Holidays 2011

 
We had a wonderful Christmas as, for our third year in a row, we were able to stay at home and have our own cozy Christmas.  I mostly love the fact that we aren't packing up a car load of kids, gifts and gear just to get sick and travel on treacherous roads.  I would, indeed, love to see family but money, time and health don't always allow that.  A few of my siblings flew in to visit my parents and all of Jared's family is together in Utah, but both of those options are pretty far from here.  We were able to webcam Jared's parents on Christmas Eve so the kids could open their Christmas jammies that Grandma made for them.  And, we've been keeping up with my family via frequent phone conversations so that helps.

I am so grateful for this time of year and the focus on the savior.  We acted out the Nativity as found in Luke Chapter 2 as a family on Christmas Eve, with costumes and all but apparently I only recorded it on video and didn't take even one picture.  The girls know the story by heart and we had costume changes, etc. They were taking it very seriously, but Jonas was a little tired at that point and was throwing his shepherd costume on the floor, much to their dismay.  Christmas morning after a low key, yummy breakfast we went to a church service with a lot of Christmas music.  From what I could hear, it was really great, but I was out in the hall with grumpy Jonas half the time and on the time-sensitive phone conversation with my sister for another portion.

 We were also able to go to my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas dinner and visit with all my cousins, eat some good food and let the kids run around crazy in a pack.  

One of the highlights of my Christmas was being able to join the family phone call with my sister Kelsey who is serving a mission in Brazil.  I have missed her soooo much this last month and can barely think of her without getting emotional, so it was no surprise that I could barely get a coherent word out for the first several minutes of our phone conversation.  I was balling like a baby, when I'm usually the one who can hold it together.  It was so good to hear her voice.  She is working hard and trying to learn the language but that certainly doesn't make it easy.  I just wanted to transport her home for the day and give her lots of encouragement and love and send her back out again, as I know she is where she's supposed to be!

Not that we avoided being sick...  Jocelyn got the flu somehow so she's been napping and taking it easy on the couch the past couple days, but that also means that I haven't left the house so I have been making amazing headway on projects that I've been meaning to accomplish for the past several months (in between bringing her drinks and keeping Jonas and Lillian from interacting with her).  Everyone has new Christmas toys that they are interested in, and we have enjoyed just being home together and not rushing around like crazy to school, ballet and other commitments.

At Church Christmas Morning

The boys opening presents

The girls before a holiday party

We also hosted the neighborhood kids over for decorating “cookies for santa” and making some “reindeer food.”  It was sugary, messy and lots of fun on the only day off of school before Christmas.  

We are looking forward to a New Year's Eve Party at a friend's house tomorrow as long as the flu bug doesn't spread :) 

We hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday as well.

Jonas footage

The 1st video is Jonas lately when he's doing something he knows he shouldn't.  He shakes his finger and says the equivalent of "no, no, no" followed by an uh-oh.  Or, he'll do this at the girls if they are doing something he doesn't like.  It cracks me up every time.

The second video is a couple months old, and I meant to post it as a teaser for the grandparents coming for Thanksgiving and as an incentive to get the other grandparents to come visit, but blogger wasn't cooperating so I never posted it.  He still loves this ball machine, knows how to get it to work, and gets excited whenever we pull it out to play with it.

Tricks are for kids

I'm not usually one to "trick" people into doing things because I don't really like being tricked, but I do resort to it sometimes.  As you can see from the following...

Kids have minds of their own from day one, I realize. However, the girls are giving me a run for my money lately because, in a pinch, I just need one of them to go first, for heaven sakes!  It used to work to say "Jocelyn, you're the oldest, just go first" but that has worn it's welcome so I moved into saying "whoever picks the movie for doing hair has to go first" but now no one wants to pick the movie.

At other times I need everyone to go to the bathroom before we leave the house, or I need someone to sit in the "undesirable" spot in the grocery cart and they both refuse adamantly.   Recently, I started doing the “eenie, meenie, miney mo” rhyme and they go for it.  I, of course, know how the rhyme works and use it to my advantage so that whoever I want to will be "it". The girls think it’s just chance, and at least something a little fun, and they go along with it.  Now, it’s starting to backfire.

 Just today I ask Lilly what she wants on her fresh slice of bread and she tells me “Mom, hold out the honey in one hand & the cinnamon-sugar in the other hand and I’ll do eenie meenie.  I’m holding both in my hands in the middle of the kitchen and she points her finger at them alternately and says “eenie, meenie, miney mo, you are not it (to the honey), you are it!” (to the cinnamon-sugar) which is what she would have picked anyway because she always picks cinnamon sugar.  She did the same thing tonight at dinner.   I see her wiggling in her seat which always means she’s about to wet her pants so I ask her “Do you want Dad to help you to the potty, or me?”  She does the same thing “eenie, meenie, miney mo, you are not it (pointing to me), you are it!” (Pointing to Jared, of course).  She always picks him so why she risked wetting her pants and waiting to go to the bathroom until the absolute last point of no return is beyond me!  I guess it’s just more exciting that way.

Jonas is also having to get tricked lately.  The little stinker has pretty much been sick, teething or overall grumpy and clingy since his birthday.  If it’s not one thing, it’s another and it’s been a hard month in that regard.  Probably as a result of this, he is also more picky with his eating and refuses to eat anything resembling baby food or anything that I try to feed him on what looks like a baby spoon.  If you cut something in small pieces and set it in front of him, he'll throw it on the ground and get his feelings really hurt when you tell him that's not okay.  Jared can have the same exact food on his plate and Jonas will beg off of him at dinner time and eat entire helpings of food if he thinks it is from Jared's plate.  We often have to set up these elaborate schemes setting Jonas’ plate down at Jared’s spot on the table, and when Jonas points at it or signs eat, we tell him “no, that’s daddy’s food” and make him wait a minute until he’s begging (aka screaming about it) and then we say: “okay, just a little” and he thinks he’s eating big boy food, a little at a time.  

 Or, he refuses to sit in his seat at all and will only sit in Lillian’s booster seat or other such ridiculous things.  He has also been harder to nurse. I’ve been such a softie thinking “oh, he’s sick, I’ll just keep nursing him a little longer” when both girls were weaned at 13 mos. Exactly.  And now he’ll pull at my shirt and sign “drink” over and over, even in the middle of church, or while we are waiting for the girls during ballet class and will make a huge scene, but if I try to nurse him comfortably in the rocker with the boppy at home he has a conniption like I’m trying to torture him.   Crazy right? But he’s doing awesome with his sign language which has been fun to watch.  He LOVES signing “hat” and “drink” and also signs book, tree, eat, all done, hi/bye, more, ball, bath, as well as blowing kisses and barking like a dog (kind of).  At his 1 yr. appt. he weighed in at 20 lbs and measured 29.5 inches in length.

I am probably revealing some type of awful parenting style by posting these, but sometimes you have to resort to these things just to get through the day without breaking down on someone (namely the kids).  They keep me laughing, make me want to scream, drive me crazy and make me feel overwhelmed by love and responsibility for them all at the same time.  And, I wouldn't have it any other way. 

The kids after a bike ride one afternoon

Pinkalicious and Purplicious in their puma outfits

The boys relaxing and watching a show one night

The closest this boy has come to walking