Merry Christmas!

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me: (after seeing him walk out from under the table with something in his mouth) andy, what are you eating?
andy: ahhh. (opening his mouth for me to see)
me: do you need to put it in the trash can?
andy: yeah.

no-shave november; airplane; thanksgiving; train and "piece;" broccoli and other solids

spencer was going to do a "no-shave november" just for the fun of it. he and his friend steve decided to make it a school-wide fundraiser.
here's how it ended up.
he's got such a great beard!



benny was sitting in this basket pretending it was an airplane. i decided to make some wings for him out of a huggies box we had around. of course that ends up not being enough. first he wanted the wheels (out of view). then he wanted a tail fin and cross fin (the way he explained those to me was adorable!).
he loved it for days.



we had a great thanksgiving this year! again, we did it on our own. there's something wonderful about having the whole day on your own schedule - cooking, eating, naps (unfortunately only for andy and lilia that day and every other...), etc.
because of spencer's study schedule i did almost the whole meal. he did get home in time to help me a little with the turkey the night before. we kept it pretty simple and it was wonderful.



the boys ready to eat!
oh, i've got to add the simply apple was a wonderful substitute for crandall's from orem!



benny came to me with a huggies box (our craft supply of choice) to make him a train. he certainly has a vision for how he wants things and sometimes it's pretty impossible. luckily i was able to convince him that this was still a pretty cool train.
andy is in the "piece" made from the smaller overnites box. a perfect fit!
if any of you have seen any thomas and friends shows, the "piece" is gordon's coal car. benny has a gordon toy with what he has always called the "piece."



completely their idea.
benny's reading green eggs and ham and andy's got go, dog. go!



i started feeding lilia solids a while ago. i always start my kids with peas because those are the easiest to make (i also make the food - not for some moral ground, i just think it's better; straight vegetables (cooked and pureed) with water if needed). lilia's reaction to the peas (shown below) was better than her reaction to the broccoli tonight.

that's not a pleasant face. she literally gagged them down.

tonight was worse. she gagged them down and then threw up - i'm pretty sure it was on purpose... i slowed down. she did it a second time. i slowed down even more and let her get used to the flavor. she ended up eating three cubes worth (i always freeze the food in ice trays and transfer it to ziplock bags in the freezer. easiest way i've found to store it).
so now we've got peas, yams, broccoli, and carrots for lilia. i think i'll start mixing the broccoli in with other vegetables. that should help it to be more palatable for her.
i wish i had made broccoli when andy was a baby. he will be done with his meal if we insist that he eat his broccoli before anything else.

a night to remember

our little monkeys are sleeping in the same room!

well before andy was ready for it i tried andy in a "big boy bed" in benny's room. i used to think that because they would have to some time in the future, benny and andy should share a room as early as possible. that night i tried it, it didn't work. it took fewer than five minutes to realize that wasn't going to work.

not too long after that evening i got to the point where i realized that if we have the space to spread them out, why not?! the time will come when we don't have that option. there is no point in forcing that upon yourself.

when lilia was born we kept the boys in separate rooms and put her in our closet. it's a walk-in but there's only just enough space for a pack-n-play (about a foot on two sides, but that's where are clothes are). little by little our clothes have moved out. i don't like it. i want to reclaim our closet. so a couple of days ago i put andy's crib mattress on the floor to see how he would do with the freedom. he did great. he didn't get off the bed at all. he did cry for a little while the first night and not as much the second night. in the morning he just opens his door and comes on out. nap times also worked well. again, a little crying, but he did great. the first day he just sat on the mattress and made noise until i opened the door (just like in the crib). it was really cute. today he came right out. i had originally planned to do this for a few more days before trying him on the big bed in benny's room, but i really want our closet back.

when i told benny that andy was going to sleep on his big bed benny said i would put them to bed and then they would talk. boy does he wish! i told him i'd put andy back in his room if they did. after i read some stories and said a prayer they both got in their beds. andy cried for about two seconds after i closed the door and then was quiet. i haven't heard a peep since! i am thrilled! i might even try nap time for andy on his big bed. tomorrow night i think lilia will sleep in her own real room. it will be her first time in a crib. boy, i hope that goes well!

i know i'm biased...

