. In the beginning of January my class will jump from about 4-6 regular kids to 10-13. That's a big difference. Plus there are a ton of rowdy troubled boys that I get, that I can honestly say I am not looking forward to getting. I know that's horrible of me to say, but it's true. SOOOO I feel stressed about it all of a sudden. Anyway....

Second, I have this organizing itch lately. I think it's because I know my goals/resolutions for next year and I want to feel prepared to jump right into them. I organized my filing cabinet all week. Sounds exciting right? It hasn't been touched since we first got married. It had tons of stuff we don't need anymore. It was a project. One I really didn't have time for, but I did anyway. My house work has been neglected a bit, but at least I got it done. The other project was to try to organize all my FHE files, ideas, papers, etc....I can say I'm about half way done with that, cause I have no idea how to organize it well. Now if I can just plan on how to use it all successfully I'll be good.

Third, Gabe has had more potty accidents in this one week, than in the last few months combined. All due to sickness. She got some kind of bug that made her have Diarrhea. SORRY that is probably too much info for you guys, but it's my life. Plus, once you've potty trained a kid you have no problem talking bathroom lingo with people. I have cleaned up more poop this week than I would care to admit. HORRIBLE. For me and for her. Poor thing. Can I just say, this is when I am a fan of pull-ups. I am so grateful we had some on hand. (I use them for church) Within two days I cleaned up her peeing the bed twice, and 6 different poop accidents. I feel so bad for her. It's so confusing for a kid you just got comfortable going to the bathroom to have to experience something so awful. It's kinda like starting over, cause she is all skittish about things again. AH! We have been really lucky in our house not to have flu type bugs hit us or the kids since Gabe has been born. This was my first mothering experience dealing with something like that. I am tired. At least she wasn't throwing up as well. I don't know if I'll know what to do for my kids when the day comes when I get to deal with that. Colds I can handle, cause we've done, and had plenty of types of those. The flu is another story. Let's hope we don't have to experience that any time soon. On a positive note, I did have her successfully use the bathroom at church today! HURRAY!!!! If you know anything about the potty training details, you'll know that is a HUGE step for us. Good job Gabrielle!

Forth, all the last few Christmas gifts and what nots to buy, I finally managed to get done. It's easy in the beginning when you have lots of different things to buy, and you can go to different places to get things. It's those hard last gifts that you need from that one certain store that isn't conveniently close. Plus you have a sick child you are not taking anywhere. Ha! AND THEN you go, and they don't have what you needed! So you end up at two other stores that are way out of the way to finally find what you needed. But atleast I think I can say I'm done buying. Bring on all the wrapping and baking! ;)

To top off my random week, while feeding Ollie in the mothers lounge today at church, I had a guy from the branch that meets in our building come in to change his daughter's diaper. This is the second time this has happened to me. This branch is a different culture, and it's not a big deal to them obviously. It is however, a big deal to me. Especially since there are plenty of other places men change their kid's diapers during church. It's called a mothers lounge for a reason. It's there to give nursing mothers a private place to feed/ take care if their babies. The first time it happened a guy came in with his wife and just started chatting with me as I was nursing and his wife was changing a diaper. I'm just not one of those women that is comfortable nursing anywhere or in front of anyone, so it wasn't a regular experience. Now I know he really was just there to change his kid, but that doesn't mean I want him there. I think it's weird.

Well with all the fesitivity posts lately, it's nice to kinda rant about regular everyday stuff now and again. Even if no one cares to read about it but me. So there you have it folks, my crazy slow/fast week.

Gabe Visits the Dentist

Gabe had her first dentist appointment this week. When she turned two, our pediatrician recommended that we start seeing a pediatric dentist between two and three years old. We just got around to it. We want to try and be good about dental care for her, cause we know some people who didn't for their kids, and they had some serious dental problems. I think when they are this young, some people don't figure they need it. If any of our kids get my teeth genes, they are gonna need it.

Luckily our dentist office which we like, has a special pediatric branch right next door. Our dentist's wife is actually the pediatric dentist. Gabe lately has been loving going to Ollie's doctor's appointments and watching the doctor examine Ollie's eyes, ears, etc.... So one of her new favorite things to play is doctor. She examines your eyes and mouth, and everything else and tells you you're all better. (Hence the reason Santa is bringing her this play doctor kit) ANYWAY...to prepare her for the dentist I started a new game of playing dentist. I examined her teeth with pretend tools and made as many loud noises as I could think of. HA! I know it sounds silly, but Gabe does so much better with new things if you let her know all that is going to happen. So I did. Every time we brushed her teeth, we talked to her about it.

