"I Need a little Christmas"

Well I figured I better get a move on with posting all the happenings of December before Christmas comes TOMORROW! Funny thing is that a portion of this post actually occurred in November...oh well, better late than never! 

We love to set up our tree the weekend following Thanksgiving & this year was no exception. We were taking bets on if the lights on our beloved Christmas tree from the first year of marriage would still work when dragged out of the attic. We got it down as soon as nap time started, plugged it in & were a little disappointed to see that only the middle section lit up.  Robby said it was not a problem & that we could just take the lights off the tree & restring it.  So, we got to work with a pocket knife & scissors cutting all the lights off. Slowly but surely we shredded the tree making it more "Charlie Brown Style" than ever before. I was laughing on the inside & we both laughed about it when the whole situation was resolved. About a third of the way thru Rob called it quits & said to go buy another tree. Mind you our beloved tree cost less than $30 so on the way out the door I heard Rob yell "Don't spend more than $30!" I laughed to myself thinking "yeah right!" I headed to Target & debated not taking my phone in so I could avoid receiving a call saying to be really frugal. Later I found out that Rob considered turning his phone on silent so he wouldn't get a call from me saying the cheapest tree was way over $30. 

Long story short, I walked straight to the Christmas section. Lo & behold there was a stack of trees with a sign on top that said "$29.99" I could hardly believe my eyes! I immediately texted a picture of it to Rob & he said "buy two!" Haha! It was a happy moment! I rushed home, got it set up & put out some more of the decorations. 

Once the kids were up from naps we got them into some Christmas jammies & got to eating & decorating! Eloise is almost always making this face when we take her picture...silly goose. 

Charlotte's favorite way to hang the ornaments was to climb on the couch & reach to the tree.

Anson & Owen got to try our traditional "snackies" which is code for sausage balls & pigs in a blanket. They really liked them both & this mama is happy they are well on their way to eating chunks of food.

Eloise was a ham as usual & was cracking us up when I would ask her to bring me a piggy & she would poke her finger through the bread, push the piggy out & bring just that to me.

Owen got plenty of kisses from his Daddy....and everyone else.

Anson, Mommy & Owen

Charlotte got to help put the star on. Take notice of how there are only about 8 ornaments on the tree. That is as far as we got with the whole brood.  We had some challenging children that evening that got to go to bed a wee bit early.  We were so exhausted that the rest of the ornaments did not get put on for another 36 hours!

The good news is that all was decorated & there were a couple packages under the tree by that Thursday when we celebrated with Steve, Jenny (and her growing baby bump that happens to be another GIRL, wahoo!) Karis & Isaac. Our original plan was to do dinner together but Karis & Isaac were a little under the weather so we fed kids early, they arrived, we opened gifts then put kids to bed while us adults had our own little party. 

This is the first time we have had a photo taken of all of us. Thanks to the tripod & self timer, we have a fabulous picture!

Another first was getting all six kids together! It is a wild bunch & only getting wilder come March when the newest niece joins the family & we have seven kids that are four & under! LOVE IT!

Aunt Jenny kept Anson happy on her lap.

Owen on the other hand,  was not too happy... about the gift he received ; )

He warmed up to it once he had a piece of that choo choo train in his mouth.

Here are our precious niece & nephew.  We will never have children that look like that ; ) 

Once the chitlin's were in bed we enjoyed a spread of cheese & crackers Steve & Jenny brought back from a farm in Texas. 

Our appetizer was followed by a delicious homemade soup called Turkey _______ it starts with a "P" & all I can think of at the moment is "Polska" & "Palooza" which it is neither but I think I will just call it Turkey Palooza because it sounds good & it was good! Chef Rob made it with leftover Thanksgiving turkey & homemade broth. It was spicy & topped with cabbage, red onion, avocado, mexican cheese, cilantro & limes. AMAZING combo! It was chilly outside too so a warm soup was just right for the evening.

