Merry Christmas!

Christmas day was the stuff of dreams. We began the day with a family picture on the stairs in pj's. The girls were allowed to look at the bacchanalia under the tree and glance at their stockings by the fireplace but they couldn't open anything until they'd had breakfast. 

This year we tried egg nog French toast. Yummy!

Soooo yummy!

Right Sydney?

From there, we all proceeded to the family room to open stockings while Christmas music played on the new flatscreen via Apple TV. I have to say, Brent did a fantastic job with the traditional Pringles this year. There was Salt and Vinegar for Liesel, an Extreme Screamin' Dill Pickle for Ireland, Multi Grain Cheesy Cheddar for Gita, and then Cheddar and Sour Cream for Sydney. I went out on a limb and chose Tortillas Zesty Salsa for Brent, which he loved (phew!) and he made sure the Sour Cream and Onion I've had since I was a child made it into my stocking. 

Getting a picture of Liesel and Ireland with their stockings was futile. They had those things unstuffed in seconds. See the blur behind Gita? That would be Liesel... or maybe it's Ireland. I can't tell.

Next we moved into the living room to open the presents under the tree. Reagan's gift of personalized t-shirts to the girls was so perfect! They all changed right out of their pjs and romped around in them for the rest of the day. She also gave them art supplies which kept them happy and busy for the rest of the day.

My favorite part is the sleeve. Each sleeve has their first initial on it. So sweet! Jeanne made these dolls for the girls by hand- including the clothes. I hope to keep these in good enough shape the girls can pass them on to their children.

Being a parent means I'm privy to a good 90% of the Christmas surprises so the joy is usually in seeing the reactions to the gifts. It's not often that I find myself surprised, even from Brent. I actually buy my Christmas gifts which would make a lot of wives mad but Brent hates to shop and I love getting what I really want. However, this year I was delighted when Brigitta unwrapped this gift from my mom:

 Her very own box of Twinkies! If you don't get the reference, see this post. The note said it was up to Brigitta to eat herself or share. She did not share. In fact, as soon as she got into the box, she wanted a Twinkie in each hand. I loved this singularly clever gift! So did Gita.

Once all the presents under the tree had been opened, we gave the girls one last gift- we'd purchased The Lego Movie. They gleefully bounded back into the family room with their Pringles in hand to settle in and watch.

It's always fun to see the little one embrace a tradition. In this case, literally.

Brent and I brought some semblance of order back into the house by cleaning up. We leisurely connected with family via phone calls, text messages and video chats. For Christmas dinner we had cobb salad with flatbread- a welcome break from the fatty, salty, sugary foods of the day.

Our first Christmas in our new home made me excited for Christmases to come. I can see us building on traditions and creating memories for a lifetime. Really, it was the stuff of dreams.

Holiday Season Pics

Sydney REALLY hated that hat. Or maybe she somehow knew Brigitta had a hold of her regular hat and was trying to put it on. Still, I had to get a picture because it reminded me of Better Off Dead. "Everyone's going to be wearing one of these!"

The girls were a little Nazi about our elf on the shelf, Lucy. "Why didn't Lucy fly back to the North Pole last night?" "Uhmmmm, she didn't want to report your bad behavior so you get a second chance today!" "Why didn't Lucy move?" "I think she did but the spot was so comfortable she just came back to it." "Hey! Lucy's in the same place as yesterday!" "Lucy was... tired honey. She just couldn't muster the energy to fly back to the North Pole and report to Santa."

Liesel came home from her last day of school like this. Seeing her skip off the bus with her little Rudolph nose made my heart soar. She had so much fun at her class Christmas party. She got a sweet little ornament too!

The secret to getting a lot of Christmas cards is to move every couple of years. It's worked for us! Christmas cards are my favorite part of the season. It's such a tangible reminder of the importance of love and friendship. The girls started adding all their Christmas drawings and I have to say I'm a fan!

Brent's parents picked up the stocking holders on a visit to North Pole, Alaska. I've never been completely happy with all our stockings but I saw the cable-knit ones at Pottery Barn this year and fell in love. One red and one white were the perfect finish! Brent's mother gave us the advent calendar years ago but I really like how it looked on the mantle.

Someday the living room will have more furniture, but for now the Christmas tree and train will do. Red ribbon on the pillars was my Mom's idea as was hanging our kissing ball right between them. Sadly, it's out of the photo.

