Jacob Kleist

Jacob Kleist decided it was time to officially join the family the day after Christmas. He must have listened to my pleas to wait until after the 25th. I spent all day Wednesday making Christmas dishes so that Tyler and the girls could still have a nice holiday meal even if I went into labor. I was looking forward to some of the sweet potato casserole and told Jacob I wouldn’t mind if he waited a few days. Plus, I wanted to be there with the girls when they opened their presents on Christmas morning. So, I felt his timing was impeccable. Doug agreed and commented that he must be financially minded as well. :) The 26th was a relaxing day. Doug watched the girls while Tyler and I went to see “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” at the movies. After the show, we had been home around an hour when at 8:07 as I bent over to help Lauren with a toy, my water broke. I let Doug know and the girls went crazy. Anna began running around in circles downstairs yelling, “Mommy’s water broke. Mommy’s water broke”.

We made it to the hospital around 8:30 or so and Jacob was born at 9:17. Another fast baby...it seems we keep cutting the time in half. If we were to have another, we’d need to rent a room at the hospital around 37 weeks. :) He was a big boy weighing in at 8 lbs. 4 oz. and 20.5 inches long. We were discharged on Sunday and are enjoying being here at the house. Jacob is a sweet, happy, contented baby and we’re so blessed. The girls are absolutely in love with him. We’re all doing well and we’re working on getting a few pictures out there for you to see.

Okay, so that’s the happy, idyllic story for the grandparents and those of the faint at heart. Paying homage to those others of you that have been blogging lately about “telling it like it is”, here’s the real version.

I had been ornery and miserable all day. I felt like he had to come soon because there was literally no more room for him to occupy. I noticed almost a strange trickle of something around 3:30 in the afternoon...interesting to note since my water broke with both girls at 3:30 and 3:45 in the afternoon. It was small and nothing else unusual was occurring so Ty and I headed to the movies. Good movie but I was uncomfortable the whole time. We made it home and I enjoyed listening to Doug and Tyler playing their guitars in front of the Christmas tree. I was actually helping Lauren up from the toilet when my water broke a few minutes later. I had envisioned tip-toeing up to Doug, giving him a kiss and whispering, “It’s time.” In reality, I stood at the top of the stairs and yelled, “Honey, I need my bag from the car with the pads in it….like NOW..my water just broke.” Anna flipped out and was literally running in circles in the dining room screaming, “Mommy’s water broke. Mommy’s water broke. It broke.” Lauren came running upstairs and shadowed me the whole time I was in the bathroom, asking, “Mommy, why did you pee in your pants? Is Baby Jacob coming? Why are you shaking? Did your water break? What are you doing now? What’s that for?” Doug came in and got her to give me a break while he began brushing his teeth. I got myself together and grabbed my bag to head to the door. By this time Anna realized we were not staying at the house to have the baby but were headed to the hospital. She began to sob….wholeheartedly, inconsolably, saying, “I don’t want you to go!” Doug attempted to calm her down on while I stood at the door shaking uncontrollably. My contractions had already started and unlike my previous labors, my water breaking wasn’t a reasonable flow but more like a gushing geyser. Finally in the car, Doug asked me to call Anna on the cell phone to make sure she was okay and I couldn’t even dial the number because of the shakes. We finally made it to the hospital and I walked in, completely soaked. I managed to shake my way through a change into a gown and get to the bed. The nurse checked me and said, “5 cms and fully effaced.” Doug and I looked at each other and said, “Only 5??? C’mon.” Not long after that the contractions really kicked in and were about 2 minutes apart. My family has commented in the past that I’m “made” to have babies since they come so quickly and I’ve had them all “naturally”. Well, I’m here to tell you, folks. I’ve just been lucky. The first time I didn’t know any better and by the time I decided “Wow, this really hurts.”, I was too far along for the epidural. The second time the doctor didn’t think I was having contractions quickly enough after my water broke and ordered pitocin for me. Again, whirlwind delivery and no time for anything other than some Demerol after all was said and done. This time, I wanted drugs. I also wanted more than most because I figured I was probably in a little more pain than most. To be numb until the pain was over just sounded heavenly. I kept looking over at Doug hoping he would say, “Sure, honey. Sounds great.” I didn’t want him to think I was a wimp. When I learned, however, that it would take 20 minutes for the epidural to kick in I gave up because I knew we didn’t have 20 minutes left. So, for those of you out there going through the 12-24 + hours of labor, my hat’s off to you ladies; you’re better women than me. This time the only drug I did score for my 70 minutes of effort was a little motrin every 6 hours or so afterwards to help with the afterbirth pains. Speaking of which, they really do get worse with each successive child. Some of them were like labor all over again. Anyway, back in labor and delivery the nurse stayed busy quizzing me with a laundry list of questions while I lay there paralyzed with contractions. Doug, bless his heart, was being sweet and supportive. He continually reminded me to breathe and to let my body do the work...interspersed with the comment “This is easy...you can do this.” Between you and me, I secretly thought that if he said it was easy once more we should switch places so he could see just how easy it really was. :) I couldn’t stand it anymore and told them I really had to push. Things got a little crazy then as neither of the two doctors that had been called had made it in and so they had to go across the street for a doctor. He arrived and asked me to just breathe through one more contraction so he could get his gown on. Inside my head (again) I’m thinking, “Oh sure, please take your time and while you’re at it stop for a cocktail too.” Finally, two pushes or so later and Jacob was here. I had told Doug this time around I wanted to see it and we needed a mirror. At the last minute he asked if I still wanted to see it….ahhh, no......JUST GET IT OUT was the sentiment if I recall correctly. Doug cut the cord and they placed Jacob on my chest. He really is a beautiful baby. His fast trip down the birth canal bruised him up a bit but I’m very thankful that everything went as well as it did. I’m so incredibly in love with our little boy and he was worth every bit of it.

