Merry Christmas!

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. I missed my Monday night deadline. Sorry. But in my defense...it IS year-end and, thanks to my body growing abnormally large children, I am already having extreme difficulties sleeping.

Round #1

By the time we were ready to open our first round of presents Dustin and I were ready to tie down the kids. Their anticipation and excitement had been building for weeks and by the time we got home from church they were each quivering like a diabetic who's had too much sugar.

After a few formailities (i.e. pictures), we were just about ready. As a side note, my mother-in-law is not known for taking good photos. (She's well aware of the fact. Right, Toni?) So I'm not quite sure why I handed her my camera for our one and only family photo.



Oh well. I've just succumb to the fact that I will never have a nice photo of my family; whether that just be a few of us or together as a whole. Besides, if you look closely above Josh's right eye you can see a bald patch. Yes, he cut his own hair. And as punishment, I have resorted to calling him "Patch" for an entire week.

After some yummy food we unleashed the children.






Josh was thrilled to get a bike! He couldn't even wait long enough to take the tags off the helmet before he got all geared up. He was so busy trying to ride it around the house that it gave the rest of the adults some time to breathe and clean up.

As soon as we got home Josh wanted to check on Santa's location via the Internet. So Dustin put Lauren to bed and unloaded the car while Josh and I tracked down Santa. By the time we got home he was already in Florida and once I showed Josh where that was in relation to Iowa he bolted upstairs and got into his pajamas.

Dustin and I just about died laughing. He was so excited! I went in and kissed him goodnight, said our prayers and asked if he'd like me to turn on his tv. He said, "No, mom. I want Santa to come and I'll be asleep in 2 minutes!"

And by God...he was!!

Round #2

Dustin and I had stayed up late on Christmas Eve and wouldn't you know it...Santa came!!!




Lauren was the first one up and immediately began shouting, "MOMMY! MOMMY!" So it wasn't long and Josh was up, too.

You'd think that after being together for thirteen plus years Dustin would learn. But that man hadn't wrapped my present yet and made ME hold the children hostage on the stairs until he was finished. I swear some days I'd just like to smack him.

I should have let them loose and made it so he missed their excitement, if only to teach him a lesson. But as I've also learned...it's good to keep those sorts of things in a back pocket for future use.

As if anyone will be surprised, Josh was busy ripping apart his gifts and Lauren sat at the plate of cookies and ate until we told her it was time to open her gift from Santa.



Josh got his Leapster 2 and Lauren got her Bitty Baby. When she opened her gift and realized it was a baby she gasped and said, "A baby!" OMG. It was so cute! I just about started to cry!




Round #3

Mom, Titi and Joel came over in the afternoon so the kids were all warmed up for opening more gifts. Lauren received a bunch of items to use with her new baby and put them to good use within minutes.



And I got the best present ever....



My double stroller!!! Oh man, I cannot tell you how happy I was to open that puppy up! Lauren loves it and I kept pushing her and her new baby around the house in it. You can also tell by that last picture that Lauren received some headbands. However, she wanted to keep the tag on it. I'm guessing because it reminded her more of a tiara.

Do I have my hands full or what?

Round #4

Dad and Thomas came down for the weekend which meant that the kids had a day to "rest up" for Round #4.





We truly had a wonderful Christmas and hope everyone else did as well. Dustin was able to have quite a bit of time off of work and it was so nice to be together as a family for more than just a weekend.

We did get Josh's room moved this weekend so I am oficially in full-on decorating mode in order to get the nursery done before tax season starts. And as a little present to all who haven't seen me in awhile I have a belly pic.



There it is...in all my 28 week, 3 day glory.

Today is my last monthly doctor's appointment and now I will be going every 2 weeks. Doesn't seem possible. It is also my glucose test. Blech. Speaking of sugar intake...I'll be anxious to see if that pound of carmel a few weeks back kept me from losing any more weight this month!

Baby Update: 29 weeks

Your baby is growing rapidly now. This week he weighs about 2 1/2 pounds (like a butternut squash) and is a tad over 15 inches long from head to heel. His muscles and lungs are continuing to mature, and his head is getting bigger to accommodate his growing brain — which is busy developing billions of neurons. Every day, about 200 milligrams of calcium is deposited in your baby's skeleton, which is now hardening. With this rapid growth, it's no surprise that your baby's nutritional needs reach their peak during this trimester.

Join the club

For people who didn't get to see our Christmas card this year...let me share.



The majority of people who've seen it think it's hysterical and I've actually had some people call me just to tell me so. Over time I've accepted the fact that I didn't get the "perfect shot" and embraced the chance to show people what the Brickers are REALLY like.

Then this weekend I opened up the paper and got all the way to the comics and read Baby Blues.



