Christmas {2 Days Late :)}

Today we celebrated Christmas with Justin's family. His brother and wife had to travel to her hometown to visit her family, so we celebrated when they returned.

The day started out with us taking E to "the big city" to get his 2 year check up and shots. He was not to happy with me or the nurses for that matter. He is developing right on target and the doctor told me to try Zyrtec with his itchy skin at night. Guess we'll see!

We got to the farm around noon and ate. E had slept the entire way home, so I knew there was no nap in his future. Jack, on the other hand, had a different agenda. He took a nap, and we opened gifts when he woke up.

Jaina and Leo played so nicely together. They laid on the couch and watch one of Leo's new movies. It was pretty cute. They are such good friends!

Leo and Eli got a combine and auger from G'pa and G'ma. They are totally into farming pop-corn right now. Their soon to be Uncle Trenton was happy to play with them. ;)



Eli got a GIANT ball from Jackson. It is 51 inches! That will be an outdoor ball!



Leo got a Cars book and Guess Who from Jaina.


My family is so blessed to have such awesome people who love us and do things for us. We had a great holiday season, and hope you did too.

Christmas Day {2011}

Merry Christmas! We hope your family had a fun day! Here is what we did for Christmas in '11!

We spent the day at my parents' house with my sister's and brother's families. We opened presents. Santa (aka G'pa and G'ma) were good to the kids!

Eli's a pro at opening presents these days, well, with all those parties and all!



Leo was up for opening anything! He really loved his new fire truck.



G'ma Jan is a big Jared Allen fan, so she made sure that each grand got a jersey this year. Leo thinks it is the coolest thing ever!



We all laid around and were pretty boring most of the day. This is how excited Leo was when I asked him to stop playing and look at me...



Eli was his sassy little self, and G'pa had to make him look at the camera.



My sister and I did crafts during the afternoon. Not gonna lie, pinterest has some great ideas, but also has some flops...

After dinner, I wanted to get the boys to take a picture with me. It was a lot of work to get one to do it. Can you guess who?





Here is our family of 4 this Christmas. Not in our fancy clothes, not all perfect hair and make-up. Just us - in real life - imperfections and all. I think this might be one of my favorite pictures.



"For unto us a Savior is born. Glory to God in the highest and on Earth peace and goodwill to all men."

Christmas {Eve} !

The four of us haven't had a "usual" Christmas since Mr. Eli came into the world in 2009 (In case you don't remember, he was 2 weeks and 2 days early. Not that I was planning on January 5th or anything...). We decided to try it this way this year.

We read The Night Before Christmas on the 23rd, and talked about Santa coming. The next morning we went down to see the Christmas tree, and low and behold, the big man himself had arrived! He brought the boys each a semi and bin to share. They were pretty excited to see it. He also brought Leo a new Grinch ornament! Santa is good!



Then we dug into the Christmas presents. The boys were very excited and loved opening and ooo-ing and ahh-ing over each other's gifts.

*Slight disclaimer, I wanted the boys to wear their Christmas pjs from my mom at her house. Hence the lion and "bones". Not quite as festive, but fun in their own right...









The boys had to have me open everything and put it together since Justin was still flying one-armed. It took me a little longer, but I got it done. (I'd like to give a shout out to my mom for this skill. Thanks, Mom!)

We all took a nap after lunch, and then I started to make lasagna for dinner. Justin wasn't sure he wanted to go to church because his arm was hurting. I was so bummed. I really wanted to go as a family. I said a little prayer, and Justin decided he was up for church. :)

After we ate, I read the Christmas story out of Luke. The boys were so good, and asked so many questions, one that stood out, "When they couldn't stay in the hotel, did they get to use the pool?" That's my thinker!

We went to church and enjoyed a very nice service. Eli only had to be taken out once, which was pretty amazing. I love Christmas Eve at our church. We sing songs, have communion, each family receives a blessing, and end with candle light singing "Silent Night." It is a very special evening.

After church, we headed to my parents to spend the next few days. More on that in another post!

Eli's Party {Take 3 ~ The Final Take}

Eli's party today was more like an entire day of partying. My sister and her family came and spent the day with us. Leo has been waiting and waiting for Katelynn to come and play for months! We've been counting darks for 42 days!

