Christmas Ornanments

If you remember last year, Parker ruined the Christmas ornament that he gave me in 2009 that said,"Merry Christmas mom and dad, love popper" I was devastated!! (mostly because I was extremely pregnant and hormonal) He still feels bad about it and when we were putting ornaments on the tree this year he brought it up and said how sorry he was for erasing the message. I'm still sad about it, but I know it was an accident and at least I wrote about it so it will never be forgotten. Well this year, my mom helped the kids, Paige and Parker, make new ones for me. My mom had watched the kids for me for a little while one evening and when I came back they had s surprise for me. I opened the presents and they had each recorded a message on an ornament for me. Paige's said, "I do love Christmas and presents, and I do love mom and dad!!" it was so sweet!! I love that it said that because that is how she has been talking lately and I always want to remember it. Parker's said, "Merry Christmas. I love you mom and dad." It was sweet as well. I was very excited about getting them and gave the kids strict rules on listening to them. I put them up high on the tree so no kids could reach them and have very carefully played them back. I am very sentimental and these ornaments melted my heart. I can't wait to listen to them next year when the kids have grown up and to hear how they have changed.

Paxten Sleeping

I am kind of embarrassed to admit this, but Paxten has been sleeping in my bed since he was born. I didn't intend for it to happen, but it slowly became the routine. He hasn't been a very good sleeper from the beginning. I tried over and over to put him in his crib, or the pack and play, but as soon as I would lay him down, he would wake up and be fussy. So it just became easier, especially at 2 in the morning, to have him lay right next to me. It was very convenient in the middle of the night to roll over and feed him and get him right back to sleep. Well I haven't had a good night sleep since before he was born and he still wasn't sleeping through the night at 10.5 months!!! Something had to change, I knew he was using me more as a pacifier, but it was hard to get out of the habit, and trying to do it by myself was hard too! So this week, since Parker is out of school, we have moved him temporarily into Paige's room so that we can put Paxten in the crib and his crying won't wake Parker. The first night I put him in the crib he cried for over an hour. I couldn't believe that he would cry that long and not wear himself out enought to fall asleep. But he finally did and he slept from about 10 pm until 9 am!!! Holy cow!! I could hardly believe it. I slept better, althought I kept waking up making sure he wasn't crying so I didn't sleep the greatest, but it was better to not have him in my bed. He did cry so hard that he threw up and I had to wash all the bedding in the morning. The next night he cried for 30 minutes and fell asleep at about 9:30 and slept until 4:30. Still pretty good in my book, at least it wasn't every 2 hours!!! Last night was the 3rd night and he only cried for about 15 minutes and slept from 10:30 untl about 9:00 this morning. It is so great! He woke up happy and so excited to see me. I love opening the bedroom door and seeing his smiling face. So hopefully this is the starte of a new routine and he will continue to sleep well. We are hoping that by the time Parker goes back to school next week, the routine will be established and he can have his bed back. After doing this and getting more sleep, I wondered "why did I wait so long to do this?" I don't know!!! Wish us luck!

Christmas Day

After Church got out we went to Matt's Dad's house. The kids each got new jammies. Kerry had also made each of the kids a pillow case and gave them a new pillow. Parker got Spiderman and Paige got a a Dora pillow. Paxten's pillow case has owls and monkeys on it. They are supe cute and the kids have loved having them to sleep on. Paige also got a My Little Pony and some Magnetic dress up dolls. Parker got a nerf gun and a Lightning McQueen book. Paxten got a tonka toy truck and a jacket. Then as a family gift the kids, along with Tara a Quentins kids opened a package that said, "Let's go to DisneyLand." In it was some money for each of our families to start saving for a family trip next fall. Also the kids got a new Disney shirt. I also got a new cookbook and Matt and I got a gift card to Texas Roadhouse. Matt's Parents always spoil us all as well. We are super excited to be saving for our trip next year and are super excited that we are planning on going as a family. It will be awesome!!

After that we went to Uncle Kendall's house, where were had the annual White Elephant exchange. But I think it has turned into just a gift pass around rather than a white elephant. We tried to split it into boys and girls, but it still ended up taking over an hour before the game was over. The hot items this year were a 12 pk Mt. Dew with a Dick's Sporting Goods gift card, a 24 pk Dr. Pepper with beef jerky, a 20 pk Mt.Dew 2 giant candy bars, a tin of popcorn with a gift card on it as well. Those items kept getting passed back and forth over and over, among the men. There wasn't very much stealing from the women, other than a $20 bill and some jewelry. It was fun and is tradtion! I ended up with a cool jar full of a treat and a magnet board that says "Every Picture Tells A Story", Matt ended up with a tin of Almond Roca and a buck knife. We were both happy that neither of us ended up with monkey butt poweder, or a Chia pet!!