My first attempt at Yorkshire pudding!

We FINALLY got the Pottery Barn reindeer dishes and napkins out of boxes! I've been wanting to use those for years. Roast, peas, Yorkshire pudding, gravy and some Martinelli's comprised our Christmas Eve feast.

With a little one trying to snatch some dessert. This picture makes me want to squeeze her chubby, chubby legs!

 This year I wanted to have a fun-filled but relaxed Christmas season, so I got the shopping out of the way before Black Friday. I figured I had a whole month to wrap presents, but one day the babies were napping and I decided to just take care of it. All month long I could just hum carols and sip wassail. Brent and I even made it to a Messiah sing-along! At church he's had a lot of people comment on his voice; I forgot how nice it is to sing with him sans little ones.

Our ward had a Christmas devotional which was part singing carols, part reading of Luke 2 and part live nativity. After dinner, we cleaned up the girls and put them in their Christmas pajamas. The devotional set the perfect tone for them and they received oh so many compliments on their pretty, white nightgowns! Instead of heading straight home, we drove by a place that had dozens upon dozens of lit up reindeer over acres of land. They strung many of them up in the trees so they looked like they were flying. There was a creek running through the property and those lighted reindeer gleaming off the water were just magical.

After reading "Twas the Night Before Christmas" we put the little ones to bed. I was able to simply carry wrapped presents from their hiding spot down to under the tree. Brent and I stuffed stockings and then cuddled up to watch A Christmas Story. No last-minute wrapping or assembling anything, we were done! We even got to bed at a decent hour. It was heaven.

However, we kept forgetting about Lucy which was truly disconcerting to the girls. The advent calendar fell apart when someone (name withheld to protect the guilty) opened the whole thing and ate all the candy. I'm always on the hunt for new ideas we can transform into yearly traditions. There's always next year I guess! But for now, Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Ward Christmas Party

Just remembering our ward's Christmas party makes my heart all warm and glowy. Growing up in the church, I've been to many, but I've never been to one like this! Let's see if I can even find words to describe the festivities. First, the invitation:

The organizers really did that Joy to the World theme right. Turns out those crafts for the kids were stations in classrooms throughout the building and each one had a theme for a different country. For Germany, they got to decorate their own gingerbread (ie graham cracker) house and let me tell you, no one wanted to leave that one. You'd think a table full of different colored frosting and candies would descend into anarchy with little kids but it was the happiest place on Earth. For England, the girls colored Christmas crackers and we were given little trinkets for the interior. To finish them off, we tied the ends with ribbon. Sweden was represented by creating St. Lucia wreaths and let me tell you, little kids were wearing those proudly all evening. The creme de la creme was Mexico for which a pinata was hung in the lobby. I sadly was not able to get any photos of any of this because while I managed one baby, Brent managed the other. Oh how I wish I had video of that pinata!!! When it finally broke, there was a breathless hush before all those sweet primary kids descended on that candy like locusts. 

At each station, they gave us a little information card to read later. 

 How lovely is that?

In the other lobby, there were pictures with Santa. I have no idea where the tree, presents, fireplace or chair came from, but whoever brought them had it packed up and gone lickety split when the party was over.  

 Brigitta was still too terrified of Santa to take a picture with him, but Sydney sat there and hung out for a while. When the photographer told her to smile, she tried so hard to make her face squish into a smile. Somehow she ended up looking a little worried but it was so cute to see her try.

 Dinner was sooo amazing! Two choices of ham: glazed or not, the red jello stuff with the pretzels on the bottom, funeral potatoes (you have to have funeral potatoes!) and rolls. Desserts followed the Joy to the World theme and there was black forest cake, trifle, and flan not to mention assorted cookies and cupcakes. Both Sydney and I loooooved the black forest cake which was ordered specially. At one point, I was deep into the conversation at our table and Sydney gripped the tablecloth so she could drag the plate closer to her.

While we ate, images of Christmas around the world were projected onto the screen above the manger on the stage. Did I mention they had real tablecloths? And adorable centerpieces! I'm told some of the organizers took time off of work to get them just right. There were Christmas trees in all corners of the room and can we just talk about this for a minute?

