Ringing in the New Year

Adam is trying to figure out the TV.  He loves to watch it when I lay him on his pad to change his diaper.  It stays in the family room for now because I feel so bad undressing him in the freezing side of the house!

We celebrated New Year's Eve by going out..me and the boys, that is.  Trevor was tired and needed a kid-break, so I bravely took all 3 kids out on my own for the first time.  We went to Walmart for a few necessities.  Then we met my Mom & Dad at Krispy Kreme for a yummy refreshment.  I tried to order dinner to go from P.F. Chang's next door, but their wait time for PICK UP was an hour and a half.  RIDICULOUS!  We scratched that plan and my parents bought Panda Express for us.  Not quite the same, but still good.  After dinner, Trevor went to see the new Harry Potter movie with Andy & Tyler.  He has been itching to see it since it came out in November.  I fell asleep early on the couch with the baby next to me in his bouncy chair (aka. his bed).  It was a wild and crazy time!  It's funny how New Year's Eve just isn't as exciting when you get older! 

Snow Day

Unfortunately, I missed out on getting a good picture of our "snow storm."  My sister, Sabrina, called to tell me it was snowing at her house.  I was about to load up the boys and rush over to catch a rare opportunity to witness snow here.  Then I realized it was snowing right in our backyard!  We all rushed outside to enjoy it!

We basically spent the entire Christmas break in our pajamas.  It was nice to stay home and relax..especially with the new baby.

Trevor found this ice on the wave jammer the next morning.  We are enjoying this wintery weather although it has created a bit of a problem.  The heater on the side of the house near the bedrooms is broken.  It gets pretty chilly at night!  The heater in the family room and kitchen works just great.  We have been sleeping in family room with the baby so he can stay warm.  He stays warm and cozy, but the couch is not ideal for the already small amount of sleep I am getting!!

Adam is just starting to smile if we try hard enough.  It's melting our hearts!



Funny Story

I have been sleeping in the family room with the baby since the bedrooms currently don't have heat.  My nights are restless and my sleep is constantly interrupted.  I woke up during one of my black out sessions (when I actually do get to fall asleep, it's pretty deep) because I heard the recliner squeaking like it was being rocked.  I pryed open one sleepy eye and looked over at the chair.  I assumed Trevor was there but it was empty except for this huge blanket on it.  I figured I was just dreaming/hallucinating.  I tend to do that these days.  When I woke up later to feed the baby, I thought I heard some heavy breathing.  This is what I found.  I guess Hunter needed some company early this morning.

Have I mentioned he is a giant to me now that I have a tiny baby to compare him to?

Like Bunnies

What happens when you have 13 children and then they get married and go on to have children of their own?

This is how big your family gets!

This is everyone minus Liz & Lucas (Brad's wife & son) who went to the ER at the last minute.  It's nice to get a photo with actually everyone (almost) after about 10 years since the last one..I'm pretty sure Sabrina's wedding was the last photo to have everyone.  I would have preferred to get pictures taken another time when I haven't just had a baby in the last few weeks..especially since it will probably be another long stretch before another is taken! 

Cousin Fun Day

We enjoyed the annual Cousin Fun Day this year.  I was happy the weather was nice enough so they could build their gingerbread houses outside.  The less Jacob is inside and exposed to cat dander, the better!  We usually have this before Christmas, but it worked out better for everyone to wait until after.  I was happy to wait until after.  The farther it gets away from me having the baby, the easier things are for me to do!  Or even consider doing.  Like getting all of us ready and over to Grandma's.  Getting myself ready is a bit of a challenge lately, especially when a shower is involved!

These two are inseparable!

They loved having all that candy and icing readily available to eat & decorate with!

When the gingerbread houses were all built, it was time for the gift exchange. 

The boys enjoyed having one more gift to open post-Christmas.

It was a fun last Christmas hurrah before the end of the season which flew by much too quickly!!

Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas, as always!  It seemed to pass in a blur..as always as well, but probably more this year since we were a bit sleep deprived with a new baby.  Santa was very generous..as always!!

Hunter was the first to wake up.  He found me feeding the baby in bed.  He climbed in and I turned on some cartoons for him.  After about 15 minutes, he suddenly realized it was Christmas.  "Did Santa come?"  He asked.  I told him yes he did.  "Can I go see?"  I followed him to the front room and it was so fun to see him marvel over the gifts.  He noticed these trucks right away and asked who they were for.  He was delighted when I said they were for him!  We actually got both trucks for him, but he immediately chose one for himself and announced that Jacob could have the other one.  I thought that was so sweet of him.  He is always thinking about Jacob.

Jacob joined us a short time later and it didn't take long for them to wake Trevor up who was trying to get some sleep on the couch.  I don't remember how much we were awake during the night with the baby, but I do remember being very tired on Christmas!

I love everything about Christmas.  I love surprising the kids and seeing how excited they get.  I love how happy everyone is.  I love spending time with our families.  It is just hands-down, the best day of the entire year. 

