Bryce’s Preschool Program

Wed (12/21) Bryce’s preschool class did a little singing program for the parents. He always goes to school with a smile on his face and is good for his teacher. But he must have been tired because he sat in my lap during the program and wouldn’t sit with his class. He wouldn’t sing. The picture of him was a good depiction of his feelings at that time. Maybe next year my cute reindeer will be in good spirits.

Birthday Kids!

Thursday, December 15th our Hope turned 5 years old and Ethan turned 2! Yep, they share a birthday. We joked about the lottery like odds of baby #4 being born on the same day but were happy to have that not happen. As I promised Hope months ago, we did have a party at our house. We invited all our families and all were able to come!  I unwisely decided to make 3 different cakes on Friday. (same day as Hope’s preschool program) It was so crazy, and I was hurting pretty decently from the afternoon on. But thanks to the help of Uncle Dan playing with the kids we somehow got it all done. Mary and Tyler came into town that night and spent the night to help me as well. Saturday morning the bounce house was delivered, Mary and Tyler decorated our whole downstairs, and we were able to get everything put together on time. We had a lunch, the kids played. Aunt Jenica brought face paints (she’s amazing…I didn’t even ask her to do that) and painted kids hands or faces. (Hope and Sadie were kitty cats) The weather was gorgeous, a reminder to why we love California. Jared was happy nothing was broken. (the cousins can get wild) And I was happy that the cakes were all edible and enjoyed. It was a fun day. Unfortunately, it really hurt my body. At 37 weeks pregnant I think it was aggressive to have such a big party, but it was so important for me to keep my promise and we survived just fine. Happy Birthday Hope and Ethan!

Hope’s Christmas Program

Hope’s preschool class did a little Christmas program on Friday. It was so cute. All the parents were invited. They sang and Santa came. Hope’s class has been a challenge because its from 11:30-2:00pm three days a week and that interferes with Ethan’s naps. But we’ve learned not to do afternoon preschool again. And, the growth and confidence we’ve seen in Hope is wonderful. She is learning to make friends, talk in front of a group of people, and has been opening up more.

Our beautiful Elf!

Ward Christmas Party 2011

We finally made it to a ward party. It only took us about a year of living here. :) We had heard that in our big ward that the parties are packed with people and get a little bit crazy. After three years of being on the Activities committee in our last ward it was nice to just be able to go and sit. The Young Men did a nice Tri-tip dinner and it didn’t seem crazy at all to me. After we ate we visited Santa. I held Ethan during the Santa picture since he immediately started crying the second he saw the Big Jolly Man. After that we sang some Christmas songs and had a slide show Nativity. (Hope was in the slide show as one of the angels) It was great; Spiritual, and to the point. Afterwards we drove the kids through the “Disney Neighborhood” where everyone puts of Christmas lights and has Disney scenes. Bryce was hysterical about it. He would yell to us about everything he recognized. I’ve never seen him so excited about something. Hopefully we can hit more lights this season. It is not great timing for me, but Ethan just started climbing out of his crib. So we are now bed training and hoping we can keep him taking naps. Last night I was up with him for a few hours and Jared even took a shift with him trying to get him to stay in his room and sleep in a bed. This is one time when a Master’s bedroom downstairs is not ideal.

Perfect Moment

I have decided that you can’t plan the perfect moment with kids. I tried that a few weeks ago and it……well…..was more of a disaster than anything else. Saturday we went to do errands, shopping, and as it approached lunchtime we spur of the moment took the kids to eat at a new Sushi place. This was a bold move, as parents, considering that we had our hands full with them at the moment and not many kids are sushi lovers. So we ordered lots of different cooked things, got them a soda, they were so cute. They grabbed their chop sticks and devoured their chicken. They didn’t like all the food, but they put smiles on their faces and for a brief moment we just had fun and enjoyed being together. 

Goldilocks new doo…..