I about died! I love, love, love that comic strip and each week I find further confirmation that my life is normal, my kids are normal and, dare I say, my husband is normal.

The rest of this weekend was filled with baking and cleaning.

Friday night I decided to, yet again, tackle the art of baking...and failed miserably. My baked good of choice was Zupfa. Dad used to make it all the time and it is not only a beautiful braided bread but it's also delicious. I dug through all my recipes and thought it was a sign from God that I should give it a whirl when I realized I had every ingredient in the house. Typically, if I were missing an ingredient I would walk right back out of the kitchen in order to avoid dragging the kids out to the store. Because honestly, no baked good is worth all that effort.

I obviously should have read the recipe more clearly because if I had...I would not have even attempted this particular venture to begin with. Seriously..."set it aside for 15 minutes", "let it rise 1 1/2 - 2 hours", "let it rise for an additional 45-50 minutes". Who has time to bake these days anyway?

I only had to call Dad twice, but even with his expert advice from Minneapolis, I was not able to save my bread from disaster. It is so ugly and the braiding is horrendous. I can't even muster the courage to taste the stuff. I did, however, throw the loaves in the freezer in the hopes that I can use them to give Dad a good laugh this weekend.

The sugar cookies on Saturday went much better; not because I'm learning, but because I had help from Betty Crocker. God, I love that woman.




Josh really did help and Lauren had more fun spinning the base to the mixer. Hey...whatever makes the girl happy, right?




Shortly after I finished cleaning up from cookies we realized it had started snowing so we took a moment to enjoy watching the snowflakes fall.



Sunday we worked in the basement. The entire remodeling project pretty much came to a screeching halt about 5 weeks ago and to see some progress was very encouraging.





I started steam cleaning the carpet tonight and hopefully by this weekend we should be able to get his room officially moved! He is so excited!! On Sunday, Dustin and I just looked around and reveled in our accomplishment for a few moments. And even now looking at the pictures I can't believe we DID that! It has been, by far, the most complicated project we've ever taken on...and I believe once we finish everything...the last.

We also decorated our cookies for Santa on Sunday!






Of course after we decorated all of them...we had to have a quick taste testing! Lauren pretty much just sucked and licked the frosting off her cookie and Mattie patiently waited for Lauren to throw her whatever was left.




And while they were delicious...I will need to warn Santa in our letter on Christmas Eve so that he doesn't crack a tooth on some of the candies. Yowzer!

Baby Update: 28 weeks

By this week, your baby weighs two and a quarter pounds (like a Chinese cabbage) and measures 14.8 inches from the top of her head to her heels. She can open and close her eyes, which now sport lashes. This movement is more of a reflexive blink than a deliberate opening and closing, but it won't be long before she's batting those beauties at you.

It is almost impossible for me to believe that Christmas is merely hours away. We are anticipating a very fun Christmas with the children and Dustin and I are as excited to watch the children open their presents as they are to open them.

More importantly, we want to wish all of our readers a blessed Christmas! We pray you have safe travels, joyful times with loved ones and the opportunity to take a moment and reflect on the reason for the season:

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord.” - Luke 2:8-11

Merry Christmas!

And the Grand Finale of the 2008 Camping Season

As I continue my quest to receive a "Mother of the Year" award, I have again failed for 2008.

Thursday night was Josh's Christmas Program at daycare. Of course, Dustin had to work so he was unable to get to see the actual program and, more importantly, I had no help getting them both ready.

So, I got the kids fed and dressed and over to the church. Josh was all excited and finally, after all these years, I am no longer filled with worry that he'll clam up and burst into tears in the middle of the program. The kids began to file in and as soon as Joshie turned the corner and saw me sitting there he just beamed. God...I love that. As a mom, heck as a human being, there is no better feeling than having someone smile at the sight of you. Warms the heart, most definitely.

So imagine it...there I am sitting in the pew anxiously awaiting my son's performance, my daughter standing and screaming "Joshie" through all the other performances and me wishing my husband was there to see it. Then the time comes. It's Josh's turn. He files up onto stage and finds his spot. I grab a quick picture...



Then they start to sing. I switch my camera to grab a video...



THEN BAM!!!! Camera dies.

WTH?!?!?!?

I was devastated. Not only for my blog (of course)...but for my husband. Between my hormones, watching my son sing his little heart out and disappointment for my husband it took every ounce of me to keep smiling at Josh and not fall into a puddle of tears. Guess I need to pay more attention to my battery charge and less about how my kids look.

Friday I took off of work at noon and did a little last minute shopping! I rocked it...BIG TIME! You know when a really good sale, meets finding EXACTLY what you're looking for, meets shopping without your kids?!?!? It's like the Bermuda Triangle of shopping trips. Well...I had it on Friday! It was glorious. All 1 hour and 49 minutes of it!

