Merry Christmas!

We had a wonderful Christmas weekend! Weston finished school on Wednesday and Ian finished work on Thursday, so Friday we kicked off the festivities with Ian and the boys making Wassail. It made the house smell spicy and festive.
Later in the afternoon we all went to see Arthur Christmas. I can't really tell you how it was because I spent half the movie out in the hall with Miss Talia who did not want to be in a dark theater. The boys enjoyed it though. We also made sugar cookies. It was messy and kind of crazy, but we had fun decorating them and I am really loving eating them.
Christmas Eve was pretty relaxed. Ian took the boys to the aquarium for a couple hours while I cleaned up the house and did some dinner/Christmas breakfast prep. Talia was being pretty adorable all day. That is, until it was time for me to make dinner, of course. Our chicken scampi turned out delicious and the boys loved drinking Martinelli's and eating by candlelight. I really enjoy our tradition of a fancy dinner on Christmas Eve and had fun getting out my china and silver for the special meal.
After dinner the kids opened their Christmas Eve gift. Weston has caught onto the tradition and knew that he was getting pajamas, but it was still fun to tear into a gift early. The kids had baths while I cleaned up dinner. Then we got to FaceTime with grandparents for a little while. I sure love being able to see my family 600 miles away on holidays when we aren't together. Thank you Apple.
After chatting with my family we had a treat and set out treats for Santa. When I was growing up we always left See's for Santa, but the kids had each made a special sugar cookie to leave too. Lucky Santa. Even Rudolph got a treat!
Next we turned out all the lights, lit candles in the living room, and read the story of the birth of Christ from Luke. We also read about the signs given of the birth of Christ in the Book of Mormon. We finished with Silent Night and family prayer. There's nothing better than that spirit of peace and love that comes when we remember our Savior as a family.

Since we started our night pretty early, the kids had just enough time to watch Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer before going to bed. Weston was so excited that he had a hard time falling asleep and came out once before settling in. Ian and I watched White Christmas and wrapped presents and stuffed stockings. When everything was ready Ian sat down to play a computer game with Jim, our brother-in-law, so my sister and I got to chat while they played. It was fun to talk about getting Christmas ready for our own families.
Christmas morning Talia woke up first at 6:30. She had a bottle and went back to sleep. The boys were up at 7 and we started opening presents. We passed out everything from under the tree then let everyone open their gifts. The boys were spoiled. Santa brought Weston a camera and a lion Webkinz. He also got Lego's, a big Starscream Transformer, an Ironman arc reactor, Phineas and Ferb playset, and more. Davin asked Santa for a Webkinz frog, which he got and was super excited about. Santa also brought Davin a road (aka a Cars 2 racetrack). Davin also got Lego's, a Zhu-Zhu pet with a car, binoculars, Perry the Platypus lovey, Cars 2 the movie with a race car driver costume, and a few other fun things.

Thanks to Ian's grandparents (all of them!) we were able to also get a Wii and Mario Kart for our family. We are all pretty excited about it. Ian got me a new straightener, lots of fuzzy socks, and an ipod dock alarm clock.
Right about the time we were done with all of our gifts Talia woke up. It was kind of perfect to not have to keep her out of all the wrapping and chaos of the first hour of presents. She and I sat down with her pile and opened her gifts. She especially loved the spinning, light up gear toy that Santa brought her.
We ate souffle and cinnamon rolls for breakfast then got ready for church. We had a one hour sacrament meeting combined with the other ward in our building. It was very nice. The primary sang, there were 2 youth speakers, then the choir sang 3 numbers, then each of the bishops spoke for a few minutes. I really loved having church on Christmas. It was so nice to spend time with our ward family singing and focusing on the birth of Jesus. Also Talia looked adorable in her Christmas dress.
We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing and opening toys and playing with our toys. We got to FaceTime with the Bowles' too. We had a yummy ham dinner and then started settling all the new toys into their places. Ian and I curled up and watched a movie after the kids went to bed. It really was a fantastic Christmas.

Programs, Parties, and Pretty Lights

It's been another week of Christmas fun. Last Thursday was Weston's kindergarten Christmas program. He has been talking about it for weeks. He has been singing the songs around the house and telling me about the "surprise" words he was learning (the funny echoes in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer). The night before the big program day Weston woke up in the middle of the night throwing up. Lovely.
Sidenote: I have a really hard time with vomit. It is my mothering nemesis. I couldn't even hold the bowl for him and rub his back. I had to leave the room. Good thing I have an awesome husband who picks up the slack for this mothering weakness.

