Time to Say Bye to Christmas

Speaking of being a stay at home Mom... You would think mt Christmas decorations would be boxed up by now. Nope. They're not. As my cousin pointed out to me at dinner last night.. "You stay at home then? Well you should have had plenty of time to take this stuff down."

Thanks, Zach. It was good to see you after 22 years, too! ;)

I guess he is right though. Two months is a long run to be out. So I put the baby to bed, put on Pandora Country Christmas and am saying goodbye to the Christmas decor. I'll miss y'all.

Stay At Home Mom

My friend recently got razzed by a few of her co-worker's on her choice to be a stay at home Mom. Her friend told her she was going to be sitting on her butt, being lazy, that it wasn't 1956, that her kids would be freaks for not having the socialization from Day Care, and she wasn't helping the family.

I felt so sad when I read that.

I'll admit sometimes the thought of always just staying at home with the baby is a little daunting. Never getting to go out, answer phones, talk to people, solve problems, have grown up conversations, meet new friends, and have my own money does make me a little nervous. I love working. I always have. From the time I was old enough have a "real" job, I've always had a job. Now suddenly I was expected to stay home, every day, all day, with a shrieking, poopy baby. I would never get to go out shopping on a whim, I'd always toting a baby and all their gear. It's a lot to take in. And somehow I am still supposed to feel like an important, grown up person who was contributing to society. How is that possible when all I do is change diapers?

That was how I felt, until I had him.

I can't imagine missing his first giggle, or his first time rolling over, the first time he concentrated on a toy and grabbed it. And no one will love that baby the way I do. No one. And how can I be sure whoever is watching him will treat him as good as I do? He's a baby-he could never tell me if something happened whether he was treated well or mistreated. I'd also miss little moments that you can never have back.

As a nanny, I loved the kids I was with. One day little Miss came up to me squealing with excitement. We'd been working on tying shoes the last few days. I thought for sure she was a little young and she wouldn't get it-but she'd tied the ribbon on her skirt. All by herself. The pride in her eyes, the joy in her voice, and just being there to share it with her was special. I think of that little moment a lot, I got to witness so many of those with those children. When summer rolled around the same kids had a thousand camps to go to. It was the same little Miss' first time going to soccer camp and her brother's second. They don't always get along, in fact, I'd say they argued more than they didn't. But as I was heading down the stairs, there they were, having a quiet, soft conversation. As she sat there on the stairs, and he helped pull her socks over her shin guards, he calmed all her fears. He told her had been scared the first time he went, too. Then he tied her shoes. He said it would get better, that she was brave and she would be OK. She looked into his eyes, hanging on every word. In that moment, he was her hero, she trusted every thing he said. I just wanted to capture that moment forever, bottle it up for the bad days that would come later, and just remember how important those memories are. I was also proud, because I had helped teach him that behavior. I was so sad their Mom didn't get to share that moment with them, but I'm glad I did. It made me not want to ever be away from my baby for one second. First date? You betcha. I'll be right by his side...

This is where I break out into some Aerosmith (Um, I love Steven Tyler) and start singing... "I don't wanna close my eyes.... I don't wanna fall asleep... cause I'd miss you babe, and I don't wanna miss a thing... " I am so glad Tristan can't roll his eyes yet.

So overhearing a little conversation, or sharing the joy of tying one's shoes for the first time might not be the same as getting an enormous bonus check, or making huge, important deals, or getting to wear pretty clothes every day, but it is bigger than that. You are taking care of a life. A tiny, little, lovey life that is yours. And as a Mom, you have a duty and calling to take care of that little bugger to the best of your ability, to teach them right from wrong, to teach them to be good citizens, and to follow that path of righteousness. You are the one who has that responsibility and calling. If you want it done right, do it yourself. So maybe I am not making a financial contribution to my family, but Jeff and I feel that me staying home with our babies is far more important than any paycheck. I'm raising people, and despite what the world thinks, there is nothing more important. As long as we can have food on the table, a roof over our heads, and clothes on our backs, then I will stay home with our little ones. Our kids will have a mother who is always, always home for them. I'll be there at the crossroads to give directions, I'll be there to bandage skinned knees, and I'll be there to love them no matter what... and the world will be a better place because I made a difference in the life of a child.

Suck on that, Career World.

