The Chaos that is Christmas

Hard to believe another Christmas has come and gone. I love Christmas.... I love the anticipation, the preparation, but then it seems to come and go so quickly. And, as anyone with small children knows, sometimes Christmas can be just a little too overwhelming with messed up schedules and too much excitement. But, all in all, we had a fun holiday.

Noah was very funny on Christmas morning (at the crack of 6:45..... groan..) He went downstairs to see what Santa had brought and found Biscuit, the Fur Real puppy that makes noises and moves. He didn't know that it made noises and moved, and went over to it to check it out and it barked and wagged its tail, and Noah screamed and jumped back about 4 feet. He did end up loving all of his toys, he got a million more dinosaurs, a couple movies, some art supplies, and various other toys and gadgets.

Ella was woken up way too early by the screams of excitement (or terror) over Biscuit, so she was a crabby pants opening her gifts from Santa. She was down for a nap by 8:30 am. Her big item this year is her very own beauty salon that she has set up in her room and LOVES. It has a swiveling chair she can sit on and a lot of little "accessories" that she can play with. She is very much a girlie girl, so it was right up her alley.

After opening the gifts from Santa, we went to my parents' house and had ham for lunch and played games and opened more gifts. I love that each year my parents make something for the kids for Christmas. Those gifts are so much more precious than anything anyone could possibly buy in a store. I know that Noah and Ella will cherish the things that Grandpa Tim and Grandma Mary made for them, just like I cherish the homemade ornaments that my grandma made for me through the years. This year my dad made a step stool for Ella that has her name on it out of beautiful wood, and a shelf for Noah that has his name cut out of the bottom. I will have to post pictures on here of them, they are so awesome. My mom made sweaters for the kids, Noah's is the burgundy one in the photo above, and Ella's is a short sleeve white sweater with pink trim and a pink turtleneck underneath. It's too cute for me to let her wear it!!

Later that day we went to Seth's parents for his mom's delicious turkey dinner. Noah had fun playing with his cousins, but Ella was done dealing. The poor thing goes to bed by 6:30 or 7:00, so Christmas just wore her out. We attempted to take turns opening gifts so that we could see what everyone had, but with four kids, that was way too hard. Actually, I think it was only hard for my kids, but by that time of a very long day, I wasn't about to force them to wait. Both kids enjoyed the gifts from Grandpa Donnie and Grandma Jolene and Uncle Derek and Aunt Michelle.

All in all, it was a fun, chaotic, memorable, whirlwind of a holiday. I'm just glad I have 364 days to rest and recover before we do it again.

WHEEEEEEEE!!!!

Gotta keep this short because my right arm is numb and incredibly sore. It has been playing way too much Wii...... Santa brought us a Wii!!!!!! Mommy had no idea that Santa knew we wanted a Wii, and when we were all finished opening presents, Daddy pulled a classic "Christmas Story" move and said "what's this?" as he pulled a hidden present from behind the tree. WHEEEEEEE!!!!

I'll have to post more about our Christmas and share some photos- but first I have to rest my arm.

Annual Christmas Injury

Two years ago on Christmas Eve I was attempting to slice a bagel with a serrated knive and I sliced my finger instead and ended up missing church to get stitches in the ER.

This morning I was carrying Ella around the house as I was looking for her socks and I ran into Seth's workout bench and broke my dang toe!!! The toenail is hanging on by a thread and it hurts to high heaven.

I have been known to pass out when I'm in serious pain, and I started seeing white spots and getting really dizzy. I gave Noah a quick lesson on how to use my cell phone to call daddy if mommy should happen to fall down and wet her pants (which I ALWAYS do when I pass out). FUN TIMES!!!

Luckily, I was able to sit and rest and didn't pass out (although I scared Noah half to death). He ran upstairs and brought me one of his special Batman band-aids because my nail was bleeding profusely. Anyway, it really hurt, still does, and I just feel like whining. But.... it could have been much, much worse. I have to stop and give thanks for all the blessings in our life, of which there are many. I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday season!!

First Haircut!!

Ella, Noah and I got our hair cut today. It was Ella's first haircut, and I was a wreck. I am trying to grow out her bangs, which has been a challenge, but she is getting better at keeping in barrettes and pigtails to keep her hair out of her face. She had the cutest little curls in the back, but I didn't want her to have a mullet for Christmas, so we got it cut. Our hairdresser only cut off about 1/2 an inch off the back , just to make it all one length. She still has her cute curls, and now- no more mullet!!!

The True Meaning of Christmas

This morning Noah asked "Mommy, why does Santa bring us presents on Jesus's birthday?". Rather than just answering that they are birthday presents or something easy, my mind raced to think of a good answer to explain a connection between Jesus and Santa. Knowing that I would need more think time than a 4 year old's attention span would last, I turned to my old stand-by answer for Noah's difficult questions and asked "well, why do you think?"

His response: "I think that Santa brings gifts to others to be nice and caring, just like Jesus wants us to be".

I couldn't have answered better myself, buddy.

cookies, candles, and costumes

Friday was a snow day for us and Noah and Ella were seriously bouncing off the walls by 8:30 in the morning. I decided that baking some sugar cookies would help keep us occupied for awhile. So, for about a 1/2 an hour I attempted to mix the cookies with both kiddos, keep my patience, and maintain my sanity. I think I was talking in a voice 4 octaves higher than my normal voice in my attempts: "Ella, honey, please don't put your hands in the flour jar", "Noah, use a tissue to wipe your nose, not your sleeve, sweetie", "Ella, we don't put our fingers in the mixer when it's turned on sweet pea"...... etc. Lord have mercy on a mother's soul. That's one of my mantras lately, and I was repeating it in my head during our entire snow day. The kids had fun with the beaters, and Noah and I did have fun cutting out the cookies while Ella was napping. Then, we were able to decorate them with Seth after Ella went to bed for the night. I frosted them while Noah did the sprinkles. He put each color on each cookie, which made for VERY colorful cookies with A LOT of sprinkles. All in all, it was fun for the kids, and, even though it was A LOT of effort, I'm glad I worked so hard to keep my patience in check so the kids can have good memories of baking cookies together.