We finished off the night with watching the TV version of Sound of Music while listening to commentary by Rob & Steve which might have been more entertaining than the show itself ; ) About halfway through we switched over to Duck Dynasty for a good laugh then packed the other Valentines up & said farewell.

The Christmas decor, our holiday books, the hot chocolate & the music just puts me in a good mood. The reading & re reading of our advent books & the story of Christ's birth in the Jesus Storybook bible are a daily reminder of what we are celebrating.  Hearing the girls telling us the story of when Jesus was born as they look at pictures brings a smile to my face.

Last year Christmas was rough being in the middle of a difficult pregnancy & caring for a very sick puppy dog who died on the 27th.   Rob & I were out to lunch on December 26th & heard the song "We Need a Little Christmas" with the lyrics:

Haul out the holly;
Put up the tree before my spirit falls again.
Fill up the stocking,
I may be rushing things, but deck the halls again now.
For we need a little Christmas
Right this very minute,
Candles in the window,
Carols at the spinet.

At this point we had spent the majority of the past five days looking at Bennett laying on the couch with the Christmas tree in view, Christmas music playing, petting him with tears rolling down our cheeks. When that song came on we starting whisper shouting "NO! NO MORE CHRISTMAS!" We laughed out loud during lunch that day which felt really good considering all the non laughable matters in our life at that time. I did in fact take all the decorations down the day Bennett died & I am pretty sure I was grumpy about it. It had been a LONG week. I was a little unsure of how I would feel pulling them back out again this year. I have found myself replaying the events of the week in my mind & I have felt sad at times missing ol Bennett. Even with that sadness, there is much joy in our hearts.

We are so grateful to be celebrating this year in Florida & in Texas seeing almost every single member of our extended family & many good friends over the course of a few weeks in Orlando & the great state of Texas. 

Owen & Anson at 9 months

These little monkeys are NINE months old! Three quarters of their first year of life have passed & they are proving to be more entertaining each & every day. Their grins are are no longer toothless & they no longer stay put when you lay them on a blanket. They are full of laughter, shrieking, playfulness & are always up for a good snuggle. They are starting to wave & both boys are melting our hearts with saying mamamama & dadadada all day everyday.

OWEN

Mighty O's Stats:

15 pounds 10 ounces

27 inches long

6-9 month clothing

Growin' Owen impressed his pediatrician by jumping up a bit on his growth curve even if he is still on the small side. He has some chubby little knees when sitting with his legs outstretched but his core remains strong as strong can be. O is like one little muscle & my guess is that he will start crawling while we are in Texas this month. He is constantly leaning over to reach things, getting at least one knee under him before flopping onto his belly & rolling/wiggling to his destination.  Owen is also pulling up onto his knees from a sitting position. He is a determined little fellow who is constantly searching for some excitement in his life. When Daddy is holding him he will squeal loudly until lifted up in the air in a trampoline like bouncing motion off his legs. Owen lands, does his arms out like a gymnast, straightens his legs, squeals & then goes again, and again, and again. He has a lot of energy. He likes to push his toys off the couch if he is sitting next to you then attempts to dive off. He & Elo could be quite the dangerous combination come full mobility ; ) 

He has quite the appetite & new favorites this month include broccoli, mango, yogurt puffs & any sort of cracker. Both boys are devouring crackers like hungry little monsters which means I can get something done in the kitchen but I have to sweep the floor after every twin vs cracker encounter.  I don't sweep the floor every time & have been known to put shoes on while walking around the kitchen so I can ignore the fact that the floor is crumb ridden. Definitely missing Bennett these days since Bella is not quite the same caliber of vacuum. Anyway, hungry O, he likes to eat, he likes to nurse & he likes his bottle which he can now hold HALLELUJAH! In the eating department, he has enjoyed the recent addition of both bottom teeth definitely more than mommy has. I tell you what, nursing two babies with teeth simultaneously is like nursing two little piranhas with no manners!  It is a challenge to have my hands tied up & try to protect myself. We are still going strong though & neither babe is losing interest. Owen got both teeth within 24 hours of each other the week of Thanksgiving. They are now starting to stick up enough to see when he does his precious little grin.

