Christmas time is here

I love Christmas time.  It warms the cockles of my heart, what with the music, the lights, the apple cider brewing, warming the air with it's delicious aroma...  I'm a sap and I have no problem admitting it.  My love of the Christmas season is akin to my love of Halloween, only this goes deeper.  It fills my soul and brings real joy.  I love the warm glow of the Christmas tree lights in the corner of my family room.  I like to sit with all the other lights turned off, just looking at the tree.  I love decorating my house, playing Christmas music all month long, counting down the days until the big day.  I love reading Christmas books to my children and teaching them about the birth of the Savior.  I love it that Rebekah is excited about acting out the Nativity and hopes to play Mary this year.  I love finding fun activities for my family to do, to help bring in the holiday spirit.  I love carrying out our own family traditions each year, and making it more our own as each year passes.  I love telling my kids about Santa, and making reindeer food and cookies, writing and sending letters to the North Pole.  I love giving presents and teaching my children about the joy of giving.  I love seeing the joy that comes to their faces as they begin to understand more of what Christmas is and what it is all about.  
What a wonderful time of year.
 

A pain in the ear

I am frustrated.  Levi had tubes put in his ears back in February or March of this year.  Prior to this he was having ear infections once a month or so.  Since the surgery everything has been great up until this past month.  3 weeks ago his poor little eardrum ruptured and out came the tube.  So our old friend the ear infection was back.  Then this weekend Levi's eardrum ruptured again  for the same ear.  3 weeks apart.  Are you kidding me. 
Perhaps this is why the poor kid has taken to sleeping horribly and waking up 1 or 2 times a night, refusing to go back to sleep and insisting on coming to our bed.  My goodness.  This has been a rough road lately.  He needs to go back to the specialist to get checked out again.  The specialist is booked up for the next 2 1/2 months, so hopefully they can squish us in somewhere or at the rate Levi's going he'll have another 3 or 4 major ear infections before his appointment finally comes    

November update

November wasn't quite as busy as October for us, probably because there aren't a whole lot of Thanksgiving activities out there. We did end up making some Native American headbands for the kids to wear. Correction, Rebekah made them for us all to wear. Levi, Caroline and I went to Rebekah's Thanksgiving party at school. The kids in her class were all dressed up and sang songs. Rebekah was doing the actions and singing until she saw us arrive. After that she only smiled and acted bashful. It made for thrilling homes videos.
On Thanksgiving day we went to Sam's and ate delicious food. Afterward we all headed over to cousin Joe's lot to watch Sam rip out tree stumps with his tractor. In the evening we headed over to Nelson's cousin's house for another dinner. Lots of food and lots of turkey.

That evening I braved the crowds to do some Black Friday shopping. Little quiz for you: did you know that Black Friday shopping actually starts at 9:00 pm on Thursday now? Wowsers.

Rebekah is continuing to love the violin and ballet. Her teachers always praise her and tell me how she is doing so well. Her ballet teacher says she is a little leader in her class.

Levi is a rascal if ever there was a rascal. He keeps me on my toes to say the least. He is not a mean boy, he is just constantly getting into things. I have to child lock everything I can. And if it can't be locked down, he's into it. Or on top of it. Including the baby. On several occasions I have found him trying to ride Caroline like a horse. (I think he took the pony rides last month a little too seriously). Levi continues to say more and more things. He has a deep voice for a little boy and it's quite charming at times. He has started to need more attention at nap and bed time. Nelson always puts Rebekah and Levi to bed, and Levi has started to cry hysterically when Nelson leaves the room at night. A few days ago we were letting him cry it out. It finally reached a point where we were going to go in and lay him back on his bed. Nelson opened the door and Levi comes bolting out, completely naked and smelling of urine. Oh, so that's why he was laying down at the door, screaming so hard.

Caroline has developed a love of socks. No, not to wear, to bite and chew on. If she has socks on she gleefully yanks and pulls on them until one comes off in her hands. One day she was wearing pants with footies. She quickly became frustrated and screamed and cried when the footies would not come off for her to play with. She started eating Gerber puffs last week, like baby food pears, and that's about it. She is not a lover of baby food, but enjoys small pieces or regular food. She plays with Levi and Rebekah more and more, and loves to play with Nelson. She just smiles when she hears his voice or sees him.

