Random end of 09 Part 1 of 3 - December 2009

I am not one who typically stresses over the holidays but for some reason, last year had me quite behind especially in my blogging. Here are some holiday photos:


Ella and cousin Julia at her wedding.


Aidan is so excited to tell Santa about the Furreal pets he wants along with Zhu Zhus. Yes, I was one of those mothers who got up at 5:15 am and waited outside Toys R Us for these. It is so NOT me.

Ella has been waiting so patiently to ask for an American Girl doll.

I remember this snowy day and being cooped up inside all day. As soon as Matt came home, I announced, "We're playing in the snow! Suit up! I forgot how much I love just playing in the snow. This darn snow man was so hard to stick because the snow was so fluffy. We decided to make it a she.

I love Temple Square at Christmas. Who doesn't? My very, very favorite tree at this time of year is right there on the left. It is so beautiful contrasted against the majestic temple. What a fun night for our family. Cold? Did anyone say cold? Brrrrr. It was an early 20s night.

Photo op.

Ella amazes me with her sensitivity to beauty and peace. She almost cried when she saw the nativity scene and when we had to leave Temple Square she kept asking, "But why? Why do we have to leave? Can't we just stay here?" She was enchanted particularly at the Christus.

Like a lot of families, we act our the Christmas story every year. Featuring Matt as the donkey, Ella as Mary, Aidan as Joseph, Layla (Ella's Buid a Bear) as baby Jesus and me as the narrator and inn keepers. The kids absolutely love it.

Another tradition we have is that night - Christmas Eve after we read the Christmas story, everyone gets to open one present (this year it was two) and it's always a new set of pajamas. This year they got slipprs as well. Along with this, I pick out a Christmas book and write a dedication along with the the year. The kids get to write their name inside. It's fun to see how their name writing changes from year to year. Then we read the story together and always have homemade cookies and cocoa. Goodness, I could do it all over again!

OW!

So, I have always had back issues but the last few weeks my lower back has been killing me. While teaching a pump class last Monday, I bent over to grab a weight and before even picking it up, my back blew out and I fell! It was quite embarassing, however, I got through the class with clenched teeth and a participant demonstrating the exercises. Needless to say, I have a herniated disc in my lower lumbar and am hating life at the moment.

I am really appreciating the ability to just walk these days.



Tuesday morning Matt had to carry me to the bathroom (couldn't walk) and help me get dressed. My kids have all pitched in putting on my socks and shoes and helping me put on my pants - oh my!

Catching Up

I feel so out of it! Somehow, I really let the holidays take over this year. Obviously, I haven't been very good about keeping updated events documented. Iplan on posting a few big events in the next week retroactive back to October 2009. I hope you can bear with me. I will keep them short.

On Maritin Luther's King Day, we took the kids skiing for the first time. I have always loved skiing but have not gone since Ella's birth :(. Now that Ella's 5 and Aidan's 4, I thought, "Let's just do it." It went much smoother than I thought. Aidan is kind of a perfectionist like his mom so I was prepared for him to cry and pout every time he fell down. Surprise! He was amazing. I couldn't believe the little guy took to it so naturally. Once Matt started letting him go on his own, he didn't want to be held. The hardest part was "loading" the rope tow. The worker there was so fun and patient. It was a perfect day!

Ella skied more like princess and was more cautious but did terrific.

Check out the parellel skiing. We will definitely be returning soon - after my back heals - another story for another time.

How many times can I say, "I love you."

I can't believe it's been a month since I last blogged. Matt and I rented Julie and Julia the other night and I really liked it. For those of you who haven't seen it, it's about Julie blogging about her Julia Child's recipes and just her experiences with these on a daily basis. I can see how therapeutic this can be.

For some reason, I feel like I have to have something really exciting happen to me in order to write it down. Really, everyone's daily lives is just interesting to learn about. So here is one of my regular, normal day experiences:

Yesterday, I swear, Aidan must have told me he loved me a dozen times, literally. I remember he would catch me off guard all day because it was just random. One time I was just washing the morning dishes and Aidan was playing with his cars in the family room when all of a sudden, "Mommy, I LOVE you!" That was it. Again, I was in the shower and he ran to the bathroom and said, "Mommy, (pause) I love you." (just stating it matter of fact(ly). I couldn't believe how much he surprised me and how titillated I was.

When I got home from teaching a class last night, he was the first thing I saw and greeted me with, "Mommy. I LOVE you!" Again. After the kids were in bed, Matt told me that he was reading to the kids in the family room or doing something with them, I don't remember what exactly when the garage door opened (you can hear it) and Aidan got up and ran to the door. Matt said that he (Matt) said, "Aidan, we're not done yet." Aidan replied, "But I HAVE to tell Mommy I love her!."

Christmas Photos - Pick your favorite

I wasn't about to pay for a photographer this year (I didn't last year either) for Christmas photos. I have a tripod. I have a timer. Why not do it myself? And I did.

Please let me know which is you like best. I actually took a lot more but narrowed it down to these three. I have already made my choice but I was curious to get yours.

A.


B.


C.


Ella and Aidan were so cute in these next two, I just had to capture the moment.







Aidan was pretty beat and acting whiny and silly by this time so I decided to have some fun with Ella. I thought they came out pretty nice.

Yay! After one year . . . Habit broken!

The past year at our house has been a bit stressful, to say the least, for most of us due to Aidan's hard habit of constantly having his nails/fingers in his mouth. We have had a number of infections to deal with, literally blood, sweat and tears, trips to the doctor's office, antiobiotics, etc.


After trying just about everything (gloves, nail polish, "Bite Free," other nail biting remedies, Tabasco sauce - truly, other ointments and sprays including pet deterrents, bandaids, and even giving up for a while there, my visiting "teachee" recommended this product - Mavala Stop.


After 3 days, Aidan is no longer biting his nails or fingers. His nails are finally starting to show above his cuticles. Yay.

Toys, Toys, Toys!

Does anybody else have this problem or a good cure? We recently finished our basement and now have toys in 3 1/2 rooms including the basement and a bedroom in the basement.

I like to think I am organized and have toys in plastic bins, etc but they are leaking out into other rooms and I'm so exhausted from picking them up all the time.

I know some people only allow their children to play in a certain room but I enjoy witnessing what they play so let's say it's somewhat controlled toy chaos?

If anybody has a good system or ideas on what to do besides give them away, let me know.

I also take some and store them - kind of like recycling.

I welcome any comments and/or suggestions.