Owee LOVES the bath tub & is happy to play alone, with his bro or with the whole family of kids. It depends on my mood as to how I tackle bath time but more often than not they all go in together & play for a good 30 minutes before anyone cries. If you say "Owen, can you splash?" He gets goin' with his hands making water go everywhere. It's pretty cute & pretty wet. He is usually the first to cry & first to exit the tub. He is my little guy & I love him. 

The boys are interacting more & more every day. They play nice for a bit then start attacking each other usually resulting in tears from whoever gets pinched or bitten harder. On the sweet side, they make sounds back & forth sometimes when they are sitting in their high chairs & I did catch them one morning pulling down the bumpers on their cribs to look at each other across the room. Adorable! They were hilarious in their monkey hats. Owen who is on the left, got a hold on the strings of Anson's hat & pulled him down to where he was bent in half. Once Anson recovered he grabbed Owen's hat & pulled it over his eyes! Sneaky move!

They are pretty much in the same exact routine minus waking/going down for a nap separate but within 20-30 minutes of each other on occasion.  If I let them get off schedule it feels like I have one baby that doesn't nap all day long & it can be a bit challenging to get anything else done.

What their eating & sleeping looks like right now:
7:00- nurse
7:30- breakfast
8:45-10:30- nap
10:30- 6-7oz bottle of formula
11:30- lunch
12:45- nurse
1-3:45- nap
3:45- 6-7oz bottle of formula
5:00- dinner
6:30- nurse
6:45- bed

Some days everything is shifted earlier & they are sooooo tired by 5:45pm that we just put them down for the night & don't hear from them till 6:45am. I wish I could sleep that long every night! They love their beds & rarely fuss when it's time to sleep. We just lowered the mattress down since Muscles (Owen) is attempting to pull himself up.

ANSON

Chubby Bubby's Stats:

17 pounds 10 ounces

27 3/4 inches

6-9 month clothing

This kiddo really wowed us with his quick weight gain in the past couple months. He jumped up a good 30% on the growth curve chart. I can't say I was surprised since he has been known to nurse, get topped off with a bottle & try to steal his big brothers bottle from him too.  Talk about chubby knees, Anson has the yummiest knees much like his big sisters did at this age.  Due to the chub factor or possibly the lazy factor (in the nicest way to say that), he is happy as can be sitting upright & rarely leans far to get something out of reach. I have caught him on his knees once or twice looking ready to crawl but that big belly hangs so low to the ground it is easy to collapse & rest. He may surprise us & crawl in Texas too, only time will tell! He does not seek out adventure in the same way his brother does but is quite entertained by bouncing on knees or playing airplane.

We just rewatched Lambert the Sheepish Lion the other day & laughed so hard because Lambert says "mama" much like Anson. It is sweet. Anson also has a sheepish grin sometimes just like Lambert. Anson acts like he hasn't eaten in weeks EVERY time we feed him hollering between each bite. He has truly enjoyed making huge messes of crackers both graham & ritz while I watch with a grin on my face. He eats whatever is offered & lots of it! He loves nursing even more than his brother & will snuggle there for much longer than necessary to receive adequate milk intake. It is precious though & I love it.  His hair is wild, stands straight up & hangs over his ears. We are thinking he might need a little trim in the next couple weeks.

Anson is a big fan of the bath tub too & probably prefers bathing with his sisters & even lets them wash his hair. As long as he isn't super tired & grumpy, he will withstand torture in the bath tub for a long time. He splashes with his bro & helps make the floor outside the tub really wet. He is my chubby bubby & I love him too.

We have twins! I was still saying that to myself when I took these pictures the other day....TWO cute little tushies!

