It Must be Christmas Time

After Thanks Giving (and our 16 hour drive home), we got to decorating the house right away.  The kids loved blaring Christmas music and dancing around as we "decked our halls."  I let them open up their new Christmas P.J.s and read Christmas stories we checked out from the library.

There is something so magical and wonderful about traditions.  I love family traditions.  I feel like they are what bind families together and help form that lasting closeness. I want my children too grow up expecting and anticipating certain activities and traditions at certain times throughout the year.  

All my kids were thrilled to see Santa this year, don't let the picture fool you.  I've said it once, and I'll probably say it man more times, but it is almost impossible to get a decent picture with three kids (proof in the above photo).

Turkey-day 2013

I couldn't imagine a better way to spend Thanks Giving than at the cabin with my little family.  It was so nice to have Tyson all to myself for two whole days!  There's no internet access at the cabin, so it was a work free zone.  I think Ty was grateful for the much needed break as well.

There was too much snow to four-wheel very far, and not enough to snowmobile, so we didn't do a whole lot of cruising around, but we did have a great time playing games, enjoying the snow, building snowmen, eating yummy food, shooting guns, and enjoying spending time together as a family.

We were thrilled that my parents and brothers were able to come up and enjoy the cabin with us. My kids love their uncles and grandparents!!

 I enjoyed spending time with them as well.  It makes me sad I don't get to see them more often.

The first night we were up there we had no heat.  It was FREEZING!!!!!  We sure were glad to get the heater working the next evening.  

.  

The highlight of Lexi's week was shooting her gun.  Santa brought her a little pink .22 rifle last year for Christmas.  She talks about it all year long ("I want to go to the cabin and shoot stuff." or "Daddy, don't you ever just feel like shooting things? I wish we were at the cabin right now so I can go out and shoot stuff.").  

They both really liked four-wheeling from the cabin to the shop and down the road a little ways.  

Her's our girl with her best friend.  I guess this is just  more proof she belongs in our family.  Ty and I counted our guns while we were in Colorado (sad when you have so many you lose count) and we had a whopping 25. I don't know if I should be ashamed of that number or proud.  I guess I'll go with proud.  There's something so fun and thrilling about shooting, that nothing else compares.

These two twinners in their matching coats :)  Zach is so good with Gauge.

When asked if she wanted to shoot at the metal target or the target that looks like a rabbit, Lexi responded rabbit with no hesitation.  

She's already a pretty good shot.  She was able to hit the paper every time.

It was so cold we put our gloves on in between shots to keep our fingers from falling off.

Gauge kept going, "bam! BAM  BAM!! BAM!"  the whole time we were shooting.  He'll fit right in.

These two play so good together... until they don't.  I love seeing them laugh and play with each other.  

Not a great shot of the cabin, but here it is.

They built a snowman. Lexi continues to talk about it two weeks later.... "He had tomato eyes, a carrot nose, and a carrot belly button.  I put a ho-hawk on him with pine needles.  I hope he's still there when we go back! I bet he'll never melt."  It was a pretty cute snowman, but I'm pretty sure she'll be disappointing when we return and he's no longer there.

I am so grateful my mother-in-law created such a beautiful place for us to go and make memories.  I know that my family will enjoy it for years to come and always remember her when we visit. 

What? Three months already?!?!

So... maybe having three kids is harder than I thought.  Maybe hard isn't the right word... more like time consuming.  It seems like I spend all my time either feeding someone, changing someones diaper, cleaning up after someone eats, folding laundry, or cleaning up the mess the other two kids made while I was busy taking care of the third one.  

If you can believe it... Addie is already 3 months old!!   She is growing up so fast, but I do get to enjoy her a lot every day.  She brings so much joy to our family.  We are thrilled to have her.

At three months Addie is such a happy baby.  She is full of smiles, laughs, and loves.  She rarely cries.  She is on a schedule but a much more lenient one then Gauge's was.  She eats every 4 hours with 2-3 naps a day,and was sleeping through the night until we went to Colorado for Thanksgiving... since then she's been getting up twice a night :(  I enjoy her afternoon naps most of all because i get to hold her for a whole hour! :)

She loves sitting in her bumbo, playing on her play-mat, and being held.  I feel blessed to have such a sweet, healthy, and happy baby!

Our week at a glance

Since I am using this blog as a family journal, my goal is to do at least one post every week.  Some weeks we do exciting stuff, some weeks we don't.  This week we didn't do a whole lot, in fact, if it wasn't for photos on my phone, I wouldn't even remember what we did.

Addie looked too cute not to take a picture.  She is such a happy girl, all the time.

Gauge is a little poser.  He was so excited when I told him we were going to Disneyland.  His new thing is to ask, "Why" whenever you say anything.  It's kind of cute.

This is her in her Sunday clothes all dressed up for church.  How cute is she?  It was almost a smile.

 

Lexi was in "cowboy girl" mode all week. 

This was her horse, "pigboy.  It's funny because he's really a horse mom!  Get it?"

We painted some fall trees.  The kids liked that.  It was with Q-tips.

Saturday we got to take the kids to the San Diego Safari park.  Daddy got to come with and we had a fabulous time!!

I love these two handsome boys :)

Me and the girls... take notice of Addie sticking out her cute little tongue.  Already a poser :)

We rarely take pictures together, so here's one for the books.

