Christmas Festivities

A lot has happened in the last ten days and rather than causing more work for myself, I decided to consolidate it into one post.  Lucky you!

Now let's begin...

Apparently for at least the last four years, a local resident has had the desire to put on a live Nativity for the community.  After much work (actually, a lot of work...H.O.L.Y.C.O.W!), it was scheduled to debut but would only take place for four nights.  We decided to go on the last night (bad idea) and did a whole heck of a lot of waiting.

A live camel, straight from Idaho.

Once in the gates of Bethlehem, we waited some more until finally the show began and we squished together like sardines, trying to get even a tiny glimpse of Mary and Joseph.  If only I weighed 35 lbs., I would have been able to sit on LaVor's shoulders, too.

O' Little Town of...

Checkin' out the stinky animals

The Lime was in love with Mary.

A real life Ned Flanders

From what I heard and could see, it was overall a nice re-enactment of our Savior's birth.  I especially loved when the entire crowd joined together and sang Silent Night, at the end of the production.

After a few days of work and final Christmas preparations, we were ready to host my family's annual Christmas Eve Breakfast.  We passed on the sign holding this year but still enjoyed a filling breakfast.

My sister's cinnamon roll cake...AMAZING!

With children (and possibly spouses) napping, I made one last trip to grab a couple gifts and made it home in time to get ready to head to my parent's for Christmas Eve dinner.  They called and said their power was out so we invited them back to our place.  About 30 minutes later, they called back and said their power was back on so we went back to our original plan.  Except that when we were going to get on the freeway, all we saw were brake lights.  So we opted for an alternate route that ended up being another traffic trap, as the roads were closed due to an accident.  We eventually made it, just about an hour and a half late.

Dinner was eaten (our traditional spaghetti) and gifts were exchanged.

He was SO excited to get his very own package of Oreos!

Next thing to keep track of...The Lime's birthday.

Helping GrandPop open his gift.

Helping Omi open her's.

We were then off to LaVor's parents' where we read some stories, including the Christmas story from the scriptures, drank some hot chocolate and ate cookies before heading back to our place.

'Twas the night before Christmas...

Totally zoned out.

The last thing we had to take care of was the opening of pajamas.  The Lime had no problem executing that task.

Firetrucks!

Showing off his new backhoe ornament that Papa gave him.

Soon enough, he had fallen asleep and LaVor and I got things set up for Christmas morning.

What a surprise, Santa came and left us lots of treats!

The cookies that Santa just couldn't finish, and a note for The Lime.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Watching Daniel Tiger, while we waited for Grammy & Papa to come over.

Waiting in the hall while Daddy checked to see if Santa came.

He came!  And brought The Lime his #1 wish...a kitchen set!  (Although it's more of a cooking station...he is our son)

We opened up each of our Santa gifts and then piled everything else into Grammy and Papa's car and headed to their house to finish things up.

Gifts coming out of the wazoo.

A new bottle of balsamic vinegar.

"Hook & ladder...goes up, up, up!" 

Not an exciting gift but it's what he asked for (to brine & marinate his meat in).

A "tahar" (guitar)!

New boots!

A lime green grill pan to match his lime green dutch oven.

After opening gifts, we went back to our house so The Lime could take a nap (I ended up taking one, too).  Then we went back to LaVor's parents' and enjoyed a delicious ham dinner with potatoes, carrots, and brussel sprouts, only to be topped off with a homemade coconut cream pie.  A rousing game of Ticket to Ride was played before we headed back home and crashed.

We are grateful for this time of year where everyone seems to focus on our Savior, just a little bit more.  We are grateful for the family that we were blessed to celebrate with and to make memories with.  Our lives have been richly blessed over the last year and we know that it's through our Heavenly Father that we are able to receive such blessings.  And lastly, we are grateful for the ultimate sacrifice that our brother, Jesus Christ, made for us.  Without Him and his willingness to take upon all of our shortcomings, sorrows, pains, and sins, we would not have the opportunity to be an eternal family and return to our Father in heaven.

Now we're enjoying our time off together and are getting nervous about potty training.

December

At the end of November, my mom gave me a little photo journal to fill up for the month of December.

I've missed taking a picture a couple of times, mostly when I work, but it's been fun to look back and see what's been going on this month.

Playing football and bouncy ball before bed.

Walking through the toy aisle at Target.

Checking out his loot from the library.

Playing with cousins.

My work Christmas party.

His work Christmas party. I spent a good 10 minutes in the bathroom, cleaning the contents of my purse. A pen leaked everywhere.

Getting his teeth cleaned.

Getting a tire fixed.

The aftermath of eating a cupcake at our ward's Christmas party.

Got our flu shots.

Visiting Daddy at work (does he not look exactly like Zac Brown?!)

Playing store with cousins.

Dropping The Lime off at my parents' with a gorgeous sunrise.

The boys larping with wrapping paper rolls.

Baring It All

It was two weeks ago, at Storytime, when I was sitting in my seat in the back row, while The Lime sat on the carpet with the other kids. A mother abruptly got up from her seat in the front, with her daughter in her arms, and started walking away from the group. Vomit? Poopy diaper? Tantrum? I wasn't sure what was going on. She plopped down in the aisle seat of the row I was in and without hesitation, whipped out her boob and the kid latched on.

