he's home, we're home

Whew. 
Kent just got back last night from an almost 3-week long trip to Romania and Paris for work. We spent those three weeks at my parents' house.

Just a few days before he left, we found out that my body is a little too excited about having this baby, and getting ready for labor too soon. 
I had a couple of visits to the hospital to try and figure out what was going on, some tests were done, and we were given a 99.2% positive the baby would NOT be born over the next two weeks, so Kent was clear to go.
It was an intense couple of days for me emotionally, not knowing what was going to happen, and knowing Kent was going to the other side of the world,
but I now believe that Heavenly Father gives special attention and closeness to the mothers who are helping to create His children.
Prayers were answered, immediately, every single time. Assurances were given, and we feel completely confident that our little guy is going to stay put for several more weeks while he grows bigger and stronger. 

Even still, my doctors and I felt it was wise for me to head up to my parents' house to stay while Kent was gone. And it was fantastic. My family is wonderful-I had so much help with the kids, got lots of rest, and I'm feeling much better now.

We missed Kent, but we made the best of it,
spending our days pajama-lounging, scooter-riding, reading, sledding, playing with the uncles, visiting my Grandma Murray, 
eating waffles (Nicholas ate TEN for breakfast one morning...), crafting and sewing things to get ready for baby.

It's been a crazy month, 
and we're so glad to be back home together. 
The kids have each given Kent about 40 hugs this morning, 
and maybe I have too. We sure like having him around.

my little sunbeam

Our little Ellie got to attend Primary at Church today for the first time. On January 1st, all the kids who have turned 3 in the past year get to move up, out of the nursery, to the big kids' classes.

Now, Ellie hasn't once attended nursery by herself. From 18 months old until now, she's been too nervous for us to leave her there. The unstructured playtime with children going a little wild around her stressed her out. (To be fair, it stresses me out a little too...)

I knew she'd do better in Primary (less chaos, more structure and lesson time,) but I was completely surprised at how awesome she was.

We took her in, she marched up to her seat, sat down, folded her arms, gave me a kiss and said, "Bye Mom!" 

And that was that.

In fact, it was me, standing there looking at my big little girl; I was the one who had a little bit of a hard time with it.

I mean, isn't she still just a baby? How is she old enough to be in Sunbeams??

A healthy dose of sibling rivalry had a huge part to play in Ellie's bravery today.

Whenever Nicholas is acting out, disobeying, or being disciplined, 

Ellie steps up, sticks her chin in the air, and says,

"Look at me, Mommy. I'm being good." 

And then she'll go and do whatever it is that Nick isn't, just to prove that she's the good one.

It's actually quite hilarious. It makes Nicholas furious, but there isn't really a way for us to stop her from simply being good and obedient.  

She's learned all sorts of things out of her determination to prove that she's better. She's been chewing with her mouth closed at the dinner table for almost a year now, and we're still working on teaching Nicholas that. 

I think it's safe to say they're both rather stubborn.

Anyway, this morning, when I was chatting with the kids about how they get new primary teachers and classes today (all the children move up a level on January 1st),

Nicholas started to freak out a little. He doesn't do well with change, plus he kinda sorta likes for me to see him miserable....yes, he's got a flair for the dramatic.

Ellie watched him moan and complain, shiver and whimper, and say how he was going to be scared and how he didn't want to go to Church,

she tipped her head, and said,
"Mommy, I'm going to go to my primary class. I'm going to be brave. I'm not going to cry at all."

And that was that.

I'm really quite proud of Ellie. She's definitely attached to me, but she sat quietly with her arms folded and was happy and brave the whole two hours. 

 Nicholas did great also. As soon as I left the room, he cozied up to his new teacher. When we went to pick him up he told us all about how great his new class is and how he'll get cookies next week if they're reverent. 

Christmas Day

 7:25 am-we finally allowed Nicholas to go wake up Ellie to get our morning started. He'd been laying in our bed, watching the digital clock, and chanting the numbers as they changed. "Seven two zero. Seven two zero. Seven two zero. Seven two ONE! Seven two one. Seven two one....." 
So much for our attempt at sleeping in for a few more minutes.

This year we started a new tradition of only allowing the kids to ask Santa for one present each. 
We also had lots and lots of discussions in advance about the appropriate response to the gifts they open.  
Two years ago, Nicholas turned into a Christmas monster--opening his presents and then immediately demanding, "But where's my guitar?? Where's my such-and such??"
Not cool.

This year went much better. He was perfect. Joyful, grateful, and happy about each and every thing.
The one thing he did ask Santa for was toy dinosaurs.
And even with all the other stuff set up for him to see, he went straight to the dinosaurs and was just SO happy that Santa brought him dinosaurs!

