Party Time

We had a fun New Year's Eve.  Mom and Christine (and Brittany and Nicole) arrived at our house New Year's Eve to be able to be with us for Ruth's blessing.  It was so nice to be with them!  The past few years we have made individual pizzas for our party.

After dinner, the kids all ran off to play together.  All except Rebecca.  She was waiting for the party to start.  We told her that her cousins were there to play; what more did she need for the party?  Well, it's not a party for Rebecca until you have some snacks and games to play.  So we pulled out some snacks and got Scrabble out to play.

The kids stayed up until 11:30, and that was when I just couldn't stay up any longer.  So we pulled out the sleeping bags and let them all sleep in the living room together.  Of course, they didn't calm down and go to sleep until after midnight, so they officially got to see the new year in.  I wish I had been sleeping!

Scared

Miriam is a very sensitive girl.  She is very receptive to the emotional state around her and will internalize those feelings.  Because of this, she gets scared very easily.  She is scared by Disney movies and PBS shows.  She gets scared by books she reads and things she hears.

Miriam also struggles with nightmares.  She has bad dreams about ants crawling on her.  She has dreams about monkeys.  Just the other night she had a dream that Joseph ate the tail of a shrimp (not sure why that is disturbing enough to wake mom up...).

I try really hard to be sensitive to her fears.  I remember being scared as a child going to bed at night.  I thought about it enough to base where I wanted my bed to be on it.  (Further from the door, so anyone coming in would get my sister first.  Equidistant from the window, so if someone came in that way, I'd have a 50/50 chance.)  So I want her to be comfortable coming to me with her fears, but sometimes after bedtime, I am not as patient as I want to be with her.  I am tired, and how many times do I have to close the closet door and assure her there are no goblins or monsters in her room!!!

So we have suggested that she read her scriptures, pray, and not watch or read anything scary before bed.  One night Jack gave her a blessing in the middle of the night to help calm her fears.  I am grateful she is learning to use these strategies to overcome (or at least deal with) her fears so she can sleep better. 

Two Months

 Ruth was two months old on Christmas.  She is growing and developing new skills so fast!  At two months old, Ruth is cooing, squealing with delight and watching the world very intently.

 At two months old, Ruth weighs a hefty 9 pounds 3 ounces.  I know that isn't very much (another lady in my ward just had a baby that was 9 lbs 2 oz at birth!) but she is gaining weight rapidly.

 At two months old, Ruth is already sleeping for one six hour stretch at night.  She doesn't go to sleep for the night until between 10 and 11 pm, but then she'll sleep for 4 to 6 hours.  If only I could sleep that long!

At two months old, Ruth is such a sweet baby.  I love her and am so grateful for the joy she brings to my life and the light she brings to our family!

Christmas Day

We didn't get home from Colorado Springs until 10:30 at night Christmas Eve, so we were grateful the girls slept in until 6 am.  Then they quietly went downstairs and looked in their stockings.  This occupied them until 6:45 when Joseph woke up, and I decided that meant I had to get up as well.

The PEZ in their stockings were a big hit.  I always debate about whether I should get identical items or different.  This year I decided on different.  So they each got their own character PEZ, and it worked out well because then they knew who it belonged to!

 Rebecca had been asking for roller skates ever since she went to a skating birthday party this summer.  She was very excited to get some for Christmas.  And she honored Jack's request that we not have to go to the emergency room on Christmas.  I am glad we still haven't had to go!

 

 

 In the afternoon, we hosted Christmas dinner for the Crews side of the family.  We had a very nice time visiting with everyone and enjoying a special day!

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve each year we drive down to Colorado Springs to spend the evening with my dad and our family in that area.  This year we had a nice time seeing Aaron and his family, Philip and his family, and my Grandma as well as Dad, Michele, Jacob and Ann.

Santa came to visit and this year Joseph ran right up to sit on his lap.  That is an impressive change from years past where either he was crying or at least quite hesitant.

While Santa was there, Miriam told me she noticed Grandpa Mike wasn't around and that Santa sounded a lot like Grandpa Mike.  Smart girl.

Everyone wanted a turn holding Ruth.  She was quite popular and slept nearly the whole time we were there since she was never put down!

Christmas Cookies

Every year we get together with Jack's family and make Christmas cookies with the cousins.  All the kids have a great time, especially with playing together and eating cookies. 

It seems the kids are interested in making cookies for about the first 10 minutes, and then they are off playing until the cookies are ready for decorating.  This year Miriam stuck with it and had a great time rolling out the cookie dough and cutting out the sugar cookies.

Since all seven cousins were there this year, we decided to try to get some pictures of them all together.  We were even less successful at getting them all to look at the camera and sit still than we were with our family pictures!

A Christmas Tradition

 Every year we take a family picture.  We wait until after we put up the tree so it is a Christmas picture, with the family in front of the tree.  We try to pick a time when everyone is relatively happy so we have the best hope of getting a decent picture to send out in Christmas cards and to put on the wall.  Then we pull out the tripod, start the timer on the camera and hope the kids smile.

 We always seem to have trouble getting everyone to smile and look at the camera at the same time.  Since there is no one looking at the group while we are taking the pictures, we just have to hope that sheer volume of pictures will get us at least one that is decent.  Sometimes the kids have other things in mind.

 For instance, this year we set the timer on the camera.  Once it starts taking pictures, it will take 10 pictures with a few seconds in between pictures.  When we were looking at the pictures afterward, the first set of 10 you could see the progression of Ruth and Joseph moving in the pictures.  Miriam, however, was stock still.  She was motionless with a Mona Lisa type smile on her face, of course.  Come on, kid!  Just smile!

 The next set of 10 Miriam decided to be more expressive.  (So did Ruth.  Crying, of course!)  Miriam watched for the camera to take another picture and gave us some different crazy face.  I could ring this girl's neck!  Come on, just one nice picture would be appreciated!

 Now I'm sure you can imagine the stress mounting as we try to keep four kids happy and cooperating to take pictures.  Before the first picture is taken Mom and Dad are ready to be finished.  So after a few times of setting the  timer, we decide to be satisfied with whatever we got.

There was no perfect picture this year.  Oh, well.  That's what memories are all about.  And do you notice how much you can see the Christmas tree?  Since we have no intentions of getting a bigger tree, I think next year we will take pictures earlier so the stress of family pictures isn't a Christmas tradition!