Now as to how I’m really doing:

After feedings every 2-3 hours since 10:00 Friday night, my breasts just feel mangled. My milk finally came in yesterday and so now I’m engorged and mangled. I finally have more to give Jacob and all of a sudden he’s sleepier than ever. It’s as if he’s in a drug-induced coma...lucky boy.

I’m thoroughly exhausted and apt to cry at the smallest thing. Watch what you say.

If anyone should wonder if I need anything, a gift basket filled with every Preparation H product or variation thereof would be a lovely, thoughtful present and much appreciated.

I still have my cold and every time I cough, I feel there is a definite possibility that my uterus could just fall right out onto the floor. Oh yeah, just standing up and walking around gives me the same feeling as well.

I’ve already lost 15 pounds! Although, as I mentioned, my milk has come in and from the looks of things I may have gained back about 20 or so just in my breasts.

I’m currently obsessed with counting wet and poopy diapers. I’m also obsessed with the color of the diapers much to Doug’s dismay. I keep telling him that the color is directly related to Jacob’s well-being. He just gives me the “look” and obviously doesn’t want to discuss poop any further.

At night, I wake up every few minutes or so to ensure that Jacob is still breathing, hasn’t been crushed or fallen from the bed. I worry about every little thing. Today I decided that he may have jaundice as his eyes look yellow to me. Doug told me I just sit and look for things to worry about.

I am helplessly, hopelessly in love with our son. I spend a lot of time just sitting and staring at him and thinking how thankful I am to have been entrusted with his care. God is good.

As for Doug, he has been taking care of everyone and everything for weeks now and so he and the older kids headed to Tahoe yesterday for some snowboarding fun.. It was my first day alone with all three kids. I must say that even in my sleep-deprived state of discomfort, aside from all the yelling, things went pretty well. Both girls are super in love with the baby so much so that they come at him at the same time moving around 500 mph. I’m so worried someone’s going to poke him in the wrong spot and so I’ve asked them to just move s...l...o...w...l...y whenever they’re around him for my sanity’s sake. They also speak very LOUDLY whenever they’re around him. I asked them to speak gently to him so as not to startle him. So, always accommodating Anna gently said, “Baby Jacob, is your umbilical cord doing well?” I asked her the other night how long it had been since she and Lauren had had a bath and she said, “Ummm, I don’t know but we’re pretty dirty.” So, there you have it. A quick rundown of our current living situation...frantic but wonderful.

