December Advent

My advent chain worked out so well last year that I decided to do it again this year. It was also a great way for Seth to visually understand how many days were left until Christmas. Here are some of the fun things we had on our list this year:

*write letters to Santa

*make paper snowflakes to hang up

(we did make the snowflakes, just never hung them up. Mom is a little tired this year.)

*played "Build a Snowman" dice game

*watched Christmas movies

*make ornaments for friends & family

*make Christmas cards

*make treats & took to friends & neighbors

*science experiments with candy canes

*drive & look at lights (we never actually did this...oops...)

*hot cocoa bar (a BIG hit with the kids)

*make gingerbread houses

*make snowman pizzas

Seth was SO into the whole Christmas thing this year. He remembered all the decorations and all the traditions and was SO EXCITED for everything. Which was very helpful since I'm still a bit sleep deprived and would probably skip a lot of things if Seth didn't care so much. (Although I will confess to having skipped putting up outside lights this year. Luckily no one seemed to notice or care). I promise to be more festive next year!

Thanksgiving

We began our Thanksgiving with our very own feast, complete with Rice Krispie turkeys:

Seth was learning about Thanksgiving for school and this feast was the last day of school. He helped plan the feast and even helped write the grocery list. My favorite Seth additions? Lohr's Apple Cider and a pomegranate. He'd never had one before, but wanted to try it. It's now his favorite fruit. In related news, I am incapable of opening a pomegranate without shooting little pieces all over my kitchen. 

It really was an all-out feast: turkey with homemade gravy from the drippings, stuffing, corn, potatoes, rolls, and pumpkin pie for dessert (with whipped cream, of course! Another Seth request). 

We debated for several weeks about whether we would be making the trip to West Virginia for Thanksgiving. But since Aaron ended up being a pretty easy-going baby, we figured we could survive a few nights sleeping all together in one room. 

Our plan was to drive out Wednesday, but a Tuesday-morning weather report prompted Jon to change our plans. He called at 8:00 am to tell me to get everything packed. We were on the road before 11:00. Pretty darn impressive, if I do say so myself. I even had time to do the dishes in the sink!

It was a very long drive, with rain pouring down on us the entire 7+ hours. So grateful we left when we did--by the next day the rain had turned into this:

Seth and his cousins were thrilled with the snow.

Catherine went out for a brief moment before deciding it was too cold.

She spent most of her time playing with various relatives in the playroom: 

(playing cars with Uncle Daniel & Evan)

We had a lovely couple of days with the Bloods. Everyone managed to make the trip with the exception of Scott & Mary, who would have had to fly across the country with three kids. 

Aaron meeting Aaron

(Obviously I need a better picture--my Aaron was being a punk)

Aaron's First Thanksgiving: 

(forgotten in the chaos of packing: the cute "First Thanksgiving" outfit Grandma Cathy sent)

Aaron & Eowyn: 

This picture really doesn't do justice to the size difference between the two.

They're only a month apart, but Aaron looks like he eats a few Eowyns for breakfast every morning.

And, of course, the Bloods: 

It was so nice to get to spend time with our family! I just hope Mom Blood is glad we came (even if Jon did eat too many mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving, leaving none for the people at the other end of the table). 

Gymnastics Graduation

Seth finished his 3 month gymnastic class this week. It has been fantastic for him--45 minutes of jumping, rolling, balancing...everything a little boy could want. I adore his teachers, too.

The last day of class he got to perform for us--he picked three things to show us (rope swing, jumping over 'french fries', and the zip line), then got to stand on the pedestal and get a ribbon while we cheered:

Catherine was stuck being an observer during class, and it almost killed her not to be in there. She's been a climber/jumper/mover since she could stand in the Jumperoo. So Mr. Scott was very kind and let her 'perform' (on the trampoline of course), and then she got to stand and be applauded: 

We'll start both of them back up in March (when Catherine is 3 and old enough for class).

Love this place!

Princesses Always Use Lightsabers

Pretty in pink, crowned, and armed.

Attack!

Don't mess with the Princess.

