Thankful

How could I not be thankful with these 3 cuties to play with everyday? That was Thanksgiving day just before we ate. But let me back up a little--so after Claire's blessing I went back to work. That week just half time and then full speed ahead after that. The first couple of days were rough for Lowell--little sister just wasn't interested in sleeping. The first day she cried and cried, both nights she was up until 1 am. I think it might have had something to do with drinking frozen breastmilk or that I had gotten into the habit of nursing her to sleep and Lowell just didn't have that option. Whatever the reason, she got better every night after that and does pretty well most nights now. It seems like neither Lowell or I ever gets enough sleep between our work and kiddo schedules but we're hanging in there. I function surprisingly well on little sleep (inherited the skill from my dad) and Lowell tries to catch enough cat naps to make do. It's funny how you always feel like you are busy and then you add a kid or 2 and you can't remember what you did with all your "free" time before. Claire is such a good baby, but she does require some time of course. One note from going back just because it still irks me. One day I was cleaning up after my second pumping--I had 20 or so oz ready for the next day and I was washing out the shields when I saw a little black spot on one of the membranes (small divider between shield and bottle). I lifted up the membrane and found a nasty dead fly! I was so disgusted. I had taken them right from the dishwasher on my way to work so it must have climbed in the night before on the counter and either died then or on its way through the dishwasher. It was just so gross and of course I had to dump all that milk--so that was sad. Still upsets me and it has been 3 weeks.
We still went out on my days off, it seems like we did Trafalga Lehi and Trafalga Orem that week. So, back to Thanksgiving. We had dinner at our house but since I was on call Lowell ended up making almost everything. And he did such a good job and it was so so yummy. But as is typical it seems every year, as soon as I had a couple of bites I was called in so I got to eat it in the car on the way back. Good wherever I ate it. Melinda apple-cider brined the turkey and we had Kneader's stuffing and lots of homemade pies. Mmmmm

The boys with sister again--I can hardly believe just how good they are with her. I love it. Now if I am busy I can ask them to go talk to her and they'll dance and sing and perform for her to get her to smile. I'd think all the over-bearing attention would be annoying--but not to a 2 month old. She eats it up. She gets smilier all the time--huge grins and little giggles now--I can't get enough of my little squishie. The book says the worst crying period is up until 12 weeks--she's 11.5 weeks now and hardly cries, we're so lucky!

Little Thanksgiving dress thanks to a neighbor of ours. I have since bought an embarrassing number of them--dresses are fun! :)

Turkey cookies that I got from the internet. Oh my goodness I thought these little guys were so cute--but also time consuming and a little annoying. The eyes drove me nuts because it was black gel icing on top of regular frosting so it was hard to get to set right.

The boys had fun though. Their job was to squish Mike and Ike's into feathers since we couldn't find any candy corn (note to self: Winco bulk bins). And of course they were happy to eat my mistakes as well.

The Sunday after we had Thanksgiving at my parent's house. It was also yummy if a little less grand (you can't beat Melinda and my MIL's pies, sorry). Lowell made more mashed potatoes even though he had made them 3 times in a week--what can I say, the boys makes good tators. He just uses potatoes, milk, butter, salt, and sour cream--but it tastes good.

I busted out a headband I forgot I had--the first I bought for sister (or got free with coupon anyway) and it made me laugh so much. It's a ridiculous fad, but cute anyway. It was a nice night with the fam.

That night the snow finally fell (a blizzard was predicted earlier in the week with stores closing down and people stocking up on food, etc--and in Orem where I was there wasn't any snow at all!) and the boys and I had fun playing in it a little. It wasn't packing snow so the snow man attempt failed but we had fun with snow angels and jumping on the snowy trampoline anyway.