American Idol

It seems like Tristan has decided he likes to sleep!!! He is going to bed a little later, but he is sleeping better. I think he just likes to stay up for Idol. Jeff and I love watching American Idol. I'll admit, last season took a while to enjoy because we missed Simon so much, but I've really come to love Steven Tyler. He kills me. Him and his big lips. He is always nice to contestants. JLo and Randy can be so mean to some of the contestants (and it just isn't funny when it's not SImon), but Tyler is almost always nice. I like him for that. Anyway, super excited for this season. I think they found another Scotty last night! And I like watching Tyler sing with the contestants-he is so playful.

I first started crushing on him years ago. I worked at the Country Club when I was in high school. All the performers who came to the pavilion stayed there. One night my manager called me and asked where they could rent fishing poles. I was like, "What? In The Woodlands? Nowhere." He explained that one of the guys from Stone Temple Pilots (and his wife) wanted to go fishing on the golf course pond. Remember-first class passengers can pretty much do anything they like. I immediately volunteered my assistance. I grabbed a handful of fishing poles and brought them up. My manager and I were invited to stay and watch them practice for their concert the following night. I was super excited, but there was one hang up. I had a stupid date with my lame high school boyfriend (who was psycho), and I knew if I didn't meet up with him he'd freak out and pretend like he was either going to kill himself or just scream like a banshee. I called, and called, and called to tell him I was ditching him... I never got a hold of him, so I just decided to not ditch the boyfriend and just go home so he could pick me up. Ugh. When he found out I was going to ditch him to watch a band play he went nuts. I was so bummed I spent the evening with him and not STP. That is, until they gave me my fishing poles back (they loved catching fish) and included almost front row seats to the show. They opened for Aerosmith. Still is one of the best concerts I've ever been to in my life-Steven Tyler was amazing. And so was my date, cause I took someone who wasn't a psycho!

My Kid Doesn't Sleep. Ever.

OK, that's not entirely true, but it's what it feels like sometimes.

For a long time Twistan went to bed at about 8pm. He'd sleep until about 5am, nurse, and go back to sleep til about eight again. I didn't mind feeding a 6 month old after a he'd been asleep for 10 hours. I'd be hungry, too. Life was just dandy for a few months.

With the December festivities, two ear infections and what appears to be 2 little bottom teeth trying to come through.... his new schedule is horrific.

He goes to bed about 8. Or 7. Depending on his naps. He wakes up almost exactly an hour later. Then he is up again almost exactly at 12:45am. If I nurse him back to sleep (which I try not to do), then he sleeps til 5am. Then I nurse him (again), and he goes to sleep until 7am. It's driving me nuts-absolutely nuts. I don't know what his deal is. I'm not totally opposed to letting him cry it out, we've done it twice before. After a few nights of HOURS of screaming, he slept for a few nights all the way through. Then he went right back to waking up. We did it again, and got the same results. I think he just might be that one kid that crying it out does NOT work with-and I'm really not willing to listen to him scream his head off for HOURS again to find out. Is it the teething? What is his freaking deal? I'm not sure it's his naps, most of the time he does fairly well... he sleeps about 1.5 hours in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. Occasionally he takes a cat nap about 5pm... but regardless of what happens during the day, this is what we deal every night. Exact schedule. I've tried to up his food intake in case he is waking up hungry, no effect. I've tried trying to lengthen his naps, or shorten his naps, nothing changes. Exact schedule, every night no matter what.

... We drove him around in the car once (the night he had an ear infection) and I am not doing that again. I can't imagine getting into that habit and having to go out in the cold, the rain, the summer, the fall... just to drive a kid around hoping after 20 minutes he'll sleep. At that point, I'd rather let him scream in his crib.

Any suggestions?

******** I love that the day I posted this he slept all night. And then he did it again. And again. I mean, we are talking 10+ hours of no crying. Of course, I'd wake up randomly-and then the morning would roll around and I'd be like, "Wait, did I, or did I not wake up last night and take care of the baby???" Now I am wondering if he knows I wrote this? Is he a baby genius and can read early? Did his spidey senses tell him he was on thin ice? I don't know but I'm super excited for tonight! ********

Chunky Has Grown Up

Chunky used to never get in our bed unless we let him. Now this is where he is 9 times out of 10. I wonder what suddenly made him so comfortable?

I think it is because he is out of the puppy stage. Now that he is an adult dog he no longer has to be by my side 24/7... Just 20/7. Nowadays instead of following my every move he mosies out of bed about 9 to go potty.. And then crawls back in bed til about 1 or 2. Then he moves to the couch. About 5 or so he wants to play, and then about 10pm he is ready for bed.

What a lazy little bugger.

Tristan's Twin

My Mom gave me this vintage Kewpie doll when she moved to China. One day I pulled it out of the box to set it on the changing table... and totally did a double take.