The kids do a name exchange with the other little kids. Parker got a new Pogo stick and Paige got 2 little My Little Ponies. Paxten got a new outfit. They were all excited about getting another fun gift. We ate a great dinner, visited and then came home. The kids were all anxious to try out all their new stuff. We had a wonderful Christmas and we feel so blessed to be surrounded by so many great family and friends. We truly are lucky to live here!! We hope the new year brings joy and happiness, health and strength, and more lawn business!!!! Hahaha!!!

Christmas Morning Photos

 

My computer is being retarded and won't let me download the rest of the pictures, so here they are in a collage. Better than nothing!

Christmas Morning

On Christmas Morning Matt and I woke up early and got ready since we knew it would busy trying to open gifts, eat breakfast, and get ready for church by 11:00. We ended up having to wait for the kids to wake up, which they finally did about 8:15. They were surprised to see that Santa had put together Paige’s new table and chair set and had set out her new tea set. They were eager to try it out. Then they realized that Santa had made it and couldn’t wait to open their gifts.




Parker got new Cars 2 toys that he didn’t already have and 2 Cars 2 lego sets to put together. He also got chocolate pop tarts, watermelon gum, pickle Pringles, Root beer, a new toothbrush and toothpaste, coloring paint book and a looney toones coloring pages all in his stocking.

Paige opened some makeup from Santa along with an Easy Bake oven, which she was exstatic about, and she got chocolate pop tarts, watermelon gum, ranch Pringles, root beer, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and some Hello Kitty crayons, notebook and coloring pages all in her stocking.

Paxten got an elephant ball game, and a fabric tool set. He got a toothbrush and toothpaste in his stocking along with apple cinnamon puffs and some cookies.

After the kids opened gifts from Sanata, they opened gifts that Matt and I had gotten them. Each of the kids got new socks, and a new outfit. Paxten got some new board books and Paige got her first set of scriptures. Then both Parker and Paige got a new 7" Android tablet. They are always wanting to play on my Dad's and Grandma C's IPAD, but we couldn't justify buying an IPAD for a 6 year old and a 3 year old. So we opted for something smaller and not near as expensive. We even downloades gamed prior to Christmas so they would be ready to use when the kids opened them. They were both excited and have played on them quite a bit this week.

Matt received mostly practical stuff; socks, a belt, new jeans, and some new cologne. Matt also suprised me with a new professional cutting board, some salad tongs, and a silpat. I was suprised and proud of the fact that he came up with the idea all on his own and he did in fact suprise me with it.

After opening gifts we went next door for the traditional Yancey breakfast. Per Parker's request we had French toast, sausage, cutie clementines, and juice. It was delicious.

We then went to Church for just Sacrament meeting. The kids were dressed in their new church outfits and all looked so adorable.

Christmas Gifts

Paxten had a fun first Christmas, he was even big enough to tear into some of the wrapping paper. He did get tired of presents being put in front of him to open, he just wanted to plat with his new toys! He got:
New jammies, blanket, book, pillowcases, fisher price fireman ornament, bath toys, Lion King movie, 3 outfits, church outfit, and a steering wheel toy.


Paige opened:
Church dress, church shoes, tights, hairbows, and a ring, Monster High dolls, holiday pillow cases, makeup, jean purse (my mom made this purse out of an old pair of my jeans when I was a little girl) table cloth, table and chairs, LalaLoopsy doll, blanket, jammies, book, Barbie clothes, tea set, crocheted hat, 2 outfits, and a tinkerbell ornament.


Parker opened:
New jammies, blanket, book, snow boots, sneakers, Cars trouble game, holiday pillow cases (my mom made each of the kids pillow cases for each holiday, they are so cute!), batteries –for all his toys!, cars walkie talkies, Cars ornament, Mcdonald’s gift card, 2 Cars2 toys, church outfit, church socks, and an Air Soft BB gun.


Erika opened:
I got a new Christmas tree after Thanksgiving, a jean jacket, Pampered Chef Large Lifter, 2 King Size sheet sets, Our Best Bites Cookbook, the game Scum, Edwards Gift Card (with babysitting), Itunes Gift Card, Amazon Gift Card, 2 hot pads, 2 king size pillows, set of 3 bowls, tile plaque of Family Rules (made by my Mom), scrapbook stickers, Scrapbook ink set, dish towels/dish clothes, dish scrubbies, and money to go towards our future Disneyland trip.


Matt opened:
an Itunes Gift Card, Cal-Ranch Gift Card, Famous Footwear Gift Card, an IPOD Shuffle, PS3 Controller, Walker Mower Blades, John Deere Hat, Family Logo Game, Truck Floor Matts.