    Levi playing in his room after having scaled a shelf in his closet to find his Christmas present (the train set).

                                      Rebekah in school for her kindergarten Thanksgiving party

Levi loves to find the floss and pull out as much as possible before he gets caught.  Here he is, having tied up  a coffee table leg, and himself.  It was like he had somehow handcuffed his own arms behind his back.

                           His hand turning purple from so much floss being wound around the wrist.

Caroline at 7 months

This month Caroline

• started to sit up all by herself.
• is eating more baby foods and now baby puffs, but still prefers small bites of real food.
• loves bath time more than almost anything else.  The other day I was running the bath water and when I didn't put Caroline in the tub she started protesting with angry squeals and tears.  Too cute.
• is more vocal and active. 
• loves to be entertained by her family, especially daddy and Levi. 
• has become enamored with Nelson.  When he comes home, or when I call him on the phone and she hears his voice she gets so excited.  I love it.
• loves to swing at the park.  We go to the park a few times a week and she is so content to just swing while Levi (and Rebekah when we go after school) runs around playing.  It makes it easier for me, too!

October Update

I am a month behind with our updates, but I still wanted to write one for October for journal purposes.
I planned several activities to do with the kids this month. I absolutely love the fall and Halloween and I try to take full advantage of all the fantastic opportunities around us. I am always searching for fun things to do with my kids, and October is bursting at the seams with them.
At the beginning of the month Rebekah had a half day at school so we decided to just skip it. Instead the kids and I went to The Oil Ranch. It has hay rides, a train to ride, cows to feed and milk, 2 petting zoos, a garden, bounce houses, an Indian village, pony rides, pumpkin patch, hay maze and more. Levi especially loved the train and Rebekah loved the ponies. The weather wasn't too bad - mid to upper 80s, with humidity of course.

That weekend we went to a fall festival. This is a tradition for us. The kids play silly games, get their face painted, and endure a short, yet torturous, photo shoot at the pumpkin patch.

The Children's Museum here in Houston is one of the top in the nation, and luckily for us it's close by. They decorate the whole place for Halloween. The kids ran around and played, painted their faces (a favorite of theirs), went trick or treating, and explored.

We decorated spooky candy houses at home, which I tried in vain to keep the kids from eating. They sat on the counter and every morning a few pieces would go missing. I wonder how that happened.

Our local YMCA has a Trunk or Treat party the weekend before Halloween. The highlight for this is the costume contest (which we have won a few times) and, oddly enough, the camel rides. I don't know how they figure the camel into Halloween, but they do. Rebekah was a peacock last year and really wanted to be one again with Caroline this year. I obliged and made a matching peacock costume for Caroline. They looked adorable. To keep up with the bird theme Levi was a penguin. He has started to really enjoy the penguin movie 'Happy Feet' so he was happy with this. I would ask him to dance like Mumble Happy Feet (from the movie) and he would get a big grin on his face and start dancing around all goofy like, twitching and flapping his little penguin flippers.

Rebekah was sick for two days at the end of the month and stayed home from school. One of these days happened to be our church playgroup Halloween party. I had made the cute little Frankenstein snacks so I just took all three kids to the party. They had fun, and enjoyed being able to wear their costumes.

On Halloween day I made the same Frankenstein snacks and took them to Rebekah's class for snack time. It was fun to be able to join her at school.

Well, by the time Halloween finally came around, I was over the whole thing. The kids changed costumes - Rebekah a Hula girl, Levi still the penguin, and Caroline a love bug (costumes I already had). We still went to the ward trunk or treat, but decided to forgo the real trick or treating. That is, until I started driving home through our neighborhood. I saw all these kids out, and the houses with all of their fun decorations and decided that Levi and Rebekah needed to go to just a few houses. (I have a great system for all the candy - when the kids go to sleep I take most of it and give it to the trick or treaters that come around to our house).

Believe it or not, things did occur at our home this month that did not involve Halloween. Rebekah is having fun with her violin, Levi has decided that trains are where it's at, and Caroline has decided that baby food is not for her. Her personality is starting to show. She loves to have things in her hands to play with, and she squawks and babbles. She rolls around like a maniac, cannot yet sit up by herself, sleeps well, and is all around a pleasant baby. Levi is talking more every day. My favorite phrase is the way the he says "alwight, mama". So cute. Rebekah is doing well in school, and her teacher loves having her in her class.

