Merry Christmas!!!

Obviously, the last week of events was a big one so I've broken it up into two separate blogs.

We received so many gifts and so many cards, from so many different people: parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, great-aunts, great-grandparents, distant relatives, friends...even the dog for goodness sakes! I love how this time of year helps remind everyone how many people care about eachother. I do want to make a point to say that every gift, card and personal note was sincerely appreciated.

Since our family has many sides to it our children benefit greatly. When I told Josh we were going to have four Christmas' I thought his head was going to explode.

CHRISTMAS #1

Dad and Thomas came for the weekend. They sacrificed many hours in the car just to get here - due to the mass exodus from the city on Friday. Saturday morning we got up, ate breakfast, threw the turkey in the oven and got to opening gifts.

Lauren was hysterical!! She and Mattie (the dog) can shred paper with the best of them!




However, when the last gift was opened she had a little meltdown.



Oh, come on. We've all had a moment like that! :-)

Then the storm hit. (See blog below) We pretty much hunkered down in the house and kept ourselves busy by playing Uncle Joel's Wii and making Christmas Monster Cookies for Santa. A bad storm is always a good excuse to not leave the house.



Sunday we all went to church together. The seven of us ended up making up half of the congregation. I didn't care, though. I love worshiping as a family.



After church it was time for Dad and Thomas to head back home and if they thought their 6 hour trip on Friday was bad....the 8 hour one on the way home was worse! We are all grateful that they came down and even more thankful that they made it home safe.

CHRISTMAS #2

After Dad and Thomas left we took a quick nap after playing in the snow and went over to Larry and Toni's for Christmas with them and Gretchen and Adam.




Lauren got her first "baby" and Josh got passes to the bowling alley. Josh was so excited that he didn't want the night to end...so we gladly left him there! Good ol' Aunt Gretchen is always game for a sleepover!

CHRISTMAS EVE

Dustin ended up having to go into work at UPS on Monday night. Obviously, this threw a wrench in the plans for the evening. And obviously, I was not happy. However, being the amazing wife that I am (ahem!) I didn't try to make Dustin feel any worse than I did about the whole thing. (You didn't think I'd let him off Scott free, did ya?)

In order to have any chance of attending service with Dustin, I decided to go to the later service. Right off the bat I knew it was going to be a disaster, so I don't know why I was shocked it didn't go smoothly. My main goal of the evening was to get the kids in their Christmas outfits even if that meant I came in sweats and a ripped t-shirt. After several serious discussions with my son I finally got every piece of his suit on his little body.

Lauren was a trooper and helped me out by not screaming at me. She whined a bit when I tried to get her dress on her but since her outfit cost as much as mine there wasn't a chance in hell she wasn't going to wear it.

I got us to church ON TIME, all while fighting with Josh. Our fighting continued through the first 30 minutes of the service, that is, until Dustin arrived and separated us. I was ready for a Tylenol and a stiff drink by the time pastor started the sermon.

Once we got home I got a few pictures of the kids. Josh wanted his suit off immediately but Lauren was more than willing to participate in a photo shoot.






We quickly set out everything for Santa and his reindeer and immediately went to bed.



CHRISTMAS #3

There was no sleeping in on Christmas morning this year! Josh came running down to find the presents from Santa and boy was he pleased!







His only request for next year...no ribbon!

Lauren had as much fun watching everyone else open their gifts as she did opening her own.






Then, of course, Dustin had a trick up his sleeve.



Every year he wraps a gift to me in such a way that opening it is nearly impossible. Last year was duct tape: this year packing tape. He just likes to sit and laugh at me, I swear. I gave up trying to get it open and left it be. He'll learn.

By the time all the gifts had been unwrapped we were all wiped out.


CHRISTMAS #4

Honestly, I have no photos from the last Christmas; partly because I was too exhausted to take any and partly because my camera had died from all the other Christmas'.

Let's just say that Josh got everything he wanted, Lauren got more than her little mind could ever imagine and Dustin and I got more than we deserved.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Christmas Program - Take 2

I'm sure you all remember Josh's Christmas program last year. Yeah, the one where Dustin had to go up with all the other 4 year-olds and Josh cried through the entire program.