Eloise at two & a half

Eloise Hope hit the halfway mark between two & three at the end of November. I look at her & I just smile knowing the sweetness of who she is coupled with the shenanigans she is capable of. She looks so calm in the picture above holding the flowers ever so gently....she can be calm but not for long.  Elo is on the go all the time!  We love this girl & are thankful to have her sandwiched in the middle of our "whole family of kids." I use that phrase frequently. It was taken from an Ellis home video of me at age 7, Scott at age 3 & newborn baby Kyle all snuggled on the couch together. look at my mom & say in a nerdy way "look, it's a whole family of kids!" I look around my house sometimes & think "who lives here... a whole family of kids?" I load the dishwasher with an entire upper rack of kids silverware, bowls & sippy cups & think "yep, a whole family of kids has taken over this dishwasher!" 

Anyway, Eloise is right smack in the middle of a big sis, baby boas & she couldn't be any cuter...

She is just under 30 pounds & fits most comfortably into 3T clothing although we still have some 2T items in circulation. She wears a size 8.5 or 9 shoe.  She has officially "caught" her sister in shoe size since Charlotte's feet have not grown in two years! I never had a sister to share clothing/shoes with but so far, not so good, Elo always wants to wear Char's shoes & someone is not excited about that.  

Eloise has recently received a new nickname....or five. We love nicknames around here : ) Our friends, those in the Ziel family have always called her Lolo so we started saying it too, we then added Lo, Loli & Lolita. Rob even made up a whole song about Lolita & how she is chiquita & bonita. It's great. 

Here are some things this spunky little Lolita is up to at two & a half:

• runs full speed, jumps up & down, crashes regularly
• has really gotten the hang of kicking the soccer ball & loves to run down the sidewalk kicking it over & over as it bounces off the grass on either side
• still rubs her belly button & holds the back of her hand over her mouth when sleepy or unsure
• can stack lots of block into a tall tower, can destroy tall towers rather quickly 
• can count to ten but only when she wants to
• knows the letters O, A, C, E which are the first initials of the kiddos around here
• has not had an accident in a LONG time....knock on wood ; ) 
• loves to eat blueberries which she pronounces "boo-bies" she also loves pancakes, turkey & cheese chunks, Cheetos, raisins, almonds & any sweet treat
• sings many of her own songs
• tells stories that don't make a lot of sense but are very long & usually include a monster and or Jesus shooting people with the "shooo" sound effect...not sure where that came from
• she likes to sit on Bella's back
• yells at the babies to not bite mommy while nursing
• calls Anson "chubby bubby" & thinks of him often. She lays in our bed when the sun is coming up & says "Mommy, I want to go get that chubby bubby."
• cannot for the life of her, no matter how many times we show her, get her panties on without being inside out & backwards...its hilarious
• colors rather crazily with markers on paper, tables & herself
• requests multiple times a day to be held & spun around or dance to music
• sleeps in random places & positions ie in an infant bathtub or on her belly hanging off the side of the bed with both feet on the ground
• still loves to have her bottom patted & many times convinces her sister to do it
• knows a few more colors & shapes
• loves to prepare "food" for us from her kitchen & says that most every item is a pancake when served

Mamasita: One thing I adore about Eloise is that she is a mini mama. She cares for Owen & Anson the best way she knows how which proves to cause a lot of crying on their part but they are getting tougher as they become accustomed to her affection. She is precious with her baby dolls & stuffed animals making sure they are fed & have clean diapers on. We all know Eloise rarely wears clothing although we are not sure why that is......we (me & Rob) agree that we love seeing her little body streaking through the house so we let her stay "cool" in her birthday suit plus some undies. Here she is feeding her baby owl.

I love that she wears shoes with undies only & then wants a baby or two strapped on....

