Christmas Eve 2009

Christmas Eve consisted of our traditional extravaganza. I never quite know what kind of reaction we are going to get when we invite everyone to a talent/non-talent show. We were more than impressed with everyone's entertainment, which consisted of the nativity, piano playing, child solos, chimes, rapping, gameshow style frosty the snowman, and a one of a kind nutcracker play.

We also took over the dinner portion of Christmas Eve this year, which meant that Brad had his maiden voyage as head chef, taking over his dad's job of preparing the fish chowder. He did a great job. And no one can say they left hungry.....next year we will try to make about 1/4 as much food, our refrigerator is still bursting at the seams.

Merry Christmas 2009

Christmas is definitely my favorite day of the year, and this year may have been my favorite Christmas ever. It was perfect. The girls woke us up just before 8:00 a.m., we woke Beckham up, and headed down stairs. The first thing we always do is check for evidence that Santa was here. Brad (our tooth expert) verified that those are infact Reindeer teeth marks on the carrot. Santa was spoiled with two different kinds of dessert this year!

Next we took our time opening and enjoying presents.

For the second year in a row, the most excitement came when opening Barbies.

My Boys!

Here the girls are, excavating jewels from sandstone, and making snoopy snowcones......yum, I could go for another one of those right now =0).

Probably my favorite thing of the day was this headband that Beckham got in his stocking....Mistletoe ( = lots of kisses)....fitting.

One of my best, most unexpected gifts was that Beckham slept through the night for the very first time on Christmas Eve night- 8:30 to 6:45! Wahoo!

And then we stayed in our pajamas, enjoyed each other's company and played all day.

Dear Santa

Liv and Gwen received a letter from Santa in the mail, and I found this on the table the following morning. I couldn't agree more!

Great Grandma Shirley

Another highlight of our trip was seeing Great Grandma Shirley. She was such a treat, and had a compliment for me and my kids just about each minute. I hope that I inherited her genetics (other than the obvious height genes I did not inherit....she is about 4'10" now days.) She has amazinge health, and is awfully beautiful. Any 87 year old who can live in the same house with 8 adults and 15 children for 2 weeks without being completeely overwhelmed is more than impressive. One of the things I was most grateful for this Thanksgiving was that my kids got to spend time with her. Quite a feet considering she lives in Southern Utah (3/4s of the weay across the country.)

Some things about my grandma:

• She can make anything taste good.
• She always fed me peaches and cream, made with fresh peaches fromk her back yard.
• She and my grandfather also grew plums, currents, appricots, raspberries, cherries and apples in their yard, along with a huge vegetable garden and flower gardens.
• She loves music
• She has worked very hard in her life
• She has 7 children
• She loves to wear a big corsage
• As well as a nice pair of clip on earings
• Everytime we visited her house, she would pull out a stool as we arrived so she could stand on it to give us a hug =0).

Cousins

As usual, we had a fabulous time in St. Louis. One of my favorite things about getting together with my family is these cute kiddos. Liv especially was in heaven with all of her cousins. Making potteryAt the zoo The big girls in Grandma's closet, where they slept every night.

I hope you all know how much I adore you!

Tip

When applying Gentian Violet to get rid of your baby's thrush, keep it clear of any clothing, furniture, cheeks, etc. Do not think a soaked q-tip will provide the right amount. Try something much smaller.....much, much smaller. Oh yeah, and don't use your violette fingertip to wipe a little speck of something off his cheek.
P.S.We're back! Liv, Gwen, Beckham and I spent the last 2 weeks in St. Louis with my family. We got into Bangor from St. Louis at midnight last night and made it ontime and all dressed for Beckham's 8:15, 3 month well child visit this morning. He weighed 14 lbs 1 ounce and was 25 inches tall. which is as heavy as both of our girls weighed at 8 months =0). I had Liv with me since she was out of school today and she couldn't stand to watch him get shots so she stood in the hallway until it was over. I hope she gets over her fear someday. Although I have to admit I hate watching them go into those sweet, chubby little legs.

Sponge Rollers

A Historic Day

I have been anxious over two important things that were resolved today.... Our local elections and whether or not to vaccinate Liv for the Swine Flu. Back in 2005, the state of Maine voted to define Marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Earlier this year, our legislature decided to pass a law legalizing homosexual marriages in our state. Before the law was enacted, it was repealed by a citizen's petition and put up for a vote in this election. We were facing a major and scary change, redefining marriage as a union between any two people. All of the studies showed that it was going to be a very close race. I read a quote in this morning's newspaper that said, "this was never a battle against gays and lesbians, but rather a battle to protect marriage." I agree. Marriage and families are the most important unit of society. The lifelong commitment of marriage is necessary in order to create the ideal environment for rearing children. When the institution of marriage is already weakening in our society, the thought of changing it in this way is scary to me. The best way to improve our country is to raise children with strong morals in a stable home with a mother and a father who love them and love each other. We need to do everything we can to encourage this environment for children. I was grateful and relieved when we saw the front page of this morning's newspaper announcing that #1 had passed.

