Christmas

Well, here is my picture-less Christmas update for now. We're having major problems with our iPhoto, iMovie, and iDvd, so I'm not going to be uploading anything until I solve the problem. Most frustrating thing ever.

We had a delightful Christmas! It was so nice to get out of Provo again and have Claire's attention divided between more people. We went to my family's for Christmas this year, but couldn't leave until after my stitches came out on Christmas Eve morning. Everything with the finger looks good, but it will be numb-ish for another few months they said. It's healing up nicely. After that was all over, we finished loading our Christmas loot in the car and headed up. Christmas Eve was pretty uneventful other than making food and baking sweets that can now be seen on my hips.

Our family tradition is to watch a movie together on Christmas Eve and my pops got 17 Miracles for the event so that our movie watching would be more Christ-centered. I had heard nothing but really good things about this movie and although Brian and I thought it was more well done than most of the other LDS films, I thought it was incredibly depressing and cheesy at parts. I think my family liked it a lot more than I did. Claire didn't quite make it to open a Christmas Eve present, but the rest of us had fun.

Christmas morning was a blast. Claire had so many toys and she had to open the package of every single one, so it took quite a while to get through all of them. Every baby had to be unwrapped, then taken out of the package and placed in the cradle we gave her. Just like I thought, the first thing she went to was her new Lightning McQueen pedal and push. She loves riding everyone else's, so we got her one and it's still her favorite. We eventually had to hide it again so she'd get on with her gift opening.

Brian loves his new grill and I have to admit that I am loving it too. Can I really pass up the opportunity of NOT cooking and eating his delicious meals? No. I cannot. I love not cooking. It's SO much better than the piece 'o junk we grilled on before. We've made quite the meals the last few days. We got some camping stuff, he got video game things, clothes, and then he spent literally the entire weekend flying his remote control helicopter that all the boys got. They have all gotten pretty good at flying them, so hopefully the body stays in one piece from now on. :)

Brian has been telling everyone for the last while that my big hobby is reading. Although I love to read, I didn't think it was my biggest hobby since I don't really have a lot of time to read. Now I know why he said that. He got me a kindle touch. Would have never guessed that one! I haven't had a ton of time to read on it yet, but it is small and I can take it anywhere! I love it! My parents also got me a new bike and a bike trailer for our little ones! After riding my old bike and then the new one....man....I'm surprised I didn't die on the old one. What a piece! My mom and I went on a bike ride and it was just so easy to ride and nice to get out. I'm excited to use the bike trailer when Claire is feeling a little better. I'm also excited to not have my belly in the way when I'm riding. It's funny to exhale every time my knees come up. I got some gorgeous new makeup from my in-laws and my brother and have had so much fun using it.

The rest of the time we hung out and played games, which was the most fun. Trevor got us Puerto Rico (A BLAST) which I still haven't won and I've played it more than everyone else except Brian. Trevor kept almost winning and Jason got more and more tired with each turn, so we'd all just laugh at him. He gets a little tipsy when he's tired.

Now we're getting ready for the new year. Claire started running a fever today, so we're hoping she starts to feel better soon before we go back up to my mom and dad's. I'm officially sick of eating pie and ready to start on a fruit eating kick for a while. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas too. Sorry this is more like a journal entry and not that much fun to read/look at. I'll post pictures when the iLife problem is resolved. Hopefully soon!!!

2 Days Away

I am SOO excited for Christmas! Finally. It's coming and it's almost here. I am now allowing myself to get excited. I mopped my floors and cleaned my house tonight after Claire went to bed, so it even is smelling like clean.....Christmas clean. :) There are gifts that didn't get done this year (iMovie and iDvd need to DIE!!!!!) but I am not going to stress. I am going to relax and enjoy the holiday and enjoy having Claire's attention be split with other people for a few days.

She is a MONSTER! Tantrums. Hitting. Whining. Crying. Then she smiles, kisses me, says "Mommy, I wuv choo" and it melts my heart. I love it when she says "I love you". However....the hitting. We sent her to time out in her room last night because we couldn't get her to stop hitting me. It was as if we sent her down a small dark hole to die.....the screaming was so bad! The second time in time-out she grabbed all of her stuffed animals in reach, sat on the ground, and hugged them as tight as she could (all while screaming). I think we have a drama queen on our hands. After a few moments in a dark bathroom and a few deep breaths I was ready to resume the role of good mother. I had a chat with her and then we read The Big Hungry Bear. Then? Bed time. A sacred, sacred time for parents.

