Merry Christmas!!

I'll be offline for a week or so, so I wanted to wish you all a Merry Christmas! I hope you all eat lots of chocolate, get/give the perfect gift, and that somehow the true meaning of Christmas can touch each and every one of you in your lives this season. My wish for all of us is that we can do something that will mean something to someone this season. Thank you all for being part of my life, and letting me be a part of yours! Thanks for your comments. (And just because I'm away doesn't mean I won't get them, they come to my email, which comes to my phone... and they really mean so much to me, so if you want to give a gift from the heart.... *blatant hint*) I'm excited to get to know you all better in the New Year!


Well, I've got to go finish packing, so Merry Christmas to all and to all a Goodnight.

Random Christmas pictures.

Okay, so this post is because I do not know how to resize pictures in my Windows picture whatever. So here are a ton of pictures that I want to use for our family's Christmas Songbook. (Notice the pictures of me that I'm saving for posterity are of me from last Christmas, when I was 50 lbs lighter! :D ) So, here are random pictures of Christmas' past and present... I'll explain some of them, just because I really like these.

***Edited to add...Well, the ones I wanted to add the most just are not coming up for some reason. Very VERY irritating. They are the ones from a Christmas Carol. There is a great one of Jerrod and I kissing that I wanted to put on a page with a song about mistletoe. That picture was what inspired this (and the next 2) posts of pictures. So now I think I'll end up just printing the songs with no pictures. But I'll leave these up here for now, and hopefully get those Christmas Carol pictures up sometime. Merry Christmas!


Isn't this sweet? This is Sariah in 1st grade. She's holding a small nutcracker, and I think she looks as precious as can be! In the background is her stocking that my Grandma Fife knitted for her! (or crocheted.) My great grandma used to make those for all of us, and I was so thrilled to get a matching stocking for Sariah from my grandma. Now I just need to convince one of my sisters that they want to learn how to do that.

Apparently I did something, and Christmas pictures continued... Vintage edition

So apparently I did something with my last post when I was centering something that centered every post on my blog. Weird. But, I have no time to fix it now. I still have presents to make, stuff to pack and a photos to resave from my blog, because I don't know how to resize them. I'm starting to think it would have been easier to just google "How to resize your pictures.." But now I'm too invested, so I'll carry on.

(I fixed the centered thing..)

Sariah in kindergarten with colored cookie dough.

Helam

My cute girls


I love Essi. She has so much exuberance for everything in life. She's such a great example. She's a nut.

Another one with Helam and Santa. Doesn't it look like they're both taking a nap?

I love babies and Santa!

My Grandma reading to my girls a few years ago. Isn't she beautiful? This is the grandma whose home we'll be visiting for Christmas! I'm so excited!

This is (I believe) my Aunt Kathy. I just seriously love this picture and I think it's one of the greatest Christmas pictures ever!

Another great Christmas picture! My aunts.. Julie and Sharla!

I love this picture. My dad is the little boy, I think that the other two are Julie and Sharla, but I can't tell which is which. I think Julie is in the igloo. Then in back this is embarrassing, but the picture is too blurry that I can't tell if it's my grandma or grandpa! (Or someone else entirely!) My dad (the little boy on your left) later built an awesome igloo like this with his kids. (Me.)

Isn't this adorable? My dad is the little boy in the red hat.

Julie, Sharla, my Dad, half of my Grandma

My dad, Sharla, Julie My grandma most likely made the dresses behind the girls.

For some reason I can't write under this next picture which is of my cousin, and my brothers, Ammon and Daniel. We loved these blocks growing up, and played with them whenever we went to my grandparents. Now my kids play with them!

Random Christmas Pictures continued...

A picture I drew of my girls and Christ back when they were the age shown in this picture.

My little guy with Santa, there are a bunch of slight variations of basically the same picture. This is because I'm a mom, and I think that these are all so adorable, I can't pick a favorite of my identical pictures, and I can't bear to only save the cropped versions.