So my sister and I hung out all day. I set up a facebook account for her. You are welcome, Jill! We did a little shopping, and a lot of eating.

I had a piniata for the kids, but we never got around to doing it... Oh well.

Eli loved the new pillow pet puppy he got. It is HUGE!








Kate and Leo played all day, and Gavin and Eli played all day. I love when they come. It's like a mini mom-cation!

We were sad that my brother's family couldn't come, but they were busy celebrating Christmas with Jill Marie's side. :)

Thanks Uncle Ben, Auntie Jill, Gavin and Kate for the pillow pet, and to G'pa and G'ma for the tractors and wagons!

Eli's Party {Take 2}

Tonight we had E's birthday with Justin's side of the family.**

We ate, opened presents, pretty much same as the night before, just with different people. :)

I was in charge of the camera tonight, which is why there is a lack of pictures. Sabrina had my camera the night before. I am bad at taking pictures while entertaining.

Jackson was super excited to see that we had cupcakes again. :) I know how to win that boy over!

Eli enjoyed opening and playing with his presents. He is especially fond of the Hawkeye football that he was given. That thing now sleeps in my bed. It smells like a rubber ball. Not the best smell as you are trying to drift off to dream land...






Eli got his coveted football, a Play-Doh set, some trucks, a Thomas the Train, and foam puzzles. He had a great party! Thanks G'pa, G'ma, Uncle Mike, Auntie Erica, Aunt Mindy, Aunt Jodi, Jaina and Jackson!

**{I know, it's like we party all the time, but nobody was home yet on his birthday from either side, and my sister's family didn't get here til Friday. Gotta do what works!}

Birthday Party {Take 1}

On Eli's actually birthday my parents, Scott & Amy, Nate & Sabrina, and Hunter came over. We ate, opened presents and chatted. Nobody ate the cupcakes...they all ate my fudge from Amy! Get your own people!!

The birthday boy into presents this year... Notice the tongue in this picture. He totally gets that from his momma. Every time I am trying to concentrate, the tongue goes out!



Scott and E. Scott had the misfortune of getting the stomach flu a few weeks ago. I was telling Leo that Scott went "blah" (aka puked), and Eli over heard our conversation. Now when you ask him what Scott says he says, with great sound effects, "Blah!"



Eli with his cupcake "2". It's not in mirror image in this picture...



Momma and the birthday boy.



One day post-surgery. This is how Jus spent most of the evening...



Eli got a Tag Jr., books to go with the Tag, some clothes, pjs, The Lion King Movie, balloons and 5 Little Monkeys (the newest in the series). Thanks G'ma, G'pa, Leo, Sabrina, Nate, Hunter, Ivy, Scott, Amy, and Brenda!

Daycare Cupcakes

Brittany and I worked really hard making Mickey Mouse cupcakes for Eli to bring to daycare on his birthday. I had originally taken Eli's birthday off because in the past, it has proven to be not such a great day. Well, with Daddy breaking his collar bone, the tradition continued. Lucky for me, I got to use a family emergency day and get to keep my personal day for something really selfish!

So E and I brought cupcakes to daycare. What was I thinking?!? Black frosting and 13 1 year olds?!? Thankfully Alissa doesn't hate me. :) Eli was shoving his cupcake in is mouth in about 0.2 seconds.



He had frosting everywhere! As did the other children!



Because of HIPA (or whatever you call it) I can't put pictures of other kids on here except Jackson (the perks of having a nephew in the same room!). I think Jack loved them too!



Eli wouldn't let anyone sit by me or talk to me the entire time we were there. I think we've entered the "my mommy is my mommy, get your own mommy phase." Not a big fan of this phase...

Eli {2 Years}

This little man is 2 today!

Eli, you...

~Weigh around 25 lbs and were 30 inches tall at the last doctor check (I'll update this after Tuesday...)

~love to run, run, run. When you run, you swing your arms and it is so funny to watch.

~don't like to sleep, apparently. You are in my bed, but you haven't slept through the night in ages.

~love watching "Hot Dog" aka Mickey Mouse before we go to daycare.