The program had originally been scheduled for an evening and Dustin was distraught because he had to work; however an ice storm caused it to get postponed. Thankfully it was rescheduled for during the day so Dustin was able to attend. And a good thing he did, because this year Josh rocked!! I knew we had it in the bag when he came strutting down the aisle and gave us this look:

He's such a hoot!!

I took a lot of footage, but most of what I got was Josh looking around at all the other kids. Ironically, the little girl that stood next to him broke down mid-performance and had to go back to her parents. She got about as worked up as he did the year before yet Josh looked at her like she was crazy. Ahhh....what a difference a year makes.



After the performance he came back to our pew and was so proud of himself.


Yeah, well, we were pretty proud of him, too.

As if we haven't had enough snow and ice around here, God decided to send us another winter snow storm. And boy did he get us this time!!






Every time we get a big snow like this it reminds me of when Dustin and I were dating in high school and him and I would ride the four wheeler all over town. Honestly, we are as bad as children when it comes to the snow. Dustin wasn't even done bringing the kids in the house from church on Sunday and I had already run upstairs and changed into my snow gear.

We left the kids in the house with Dad and we played in the snow for a good couple of hours. Of course we did some actual work and cleared out the driveway and sidewalks, but my badly windburned face was evidence that we did more than work.

There was a moment when we were riding the four wheeler so fast that I could hear us both laughing and I immediately felt like I was 16 again. Shortly after that we pulled into the driveway of our house (with a mortgage) and took over caring for our two kids.

Back to reality.

Santa's coming to town!!

Thursday night our daycare provider, Jaime, was nice enough to host a Christmas party for her "families" -- complete with a visit from Santa. With Dustin working nights that meant that it was just going to be me and the kids. Between me running late and another party in the area the streets were lined with cars all the way down the block by the time we arrived.

So I drove around the block twice partially in disbelief of my bad luck and partially in my attempt to delay the inevitable. Of course Lauren's car seat was on the side of the van in which exiting the vehicle would require climbing the Mt. Everest of snow/ice banks. So I attempted to get her out through the other side of the van. Has anyone else tried to remove a car seat from the opposite side of a van with a 20+ pound child strapped in all while the child remains sleeping? I'll tell you right now....it's impossible.

So I carried her in her car seat, the diaper bag, my purse, a gift bag, another bag with two more presents and I was holding Josh's hand trying to keep him from slipping on all the ice. Honestly, I walked about two houses down and thought about turning back around. At that point I was not in the Christmas spirit at all and was afraid I might take it out on poor, unsuspecting Santa. But I pushed on.

We finally got up to her driveway and then we basically had to get on our hands and knees to crawl underneath all the "iced down" branches. It was the training camp of Christmas parties.

By the time I actually got to her door my arm was spasming from the weight of my child, I was sweating and Josh had fallen twice. I threw the kids in the door and went to collect all the packages I had lost along the way. I'm exhausted just rehashing the ordeal.

Shortly after our arrival Santa appeared.



As you can tell there were two reactions from the kids: screaming and crying. My son clammed up and didn't take his eyes off the bearded man. Santa took seat in his rocking chair and all the kids sat around him. As each child was convinced to go up and tell Santa his/her Christmas wish, I had the following conversation with my son:

Me: Josh, go up and sit on Santa's lap.
Josh: No.
Me: Josh, come on. Don't you want to tell Santa what you want for Christmas?
Josh: No.
Me: Seriously, Josh. Look...all the other kids are going up there.
Josh: No, mom.
Me: How is Santa going to know what you want for Christmas?
Josh: Cuz' you're going to tell him.
Me: (Laughing) No, I'm not. Mommy will not fit on Santa's lap. (Sternly)Go up there.
Josh: No.
Me: How about I put Lauren on his lap?
Josh: DON'T DO THAT TO HER!!!!!
Me: (Laughing) He won't eat you or anything!
Josh: Um...okay

Now this child has a Christmas list longer than a mile. He can tell you a list of at least 40 things he wants at any given moment. I hear about all the toys he wants from the moment he wakes up to the moment he falls asleep. I finally get him up on Santa's lap and this is all I get....

