Christmas 2011

Grab some popcorn and a comfortable blanket...this may take a while. :)

We pulled up to Nana and Papa's house on the night of our 7th anniversary (after an unexplained 80 mile detour that I guess was by subconscious manifesting my desire to drive east and visit Mary Ann). We were so excited to be able to spend a big chunk of time with Daynarae and really see how the kids would interact. A lot changes in six months when they're so little! Daynare was enamored with Tonnor and Waina and wanted to sleep in Alaina's room.


Papa kicked off the vacation right with ice cream in bed, this time with all of his grandkids.


When Connor threw a tantrum, Daynarae was the first to comfort him.


After that first night, I was hit with a terrible cold, so it was hard to even pull out the camera. The bubble baths in the jetted tubs are always great photo ops, though, and Alaina wanted to take one with Daynarae.






A couple of years ago, Anthony mentioned that he wanted to go snowshoeing. What a perfect way to ring in his 30th year! We woke up early, left the kids with Nana and Papa, and drove to Estes Park to spend a day in the mountains.



Ironic!

It's a little bit sad when I realized that I was surprised by the shape of snowflakes! I've gotten so used to the "cancer flakes" from the inversion that I forgot they could be so pretty!


It was an odd sensation to walk across a frozen lake!







"This snow knows how to make a chair!"






As we reached our summit, my lens began to fog up. Just as we got there, a storm rolled in and created one of the most beautiful moments of my life. The snow fell softly and quietly. Anthony's phone streamed "Marshmallow World" by Dean Martin. Despite the snow clouds directly over our heads, we could see for miles to other peaks with beams of sunlight. It was magical.





We realized that we were losing light, so we began our descent down the mountain. The snow was beautiful during the day, but it made for a stressful drive home! We ended the night at Buffalo Wild Wings, and as Ryan would say, "We got our Wednesday."


It's hard for me to love other people's dogs, but Zoey has a special place in my heart. :)


The next morning, the Christmas cookie baking commenced.



(Dad, please ignore my sloppy face-swapping!)





You all know how great of a cook I am, so I busied myself with the annual Christmas puzzle. I owned it this year.








After the snowfall on Anthony's birthday, we were blessed with blue skies every day. Daynarae got this Barbie Jeep for her birthday and learned a hard lesson in sharing since we couldn't get Connor off of the thing!


Papa was a good sport and let the kids pelt him with snowballs for nearly an hour!


I wish my camera could have captured all 3700 lights on the tree!


...and here we arrive at Christmas Eve!


Picking out cookies to leave for Santa




Matching Christmas jammies! Forgive the grain! The one exposure I took while my flash was recycling was the one where they're actually looking at the camera!


Santa came!


For the first Christmas in years, I had trouble sleeping! I was up before the kids because I couldn't stand the thought of missing their faces as they came out of their rooms (and also the thought of those terrible no-makeup photos!).

Checking to see if the reindeer nibbled on the reindeer food we left out the night before! They were sure messy!




Alaina only asked for one thing this Christmas: jewelry. By the time we were finished opening presents, she was draped in necklaces, rings, bracelets, and stick-on earrings.


Every time we go to Kohl's, Alaina gravitates to this pink and purple jewelry box. By the third visit, she wasn't crying about having to leave it anymore, but now she has one of her own! I love that wide-eyed excitement!



Tebow time! While the football is actually Connor's, Anthony was excited to get a Tebow jersey from Ray. That and a Gamefly subscription were Anthony's big gifts.

We've lasted this long without introducing violent toys, but I let go a bit and Connor's Christmas involved lots of Nerf guns, shields and swords, and a lightsaber. As of tonight, I am to refer to him as Luke. He's only Connor when he goes to Nana and Papa's. Apparently, I am Yoda. I always thought that little green dude was cute.


You know Santa has hit a home run when a toy is showered with kisses before it's even out of the box!


Connor has been asking for a big camera like Mommy's for months. This was one of the last presents that he opened and I was so happy to see the joy on his face. "I never had one of these!!"


Spoiled.


Spoiled v2.0.


I got spoiled this year, too! See that beautiful gold box?! I've been lusting after that lens for two years now! Anthony also got me an awesome scooter to ride around with the kids and some other great gifts. Nana, Papa, and Kelly got me a pair of Bogs, which are the best boots on the face of the planet. And finally, a purse big enough to hold my camera but still stylish!



The Dietrich kiddies


The first family picture in two years!

Look how serious Connor is! I love it!






We decided to postpone Christmas dinner until after the kids were in bed so that we could all eat hot meals. It was so relaxed and special.




All in all, we had a fabulous Christmas. We couldn't have asked for anything more.

The day after Christmas, I searched high and low for some sleds to tackle this hill. I hit up Walmart, Target, Toys R Us, even Walgreens and Lowe's. I finally found some tubes and we spent the afternoon sledding and tubing. This photo doesn't do the hill justice...it was soooooo steep! Sorry, I was too busy having fun to take any pictures!


Instead of fatting around on our last day, we decided to make use of the snowshoes Nana and Papa got for Christmas. We didn't want anybody to feel left out, so we did our darnedest to include the kids. It was quite windy and cold, so they didn't last long. Let me rephrase that...they lasted about ten paces. Lesson learned, but I'm so glad we got this picture!


Simply breathtaking.


Connor was a trooper, and I think that if Alaina hadn't been so sluggish, he would have done quite well!



"I'm tiiiiiired....."





Papa took one for the team and shuttled the kids back down the mountain to a nice, warm McDonald's Playplace. Nana inherited my fabulous (terrible) cold, but we pushed her to the top.