 

Overall, we had an awesome week this week.  With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I have been thinking a lot about gratitude this month.  I really do have so much to be grateful for in my life.  We are so blessed as a family.  We have a great house, great friends, great kids, and a beautiful Earth to enjoy.  I am especially grateful for my testimony of the gospel and for my eternal family.  I love this time of year for many reasons, but one of the most prominent is the reminder of gratitude that is in the air. 

All I want for Christmas is Gaugey Boy's Front Teeth

Poor Gauge.  We thought we were free and clear after his spill in the shower this summer. 

(day after picture)

(three days after picture)

 

His teeth fell back into their natural positions, looked great, and life went on.  Last Friday, however, he fell down the stairs.  No harm. No foul.  It happens more often then you'd think.  I was checking him out to make sure his teeth were in tact and that he hadn't suffered any serious injuries.  Upon inspection, I noticed two blisters in the top of his mouth by his upper lip. 

(couple months after his fall, no noticeable damage at all.  Ps don't mind his sister's fuzzy slippers.  He is very obsessed with her shoes lately.)

 

We took him to the dentist Monday morning, and he affirmed my fears.  Two abscessed teeth. :(  Not even the two side he hurt but his two front teeth.  They needed to pull them. I was devastated.  His little smile would forever be changed!   

 

We took him in Tuesday morning for them to pull them.  They made Tyson and I wait in the waiting room while they took him back.  We had to sit there and helplessly listen to him screaming for 30 minutes.  He was crying so hard by the time he was back in my arms that he couldn't catch his breath. :( :( :(  Worst thing I've been through as a parent thus far. 

 

He calmed down within 5 minutes of being in my arms and was a trooper ever since.  So sweet.  So happy.

 

I'm glad to say that I think he is still as adorable as ever.  The thing about Gauge is his smile starts in his eyes and radiates outward.  He still has the sweetest smile I've ever seen.  It brings me so much joy every single day.  I am so grateful for this adventurous little man in my life.  He truly has stolen my heart!

(this was later the day his teeth were pulled, happy as can be after bath time)

Halloween 2013

For Halloween we decided to go with a circus them.  Addie was popcorn ( with me as the popcorn vender), Gauge was a "strong man", and lexi was a trapeze artist.  I had a good time making costumes and dressing up with the kids.

It was super hard to get a picture of gauge in his costume. Our numerous attempts left poor Gauge in tears :(

"hold it like this Gauge!"

 

 

Lex didn't need any coaching on how to pose :)

We had a fun soup potluck with a few friends, then went trick-or-treating in a super cool neighborhood, full of huge houses and full size candy bars.  One house even had a slushy machine.  Awesome.

Gauge was fun to watch for his first year.  "ank ooo.  Bye."  Everyone thought he was so cute.  Lexi was really polite too. After about an hour she said, "well, I think we got enough candy guys.  Lets go home!"

This was the best we got of all three of us... make that four of us.

 

 

I'll give myself an "A" for effort this year.

2 Fast

Addie girl is already 2 months old!! I would think that by now I would realize how fast it goes by, but with each child, I am just as surprised as the last at how quickly they grow and change. 

 

At two months Addie is still sleeping a lot!  She naps from 9-11:30 ish, eats at  noon, naps from 1-3ish, eats at 4, stays awake until she eats again at 8, then wakes up around 3:30 to nurse, and again at 6:30 for the day. 

 

For the most part, she is super happy and an overall great baby!  She loves her little jungle mat, the front pack, and being held.  She sleeps great in her bassinet and is a good eater. 

 

She had her 2 month check up and had grown 6 inches since she was born, bringing her grand height to a total of 24 inches.  She gained an addition 5 1/2 lbs bringing that total to 11 lbs 5 oz.  She is 90% for height, 40% for weight.

 

We are absolutely in love with our sweet Addie girl and can't imagine our life without her.

A Blessing and a name... Addie Janet Williams

I am so behind on our family journal.  Trying to play catch up this week.

We got to bless Addie on October 20th.  It was such a beautiful day and a beautiful time for our ever changing and growing family.  My parents and brother were able to come down and all of our California family (including friends) were able to celebrate our sweet Addie girl's blessing day.  We got up nice and early to get ready.  Church isn't until 11:30, but you'd be surprised at how long it takes to get myself, three kids and a husband all ready and out the door by 11.

Lexi wanted to pick out Addie's special dress so I chose 5 that I really liked and let her choose out of those choices. I love the one she chose.

Lexi helped me dress her from head to foot.  She made sure the bonnet was on just right and that we didn't forget her special bracelet Lexi helped me make. 

sister love :)

Everyone was so excited for the big day.

So beautiful.

Mom and her girls.

Daddy and his girls.

The whole family.  This was the best picture we could get.  

The first week of school

I am home-schooling lexi again this year.  She has such a desire to learn.  I decided to start a kindergarten program. She loves it so far!  For the first day we did a fun scavenger hunt for her to find her "treasure" of school supplies.  Her and Gauge both loved that!

First day of "preschool"

First clue of the scavenger hunt.

Lexi was great at solving the riddles.

Her prize!

These two love doing art projects.  I have been trying to have at least 4 art projects for them to do each week.  

This was a favorite.  We are learning about space this month.  They are painting the moon.

Turned out great!  Can't wait to watch both of them learn and grow this year :)