Catching Up Part 3: Road Trip

After a wonderful day together, on Christmas night we loaded up the car to the brim and set out for a cross-country adventure! The boys were excited to snuggle under their new quilts from Grandma B. and watch the animated Nativity Story from Living Scriptures (though I have to say, I'm not a total fan of it, but that's another post). Complete with our gourmet Christmas dinner of bagel sandwiches, we headed out in a snow storm. Our intent was just to drive 4 or 5 hours and stay somewhere so that the next day's drive would be doable. It's supposed to be about a 20 hour drive from here to Brad's parents', and we knew our kids could not do that straight through.

As we headed toward Kansas City however, the effects of the day's storm were evident. Deep snow lined the roads, and the median was littered with abandoned cars that had slid off during the day. Snow was still coming down, and of course our wipers wouldn't work (come to find out, they were just frozen over in spite of the special winter wiper fluid). We met our goal of a 5 hour drive, but not nearly the distance we were hoping for because of the weather. We stayed the night in a cheap motel somewhere in Kansas. Eli was intrigued about the idea of a motel, and kept saying "the motel is NOT grandma's house!"

The next day's weather was a little clearer, but the wind was blowing and every few seconds the view of the road would be obliterated by blowing snow, then reappear. Beautiful, distracting, and freaky all at the same time. Kansas is NOT my favorite state to drive through though, and in winter it's even worse. Nothing but FLAT and white as far as the eye could see... except for a few snow covered hay bales here and there. We ended up getting stuck for a few hours just before we reached Colorado - the entire I-70 had been shut down because of ice and wind. We thought about heading north into Nebraska and completing the drive along the I-80, but found out through a series of phone calls that it was also closed. So we sat. And thought about getting a motel. And just as we picked a place to stay and Brad went in to get a room, they told us that the highway was opening up. Thank goodness! It was actually pretty smooth sailing as far as weather goes the rest of the way into Denver.






From Denver we headed north into Wyoming and hooked up with the I-80. We were still hoping that we could make it all the way, but our little Owen who had really been a trooper up to this point just couldn't take it ANYMORE. When bedtime came, he just wanted OUT of the carseat!!! No singing, hand holding, or me trying to squeeze in our tiny backseat to be near him would help. Unluckily, we were in the middle of nowhere when the crying spell hit, so it went on for over an hour before we found some podunk place to stop... Wamsutter, WY is NOT a place I recommend staying!

We pulled into this scary little motel around 1am... when Brad knocked on the door, a wild looking lady with long, flowing gray hair came running out of a back room in her night gown. I was half expecting her to grab a shotgun from a closet somewhere before answering the door. After Brad checked us in, he came out and told me "she was cranky." It got even worse after we checked out our room... it REEKED of smoke and included some nice cigarette burns all over the furniture. Poor Brad had to go back and talk to the scary lady again... luckily she had a non-smoking room available. And the lack of smoke smell is pretty much the only good thing I can say about the place. We didn't let the kids walk on the floor without shoes if that says anything! We just grabbed about 4 hours of shuteye and hit the road again as fast as we could! Thankfully Owen was able to consider going back to sleep at this time of morning as a "nap" instead of bedtime, and was more cooperative about it.


We had a little less than four hours to drive on that third day, and were exhausted, dirty, and very relieved to finally make it to Morgan! I laid down with Owen and slept right through church... Eli went with Brad and the family, but took a nap in Sacrament Meeting. Out of all of us, he had gotten the most sleep because unlike Owen, he falls asleep in the car at bedtime without a problem, and miraculously wasn't awakened by all of Owen's screaming in the night!

Catching Up Part 2: Christmas Day!

Christmas morning was wonderful. We woke up to a white Christmas - in fact it was blizzard-like conditions all day with heavy snow and wind! We were able to get dressed and have breakfast before then letting the kids down into the living room to see the magical transformation. They were both pretty excited to see and try their new bikes. They rode them around for a bit before opening anything else. It was nice to be able to take things slow, just opening and playing with one gift at a time. We tried to keep the gifts simple, and the kids were pretty thrilled with everything they got!




Owen has been LOVING his pound and roll toy, wooden rings, and lacing beads. Eli was THRILLED with the trains he got - especially "Stepney" as he asked Santa for that one. He's also really enjoyed the lacing animals by Melissa and Doug. Grandma and Grandpa B. sent them the awesome tent and tunnel (though we had to send it back for exchange and haven't gotten the new ones yet). Grandma and Grandpa K. and Great Grandma K. paid for a slide and picnic table, but they arrived later and I don't have pics to upload of those yet. Both boys got a new lap quilt from Grandma B and love those as well - they came in very handy for our road trip! Aunt Aubrey sent Owen a soft soccer ball, and Eli some foam dinosaurs for the bath - those have been a huge HIT! Brad's gift was an awesome office chair that I snagged off Freecycle and kept hidden in our basement!