Once we were all safely back at home, Ryan built us a fire by which to listen to Anthony play his guitar and roast marshmallows.








That wraps it up. I don't think our 2011 Christmas vacation could have been any better!

Thanksgiving was great this year. Low-key with family, great food (No thanks to me. I'm officially putting myself in charge of dishwashing from now on. Spare the food!), games, and best of all, an old-fashioned slide show.

The little kid's table.


Grandma was brave and gave the three and four year olds glass goblets. They all felt VERY special and sophisticated.







*after a drink*"Aaaah!"

The big kid table.


The adult table.





Not pictured was Marshall, who was living up to his Baby Bin Laden nickname in the other room and Dave, who was on a work call.

Alaina was feeling very ladylike and extended her manners to her silverware.


The kids lasted about 10 minutes at the table, then all went downstairs to play. My kids have a habit of screaming and squealing when they're really happy, and it was SOOOO loud, so I had to put on my mean face and order them outside. They didn't mind at all. I'm trying to be conscious of all of the benefits of having older kids to keep my baby-hunger at bay, and being able to say, "Go outside!" while I stay toasty warm is definitely one of them!


Since I had been the one to request the slideshow, Dad appeased me by slipping in lots of pictures of cute baby Carolyn. I do see some Alaina in there!


Meanwhile, back at the ranch...

Alaina is taking after her mama and is now a coupon queen! My binder gets a little disorganized when I let her do it, but she asks me every day to clip some coupons.




Connor is more apt to sit and watch, especially when he can get an apple cider out of me! Unfortunately, this extends to a lot of circumstances and we are working on responsibility. WORKING on it...


Connor's still a little shutterbug and often sneaks pics of me. Alaina loves to hang on my right arm and it is cute and frustrating at the same time. I am very familiar with the "Step backward" command on Photoshop because of this little habit of hers.


A different day, same pose. Thank you, Connor, for the forgiving motion blur. This is me pretty much every morning. Fumble through getting the kids their juice, set them up for their only mommy-sanctioned tv time for the day, wake up with my caffeine, dink for 15 minutes before Alaina moseys over and says, "Dan I sit on your lap?"


Sundays are still the best day of the week. They usually include Alaina and Daddy watching some football together...


...while Connor busies himself elsewhere. Baby Olivia is still alive and kicking, and Connor has asked for a carseat for her for Christmas. Some mornings he'll ask me for milk to give her a bottle. He's a good daddy. :)


I've been practicing a new piano song every day. While playing one day, the light was streaming in a north window just right, and highlighted a tiny handprint. I've been using microfiber dusters on the piano for a long time, forgoing the Pledge, and wow, I could barely handle the nostalgia. The oil from Alaina's hand (I can tell it's hers because she still has edamame-shaped fingers, while Connor's are still conical) must have been there for over a year because her fingers are all more than an inch longer. My, how quickly my babies are growing. :/


For size reference:


You can tell it's been a long time since Mommy and Daddy have been on a date (nine months!) when Daddy starts sculpting playdough dates. Can you tell what "we're" doing? The kids asked where they were in the scene and Daddy emphatically replied, "Not here!" :)


I lost ten dollars in a bet against Anthony. I said Alaina couldn't fit into her stocking from Grandma and Grandpa from this picture:


Apparently, she can:


Until next time...

The past few weeks have been a bit crazy for us. Anthony went in for arthroscopic surgery to scope out and possibly repair a suspected labrum tear, then came out with five anchors in his shoulder and a diagnosis of a SLAP tear. Bleh. He's getting stronger and more capable every day, but this experience has shown me how much he'd been doing at home while I've been at work. We've had to call in a lot of favors to make this happen (thank you Aunt Cynthia, Mom and Dad, and Theresa!) and we're grateful for all the help we've received!

Since Daddy was laid up in bed, we had Theresa and baby Oliver over to carve pumpkins a couple of days before Halloween!





Look at that concentration!

My creation, the Headless Horseman:

As cool as these template pumpkins are, I feel a bit like a sell-out. I wish I could take the credit!

Theresa's scary pumpkin:


Anthony was determined not to miss out on the Halloween spirit! It was a bit of a feat getting his uniform on, but it looked good!


I didn't have a costume, so Grandma and Aunt Marinda seized the moment to dress me as an 80's style Strawberry Shortcake with cowboy boots. Do you think I could submit this one to Awkward Family Photos?


Grandpa showing the videos he took to a robot and Darth Mater.


We've confirmed over several dentist visits that Connor has been cursed with my teeth. Let's hope this is not a glimpse into the future!


On the actual day of Halloween, Papa happened to be in town! We went trick-or-treating around the neighborhood. The kids adored it, of course!


Connor checking out his loot on the go.


A family photo where everyone's looking! Miraculous!





BFFs.

I swear the weather went from gorgeous and warm to nasty and cold overnight! Thank you, Pinterest, for making our time inside a little more enjoyable! Shaving cream+food coloring=bath time fun!


As usual, things started off deliberately and controlled.




...then mayhem ensued and the bathwater turned black. One funny moment: Connor was chasing around the globs of shaving cream with his hands and saying, "Come to Papa...." I'm not sure where he heard that expression, but since the only Papa we know is THE Papa, Alaina assumed that she would do the same thing while saying, "Come to Nana!" :)


And to end the post, a definitive picture of three-year-old Alaina. Messy hair, dirty face, still in pajamas at noon (some would say that this is a mothering failure, but if my kids are playing nicely together, I let them be!), tutu, one slipper on the wrong foot, one snowboot, and Beantie. The only other thing that could be added to make it more accurate would be three or four plates of food in the shot!