Caprock State Park

We got home from Arizona early Thursday morning. After sleeping most of the morning, we straightened the house up, took turns running errands and got ready for Ben, Tonia and the kids to spend the night. They talked us into going camping with them at Caprock State Park. I have to say, I'm pretty proud of Ben. This is the first trip I think I have gone on with him that hasn't resulted in a catastrophe. Aside from the fact that we went camping in January and it was below freezing that night. That actually wasn't that big of deal since Jeff and I brought 8,000 blankets. I am SO glad we went though! That park is one of the best kept secrets, I don't think anyone I know has ever seen that side of Texas. It was beautiful-just beautiful. We saw tons of road runners... Saw tons of deer... almost lost Sushi when she figured out she could chase them. Fortunately she came back.We even saw a whole herd of wild pigs. The ranger drove by shortly after, and when he heard we'd seen them he asked where about, then said not to worry if we heard gun shots because he was just taking care of the pigs. Kudos to anyone (besides Dad or Tonia) who understands this photo. Isn't the red rock beautiful? It reminds me of Southern Utah-in between Provo and Moab.

Under the trail there was this natural bridge-not as big as anything in Arches but it was still super neat. The kids loved exploring it.

One thing I learned from my Dad is that you never go back to camp until it's almost dark. Stay out and about as long as you can, then you come back, cook dinner, clean up and go to bed. The hike ended a little earlier than we wanted, so we drove around and looked for fubbalo before we went back to camp, cooked dinner, and froze in the crazy wind. Then we put the kids to bed, looked at our watches.. and whimpered because it was only 8pm.

How did Twistan do on his first camp out? Super. Until 10pm. 1am. 2am. 3am and 5am. Then he cried like a baby for who knows what reason. However, when he woke up at 7am he was probably the cutest child around. He laid there with Jeff for an hour and a half and just sang and talked. He must have known he was on thin ice and was doing his best to save his butt by being cute.

After breakfast we went hiking. Jeff tried to put a snack in his pack but it mysteriously disappeared.... I bet we find those raisins in just a few hours, fully intact.

I couldn't help myself with this one.

Hannah was a trooper. Of course, life is easy when you get to be carried through the entire hike... it's hard not to like that part.

We turned sideways in an attempt to get Tristan in the picture. This trail came by the primitive campground. That looks like a really fun place to camp in the future. When Twistan can carry his own stuff.

This is Twistan's best bud. She carried him all over and played with him a lot. That little boy just loves other kids, it's like he knows they're "one of us..." I think she would have even changed his diaper if I'd asked, but coming from a family of all girls I didn't wanna answer more questions about "What is that?"

The biggest hit of the whole trip was the last thing we did. We went fishing. They had recently stocked the lake with two thousand rainbow trout, and they loaned us fishing poles for free. That combination is sweeeeeeeeet. So we grabbed the kids and enjoyed fishing. There was nothing cuter than their little faces as they reeled in a fish. Of course, nothing is sadder than the one kid who doesn't catch anything when everyone else does, either. But hey, that is part of fishing. Sometimes you win, sometimes you don't. It's about learning to deal with the times you don't win, and learning to be gracious the times you do win.

Tonia made fun of me while we were on the bank. I was struggling with sanity because the baby sat in the dirt and ate rocks the whole time, while the other kids got covered in mud. I am my father's daughter as I yelled at them to stop doing everything they were doing. Tonia remarked, "Wow. You have a lot of your Dad in you." I can't help it. I don't do sticky, slimy, snotty, or vomity. It drives me nuts when kids wipe their faces on their sleeves or the inside of their shirts. It drives me nuts when they drag things in the dirt. I can't stand it when people smack their gum. I can't stand it when they walk around with a cup of liquid over carpet.. and don't get me started on people who drive in the left lane and aren't passing. I might make myself crazy thinking about the things that make me crazy. That, and the list is too long to post this late at night!

Anyway, it was a super trip, and I suspect we will be going again in the near future. And I'm already excited about it!

Arizona

We got home on Wednesday from the Tree House, enjoyed my parents company most of the day on Thursday... by the way-that was super nice of them to add 230 miles to their trip just to come see our house and eat at Buns Over Texas with us. Sorry the groundhogs were such a disaster. Friday we packed up again and headed out to Arizona to hang out with Jeff's best friend, his wife and little girl. Twistan loved Brynlee. Loved her. She liked him pretty good, too... she called him "Baby" and was constantly talking about him. She just barely turned 2 and was surprisingly patient. He crawled over one morning and pulled himself up on her clothes, instead of shoving him off she just yelled at him, "No, Baby! Noooo!" It was pretty cute.