This is the first year we've been able to get Essi to willingly see Santa. I guess something about a creepy guy in a red suit wasn't doing it for her. So this year we explained that he was like a grandpa, he was offering her candy, we were offering her candy, then we went to cold hard cash. She got a dollar for this picture. Do you love how her she's still kind of leaning away from him? Right after this, she warmed right up to him and wouldn't leave him alone the rest of the night. Luckily, there weren't many kids, and this Santa was really REALLY fantastic.

Kids Corner

My 3 year old to a fussing Helam in a sing-song coochie coochie coo baby talk voice:

"I'm sorry I don't have breasts for you. I'm sorry. I'm sorry I don't have breasts.." then she looks up at me and says in third person, "He really wishes Essi had breasts."

A Quick Gush..

So, I'm totally in love. A simple 6 yard strip of jersey knit has brought me more joy and happiness than anything ever.

~Well, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but it's right up there with Chocolate, Butterflies, and my right arm.~

Have you heard of "Moby Wraps?" All they are are a strip of fabric that's 5-6 yards long by 20-36 inches wide. They are A-freaking-MAZING!! So is this website that tells you how to make one yourself with lots of pictures and fabric suggestions. I can tell you how to make the wrap in one sentence. "Go buy 5 - 6 yards of fabric, cut in in half lengthwise." Viola. It's a wrap. (Well, actually, 2 wraps.) I made mine in like 2 minutes at Jo-Ann's Fabric Tuesday night.

Mine are brown, so I totally look like a Jedi wearing one, and since Tuesday, I've been wearing it constantly. (Pretty much I only take it off to sleep and shower.) It is so wonderful though, I finally feel like myself again! Over the past couple days when we've been out running errands, it's been as easy as not having a baby! (Maybe because the force is with me.) I love having his little self snuggled right next to me. I LOVE being able to use both hands. I'm loving not lugging around those blasted carrier car seats.

My back feels SO much better these past couple days since I've had this. I've been able to do dishes, laundry, and clean out a junk room. (Though my new ability to do those things should probably remain secret...) Right now I'm typing this with my little man strapped to my belly watching me type. (Earlier today I was cutting fabric and sewing.) He's happy, and I can use both hands!!

I'm convinced that this is the best thing EVER for new moms, and that they should give them out at the hospital to help prevent a myriad of problems from back pain to post-partum depression.

We went to the mall Tuesday night, and I was stopped by just about every woman there (pregnant ladies, young moms, old moms, grandmas) to ask where I got this and how it works. Everyone either wanted one or knew someone who would.

Here are the instructions for how to tie the wrap.

Anyway, thanks for letting me gush and if you've got babies or toddlers, go check out the clearance section of your favorite fabric store!!

How NOT to watch Twilight...

So, I've read all the Twilight books. I was introduced to them a couple summers ago and really liked them. I'm not sure why I liked them, because I can see the same flaws in them that everyone mentions. I'm not in love with Edward, or Jacob. (Actually, DH has some of Edward's qualities, so a lot of the book(s) reminded me of him. Of course, he also has some of Napoleon Dynamite's qualities, so yeah.. moving on...) Anyway, I really like them. When I started reading them, I didn't know they were a big deal. I hid the outer cover when I was reading them at a family reunion, (making it look like a nice old classic book, and making me look intelligent for reading it. Everyone probably thought I was reading Emerson or Thoreau.. Quite impressive disguise if I do say so myself...) and when Jerrod told one of his cousins I was reading a Vampire book, I did a fantastic job of looking shocked and embarrassed and denied it completely. Then when he mentioned Werewolves, we were all having a nice laugh because of course I wouldn't really be reading a book about that. Um.. Yeah.

So when I found out they were popular, I was pretty disappointed. Really disappointed. I think I wanted to share it with my friends etc., but I didn't want the whole world to know about my Forks, Bella, Charlie, Carlisle, Esme, Alice, Emmett, Edward, and Jacob. That disappointment rapidly disappeared when I realized that because of Twilight's popularity, they were making a movie!!

So back in January, when they announced the cast members, I was telling everyone I knew about it with as much (probably more) enthusiasm as I was telling them we were pregnant. (Hey, I was sick, and that was then, now that he's here, Helam is TOTALLY better than Edward. Any day.)