Regarding pictures:

You all know I love to take pictures. Of course, after spending weeks picking up cute photographic props in preparation for some fantastic newborn photos I’ve been planning, Jacob is covered in a newborn rash known as erythema toxicum. It looks as if someone sat him in an ant bed for a couple of hours. As the pediatrician put it, “You can’t get much worse than that.” Fortunately, for our sweetheart, it’s apparently benign and so he doesn’t even seem to notice that he is literally covered from head to toe. There’s no treatment so we just have to wait for it to go away on its own. He is definitely still one of the three most beautiful things I’ve ever seen and Trish came by today for some photos of him. Doug and I are going to work on more pics tomorrow and I’ll post them as soon as I get them. Until then, here are a few shots from the hospital.

Merry Christmas!

'Twas the night before Christmas

...and all through the house,

not a creature was stirring,

not even a mouse.

The children were nestled 

all snug in their beds....it's true. 

They were. Normally at bedtime, there are serious negotiations that take place. First, there's always a big debate over who gets tucked in first. We have to be sure to take turns as it's always a treat to be tucked in last. Secondly, someone always needs a stuffed animal or three or four and that animal is usually tucked away in the last drawer or cabinet you check. Then someone usually needs to go to the bathroom one last time even though they've been 43 times before. Everybody always needs just one more sip of milk. You always think you're done but as soon as you begin walking back down the hallway, someone needs one last thing.  Last night, however, everyone was excited about Santa coming and nobody needed anything. I kissed Lauren goodnight and covered her up...silence. I kissed Anna goodnight and covered her up...silence. I couldn't believe it and began to walk down the hall to our room when I heard Anna say, "Mommy???" I thought, okay, here we go. "What is it?" I asked. She said, "Mommy, I already have visions of sugarplums dancing in my head!" I started laughing and waited for the requests that were sure to follow but there weren't any. They were both asleep in like 10 minutes time...surely a record in our house. They knew Santa was on his way and I guess they didn't want to do anything to mess it up!! :)

Speaking of sugarplums, I actually found a recipe for some the other day. The only thing I knew about them before was that there was a "Sugarplum Fairy" and that children dreamt about them on Christmas Eve. Apparently they're just a small round or oval fruit and nut confection dipped in sugar. I made a tray of them just for kicks and they were okay. The girls preferred Doug's Christmas cookies that they all put together last night. I must admit the Christmas cookies probably have my vote as well. It could have something to do with the 800 pounds of butter and sugar in them...but man, are they good!

Sugarplums

Anna, Lauren, and Tyler working on Christmas cookies

More Advent Activities

We've been having fun with our advent activities. Some have worked out better than others. We read "The Littlest Angel" and then made clothespin angels.  It was pretty funny. I used hot glue so everything would stick and so, the girls didn't get to participate as much as we would have liked. They did, however, draw the faces on. Anna gave her doll hair, makeup and a necklace. While Lauren gave hers "owies".
We read "Frosty the Snowman" and then made marshmallow snowmen and s'mores.
The girls really enjoyed Lois Lenski's book "I Like Winter". Our corresponding activity was making gumdrop trees. We ran out of gumdrops on the last row and had to pilfer some from the back to finish the top off. Anna and Lauren really had fun with this craft but wow, that sugar is messy!
We loved making these stacked Christmas trees. One of our favorite books this year has been "Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree". It's such a cute story about a Christmas tree that serves many different types of families

Throwback Thursday

Okay, okay...so I realize it's actually Friday but I'm only a day off. I was just looking at how much the girls have changed from their first Christmas together until today. It's hard to believe how fast time goes by.

Conversations with the Peanut Gallery

The girls have really been on a roll lately. These are some of their latest funnyisms from recent weeks!

The other day while eating a plate of pasta, Lauren held her hands up and said, “Mommy, I have Olive Garden on my hands.”

Anna is already busy thinking about future professions. If you remember it wasn’t too long ago that she was considering an occupation as a snake charmer. Recently, however, she told me, “I wish you would have voted for me for president.” A few minutes later she said, “ I wanted to be an artist but that was before I knew about firefighters. They’re cool.”

