CHRISTMAS MORNING

Poor Ewan was still so tired...





Princessed out!

Merry Christmas to all...

CHRISTMAS EVE

And Joseph also went up from Galilee...To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

...While they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

Glory to God in the highest , and on earth, peace, good will toward men.

FATTY ANNE

This is what I'm getting for Christmas...almost 13lbs. of deliciously chubby rolls and creases to nibble on at my leisure.

OUR SWEET BABY

Anne is two months old today. Today was supposed to be her blessing day, but Oh well. She is a very sweet and good natured baby. She is changing so much right now, and her emerging smiles and coos are the highlight of my days.

We found out some disappointing news last week. Anne has the same bladder and kidney problem that Heather was born with. It's reflux of the bladder, which means the valves that are supposed to keep urine from going back into the kidneys don't do their job. The good news is that she doesn't have it as bad as Heather had it, so her chances of needing major surgery are much lower. The bad news is that, like Heather, every fever she has is a potential kidney infection and that could mean a lot of late night or weekend trips to the emergency room (like we had with Heather for her first year and half). At least this time around we know what we are dealing with and even with Heather's extensive kidney damage, she still has full kidney function, so we're not as paranoid about long term effects as we were before.

Anyway. Enough of that. I am really enjoying Anne in ways that I didn't when the other's were babies. This is the first baby that I've brought to bed with us and I love waking up in the morning with her little fingers brushing up against my arm. I find that I'm significantly more relaxed about just about everything and perhaps we'll pay the price for that later, but I'm spread pretty thin right now, and I'm just doing what I can to try and meet every ones needs.

WHEN WILL IT EVER END?

Well...our snow day turned into a snow week and then some! The kids and I have been cooped up in the house with no school or church for 8 days. Due to the crazy weather, Anne's blessing (which was supposed to be today) has been postponed and my parents are no longer coming for Christmas. AHHHHH!

The only bright point in all of it is that I've worn my pajamas all day for over a week and had more quality time and relaxed more with my kiddos than I ever have when we are rushing to go places everyday. Here are some fun pictures of our Sunday afternoon stroll through the neighborhood...

SNOW DAY

We had some serious snow fall on Sunday! This was how our backyard looked after the first hour and half, but it kept dumping on us all day long.
The kids had to get on all their snow gear and go outside to play. Daddy was a good sport and went out with them while Mom and Anne stayed inside and warmed up the hot cocoa.

When we put up our tree this year, I was thinking, "Wouldn't it be great if it actually snowed this year? We have this big picture window that would just look so magical next to the tree if there was snow out there..."
We made graham cracker "gingerbread houses." Can you guess who's is whose?

Ewan's, Mommy's, Heady's, Camerons
Evan plays the kids the sound track to "Music Man" in the car when he takes them on outings. They love the music. So to pass the day (even church was canceled from the snow) we downloaded the movie on Netflix.

My kids all had to get up and dance! Heather was singing "Shapoopee, Shapoopee!" all day.

FOUR, FOUR, FOUR. FOUR

I've been tagged!

FOUR places I go over and over are Church, Costco, the kid's school, Target
FOUR people who email me regularly are Cameron's teacher, Portland Asperger Network, Marilyn, Old Navy
FOUR places I love to eat are Cheesecake Factory, Bennihana's, Sweet Tomato's, Izzy's Pizza
FOUR places I would rather be...Hawaii, Friday Harbor, Montana (where my family is) and in bed sleeping.
FOUR TV shows I watch are Top Chef, So You Think You Can Dance, The Office, House
FOUR people I tag are...Trisa P., Holly C., Sarah H, Sarah J!

GETTING OUR TREE

We took the kids to Evan's parent's farm to cut a Christmas tree yesterday.
Baby Anne stayed cozy in her sling...

Grandpa cut that thing right down with his chainsaw, it was loud!

Evan and Cameron carried it to the car.

I know Evan really misses Lebanon (where his parents live). It was fun to see how excited he was to talk to the kids about the town and the farm and tell them stories about when he was little boy.
After the tree was secured to the roof of our van, Grandma made us dinner and Evan's brother Mark and his family showed up to say hello. Here is Grandma and Grandpa with our kids and Mark and Stacy's kids, Eddie, Masen and Natalie.

ANNE IS SIX WEEKS OLD

THANKSGIVING

Evan's Mom and Dad and brother Kirk joined us for Thanksgiving this year. Ev's parents just got back from a long trip, so it was the first time they got to see Anne.Legs were a hot commodity this year. As Grandma put it, "Too bad they don't make turkeys with three legs."

Anne meeting Grandma and Grandpa McAllister.

We had a very kid friendly meal this year...no fine china, no crystal, no linen napkins...I put butcher paper on the table and had the kids draw pictures of what they are thankful for. Here are Ewan and Cameron's sweet renderings...
Ewan said he drew a bed and then wanted me to draw him and I laying on it...Then he said "I'm glad when you cuddle with me..."

This speaks for itself. He sounded out "thankful" all on his own...is that so precious?