On to Christmas! Hopefully I get my stitches out on Saturday morning and then we get to bake pies and be with family. Sounds a little like heaven to me. Merry Christmas!

Stitches Pictures

Alright...Here they are. They aren't as bad as I thought they were. I feel like it looked worse in real life.

Right after I got home from the hospital.

Day 2. I couldn't wash my stitches for 24 hours and it was still leaking a little, so it got a little gross looking by the end of the day.

Below: See how it was SUPER close to my cuticle? Lucky I missed it or else they would have had to cut my whole nail off and stitch it back together or else the nail grows in separate directions.

After it's mini bath.

There you go. It's been interesting not using this finger. Claire has already kicked it and smashed it with her hand. Ouch!

Finger Stitches Anyone?

I got 6 stitches in my index finger tonight. Here's the story...

We have these loaves of baguettes that have been in their original non-air tight bag for two days. Each time I go to the store I forget gallon freezer bags, so the bread has stayed in that bag...getting harder with each breath I take. Tonight I decided to use one more loaf before the bags are bought and into the freezer they go.

The crust is hard, but not terrible...just harder than normal. I mean, the crust is always hard anyway, but they're still good. I continue to slice the bread. Slice, slice. I get to the heel of the loaf, which seems like it has crusted through all layers. The bread slips and I slice my finger instead.

No, I didn't cry. No, I didn't curse. I just washed it off until Brian luckily walked through the door from work. My saving grace. Thank you for coming home right then. He helped me gather the first aid kit, cut my gauze and I wrapped it all up. I decided that I would wait to get stitches and I'll tell you why.

I had to accompany a violinist in our ward RS meeting tonight and I told her last minute that I would play a piano solo since they needed another musical number. Of course this was before I decided to cut my finger open....last minute. I cut my finger 10 minutes before it started and after all....it was sort of on the way to the hospital, right? (Not really since I had to go back home anyway. I just don't like not showing up last minute.) So, I went and played through my piano solo and made it through accompanying Away in a Manger. It wasn't awesome I'll admit, but considering a finger taped in a mound of gauze, being light-headed, and trying not to focus on the pain, I'd say it went pretty well. Then I was outta there.

Tangent: I have a student that misses lessons constantly due to minor finger sprains from basketball. If I can play under stitches conditions...yeah.

It was off to the InstaCare I went. I checked in and the nurse came to assess if I really needed stitches. It was the first time I really got a good look at it and it was just a bloody mess. Admitted. Nurse left, but I proceeded to hear several people make comments on "this blonde" and his "daughter definitely being blonde".... in that tone....you know. I felt like an idiot telling them I sliced myself cutting a baguette since I, too, am blonde.

I was taken back. Nurse Todd and I had a good chat as he was fixin' me up. After the painful numbing shots, I was good as gold, but boy was that painful. It was like my finger was having a baby....then the epidural kicked in. I even expressed my gratitude to Nurse Todd for local anesthesia. Doctor Devin came in and stitched me up with six delightful stitches holding my finger pieces back together. I was assured by Nurse Todd that Dr. Devin has the best sutures and I am indeed grateful. "See you in 10 days"- Christmas Eve. Lovely.

I have a picture....I might post it...it's kinda gross.

That's my story.

YAHOO!!!!

I just have to jot down a little bit about today.

• Claire had major jealousy over babysat baby. However, she got much better by the end of the day. Gave baby Adi a hug and a kiss on the tippy-top of her head when she was crying and played peek-a-boo. Darling. This second child may actually have a chance to live.
• Neither child took naps today. Adi....sort of did, but Claire was not the least bit interested in one.
• I remained patient and calm all day. Could that be attributed to my voice being gone? Possibly. Even if I wanted to be mad, it wouldn't come out that way. It was actually kind of nice being a little silent for one day.
• My Christmas piano recital was tonight and I'm so proud of my students! I'm always so proud! My mom and I even switched places tonight. Usually I'm the one performing and she's watching, but this time I watched while she played her song beautifully! She's a dream student and I'm lucky to have her.
• Last but not least, did I mention that my recital is OVER?????!!!!! Can we shout for joy people? I am already so much happier and less stressed! I think Claire is going to be so excited to have a fun mommy again. Little Jared (that's what we've decided on for now) is going to be thinking, "Wait! Did I switch mommy bodies? Where is all of that stress hormone I was getting for weeks?" It's gone baby boy. Christmas excitement begins today.