I didn't have the heart to say anything about the fact that he was going to have to miss his program the next day. He threw up twice that night. We all were exhausted the next morning when we dragged ourselves out of bed at 8am. When I came out of my room Davin was saying that he wanted to be Spiderman, and Weston said, "Davin you can't be Spiderman! We only have 43 minutes to get ready for school!" I sat him down and explained he couldn't go to school because he had been throwing up. He was very sad. I compromised and told him if he rested and could eat a little without throwing up again all morning then we would maybe go to school for the program at 2:30.

He wasn't acting sick. He rested and watched TV for awhile, but after a couple hours he was ready to get up and play lightsabers and color at the table. He ate some crackers and apple juice and didn't throw up. We ended up going to the program. I gave Weston a plastic bag to keep in his pocket just in case. He didn't get sick and he sang great! It really was an adorable program. Each of the three kindergarten classes had a different hat that went with a different song and they took turns standing during "their" song. I took the kids with me to the afternoon performance, then Ian met us at the school for the evening performance.

Here is a video of Weston's class standing and singing Rudolph in their reindeer hats from the afternoon performance. Weston is in the front row in a gray shirt.


Friday night Ian and I went on a date. It was a last minute decision, but I'm so glad that we did it! We ate dinner at Red Robin, which tasted so good, then saw the new Sherlock Holmes movie. It was so awesome. I liked the first one a lot and this one was just as good. You should go see it over the break.

We lucked out with a double date night weekend. Saturday night was Ian's company party. It was at a nice steakhouse called Fleming's. I didn't feel too bad about leaving the kids two nights in a row because the party was really late and we didn't leave until 15 minutes before the boys went to bed and Talia was long asleep. The party was fun. It was nice to visit with everyone. The food was fantastic, and we ended up sitting with just one other couple and having a really great time visiting with them. I did my hair half up and I really liked how it turned out. Ian was off getting the babysitter so this is my self-portrait high school style.
Monday night we had our annual bishopric caroling party. We get together with our families to sing Christmas songs and eat good food. This year we did soups and yummy bread. It was great fun. We sang lots of Christmas songs and had fun harmonizing. The Wilson's stayed late and played Things with us too. Such a funny game.

Last night the youth went to Temple Square to see the lights. I was kind of not wanting to go out in the cold and be away from my family last night, but we had a really nice time. We had a good turnout and I'm glad that I went. I haven't seen the lights at Temple Square in a few years, and it's much more fun to go without little ones. I loved all the nativities from around the world that were set up on the grounds outside the church office building. It's all so beautiful and festive.
Weston and Davin had their last day of school today! Yay! No rushing off to school or making lunches or homework for 2 weeks! Ian's last day of work is tomorrow and then we will all be home together for the holidays. We have more chocolate bread to deliver and I have more wrapping to do. I am relishing this last week before Christmas.

Happy Birthday Talia!

Monday evening we had a little party for Talia's 1st birthday. We don't usually do much for 1st birthdays since the kids aren't really aware of what is happening, but we did set up a cute party table and invited some friends over to have cupcakes with us and watch Talia open some presents. She was a little tired since it was the end of the day, but she was a gracious party girl and had fun.
She wasn't too interested in her gifts until I half opened them and she saw the toys inside. We wrapped up the baby toys that had been in storage for a couple years, so each time she opened a toy Weston would say "hey, we used to have that toy!" :) Talia was pretty thrilled with the "new" toys. She also got several birthday cards in the mail and some adorable new pajamas from Grandma and Papa.
After we opened presents it was time for singing and cake! She looks pretty concerned in most of the photos, but she was really just concentrating on getting that cake into her mouth. My girl loves to eat! She made a good mess and had a great time doing it.
After a bath she got to play with her new things for a a little while until it was time for sleeping. I think she had a good birthday.
Today was her 12 month well visit with the doctor. It was a good appointment, but unfortunately the runny nose that started on her birthday was an indicator of an ear infection, so we are starting her on her first ever antibiotics tonight. She is a little delayed physically. She doesn't crawl, pull herself to standing, or get herself into a sitting position on her own. I am going to set up an evaluation appointment for her just to make sure she is ok and to learn some things I can do to help her with those skills. She is otherwise a healthy, growing girl and I am thankful.

