Thursday, January 23, 2014

The slower pace of January has been a welcome change.  We've been spending lots of time playing with our new toys from Christmas, getting the house back in order, and establishing more of a schedule for Harrison.  Our weather has been incredible...snow one day, 60 degrees the next.
DSC_0013

DSC_0015

We haven't seen any snowplows come to our neighborhood, and I love how the streets stay white until the snow melts.  It reminds me of a Norman Rockwell painting.
DSC_0024

Since our part of the neighborhood is as flat as a pancake, it makes sledding difficult.  Trying to make our own fun, we came up with sled shuffleboard!
DSC_0025

DSC_0033

DSC_0036

Perler beads.  Remind me why I bought a tub full, then suggested MORE for Alaina for Christmas.  My Dyson  is getting a workout.
DSC_0044

With each day that passes, Alaina is more and more a little mommy to Harrison.  He adores her and smiles, laughs, and coos at her.    When he cries, she chimes in with what she thinks the reason is and how to fix it.  As much as she loves him, she thinks his breath stinks, his spit up and drool are disgusting, and don't even suggest a diaper change!  In this photo, I plopped him down on top of her since he was drool-bombing all over the place.  He didn't know what to make of her squeals!
DSC_0047

DSC_0050

DSC_0053

This baby is just the sweetest thing.  He's such a joy during the day that it makes the nights bearable.  I'm in a weird spot of being traumatized from the sleep deprivation, thinking that there's no way I could survive this again, but also loving his babyhood and getting so sad at the thought of not doing this again.
DSC_0066

Harrison went under the knife last week to correct some things that didn't form right in utero, leaving him vulnerable to inguinal hernias.  The urologist assured us that the procedure was simple and that the recovery  time was virtually none, but it's always scary when a little guy goes under general anesthesia.  I didn't realize how worried and stressed I was about it until it was over, and it felt like I could breathe again after holding by breath for days.
DSC_0072

DSC_0075

We're finally getting into a somewhat normal routine.  We wake up, I feed Harrison, then put him down on his mat to talk to his butterfly friends while I get the older two ready for school.  Once they're out the door, he goes down for a 45ish minute nap, then is up for an hour, then goes down again for about an hour.  We pick up Alaina, get lunch in her, then put H down for his afternoon nap, which may or may not last about 1.5 hours.  We get Connor, set him up with a snack, then H may have another short nap or we try to keep him happy through snacktime, homework, and showers.  Anthony gets home, I put Harrison to bed for the night, then come down and we have dinner (which takes little snippets of time throughout the day to prepare).  Get the older kids in bed, right as Harrison wakes up for a feeding, then I go to bed and mentally prepare for the nights that are a blur of nursing, back patting, and checking Facebook at 3 AM.  It's busy, sometimes hectic, but without the angst of working a job that I hate, it's almost always pleasant.
DSC_0085

What do you do when January boredom sets in?  Why, write "MAGIC" on a piece of paper, tape it around a hairspray can, and scare your kids, of course!
DSC_0120

DSC_0141

DSC_0147

Connor's favorite thing to do is spend the night at Nana and Papa's, but Alaina is a girl after my own heart and prefers to sleep in her own bed.  She wakes up before us, but it super considerate and turns the volume way down on the tv, and one day, even made us breakfast boxes!  She really couldn't be any sweeter!
DSC_0161

We watched the AFC Championship game at Nana and Papa's.  You'd think that after 9 years in this family, I'd be used to the amount of food they prepare, but it still surprises me.  Look at that rib sandwich!
DSC_0164

Harrison's first Broncos gear!
DSC_0173

It was a fun game to watch!  Ray was beside himself pretty much the whole time.
DSC_0180

We're going to the Superbowl!
DSC_0190

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

The week after Christmas


The week between Christmas and New Year's was definitely different this year.  As a result of no sleep over the previous few days, Nana got knocked out with the flu the next day and didn't venture out of her bedroom for the next three.  The rest of us have never been so lazy together.  We're talking comfy-pants for all, movies, cookies-for-lunch lazy.  The kids were having a blast making a complete mess of the house with their new toys which gave the adults time to talk with one another, and I really feel like I know my kids better after having a few days to just play with them.
DSC_0504


Apparently, I was even too lazy to take an in-focus picture of us watching Man of Steel.
DSC_0507

It was also so nice to have Anthony's help with the bigger kids and to be able to focus most of my attention on this sweet muffin.
DSC_0516

DSC_0517_1

That profile!
DSC_0520

I think this photo was taken at like 2 pm, if that gives you an idea of our days.  Complete sloth, and it was awesome.
DSC_0532

Family lego sesh.
DSC_0537

Harrison loves to listen to Daddy play.
DSC_0543

When Nana emerged, we cleaned up our mess (three van loads of it...how is that possible?!) and ventured home.  Ray came over to help us put away the Christmas carnage and Anthony tried our his new breakfast sandwich maker.  The funny story about that gift is that I had seen it on Pinterest got it for Anthony.  When we were at Bear Lake, he said, "Carolyn!  Carolyn!  Look at this!  It's a breakfast sandwich maker!", viewing it on Amazon.  It was pretty hard to seem unimpressed and nonchalant while he was raving about it!
DSC_0547