After the fun morning of toys and more toys and a bath with the new dinosaur toys, Owen passed out for a nice nap and Eli played quietly with trains while Brad packed the car and I got our travel food ready.

Catching Up Part 1: Christmas Eve!

Our Christmas celebration was especially fun this year with two little boys to share it with! Christmas Eve ended up being a busy day, with Brad working and me scurrying around packing our stuff for our last-minute-decision-trip to Utah. In spite of a lack of structure and definite plans for the evening, it ended up being a lot of fun. The boys and I played "riding in Santa's Sleigh" with a huge cardboard box... we sang lots of Christmas songs together and rang our jingle bell sticks. Daddy came home to find us still in the sleigh, and some roughhousing ensued!

We finally hung our stockings up, much to Eli's delight! We also set a carrot out for Santa's reindeer (no cookies though... we figure Santa gets enough treats this time of year, lol). Of course both boys had to taste the carrot before brushing their teeth. Eli had just watch Caillou (a PBS cartoon) that morning about Santa, so when we told him it was time to go to sleep so Santa could come, he bolted to his room and was out like a light... I have never seen him go to bed so easily! Owen took a little more convincing, but Daddy finally got him cuddled to sleep so we could start the wrapping!


Wrapping gifts together this year was especially fun. It's actually the first year I remember Brad helping me wrap, haha. It was fun to be up conspiring together, and Brad said he felt like a "real dad" while putting Owen's bike together. Eli's bike was a special FREE find this year!

Tornados

The first Wednesday of every month out here the city tests the Tornado warning sirens. It's a little eerie, as is the thought of a real tornado ever blowing through here. I sure wish I had heard the warning sirens today though, because a HUGE tornado DEFINITELY blew through my house today! Needless to say, I am buying a child proof doorknob cover for my pantry TOMORROW. Eli has been a little too confident about helping himself to snacks... this was an entire brand new box of Cheerios.



I believe in natural consequences, so in lieu of some other punishment, Eli got to spend 30 minutes sweeping and vacuuming up the mess he made. I helped with the sweeping part - as did Owen, who of course ended up just scattering the O's into every nook and cranny in the kitchen. I couldn't help but smile though, as Eli worked and sang to himself "when we're helping, we're happy and we sing as we go... tra la la la la la la la, tra la la la la la..."


The good news is that I got my camera back and it worked long enough for me to take these pictures. The bad news is that it is definitely still broken, won't focus, and has to be sent back... DARN IT. At least I was able to upload my holiday pictures, so expect some belated Christmas fun coming up soon!

Art Studio

There is this really neat Art Studio out here that is just for kids - Creative Days Art Studio. One day last week they opened up to the community for free, so I took the boys. It was a BLAST! My camera is still broken, but they took some pictures for me and emailed them.

They were able to do shaving cream painting - a cake pan is filled with shaving cream, then they squirt paint into it, stir it around, press a paper into it, pull the paper out and scrape the shaving cream off, and it leaves a marbled looking painting.

They did marble painting - a piece of paper is put into a large tin can, some marbles are rolled in a tray of paint then placed in the can, put the can's lid on and shake it up! Out comes a really cool picture!

And their favorite - bean bag sock painting! Old socks filled with beans and tied off so they are like a round bean bag with a "tail" are dipped in trays of paint, then the kids throw them at a paper pinned to the wall! They got really messy doing this, and had a blast! Owen had paint in his hair even, and when he finally looked down and saw that there was paint all over his hands, the surprised and puzzled look on his face was priceless. When my camera gets fixed I'll have to post pics of their actual art work.

Critter

It all started a few weeks before Christmas... I was using the bathroom in our basement when I heard an odd scratching noise from INSIDE the wall. I immediately thought of mice... apparently there was a small mouse infestation in this house just before we moved in. I'd kept an eye out for any signs of their return and hadn't seen anything up to this point.

Over the next couple of weeks, I stayed up late quite often to work on my internet Christmas shopping. Our computer is also down in one of the basement rooms, and I continued hearing the scratching/scampering/gnawing noises migrating through the wall down there. As far as I can tell though, this is no mouse. It sounds like one larger animal! Eh.... the thought makes me shudder. I realize it has been very cold out, and some creature probably found a little hole in the outside wall and decided to make itself cozy for the winter. I don't like the idea of sharing my North wall with some rodent, but I figured that as long as it stayed down in the basement wall and wasn't coming into the house, I guess I shouldn't worry about it.