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!? I have no idea how they got all that up there or where the blow up globe came from, but when they dimmed the lights during dinner, the twinkle lights wrapped in the silky organza streamers looked just stunning. The room was literally all aglow.

After dinner there was a program and the primary children sang a couple of songs. 

Really, Ireland? Couldn't we try for a touch more class than scratching your belly during the song? Well okay, winter is extremely dry around here. But let's at least wipe your face before you go up next time.

There was a solo in Hawaiian, a duet in Italian, a little quartet in English which everyone joined in and Santa made a wooden Santa dance with no hands!

Here's our little family (you can see the centerpiece in the lower left corner). Brigitta is wearing the sparkly beret since her hair looks like a chia pet gone wrong after she cut it. Luckily it fit in with the festive theme. I'm holding my second (okay third) plate of the black forest cake which Sydney is clearly eyeing. Black forest cake... *drools* YUM!  

What the organizers managed to do best was create an environment that felt like we were a ward family- just like the invitation says. Everyone was so happy just to be a part of the festivities. We've attended many different wards since we've been married, but Brent and I truly feel like we've found our ward "home". I love these people and I'm grateful just to rub shoulders with them. 

The Cutting Edge

Brigitta has had croup this week. Believe it or not, we've never dealt with croup before, so it's been a steep learning curve on a lot of sleepless nights. Since she's not sleeping well, I put her down for a nap earlier than usual. Brigitta took a nice, long nap but when she woke up, she looked extremely disheveled at first glance. Then I looked closer...

 ...and closer. There was a chunk of hair cut right out of the top of her head! 

When I took out the half-ponytail, this came out with it.

I have no idea how she did it. I was across the hall the entire time working on the laptop! I've scoured her entire room for scissors and come up dry. Perhaps she cut it before her nap? Is it possible I'm that sleep-deprived that I didn't notice?

Obviously she couldn't go out in public the way she looked, so we tried out a few possible solutions. The fascinator I wore to Whitney's wedding covered the worst of it quite nicely:

This beach hat not only covers the area, it's so huge it really distracts from it altogether!

Well, it is winter!

This one didn't work quite so well. I had to keep pushing it close to her hairline to keep the spiky parts from sticking out, she looked like an 80's aerobics girl. 

In the end, this was the winner. She kind of looks like a Christmas ornament and she rather liked wearing it.

Just as when Liesel chopped her hair, I rushed Brigitta to my nearest Aveda salon looking for professional advice. Four stylists were at the front desk and I joked I was hoping for an open appointment and someone who could perform a Christmas miracle. They surrounded Brigitta to survey the damage and summarily agreed nothing could be done to fix it. Instead, they offered styling advice to minimize the effects. I tried to listen but I was struggling to keep a squirming Sydney safely in my arms and corral Ireland who wanted to run all over the salon.

While we talked, I backed into a refreshment table and knocked over a French press- which spilled all over the floor. All four stylists in their chic outfits, with flawless hair and makeup, told me not to worry about it. As I stood there in the mess with my haggard face, 3rd day ponytail and hoodie that says "Harvard Law- what, like it's hard?" I felt my eyes well up with tears. I was so, so, so deeply embarrassed and somehow their kindness only made it worse.

Pathetically, I offered, "I'm swear I'm a good Mom!" and managed a smile before I gathered my unruly girls and headed to the parking lot. Later, when I asked Brigitta why she cut her hair she responded, "Why not?"

I've been off sugar for quite a while, but after a day like today, I hauled in the big guns. This is the Mormon equivalent of a good, stiff drink.

I plan to utterly drown my sorrows in that slice of cake.

Tidbits

It's been a while (again) and these have piled up (again) so this will be a long one. I promise it will be worth it though! These girls are a non-stop source of entertainment.

Right in front of my parents, Ireland let out a huge belch. Without apologizing or excusing herself, she went about what she was doing, so Brent intervened, "What do you say Ireland?" She turned to my parents and matter-of-factually said, "I burp a lot."

Just found these beauties on the camera I rarely use:

I don't know why, but this one just cracks me up! Banana selfie.

Every now and again I'll give Sydney my phone to distract her. Lately her favorite thing is to just press that main button until Siri answers. Sydney will babble to her until she says something like, "Sorry, I didn't quite get that." Then Sydney presses the button again and babbles even louder. Siri responds with something like, "I didn't understand you." After a few minutes, she gets pretty frustrated and is out and out screaming at the phone while Siri suggests web searches. Oh Sydney, it's not just you; we've all had problems with Siri not understanding us.