Sissy talks a lot: A sissy talks a lot is definitely not on the Christmas list this year since we already have one ; ) This little lady has lots to say & happens to have the cutest little voice & expressions to accompany her fast growing vocabulary. Here are some frequent phrases we hear day to day:

• When doing something she is not supposed to do such as jumping off the back of the couch or climbing onto the counter she says "Mommy, I be brave." I tell her I am not looking for her to be brave, just obedient ; ) 
• If she doesn't want to eat her dinner she says "My tummy ache hurts." She also tells us "I wah yayipop, make my tummy ache feel better."
• If she has two of anything she says "I have two ones!"
• When it is time for a nap or bed & she is trying to stall she says "I need tell you something." We say, "yes, Eloise" & her response is always quiet jibberish with lots of "leelalula" in it.
• When the girls are playing together & I overhear their conversation as Char asks Elo if she can use something Eloise usually responds with "just 40 minutes." Charlotte always asks "is that a long time?" Char asks that about every length of time we say so it makes me laugh that she asks Elo who has no idea how long that really is & she says "no, it's not a long time."
• Today at the doctors office she got our pediatricians attention & said "You know what?" she leaned closer & whispered "49." ??
• She knows a crazy number of her catechism questions. We were only working with her on maybe #1-12 but she knows most of the answers up to #30 just from listening in on when we review with Char. She mostly gets them right but cracks us up when we say "Eloise, how many Gods are there?" The answer is of course "one God" but she ALWAYS says "two sons" which is from something else we learned that talks about how many sons Isaac had. 
• This girl says "I sorry" a lot which sounds like "I saw-ee." She is definitely a quick apologizer & is saying "I sorry I sorry I sorry I sorry" immediately after whatever just occurred that was her fault. We got to laughing last night when Robby was doing an impression of her saying "I sorry I kicked you in the face mommy, I sorry I bit your finger Charlotte, I sorry I body slammed you Owen!" I am glad she wants to say sorry but I think sometimes she thinks she can do whatever she wants as long as she apologizes right away & over & over ; ) 

"There were never more devoted sisters": One other sweet gift I enjoy is watching a special relationship develop between these two...

They really love each other & can get to giggling so hard we cannot even get their attention.  Right now they are ridiculously silly when someone burps or toots. They just dissolve into a fit of laughter. I thought only boys thought that was funny ; ) I'm in for it though considering boys may find that even funnier than girls!

Eloise does not like to go into her class at church or Thursday at school without Charlotte walking her to the door & making a big show of hugs & kisses to send her on her way. It is pretty adorable. These two spend lots of time together day & night sharing a room. Elo prefers to sleep in Charlotte's bed for nap time every day & does well climbing up and down the ladder. She snoozes for a couple hours & every now & then for three hours when she is totally wiped out. She goes down when the boys do around 1. Many times when she wakes up, she pops her head out of her room & says "Peek a boo!"

Mischievous behavior: There is a lot of mischievous behavior from this cutie patootie. I really feel like I can't take my eyes off her for very long although I do & I can't say I always regret it because I usually end up laughing hard. Here are two recent stories:

1. I was in the kitchen & turned off the water in the sink when I heard water still running coming from the kids bathroom. I grabbed my phone & started recording. I came around the corner to find her up on the counter with sopping wet washcloths & water pouring down the mirror as she got it "all keen mommy!" She is such a helpful girl isn't she?
2. We got home from school one Thursday & it is always a marathon to get everyone fed & down when they are that tired. I was feeding babies in their room with the door shut to keep the chaos out. I was gone for about 10 minutes when I heard Eloise yelling "help help!" I came out to find that she had climbed up on my craft table & found some pink embroidery thread that she unwound & ran ALL over the living rooms & playroom with. It was wrapped tightly around her foot (that could have been bad) wrapped around furniture, toys & the best part was that she had tied up Bella to where she was lying still in the middle of the floor! Haha! I had to cut the thread off of Bella & Eloise to free them & then we collected the rest. Here is the pile when we were done...

