pre-Christmas, Christmas, post-Christmas, and Gray's Blessing

PRE-CHRISTMAS

Kate has been having some trouble sleeping in her new bed. Some nights it's been a real fight to get her to settle down and go to sleep without screaming her lungs out. The other night this is how we found her, cuddled up with a glowing snowman.

I tried to take a picture without the flash. It was not a success.

Oh, sweet little boy. I left the room to throw some clothes in the laundry and came back to find that Gray had rolled over and gone to sleep on his play mat. I can't wait until I can lay him on his stomach to sleep at night without worrying about SIDS. I have a feeling that's when he'll start sleeping through the night better.

Kate sporting her pink t-shirt scrap outfit. I think this one beats the gray outfit from the last scarf I made.

Also classy from the back.

CHRISTMAS EVE

Yay! Gray finally got to meet his Aunt Hannah. She'll probably be the favorite now that she's living in Utah again.

 Trying to get a picture of all the Utah cousins. Notice Sara Lu-Who's fancy hair-do?

This is Gray and his older smaller cousin Brooklyn. She's 2 months older, but Gray could probably eat her, no problem.

And the present opening begins. Hannah really spoiled her nieces and nephews. Thanks, Hannah!

I was trying to take a picture of Rachel wearing the scarf I made for her, but then I noticed Kate trying on her bloomers. Ha. Great picture.

Kate's new jumper that Granny made.

Thanks for the book, Scott. It's already made such a difference in our lives.

Nate and Colin in their elf shirts, courtesy of the Hiatts.

The aftermath.

CHRISTMAS

Christmas morning at our house. I took a picture before the kids got up. We ate breakfast before opening presents. It kind of just worked out that way. There aren't a lot of pictures from opening presents in the morning because I mostly took video. And when I say that I mostly took video I mean that Nate mostly took video.

Sweet Baby Gray working his new hat. That's the only present I bought for him. He also got a couple of hand-me-down toys from a neighbor. What? He's a baby and doesn't care at all.

Colin's favorite present? The hand-me-down weed whacker. Why do I even bother to buy presents for my kids?

Kate and her sheets. All three kids were wearing their robot pajama pants that Granny made for them.

After church we went downstairs to open presents with my mom and siblings.

Colin decided to eat lunch in his undies. Classy.

My mom gave Colin a pirate hook and a Prince Phillip sword. He's in heaven.

I'm feeding Gray and opening presents at the same time. What up?! (I've also been watching a lot of How I Met Your Mother.)

Nate is so excited!

Gray has acquired a taste for human flesh. He loves to gnaw on other people's fingers. This is the only picture I have from Christmas evening at Granny and Papa's. Hopefully I'll get videos from Christmas up soon.

POST CHRISTMAS

Buzz and Jessie with Buzz and Jessie.

Awww.

Colin loves that weed whacker. I love that it was warm enough that he could play outside with it so I didn't have to listen to the noise for a few minutes.

GRAY'S BLESSING

Yesterday we finally blessed Gray. We had to postpone it do to illness and surgery in the family, but now it is done. Nate gave a lovely blessing. Gray was happy as a clam while he was up there. Apparently he kept trying to grab the microphone, which made Nate's voice fade in and out. We were able to have my entire family come, as well as Nate's parents and half of his siblings. Nate's mom made Gray's blessing outfit. I forgot to put socks on him. As soon as we got home I tried to get some pictures of the kids/our family.

Kate kept trying to give Gray kisses. She wouldn't look at the camera—she only had eyes for him.

I wish that Skeletor hadn't grabbed Gray and jumped into the picture while I wasn't looking. I really wanted to be in this one.

Kate was a bit of a grump, in case you couldn't tell. Did I mention that church was at 1:00, so no one had had a nap yet?

I love my handsome boys.

Yay! Gray and Granny!

Papa put his tie on just for this picture.

oh december

Where have you gone? It feels like Christmas should still be weeks away, not 4 days. I feel like I've been ready for Christmas forever, and yet when I sit down and think about it there is still so much I have to do (like build a stocking for Gray, oops). But let's get down to the pictures of my children, shall we?

Colin wore this shirt at Christmastime too. But it was a little looser on him. Mini update on Gray: he rolls from stomach to back and back to stomach like a champ. He is one tubby little roll-y poll-y. (How do you spell that?) He also loves to have his hands in him mouth at all times. He is my first kid to love the exersaucer the first time he was put in it. He can sit up pretty well in the exersaucer, and he can maneuver the toys into his mouth. He's really good at getting things into his mouth. Feeding him solids probably won't be too tough. I think he might be teething soon because he chomps a lot. Also, Gray got his first haircut. Nate and I took a few inches off of his mohawk, but don't worry, there is still plenty there.

Colin and Kate have had a blast playing with Kate's birthday balloon.

Gray also likes his Bumbo. Although, with his cloth diapers and enormous legs it's difficult to get him out sometimes.

The kids were helping Gray with his toys. Can you tell?