~love Alissa at daycare. I am constantly being called Alissa. :)

~love to dance and sing. Your favorite song is "Happy Birthday". You say, "Ha-ta bir-day" and you make your voice high. It is so sweet. Usually we are singing Happy Birthday to Blitz or Nike because you love those dogs!

~and Leo are best friends (as well as worst enemies!). You play "hoops", tractors, farm, monster, puzzles, Wii, and anything else Leo wants to play together.

~are sassy and spunky and make me laugh every day.

~like to count and say your ABCs. You love to spell your name.

You make our family so much fun! We love you when you are sassy and when you are sweet and all the times in between!

Happy 2nd Birthday, my forever baby!

Love you,
Mommy

Justin's Budget Breaker

Monday night Justin asked if he could go fill in for a friend in "the big city." I had plans to make Eli's birthday treats with Brittany, so I said sure, fine, have fun...

Brittany and I were almost finished with the cupcakes when Nate and Sabrina stopped by. They chatted wedding, Nate and the boys chatted football and I tidied up a bit. My cell phone rang around 8:20. Sabrina answered, and it was Justin. They chatted a minute and she handed me the phone. As she handed it to me she said, "He sounds funny."

Shortly there after, I figured out why he sounded funny. He had gotten hurt playing basketball and was sure he'd broken his collar bone. He kept telling me he was on Minnesota. Obviously, he was in a lot of pain and had no idea what he was talking about. So, by 8:45 Justin's parents were on the way, I was at school getting lesson plans ready for the next day and N, S and B were watching the crazies.

Justin's dad and I headed to "the big city" and found Justin and his friend, Dan, at acute care. Jus was a little tense...

They told him it was broken and he needed to see an orthopedic doctor the next morning. Fast forward to the next morning. {I really want to forget that night! It was horrible!} We went back to "the big city," saw the x-ray and knew surgery was in his near future. The bone was broken into 4 pieces.



We headed home to wait until surgery at 3:45. Then we went back to "the big city" for the 3rd time in 16 hours.

Justin is now the proud owner of a plate and 7 screws. I don't think this was in his budget, and it is coming out of his side!

And so our tradition continues... Odd years at Christmas are not good for the four of us:

'03 Dry socket ~ me
'05 Terrible stomach flu ~ me and Justin
'07 Flu ~ Leo
'09 Spinal headaches and jaundice ~ me and Eli
'11 Broken collar bone ~ Justin
'13 A trip some where far, far away!!!

These things are tolerable, and when we put everything in perspective it's just a minor blip on the radar. Thankful everything can be taken care of and nothing is life threatening.

Nice Hat...

This morning Eli decided he wanted to wear Leo's church hat around the house with his pjs. Nice, right?

Christmas Goodies

Grandma Jan and I had our 2nd annual baking day today. Leo was very into helping make things this year. I have the slight feeling it was because he would sneak a bite or two every five seconds.

He sat in front of the oven like this



for a long time (4 whole minutes!) waiting for a taste of these little babies. He loved them, as did his younger sugar eating brother.



Both boys wanted to get in on making cut out cookies. From this picture you'd think we were a normal family making cookies.



From this view, you learn the truth. Leo likes to cook in his undies. (Actually, he still had his black church pants on, and I didn't want them to get full of flour.)



Eli loved sampling the cookies when they had been frosted. Isn't he just a little ham!



Leo wanted a turn too!



Baking was a huge success this year. I have goodies on my counter that should last well into the new year.

Falls Park

Tonight Justin and I took the boys to Falls Park. It was beautiful! The weather was unseasonably warm for NWI. I wish we had a little snow; it doesn't really feel like Christmas!

We walked around the park, and walked up to the top of the tour. It was really neat. Eli kept talking about the "BIG bubbles!" (He loves to go to our park in the summer and watch the "mini" falls. These were HUGE to him!) Leo was so happy to see all the lights, and kept talking about how "pretty" everything looked. He was right!

Here is a veiw from the tower.



The four of us walked out for a little bit on the rocks. Eli was determined to throw a rock in the water. Yeah, right!



After a trip to get a few things for my upcoming week,



we hit my favorite hot chocolate place. Leo was determined he wanted to have a cup too. He drank it all! That's my boy.