But by Friday night...I was wiped. So instead of waiting for the kids to go to sleep to start my wrapping, I put the kids in Josh's room and told them they could watch a video together. They didn't have a clue what was going on downstairs and they had a blast!



Lucky for me because I only had to stay up till 11:00 before I finished my wrapping!

Saturday morning we went and saw Santa. And while this was not nearly as severe as our Christmas card, Lauren continued her streak of crappy pictures.


Whatever. The girl is a diva. What can I say?

And just like our experience at the merry-go-round immediately following their Christmas picture session, before I had even finished paying she was dancing around the water fountain at the mall performing for all the old people on the benches.

I swear she hates me.

Immediately after that we headed off to pick mom up at church and take her down to the Amana's for her birthday. All I can say is, "Bring on the cottage cheese, bring on the Chicken Schnitzel and bring on the Banana Cream Pie...cuz Mama's hungry!" Honestly, I have not eaten like that in months! Thank God I had on maternity jeans! Holy fatness!

Of course, my daughter did her fair share of eating, too. But does that really surprise anyone?



And as if that wasn't enough, I walked my wobbly butt down to the Chocolate House and bought myself a pound of Carmel. I know what you're thinking..."Oh Beth, I'm sure you shared some of it." Uh...no, I did not. Do you not know me at all? And not only did I not share any of it...but as of last night there wasn't any of it left. So there! **blows a raspberry**

By God, I will finally have gained some weight for my next OB appointment! I will also be diabetic...but whatever. :-)

Then Sunday. Dear God...what a day.

It started off normal. We got up, went to church (as a side note...how much do I love Advent hymns? SO MUCH!) and went out for breakfast. It was unseasonably warm and Dustin thought it would be a good day to take the camper down to the timber for the winter. So I started laundry and got the kids ready while Dustin hooked up to the camper.

We got down there and realized almost immediately that turning the camper around in the limited space of the clearing was not going to be an easy task. So me, being the designated traffic controller, hopped out and did my best at guiding Dustin through the mess of obstacles. Seriously, we had to turn that thing around without hitting two trailers, several trees, a well, a large stump, a shed filled with cut wood and a Morton building. I mean, come on!

There I was standing in the middle of a clearing, yelling directions at my husband and what happened? Well, what happens EVERY time we set up? IT STARTS TO RAIN!!! Honestly, I started laughing. It's freakin' December 14th and it's raining!!! Dustin slammed it into park and got out of the truck just to join me in laughter. What are the odds?

Back to our task.

He hopped back in the truck and realized that our plan wasn't going to work. It was about that time we realized we were stuck. Couldn't go forward, couldn't go backward, couldn't move...and the camper was blocking our only exit.

I headed towards one of the trees and all of a sudden I heard a SCCREEEACCHH!! Not good. Dustin darted out of the truck and yelled a not so nice word. I went running and immediately began crying. We were in a serious pickle, the kids were screaming to get out of the truck and now the camper was damaged. What else could happen, right?

So I started walking towards the Morton building to get a different view of our situation and sssllliippp!

BAM! Me down on the ice...right on my belly. Dustin ran over to help me up and I immediately started to cry again only this time with contractions.

So there I stood....crying, having contractions, covered in mud, in the rain with no way of getting to a hospital and no cell phone reception. I had had enough.

It just went down hill from there...the four wheelers wouldn't start, the temp dropped, the rain turned to sleet, the kids got sick and tired of sitting in the truck, my contractions continued and if I had had a can of lighter fluid I would have just set the stupid camper aflame.

We finally got it turned around and parked in the Morton building but by the time we got back on the road to head home the roads were ice covered and the ride home was very stressful.

If the roads were better I would have made Dustin take me straight to the hospital but honestly, I just wanted to get home. I didn't sleep much last night because I was pretty sore from the fall and paranoid about Baby's lack of movement. But today seems to be a bit more normal so I'll continue to take it easy and call the doctor if I get concerned.

Needless to say...I could do without another day like that.

Baby Update: 27 weeks

This week, your baby weighs almost 2 pounds (like a head of cauliflower) and is about 14 1/2 inches long with her legs extended. She's sleeping and waking at regular intervals, opening and closing her eyes, and perhaps even sucking her fingers. With more brain tissue developing, your baby's brain is very active now. While her lungs are still immature, they would be capable of functioning — with a lot of medical help — if she were born now. Chalk up any tiny rhythmic movements you may be feeling to a case of baby hiccups, which may be common from now on. Each episode usually lasts only a few moments, and they don't bother her, so just relax and enjoy the tickle.