Riding on a train:

   
                                                             Learning how to milk a cow:

                                                           At The Children's Museum:

                                                               The scary vampire:

                                                                 'Just a bunch of birds!'
                                                    Little peacock, penguin, big peacock

                                      Riding the camel.  Rebekah looks like royalty in this photo:

Caroline at 6 months

I cannot believe that my baby is 6 months already!  That's a milestone for a baby and I must admit I am a little sad that it is here already.
Caroline weighs 15 lb 6 oz. and is almost 26 inches long.

• loves to roll around and observe everything around her.  She has even started to like the TV when her brother and sister are watching it.
• does not like baby food yet.  Pears are about the only baby food she'll eat.  She prefers a small piece of bread or a grain of rice.
• loves bath time.  She recently discovered that she can splash her hands in the water and loves doing it.  It's great fun for her. 
• plays more and more with her little toys, especially in her exersaucer and her swing. 
• laughs when she is tickled on her chest and neck.  Great big laughs.
• started waking up in the night again, but thankfully that only lasted a week or so.

Caroline at 5 months

Caroline learned quite a few new tricks this month.

• she started rolling from tummy to back, and after a few weeks from back to tummy.  She doesn't really like when she ends up on her tummy, though, so she quickly taught herself to roll back onto her back again!
• She started eating rice cereal and has not taken a liking to it yet.
• She transitioned from her bassinet to her crib.  It took her about a week to get used to it but she loves it now.  
• She interacts with others (besides me or Rebekah) more.  She especially has taken a liking to Levi and Daddy.
• Caroline has had a growth spurt as well, and her little knees now have rolls on them!  Too cute!
• She has started to have a schedule of sorts with her naps.  Time to rearrange my schedule to match hers!

September update

Our September was not very eventful, and that's just fine with me!  We did manage to go to an Astros game at the beginning of the month, and also to the zoo at the end of the month.  Rebekah had a day off of school on the 29th so we took advantage of it and had a play date at the zoo.  It was a fun, although hot, day.

Rebekah started up ballet and tap again and loves it.  It's fun to peek in the classroom and watch her point her toes, follow instructions, attempt dance moves.  She is quite obedient in class, which is a relief!  I know how I was with teachers growing up, and I hope none of my children follow suite!  Rebekah is reading more and more.  She also started violin lessons after labor day, and is eager to learn!

Levi is a sweet, rascally little guy.  He continues to climb like a monkey onto and into everything.  He's even had a few falls,  but nothing will stop this boy.  You'd think he'd learn!  I recently found him napping up on the top bunk, Rebekah's bed, without the safety rail.  (He'd somehow pulled it off and thrown it down onto the ground).  Luckily I went in there because the light was on, not a common nap time occurrence, and found him before he had the chance to roll off the bed.  He is speaking more and more, learning news words almost daily.  It's fun to hear him chatter away, and actually understand some of it!  

Caroline started rolling at the beginning of the month, and now rolls around.  She gets quite unhappy when she's sleeping and ends up rolling onto her tummy.  Screaming ensues.  She started on rice cereal as well.  She's not too keen on it yet, but likes to spit it back out and wipe it into her hair.  She is becoming more attached to Nelson and Levi, smiling and laughing for them.

Nelson is busy with work, and is starting to learn about buying/flipping houses as well.  That's a goal of ours, and he's excited to know more about it.  (We're not to the point of buying a house yet, just in the getting to know you phase of things).

That's about it!

                                                     Eating rice cereal for the first time:

Rolling

                                                                 At the Astros game

                                                                 
                                                                Ready for church

                                                      Thanks for the dresses, Auntie Em!

                                                           
                                                                        At the Zoo

New born photo shoot

My sister-in-law took some cute photos of Caroline when she was about a week or a week and a half old.  It obviously has taken me a while to post these!

Newborn photo shoots really aren't fair to the new mom.  She looks cute and I look...like I've gained a considerable amount of weight.

I'm going to frame these three black and white photos.  I love them together like this.