We stopped in the Visitor's Center in Independence, MO while we were in town for a baby blessing. I wanted to get a picture of the girls in front of the Christus. As I worried about the composition of the picture and getting everyone to look at me and smile, Liesel said, "Everyone say 'I love Jesus!'" And then this picture just happened.

Sydney has the annoying habit of twisting around when I'm trying to change her. After a stomach bug, she had some diarrhea I was trying to deal with. I wiped the bulk of the mess off with the front of the diaper and then set it on the shelf above so she wouldn't re-dirty herself. As I cleaned off the rest of her little bum, the diaper slipped from the shelf and fell crap-side-open right on her face. Turns out the one thing Sydney hates more than getting changed, is having diarrhea on her face. At least she held still while I wiped her off!

This is how Ireland's part in the Primary Program went:
Ireland: Heavenly Father *pause* has prepared a way *pause* for us *bursts into tears* It's scary! She ran into the arms of the member of the Primary Presidency who was feeding her the line (even though she had it memorized) and then Ireland spent the rest of the program on her teacher's lap.

 Brigitta apparently got out of bed and only made it partway down the hall before crashing again. I found her like this. 

Liesel and I were hanging out on my bed one Saturday afternoon when I started feeling snackish. I did sparkle fingers towards my forehead while saying, "Bring me a snack." and then threw my sparkle fingers towards the door. Liesel looked at me funny and asked why I did that. I told her I was sending Brent a mental message. A few minutes later, Brent appeared and asked if there was anything he could bring me (even after 8 years of marriage he does this often). When I told him I could use a snack, a wide-eyed Liesel said, "WOW! That was like, magic or something." I told her that when she's been married for as long as we have, she'll be able to send mental messages to her husband too.

I know Jeanne isn't overly fond of this photo, but I absolutely adore it. From the curlers to Gita's cheesy smile, it just makes me happy. Can't you just feel how much these two love each other?

I'm so grateful for the grandparents these girls have in their lives. 

We were getting pretty near 100% success in potty training with Brigitta. I was folding laundry when Ireland hollered from downstairs that Brigitta was peeing. When I reached the landing, I found my toddler midway up the marble stairs with urine dripping down 4 or 5 steps. Incredulous, I asked her what she was doing. She grinned and proudly said, "I make a waterfall!" Potty training has not progressed one bit since that day.

With two unusual names, I'm used to getting mail with one-off spelling, but this totally chaps my hide. 

I mean, come on!

After the Family Library Night at Liesel's school, I was telling Brent about the drawing for free books at the end. I couldn't remember what the order was... the first drawing was for K-2 and then 3-4 and then 5? No, it was just K and then 1-3 and then 4-5? Wait, that wasn't right. I looked at Liesel who had been silently listening and she gently said, "Let me help you out..." and proceeded to tell Brent the proper order of the book drawing. She's such a grown up sometimes!

This was taken 10 minutes after Ireland insisted she didn't need a nap.

I read that instead of telling children to pray for what they are grateful or thankful for, encourage them to focus on things in their life that make them happy. It's the same principle, just an easier way for young minds to comprehend it. Ireland's prayers are very rote and very short. After telling her to think of things that make her happy, she said the following prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, I thank thee for this day and for the food and... *whispers* Jesus Christ? I have something to tell you. I love presents and Christmas and stockings. *almost shouting* In the name of Jesus Christ, AMEN!

I was changing Brigitta's wet pull-up and once off, I handed it to her to throw away. Running across the room, she threw it 5 feet from the basket and made it!!! I don't think I could have made that shot while running!

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas!

Someday all my children will be old enough to take a picture with Santa without crying...

 ...but this year is not the year. Brigitta talked endlessly about visiting Santa and then when it was finally our turn, she was overcome with fear and shyness. We're lucky we got her in the picture at all!

This one is my favorite for sure: Santa Lucia with Santa Claus!

Before making it to the big man, the girls got to play in the snowy dome and I was allowed to snap away to my heart's content. Sadly, I only had my iPhone which doesn't take great photos in dim light. Still, I think these are worth posting!

I don't know what that fake snow was made of, but it did NOT come out of their hair!