Ellie asked Santa for pink candy. And a pink dinosaur toy. I guess we fudged a little and let her ask for two things.  
Santa had a very very hard time finding a pink dinosaur. Santa may have had to use some spray paint...

Just because they only got to ask for one thing, doesn't mean they only received one thing.
This year, Santa brought them a castle.

 It's pretty incredible. 
With the castle, they got a treasure chest,
and their Grammer sent them the most fantastic dragon.

 At this point, I got to open my first gift. 
A new camera lens, my first new camera lens since we got the Nikon five years ago. I got this one.
The kit lens was serving me well, but the past six months I've finally been shooting in full manual (yes, four years later...), and I was ready to graduate to something a little more.
I put it on right then and there.
I am absolutely loving it. The colors are so soft and creamy, the lines are crisp, and the ability to use a larger aperture is fantastic.

And look! For the first time ever, my walls are photographing as their actual true-to-life color!  They're way less beige than my old lens portrayed them. 
I'm kind of a geek about this....

 Seriously, either our talks about being grateful worked, or it's just because he's older, but either way, this kid had the best reactions to all his gifts. So much fun!

Calico Critters Mommy's Ellie's latest obsession. (I may or may not play with them more than she does...)

 In the weeks before Christmas, Nicholas was on a gift-giving frenzy. Many of our presents that morning were things that he'd found throughout the house and wrapped up for us. 
Here he's giving Kent the remote control truck that we gave Nicholas for his birthday:

 And he's pretty happy about "giving" it.

 My grandparents sent this Polar Express book--at preschool last week Nicholas had a Polar Express party, and we didn't have the book yet, so it was a perfect gift for the kids.

 My mom made the kids an "Art Treasure Box" with all sorts of awesome odds and ends for making and creating. It was a huge hit, 
and right away they pulled out the glitter glue and started being creative.

 And seriously, I'm drooling over my new lens. 
The rest of the day was spent playing in the castle, lounging in our pajamas until 3 pm, eating loads of sugar, and just being together, just us.

It was perfect, really just perfect.

 And that 100% chance of snow? They were right. We had the most beautiful white Christmas.

 The kids "helped" Kent shovel the driveway. 
Kent is a very patient man.

 And I sat on the couch, watching the snow, listening to the kids playing in their castle, eating kit kats from our stockings, and looking at all the stuff I wished I could be cleaning up, then finally deciding to be okay with my laziness.

I've been fairly uncomfortable (aka it feels like my leg is being torn off at the socket...) this past week, but there was something incredibly special about being this way on Christmas. 
I feel a new appreciation for Mary--her sacrifice, her faith, and her example. And I thought about how things might have happened, giving birth in a stable to the Savior of the World. 
So as I hobble around for the next ten weeks or so, 
hopefully I can keep her in my mind, be reminded about how wonderful and beautiful this motherhood thing is,
and be glad I'm not riding a donkey across rocky hillsides.
Because that would be much much harder.

I hope you all had the merriest of Christmases!

Christmas eve

 In the morning: Haircuts, cookie-baking, crepes with nutella for lunch, 
egg nog, sparkling cider,
kids making up songs about baby Jesus and Rudolph.
100% chance of snow in the weather forecast. Yep, 100.

Also? We sent the kids outside to clean up dead leaves before the snows came, and I'm thinking yardwork was a genius idea. It worked them, mellowed them out just enough so the rest of the day they were pleasantly, calmly excited. We totally avoided the "we're too excited to even be fun to be around" phenomenon. 
Going to have to remember that next year and have a big project to work them before the partying starts.

 Ellie renamed her bunny "Baby Jesus" and had me wrap him in "swaddling clothes."

Afternoon: Last minute gift-wrapping, listening to the Osmonds Christmas and Frank Sinatra, and making cookies for Santa, of course!

 With a little tasting here and there.

Evening: a candlelight dinner of chicken and broccoli alfredo, with plenty of martinellis. Then, picture taking (with two over-excited and over-wiggly kids,) pajamas, one present to open each, nativity reading, and setting out Santa's treats with some carrots for Rudolph.

 I made each of them a new blanket. 
Ellie gave me about twelve hugs and told me she just "loved it SO much." Nicholas declared that he's never going to use another blanket ever again.

 This is actually the best shot I got of them with the Santa cookies. WAY excited.

Amazingly, they were in bed and asleep by 7:45. Kent, recovering from a nasty cold, and I, almost 30 weeks pregnant, 

were more than happy to tuck ourselves in early after Santa visited.