Here is a link to an EXCELLENT article from my church leaders on the subject. This is an important issue that especially all parents should understand because it can have serious consequences.

"The Divine Institution of Marriage." an article from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The next important issue was whether or not to get Liv the seasonal flu vaccination and the H1N1 vaccination. And whether it was worth waiting in line for 2+ hours at the area clinic for school age children. In the end we decided that (especially with Beckham around the house) we needed to get Liv vaccinated. I took Liv over early this morning to wait in line for the vaccines. Luckily I had been warned and we knew to bring a bunch of supplies: a Portable DVD player, Books, Food, Gum, and Candy. We waited for a little over 2 hours, but felt lucky that we arrived when we did. Just after we got there a rush of 100+ people arrived, taking the line way out beyond the building. Waiting in line wasn't so bad, but I am learning that Liv has a major fear of shots. I've never seen fear in her eyes like she had today. That part wasn't fun, but she tried hard to cooperate. She is pretty proud of herself now and so are we.

The first thing she said after she got her shot was, "Okay, can you take me to school now?"

Her sticker says, "Watch me, I got a shot today!"

Happy Halloween

Beckham's nickname is Beckaroo, and Liv said, "Hey Dad, just for today I am going to call Beckham, Beckamoo." I still crack up every time I look at this picture. Brad really got into his costume =0).

Yes on #1

Don't forget to vote today! Polls are open until 8:00 in Brewer.

Oh My...

There is something about your baby's first smiles that are so exciting and satisfying. Beckham has been "smiling" for a while now, but just this week he has started smiling all the time. I love that connection. What a sweet little boy. We love him.

Sling Baby

If you had visited our house last week, you would have seen a lot of this. Beckham was hit with thrush along with his first cold (complete with a sad little dry cough that practically made my throat hurt.) He is finally on his way out of it, which makes us all happy.

Grandma JoLynn

We spent the second week in October enjoying my mom. I'm lucky to have a great mom, and I have to admit that we both feel jipped because we live so far away from each other. I'm grateful for airplanes! Our family loves any time we can get with her. She is always so easy to have around, and we have fun doing just about anything. It was such a treat!

We spent our time Apple Picking

(I love this picture of me with my mom...Liv took it. I think she has a knack =0)...)

And Pumpkin picking

(don't you love this cute/funny ride they had for the kids at the pumpkin patch...it was a hit =0)..)
Walking the bog walk

and playing at home.

Oh, yeah, and kissing Beckham...Look at this face, how could we help it =0).

What-Matters-Most

What-Matters-Most (click on this link to watch)
have you seen these videos? They always bring me a simple reminder. This one struck me this morning. You can find more here =0) (scroll to the bottom.)

She loves you. She loves you not. She loves you!

Liv has adjusted great to school. She really loves Kindergarten, and loves her teacher. We have, however, had one big adjustment related to school. Gwen waits all day for her sister to come home, and by the time Liv does come home, Liv is tired, over socialized and isn't interested in Gwen at all. This is a big change for Gwen, since just weeks ago they were the best of friends and played all day together. So inevitably Gwen feels bad and Liv is frustrated. I've been trying to figure out what to do, and have watched it all slowly get better. Today we had a breakthrough...Yeah! Liv was going across the street to play and really wanted Gwen to come. They played all afternoon. Liv watched over Gwen. Gwen was gleeful over the whole situation. And I have a perma-grin. There isn't much that makes me happier than seeing these girls playing happily together =0).

It feels so good

I am admittedly horrible at laundry. Today I washed folded and put away my loads all in one day. That is an accomplishment, and I feel good about it.

October 2nd in Maine

I went on my first post baby exercise outing this morning. Which included walking Liv to school and then pushing Gwen in the stroller, carrying Beckham in my front pack and walking a couple of miles around our neighborhood, not much but at least it was something. I was reminded how much I love Autumn. It was nice to feel a tinge of inspiration again (I even thought about starting a painting).... it's been a while. I think pregnancy and sleep deprivation had sucked it right out of me. {Gwen teasing me by sitting on the footrest at the front of the stroller}{Liv's class just happened to drive past us in their school bus on the way to their pumpkin patch field trip.}