Christmas Advent

I decided I wanted to try an advent calendar this year since I've never done it before. I purchased a bunch of Christmas/winter related books for super cheap from the dollar store and DI to go along with the ones we already had. Then I wrapped each of them individually, one for each night until Christmas.

All the books under the tree

Every night Shasta got to pick a present from under the tree and open it and that's what we read for her bedtime story. She thought it was so fun. Bedtime has never been so exciting!

Side note: I let her pick out her own jammies!

In the beginning she constantly asked me if it was time for another present. About two weeks into it she started to realize it was only for bedtime, but it didn't make it any easier to wait. She would ask me throughout the day if it was bedtime yet. She also didn't catch on right away that every present was a book. Every night as she was opening it I would ask her, "what is it?!" and she would say, "a present"! After maybe a week and a half her answer to that question became, so matter of fact, "it's a book"!

Who knew bedtime could be so fun?

There was only one time that she got into them when she wasn't supposed to. I was in the kitchen making dinner when I heard the sound of paper tearing. I hurried over to the other side of the tree to find Shasta sneaking a present.

Thankfully I was within earshot and stopped her before she got too far. We talked about what the presents were for, and I may have told her if she got into them again without permission I would take them all way, but she never tried to open another one without permission. 

It was a fun advent for us to count down the days until Christmas. I was a little worried it would take away from the excitement of opening presents on Christmas morning, but after the first present when she realized it wasn't a book, she was pretty excited to open more! I think it's a tradition we'll continue. And in case you were wondering. I boxed up all the Christmas books after the season and we'll reuse them year after year. I plan to replace some each year considering they're not all in the best shape since some were from a second hand store and the ones from the dollar store are pretty simple minded. But they work for now. 

Christmas Eve and Christmas

Christmas was so much fun this year. I never knew Christmas could be more exciting for a parent than a kid, but it truly was that way for me.

We started a fun, new tradition this year. We've always done Christmas Eve jammies, but this year we added a "family" gift to go with the jammies. 

Christmas Eve gifts

The kids opening their jammies

The kids in their new jammies

To go along with the jammies we decided to start a fun, new Christmas Eve tradition to have a movie night. There was an extra gift filled with movie treats and a movie. This year the movie was new, but next year we'll wrap the same one and part of the tradition will be to watch the same movie every year; although maybe we'll mix it up a bit as they get older. We also ordered pizza and had a picnic dinner in front of the tv while we watched the movie. 

Movie Night Tradition

Then after the girls went to bed Nick and I went to work making magic happen! This year I really wanted to spend Christmas in our own home. Our last 8 Christmases we've either been in Bountiful or Gilbert with the exception of one where my parents came here. I didn't want to travel with all our gifts and I wanted to experience the magic of Christmas with just my little family. We decided to spend Christmas morning in our own home and later that day leave for Arizona. It worked out nicely. 

All the presents under the tree. I shouldn't have packed them in so tight because for four people and a dog it doesn't look like very much!

Christmas morning Nick and I were both awake and waiting for the girls to wake up. Any given morning they both wake up before us, but of course the one time we want them to wake up early they sleep in. When Shasta came downstairs, the first thing she noticed was the new kitchen that Santa brought for her and Shelby. She was so excited about it. It's not the most extravagant play kitchen, but she doesn't care, and it doesn't take up too much space which is why Santa brought a small one. 

This was before we set it up with a bow and tag to the girls from Santa.

Shasta didn't want to open any presents, she just wanted to play with the kitchen. We convinced her to open a present and when I asked her what she thought it was she said, "it's a book"! (See my Christmas Advent post for further explanation to why she said that). Much to her surprise, it wasn't a book! She was way more excited to open presents after that.

We took turns opening presents and while Shasta waited for her turn to come back around she played with the kitchen. Then when it was her turn we had to convince her to open another one with the promise that she could play with the kitchen once she was done. 

Waiting for her turn.

Shelby wasn't very excited about opening presents. She mostly just wanted to put stuff in her mouth. But it was still fun to help her anyway!

Someday she'll be able to sit by herself

Even Wedge got in on the action. He's still the most fun to watch opening presents. He knows exactly what to do and just dives right in. The best part is he can sniff out his own presents and doesn't go after anyone's but his own.

Wedge opening his gift without any help.

Eventually I want to make some Christmas stockings, but this year I was too overwhelmed with school. In the meantime I picked up some stockings for the girls from the dollar store. They were cheap and served their purpose all the same.

Afterwards.

Shasta with her loot.

Shelby with her loot

Once we were done opening gifts we got ready, packed up, and got on the road to Bountiful. We opened gifts with Nick's parents and hung out for a while so Nick could take a nap. We left their house around 8pm so we could drive through the night and the girls would sleep the whole way. A fourteen hour drive is pretty miserable so the thought of a two year old saying she needs to pee every ten minutes didn't sound like a good time. 