Santa: Ho. Ho. Ho. What do you want for Christmas?
Josh: (Monotone) Funkies.
(Long awkward pause)
Me: Josh, can I get a smile?



Doesn't he look terrified? God, too funny. It totally reminded me of the scene in The Christmas Story when the little boy finally makes it up to see Santa and completely freezes up.

I threw Lauren up there and she was all smiles, of course. But by the time I got to my camera she was more interested in his sleeves and beard than anything else.



Shortly after that I loaded everything back up -- only this time with four more presents. We headed back through the obstacle course and headed home only to have Lauren scream at the top of her lungs the whole way. I should really ask Dustin how that temple in my honor is coming after all that.

Friday morning Lauren had her 6 month check-up. Like this comes as a shock to anyone....she's a big girl. She's perfectly proportioned; however, she's as big as a one year-old! She weighs 20 pounds, 8 ounces and is 28 3/4 inches long. No wonder my arms feel like they're falling off sometimes!!

Then Saturday.

Saturday stunk. We got up and headed out for some early morning errands and came home to a freezing cold house. Yeah, our 6 year-old furnace decided to quit. Seriously. We lost our air conditioner on one of the hottest days this year and now our furnace on one of the coldest. Between fixing my car door last month and the furnace this month, Dustin and I had a very generous Christmas with each other. "Oh, sweety. A furnace circuit board!!!! You shouldn't have!!"

Honestly, the whole thing makes me sick. Shelling out that kind of cash around Christmas is nauseating. However, I cranked the heat up to 78 degrees for awhile on Saturday night.....because I could.

Yesterday was another work day at the house. Dustin steam cleaned some of the carpeting; I did laundry and wrapped the last present. My own, that is. I had "wrapping" sessions a few other times and each time Dustin told me not to wrap my own gift. I mean, I had already ordered my own gift so you'd think the least he could have done is wrap it. Nonetheless, after a month of sitting on the floor, I wrapped it.

The whole scenario reminds me of our engagement story (or lack thereof). We went looking at rings, I picked one out and a week later he walked in the front door and threw the ring box at me and said, "So, you wanna?".

Like I said...temple....built...any day now.

Winter Wonderland

While trees covered in ice may look beautiful in calendars, the stuff can certainly put a cramp in daily activities. Josh's Christmas program was cancelled and the electricity went off at work and they sent everyone home. So, I figured if anything good was going to come from this...it would be some neat photos. Enjoy!

It's gorgeous!

On Thursday we got a few inches of snow. You know how it goes...just enough to screw up evening traffic but not enough to build a snowman. You should see Josh when it's snowing outside. The poor kid has minor convulsions until we let him loose in the backyard.

Since I have Fridays off I tend to let Josh stay up a little later on Thursday nights so he can see Dustin before he goes to bed. Well, it paid off for the little guy. Dustin got home and told him to get geared up and they would clear the snow off the driveway and sidewalks with the four-wheeler. Josh jumped up so fast you would have thought I told him Santa was in our living room. So at 10 o'clock at night my son and husband went out riding around on their favorite toy.

I'm sure every neighbor and anyone else who may have seen us now thinks I'm the worst mother ever because I let my 4 year-old play in the snow until 10:30 on a week night. He had so much fun romping around so forget what they think!




Then on Friday night, while Dustin was at work, the kids and I delivered some of our annual crafts here in town. It was so much fun to watch Josh give out his homemade gifts. He was so proud and so sincere. While we were out we looked at a few Christmas lights before Lauren informed us she was ready to go home.

As we pulled onto our street Josh asked if Dustin was going to be putting out Christmas lights any time soon. I told him I didn't know but asked why was he asking. He said, "Mom. It is SOOOOOO embarrassing to not have Christmas on our trees." Now you know I had to give Dustin a hard time when he got home from work. He must have felt bad because he even attempted to put some out on Saturday but it was just too cold and rainy.

In big girl news, Lauren is no longer using her baby tub for baths. She sits up like a big girl and splashes away with Josh.




Last night we worked on this year's gingerbread house. This year's house did not come pre-assembled so I had to make my own icing and build it from the ground up. That in and of itself was quite the adventure but once it was ready Josh had plenty of ideas on where to put candy.