O.K.  After looking at this picture, I did think of one not so fun part about Christmas.  Opening ALL that packaging!  It is such a pain to unravel each toy out of the wire tie or have to bust out the screwdriver just to set the toy free from it's packaging.  Plus then you have toys that need to be opened via screwdriver just to install batteries.  Then it usually takes at least 2-3 weeks to be able to fit it all of that packaging in the recycle bin.  Those are my least favorite things about Christmas!

This robot was another disappointment.  Santa got it last January during after-Christmas clearance and sat on it until Christmas.  When we opened it to take it for a spin, it would not work.  I contacted the company and they wouldn't do anything for me since it had already been 90 days since purchase.  It was so sickening to have to throw that brand new toy away and eat the cost, even if it was on clearance!  Santa has definitely learned his lesson and won't be buying any electronic toys to save for the next Christmas unless they are test-driven immediately!  We gave Jacob a replacement robot, a remote controlled R2D2, which he has barely touched since he got it.  I guess that is how new toys go!  Especially when you get so many in one day!

I am kind of sad this is the only Christmas Day picture I have with Adam in it.  He basically slept all day and only woke up to eat.  Nobody in our family believes he is ever really awake!  I should call them at 2 a.m. and prove them wrong!

I loved this picture of Hunter peering in a bag that is about half his size!

He had picked all these cars out at Kohl's during one of our pre-Christmas shopping trips.  I was sure to take a picture of them so Santa would know exactly which ones to get.  He was very pleased!

As if Jacob's head wasn't already big enough!

After we opened all our presents, we headed to Nauni & Papa's for the traditional Christmas morning there.

This was another toy Hunter had picked out on his own.  He LOVES Cars and had to open them immediately to play with them!  While all the other kids were playing outside, Hunter wanted to be inside playing with his cars.

Jacob's new favorite..Star Wars!

I have seen this face before..it was last year when Jacob opened a gift and found clothes..I don't think they are very exciting for him!

Two cute rear ends!

The boys have been begging for Pillow Pets.  These are Pillow Pals sold at Costco and they are WAY better!  They are HUGE next to regular Pillow Pets and the price was way more reasonable!  Thanks Nauni & Papa!

After Trevor's parent's, we went to mine to say hi and have the boys open presents.  I was feeding the baby in my mom's room and didn't have the camera handy.  I'm disappointed there are no pictures at my parent's house this year!!  The other kids open their presents Christmas night, but I like to go in the afternoon when things are quiet and not as chaotic.  This year, my entire family was here for Christmas.  Scott is getting ready to leave on his mission and it was so nice to have the whole group together.  I'm a little sad that I wasn't able to really get to spend time with anyone.  Having a newborn was pretty time consuming and I felt like if I had any free time, I should be sleeping. 

Hunter got his first real bike this year.  He couldn't wait to take it to the cul de sac for the first ride.  Trevor takes Jacob there to practice riding and Hunter was happy to have his own big bike to ride!

After dinner at Trevor's parent's and a quick visit to mine that evening, our Christmas day was over.  It always makes me a little sad that it's all done and it will be a whole year before we can enjoy it again.  It is equally depressing to take all the decorations down.  I feel like this season just flew by so quickly.  I know it's partially because of the baby.  I am already looking forward to next year!

We hope you and your family had a very Merry Christmas!

The Season of Giving

The boys really embraced the true meaning of Christmas this year.  On Christmas Eve, they had a blast gathering presents and "wrapping" them in plastic bags.  At first they were using my gallon Ziploc bags, but I redirected them to the plethora of plastic bags we have. I think this all started when I was in the hospital.  Aunt Tiffaney was watching them for us and took them shopping at the dollar store.  She let them buy gifts for us.  I got a pedicure set.  Trevor got a flashlight and a shamee for washing the car.  They got Adam a book.  It was really cute to see how excited they were to find presents to give everyone!  Trevor and I finally had to put a stop to their gift giving because it was getting out of control and I was not looking forward to putting all that stuff back where it came from!

Most of the gifts were for Adam.  Hunter found things he didn't want anymore and decided to pass them along to his younger brother.  Trevor and I got lots of pictures and drawings.

After the boys cleaned up all the "presents" I let them open their Christmas Eve presents.  While growing up, we used to open a present on Christmas Eve.  We had a gift exchange where we picked names and were able to buy something for that person.  Actually my mom bought us something to give them, but it was still a fun tradition growing up.  I loved picking the name out of a bowl and couldn't wait to see who I got!

This year, I gave them each some pajamas to wear on Christmas Eve.  Hunter wasn't too excited about his Spiderman PJ's because they looked too big.  I tried to get them washed and dried before bedtime, but it just didn't happen, so our Christmas Eve Jammie's had to wait until another night!  Next year I'll try and be more organized!  Not having a newborn next year will probably help a bit!

Jacob is pretty easy to please.  He enjoyed his Star Wars PJ's.

The kids were so excited for Santa to come that night.  It was a little hard for them to settle down and go to bed.  Especially after I made them hurry and clean up the basement.  I told them that if Santa saw all those toys all over the floor, he wouldn't want to leave any more because it looked like they had too much.  I kept telling them to hurry before Santa passed over our house.  It took a while, but the basement was clean for Christmas.  It was a nice gift.  Unfortunately, it didn't last very long!