So this is Christmas...

Christmas was hectic this year. We moved mid-December, had my parents out a few days later and celebrated Craig and Jenna's birthdays and a special early Christmas with the grandparents all in one day! Whew! Sad to say, I was actually looking forward to rounding up the Christmas stuff and packing it back up this year. Poof! It was gone within two days of Christmas and now I'm trying to clear out some moving boxes... a never-ending project for a family that has moved 14 times in 10 years - WOW, I hadn't even thought about that before now, but aren't we NUTS??? Seriously!

So, we started Christmas two days before the 25th. Craig and I treated ourselves to an early Christmas gift: a day away from home and an opportunity to actually sleep - we rented a hotel room and relaxed for a few hours. Yes, I know this sounds WEIRD considering we have a great big new house with all kinds of space, but all three of our kids have a hard time sleeping, so when my head hits the pillow, I never know what I'll wake up to, or when. Getting out of the house for a day and lounging around somewhere is absolute HEAVEN for us! Then, we hit the stores to finish up some gifts.

That night, I wrapped until 2am. While I was wrapping upstairs, everyone was busy downstairs making cookies for Santa, the Dentist Elf (from Rudolph! ??? Go figure...), and Rudolph himself.

Then Hannah made Christmas cards to leave for Santa, the Dentist Elf, and Rudolph - with a little help from Daddy. Aren't they cute? ;)

The next day was Christmas eve and we headed out of town for a 12 acre, drive-through holiday light display. We played Chritmas music and Hannah loved it once we woke her up, cuz she always falls asleep in the car! Jenna was upset because we turned off the TV, but she calmed down and looked out her window at the pretty lights, too. Cohen slept through a lot of it, but he's too short to see this year anyways. :) We packed a picnic dinner and ate while we drove through and it was actually a lot of fun! All three kids contained and BELTED IN and woo-hoo, off we went!

I tried to get a picture of Jenna and Cohen...His hands and the top of her head - see her way back there? - were about the best I could do from the front seat :)

When we got back, Hannah indulged in some hot chocolate and we all watched Rudolph after lighting the fire for the first time in our new fireplace. Then, we set up the princess Christmas tree in the room as a night-light, got the girls in their Christmas jammies, and then finally - FINALLY - they went to bed. Cohen, on the other hand, joined us late into the night... not to mention Hannah's constant fitfulness - I was just sure she'd catch Santa in the act of setting up her new Kitchen! :) Speaking of...

VOILA! Complete with two adorable aprons a friend and I found that say "Domestic Diva" and "Diva-In-Training" (NOT that I consider myself a domestic diva or anything...)
A tea party just waiting for little hands to come along and BREAK, ummm, I mean, PLAY with it! And an inflatable basketball set for Jenna.

Gameroom done, now for downstairs and arranging gifts under the tree. And finally, FINALLY, done. Note the time!!! Hey, 3's not THAT bad, right? Could've been worse. Could have stayed up for sunrise...

And yes, this is laziness, people. Or burnout! Lots of little stuff that just wouldn't wrap easily got thrown into great big, awkward stockings instead of cute little ones... Santa, you lazy man, you!

Christmas morning brought lots of gifts, lots of fun, and lots of MESS - but that's okay. I grinned through my teeth and cringed behind my smile ;) We had an un-traditional spaghetti dinner cuz the girls love spaghetti and went to bed tired, but happy...until a child woke up in the once-quiet of night. AAAAHHHH... LIFE continues...

Look Who's Nine!

Happy Birthday, Jenna! My firstborn is 9 years old now - I can hardly believe it! I was going to post some pictures of her as a baby but I don't know where all of my pictures are yet...so much unpacking left to do!!

We celebrated Jenna's birthday last week when my parents were in town from California. It's always tough to know what will make Jenna happy on her birthday without feeling like a parental HEEL because we don't go all out. There's a reason: Usually, Jenna does not pay much attention to gifts, goes absolutely POSTAL in crowds of people and does not react well to major b-day hooplas, however well intended! This year, she actually opened her gifts (with a little bribing) and played with them!! The celebration went something like this:

1. Open first gift.

She's doing great! Interested in the packages and happy to please everyone while meanwhile, we are all clapping and cheering her on.


2. Yay First Gift! So much fun! Everyone's clapping and I'm so happy!3. Okay, onto another gift. Then another. Interest is waning a bit, but she's still game... sorta. :)




4. Okay, y'all. That's it. I'm out! TV's calling to me...or rather, I'm yelling for it! :)







5. US: Hurry, put the cake up there. Quick. Now clap and make lots of noise, silly faces, get her attention. We have to get to the cake, it's a b-day party MUST!