Christmas Pictures ~ Program {2011}

Without further delay. Here is a picture of the boys in their Christmas outfits! I bought these outfits in September. Yes, seriously. I bought them before my birthday. I've been patiently waiting until today to put a few pictures up. They, of course, each have a coordinating hat that goes with their dashing outfits, but I forgot to have them put them on for pictures. Maybe on Christmas Eve.

Leo had his church Christmas program tonight. Well, let's just say, I don't think American Idol is in his near future. He barely sang, did a few of the actions, got moved away from another boy because they (the other boy totally...) were being naughty, fell over once, and kept looking at me shaking my head no. I'll try to get Justin to upload the video to youtube and attach it. He's trying to put Eli down right now. Grandmas and Grandpas came over after the program and did their best to get him settled down...

On to the pictures...

Eli looking at my mom.



Leo all ready to not sing.



My Christmas Cuties.



Our family picture for 2011.



Leo and I acting totally natural.



Don't you just love boys in argyle? ;)

Light Parade {2011}

Tonight was the light parade. Leo loved it last year, and I was excited to take him back and let Eli have his first experience.

Last night Leo didn't sleep so hot. He cried pretty much the entire night. To say that the night was long would be an understatement. Good thing 4th graders don't require as much energy as TKers! He told me that his ear hurt this morning, so me being the slightly neurotic person that I am, I schedule an appointment for this afternoon. (I also scheduled an appointment for Eli, you know, he could be sick...) Found out that E had sinus infection (score 1 for mom's intuition!) and that Leo had a ruptured ear drum. Apparently, I've forgotten what an ear infection starts out as. Or Leo has super human strength and it didn't bother him. I'm going to go with the 2nd option. So we are on some meds, to put it mildly. Then tonight Leo complained of a stomach ache. All my mommy alarms when haywire. This may be a secret and may come as a shock to you, but I am terrified of the stomach flu. Seriously, it causes me to lose sleep at night. I worry that I won't know how to clean up the mess, that I'll get sick from the mess or that I'll get sick from the virus. Seriously, November until March is just stressful on the SFA (Stomach Flu Alert).

I digress. Tonight we went downtown for dinner and the parade of lights. Santa was at dinner, but the boys didn't think they wanted to spend any amount of time talking to him. They drove around with Justin's parents while I picked up the $65 worth of prescriptions. Nice. There went the medical budget...

I brought glow sticks for the boys to wear so they could feel like part of the parade. :) They thought it was cool. We sat and watched the {very short} parade. Leo and Eli oooed and ahhed over the floats and firetrucks.

I'm thinking next year the 4th graders are going to get a float together...

Eli's New Fav

I know I've bragged up our daycare before, but I have to do it again. They are so awesome! All the people that the boys have had at KC are just amazing. They love on my boys when I can't.

The teachers teach the boys such great things. They count, say the ABCs, sing songs, dance, play games, work on "nice touches" (which we need to work on at home!), pray, and so much more. They are truly amazing.

Eli is "reading" his favorite book that they read at daycare. He was being a silly ham until I pulled the camera out. It's still pretty funny. :)

Love that boy!

Christmas Shirts

I'm a sucker for boy's clothes. I will admit, I have a problem-a serious addiction. I mean it's a dangerous obsession. I love clothes. I love to shop for them. I love to buy them. I love to fold them (not so much wash or put away). I really love to shop online and have packages at my house when I get home from work.

It's a bad deal now that Justin has put me on a budget. He says he wants to know where our $$ is going. I say he wants to check up on me. He might have found my stashes of clothes in the basement, the closets, any other place I can store them...

Even though I'm on a budget, I just couldn't say no to Christmas shirts! I ordered these online the day after Thanksgiving and got a great deal! (Seriously, not even saying it 'cause Justin reads the blog.)

Look at these sweeties in their Christmas shirts! (Just wait until you see their Christmas church outfits!!!)

Mr. Cooperative:



Mr. Slightly Less Cooperative:



*But hey, this is the only picture I took of him this time! Can you believe it? Melia, there is hope!!

All I have to do is show it to them, then they smile!



Oh, ok. Here they are being true to form...