On Saturday Seth's family came over to celebrate his mom's birthday. Seth made brunch and we had egg casseroles, muffins, and fruit, and it was delicious!

This morning Noah had his Christmas program at Sunday School. He was a shepherd and was excited that he got to carry a staff. They sang a few songs before mass started and then recited the Our Father. Well, one little girl recited the Our Father. The rest all started out strong, but by the end were just moving their mouths, looking around the church, and adjusting their costumes or picking their noses.

Things I never thought I would hear myself say....

Here are actual phrases that came out of my mouth today:

"Ella, get off the table".

"Ella, where did you get that finger paint? Wait, that's not finger paint, it's food coloring!! Oh dear Lord....."

"Noah, just because I turned on the vaccuum does not mean you should scream and hit me with a golf club."

"Ella don't drink the soy sauce".

"Ella, get off the table."

"Noah, please don't hit your sister with the Q-Tip"

"Ella, will you PLEASE stop POOPING???!?!?!?"

"Ella, get off the table".

"Noah, please take Daddy's boxers off your head and put them back in the the laundry basket".

"No, honey, I don't think running around your room in your underwear will make you more tired- I think you should lay down in your bed and relax"

"Ella, get off the table"

sigh.

What a day!

My first newborn shoot....

Went so great!!! Well, there was the whole pooping on the backdrop issue- but I had to expect it- we made the poor thing take off her clothes and pose- what else would she do? It was with a 2 week old, a 2 year old and a 3 year old- all girls. And all adorable! I am so excited that they turned out so well and that things went as I planned- so exciting!

I went to the bank today and opened an account for my new "business". The banker that helped me has two kids and is having a baby in May and she took my information so that she can talk to her husband and have family pictures done before the baby comes. It's so funny where I get potential clients.

It was a beautiful 60 degree day today- so we went to the zoo. It was so nice to get out of the house and let the kids run around in the sunshine. We also got our blown fuse in our Christmas lights fixed (again)- well, Seth did, I guess- so, according to Noah: "Daddy saves Christmas!!"

Letter to Santa

This is Noah's letter to Santa this year- he dictated as I wrote it down:

Dear Santa,

How are you? I've been good a lot but I'm naughty sometimes. I will try my best to be nice. How do your reindeer really fly for real? I don't know what Ella wants, but she might want something cool. For Christmas this year I would like a mommy bear stuffed animal with little bear cubs, some toy candy canes, some new Legos, a Batman movie, and a remote controlled dinosaur.

I hope you're having a Merry Christmas and how have your reindeer been doing? I hope you're feeding them a lot of carrots. I also want a toy Deinosuchus. That's all. Please give poor little boys and girls lots of food and please try to make them happy.

Love,
Noah

Here Comes Santa Claus

Noah and Ella got to see Santa today at church. Noah was excited to talk to him, but then forgot what he wanted to say. That's okay, though, because Noah is in constant communication with Santa. Since he knows that Santa sees him when he's sleeping, knows when he's awake, knows if he's been bad or good, etc., he thinks that he can just speak out loud and Santa is listening. So I'll hear him talking to himself and ask who he's talking to (since it could be a myriad of people: Super Alicia, his coworkers Sam, Mike, Steve, and Amber, the list goes on and on) and he says that he's telling Santa what he wants for Christmas.

Ella didn't want to sit on Santa's lap. That is until she saw the giant bowl of candy and was told that she couldn't have one unless she sat on his lap for a picture. Then she was much more agreeable.

After church Seth and I went with Noah to see the Berenstain Bears Save Christmas at the Rose Theater. A friend of mine from book club had some tickets and couldn't use them, so she gave them to us (THANKS JEN!!). It was really fun! Mike Berenstain is the son of Stan and Jan Berenstain and he was there autographing books for the kids, so we let Noah buy one.

He had a great time and it was fun to spend time with just him.

Fun-Filled Week-end

Noah had his preschool Christmas program this past week. It was so sweet- and he was sooooo excited! He is quite the performer. He has been singing one of the songs all week-end:

Happy birthday Jesus, I'm so glad it's Christmas

All the tinsel and lights, and the presents are nice,

but the real gift is YOUUUUUU.....

(the "You" is about 3 octaves higher than the rest of the song)

It's so stinking cute when he sings it that Seth and I always laugh and then he gets mad- "it's a serious song, DON'T LAUGH!"

On Friday night Seth and I went to a Christmas party that one of his clients had at Fleming's Steakhouse. It was good food and it's always fun to get dressed up and go out once in awhile.

Saturday morning I had a photo shoot with a co-worker's three kids and her brother's three kids for a total of 6 kids under the age of 7. It was pretty crazy. I didn't get as many shots as I do during a typical photo shoot, but we managed to get a few cute ones. They wanted them for an annual photo they give for the grandparents for Christmas, so we didn't need too many.

This week-end Ella and I also worked on some potty training. It feels ridiculously early to me, but she's really into it and can tell me when she's gone, so I guess I might as well go with it. So far she's been very interested in sitting on the potty seat we have on our toilet and she'll say "pee-pee", but she hasn't actually gone yet. Then about 10 minutes later she'll put her hand on the back of her pants and then our conversation goes like this:

Her: "uh-oh"

Me: "Did you go potty?"

Her: "yeah"

Me: "should we go change your pants?

Her: "yeah"

I think this whole potty training business might take awhile.