The house is complete with little candles in every window and a flower bed under one of the windows. It's very cute! Dustin came down and we were about half done and he told Josh how good it looked. Josh said, "Isn't it gorgeous, Dad?"

To which Dustin replied, "It IS gorgeous, Josh."

Then Josh said, "Dad, if you say it again then I'll know it's true."

Too funny.

Then we were working on the fence around the edge. He told me that he wanted to do a red hot, then a piece of candy and so on. So after he explains that he says, "So mom, it's little, big, little, big, little, big. That's the pattern."

I think he's learning from our Kindergarten workbooks! :-)

We really didn't do much else this weekend except for a little cleaning. Josh dressed Lauren up with his Fireman's hat and that brought us a good 20 minutes of laughter.


Then Dustin took turns walking around with the kids on his shoulders. I think it's Lauren's favorite spot in the house. She giggles the whole time she's up there but I've assured Dustin she isn't laughing at his receding hairline! :-)

She did say "Dada" twice this weekend. I'm sure it was just babbling but she was looking right at Dustin when she said it both times. So "Dada" is convinced she knows who he is now. However you want to look at it...it was super cute.

Then Dustin was coming down the stairs and she was on the floor crawling around. As soon as she saw him coming she took off towards him. We both started to cry a little because her little face just brightens up when she gets excited and it was the first time she'd ever made the attempt to get closer to one of us.

I know that it upsets Dustin to be gone so much and miss out on so many of the day to day activities so I'm so glad she did that for him. I have to admit, though...I was a little jealous.

Physical Exhaustion

I usually pride myself on planning ahead and my overall organization. However, this Christmas season I have either planned way too many activities...or my organizational capabilities have seriously malfunctioned.

While every other Iowan was at the grocery store on Friday night preparing for the impending ice storm...I was there by myself, with my two children, fighting through the aisles for ingredients for our Christmas crafts. Seriously. About the time I had found a parking spot, drug my children into the store and located a cart, I looked around and wondered if I had lost my mind. It was utter mayhem. Shopping with the children under normal circumstances is difficult enough and this was ridiculous.

Of course Hy-vee didn't have everything so I hauled them over to the Factory Card Outlet, or as Josh says, the Party Store. We snagged our last few items and headed BACK to Hy-vee to fill up with gas. I was totally off my game on Friday. Obviously.

And to top it off, I got home only to take off Lauren's seat cover and realize...I had never buckled her in. THAT'S IT...TAKE HER AWAY!!!!! I am not a fit parent.

You'd think I would have put them in bed and called it a night. But of course not. I went out with Toni until around midnight and finished my Christmas shopping!!!

Saturday we all got up bright and early and ran some errands before the big storm hit. We made it home just in time and Josh and I started in our project.


We had fun but of course we've only finished one step of a multi step process. I'm hoping one night this week we can finish the rest up and send them off.

I had started about four other projects on Saturday and went to find some help and found Josh...asleep.

I didn't have the heart to wake him so I let him be and 3 hours later he woke up. Dustin and Lauren were asleep for just about as long. While I admit it was the perfect day to take a nap I used the time to address Christmas cards, pick up and do some more decorating.

By the time everyone woke up I was ready for bed. Of course after all that sleeping no one wanted to go to bed at a regular time, so I stayed up and wrapped Christmas presents for a few hours. You'd think after wrapping gifts for a total of four hours I'd have more to show for it than this.


Then Sunday. Ahhhhhh Sunday. After deep-cleaning the kids' room, the family room and the kitchen I decided to take it easy and play with the kids for awhile. As far as physical exertion, I think it's easier to clean. Lauren has figured out the art of the "army crawl" and boy she can move.

Between her mobility and her desire to grab everything and put it in her mouth she is always about 2 inches away from trouble. I found the perfect toy for her...

After an hour of chasing her and keeping her out of trouble, I took 5 minutes and enjoyed her time in her high chair, or as I adoringly refer to it as "Lock Down".

My time on the floor with her paid off. I got some adorable pictures of her admiring the Christmas tree.




A few photos like this certainly make up for an exhausting weekend.

Well, I'm off to finish addressing the Christmas cards. At this rate you should all get them by Easter.