A sweet story:

A few weeks back we were down in the family room watching TV and Josh asked if he could color a picture. I got him a piece of paper and he ran and got his crayons. He worked for a good 20 minutes and ran to show me his finished project.



Our entire family: Dustin, me, Lauren, Josh, Mattie (with green leash and all) and baby...."coming down from heaven". Like that wouldn't make any mother cry. I have a saying on Lauren's wall that says, "Heaven's Gift" and I always tell Josh that God gave him to me. It was just so sweet how he interpreted what I've told him all these years...and I had to share.

Cue laughter.

The time has come. It finally happened. Yes, another first in my life as a parent. Josh finally noticed that Lauren does not have the same "parts" as he.

Oy vey.

I was changing Lauren's diaper, like I have a million times before, and Dustin and I were talking about something completely irrelevant. Josh came over to ask me a question, looked down at Lauren and said...

WHAT IS THAT?!?!?

This is about the time Dustin started busting up and thanking God that Josh asked me and not him!

Me: Well, that's where Lauren pees.
Josh: **giggling** Uh...how? She doesn't have a pee-pee, mom!!
Me: Well, girls don't have pee-pees.
Josh: Well, what do they have?
Me: They have vaginas.
Josh: Wait...
Me: **Looking at Dustin with desperation.**
Josh: So...
**Pause**
Josh: You don't have a pee-pee either?
Me: Uh, no.
Josh: Mom...that's crazy.

Oh my goodness. By the time he had gotten all of his questions answered I was exhausted! And Dustin just sat there and laughed at me.

I told Dustin that's fine...because when Lauren starts asking those things HE can answer HER questions! Have fun with that one, buddy!

Friday I had class in Des Moines for the afternoon and Titi offered to join me for the ride. It was so nice just having another adult to talk to. I didn't have to entertain her, I didn't have to constantly feed her, I didn't have to take her to the bathroom and I didn't have to listen to her whine and cry. All of which are things I'm used to doing with my passengers.

Thanks for coming with me, Titi...and thanks, mom, for watching the kids!! It was a nice break!

Saturday I started the first "phase" of our annual Christmas craft. I got some crazy notion I could try making my own Gingerbread for our Gingerbread Christmas Trees. I like to pride myself on my cooking skills. However, baking is another story.

If my talent was based on the amount of Food TV Network I watch...well, I would be Emeril! Unfortunately, though, it is obvious I do not learn by watching. So, after some "non-Christmas"-like language and a few burned batches, I hung up my apron and called it a day.

After that, I decided to focus on something I knew I could do...decorate! Every year I seem to put up more than the year before even though we are minus our tree in the family room this year. And that's only because after seven years, artificial trees tend to show their age. Well, that and I'm to cheap and tired to go out and buy another one this year. So, I tried to make up for it in other areas.

The kids each got new lights on the trees in their bedrooms and Lauren LOVES, LOVES, LOVES her pink lights. My goodness - what joy a few Christmas lights can bring to a child!

Then there is the tree in the new basement; however, it has no decorations...only lights. I'm thinking maybe we'll go buy a bunch of child-friendly decorations once the "day after Christmas sales" begin. But again, I am to cheap and tired to go out and buy any right now. The kids only really care about the lights anyways so as long as they are content...I am content.

I tried to change things a little this year so I put the cranberry garland throughout the evergreen and tree in the living room. I like it a lot and always love it when I find a good use to something I already have. After buying another 18 strings of lights this year, this is a little of what we ended up with...until I get some more energy and find some place else to decorate.







After everything was cleaned up on Saturday night we had our family movie night. The feature was Scooby-Doo, the snack was popcorn and even the dog fell asleep. That is...until Lauren knocked over the popcorn bowl and then it was time for bed.

In between cleaning, laundry, baths, cutting the boys' hair and finishing up our Christmas cards, the kids put their "touch" on the Christmas crafts on Sunday.

They both had a blast and it really was a good project for both Josh AND Lauren. Trying to find something that they would both be able to participate in was kind of difficult this year.



Here's Lauren listening intently to Dustin tell her how the "pretties" go ON the tree...and not on the wax paper.






And of course...Lauren found a way to eat most of the "pretties" instead of using them to decorate.





Surprisingly, there wasn't even that big of a mess to clean up afterwards. So if I can only master the art of Gingerbread we may even attempt an entire house yet!!!

Well, I'm off to play with the kids a little before it's time for their bedtime and then I get to start some serious gift wrapping. Lucky me.

Baby Update: 26 weeks

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. He may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. He's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of his lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when he's born and takes that first gulp of air. And he's continuing to put on baby fat. He now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel. If you're having a boy, his testicles are beginning to descend into his scrotum — a trip that will take two to three days.