Christmas Eve

 

This year for Christmas my side of the family got together on Christmas Eve, so that we could go to Matt's family on Christmas Day. (It was getting too hard to try and fit all the family in on one day) We got together about 3:00 and had potato bacon soup in bread bowls, chicken taquitos and homemade salsa, spinach salad with poppyseed dressing, veggie tray and dip and eclair cake for dessert. We were all stuffed. After our early dinner we opened presents. Parker and Paige were the designated gift organizers and separated all the gifts into piles according to who they were for. That kept them entertained for a little while. No matter what we say about cutting back and not doing as much, we still seem to have pretty big stacks of presents to open. It takes quite a while to get through them all when we are watching each person open gifts. But it is so fun. This year I tried to minimize my picture taking so that I wouldn't have 500 pictures of just Christmas (for some reason I hate scrapbooking about Christmas, probably because of the overwhelming amount of pictures) So I took a few pictures of the kid opening gifts and a picture of them by their "Pile" before they oepened and after they opened. We all got spoiled and received so many wonderful things. We have such a great family and wonderful parents that take good care of us. By the time we opened everything it was getting to be the kids bedtime and we wanted them to go to sleep early so Santa could come so we didn't end up playing any games, they will have to wait until next time we get together.

Santa's Lap

 

The kids were able to see Santa last weekend at our ward party. Paxten was the least excited about sitting on his lap and was screaming. Paige was the most excited and ran and gave him a big hug when he walked in the doors. This year for Christmas Parker wants Cars2 toys, anything Star Wars, batteries, and new socks. Paige wants and Easy Bake Oven, barbie clothes, and new play makeup. Paxten doesn't really care and I am sure he will be more thrilled with the box the toys come in than the actual toy. We can't wait to see if Santa gets them what they want...hopefully they are on the "Nice" list!

Almost Walking

 

Paxten is almost 11 months old and is just about walking. When Parker was a baby, he got this dump truck for Christmas and when he was about 10 months old, he learned to walk by pushing this dump truck around the house. Matt wanted to see if we could get Paxten to walk before Christmas, so he went out and found the dump truck and got it cleaned up for Paxten. He immediately was able to walk behind it while pushing. It was so funny to see him do it because he is so small that you wouldn't think he should be walking. He loves walking behind it and can entertain himself for a few minutes walking back and forth across the kitchen floor. He does get frustrated when a wall gets in his way, he can't figure out how to turn around quite yet. The kids have been entertained by this as well and often put Paxten inside the dump truck and push him around. He does like the ride and loves playing with his brother and sister. He is still pretty wobbly when standing on his own, and will not be walking by Christmas, although we may get a few steps before the new year. I am alright with him not walking yet, I am not sure I want my baby to become a big boy just yet!

Gingerbread Houses

 

We are keeping the tradition of Gingerbread houses alive. Somehow we managed to find the time and energy to make houses with my mom this year. For some reason the holiday has come so quickly and the month is flying by. But we still wanted to do some fun things and the kids look forward to making a house every year. This year Paige was even big enough to be able to decorate it by herself. I helped her and Grandma Yancey helped Parker. We kind of turned it into a suprise and the other team couldn't look at the opposing team's house until it was all finished. Paige and I did a smaller house with a pop tart roof and a Santa inside. Parker and Grandma went all out and did a two story house with a tree and deocorations inside! It was prett cook looking. These houses were the centerpiece on our table for a few weeks, until they started falling apart. It was so much fun and we look forward to seeing what we can build next year!

Accident Prone Child?

I think Paige is my little accident prone child. 2 weeks ago she put the pill up her nose and last Saturday she somehow managed to split her head open by her right eyebrow. It wasn't too serious and only required a big bandaid, but all the blood that comes out of a head wound is a lot. I think she was more scared because of all the blood. Her poor face had it running down the side and all over her shirt. She was crying so hard for a long time and is now sporting a pretty good sized black and blue eye. She was dancing around in the living room and somehow hit the recliner at just the right spot and it split the eyebrow right open. Of course Matt wasn't home and I ended up at my parents house for help in calming her down and taking care of my baby. I hope she doesn't continue on this routine and get another injury this week, I don't know if I can handle it!

Ornament Exchange

I had my annual ornament exchange last week and had a great time. It is always fun to get together with a group of girls and to visit and laugh with each other. Some of the people that are in the group I seem to only see this time of the year. It is fun to catch up with one another and to get to know others. This year I made baked chicken taquitoe from my recipe. I think they were liked because there were no left overs! We had great food, great company, and I came home with 16 new ornaments to put on my tree. Yay!! This kids had fun looking at the new ornaments and then putting them on the tree. It is so fun to reminise about each ornanment as it gets put on the tree and to see all the different ones that I have collected over the years. This was my 8th year doing the exchange, I can't wait until next year!