Two more thoughts that I want to record. We totally failed at leaving cookies for Santa. I never even thought about it until after we were finished setting everything up and I jumped on Facebook to see a bunch of "cookies for Santa" posts. I guess it's good that Shasta didn't really understand who Santa is since we never really talked about him and never went to get pictures taken with him at the mall. We also didn't write him a letter so I guess she really didn't have much concept of him. The other thing I want to remember is that this year we wrapped every person's gifts in their own wrapping paper. I figured since the girls can't read it would make it easier for them to know which gifts were theirs. I think it's something we'll continue to do since Shasta and Shelby's names are so similar it'll be easy for them to 'accidentally' open the wrong gifts (a problem we occasionally had growing up with my sister and dad and something I always worried about between my older sister and me (not that she was opening my gifts, but that I might open hers)). It could definitely help eliminate any confusion.

All in all we had a good Christmas. I'm glad we decided to spend it in our own home. I imagine this is how we will spend most of our Christmas mornings now. Especially as our kids get bigger and our family grows. 

Shasta's Special Christmas Tree

I decided that Shasta's Thankful Tree was so fun that I wanted to carry it on through December and relate it to Christmas somehow. I made a pine tree and our first activity was to decorate it with stickers.

I loved that she put two stars at the top of the tree without any prompting. And then she added an angel!

That was probably the most successful activity. Shasta loved it! She used up all the Christmas stickers I had (in my collection of stickers from over the years) and still wanted to use more so I pulled out some smiley face stickers. They look like Christmas bulbs, right?!

Then for one of our activities we made a list of ways we can make Jesus happy. She didn't fully understand the concept, but she seemed to enjoy coming up with the list.

For our next activity I had cut out a bunch of circles and wrote all of her answers on them. Then I let her put glue on the circles and dip them in this type of glitter-tinsel stuff that I had left over from years past. This activity was a lot of fun for Shasta, but I'll never use that same material again because it was a huge pain to clean back off of the table. And I'm pretty sure I'll be finding it around my house for the next year from what fell off of the ornaments once they were hung on the tree.

Then a few days later we hung them on the Christmas tree.

 We had so much fun making this tree and having activities to do throughout December. I'm pretty sure this is a tradition we will keep while the girls are young. I already hit after Christmas sales to stock up on some Christmas stickers since we used everything I had. I'm sure next year Shasta will understand ways we can make Jesus happy a lot better so that aspect will be more fun. And Shelby will get to participate too. It's hard to imagine her walking and well on her way to being two years old.

The best part is this activity literally cost me 80 cents. The only thing I had to purchase was the green butcher paper. Everything else I already had on hand. I love fun activities that cost next to nothing!

And Shasta decorated the tree completely by herself. The only thing I did was hang the tree itself. The rest of it was all her!

Family Newsletter 2013

I figured I should probably get this post written BEFORE I send out my Christmas cards since they direct the recipients to my blog for our family newsletter!

Our family has had quite the roller coaster of events this year and they all seemed to happen during the month of April! But we survived and we're only stronger because of it!

A little on Nick:

This year Nick graduated from Utah State University in the Spring with a Bachelors in History and a minor in Biology. He was a trooper with all that went on during those last few weeks of my pregnancy with Shelby. Being his final semester, he had a 20 page research paper for one class and a 15 page paper for another that came due during the time that I was put in the hospital on bed rest. Between taking care of me, taking care of Shasta, and working 40+ hours a week, it's amazing that he not only passed his classes, but achieved good grades in them! Color me impressed! I have no idea how he did it. (Although maybe that explains those new gray hairs...!)

Nick received a promotion at work which has been a huge blessing and he's enjoyed his job a lot more since. But hopefully he'll be able to find a career using his degree and won't work swing shift forever! It's a blessing and a curse because although it allows me to be a student, it's in no way fun not having him home in the evenings during the hardest part of the day.

A little on Sara:

This year has been anything but easy for me. I started out the year being 19 weeks pregnant and it's no secret that pregnancy is down right miserable for me. I endured one of the hardest semesters of my life (at the time) because I was student teaching 5 days a week and puking my guts out! Then with a little over a month of school left to go, I found myself on bed rest and in and out of the hospital and had to stop going to class. Then Shelby was born 8 weeks early by an emergency c-section and I returned to school 7 days later and played catch up with what I missed! (I would have gone back sooner, but I wasn't released from the hospital until Thursday and didn't have class again until the following Monday.)

I'm not gonna lie. My summer was miserably hard. I had the hardest time adjusting to two kids. I was SO sleep deprived and I stand by the phrase, "If momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy"! I wish I could do those first few months with a new baby without all the crazy hormones! Those things are beastly! Then summer came to an end and the hardest semester of my college career began. I never dreamed adding a second child to the mix would make being a student so much harder. I've really struggled with finding balance between being a mom and a student and finding time for homework has been pretty much nonexistent. But I've survived this crazy year and I'm still feeling like it's a dream that another semester is in the books and I'm that much closer to graduating. Although my degree is useless in Utah without going to Grad School... but I don't want to think about that right now!