"Whoa!" was my initial reaction. "Am I really seeing this?!"

I don't know why it caught my attention and wouldn't let it go (it's like a bad accident...you just have to look). I nursed The Lime from day one until he weaned himself at 15 months. I pumped like a cow, and was very open about it. At first, I was shy about nursing and would prefer to do it in a room with just him and I. But after I got used to it, I was more than comfortable to do it in public...just with a cover on.

Because who doesn't have a picture of themselves nursing their children?

And I think that's what got me; she didn't use a cover.

I know what's going on under the covers yet I prefer to not see the actual boob or the child suckling.

It's natural, I know *rolls eyes* but so is sex and you (hopefully) don't see people doing that in public, with or without covers.

The most awkward part of the whole thing was when we started singing, "We are the Dinosaurs" and marched around the room, having to walk right by the lady. My heart went out to the dads that attend, who may or may not have minded.

Not just 1 cover...I have 2!

Taking Over

LaVor and I agreed early on that we would not be a "bed sharing with kids" couple. It's our space and The Lime can snuggle with us in the mornings but there's no sleeping kids allowed. That means that The Lime's floor has become our bed when he has a rough night. It's fine, for the most part, until we wake up the next morning with a sore neck.

LaVor was out of town this week and I hate sleeping alone, so I crashed on The Lime's floor. It seemed to happen within minutes of me falling asleep last night but he began crying, most likely from a bad dream. Despite my attempts to soothe him, he wasn't having it. So I brought him on the floor with me and we fell right back to sleep. Then I woke up at 2:00 with a face right in mine and my head off the pillow but his on. I also had a small piece of the blanket while The Lime was nice and cozy. I got an extra blanket and pillow and set up my second space right next to The Lime, only to wake up an hour later and my pillow was again no longer mine. I had to re-position The Lime numerous times throughout the night, all the while shivering because my new blanket was not as warm as my initial one.

When I woke up, The Lime was sleeping like he should - on his pillow, with his blanket, in a vertical position.

When I went to wake him up, he had made a 180 and was completely discombobulated.

And for that reason, we do not allow children in our bed.

It's a Small World After All

I think it's safe to say that I'm aware of things (except when I zone out while I'm driving), I pay attention to details, and I'm always listening.

So when I'm out and about and I recognize someone, which happens often, I'm not surprised.

The only thing is that the other person probably has no clue who I am.

For instance, today at the mall, The Lime was playing on the mechanical cars and I see a woman walking to Mrs. Field's. In my mind, I'm thinking, "Oh! There's my sister's ex-boyfriend's wife." It freaks me out, quite frankly, because it makes me wonder if people do the same thing to me.

Or like at my work Christmas party on Friday night. I was coming back from the bathroom and had to pass the bar, where I saw a girl that was in my sister's ward. Although we're friends on Facebook, only for business purposes, I doubt she recognized me.

Or maybe even the time I was out and texted my sister, letting her know I had seen her pen pal from the fourth grade (20 years ago) and boy had she changed.

Creepy? A bit. Amusing? Yes. Should I find a new hobby that doesn't involve blogstalking? Probably.

Until then, consider me a firm believer in the six degrees of separation.

From our visit in 2010.  Is the song stuck in your head?

My [Clean] Little Secret

I just spent over an hour folding laundry, one of my least favorite chores. I don't mind separating, washing, or drying clothes (even hang drying), but I'd love some folding fairies for Christmas.

It probably doesn't help that we have an empty cradle in our room, that The Lime used once or twice (he hated it), therefore leaving us with an easy spot to just dump the load (gross). Unfortunately, after one load is dumped, another one is added and so on and so on. Until we get to the point where we have little to no clothing in our dressers and it takes me all night to fold the darn things.

As I was bringing the piles out to the couch, so I could find the task somewhat enjoyable as I watched taped episodes of Teen Mom 2, you would have thought it was Christmas. The Lime gasped with joy as he saw blankets and clothes that have been MIA for weeks. And he also has socks that fit so he doesn't have to try to stuff his toes in the "baby socks".

The sad thing is, is that a normal load of laundry would take me MAYBE 10 minutes to fold. You would think that at some point, my mind would *click* and I would choose the smaller, less time consuming chore, than waiting until I absolutely.had.to.fold.the.clothes.

I might have found a New Year's resolution.

The mountain of socks, waiting to find a match

Advent - Year 5 - Week 2

With a lot going on this Christmas season, on Sunday evenings, the entire family decided to skip our tradition of celebrating Advent as a whole.

The idea didn't seem to bother me until I saw my sister's blog, and their photos of their little family celebrating Advent, and I got really sad!  So we agreed to do it together the following week.

You can definitely tell that it wasn't our traditional Advent; naked children, mediocre desserts (the main one was AWFUL...makes me so mad when recipes are gross), no wreath or candles.  But we still had fun and now The Lime says, "We sang that!" whenever we hear a Christmas song on the radio.