David Archuleta

For my birthday, my mom got me tickets to go see David Archuleta at the Performing Atrs Center while he is on his My Kind Of Christmas Tour. Matt said that he didn't want to go, that wasn't his type of music. So I asked my mom to go with me and Matt got to watch the kids. It was fun to go to a concert and to get a way for a few hours. I didn't really watch David when he was on American Idol, but I do know who he is and think he has a great voice. There have been a few articles in various magazines that I have read about him and his journey to becoming a singer. It is really pretty interesting. The concert was packed, not an empyt seat and a lot of which were high school teenage girls who were going crazy over seeing him, even from a distance. It was pretty entertaining just watching the girls be all crazy about the fact that they were seeing him. He does have a great voice and it is amazing how much sound can come from that little person! I had a great time and enjoyed the concert with my mom, I told Matt he missed out on a great date night with me...too bad for him!

What's Up Your Nose?

Last night we had a bit of a scare. Matt was working a double shift and I had been alone with the kids all day. My mom came over for a little while to watch the kids while I finished making my ornaments for my annual ornament exchange. It was bed time and I sent both Parker and Paige to go get in their beds. A few minutes later, Paige came back out and said she wasn't tired and didn't want to go to sleep. But she said it in a very winy voice. She was definitely tired. She started throwing a fit and said that something in her nose hurt. My mom and I thought that she had a stuffy nose so we asked her if she just needed to try and blow it. She started crying and said she put something up her nose! She was so upset by the fact that she put something up there and it was now stuck that she couldn't stop crying to tell up what she put up there. After talking to her for a minute, and telling her that she wasn't in trouble, I was able to get her to tell me that she had put one of Parker's fluoride pills up her nose. He had left it on the counter and she saw it and for some reason put it up her nose. When she tried to get it out, it went further up and then she came out to the living room crying.

I had to look with a flashlight in her little nostril and saw it pretty far in there, I was considering taking her to the hospital, but decided to call Matt at work and have him see what one of the nurses said to do. I also called the Dentist, who prescribed the fluoride, to see if he thought it would dissolve, and would it cause and pain or anything like that. The dentist was shocked that she would put something like that up her nose, (so was I) and said that it would probably dissolve,but may cause some burning. His concern was if she sniffed it up into her sinus. He suggested calling the ER and talking to the on-call Dr. to see what he said to do. After I got off the phone with the dentist, (I am remaining surprisingly calm through all of this) Matt showed up at the house with a few ideas to try. He had Paige close off the back of her throat with her tongue and then he plugged the other nostril and blew in her mouth, hoping the air would go up her sinuses and pop the pill right out the nostril. Well, she is only 3 and had a hard time closing off the back of her throat. So that didn't work. The next thing he tried, only a parent would do, he put a straw in her nose and slowly sucked to try and get the pill out. He did three or four small sucks with the straw and before we knew it the pill was out!! I was amazed! And he didn't get any of her snot in his mouth, he was happy about that! Daddy to the rescue. After a few big hugs and wiping of tears everyone was alright.

What surprised me the most was that Parker was very upset about the whole situation. He thought it was his fault that something bad happened to Paige because he left the pill out. He was so mad at himself and it took a few minutes to calm him down and explain to him that he wasn't in trouble and that accidents happen and that Paige was alright. It showed me that he really does care about his little sister, and that he must tease he so much because he loves her!

We had the talk with all the kids about not putting things up noses and coming to tell mommy or daddy immediately when something happens so that we can help fix it or get help quickly. It turned out to not be something serious, but it sure got my heart racing and I was glad my mom happened to be over so that she could help out with the kids. I am glad that Matt works with good people that are knowledgeable and allowed him to leave to help his family out. So we learned a good lesson at our house last night! It was eventful. Tell your kids to not put things in their noses!!

9 Month Stats

I took Paxten to the Dr. today for his 9 month checkup, I know I am almost a month behind!! But at least I got him in there. He weighed in at 15 lbs 9 oz and was 27 3/4 inches long. His head circumference was 18 inches. He is in the 1st percentile in weight and about the 20th in height and head. So we definitely have a little guy. Everything else looked good. He is right on track developmentally and doing everything a nine month old should be doing. I am not really worried about his weight, my other kids were little two. Paige is still little and is only in the 6th percentile in her weight for a 3 year old. I just have tiny kids...I don't know where they get it!

The one thing I do need to work on, and Matt will have to be around to help me out, is getting this kid to sleep throughout the night!! He is still waking up 5-6 times a night to eat. It is killing me!! I have let it go on long just because he is still sleeping in our room and because the boys will be sharing a room, I didn't want him to be in his crib screaming waking Parker up at night. But I am getting desperate for a good nights sleep, so there will be change coming. Maybe we will have to make a bed in Paige's room temporarily for Parker while we get Paxten trained to sleep in his crib. Wish me luck...I'm going to need it!