I even played tickle monster with Claire on a giant pile of pillows. Welcome Christmas!

Christmas Decembertime

What a Ca-RAZY month of the year! I think I need a week off just to learn how to breathe again! I'm almost done making Christmas presents (whew!) and trying to enjoy the days until Christmas. My Christmas recital is on Monday and although I am so excited to see my kids perform, I can't wait until it's over at the same time.

Some things we've done recently is....we went to ZOO LIGHTS! I was so incredibly impressed! Better than temple square in my opinion (although I still love temple square). It was so much fun and we did see some of the animals. I think Claire's favorites were the monkeys....and the monkeys. After that she got more into pushing her own stroller than looking at animals. We went with our good friends who moved to SLC. We don't see them enough and we miss them like crazy. Too bad the days of walking over to their house are gone.

Claire even got these awesome little slippers out of our zoo trip. I didn't think she'd like them that much, but she will wear them all day long. On Sunday she did NEW THINGS! She watched a movie for the FIRST TIME! That was huge....and I was very grateful because I did not feel well. We also got her hair in pigtails for the first time. They are adorable and she looks like such a big little girl. I swear I just had her yesterday...

This is how I've felt all month long. So tired!

Here is my picture at 25 weeks. Remind me that stripes are not my thing. Ugh.

I can't really say how I've been feeling pregnancy wise lately. I've been so preoccupied with other things that I really just feel stressed; however, I think being pregnant is amplifying my stress and making me a little short-circuited sometimes. I have hit the hunger phase. I never thought it would happen since it was coming so late, but it did. Obviously I've ballooned out in the last little bit (obvious to me at least). I have started to feel him move more and that makes me relax a little bit. This has been a more worrisome pregnancy, so it's nice to know that he's in there and moving around. I'm still trying to get used to our name that we've picked. I love it and I want to keep it, but I am still trying to adjust to the fact that we're having another baby and that it's a boy. It hits me some days, but then kinda fades until the next realization shock.

I have had a harder time with the whole gaining weight during pregnancy thing this time around. I don't know why, but man....I'm excited to be in my regular clothes again. If I was one of those women that just gained weight in her belly, that would be AWESOME, but for some reason, my legs (THIGHS) think they have to have a baby as well. Darn those thighs.

One thing that I know for sure is that the maternity world needs to figure out a better way to maternity pants. The blasted things should be thrown into the incinerator until every woman applauds at their disposal. I despise them.

I've started babysitting our friends little girl twice a week. Are babies really that SMALL???? Seriously! Claire came out a toddler, right? Thank goodness that's a no, but still! She's such a good baby, but I think we have a little jealous toddler running around the house. It's good for her. When I'm not holding Adi, Claire is fine. The minute I'm holding her it's books, books, books; hugs and more hugs. Even though she's jealous, Claire still loves to give her kisses and look at her tiny fingers. I wonder how she'll be with a baby around all the time. She's such a cutie and we're lucky to play with her a couple times a week. :)

One thing that is ultra, ULTRA pathetic, but I love. Once again: bareMinerals. I play with them every night after Claire goes to bed. I also have a very wonderful husband who looks at what new color scheme concoction I've come up with. I've never been into makeup like this, but it sure is fun! I'm like a 5 year old little girl playing with her fake make-up set. Pathetic, I know.

Project

As I have mentioned several times in previous posts, I have been a slave to Christmas making. I have been waking up early just to get started before Claire wakes up. Seven am....a time that I used to cringe just thinking about....is when I wake up, take my morning jog (which is interesting with a baby that sits on my bladder all the time) and then I start Christmas gifts as soon as I get home. It's a pity I can't post all of the things that I've made because I really have had fun with them. The only thing I can post is Claire's gifts. She's the only person who doesn't read my blog, nor would she even remember if she's seen what I've made her (usually she sits right by me as I'm sewing anyway).

Here is my latest project. It's one 'o clock and I just finished a few minutes ago. I think they turned out rather darling. I'd like to snuggle up in it anyway.

This one is for Claire

This one is for her "bebies". I am repainting a little doll cradle I had when I was one and giving it to Claire for Christmas. This will go inside so it can match her big girl blanket.

This is just because she's so silly. She will laugh so hard when I put stickers on her face. She'll peel them off and give them to me only to complain that there's nothing there. We're going through a lot of stickers.

And this picture just makes my little heart happy. This is a preview to our time in Ohio. Claire LOVED the teeter-totter. Of course her Dad was so good at helping her stay on. I just love her so much.