Talia's 1 year old stats:
Weight: 17 lbs. 13 oz. (8th %ile)
Height: 28 inches (20th %ile)
Head: 65th %ile

Christmas Season Highlights

December is flying by as usual. I cannot believe we have less than 2 weeks until Christmas! My kids are counting down the days and we just keep inching closer to the big day and the end of the year. I am loving the Christmas season this year. Weston and Davin totally get it and totally love it. I love all of our decorations. I love the pine tree smell and the treats covering my kitchen counter. I love wrapping presents and listening to Christmas music. I love singing the beautiful music of Christmas. And I love the overwhelming love and peace I feel when I reflect on the gift of my Savior. I am so blessed.

Highlights of the last week or so include making our magic fireplace! The boys did all of the fire strips. I just manned the glue stick. I had to emphasize the magic of the fireplace this year because the day we went to the store to get the posterboard for our project Weston was questioning it's purpose. On our way to the car from school he said, "Mom, I wonder how Santa really gets in our house to leave presents cause that fireplace is totally fake!" I have a feeling his belief in Santa is not going to last much longer, but in my house growing up, if you didn't believe then you didn't get presents!
Last week I hosted a super fun cookie exchange/Bunko party. I participate in a ladies' bunko group that meets once a month to play, eat, and talk. I hosted this month and turned it into a cookie exchange as well. It was great fun! We might have to make it our December tradition. :)

Another highlight was our ward Christmas party. I say highlight because it took up a lot of my time and energy last week, not because it was my favorite part of my December. I made several Sam's Club trips buying pies, lasagna, and salad. I spent an evening with the bishopric putting together the gifts (a Jon Schmidt Christmas CD for each family and treat bags for the kids). I gathered decorations from ward members and went early to decorate the tables and the hall. While busy decorating I found out from my husband, who was the bishopric member in charge of the party, that the pianist who was supposed to play for the group caroling was not going to make it. So as soon as we were done decorating I snuck off to practice the piano.

It was a busy evening, but the party was a success. There was plenty of food, it looked nice, the singing was fun, the gifts were appreciated, and everyone had a nice time visiting. Oh, and the coloring was a big hit. We covered the tables with butcher paper and put out Christmas coloring pages, word searches, and crosswords and cups of crayons (Ian's idea). It was good to have something to keep the kids (and adults!) occupied during slower moments of the party, and to provide conversation starters. Ian and I came home afterwards and put our feet up! Whew!

Talia the day of the Christmas party

The other HUGE highlight of December so far was Talia's 1st birthday! We celebrated with friends last night, but that will be it's own post tomorrow. Hope you all are enjoying your Christmas season as much as I am!

One Year

One year ago today I spent the day having contractions every 10 minutes. After a late afternoon walk things picked up and later that night, one year ago, our sweet baby girl, Talia Christine, was born. The first year of a baby's life is so amazing. They grow so much. Change so much. And so do I.

Just 1 day old

4 months

That first year flies more quickly with each child. I can't believe that it has been a year already since Talia has been a part of our family. We love her so much and can't imagine life without our girl. Happy Birthday Miss Talia!!!

Santa

On Monday I took Weston out of school early so that we could go visit Santa. We just didn't have any free evenings to go, so Weston played hooky for an afternoon. We ate lunch in the food court then met up with Ian and headed over to Santa's corner. It was great. There was no line. The Santa was adorable (not the sketchy glass-eyed Santa from years past). Weston and Davin just lit up when they saw him.

Weston had a whole list of things he asked for and Santa seemed a little overwhelmed. :) Davin, on the other hand, only asked for a Webkinz frog. He's so adorable. Talia didn't ask for anything except to be back in my arms. I thought their picture turned out really cute and I gave in and bought it for the first time. Davin's face is my favorite.
Santa is conveniently located right outside of See's, so next we went in and bought our pound of Christmas See's, which consists mostly of bordeaux(s), of course. Despite the three, yes three, trips we had to make to the mall bathroom in the course of our hour and a half mall outing, it was a success and I can now return to avoiding the mall like the plague for the rest of December.

Writing!

Weston is very into writing these days. I told you about his writing practice with his 3 page long Christmas list . . . well he also wrote a story book this weekend about his school. A monster attacked West Kearns Elementary and kidnapped the principal, but the monster was just misunderstood. All he really wanted was to be let into school. Pretty cute.

Anyway, this morning after I took my shower and shut off all the screens in front of my kids I thought I should help Davin practice writing some letters. I have never seen him write, so I thought we would start with "D." I wrote his name at the top of the page and he turned it over and proceeded to write his name without any help from me. What?!? Where did this come from? I think I underestimate my little Davin. Just because he wants to be Spiderman at Disneyland (according to last night's dinner conversation) when he grows up doesn't mean the kid isn't smart! Go Dav!

Just for cute kicks . . .