Well, with a new baby coming we have to do things that make Mommy’s life easier. Hope’s beautiful long blonde hair takes a lot of work and she has been constantly crying to brush it and style it. So……. the family pictures were already taken for the year and we both felt ready for something new. We cut the lovely locks. I say “we” as in Hope and I. While I got everything ready and silently debated to trim or really chop her hair Hope went ahead used the scissors to take the first snip. From that point on we were committed to a serious cut. Daddy was not thrilled, more shocked then anything. But she looks adorable! And Daddy has grown to really like her cute bob. She gives it a quick brush before school and church. It is easier to wash, and it will be a nice thing for Mommy for when the baby comes.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

It is sad, but even though we have been married for 6 1/2 years we haven’t ever officially gotten Christmas decorations. We did pick up a slender, inexpensive tree one year but only put a bow on top and haven’t really bought ornaments or stockings for the kids. It’s not that we are bah-hum-bug. We love Christmas! We just end up at so many other houses, or having a baby, and it just doesn’t seem like good timing to have the house all done up. So this year we were given (I love free things!) Grandma and Grandpa Cox’s nice artificial tree as they haven’t used it in years. We put it up this week and intended every day to go get lights. And by every night that wasn’t going to happen. I slept on my neck wrong, had a horrible Walmart shopping experience, got the house cleaned, tried to downsize our clothes (that’s a work in progress), got out the newborn stuff for the baby (still haven’t washed it), all kids had a cold (again), did flu shots, preschools, dental check ups for kids and Mommy, Jared’s slammed at work, cleaned up what feels like a zillion messes, had two water disasters in the kids bathroom, and so it took a week to finally get to the store. We finally, as a family, went and got lights last night. And today we decorated as a family. It was wild and fun. I am not feeling or sleeping great so I mostly sat and did support. We still don’t have a Christmas Star, tree skirt, or stockings for the kids, or garland for the fireplaces, but I hear those go on sale in a few weeks. :)

The final product. It is still a little bare, which matches our house right now. But we think it’s beautiful.

Girls Lunch for baby…..

Sweet Grandma Cox offered to hold a girls lunch/shower for me. I didn’t want/don’t like showers for myself. But Grandma suggested we just have the girls on both sides of the family come and I was really excited about that. It was really nice. Mom, Jenica, Sadie, Hope and I drove down together. And in my pregnant and forgetful state I passed the business 80 cut off and when I realized it we were headed for the airport! We made some turns and were able to get there with only being 10 minutes late, but I was a bit embarrassed. Linda, Grandma Cox, and Rachel made a really yummy spread and it was so nice and quiet. We started by chatting and drinking herbal tea, then moved to the table to have salads and rolls. Then a selection of pound cakes. Yummmm. And I had thought that we wouldn’t do presents but everyone brought something cute for the baby. The best part was having Hope and the little girls in the family come because they opened the presents for me. I didn’t even have to bend down! Let’s hope this really is a girl…….

Thanksgiving

So Thanksgiving this year was a double whammy. We want to see both sides of the family each year and since both sides are in reasonable driving distance we make it a long day. We started at the Christensen’s and much to our surprise we had our 1pm dinner ready on time, or at least within15 minutes of then. :) The kids were crazy but after a very yummy meal Aunt Jenica brought out a huge bag of Christmas ornament crafts and the wild ones were all thrilled to do some crafts. Only about 30 minutes after I had gotten Ethan down we had to give our thanks and hugs, and head up the hill to the Formans. I envisioned the car ride up to be peaceful with all the kids taking a little slumber and we arriving refreshed. We did have one child that snoozed, and in the end I guess I looked frazzled when we arrived because Linda told me just to go sit down. So I did. It was lovely. I was afraid the kids would be fighting all night but they actually were really good. We enjoyed a second lovely meal. The kids ate, we ate. The pie is always amazing. (Thank you Grandma Cox!) and I mostly just sat. Which is always nice when you are 8 months pregnant.

Family Day, November 23, 2011

I convinced Jared to take off a day of work so we could be together as a little family the Wednesday before Thanksgiving. I was so excited about it. Jared missed out on golfing that morning, but before I sound too horrible, he did go to a movie and dinner with the guys on Tuesday night. The kids were all excited to spend the day with Daddy. We got all ready and flew out the door to go to Bounce U. I hadn’t been there in a few years and I thought for sure the kids and Daddy would love it. We played and did the big slide. The kids were all smiles, it was going great. And then we moved to the second room (no pictures are from that room) where the kids started getting hungry. And they started getting frustrated at not being able to climb a ropes course. And then Hope started crying hysterically. And then Bryce started crying hysterically. And then Daddy started to get frustrated. And then Ethan was throwing himself around being hungry. And then Mommy felt upset when Daddy picked up the kids and walked out the door. It seems funny now. But in the heat of the moment I wasn’t happy about our fun activity cut short, the kids were hungry and tired, and Daddy was not such a fan of having the only kids crying at one of the most fun places in town. We found the nearest Wendy’s and several burgers later everyone was fine.