Contamination Station

There’s nothing that makes a mother feel like she deserves the mother of the year award like having a house full of sick people.  Andy had something last week and both girls apparently have RSV and ear infections (plus Grace is teething)…and to think I debated whether or not to call their pediatrician.  Don’t worry I have cleared a space on our table for the award!

Needless to say after seeing the pediatrician last week we have been stuck home all day every day.  Thankfully, the girls seem to be on the course to recovery and for the most part they have still been kind to each other.  It was really sweet the other night, I was holding Grace on the couch and on her own Abby sat down beside us and held Grace’s hand.

Nothing like a pajama day to make you feel better!

Grandma and Grandpa

Andy had to stay home and work, but the girls and I visited my parents last week.  The girls always love visiting their grandma and grandpa (both sets) and I love watching them interact.   One of the first things Abby does when visiting my parents is play with all of my mom’s teddy bears–this trip was no exception.  We got there and after saying hi to grandma and grandpa she went straight to the bears.  Abby loves helping people.  She helped grandma feed the chicken (yes there is no “s”, there is only one chicken left).  Later she told me she wanted to live with the chicken in the chicken’s house.  I had to laugh at that one.  She was also in heaven when she got to ride the bus with grandma…well that is after I finally convinced her she didn’t have to go to school.

Walking the path to feed the chicken.

Worried that she has to go to school.

Exploring the bus with grandma.

Grace was a little different that her usual self during parts of the trip.  She had a hard time falling asleep, spit up a lot, and was cranky–at least for her.  It turns out she is teething, poor girl.  It’s a new experience for me because teething didn’t seem to bother Abby.  Grace loved playing with grandma and grandpa too.  I never have a problem keeping her attention while trying to feed her, but this trip I couldn’t seem to keep it.  She just kept wanting to play with grandpa instead of eat.  She would careen her head every which direction to look at him.  Of course, grandpa ate it all up!

Two kids at heart playing together.

Christmas Traditions

I love Christmas traditions.  There are some from my childhood that I looked forward to every year; Christmas breakfast being top on my list.  In my opinion, there isn’t a better Christmas breakfast then waffles, vanilla ice cream and strawberries (there was always other items like egg nog, bacon, eggs and that kind of stuff, but I didn’t care about that).  I remember it seemed like a lot of work to prepare for all of us growing up…the things moms will do out of love.  That tradition is one I have always wanted to continue with my own family.  Growing up I also had friends who always received pj’s on Christmas eve.  That is one tradition I was a little envious of so I decided to begin that one too.  I decided to combine the two; each Christmas eve we are going to open up our pj’s and have my childhood Christmas breakfast for dinner.  On Christmas morning we will have sticky buns; the breakfast Andy had on Christmas morning.

Grace and Abigail sporting their new pj’s.

On Christmas eve this year we went to temple square to see the lights.  I never tire of seeing the lights there, it is so pretty and peaceful.  It was really nice to end the hustle and bustle of the season on a peaceful note.

It was a Christmas miracle Christmas morning because Abby slept until 7:50!  Once we all woke up, we opened presents and had a very relaxing day.  The four of us simply hung out together.  It was really nice to have a calm, relaxing day without feeling like we have to race from one place to another.  We will visit my parents in a couple of weeks.

Even though you have to look past her hair, I love this picture of Abby because it shows her excitement.  She LOVES curious george and we thought she would go crazy when she opened it.  She did alright…just not for the reason we thought!  Curious george is holding a flashlight and that is what she was so excited about.  She loves playing with flashlights at her cousins house and was thrilled to open one up.  Andy and I found it hilarious that her excitement over the flashlight totally squashed any excitement she had for that curious little monkey.  Of course now she loves to play with him.

Back to Bethlehem

I wanted to write this post weeks ago, but I don’t have any pictures for it yet so I have put it off.  Christmas is now over so I thought I better do it now and I can just add the pictures later when I get them from my friend.

We started this Christmas season with our ward Christmas party.  The theme was “Back to Bethlehem”.  Everyone was asked to dress as someone who would have lived in Bethlehem during Christ’s time.  I borrowed a robe from my cousin that I wore, Andy had to be the roman soldier (he wasn’t to thrilled, but with a wife on the committee he didn’t have much choice) and I made the girls costume–which I am really proud of because I haven’t sewn since 7th grade home ec.  Each family received an invitation which was a decree from Caesar Augustus to return to the city of their birth to be counted and taxed.  When they arrived each family received a bag of gold coins to buy dinner and pay the roman soldier for entrance into the city.  The gym was set up as Jerusalem at night.  The lights were turned off and the city was lit by the stars (Christmas tree lights hung from the ceiling) in the sky.  A bakery, fruit, vegetable, meat and pastry shop were set up where each family could purchase their dinner.  Once you purchased your dinner you laid out your blanket on the floor and ate.  After dinner the children fished in the sea of Galilee.  In the corner of the room there was a manger with a giant star above it. After the children finished fishing, Joseph and Mary walked through the city until they arrived at the manger.  The nativity was read and then baby Jesus arrived.  Everyone sang Silent Night to end the evening.  It was a lot of work to pull it all off, but well worth it!