Well I stayed home with Ollie, and Adam took his lunch to take her to it. I didn't want to have to worry about juggling Ollie if she was freaked out about something. We both were so nervous for her for some reason. I think it's cause the dentist has such random noises, and this girl is still afraid of our vacuum and loud flushing toilets. When Adam left he said, "Man I feel like it's the first day of Kindergarten or something." (Only cause we were nervous for her.) I think potty training has made us a little skittish with doing new things with her. The result, she did great! She charmed everyone there, and did almost everything they asked her to do. She didn't want the spit suction thing in her mouth. They are used to kids having issues with certain tools, so they improvise when that happens. Adam said he was really impressed with the office, and how they got her to do things. They said her teeth look great! Hurray. She enjoyed it. She chatted away with them, and told them all about her Baby Ollie too. :) It helped during her visit she got to watch Snow White, and came home with TONS of stickers and toy jewelry she chose out. At the end of your visit they give you a special token for doing so good, and they have quarter machine things with trinkets to choose from. Cute huh? She still hasn't taken off the necklace.

I guess Nevada water is one of the only three states that doesn't have fluoride in their water. So they recommended these tablets to give her to help strengthen her teeth while she is still using fluoride free toothpaste. We will totally be using those ones, especially if her teeth end up like mine. Man it's so crazy this girl of ours is getting old enough for this kind of stuff. So Gabe has now joined up with the growing up world of dentist check ups......poor girl. I hate the dentist, even though I wouldn't tell her that. :) And yes I made Adam take pictures while he was there, cause I like to document my kid's "firsts". Plus I didn't go, so he sent me pics to show me how she was doing.

What Color are your pancakes?

In our house they are red, blue, or purple....so far. :0) Toddlers are tricky to get to eat food. Gabe is so hard lately. So I've tried new recipes, made things into shapes, and I've made things different colors as well to try to get her to eat food. The first time our pancakes were blue. Upon trying these new blue pancakes she told me, "'Mmm blue pancakes are so yummy Momma! Thanks for making them Momma." I thought- Hey no problem thats what I'm here for... to make your food unatural colors for your enjoyment :) It's kinda become a tradition now. Every time she hears I'm making them, she puts in her request. (and yes we eat them often enough-and not just for breakfast either) She already told me next time they will be Green. Sounds appealing doesn't it? Well to a two year old, it's great fun. Here's to purple pancakes!

Christmas Time

I have to say as obnoxious as the hustle and bustle of Christmas can be, I am really enjoying it. I do feel a little rushed to get things done. Last year I had it all done in November. So this year even though I feel like Christmas is tomorrow I am getting things done. I think as convenient as shopping on the internet can be, it stresses me out that things won't get here in time. It's also stressful to get shopping done in the beginning of December, cause really the longer you wait, the crowds get worse. I've tried to do most of Adam's shopping online, cause I have discovered shopping with the two kiddos is tricky. Gabe is a very observant child. I've seen some parents put items on the bottom of the cart out of view, nope I tried that a few times. A blanket over stuff in the back of the cart doesn't work either, cause she insists on sitting in the back of that cart. Man I don't know how parents do it. Ha! So I had to leave the kids with Adam a few nights to get Gabe's done. Then Ad did Ollie's. Anyway for the most part we are done besides a few small things. We want to try and make some cookies for our home teacher/visiting teacher families, and a few neighbors too. We also wanna locate where Santa will be somewhere to get the kid's pics taken. Wish us luck!

A friend of ours let us borrow a few festive dresses this year for Gabe. So she has been enjoying some pretty dresses. That was nice, cause we couldn't afford one for her this year. Then we got an early Christmas present from Aunt Laurel and Uncle Travis. They sent her the cutest festive dress. She was so excited that this one could be hers and that she doesn't have to give it back. We got it in a package yesterday. She has been begging to wear it. So I let her wear it today and she asked me to take her picture. (the top picture is the plaid dress Laurel and Travis gave her) So I did her hair all cute, and we had a photo shoot. We really did. She told me what she wanted to wear, and where we would take the pictures. She posed all by herself. Ha. She wanted pictures in every dress she has, so we did. Cute girl. (There are some that are just her playing in her tutu as well) Anyway I figured I'd attach some, so this post wasn't only text. Also so those who lent and gave could see her in them. I hope to get some of her in her new dress with Ollie. It might be after Christmas, cause I heard he's getting a cute new church vest that would look adorable with her new dress. Thanks guys! (For letting us borrow/and for her new one) I hope you all are getting everything you need done. I hope you guys aren't too over whelmed, and you're enjoying the holiday season!