Or...the Princess: 

Or...The Princess: 

(Seth insisted that he was The King. But not The Bad King, which is his usual role)

Two Months

Oh, two months old...I simultaneously love this age and HATE it. One the one hand, Aaron has started smiling and it's the most adorable thing in the world. On the other hand, he won't nap EVER and fights sleep at night. Oh, and he wakes himself up to poop and pass gas, and he went from sleeping without a swaddle to being unable to calm down without one. And waking up for a pacifier. I knew these were going to be the hardest weeks, but I still underestimated how hard it would be (silly me, I thought things would be easier since he's #3 and I knew it was coming. Ha. Ha). But those smiles...those little miracles keep me sane during these weeks. But I think I'm seeing a light at the end of the tunnel the past few days...knock on wood...

Adorable, fussy baby

Here are Aaron's awesome skills at two months old:

*Basically outgrown all 0-3 month clothing and size 1 diapers. Love my chubby guy.

*Loves his pacifier, but we're being smarter than we were with Seth and are limiting it to when he's sleepy. Which means we get to hear his little chattering (which he does a lot of).

*Fights sleep like it's going to kill him. Believe me when I say that NONE of the tricks worked--car seat, swing, walking, swaddling, nursing, bouncing...--if he doesn't want to sleep, he won't (even if he's bleary-eyed and hysterical). The only thing that consistently works is letting him scream, which I hate to do. But when it's been 5 hours and he's losing it, you just do whatever it takes. Also, baby sleep books are crap.

Fussy baby in Daddy's arms

*That being said, he has at least established a (sort of) bedtime. It's usually around 7:45, but sometimes he likes to drive us crazy and postpone it a bit. But at least we KNOW he will go to bed at a decent hour now! (And by 'decent hour' I mean before 10 pm).

*He has impressive head lifting skills. He's months ahead of where his siblings were. Which is probably a big part of his most impressive new skill: rolling over! We thought it was a fluke, but it's been three days now and he's still going strong (unless he gets tired).

Step 1: Lift up head

Step 2: Tilt giant head to one side

Step 3: Flop over

Ta-da!

*Another way Aaron is imitating his big brother: he prefers NOT to be held. Melissa let me borrow a vibrating chair and Aaron has pretty much lived in it ever since! Notable exceptions to this rule include Jon holding him in the evenings to put him to sleep (I am not permitted to do this) and sleeping in my arms at night (I never thought I'd sleep with my baby, but when he's stuffed or gassy and not sleeping in his bassinet, co-sleeping is AMAZING). But if he's awake and not nursing, he want to be either on the ground kicking and dancing or in his chair. Stinker.

Seth wanted to make sure Aaron was warm.

*If he gets angry enough, he can scoot several inches by arching his back and kicking his legs. This has almost gotten him stuck under our dresser a couple of times.

*Did I mention that this kid NEVER spits up? I can count on one hand the number of times he's spit up since he was born.

*Loves when Seth & Catherine come to visit him in the mornings. If they're otherwise occupied (read: on the iPad) and don't come up, he gets bored and yelps at me while I get ready.

Hanging out with Daddy

*He definitely recognizes me & Jon and will give us big smiles. We've even heard some attempted chuckles, but no real laughter yet.

Such a beautiful little boy

And, for fun, a video:

Pumpkin Chuckin

I think my kids may like disposing of our pumpkins more than carving them.

Action shot of Jon getting rid of the big one: 

Halloween

Yes, I was crazy enough to attempt sugar cookies:

They actually did an excellent job of not trashing my kitchen this year!

Co-op was the day before Halloween, so we decided to have a Halloween party with all our friends. Unfortunately, due to the flu and various other contagions, co-op was down to just Seth and Briella. We decided to party anyway and I'm glad we did! The kids had a blast decorating cookies and wrapping each other up like mummies: 

The big siblings wrapped the little siblings first

Big kids with their mummified little siblings: 

Then it was Seth's turn: 

Three mummies: 

Three mummies (with Seth's face uncovered this time): 

Aaron also got mummified, although he wasn't awake to notice:

Then the best part--pretending the toilet paper shreds were snow and tossing them around: 

They would have done this the rest of the day if we'd let them...

On Halloween I continued my annual tradition of inviting myself to someone else's house for dinner and trick-or-treating. This year we partied with the Knoxes again. Some brilliant administrator in the school system decided to give the kids Halloween and the day after off of school (seriously--BRILLIANT--my little sister would have killed to have her kids off school those days). Melissa and I decided to start our partying early  since her kids were out of school! First, we decorated some of those cookies the kids and I made: 

Catherine wasn't so much into the decorating as she was the eating: 

After a fun and delicious dinner, it was time for trick-or-treating!