So throughout the summer, I'd watch like every update on the official Twilight website, looking for updates on both the book and the movie. I didn't go to the midnight book release, but I got it the next day. I was REALLY looking forward to the movie, and to watching it with my husband. (Who was probably as excited as (if not more excited than) me to see it.)

I turned down an opportunity to get tickets to watch it on the sold out release day (He's good at making the right connections..) and wanted to postpone it until it wouldn't be so crowded, and we could go with our baby.

Thanksgiving weekend. We are at my parents house, joking about Twilight. (I like it, but that doesn't mean I don't enjoy a good joke at it's expense.) Then my dad decides to show us how cool he is, and how unlike the rest of EVERYONE, he doesn't have to wait until it comes out on dvd to watch it on his computer. Without me realizing what he was doing, he spends about a half hour looking for it, finds it then tells us that Twilight was on tv. I didn't want to be rude, so I went down and was watching it with him. So, the version that he had (cough...illegally..cough...though the website says that if the owner of the copyright contacts them they'll take it down :eyesrolling: ) was made to be compatible with a computer screen. Not a 52 inch screen. It looked like a really old bad home video, like when in movies they show really old home videos that the movie characters are watching. It was horrible quality.

Add to that my movie watching companions. My dad. My 13 year old brother. My husband and baby (who admittedly would have been with me no matter where I watched it.) Not another drop of estrogen in the room. We were laughing at all the wrong parts, and I don't think it's possible to really enjoy Twilight with some guys who haven't read the book, so they don't know what's going on, and why Alice is so adorable, and any of the back story with Mike Newton. (Who was also adorable.) They just didn't get it. Then it timed out after 72 minutes, and we had to wait 54 to see the rest of it. During that time, I got upset because Jerrod was doing homework, so as a matter of principle, I had to keep fuming at him throughout the rest of the movie. The second part of the movie we watched on kitchen chairs at the table.

Anyway, my advice. Don't download free movies online. Watch Twilight in the theater. (I'm still planning to.) When you do, either watch it with your husband (who loves either Twilight, or you, or both) or a bunch of girls. Not with a bunch of vampire illiterate men.

On the bright side, right after that, we found a bunch of old school Strawberry Shortcake shows on YouTube. And as evidence that I am raising my girls correctly, they loved those SO much more than the new version.

So, did you see Twilight? Like it?

The kid has got NO taste!

So since Helam was born, I've lusted after and have wanted to get him the Graco Sweetpeace Soothing Center. If you don't know what this is, it is like the Lexus of baby swings, or better. Seriously, it's the most awesome piece of baby equipment I've ever seen. The way it rocks your baby is more like how a mom rocks a baby, and there are at least 4 different ways to do it, you can use your carseat instead, it vibrates, you can plug in an mp3 player, there are a ton of cool sound settings, that actually sound really good.

So, we finally cracked, gave in, and splurged and bought one. I love it. It is everything they say it is and more. The fabric of the seat is AMAZING, when I turned on the music, I thought I was listening to a gentle relaxing classical cd. When I put my baby in it all snuggled up (he was already asleep) I was very soothed watching the hypnotic sway of the swing. I was so thrilled to have the best for my baby.

He hates it. Whenever I put him in it asleep, he'd wake up pretty soon after. If I put him in it for just a few minutes to shower or go to the bathroom, he'd cry the whole time. Even with the stinking soothing sounds on.

My baby does NOT understand how to properly be soothed.

I think he thought he was fine using mom, dad, or Sariah as a soothing center.

Anyway, we pulled out his swing we'd originally got him, from the BYUI bulletin board for a cool 20 bucks. This one is a tacky blue with fish and bubbles all over it, and a mobile that Helam is absolutely in love with. We stuck him back in there and he looked just as happy as any baby has ever looked in a swing. He seemed to think he was home at last.

While I'm disappointed that he seems to be deficient in the "knowledge of proper baby soothing" department, I'm thrilled that he's excelling in the "If you can get the same dang thing for 20 dollars instead of 190, get the freaking cheap one!" department. (Which reminds me I need to do a separate blog about Essi.. who hasn't mastered that one yet.) So, we took it back and totally got our money back. Sweet.