Merry Christmas

Each year we talk about sending out Christmas cards, but it never happens…this year we are a step closer!  I decided to post our Christmas card saving myself a little time and energy.  Maybe one year I will be as on top of it all as all of you who mail your Christmas cards.   With that being said, we wish you all a very merry Christmas and hope you feel the true spirit of Christmas this year.  May you have plenty of happiness, find joy in every moment, and discover peace within this coming year.

Love,

Andrew, Milisa, Abigail, and Grace

A New Love

My family is spread all over the world and rarely do we get a chance to all be together, unfortunately that holds true for this holiday season.  For those of us in Salt Lake we decided to get together and go sledding.  I have been looking forward to this all month.  I love snow activities and can’t wait to get my girls hooked on them too.  At the last minute two of my brothers and their families had to cancel because of illness and work.  I was bummed they couldn’t go, but determined not to cancel the activity.  It ended up being just my oldest brother and his family and my family.  We went up parley’s canyon and had a blast!

Abby found a new love…sledding.  I am not sure what she liked more; sledding, making snow angels or just laying on her stomach and eating the snow!  Grace ended up falling asleep and slept most of the time.  I did manage to get in one trip down the hill with her before we left.  Andy even said he had more fun than he thought he would and wants to go again.  Slowly he is converting to a love of snow…or at least the fun you can have in it!

6 Months

Among the hustle and bustle of the season, Grace continues to grow and melt all our hearts.  She used to be my quiet riot–smiling all the time and laughing without much noise.  She still smiles and laughs all the time just not so quietly now–she squeals and laughs with her whole body.  I love it!  When she is not laughing or squealing she has taken to doing raspberries with her mouth and tongue.  Now it seems to be a contest of who is the louder one at church, her or Abigail.

She is sitting up on her own now, at least when she doesn’t get so excited that she propels herself backwards.  Another one of her recent accomplishments is moving from point A to point B.  She loves to roll over on her tummy (still doesn’t roll over to her back) and move around.  It was just moving around in circles, but now she pushes her self backwards.  She also has all of the movements of crawling, she just has to get up on all fours.  I think this is the beginning of trouble for me!

Her stats at her six month check-up were as follows: height 27.25 inches, weight 29 lbs 4 oz, head circumference 42.5 cm

Rodolph’s Posse

I’m all about doing family stuff–even if the girls don’t quite understand or know the traditions and stories yet.  So far Abby understands a few Christmas ones, but has yet to discover the full magic of it all.  She has refused to sit on Santa’s lap and wouldn’t even ring his bells when one of the Santas asked her if she wanted to.  Yet she gets excited when she see our neighbor who is an older man with a white beard (he’s been known to dress up like Santa for a Christmas party or two).  She even calls him ho ho ho.

All she has asked for is blue candy for Christmas–I think that is one request Santa will fulfill this year!  She isn’t really aware of Rudolph and all the other reindeer yet, but that didn’t stop her from being excited to see them.  We went to Thanksgiving Point to drive through the lights and see some of them.  She loved it and loved that she was even able to pet one of them!

Festival of Trees

The festival of trees is a huge tradition at Christmas time for many families.  My family finally joined that tradition this year.  I have always wanted to go, but for one reason or another I have never made it until this year.  I was amazed at how big it was.  So many people donated so much time and energy for such a great cause. There were some really beautiful trees and some really creative ones too.    It was a toss up for Abby’s favorite–curious george or winnie the pooh.

Abby and the curious george tree.

Unfortunately, we got a later start than planned and of course it was crowded because we went on a weekend night, so we weren’t able to see as much as I would have liked.  On the bright side though, it definitely gave me a plan of action for next year!

“Until next year giant nutcracker!”

The Spirit of Giving

Christmas time is great, everyone seems to be happier and have a more giving attitude.  I wish it would be like that year round.  Lucky for me, I have a 2 1/2 year old who feels the same way.  She has been giving me gifts for quite a while now.  She wraps up random items in one of her blankets and tell me she has a present for me.  She then proceeds to unwrap it, show me what it is and exclaim ta-dah!   She is gushing with excitement while doing all of this and can do it for hours on end.  Usually I receive one of her toys or books and occasionally a kitchen gadget, but her most recent gift tops them all.  She wrapped up her foot and and then unwrapped “my present” for me.  It was hilarious and I couldn’t help but laugh all day about it.  What a giving girl!

Abby has added Grace to her list of lucky recipients.  She is trying to give her gifts all the time–wrap and unwrapped ones.  They have become quite the little buddies.  Abby has to know where she is at all times and is constantly wanting to make sure she is happy.  She loves holding her and giving her hugs.  Grace in return always has a smile for Abby and lights up when she is around.  I hope they are always like this.