Christmas 2016

Unfortunately I spent much of Christmas Eve cleaning. We had planned to do all the cleaning in the morning and make our food for the following day and then relax until the Christmas Eve service. Instead Annalise spent a lot of the day throwing up tiny amounts. Then we had the Christmas mouse. I will laugh at this one day, but nothing is worse than waking up and realizing there was a mouse in your kitchen. This of course means I had to clean everything top to bottom because there is no way I was going to be using anything or eating anything out of the kitchen until it was done. I may have a few OCD problems, but that is ok. Ironically I had just done this two weeks prior for cleaning in general. Thank goodness Anthony was home or we may have been in trouble. Unfortunately we did not make it to the Christmas Eve service. I didn't want to expose the stomach flu to anybody if that is what Annalise had. 

The kids still opened their two presents. 

They got their traditional matching pjs that I made. 

Then it was Lego idea books all around. I can't mentally think of buying another Lego, although I am sure it will happen. Instead we felt books with all different ideas using the pieces. They also would be getting $20 to buy pieces from the Lego wall and tickets to the Lego adventure here, so it was fitting.

Christmas morning and they were up early, but never actually came and got us up. I was surprised. We began present opening around 7:00

Probably my favorite picture of all...... 

Lilliana has been asking for an Elsa baby doll. Not just a doll, but baby doll. Her Great Grandma got it for her for, and her face was priceless. 

We relaxed and then had family over. We ended the night with pie face. We are a year behind on the cool toys, but that is ok. They got this for Christmas and absolutely love it.

We had a wonderful day. It was as crazy and fun as I expected it would be with 5 kids. Their Grandparents always make it fun and special as they send gifts from Idaho. Overa

Mary, Joseph, Jesus, An Angel, and Wisemen

Anthony and I took a marriage class with a group from our church last fall. It happened to fall on Wed. nights. We needed a sitter and thankfully the kids Great Aunt and Uncle began taking them. They took them every Wednesday and it happened to be to church. The kids loved going and it worked well for us. Our marriage group since turned into a Life Group and we meet every other Wednesday. The kids continued going too every other Wednesday. They were able to be a part of their Christmas play this year. They began talking about it months ago and were so excited for their big night. 

Lilliana was Mary. Ari was Joseph "Mary's wife." Ari told us that for weeks and we laughed every time. Eli was an Angel and a Wise-man. Annalise had a brief appearance as an older Baby Jesus. We worked on their songs during school. I played the piano more like muddled my way through the songs while they sang to practice. They kind of liked the fact that I played while they sang. I think we will work on that more in the future. 

Their play was a perfect kid's play and we had so much fun watching. I am so thankful for the dear ladies who helped get them ready and helped them learn their lines etc. They all did a wonderful job. 

If you don't watch any videos but this one you won't be disappointed. Ari loving on his little sister is the cutest.

I may be a bit bias, but they are the cutest Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, Angel, and Wise-men I have seen. 

9 months

No surprise here, 20 days late on this post. Let's just say they are keeping me busy. We had to change it up a bit because their usual diapers were in the wash and I just needed to hurry and get these done when I did them. Only 3 more months and I can be done with this project because clearly I am not keeping up. 

So two babies on the bed is just a wrangling match as you can see.

They are officially everywhere sometimes together and sometimes not. 

ANNALISE

This girl weighs 21.5 lbs!! She is a tank. She is so squishy it is pretty stinking wonderful. You can just pick her up and she reminds me of Baymax from Big Hero Six. She has become a Daddy's girl through and through. She screams when he gets home for him to pick her up. If he doesn't she lets us all know she is upset. She loves her daddy. She still won't say Dad, but she loves him. Foods are still hit and miss with her. Some days I can get her to eat a lot and some days not. She LOVES chili and beef stew which is interesting.

Sleeping for her is still hit and miss. She is getting a couple more teeth so of course is cranky. She went from crawling in a week to pulling up and standing. She stands up to everything she can. She has been trying to push things too. She is very silly, but not with her actions. She gets you with her eyes. She will laugh and blink hysterically just to get your attention. She is waving a lot now too and instead of staring everybody down in the store has finally begun to smile. She still loves for Jesus Loves me to be sung to her at bed time. Yes we are also still using the swing for both babies. I can't believe it honestly. Our other kids were done close to 6 months. They love it and will sleep there when I need to get one to sleep and the other is eating etc. I am surprised it can still swing Annalise.

Daphne




Daphne feels a lot lighter than Annalise but is pretty close to 20 pounds. She is always moving, but loves to snuggle. She loves Anthony but also loves being with me. She is pretty content no matter what. She now has 8 teeth. She definitely prefers solids over Annalise. She frequently is stealing food from me. She really loves oatmeal and sometimes eggs.

She definitely requires less sleep than Annalise and usually is awake before her for nap and in the mornings. She also nurses more frequently which means more time up during the night....lucky me. She took a little longer to begin standing, but she has been standing just like Annalise. She is very vocal and very much a people person as long as they don't pick her up. She growls at you if she doesn't like what your doing and waves all the time. She gets so happy when people talk to her in the store. She also loves Jesus Loves Me for bed time. 

I really can't believe they are almost a year old. This year is just flying by!!!