Buttercup and the Dread Pirate Roberts could barely hold still long enough for a picture: 

(you can't tell, but Catherine made me put sparkly hairspray in her hair.

That was our compromise--she really wanted blue hairspray)

Aaron & I stayed behind and manned the house while the trick-or-treaters headed out.

He did wear a mummy costume (no way we were shoving him back in Vizzini again): 

We also caught his adorable little smile on camera for the first time! 

I'm so in love!

The kids returned with a nice stash of candy and we headed home while they ate as much as they could open without assistance. The good news is that Melissa already invited us over for next Halloween, so I won't have to invite myself again! Happy Halloween!

Primary Program

Someone in our ward had the brilliant idea to schedule the Primary Program for the day after the Trunk or Treat. I had terrible premonitions of a chapel full of sleep-deprived children all bouncing off the walls with sugar highs. But in what was nothing short of a miracle, the program went beautifully. I even had several people tell me it was the best program they'd ever seen.

I hadn't planned on being back to lead the music for the program since it was just a month after Aaron was born, but I was feeling pretty good and they needed the help. I'm glad I did--I missed being in Primary!  And as for miracles--Aaron slept for SEVEN STRAIGHT HOURS the night before the Program. He hasn't done anything close to that either before or after. Miracles, I'm telling you.

I should have taken a picture of Seth on Program day, but I didn't. This year he actually had a speaking part. Every kid in his class finished the phrase "I can follow Jesus' example by...". Seth said "praying." (Awesome side note: his best buddy Gabe said "not smoking". I really wish they would have let him say it in the Program). During the actual program, Seth was so excited to have said his line that he started bouncing up and down on the riser. When the bishop gave his closing remarks, he mentioned Seth by name and talked about how we should all be that excited about the gospel. Seth looked a bit shocked that Bishop was talking about him over the pulpit.

My favorite part was our "Gethsemane" song--I had two adorable girls sing solos, and they did amazing. This was also the Primary kids' favorite song and they sang their hearts out. There was a lot of tear-wiping going on during that song!

This is my third program now. Any guesses as to whether I'll be around for Program #4? 

An Inconceivable Halloween

This year's theme depended entirely on Aaron's ultrasound earlier this year. If we were having a little girl, we'd have to come up with another idea. Lucky for us, a little boy it was, and so, The Princess Bride happened this year!

First, we have the beautiful Princess Buttercup:

And Catherine, the beautiful Princess Buttercup:

With beautiful Princess Buttercup curls: 

This was SO fun for me. Catherine is usually pretty rotten about letting me dress her up or do her hair, but she was a complete girly-girl for her costume. She loved her princess hair and spent all night prancing around in her gown and boots. 

Next up, the inconceivable Vizzini:

And presenting AARON as Vizzini: 

He kind of blew it by being born with hair, but we'll take it anyway!

Also, he grew so much in the two weeks it took to make the costumes that we literally had to cut him out of his shirt after the party.

And, of course, Westley:

Seth made a lovely Westley...

(the moustache is my favorite part)

But he actually went as the Dread Pirate Roberts: 

(no masks allowed at the church, so we painted it on)

Seth couldn't remember who he was supposed to be 

(The Dreadful Pirate Robertson was his best attempt), 

so we had him tell people he was The Man in Black. 

Or he just had to yell, "AS YOU WI-I-I-SH!!!"

And, finally, Inigo Montoya:

I think Jon's costume turned out pretty dang awesome: 

Group shot: 

Oh, who am I supposed to be? 

Well, Valerie:

But I was mistaken for this woman, too:

Apparently my costume/makeup must have been pretty good. I had a lot of people do double-takes before recognizing me. Bishop even confessed that he originally had no idea who I was. He just thought some "unfortunate-looking woman" had come to the ward party. Umm...thanks?

And how could we forget Fezzik?

Well, we didn't have any very large friends to recruit, so we did this instead:

On to the party! 

Inigo and Vizzini just hanging out, enjoying the party

Westley and Buttercup get ready to go trunk or treat.

Another successful year of costumes!

Now if I could just come up with a decent idea for next year...