This girl is keeping us on our toes in thus far, the busiest season of life! I love her & her cuddles...

Happy two & a half years Lolo! You are sweeter than sweet!

Celebrating Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving week was quite enjoyable for a multitude of reasons. One at the top of the list was that Rob was not too busy at work early in the week & then was off starting Wednesday. It is amazing to have a full timer to tag team home/child management with! We did a whole lot of relaxing around the house & it was lovely. 

We woke up Thanksgiving morning with two little ladies snuggled between us. It was one of those nights where we just wanted to sleep & we didn't care who was sleeping with us. As a result of that decision, we were in bed till after 7 which rarely happens when they are in their own beds so it was a good start to a great day! We stayed in our jammies till lunch moving from the bed to the couch for some Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade watching. Even Bella girl participated!

Rob & I cooked up some of the best sausage balls we have had in a long time & my Grandmother Alene's delicious angel biscuits.  I had the chocolate pie recipe staring me in the face to remind me to make it too : )

I got cozy with the girls once the little guys were back down for a nap. Robby served up the sausage balls in the shape of a heart, perfectly suited for the Valentine chickadees.

Eloise has this habit where she takes a bite out of each one & puts it back on the plate.....

She also has the habit of performing mouth to mouth resuscitation on her brothers at least once every day.....

We were tired of being cooped up by lunch time so we put on our "winter gear" to go for a walk in the 60 degree weather. It felt amazing!

Owen on the left, Anson on the right

We made it over to the field next to our house in enough time for the girls to do some exploring with their big strong daddy. This made me excited for our upcoming squirrel hunt! 

After a walk & light lunch, we got the kids (minus Char) down for naps. I then put myself down for my pre- work nap which is ALWAYS amazing. I slept for a few hours & awoke to the smell of some delicious homemade Chicken Noodle Soup.  I kissed everyone goodnight & left for work by 6. It was an enjoyable night, not too wild but busy enough to stay awake ; ) I did deliver one little turkey just before midnight to a sweet couple I enjoyed taking care of. 

I was home by 8, scarfed down a breakfast sandwich, whipped up some chocolate pie for our Thanksgiving Friday dinner & hit the sack by 9:30. The weekly routine is for Rob & the kids to pick up Chick-a-LAY (as the girls say) for lunch. I felt rested & excited to get ready for our evening. 

Since being in Florida, we have hosted a Thanksgiving meal every year & were planning to again with some friends from our small group.  One of the ladies LouSena called about a week prior & offered to host....I answered "yes" before she finished the question ; ) It was such a gift to take a side dish & dessert instead of cleaning before & after along with making the turkey! 

We headed over around 4 with our crew + two pack n' plays, a fan, two high chairs & plenty of baby food to keep the littlest of the bunch happy. We don't travel light these days! 

Dean & LouSena's home backs up to a golf course which made for an easy place to take a quick family photo. Boy is it hard to get everyone to look at the same time! Little O was looking at that wet ground hoping we weren't going to set him back down again. 

The girls got comfy (& silly) in the swinging chair out on the patio....

The boys were happy as they could be eating some sweet potatoes, peas & cheerios.  A typical Thanksgiving meal for an almost 9 month old right?

Anson...I could just eat him up. 

Owen getting some tickles from his sis.

The lovely couples that joined us in celebrating Thanksgiving one day late....

Josh & Lindsay

Don & Cathy

LouSena & Dean

Us 

and 5 out of the 7 precious children. The baby boys went to bed at six when we sat down to eat. These five snuggled up on the couch to watch a movie & within the hour the big girls came out to report that Charlotte was sound asleep.  Poor girl can't stay awake for a night time movie to save her life...I think she got that from me ; )

Clara, Eloise, Charlotte, Anna & Alex

Our meal was delicious with all the classic side dishes. What was better than the food was the laughter among friends. We miss our family dearly but are thankful for the many friends we have shared holidays with over the years.