A little on Shasta:

She started the year at the ripe age of 20 months! She was so fortunate to have a mom start potty training her a week before ending up on bed rest, but even with all the craziness that went on during that time she still trained like a champ. She became a big sister, celebrated her 2nd birthday and two days later her sweet baby sister came home from the hospital!

Shasta LOVES to sing. She's pretty much a walking music box. She's always making up her own songs to tunes she already knows. And when she thinks I'm sad or in a bad mood she will put her arms around me and start singing one of her many songs. The one she sings most often in those situations is, "I like you, I like you, I like you, just the way you are" which she learned from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood. Can she be any sweeter?! She also loves changing her clothes at least 5 times a day, getting her hair done, wearing makeup, brushing her teeth, and doing pretty much anything she sees me doing. Our new favorite chore to do together is the dishes. She's an awesome dish washer!

The best thing about Shasta is she is so loving. She tries to comfort Shelby every time she cries by saying, "I know Sister, I know. It's okay. Mommy's coming". And if I tell her she needs to be careful so she doesn't fall on Shelby, she'll immediately drop to the floor to hug her and say, "Oh, I'm sorry sister, I'm sorry". She's been the best big sister and I definitely look forward to the years to come because I get to watch her and Shelby become the best of friends!

A little on Shelby:

Shelby started this year on April 8th when she was born 8 weeks early at the tiny doll size of 3lbs 11oz. She spent 20 days in the NCU and finally got to come home two days after Shasta's birthday and a week before Nick's graduation. She had to be on oxygen for a month after she came home and the day that oxygen tank left our home was a day worth celebrating (on mine and Nick's 7th wedding anniversary no less)!

Shelby has been the sweetest baby. She has such a mild temperament and loves watching her big sister be silly. She's also really fascinated with Wedge and tries to touch him any time he comes near her. She's really smiley at home, but when we're around other people she goes into awkward stare mode. She bottles up her laugh and doesn't let a lot of sound out, but it's so precious and I can't get enough. And she's recently developed a new, soft cry that says she's sad and her feelings are hurt because everyone walked into a different room and left her all alone.

She's eight months old and is now somewhere between 4 and 5 times her birth weight. She didn't get a fair start to life, but she proves to me everyday that she's a trooper and there's a reason Heavenly Father needed her here sooner.

A little on Wedge:

Wedge started the year dodging one terror, more commonly known as his little sister, only to finish the year by giving into two terrors. When it was just Shasta he wouldn't dream of trying to sit in mine or Nick's lap if she was around. He would find a comfy spot on the floor and wait until the lap stealer moved before he made his way back to his rightful place in one of our laps. He would occasionally choose to play with her, but he mostly kept his distance. Then Shelby came home and he realized these little terrors were not only NOT temporary visitors, but they were multiplying and if he wanted to reclaim his designated seat then he'd better suck it up and cozy up next to the girls.

Wedge celebrated his 4th birthday, became a big brother for the second time, and has matured quite a bit over the last year. He's gone from a boy to a man (a puppy to a dog?)! He still gets excited when visitors come over and he never tires of playing fetch or going on walks. Maybe it's because he's given into the girls or the fact that he's become more independent, but there's no doubt this last year has made him more mature. But one thing's for sure. Our family definitely wouldn't be complete without him!

(Sorry it's blurry. I took a picture of a picture because using a scanner is so 20th century and I'm way too lazy for that!)

We've had a crazy hard year to say the least, but we've made it out alive and I for one am thankful we don't have to do it again! Here's to another year in the books and (hopefully) a much less stressful year to come.

Shelby's 8 Months

Sweet Shelby is already 8 months old. There isn't an appointment until next month so I don't have her stats, but here are some things about her during the past month.

By the time Shelby turned 8 months old:

• Wears 0-3 month clothes and size 1 diapers
• Stopped taking the car seat in the grocery store with us. She's big enough to sit in the cart without one now. 
• Still gets fortified baby food. 
• Loves playing with toys. 
• Started feeding herself finger foods, but more ends up on the floor than in her mouth. 
• Celebrated Thanksgiving
• Got her ears pierced on Black Friday

Ears before

Ears after

Love this little Aggiette!

Discovered her feet

I love that this little shorty pants is 8 months old and her feet don't touch the table while sitting in the Bumbo!

Went to an Aggie Volleyball game

She starts in the center of the mat and worms her way to the side...

until eventually she's not on it at all!

Love her smile!

Her feet finally reach the floor when she's sitting in her little car

She loves bath time

She still hates tummy time

But she's learned how to roll over to escape it

Check out those crocodile tears!

Baby face

Car seat picture. It's amazing how big she's gotten since we brought her home from the NCU.