Oh--I skipped my second favorite part of Thanksgiving (after the food!)--Black Friday sales. I plan for this weeks in advance, checking out the early leaked ads, comparing prices, making a plan of attack. Usually it is my mom and I--we head out early and make lots of stops. This year she flaked on me for work (boooo) but Hillary was game. Due to online sales and price matching, we only did WalMart this year, though we were there from 10 pm-6 am. Half the sale started at midnight and the other at 5 and we had to stay in line between the two to get the big sale item (a laptop for my sisters) so we just had an all nighter in the WalMart. Still seems different to shop there. So the item I wanted at midnight (Leapster 2s) had the crazy ladies guarding it so I ended up giving up on that and shopping other toys but ended up getting it online on Lowell's cell phone when it went on at 2 am or so with free shipping at the same price, so it was all good. Also got the gift for Lowell I was waiting for online and my brother got what he wanted too, so he went home to bed and I only had to wait in line for the 1 thing. We bought some snacks and just hung out, such a bizarre thing really. Caught a couple hours of sleep and then went out again. Sadly now all my money is spent and most all my shopping is done so it's a long month waiting to actually give the gifts now.

One of the great benefits to online shopping (and free shipping) is all the boxes. I got 8 in one day the next week (our mail man seriously hates me) and the boys thought that was grand. They played in them, popped the bubble wrap and then made cardboard sleds:

and raced down the stairs a few times. Good fun!
We caught the free for members day at the Lights at Thanksgiving Point and then went to see the reindeer.

We didn't stay too long though because sister was getting too cold. It has been quite mild this week, but that day was frigid.
Then Saturday this week was cram packed with activities. I went to pick up my Bountiful Basket first (love it!) then we headed to my cousin's little boy's baptism. It was neat for the boys to attend one (for some reason they thought you died when you got baptized??) and they were enthralled to watch them in the font. Davis still says he's a little scared (doesn't like the idea of being held under water) but said if that's what Jesus wants him to do, he'll do it. It was nice to visit with family and celebrate L's special day.

Next we headed up to the Dutch store to see Sinter Klaas and Black Pete. It was so busy as usual so we didn't stay long, but at least we held up our tradition:

Hillary, Cyndel, and Robbie all joined us there so that was cool. The boys are still scared of Black Peter--the face make up freaks them out but they accepted his candy none the less.
Next we headed to the zoo which I forgot closes at 4 in the winter and we got there 10 minutes too late. The boys were not happy and I was bummed since Robbie came up too. Screwed that up--oops!

Lastly we went to the couples UVMOM Christmas party and had a nice time visiting, playing games, and eating lots of desserts. Made me a little sick really all the rich treats, but it was worth it.

The next morning was Dutch Christmas, and as it turned out, Sinter Klaas did visit our house:

The boys were so excited of course and loved their new, conveniently indoor activity gifts. I enjoyed getting Eclipse as well and I think Lowell likes his large Lego plate. Claire hasn't tried out her little piano yet, but I think she'll like it before Dutch Christmas rolls around again.

Dutch chocolate letters are a great addition to the holiday--yum.

Man, that kids a charmer--what a perfect little face (and such a stinker on the inside :p)

So, the drama for this week was appliances going out. The bottom oven's burner went out (luckily we have the upper oven still working since the part is on back order and we're still waiting for it. Lowell can fix it once we get it thank goodness.). The fridge was less lucky--we thought it was a minor issue when it froze up and the ice was melting and everything in the freezer thawed, even the repair man said so on his way to come look. But no, the lines had a leak, freon had been lost and now it would all have to be replaced to the tune of $700. With the age of the fridge he recommended replacement so we got to do some shopping. Thankfully I found an outstanding deal on the last of a discontinued model (60+% off!) so this little baby got delivered today:

It sucks when appliances go out and the hassle and the new unexpected expense--but it is kind of fun to have something new anyway. And it is SO big, 29 cu and so spacious--I can tell you my kids fit comfortably in the freezer drawer--but not too comfy as their mom was yelling at them and they went to time out after. They had already been told once and I do not want them breaking that drawer! Anywho, the fridge is only as fun as its packaging for them:

Styrofoam, spaghetti castle--good times. Yea--I am up to date. Woohoo! Tomorrow there will be a special visitor at preschool and then we have our ward Christmas party. More fun to come. :)