On New Year's Eve, we took the kids ice skating and had a low-key get together to ring in the New Year.  This is Ray's low-key.
DSC_0548

Connor and Zack tried hard to stay up until midnight, but both tapped out around ten.
DSC_0556

Sister's makeup kit was tempting, I guess.
DSC_0564

We rang in the New Year at midnight, wrapping up the busiest year of our lives yet!
DSC_0572

Christmas Day 2013

I set my alarm for 5:30 to make sure I was up before the kids on Christmas Day.  To my surprise, I came downstairs to find Uncle Ray watching Christmas Vacation.  He and Nana had stayed up all night since one of the dogs started to have puppies at 12:05 AM Christmas Day.
DSC_0330

Even with setting my alarm early, Ray told me that Connor took at peek at about 4 AM.
DSC_0331

Found his pile!
DSC_0333

It's not Christmas without pullaparts!
DSC_0336_1

I think the older kids were more excited about Harrison's jumperoo than anything!
DSC_0337

Little one was in a daze when she came down.
DSC_0342

Those eyes!
DSC_0343

Our three kids on Christmas morning
DSC_0344

Nana was a trooper after getting absolutely no sleep, caffeinated herself with a 5 hour, and kept on going.
DSC_0349

First gift of the year goes to the youngest - Harrison!
DSC_0351

Everyone getting in on the action since he can't protest!
DSC_0353

Alaina had told me earlier in the year that she wanted an Easy Bake Oven for Christmas, but then didn't mention it much.  I had read the reviews and they were pretty terrible, so we decided against it.  We got her some other things that she had written in her letter to Santa and explained that you don't always get what's on your list, and sometimes Santa has a better idea for you and brings that.  She seemed satisfied with that, but then at the Christmas Party, she went around telling people that she was for sure going to get an Easy Bake Oven from Santa because she had been so good this year.  You really can't argue that this girl is darn near angelic, so we had to run out and get one on the 22nd.  It was a hard $40 to swallow, as the Walmart employees leading me to it were saying that they had bought them last year for their girls and they were awful, but the look on her face on Christmas morning was worth it.  Funny enough, it had been strategically buried so that it wouldn't be her first opened gift, but something drew her to it, and it was the first one she chose to open.
DSC_0360

DSC_0367

Santa had the grand idea to assemble craft kits for the kids.  They're definitely being played with, but I am cursing Santa now that our carpet is embedded with hundreds of googly-eyes.
DSC_0376

Connor's big gift was a Snap Circuits set with a battery adapter.  He didn't know much about them other than that Kimball has them, but Santa DEFINITELY did well by bringing this!  He loves them!
DSC_0381

Anthony looking how we all felt.  Harrison ADORES his Sophie - thanks, Carliles!
DSC_0382

Harrison, about to open a big one...
DSC_0386

For the second year in a row, a remote control helicopter has been at the top of Connor's list.  We have the perfect house for one now, since our ceilings are so high!
DSC_0387

Alaina was really excited to show Amanda her new makeup kit.
DSC_0390

Ryan had to resort to feeding Daynarae chocolates again to get her to wake up and look alive on Christmas morning.
DSC_0396

Alaina got zillions of beads this year.  I've at least quarantined them to the dining room, but that doesn't mean they're not covering the floor in there.
DSC_0400

Is this all?
DSC_0402_1

All the kids on Christmas morning!
DSC_0411

Putting together their My Little Pony friendship necklace.
DSC_0427_1

DSC_0429

Alaina's first batch of cookies with her Easy Bake.
DSC_0442_1

It was a new experience to open the grown up gifts after things had wound down a bit.  By the time we were ready, it was 7 pm!
DSC_0455

Cute couple!
DSC_0459_1

Don't let all those gifts deceive you...you may open up ones that have nothing...
DSC_0465_1

...or open up a package of kettle corn to disguise the weight of a giftcard...
DSC_0467

...or get a smelly sandal in a huge box so you'll never guess when you pick up and shake your gifts! :)
DSC_0495

Nana gave Papa the very practical gift of their first car payment on their new car, but as Papa "read" the card, it somehow transformed into a love note and twice the money. :)
DSC_0468

Nana was cracking up!  It was hilarious!
DSC_0474

After two years of envying mine, Anthony's parents got him some Bogs of his own!  Best boots ever!
DSC_0478

6 years after I started it, I was finally able to give Nana her cross stitch.
DSC_0485_1

This holiday season felt extremely busy and some things just fell through the cracks, like taking the kids Christmas present shopping at Dollar Tree.  I didn't realize how much that tradition meant to Alaina until she cried, twice, apologizing to Nana that she hadn't gotten her anything.  My heart broke hearing that, and I don't think we'll ever let that slide again!
DSC_0487

Just what we all needed - more caffeine!
DSC_0492

Everyone bought Anthony Guitar Center giftcards since we knew he wanted recording equipment, but if he received Amazon cards, he'd probably spend it on something for the household.  He got to go and have a shopping spree and he loved every second of it.
DSC_0502

No pictures of me, but Anthony got me two canvases for our blank walls, a stand mixer that totally intimidates me, an awesome water bottle, and we printed our 2012 photo book.  I got lots of giftcards from the rest of the fam, so I'm excited to go shopping!  Merry Christmas!