...but what a cutie!

outside while the boys were eating lunch:







inside after lilia had slept and then eaten lunch:













out-takes...



















i've got to admit, it's fun having a girl!

latest project

i have wanted to make a quiet book for a really long time. i finally started a couple of weeks ago. the first sunday i had one page front and back done. the following week i added the next. this week i was able to get two pages front and back done. i was working hard because we've got stake conference tomorrow. i have really liked each successive page better than the last. i've got a few more ideas to go, so we'll see what i end up liking the best.


flowers to button on



beads on ribbons to count and slide across. the four vertical strands on the right are only connected at the top so they swing around.
this page was an original idea of mine. it doesn't look very pretty, but it's entertaining. andy love this one!



the apples snap onto the tree and can be put in the basket.



a page to weave.
a little advanced for now, but they'll get the hang of it!


reverse of the weave.



your basic barn.
i borrowed this idea. i did a much simpler version of the one i saw. i was trying to be efficient. i only wish it had more color variety.


finger puppets inside.


i may add a cow and/or horse to the mix at some point. we'll see.



the three fish velcro on.
this is another design i borrowed. i will say that the shell was an original idea of mine.



butterfly with zipper body.


open it up and find baby butterflies inside with ribbon.
i have seen this page done with a ladybug before and i wanted to be a little more original. i know, i know, it's not biologically accurate (that was spencer's one problem with it), but it's cute and fun. i decided last minute to put matching beads on the ribbons. just something extra to play with.



shoe lace to tie.
i was debating for a while on what color shoe to do. i decided on black and white. it was spencer's suggestion to make them wingtip shoes. i'm glad he did. i think it turned out great. it's one of my favorites!


a lot of these ideas i got from my mom. some i got here. i didn't use any templates. everything was done (for better or for worse) freehand. i'm quite happy with how everything turned out. and the best thing, it gets the job done!

halloween

i simplified this year. benny's a repeat of last year, andy's wearing pajamas with sweatpants underneath, and i made lilia's costume for benny's first halloween.



two very caring older brothers.



each checking out his own stash.



lilia made her debut this year in the monkey suit. i'm planning on her fitting into it next year as well. i pinned a ribbon on so people could tell she was a girl.



and max, the king of all wild things!
i'm going to brag for just a second and let you know this is a prize-winning costume two years running! last year and this year benny won the costume contest at the med school family function. he looks just like max - and actually requests that we call him max whenever he's in his wolf suit.
he didn't wear the crown trick-or-treating.

business in the front...

i think you know the rest.

(click the pictures for a better view!)

don't worry, they didn't stay any longer than it took to take the pictures. i just had to take the pictures, though. haircuts were long over-do. spencer said i could cut mullets as long as i took them to walmart. i thought about it but i'm not gutsy enough. maybe next time.

overheard

benny: andy, we don't eat umbrellas.

wind

while walking in the wind yesterday benny kept shaking his hair (there's plenty to shake). he said it was windy and he was getting the wind out "so it's not windy anymore."

andy

i promise he's happy. he was saying "cheese" the whole time.

many miracles

i can't even name all of the miracles i witnessed yesterday.
i usually give way too much information when telling stories, so here's the quick version.

12:55p - get home from running errands.
1:00 - changing lilia's diaper in my room. hear andy start screaming in the kitchen.
1:01 - see andy on kitchen floor with lots of blood. all i can see is he gouged his head on a kitchen cabinet handle.
1:45 - checked in at the er with andy (and the two other kids).
*somewhere in between 4 elders checked in due to car accident. they helped the time pass more quickly.
5:10 - asked spencer to leave school and come take the oldest and youngest home for dinner and bed.
6:05 - spencer came to take benny and lilia home.
6:50ish - finally got called back to a room (told it won't be long)
8:15 - doctor finally comes in to look at andy's head. told staples are the best option.
8:45 - nurse comes to clean andy's head and put a numbing ointment on the wound. says she'll be back in 10 minutes for next application.
9:13 - nurse comes in for next application. says in another 10 minutes they'll come back and really clean it.
9:25 - nurses swaddle andy and clean his head.
9:40 - doc comes to put staples in. there are 6 or 7 - i lost count; one was taken out and two didn't go in.
9:55 - doc says he'll be back in a little bit.
10:43 - nurse comes in with staple-care instructions.
10:48 - driving out of the parking lot.

this doesn't include the lack of food because of no lunch and the nurses told me no food in case of sedation (i snuck some snacks and water to him after 4 hours) or the groceries (some of which went bad) in the back of my van.

a major miracle was that the kids were basically perfect the whole time they were there. another lesson that i need to lighten up. there is nothing i can do to make them perfect. it was only through God's grace. I am so grateful.

Lilia smiling

Got this last night after the win.

Watching the game together.