Christmas

Christmas started bright and early. We opened a couple of presents, which they immediately wanted to play with. So we set them up and played for a few minutes before we had to get ready for church, which was at 9.

Legos for Cody:

Vet set kitty for Mace.

Race track for cars:

Below is a little educational computer for learning numbers, letters, etc. There's a game where it shows you pieces of letters and you have to guess which letter it is. Macey started playing it and knew every letter just by seeing little pieces at a time. I didn't even know she knew all her letters! Don't forget to notice that awesome hair!

We all had a drink of 'tea'.

Heading off to church. They are standing in front of our tree loaded with every kind of child ornament you can imagine. I begged Macey to smile then she could have her ring pop.

She is saying "Okay I smiled, I want my ring pop now."

Ben got a Duck Hunter Load and Launch. They LOVED it. Cody is pretty good.

Macey playing with her Squinkies.

Cody with his spaceship. His mom is soo cool.

Ben holding our family vacation book Nette made. Ben kept commenting on how awesome and fun all the vacations were. Then when the vacations with kids starting coming up his fun comments weren't as enthusiastic. ha ha. They are still fun, just a lot more work and less play. Funny how kids don't take care of themselves on vacation:)

Sweet Mackayla slept through Christmas morning even with all the chaos. She joined the fun after church. (It took us most of the day to open presents because we had to extensively play with each present first!)

She got an unexpected present a day after Christmas. We were waiting in the car at the store while Ben was quickly exchanging the size of some shoes he got. Suddenly Mackayla pooped an entire weeks worth of food all over her only outfit. So it was the perfect opportunity to get her a sunday outfit! They were 50% off, right in front of us and she hasn't had a cute dress to wear to church for weeks. Merry Christmas little angel!

Once again, grandparents spoiled. Thank you thank you. It was kind of fun to get to have them discover santa had come to their house and eaten their cookies and left them presents!

Christmas Eve-Goodbye Pinocchio the Elf

This year is not a white Christmas. Is it wrong for me to say I'm not sad about that at all?

I felt a little pressure since this is our first Christmas away from home. All in all, aside from missing our families, it went well! We went to see The Chipmunks and then went to a park to play. We came home and I got dinner ready while these guys played outside.

Bad picture, but I had to document.

This little girl hung out here:

We had dinner, which I am thrilled to say turned out good. Best meat, Sweet and Tangy Brisket, I've ever cooked in my life (which isn't saying much, but this was amazing according to Ben's high standards). And on that - I didn't use a Brisket - the very essence of the meal. But I didn't know what brisket was and I just had a chuck roast. It still turned out amazing.

Then after dinner we opened a movie from grandma Sylvia, "The Polar Express." Cody was thrilled! I have wanted to give it to him forever, but I thought Christmas would be the perfect time. It was the perfect way to spend Christmas Eve.

Then we read the Christmas story, and the kids opened their Christmas pajamas from Grandma Bonnie. Macey could barely stay awake and went straight to bed after that.

After helping our elf get ready for Christmas, we all, er, I enjoyed the pie I slaved over.

More for me later!

Speaking of elves, we had one come stay at our house for 12 days before Christmas. Cody immediately decided he would be named Pinocchio. Here's some of the things he did:

*Left letters to Santa for Cody and Macey to fill out and then took them to Santa the next night.

*Made cookies.

*Made snowflakes to cover the kitchen table.

*Hung lots of decorations including lights and ornaments. Cody was very specific in saying that he wanted to see new decorations from the elf each day. Pinocchio would get kinda tired at night so the lights were just haphazardly strung around the walls. Eh, they're shiny.

*Made marshmallow snowmen.

*Built a tower out of blocks. Cody would not take this tower down for days.

*Made a door a present.

*Made reindeer cupcakes.

*Built lego spaceships.

*Made a train.

*Sometimes the elf was tired and he just made a sign:

*In the end Cody got smart and started requesting that the elf do certain things, such as make a robot.

*He also of course colored the milk green.

This elf likes building. This has been SO much fun, I can't wait for him to come again next year;)! I have had so much fun getting ready for Christmas, I can't wait to watch the kids this year!!!

I painted my nails for the occasion! pinterest of course. Then, I did the dishes. I suggest doing the dishes, then painting your nails so they stay looking done:)

Fall on your Knees

Thanks for sharing this picture I blogstole, Carly, it is beautiful.