Of course, in true Ben and Julia fashion we weren't bored a bit. I don't have any photos, but we went out New Year's Eve to a block party with 100,000 of our closest friends. We watched BMX demonstrations, ate tons of chips, ate way too much burger and fries, ate cookies and ice cream and watched the chip drop into the dip. It was pretty fun. Tristan also had his first non-family babysitter. Holly was a darling 12 year old and did fantastic with him and Brynnlee. We went swimming, we went to eat at crazy restaurants, and we went country dancing at San Tan Flats. We also dragged poor Julia hiking. She's almost 7 months pregnant with their little boy, and was the nicest host ever.

I'm totally bummed I didn't take more pictures of us all together! It just seemed like we did non stop activities the whole 5 days we were there. We saw the new Sherlock Holmes, we watched football, ate fresh citrus off trees.. enjoyed the park, and then every night we harassed each other playing Settlers or other games. I don't think I have laughed that hard for that long since I don't know when. At one point I think we all cried we laughed so hard. We were super sad to leave, and Ben talked us into staying one more day. We're glad we did. They're a blast.

Tristan was not pleased to be in a backpack hiking again. He would have rather sat in the dirt and ate rocks. Little bugger. I have to add that after we drove 5 hours to Garner, we thought we'd try driving at night so as to avoid a screeching baby who wants out of his car seat. It was so much better. The drive to Arizona is 12 hours-so we left at about 4 in the afternoon both days and had so much less baby to listen to. The only bummer is driving through the dark when you hit pretty places like Cloudcroft, New Mexico. We almost ran over an elk there on the way home. But definitely it's easier to drive at night with a baby... although it's always that last hour at 5am that's killer!

Christmas Crafts

Thanks to Pinterest, I did a few extra things this season that I might not have done had I not stolen the idea from someone else. I love Pinterest.

CUTE CHRISTMAS PICTURES OF THE BABY

First, I stole this cute idea of taking a picture of your baby playing with Christmas lights. Ah-dorable. Of course, the first go at it didn't turn out like I wanted, so I did them again. Thats where the darling pictures of him in his Santa outfit came from.

ORNAMENT BOOK

Then I stole the idea to make an ornament book for the ornaments that have a story. I'm waiting til I take the tree down to finish that one, but I am pretty excited.

CHRISTMAS WRAPPING PAPER

Then I collected a bunch of paper bags and butcher paper to wrap presents in. I saw a bazillion "brown paper packages" themes and fell in love. I wrapped everyone's presents in brown paper, tied them with string, and glued a photo instead of a tag. The kids LOVED it-especially the little ones who can read yet. They found their presents in a heartbeat. Totally bummed that I didn't take a picture of how cute they all looked together. I also got cuter with the last few and wrapped the string different.

MERRY CHRISTMAS BANNER

I fell in love with the picture of the couple holding the Merry Christmas banner. I wanted to do it too, but as always I ran out of time. Next time I would print out a template and not free hand the letters, but hey you do what you gotta do. This still took an hour to make, but for what it was I liked it.

SNOWMAN HANDPRINT ORNAMENT

We did the snowman ornament craft with all the kids at the treehouse... they turned out ridiculously cute and the kids loved drawing scarves and hats on their snowmen. I used gel pens because they are easier for kids to work with than paint. And cleaner.... but the ink will smudge off. So when they were done I sprayed them with acrylic sealer and everything stayed put. The ornament hooks are super cute-I bought them at Target last year when they were 75% off. And the ribbon came from the Target $1 section. You should see the ornament I did with Chunky's stinkin cute little paws, too. That is adorable.

MAGIC REINDEER FOOD

Growing up we always looked at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve. Oakridge had the best lights, and Santa always sat in the corner of his yard in his big, yellow Jeep loaded with presents. You got to sit on his lap and give him your last minute wish list, and he gave you a candy cane and a bag of reindeer food. His poem was super cute-something about giving to the reindeer because they worked so hard. One year his Jeep wasn't there and we were pretty bummed. Found out later he had passed away. As an adult I've truly grown to appreciate the love that man had for the season as he sat out every Christmas Eve, year after year, handing out candy canes to starry eyed kids. I looked online for a poem like the one he sent out - but never found one close so I did my own. For the jars I spray painted the lids on a few of the millions of empty baby food jars that plague our house, threw on some ribbon, and added ingredients I already had on hand that wouldn't litter the enviroment. I'm nice like that. I used oatmeal, chocolate sprinkles, red and green sugar sprinkles, gold sprinkles, and peppermint sprinkles. I wrote my poem to match what I had put in the jars:

Magic Reindeer Food

As Santa brings a gift to you

Remember his reindeer, so strong and true.

