On Mariah's birthday, we joined my sister's family, the Motts, and went to the Bean Museum. Just walking in the doors brought back a flood of childhood memories. We used to go to the museum often for Family Home Evening. It still smells the same (not a bad smell). The girls enjoyed it, I think, but were kind of stinkers. I don't think they were feeling well. We were ready to get them out of there after an hour or so.
Cousin Henry (3 weeks younger than Elaine) and Elaine admiring things from the second floor.
I liked the museum's nativity scene.
Getting the girls to pose for pictures is a joke . . . .
Laney looking like a lost, forlorn little child . . . .
To celebrate New Years Eve day, we went sledding with the Georges. My girls were both very predictable: Mariah went down once, was a good sport, but refused to go again. Laney, on the other hand, loved it, and asked to go again and again!
We played games that night and had lots of yummy food. I went to bed earlier than the others (pregnancy); reports are that they had a great time celebrating 2010 with sparklers and a few flower fireworks provided by Danny and Jessie.
In spite of a sleepless night with throwing-up kids, we were able to have a nice Christmas morning and a relaxing day. After we put the kids to bed Christmas night, Mike and I went to visit Mike's grandparents, Grandma Shirlene and Gramps. They fed us a late night feast of veggie sandwiches, fruit, and pie. Delicious. I was so glad we got to visit with them. They are wonderful examples to me of everything good. I married into the best family!
Charles Dickens does well in describing our December. The girls and I spent all of December in Utah (I spent a week in Arizona). Mike joined us after finals; we had a wonderful time . . . some of the time. The girls were sick the ENTIRE time. Seriously. The WHOLE time. They had colds/coughs before we left home that persisted through the whole month. Then December 20, they came down with a strange flu bug that had them throwing up and diarrhea-ing intermittently for 2 1/2 weeks. Misery.
So, despite many sleepless nights, cranky kids, lots of midnight laundry, and hundreds of nasty diapers, we survived, and I'm pretty sure we're glad we went. It was so good to spend time with both mine and Mike's families. We had relaxed down time with both families that we rarely had when we lived in the same city.
I tried to capture some of the highlights (Christmas and the New Year will get their own posts):
Mariah turned 3 a couple weeks ago! (We were in Utah for all of December; I have a lot of catching up to do.) She informed me a couple weeks before her birthday that she was going to have a "princess birthday." Oh, really?
Well, a little girl's prayers were answered. Without spending a penny (thanks to very generous cousin hand-me-downs and equally generous grandparents and others), we were able to deliver the most princessy birthday ever: 2 princess dresses; 2 pairs of "glass slipper balls"; a princess record player; a magic wand; princess polly pocket dolls; a very fancy princess ballerina skirt; a cinderella nightie; and a pink princess cake. If you dare, here's a compilation of videos taken throughout the day. It's about 5 minutes long, but if you can endure, my favorite part is the last 30 seconds or so.
I love my 3-year-old! And although she challenges me daily to be a better mom, she really is a delight. Some of her favorites:
wearing princess dresses and paraphernalia
"reading"
singing or humming primary songs
dancing
"helping" mom in the kitchen
treats
She is so smart and keeps me on my toes. Here's a funny exchange we had yesterday, but first some background. We're having the usual issues with bed- and nap-time. Since we got back from Utah (2 days ago), I've had her take naps on my bed so Laney can move out of our closet into the girls' room. So, yesterday, Mariah was napping in my bed:
Me: If you have any more problems, you won't be able to sleep in my bed.
Mariah: Well, Mom, where else could I take a nap? (Like, "Mom, I know you don't have a solution to this problem . . . .")
And last night (she has a princess toddler bed):
Me: If you have any more problems, I'll have to take your princess bed away.
Mariah: Well, Mom, where would I sleep?
Me: On the floor.
We didn't have any more issues last night.
Tonight the promise of treats waiting on her dresser for her in the morning kept her silently in bed. We didn't have issues with her or Elaine; a very nice change.
And a memory story: As we were driving the first day of our 2-day drive home, I was explaining that we'd drive for a long time and then stay in a hotel and then drive for a long long time again, and then get home to our house in Oklahoma. Mariah said, "And we'll go to breakfast in the morning at the hotel. I will have oatmeal." (She's stayed in a hotel one other time in her life--6 months ago when we moved to Oklahoma. She had oatmeal for breakfast.)
The day after Thanksgiving, Nate and Hayden joined us, and we drove to Liberty and then Independence, in Missouri, to see some Church history sites.
Our first stop was Liberty Jail. Mariah didn't like the "scary noises" (horses running, etc.) during the informational recording, but I think the girls enjoyed themselves for the most part. They were well behaved, which was a relief to their mother.
We drove from Liberty to Independence, Missouri, where Joseph Smith dedicated 63 acres of land for a temple. The saints were driven from Independence before they were able to build that temple, but it will someday be built.
The girls' (and Hayden's) favorite place of the day was the U.N. Peace Fountain near the visitors' center.
For Thanksgiving, we drove up to Kansas City, where Mike's cousin, Nate, is attending dental school. We stayed with him, his wife, Kate, and their little boy, Hayden, for a few days and had a great time.
The girls were amazing travelers! We drove up Wednesday and just visited and chilled that evening.
Thursday we had a pretty relaxed day. We played on the playground behind the condo for a couple hours in the morning, and then put the kids down for naps while we prepared dinner. Kate hosted Thanksgiving dinner at 3:30, so the couple hours right before were a bit busy. Dinner and the company were great! There were 8 adults and 6 kids. And LOTS of food!
After dinner, we went to a gymnasium around the corner from the Georges' place. Someone in their ward owns it and had offered to have everyone over to play. The kids loved jumping and running around.
I love Thanksgiving; and I love the fact that it's still all about family, friends, and the blessings God has given us. The world hasn't run away with it yet. I'm so thankful for Mike, my girls, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and all of our blessings, family, and friends.
Thanks, Nate and Kate, for a great Thanksgiving!
(A funny Mariah story: While I was packing our stuff to come home, I caught her several times trying to sneak in some of Hayden's toys. I thought I had seen and removed everything that wasn't ours. But, about 30 minutes after we got on the road, Mariah opened her purse and pulled out almost the entire magnetic alphabet from the Georges' fridge. The little sneak! We mailed them back yesterday.)
On Mariah's birthday, we joined my sister's family, the Motts, and went to the Bean Museum. Just walking in the doors brought back a flood of childhood memories. We used to go to the museum often for Family Home Evening. It still smells the same (not a bad smell). The girls enjoyed it, I think, but were kind of stinkers. I don't think they were feeling well. We were ready to get them out of there after an hour or so.