Ah, sweet Kate. I went to check on her during nap time earlier this month and this is how I found her. So I took a picture. She'll love it when she's a teenager. Quick update on Kate—she's had a crazy daiper rash/yeast infection thing going on for some time now. But the meds we got from the doc this week seem to be helping. It's clearing up much fast than it was with the over-the-counter stuff we tried.

This is pre-haircut. But post-handsome, obviously.

Kate trying out her new birthday dress-up skirts. I can't remember who she was pretending to be here. Guess I need to update the blog more often. Prince Phillip, maybe? Or perhaps the Bad Queen?

I love his fat, dimpled face and his Silvey eyes. His eyes haven't gone brown yet; they are still mostly gray. As is his shirt. Guess I was inspired when I named him?

Kate, lovin' up on Rapunzel.

On the 3rd Nate took Kate out for a special Daddy/Daughter Birthday Cupcake Date. They went to the Sweet Tooth Fairy and had some one-on-one bonding time. I hope it continues to be a tradition with them to do special things together. Kate loved getting dressed up and going out with Dad.

I have no words for this picture.

What can I say, my kids look good in heels! (And my son has now officially worn heels more often than his mother has.)

Enjoying the exersaucer. Pigs are fascinating.

Hey, Steve! This is our neighbor. He came over when I had the camera out taking pictures of the kids, so I took one of him too. His treats were delicious. And he has a new website up to help you prepare for the forthcoming zombie apocalypse. Please to be clicking here and checking it out, won't you? He has some fun t-shirts and some practical emergency preparedness stuff, if you're interested.

Ah, sweet Kate. Sometimes she falls/crawls out of bed and finishes her naps on the floor. Weird. Notice the hint of green down by her mouth? That would be her pacifier, but it is history now. We finally got rid of it, and after several challenging nights, I am happy we did. She doesn't fall asleep as quickly as she used to, but she's okay.

Aww, siblings. Nice heels, weirdos.

Doesn't he just melt your heart? Seriously, just looking at this picture while I type the caption brought tears to my eyes. He's so sweet and beautiful and awesome.

Kate also had her first haircut. (Or second, if you count the neighbor trying to cut her bangs and blame it on Colin.) When my mom and I went for a haircut Kate sat down and got her bangs evened out. It was difficult, but she was so proud of herself afterward.

Kate loves to send messages to her friends on my phone. So if you get a strange, nonsense text from me, it was probably from Kate. (Or I was drunk.)

And this is to show how chubby (and handsome) Gray is in his diapers. He's got the biggest rolls on his thunder thighs, and I love it. It's nice to know he's getting enough to eat, which isn't something I could say for sure with my older, Ethiopian-esque children.

I was busy in the kitchen baking cookies a week and a half ago when I noticed that it was quiet in the house. A little too quiet. I went to investigate and see what mischief my little ones had gotten into, and this is what I found...

Kate was reading to Rapunzel and Colin was reading to Gray. If only they could entertain themselves that way all the time!

Kenny (one of the Basement Dwellers) is promoting Beards for BYU. He asked if he could take a picture of my kids wearing beards. Why on earth would I say no to that? (Kate didnt' want to cooperate; neither did Gray.)

On the 16th Uncle Grant came down and played with Kate and Colin so my mom and I could enjoy our traditional Free Red Robin Birthday Lunch. Gray got to come along with us. We had a nice lunch, compliments of the Red Robin birthday club email, and I saw a friend from high school (Tanner Folster) that I haven't see since high school. He was eating lunch with his mom, too. That was neat.

Gray looked like he was drinking from the cup, so I got the camera out. But in the picture he just looks like he is chewing on it, which is less amusing.

Heartbreaker! Watch out ladies. 16 years from now he is going to be killin' it!

Colin giving his brother a hug so he could be in the pictures too.

Yesterday afternoon I took the kids to deliver a present to their Good Friend Tracy. We had to walk because we don't have a car during the day. I bundled everyone up, and Gray fell asleep in my arms while we walked across the street. Colin ran ahead, and then for some reason still unknown to me, Kate had a meltdown and refused to continue walking. She collapsed on the sidewalk, screaming. Finally I picked her up (while still holding on to Gray, who was now awake and also screaming), and carried both kids around the corner to Tracy's house. An old man was outside walking and staring at me. I gave him a friendly smile. Colin had already knocked on Tracy's door when I arrived, and she opened it to find two crying kids and one happy kid and one very tired adult on her doorstep. She helped me get Kate calmed down (which took a surprisingly long time), and she helped me get the kids back home without anyone else screaming. It was a weird afternoon. The reason I told this story with the following picture is this: when I got home Gray was still asleep, so I set him on the couch. His jacket was so puffy that his little arm stuck straight up. It amused me, and I took a picture. The end.

This afternoon while I was making dinner I decided to practice making a scarf out of an old t-shirt. I haven't gotten to the thrift store yet to buy some sweet old shirts to use (I'm planning on making some for Christmas presents), so I grabbed one that Nate tried to throw out over the weekend. Kate was "helping" me, and I handed her the scraps to play with. She decided to wear them. Here's her first ensemble:

Nice.

And here is the second. Yeah, she came up with this outfit completely on her own. And then she refused to change. Woo woo!

If I think of any other fun stories to share, I'll share them.