JENNA: Okay, now this is something. Looks so yummy I'm licking my lips and SALIVATING all over my shirt! ;)

By the way, my mommy is the BEST CHEF EVER when it comes to b-day cakes, and hey, I know it doesn't look like the ones in the bakery, but LOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING! (Well, okay, maybe Mommy's going out on a limb here... )


6. Jenna! Jenna!??

Something you don't see in the pic: crazy grown-ups jumping around the kitchen, hands raised in the air like adult-sized toddlers, looking for all the world like they had too many spiked egg-nogs because that's INTERESTING to Jenna!!!

Wasn't long before she joined in.  Hannah, too: Hey, maybe if I raise my hands in the air, they'll clap for me too, even though it's not my birthday! YAY me!

A present that says it all. *see #4



Jenna playing with her gifts. She loved her new pink movie chair and doodle pad.


Happy birthday to Daddy, too!  



And since Grandma and Papa were only in town for one more day, we had a little early Christmas celebration with them.

Below: Hannah's waiting for her turn in the spotlight ;)



Hannah loved this game where paper "butterflies" shot out of a big tall elephant nose while she ran around and tried to catch them in her net. Meanwhile, Jenna loved rubbing her nose on the TV, literally.  You tell her to back up and she's right back at the tv again within minutes.  Seconds. 

Cohen loved the little ride-on toy he got. Papa and Daddy put together MANLY b-day gifts.



Look, everyone, my new trick: NO HANDS!



Look, Ma, I'm-- Woah! Uh-oh...steady, steady...okay, there we go. Whew! I got this!


Much less successful group shot than in my last post:



Cohen is not happy.


It was a wonderful night.

We'll miss you Grandma and Papa!

I'm Impressed

I was a little nervous about switching Jenna's school again. She's not a big fan of change. Well, I'm impressed. She seems to be adjusting very well. They have her on a schedule.  

Sample schedule:

7:45-8:00 Breakfast

8:00-8:30 Desk Work

8:30-8:50 Small Group

8:50-9:35 Specials (rotates from computer, PE, Art, PE, Music, PE)

9:35-10:00 Calendar (date, days, month, holidays, seasons, weather...)

10:00-10:30 Recess/Restroom

10:30-10:45 Snack

10:45-11:15 Grooming (Teacher asked for toiletry items so they could work on self-grooming skills)

11:15-11:45 Desk Work

11:50-11:55 Restroom/prepare for lunch

11:55-12:30 Lunch in cafeteria

12:30-1:00 Adaptive PE (special ed PE) or Movement Activity and Song Choice *probably Jenna's favorite part of the day :)

1:00-1:30 Unit Activity

1:30-2:10 Kitchen Time

2:10-2:20 Reward Time

2:20-2:30 Vocational/Chores

2:30-2:35 Get ready to go home!

What a schedule, right? So this is proof positive that for FIVE days out of the week Jenna is run RAGGED at school, with plenty of stimulation and activity! I love that the teacher is promoting life skills throughout the day.

The teacher is very nice - she actually WRITES OUT notes home, doesn't just circle activities on a pre-designed page. YAY for good ol' fashioned communication. :)

And they helped Jenna make this Gingerbread House:

Back door:

Jenna made out on the Christmas/Birthday take home loot this year. First, the bus drivers from her old school gave her a doll, Christmas hello kitty pillow and some yummy treats and bracelets. Then, the bus drivers at her new school gave her more gifts - yummy treats. Then, a sub bus driver sent something more home - coloring stuff and treats. Then, we get a whole bunch of stuff today. I got teary-eyed cuz they really seemed to go all out for these kids.

All the goodies!

And Hannah in her PJ Party outfit - although she seemed a bit confused when I woke her up only to put her in another pair of jammies. :)


Loungin' :)

And Hannah did some artwork at school too:
And I had to include a pic of Cohen - although he's having a bad hair day :)
Well, my cousin is here for the night with his two kids, so I'm gonna go keep them company.  And stop being rude.  :)

Another Post...At Last!

Yay! A post from the brand new CASA! That's right - I'm a homeowner now!!! Well, technically, it's not really ours until the mortgage is paid off, but, well, ya know ;) I can hardly believe it, and just in time for Christmas, too. But moving in December is not easy. I'm trying really hard to enjoy being here without stressing out about squaring everything away - I just have to squint my eyes when I walk through a room decked out in brown cardboard - not the most attractive holiday decor! I guess you could say I'm a bit manic about having an orderly/clean household and the Christmas rush is definitely prolonging the settling process. Oh, well. Eventually we'll get it all done...and then there'll be something else to do, right?!

So, we've been busy over the past two months. There was so much to think about and do. But, home sweet home at last. We've been waiting nearly 8 years for this and finally, finally we're here! In a house I never dreamed I'd be able to buy. And I'm so grateful.

Of course, with a new house comes a housewarming gift. In this case, hubby bought one for himself and spent this evening putting it together. Cohen was in awe. I had to take a picture. Can you see him - the speck, there, on the floor? :)

Oh, and please excuse the mess!

