From Eve til the Morn...

Christmas is so enjoyable when you have children.

I love the excitement and simple goodness that comes with Christmas. 

I love that we are finally starting to build some traditions of our own while still enjoying those timeless traditions that have been passed down from generation to generation. 

We had a wonderful Christmas this year

(Although I was sick through out most of the holiday vacation)

But I'm going to let the pictures do the talking.

Well, mostly.

This year, we spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning with Karl's family.

Christmas Eve:

-opening of Christmas pajama's- reading of the nativity story (with accompanying stickers)- singing of Happy Birthday to Jesus and the eating of birthday cake

 These two already have such a special relationship. Whenever we put them next to each other, they almost always reach out and hold hands. So sweet.

We had a wonderful night playing with our cousins, until we heard Santa's bells jingling outside. Then we knew we had to rush off to bed as quickly as possible so that Santa could stop on by.

Christmas Morning:

This was the first year we did Christmas morning with just our little family. The girls were happy to see what Santa had left behind.

Gotta love those "crazy hair, just woke up, mom why did you take a picture of me like that?" photos... :) You know we all have them.

Church Time:

Family Christmas:

I kind of got too busy watching the girls to take too many pictures...

which is probably a good thing since this post is already so long.

 Does this not remind you of a medal ceremony?

After Christmas with the N's we loaded up the car and headed back home for Christmas number 2, or was it technically number 3?

Those pictures coming soon... 

Bloggin' about Christmas...

I want to blog about Christmas...

but I'd rather be doing this right now.

I love Christmas, but man, I'm exhausted...

Cookie Snatcher...

I knew this shirt was appropriate when I bought it, I just didn't realize how appropriate it was...

 ...Until I caught her red handed (or rather chocolate covered handed) with a mouth full of cookie and an almost completely empty plate...

 If you don't want to get caught love, it's probably not a good idea to come running up to me with the evidence in hand.

 As I've said before, it's a good thing you're cute little lady...

Whoever thought of this was a genius!

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night, gone to the bathroom and sat down just to find that the toilet seat has been left up and you have successfully fallen completely in to the toilet?

... yeah let's just say that feeling is anything but delightful.

Now on the flip side...

Have you ever gone into a bathroom in a rush to sit down just to find that a little potty seat has to be removed before you can sit down?  Anyone who has visited our house as of late has probably found yourself in this exact situation.

Side note: There are two rules that I set before we were married when it comes to toilets. Thankfully Karl agreed to them. 1- Never leave the toilet seat up. If you close the lid, then you both have to lift something to use it- it's more fair that way. (This rule has changed slightly since having children, but for the most part is still followed.) 2- Always put the toilet paper facing out- It drives me crazy when I use a toilet where the toilet paper is put on backwards...

Well, if you are a parent to a small child (or a child living with an adult) and often find yourself facing one of these problems on a daily basis- then we have found the solution for you!

From toddler seat...
(Mr. Zander was obviously having fun showing off the new seat when no one was looking- Good thing he took some pictures with my camera for us)

 To adult seat...

 To toddler seat again... in no time at all.

Ahhhh.... love.

Thanks to my parents for the *unusual* but wonderful birthday present :)

*I know you laughed at me when I mentioned the idea, but I really am excited about my new gift.*

Preschool Pictures...

Maddie's preschool class took some class pictures a while back. We just got them this morning. I just have to say I'm pretty impressed with how they turned out, considering it's almost impossible to get 7 four year olds to all cooperate at the same time. :)

 Doesn't she look so grown up?

Meet Zander...

Our house elf.

He showed up on our front porch the other night and has been having a blast showing the girls just how silly he can be.

He spends the day at our house watching the girls play and then he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa. First thing we do when we wake up in the morning is try to find what trouble Zander has gotten himself into.

Oh little Zander, what will you think up next?

A rush, rush weekend...

This weekend we headed north to spend time with the family. I think our goal was to shove as much into 3 days as we possibly could.