Leave a surprise for them on your lawn

So they can soar from dusk til dawn.

Bits of chocolate give them smarts,

Red crystal sprinkles warm their hearts.

Glitter of gold gives a sparkle to their eye,

Green sugar sparkles give strength as they fly.

White sprinkles make the sleigh feel light

And oatmeal keeps their tummies full all night.

It was like magic. We sprinkled it on the lawn Christmas Eve, and as we gathered in the loft to read the Christmas Story and The Night Before Christmas, deer came and munched on the food.

Take a break from reading and look how freaking cute this kid is. Seriously. So cute.

HOW I HUNG MY CHRISTMAS CARDS

I didn't see this on Pinterest, but close enough. Originally I wanted to take a picture frame, run some twine across and then hang it on the wall. When the cards were gone then I could reuse it for other photos. By the time mid-December rolled around I ran out of room for the picture frame idea. My Mom used to hang her cards in the entry way-she had three large doorways with crown molding that she hung invisible thread from and the cards made a cute drape. I don't have doorways... but I did have the twine frpm the Christmas presents, so I just bought clothespins and did this. I didn't tack the twine to the wall-I like to avoid adding extra holes if at all possible. This worked out well because I ended up having to add extra rows to the windows and it was super easy. Love it.

Well, as Jeff would say, "That's pinteresting." Those were a few of the things I did this year, thanks to inspiration from that nifty little website. I'm so excited for next year!

Avery's Baptism

Since the entire family was together at the Frio, Avery wanted to get baptized there. So her parents got special permission, and she got baptized! Since she knew how cold the water would be from the polar bear swim, we all thought she was pretty brave. She was given the option to get baptized in the hot tub-but after hearing stories about the pioneers who wanted to be baptized so bad they would break the ice on the rivers, she chose to go with the Frio. Did you know "Frio" means "Freezing?" They're not kidding. As Mormons, we baptize our children at the age of eight. Many religions baptize their members as babies. We wait until they are eight years old-basically when they're old enough to know better. Before that, children are completely innocent, incapable of committing real sin. Once they reach the age of eight they are able to choose for themselves if they want to be baptized, and start becoming accountable for their choices. Christ says in John 3:5, "Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." He also commands us "Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do." We believe in baptism by immersion, the same way that Jesus was baptized in the river Jordan. We are baptized by someone who has God’s priesthood authority for the remission of sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 22:16). We are also baptized to become members of the Church of Jesus Christ, and to enter the kingdom of God (John 3:5). When we are baptized, we recieve a remission of our sins. We also make a promise to our Heavenly Father. We promise (also called a covenant) to accept Christ, become one of His followers, and to keep His commandments until the end of our lives. If we do this, Heavenly Father promises us to forgive our sins and to let us return and live with Him in Heaven. It's a pretty good deal... especially the forgiveness part because heaven knows we're not perfect. I remember asking the bishop when I was baptized if the water would turn black from my sins all washing away. Then I asked if I would need to be baptized more than once-since I was sure at some point in my life I would do something wrong again. He laughed and assured me the water wouldn't turn black, that it was a spiritual thing and not temporal so the water would stay clean. Then he explained that each week I partake of the sacrament, I would have the oppurtunity to repent and be clean again. So being baptized once is all you really need, as long as you are baptized correctly and by the right authority. I didn't actually take pictures of the actual baptism-this is a photo of them getting ready. We believe the ordinance of baptism is sacred. Sacred things are best remembered-not photographed. I couldn't help but snap a few pictures before it though, it was such a beautiful moment. And then Avery got baptized-I was proud of her for not gasping when she went under. The water was SO COLD, and it naturally takes your breath away. But she was brave and reverent for the whole thing. They came back over-Emma was a great help. She held their towels... nice, warm towels! And here she is. The newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. When she was dried off she was confirmed a member and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. Christ taught that if you get baptized, but then don't receive the Holy Ghost as a companion, you only went and did things half way. The Holy Ghost is a spirit sent to help us here on earth. If we live our lives right, and try to be good, he will help guide us and keep us safe. I think it's safe to say she was a little cold-but the memory of her Christmas day baptism in the Frio will warm her up!