One of the moms from Anna’s school told me the other day that her son had a crush on Anna. They’re only 5 but I guess it starts early these days. As a matter of fact, Anna already has her eye on a fellow classmate as well. On our way to church on Sundays, we pass by an area where dirt bike races are held. Anna noticed the bikes and said, “Evan (a little boy from her class) is a dirt bike man. He’s so handsome and silly. I want to marry him.”

When we were preparing the girls for our family to light one of the candles on the advent wreath, we mentioned they would need to be careful of the flame. Lauren asked Doug if he could bring an ice cube along for her...just in case she burned her finger.

The girls cycle in and out of loving/hating each other. They bicker and then tattle to us. I told them again the other day (for the millionth time) to please try and use their words to talk to each other and try and sort things out on their own. Anna responded, “Fine. Lauren, I don’t like you!!” Not exactly what we had in mind but at least they’re communicating.

The girls are becoming more independent each day. They’re testing the boundaries and trying to decide where Mommy and Daddy draw their lines. The other day Lauren told me “No!”. I told her “Don’t say no to me!” She responded, “No to you!”

In the car, Anna piped up and said, “Mommy, I think I have a flea on me. What’s a flea?” Lauren thought about it for a few seconds and said, “Anna, a flea is when you’re really sick and you have to stay in bed for a long time until you feel better.” We laughed and said, “Honey, we think you mean the flu!”

Doug has become the DVR king this month. He’s caught a ton of Christmas shows for the family to watch. The other night we were watching “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with Jim Carrey. Doug wanted to know what was up with all of the Whos and their teeth. I told him I didn’t know but they all had buck teeth. Both girls immediately began to ask, “Why, Mommy? Why do they all have Butt-Teeth?”

Lauren held a ribbon up below her nose and said, “Look, Mommy, I have a mustang!” In case you’re wondering...she meant moustache.

I’ve often written about the difference in the girls’ personalities. Another recent example took place at our church’s activity time a few weeks ago. Doug and I were responsible for activity time that day and brought snacks and drinks. The idea is you play with the little ones (second grade and under) while their parents are listening to the sermon. For some reason, that particular day there were several older children there, including one little boy age 9. He was loud, a bit aggressive and appeared to need a little extra attention. While outside in the play yard, he tried to take a ball away from Lauren. Big mistake. He apparently doesn’t know Lauren. She wasn’t about to take it and clocked him right in the eye. He started to cry and ran away. Doug told me the story on the way home and although I, of course, don’t want her hitting anyone, I still couldn’t believe that our 3 year old fended off a 9 year old and sent him away in tears. Crazy.

For Nana

My mother has been anxiously and "patiently" awaiting a picture of Jacob. She reminds me at least once a day that she still hasn't seen a photo of her new grandson. I just had another ultrasound on Monday. So, Nana, these pictures are for you.

Maternity Musings

Well, we’re getting closer. I’ll be 37 weeks this coming Sunday. Both girls came at 37 weeks so I’m kind of counting on Jacob making his appearance sometime next week or so. I know each pregnancy is different so he may end up fooling us. I’m already dilated 2 cms and 50% effaced but the doctor says I could stay that way for weeks. I seem to remember being around the same numbers with Lauren at 36 weeks. I’m getting a bit more ornery each day but as long as he makes it here sometime within the next several weeks and is healthy, I’ll be happy.
I’ve had to talk to my mother several times recently regarding her choice of words she uses when talking to me. She’s seen a couple of shots of my belly and tends to respond with comments like, “Man, Baby, you’re getting huge...I mean biiiggggggg!” Something about the use of multiple “g’s” that sets me off, I guess. I tried to remind her that words of choice include “glowing, lovely, and fantastic”. However, on the phone with my step-dad the other day, he said, “Yeah, your mom says you’re huge. She said you’re much bigger with Jacob than you were with either of the girls.” Indignant, I let him know that I had gained 25 pounds with Anna, 27 with Lauren, and only 21 so far with Jacob. I’m really not as wrapped up around this as I sound but I am at the point where I’m actually feeling huge...I mean biggggggg. Nothing seems to fit anymore...even my maternity clothes. Still, I hate to go out and buy anything new because we’re almost at the end of the pregnancy.
Speaking of maternity clothing, why do designers believe pregnant women are interested in wearing a ton of bows and flowers during pregnancy? I also wonder why maternity dress pants only have “pretend” pockets. Sure, it looks like you’ve got a pocket there but it’s all stitched up. Don’t pregnant women need to carry things too?