For example. Saturday morning we went to Karl's parents ward Christmas breakfast. 

The kids were "excited" to see Santa...

 Maddie gets braver and braver every year.

This year she asked Santa for a fake make up kit with fake nail polish...

 Brooklyn was hilarious. She wanted to talk to Santa but didn't want to go anywhere near him. She held on to Karl as tightly as she could then when she knew she was close enough for him to hear, she yelled "a baby doll!" 

And that was that. :)

 Even Pop pop sat on Santa's lap...

check out Santa's face.

 After breakfast with Santa, we went back to Nana's to get ready for a bridal shower my SIL was putting on.

 That night we had a birthday party for my Father-in-law and myself. Complete with a prime rib dinner. It was delish!

We also took the little girls to a live nativity that night as well.

 I love how this picture turned out...

 The girls loved the camel.

 It was a busy weekend but we all loved getting to spend a little bit of time with some of our favorite people.

some days...

You ever have those days where you...

 feel like everything gets under your skin?

For some reason, that's how I've felt these last few days.

 I don't know if it's due to all the financial stress that comes this time of year or whether it is caused by the fact that we have not had even a few days since October that one of us has not been sick. 

Or maybe it's due to that fact that since sweet little Aubrey was born, I am a lot more sensitive than I used to be. Like the small things people say or do (whether intentional or not- and actually more often than not -not) that have the power to make me want to cry.

Especially anything that has to do with people being mean or saying unkind things to my children. I know that we have not even touched the surface yet with these kind of comments or action but I find myself worrying about how these things will affect my children.

Will they be able to grow a thick skin and not let these kind of things affect them? Will they be able to take these moments to open their hearts to others and help them see what we see?

I sure hope so.

And maybe someday, I too will grow a thick skin.

But until then,

crying will have to be my emotional outlet.

 Aubs, thanks for sharing your beautiful smile with me when I need it most. 
I love you.

Catching a break?

Is there such a thing as catching a break? If there is... we would appreciate if we could catch that instead of everything else we keep catching. At least our problem that came today is not contagious... we hope. :)

Poor miss Brooklyn fell today and hit her eye right on the leg of the ottoman (which she had turned upside down a few minutes before). Let me just tell you, I do not deal well with blood. I knew the second she fell it wasn't going to end well. I jumped up to grab her as quickly as I could. Her eye was already swollen to the point that she could hardly open it. Blood filled tears streamed down her face. I couldn't get her to open her eye so I couldn't even tell where the blood was coming from. Do I take her to the hospital or will she be just fine? I called my brother Robbie- aka Mr First Aid Man- to find out what to do. (I had sent Karl to church alone since Maddie still had a hint of the eye yuckies, so I was all alone). I think Robbie made it to my house in record time... 

By the time Robbie arrived at my house, Brooklyn was already doing better. I had gotten Karl home from church and Brooklyn had calmed down. Putting ice on her eye had already decreased the swelling... which by the way, I wouldn't have thought to do on my own... remember, I don't deal well with blood.

Brooklyn had fallen asleep just a few minutes before Robbie got to our house (which it isn't such a great idea to let anyone with a head injury fall asleep but remember I don't deal well with blood.) 

Man I am such a wimp.

I felt nauseous. 

I was glad I wasn't alone anymore.

After everything was evaluated and we had determined she was going to be just fine, I started to feel stupid and like I had over reacted. But in my defense, she was acting a little weird after she fell. When we asked her how many fingers we were holding up she put up two fingers even though there was only one. She wasn't talking a whole lot and was as still as a board. But when she woke up from her nap, she was the same ol' Brooklyn. Happily playing and running around. Anyway here is a picture of her 2 hours after the crash...

I know it doesn't even look that bad after a story like that does it? But it still makes me sad. By the time we put her to bed it had already started to blacken. We'll have to see what it looks like tomorrow.

Anyway, I took this picture the other day of sweet little Aubrey that I wanted to share. She was having her first tea party with her sisters and cousin Joshua...