Then two weeks ago I was getting breakfast for the boys when I heard it scampering through our kitchen wall! It was so loud, that I thought for sure it had come through the wall and was loose in the cabinets! I freaked out, and Eli's eyes about popped out of his head. Ever since, he has been listening for the "animal," and every noise he hears he says "oh, maybe it's the animal!" He has fun guessing what it might be - "maybe it's a dog... maybe it's a rabbit....maybe it's a raccoon." I'm hoping it's just a squirrel, but there are these really ugly things out here called opossums that I loathe and fear....


Anyway, I've had it with this creature. Thankfully it seems to only be in the North wall and not all through the walls of the house, but my bedroom shares the North wall! I can hear it all night and it's keeping me awake! It's like having a giant pet gerbil or something in there - you know those annoying skittering and chewing sounds that rodents make? And they are nocturnal... plus there's the freakout factor... What IF whatever it is figures out how to get INSIDE? Seriously! What do I DO about this THING?! Any thoughts?

'Cuz Catching up is Hard to Do

"They say that [catching] up is hard to do;
Now I know,
I know that it's true..."

We really did celebrate Christmas and the New Year, and we really did have an AWESOME time! I LOVE the holidays with these two little squirts of ours. We ended up taking a last minute trip to Utah the week after Christmas, and in spite of the ETERNAL DRIVE, we had a blast with the fam. It was great especially to see our new nephew Trevan, and to see Kenadee all grown up, to have our boys totally thrilled with their cousins and their aunts and uncles and grandma and grandpa, and to see my cute little sis with a baby growing in her belly! I WISH I had pictures to upload, but my camera BROKE while on vacation and so I can't upload the pictures I took until it gets fixed. So I might as well MOVE ON because the further behind I get, the less motivated I feel to blog. I'll have a nice belated Christmas post probably in February when things are up and running again. In the meantime, I might as well try to stay updated, even without *gasp* pictures. I think my camera is one of those things that's hard for me to live without....

Ok, so the weather has been horrid here the last few weeks (where hasn't it been?). Finally we jumped from below zero temps up to the 40's. I have never been so thrilled to see snow melting. I am a convert to seasonal change - having grown up in AZ we thought winter was when it went below 60 degrees. Having lived in UT, and MA and now here, I can tell you I am in LOVE with the Fall. I feel the most excited and happy at that time of year. I don't even mind the descent into Winter... but I only like it until January. That's right people - February in AZ is pretty much the end of the *cold* season, and that time table is still in my bones. By mid to late January I am going OUT of my mind for a change! Thankfully out here in MO, I think Winter is fickle and that we'll continue getting surprise warmups like this until Spring. I'm also planning an AZ trip for next month to help get me through =).

Things have been pretty even keel around here since the holidays. We've just been holed up enjoying the new toys, the library, and of course our playgroups and friends. The boys both had well checks - Eli for his 3 year and Owen for his 1 year (though he was already 14 months!). Eli is in the 61st percentile for weight at 33 pounds and 71st percentile in height at 38.5 inches (3feet 2.5 inches). Owen is in the 88th percentile for weight at 26 pounds 10 ounes, and 99.7th percentile for height at 33.75 inches (2 feet 9.75 inches). Both boys have big heads in the 95th percentile. Owen most remarkably is advanced in his gross motor and verbal skills. At 14 months he climbs chairs, stairs, goes down the slide by himself, and runs. Eli did not even walk on his own until 15 months!!! Owen also has over 30 words in his vocabulary, with new ones every day - average for his age is around 5. I thought it would be fun to make a list of the ones he says the most frequently:

Mom
Daddy
Eli (Yi-Yi)
Owen (Oh-wee)
Yep
Nonononono
All Done (ah duh)
More (mo)
Mine (mah)
Water (wa-er)
Hungry (hungy)
Sippy (bid-ty)
Binky (bee-ky)
Car (caw)
Whale (wee-o)
Bath (ba)
Read It (ree-uh)
Uh Oh
Shoe (s'oo)
Nurse (sus or sssss)
Up
Cracker (ca-cuh)
Cheese (teese)
Bye Bye
Meow (mow mow)
Doggie (goggie)
Baby
Hi
Diaper (dah-peh)
Fish (fis)
Whee!
Splash (spas')
Turtle (tuh-to)
Pizza (pee-tah)
Shark (ssssock)
Here you go (he go)
Thank You (cake oo)
Breakfast (brek beh)
Did it! (did i')
Dinner (ninna)
Banana (nana)
Apple (appo)
Car (gar)
Truck (guck)
Mine (my)
Roar! (rar!)
Tree (gree)
Basketball (bah bo)
Get up (ee up)
Potty (paw ee)

As for Eli, we have both lost interest in potty training, so maybe we'll give it another whirl when the weather turns warmer and he can run around in just his drawers. He's a very opinionated three year old, and though he is still a warm little lovey boy, every day can be a constant battle over the most basic things. Eating, or even trying anything that is not on his approved list is just not going to happen - no matter the threats or bribery, lol. We recently started an "Eli and Daddy (or Mommy) special day, to take place once a month. This month he and Daddy went to the mall to ride the carousel, had pizza and ice cream, and then went to the sports store. Eli had a BALL and when I asked him what they did, all he remembered was "it was just me and daddy." I'm hoping the special attention cuts down on some of the negative behavior patterns we've seen lately, and if it helps, we might start instituting the day out as something to earn - for now it's just a given. Eli also still keeps me laughing with his three year old wisdom. Here are some recent ones:

Me: Eli, are you my pumpkin?
Eli: No, I'm not a pumpkin! I'm not orange!