My children have also been really great for my self esteem...not. :) For some reason they keep saying, “Don’t worry, Mommy, I won’t laugh at you or tease you.” What does that mean? I was sitting on the stairs the other day helping Anna get her shoes on for school. She said, “Wow, Mommy, you’re getting fat.” I asked her, “Do you think Mommy is fat or just pregnant?” “Well,” she responded, “You are preg-nick but you’re kinda fat too.” She went on to bolster my self esteem even more by saying, “You’ve also got dark circles under your eyes and lines on your forehead. That makes you look old.” She must have seen my expression because she quickly came back with, “But it makes you look wise, too.” Hmmmm. They’re both really excited about the baby though and keep trying to talk to him through my belly.

Doug has been super supportive and taken on a ton of the daily work. He comes up with some real memorable quotes each pregnancy. Some of my favorites this time around include, “You’re a weeble-wobble but you do fall down.” “Man, since you’ve been pregnant, you can smell everything but you can’t hear jack!” “Why’d you eat the baby?” (Lauren’s picked this one up and is asking me repeatedly.)
We are really blessed though and it’s been a good 9 months. I’m ready to meet our new family member but I’m also at the point where I’m getting nervous and scared. Doug keeps reminding me that I’ve done this twice before and I shouldn’t be scared. I, however, keep reminding him that I’m scared because...well, it hurts...a lot! :) Anyway, stay tuned. We’ll keep you updated!

Disneyland Recap

At the end of November, we made it down to Disney for the third year in a row. This was the first time, however, that we went in the fall. We normally go in February but this year we decided to make a wintertime visit to Yosemite instead. It was incredibly beautiful and we had a wonderful time. The girls, however, kept mentioning Disney over and over so we wanted to try to fit in a visit before the end of the year. Since Anna is in school now, we actually have to plan our trips around a school schedule. Her Thanksgiving break was the only time that would work. We were worried the crowds would be bad but we were pleasantly surprised. Even in November, Disney was already decorated for Christmas and so we got to enjoy that as well. “It’s a Small World” had recently been renovated and just re-opened a few days before we arrived. It was set up for Christmas as well and was really special. We actually had a few Disneyland milestones this year that I’d like to share with you:

1. Lauren was finally big enough to ride Matterhorn. Anna reached the right height last year. Lauren’s been eating her “veggies” all year just to make sure she had grown enough to ride.

2. Lauren actually had her picture taken with not one, not two but THREE princesses. You may remember that she screamed bloody murder the past two years when even in the same vicinity as a Disney princess.

3. This was the first year without a stroller. Well, Doug ended up carrying the girls...a lot. He carried them on his shoulders so much that Anna complained about sore legs! :)

4. We finally saw a nighttime parade. We had wanted to go in the past but the girls were little and bedtime was early. It was so fantastic to actually see the park lit up at night.

5. Our hotel was close enough to the park that we could watch the fireworks from our bed! It was so neat to turn off all the lights in the room, throw open the curtains and all curl up in bed to watch the show!

Red hats, chocolate and peppermint

Still trying to get over this cold...so we had an easy activity today. We made these white chocolate and peppermint spoons. The idea is you're supposed to be able to heat up a mug of milk and then stir it with your spoon so that the chocolate and peppermint end up in your milk. It sounds yummy...we wouldn't know as we ran out of milk 15 minutes before we made our spoons! So, we're looking forward to checking them out tomorrow. We also read the story "One Snowy Night" about a red cap from Santa and a group of animal friends. Sweet story. I've been on this kick lately about red knit hats. I've been wanting one for Jacob. I can't find what I want and keep thinking if I could just get into that knitting class I could learn to knit one for him. That could be the reason this book caught my eye. Red hats seem to show up everywhere once you start looking for them!