BTW: Yesterday was the day Cohen took his first step - three or four times!! He's finally crawling all over the place - started doing this after we got him on some medication for nerve pain last month - and we can hardly slow him down now! YAY! :)

SO call me crazy, but despite all of the hectic stuff going on, I'm waiting for cookies to finish baking in the oven for my less-than-traditional, more "Fast-n-Easy" than "Martha Stewart" candy plates, which, sadly, will include brownies-from-the-box courtesy of Betty Crocker (even though they're the good ones with extra chocolate chips), chocolate chip cookies (recipe straight off the back of the nestle toll house cookie package), some peanut butter cookies (these from scratch, although I'm not sure how they're going to turn out yet - UPDATE, they're the BOMB!) and maybe some chocolate-peanut-butter fudge (this requires a watchful eye and I'm not sure I can muster it at this point, we'll see... UPDATE - yeah, this didn't happen...yet). I should have said forget it this year, but people kept sendin stuff home for my kids so I had to. Right?

I really miss being a kid and enjoying the holidays through a kid's perspective. Both girls have fun stuff going on at school tomorrow. Jenna is making a gingerbread house and Hannah has a PJ party where they are watching A Charlie Brown Christmas movie and eating pizza (Ummm, hey, can I come too???!)

Anyways, I'm so tired and there's so much to catch up on that I think I'll just post a few pictures...

Enjoy.

Finally, First B-day pics - only 3 months late!

Ridiculous how cute he is.  

And everyone helped blow out a candle for Cohen this year:The little artist again:

Ahoy there matey - our Pirate and Lil' Miss Camera Hog... Hey, I think Dad was supposed to be in this Picture?

Cohen, miserable in the hospital back in Oct. - I tried to walk him up and down the floor to calm him down:

And, below...

...tree hunting - at Lowe's. But if you focused on the rows of trees and didn't look around too much, you could almost - ALMOST - imagine yourself on a tree farm somewhere, cutting down your own eventual-bulb-bearing green...

And finally, the kids-at-Christmas picture:

The best shot I got. I'll take it. ;)

Merry Christmas!

A Sugary Recovery

We're home!

We got out of jail - aka the hospital - last Tuesday, the day before Halloween. The timing couldn't have been better - Hannah loves Halloween, especially the candy, so we just had to be home to go Trick-or-Treating together. My mom came out to help us, so she got to enjoy her grandkids.

First, we gave Cohen lots of welcome home affection.

Enjoying some Grandma-love...

And I found the perfect shirt at Target (fluke) to leave the hospital in...

"I Still Live With My Parents"

Nurses thought this was pretty funny... hey, after 19 days, I had to find humor and JOY in parting! ;)

*

The night we brought Cohen home, we went outside just as the sun was going down to FINALLY carve pumpkins. Hannah loved making pumpkin-gut soup while we polished off the job cleaning them out :)

Our handiwork:
Standing back to admire our handiwork:

Hannah was especially proud of her pumpkin - lopsided, mis-matched eyes and ears and all...
And below, Scooby-Doo, courtesy of mommy's very tired, painfully cramping fingers! This thing took forever!!! After careful examination, Hannah still couldn't tell what it was supposed to be - hey, can't you tell?

And then? Halloween! And fun, cute Halloween outfits. Jenna had on a pumpkin shirt for school, but I didn't get a picture - oh, well, musta been tired from all that carving and, well, she left the house so darn eeeaaarrrrllllyyy!
And then, there were the costumes. For months leading up to Halloween, Hannah requested (over and over and over again) Dora Halloween as her bed-time story. In fact, if you didn't know this and you were lucky enough to read it to her, you woulda thought my child a reading prodigy - she knew it line by line. Then she got it into her head that she wanted to be a kitty-cat like Dora. But, this was a delicate situation, you see, because I couldn't make Jenna's costume so cute and GIRLY that Hannah would become HOWLINGLY dissapointed in her choice - so no frilly pink and princess tiaras this year for either girl!! Just a silly witch... and her preening black cat.


And daddy-kisses for our monkey-boy. Complete with the responsive smile that always melts my heart:

Auntie Joan helped herd the kiddos out the door. Cohen tolerated his costume much better than I thought he would :)

And we're off!

The neighbors' witches pot. Had to take a picture.

Good thing that wasn't real fire - Jenna loved touching the "flame"

So, that was our Halloween, made even "sweeter" by our little guy's return. In fact, two nights ago, I ran to the store with my aunt and we returned home with one of those tantalizing little plastic containers from the quarter machine with a "prize" safely tucked away inside. Hannah was so excited to open it up and when she did, we laughed at the "bling" - a dollar sign on a silver chain. She asked what it meant and I told her it was a dollar sign - you know, I said, like money. She looked up at me, wheels turning.  Then she said she wanted to send the dollar to the doctor at the hop-spittal for making her baby brother "ALL better."

I am so blessed to have these beautiful children.

I will dedicate my next post to the baby in our bunch and his first year with us, culminating in those b-day pictures I have wanted to share but haven't...yet. Better late than never.