Eli was getting impatient while Brad was getting ready. I tried to explain to his understanding...
Me: Daddy needs to shower before we go because he's stinky.
Eli: No Daddy's not stinky... he pooped in the potty!

A couple of "cloth diaper models" pictures from just before Christmas:

Tis the Season

We've been really enjoying the Christmas season this year. With two little boys, and one in particular with an enthusiasm for all things Christmas, it's been an especially magical holiday season so far. And with the boys' birthdays smushed in with all the festivities, they are going to wonder what happened to the stream of gifts come January! Our mailman has become known to us as our own personal Santa, as he's had to come to our door with packages a handful of times already - and he even has a gray beard! Ho ho ho!

Putting up the tree after Thanksgiving was full of excitement. "Oh, my Chri'mas Tree! A beautiful Chri'mas Tree! You made me a Chri'mas Tree" was all we heard out of Eli. He also helped me hang a few lights out on our deck and in the front bushes... he was right underneath me with excited chatter the whole time. At one point he exclaimed, "Oh, I'm so HAPPY to see this!" Since we were preparing for his birthday at the same time, I think he presumes all the hoopla is JUST for him! Both boys got a kick out of playing in the tree box and hanging ornaments - they rearrange them on a daily basis. The tree is also the main delicacy for Eli's dinosaurs right now...



This past weekend we went to see Santa at Bass Pro Shops. It was both of the boys' first experience with the jolly elf. I'm not huge on promoting Santa and have tried not to focus on him very much (I think Santa represents some good things, but I don't want him to overshadow the celebration of the Savior's birth, or to promote the rampant disease of materialism that is getting harder to avoid these days), but it was fun to share a whimsical tradition with our kids. The store was decked out like a winter wonderland, and they had all sorts of activities for the kids. Owen tried really hard to climb into the enclosure with the remote control monster trucks - he was sure he needed to hold one! Eli saw the electric train and stopped dead in his tracks - so you can guess what we stood around watching for TWO HOURS! Oh well, the line for Santa was long anyway. We finally pulled him kicking and screaming from the trains to go get a quick picture. Neither boy would sit with Santa, but we did get Eli to tell him what he hopes to get for Christmas - A TRAIN. Specifically "Stepney" from Thomas & Friends - of course the one that is hard to find. Thank goodness Santa knows how to use ebay =).


Besides the excitement over the Christmas tree and lights, and all the ornament re-arranging that's been going on, probably the BEST thing about this year is having Eli really get into the Christmas Story. We talk about it every night during family scripture study, and do a little something different for our Family Home Evening lessons each Monday night. Eli loves learning about Jesus, and he also likes talking about babies coming out of mommies' tummies... so learning that Jesus was once a baby IN a mommy's tummy and he came out in a stable full of animals has been exciting for him. He can't get enough of hearing the Nativity story.

We put a little basket under our tree with a baby wrapped in it, and Eli likes to hold and kiss him and tell me "You're Mary and I'm Joseph" and "I love the baby Jesus." He also likes to pretend he is the baby Jesus and makes me wrap him in his towel and lay him in a "manger" every night after his bath. Owen really likes the fact that there is a donkey in the Christmas story, and he can even "eee awww" for it. The new favorite song around here also is Away in a Manger. While Eli seems to understand the general idea of Christmas, there are still a few gaps.... last week when we got a dusting of snow overnight, he looked out the window first thing in the morning and proclaimed "It snowed! God gave us Christmas!"

One of our recent FHE lessons was about the Wisemen and the gifts they brought the baby - we put a treasure box under our tree (and will not put any wrapped gifts there until Christmas morning) and filled it with pieces of paper on which he wrote/drew things that we could do that would be like giving gifts to Jesus (sharing, being kind, reading scriptures, helping others etc). It's been fun to review and add to it every week. We still plan to play Santa and have him leave some special things in the boys' stockings, but we try to emphasize that the reason Santa gives us gifts is to REMIND us that it is Jesus' birthday! To remind us that Jesus is the greatest GIFT we've been given. To remind us to give back to Him and to each other. So Merry Christmas everyone!