Advent Wreaths and The Nutcracker

I remember getting all teary during Anna's first Christmas. We were at church and every Sunday a new family would go up front to light a candle on the advent wreath. I told Doug I couldn't wait for that to be our family. I don't know why the whole idea made me so emotional. Well, today we finally got to light candles. Doug and I had been talking to the girls about their "jobs" while we were up front. We could tell they were a little nervous as well by the way they were acting. Once we got up there, I began to read while Doug lit the candles. Anna and Lauren, although they started out shy and quiet, gained some confidence and began to circle the small table with the offering baskets...round and round and round they went. I was trying to read and get them to settle while Doug was trying to light the candles and get them to settle. As Doug said, it was a friendly audience and so everyone just chuckled. These girls....they go non-stop from the time they get up until the time they go to bed.


The girls and I attended "The Nutcracker" for the first time last year with our friends Julie, Stephen, and Olivia. Unfortunately, Doug was deployed at the time. The girls were pretty unfamiliar with the "Nutcracker" story but were enthralled and enjoyed the show all the same. This year, I picked up a book before hand so we could read the story several times. Since Doug is now home...yeah!, we were all able to go. At the performance, the girls had 8 million and two questions but it was a lot of fun to hear them pointing out people on stage. Doug jokingly had been calling Herr Drosselmeir by the name Dr. Doofledorpenshmacker and Lauren wanted to know which one he was. :) Anna kept asking about the Sugar Plum Fairy but by the time the Fairy finally had her big dance, both girls were a little antsy and were busy "hugging" each other...at least that's what they called it. To me it looked a little more like a stranglehold.

Gingerbread Houses

Finally! I've been wanting to make a gingerbread house with the girls for two years now. I thought it would be most special to make everything ourselves from scratch and because of that belief we never managed to get it done. I finally decided that maybe it made more sense to just buy the kit since it's our first attempt and they're still pretty young. So, I found a kit the other day at Target. It came with everything you could possibly need and the girls and I tackled it today. Our book of the day was "The Gingerbread Man" and so a gingerbread house seemed to fit the bill....although in retrospect I suppose the gingerbread man didn't really need a house since he spent so much time running around and then being eaten by the fox. Oh, well, at least the girls had a great time. I just had to repeatedly convince them that the candies needed to go on the house and not into their tummies!

It's in the mail.

Hurray! Hurray! The Christmas cards are away. We finally got everything mailed out today. Now comes the fun part. I love, love, love getting Christmas cards. To be honest, I'm a bit obsessed with mail. I think it all started when I was in the Air Force and stationed in England. I would check the mail 2-3 times a day for correspondence from home. As for the Christmas cards, I so enjoy catching up with friends and family we don't get to see often. I think it's especially fun to see how much everyone's kids have grown and I look forward to it every year.

Today's book was "Santa's Snow Cat". The girls weren't as crazy about this story although the illustrations are just beautiful. Instead of a second reading, Lauren went for the copy of "Frosty the Snowman" which was probably a good thing. She's been "singing" the Frosty song for a couple of days now but the only words she knows are "Frosty the Snowman..." and from there she just hums the rest. Don't try to sing the words to her....no sir! You're better off just letting her hum. Hopefully, with a few more readings of Frosty she'll pick it up on her own. My little Miss Independent Girl.

Our Advent activity today was popsicle glitter stars. Here's a picture of Anna's.

Do you believe?

Today's activity included a reading of "The Polar Express" and an actual ride on the Sacramento Train Museum's Polar Express! We tried to get tickets last year but the event sold out in October! We planned ahead this time and departed the train station at 3:00 in the afternoon. I made necklaces with a "sleigh bell" for both girls for the journey to the "North Pole". Both girls were so cute as they'd hold their bells up, shake them and say, "I believe in the spirit of Christmas. I believe." The train ride itself lasted about an hour and had music and characters from the book and movie. We got to meet the conductor, the hobo, the chefs, and of course, Santa himself. The story was read over the loudspeaker while we enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate and a cookie. Once Santa came aboard, he gave all the children a silver bell from his sleigh. The girls were so excited to see him and kept telling him how much they loved him and to have a great Christmas. It was a really fun afternoon and well worth the trip.