If there's one thing I've learned about being a mom (which by the way, I'm getting dumber, not smarter) it's that you can't force your children to listen.

That's why I'm so thankful for an early Christmas present tonight:

Ben called to say he was going to be home late so we went ahead and started dinner. Macey began with a sweet little prayer. "Heavenly Father: Thank you that we can be nice to each other and have fun. Welcome to dinner. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen." I remember it because she repeated it word for word right after she said it, so proud of herself.

That sweet little prayer was definitely welcoming. The spirit filled our home when after a few moments of eating I asked them why we celebrated Christmas.

Cody said it was for Jesus because he was born. Then I asked them to tell me what they knew about Jesus. They thought for a minute with no answers. Then I asked where he was born. "Judea!" Cody answered. He's getting so smart. Then they kept asking me to tell them more, until we had talked about Jesus for close to a half hour. I told them tons of stories - healing the 10 lepers, healing a blind man, raising from the dead, calming the storm, walking on water, the sacrament, his crucifixion and resurrection. They were listening so intently. Then Macey earnestly asked, "Why did Jesus die for us?" I couldn't have scripted it better. I got to explain to them that because He died for us we get to live in heaven with Him, with our whole family, even our grandmas and grandpas (and Jessi! Macey added). They were so happy. Cody added, "Heaven will be so fun! We will play all the time!" :)

I am truly grateful for this Christmas season, for Christ's birth, life, and death and this special opportunity we have once a year to really celebrate Him and the greatest gift we have ever been given.

"The MAGIC of Christmas is not in the presents, but in His presence."

Personality Speaks

I was looking at Lynette's blog barely and just smiled because she caught both of my children while they were talking. I don't know if this makes sense, but it perfectly captures how they speak.

This is how Macey talks:

This is how Cody talks:

Ben, Missing Pullman, real life and a white flag

I need to be better about updating Ben's life. It tends to be separate than ours much of the time! Ben has visited four different school for residencies - Purdue (West Lafayette, Indiana), Iowa (Ames, IA), Colorado (Fort Collins), and North Carolina (Raleigh). He liked different aspects of all of them. The application process uses the match program, the same as medical school. 

---***---

Raise the white flag. Three kids is not the same as two. It's hard. Or is it the same? Maybe it's because I went grocery shopping today. Babies are just a hard phase of life. And I have an easy one. Is it that way for everyone? I keep thinking maybe I could have done this in Pullman where ten different friends were one step away in the same boat. I finally unsubscribed from my old ward google group tonight (can I say some of the comments I would see pop up were really interesting so it was kind of informational/funny) and I cried. It was like it was the last thing I was holding on to. I still miss everyone.

In the real world, so I'm told, and I'm learning, people don't hang out every day or have playdates on a whim. You schedule them into your busy life a couple days out and get ready and clean your house. I do need to adjust to real life but I'm going down kicking and screaming. And we're still not in real life either...somewhere in between... I fully support Ben, love this journey we're on (most days) and I am so glad we're doing this. If my husband is going to be the one working, I want him to LOVE it. It's just the road less traveled for a reason.

Words of Wisdom by Macey

Every time Macey finds a penny she gives it to me and says "Here. This can be for your tisement." A month or two ago we had a family home evening lesson on tithing and used ten pennies so they could see how much it would be. Somehow tithing got confused with baptize or advertisement or some other word. It's very important to her every time she finds one:)

The other day I curled my hair and Macey looked at me in the mirror and very frankly said, "Your hair looks nasty."

Is it Christmas yet?

Macey has been slightly mischievous lately. (well more than usual for her at her current stage, but who knows maybe she's reverting to her old catastrophic stage) Today she stole our countdown chocolate calendar and ate all the rest of the chocolates...10 left! When I found her I told her she just ate all the countdown chocolates so we couldn't count down to christmas anymore.

"Then is it Christmas now?" she asked.

Nice try.

Here's our little nativity:

Giving birth is hard work. Mary is obviously tired:

Joseph is just happy

This baby didn't like swaddling but she sure is cute!

The Mom Choices

As a mom with young kids you make choices based on necessity and practicality, not perfection.