The waiters with the hot chocolate and cookies.

Hot chocolate quality check.....yep, it's good!

Some of the characters from the story....the hobo playing the herty gerty.

The conductor....Anna was disappointed that he only punched our ticket once and wondered where the words were.

The hobo...again? A different person this time around and trying to get everyone excited about Santa's arrival.

At the "North Pole" waiting for Santa to board.

Santa finally arrived much to the delight of the girls!

Now, let me ask you....do you believe in the spirit of Christmas?

Can you still hear the bell ring?

I can. :)

Petunia's Christmas

We read the cutest story today about a goose named Petunia. She meets a handsome gander and falls in love. To save him from being sold for Christmas dinner, she makes wreaths to sell to buy his freedom. The girls really liked the story and we made wreaths like Petunia this afternoon after their naps. You may be wondering why in the pictures Anna and Lauren are dressed alike and as if it's June instead of December. Well, Anna has this thing about dresses. If I've dressed her in pants for school, she immediately changes into a dress as soon as she gets home. She prefers everything sleeveless and is relentless in attempting to convince me to let her wear sleeveless clothing year round. As for Lauren, she's following big sister's lead and if Anna wants to be a "twin" then that's okay with her. I love that the older they get, the more they want to play together. It just melts my heart.

The finished product.

A Star for Christmas

Did you get to see the beautiful sky this week? The crescent moon flanked by Jupiter and Venus was something to behold. Our book today was called "A Star for Christmas" and although the "star" in the story was actually a young reindeer named "Little Star" it still seemed appropriate considering the special night sky.
We traced the girls' hands and feet to make our own little reindeer. They turned out pretty funny. We still have a reindeer we made from Anna's hand her first Christmas. It's just crazy to see how much she's grown in such a short time. Speaking of her first Christmas, the first time she saw the lights sparkling in the Christmas tree, she ran over and tried to blow them out.:) Kids are something else!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

everywhere you go...except that is for this blog!

Here at home, the trees are up and decorated,

and the stockings have been hung by the chimney with care.

But this darned blog will not seem to get into the spirit of Christmas. Shelly has such a cute blog layout and I wanted something festive as well. I tried using one of the premade layouts but it required a template change which cut all of my pictures and slideshows in half. As I did not want to go back and edit a ton of html, I tried to create my own layout. Did it work?? Uhh, not so much. Then I tried for some festive colors with an animated frame in place of the title. I finally decided the only answer to this dilemma was to say, "Fuh-get about it" and have some hot chocolate and peppermint candy. I'm a big enough woman (ha! ha! no pun intended but here at almost 35 weeks of pregnancy, that's a funny statement) to admit defeat and I do. A few months back, to avoid leaving toy stores with a ton of toys in hand, whenever the girls asked for a new toy, I just told them that Christmas was on its way and we should tell Santa what we wanted. Since that time, they've taken to speaking out loud to Santa anytime they see something they want. It usually goes like this, "Santa, can I have that for Christmas?" It appears that they're going to get most of what they've asked for in a few weeks time. Maybe I should give their tactic a try. So, here goes, "Santa, can I have some computer and blog savvy for Christmas?"

On a happier note, I'm so excited about Christmas. I really love this time of year. The girls and I put together a little matchbox advent calendar and I have books and activities planned for us each day leading up to Christmas.

For this first day of December, we read the story about "Snowflake Bentley", the first man to photograph a snowflake. He went through a lot to get that first picture. Snowflakes are so beautiful and cutting them out is terribly addictive. We all got into the swing of things and cut out several. We have two trees again this year (one in the dining room and one in the living room). The one in the living room is going to be our handmade tree. We've already added our snowflakes. Hopefully, with a month of craft activities, we'll fill the tree.





Otherwise we're steadily working on getting our Christmas cards and calendars together and out the door. Doug's been getting gifts purchased and I'm looking forward to just taking it easy, watching some Christmas movies and enjoying the season.