CHOOSE 2 of the 3:

1st

1. Exercise.

2. Take a shower.

3. Get ready.

2nd

1. Have a dirty house.

2. Clean your house with your kids during the day. over. and over. and over. and over ...

3. Clean your house at night while your kids are sleeping during your FREE time.

3rd

1. Pillow over head. Sleep in.

2. Take a shower.

3. Get ready. Throw clothes on kids and go.

4th

1. Get ready for the day.

2. Get your kids ready for the day.

3. Clean your house.

For instance, our house right after church=bad.

5th

1. Feed your baby.

2. Let your house be destroyed.

3. Let your kids watch another movie.

Word World is educational right?

Originally when I was posting this, I was frustrated that it's hard to get a shower in! But it actually looks more like it's steering more towards if I want to do anything with my life other than clean my house all the time, my house is going to look like a hurricane came through. ahhh... Welcome to hurricane Crosland!

Stats

Macey:

32 lbs. (55ish%)

3 ft. (55ish%)

Mackayla:

13 lbs. 14 oz. (60%)

23 in. (40%)

We went for doctor appointments and shots on Monday. Macey did great. She really was quite brave. She sat right up at the table. The nurse was giving me directions, but Macey listened carefully and then carefully directed me to what I should do. "Hold my arms like this mom." She cried for a minute with her shot then calmed right down with her lollipop. I was so proud of her. Mackayla, who never cries, had the saddest quiet how could you do this to me cry, that lasted for several minutes. Then she settled into a long nap. Oh how I dread immunization days, but as far as they go, this one was a breeze. Knock on wood!

Ben is heading out of town tomorrow - first to Indiana, then to North Carolina (he's been to Colorado and Iowa as well). He barely got home in time to say goodnight to the kids tonight, phew! 

Our Very Own Secret Santa

I wasn't going to post anything about this to keep it a 'secret' but I decided against it because I'm grateful for them. We had some "Santa's Elves" bring us 12 days of christmas gifts this year. Cody and Macey absolutely loved it!! A countdown calendar, darling kids game, ring pop christmas trees, a festive doormat, gingerbread house, just to name a few. Meanwhile, during that time I had a few days of pure overwhelmed-ness. Even a little depressiveness. I'm making up words. Everyone has them and some people pretend they don't but we all do. Ben gave me a blessing. I'm over it, enjoying life, and just waiting for the next time I crack!:) Well, at some point I was wondering if anyone here even cared and then I remembered we had a secret santa, who most likely drove a half hour out of their way to deliver something to us every day. That is HOURS of time they spent just to let us know that they cared. I have never been so grateful for anyone as I did that one day that I broke down and cried and then remembered someone cared. That is what Christmas is about. Christlike actions. I can't wait until we can do that for someone! Thank you secret elves. I got to the point that instead of running to the door I would run to the window and try to see who it was. Like a little kid!

Decorating the Gingerbread house:

Macey's contributions looked a lot like this:

Beautiful roof eh?

Dare I even admit that I helped? It's harder than it looks and with three kids, dang near impossible!

More helping

Macey

Preschool Program Performer

To my little competitive Cody, everything is a competition, even singing the loudest. Excuse the terrible video-ing, I was laughing and juggling children.

"Twinkle Twinkle Little Star"

It's not supposed to be a round, but Cody added his own special touch to it.

Love it. Also, notice the cute little guy next to Cody hiding:)

Look Who's Turning 30...Wait 3

Little miss Macey turned three on Monday. To celebrate we went for ice cream that day (because the children's museum was closed, the movies weren't open yet, the play gym was closed, And the other play place was closed!), and then once dad was home we went to Mickadonald's, as pronounced by Macey. It's her favorite place to eat and she always asks to go:)

While we were there we saw a guy there who introduced himself as the brother of one of the guys Ben works with. Ben was wearing his jacket with the company logo. They were there for their three year old daughter's birthday that was that day. Funny coincidence!

Here she is sporting two of her new presents, a kitty and a phone.

The frog behind her (amidst the multitude of blankets from her bed) is from the ER that we visited yesterday. Best case scenario though: her elbow was subluxated, and nothing was broken! The dr popped it back in and we went on our way.

Having cake: This year we did Hello Kitty!

Macey is so cute when we sing to her. She just loves it:

We're so glad you're in our family Macey. You never keep it dull around here. You are one of the most selfless people I know and you're only three. We love you!