Christmas, Part 1

Since we're spending Christmas with Jay's family, we opened our presents sent to us by my side of the family a little early. We put on some Christmas music, sat by the tree, and let Hayden go at it. He opened presents with such speed and precision that he opened most of Jonah's in addition to his own. He got some Legos (and yes, that is chocolate around his mouth--chocolate makes opening presents even more fun).Jonah immediately put all toys in his mouth:Hayden was especially excited about his new bike from Grandma Thurgood:Here he is "helping" Daddy put it together:

I was pretty impressed when Hayden built a Lego tower that is taller than he is. He also looks pretty cute in his new dinosaur jammies.The biggest surprise of the night came when Jay gave my present to me. We had agreed to get each other something small, and Jay told me that he'd ordered my present and that I shouldn't open it when the package came. So, it didn't surprise me when one day last week the FedEx guy delivered a small, DVD-sized package addressed to Jay. Imagine my surprise when Jay says "let me go get your present" and comes walking in the room holding this:
I tried to recreate my look of shock for this picture, but my real reaction was a lot of screaming and some crying. I've wanted this photo of the Salt Lake Temple for a while, but it is a bit pricey and I figured I'd save my pennies to get it a ways down the road. It definitely did NOT fit in the box that was delivered. It turns out that the package contained a Christmas DVD Jay got free when he ordered my present, but the picture was shipped separately. I just happened to be with the boys at the library when my real present was delivered, so Jay snuck home from work and hid it, and I had no idea. He's so sneaky! Best surprise ever!

We finished our Christmas, round 1, with watching Mickey's Christmas Carol with the boys. It was a perfectly pleasant evening, and I can't wait to do it again (this time with Jay's family) in a few days. Thank you family for the wonderful and thoughtful gifts!

Santa and Co.

We braved the mall to see Santa Claus last weekend, and it was sooo worth it. Hayden wasn't even afraid of Santa, who happened to be very sweet and talkative with the kids (unlike last year's grumpy Santa). When Hayden mentioned he wanted a new Thomas train set, Santa started singing a song from the Thomas show. And Jonah just grinned and grinned the whole time. Here's our contraband photo (you want HOW MUCH for your pictures?!) taken while the workers weren't looking.
We also got to see the lights at the Mesa Temple, which were magical and really helped bring the Christmas spirit. To make the weekend even better, we enjoyed seeing Jay's former roommate Todd and his darling family, who were in town for the holidays.

Over the past few weeks we've also had parties with friends, the ward, and work. I could get used to having so many fun activities and outings!

Deck the Halls

We spent the first weekend in December getting our house ready for the holidays. Hayden was, as always, a very good helper. He was also a good cheerleader--when I was putting a garland above a bookshelf, he saw where I was putting it and said "Ah, of course!" as if the garland was meant to go in exactly that spot.

Hayden's favorite decoration by far was the gingerbread house. I think he ate as much candy as he put on the house.
We also enjoyed decorating the tree, though the ornaments have been rearranged by our little helper several times since then.

Jonah at Five Months

We call him Jonah-Bear at our house--I'm not sure where it came from, but it's my favorite nickname for him. He is so big these days!

He's now started eating rice cereal and he's a pro. The first time we gave him cereal (pictured below), he grabbed my hand each time I got the spoon close to his mouth and helped me guide it in. It was like he didn't think I knew what I was doing, or that I wasn't getting it into his mouth fast enough. I've never seen a baby that didn't have almost as much cereal come back out as was put in, but Jonah didn't let any cereal go to waste. He ate every last bite of his cereal in two minutes flat. Now, it's the best part of his day, and he loves it. I'm looking forward to starting him on other solid food, and I have a hunch he'll quickly eat anything we put in front of him.

Jonah can also sit up all by himself, which is a lot sooner than his brother did. This is how he now likes to sit in his bouncy chair. Jonah also has two teeth now! I haven't been able to get a good shot of the two teeth peeking out, but his teething is evidenced by a steady stream of drool and putting everything in his mouth. Here he is gumming some fruit:The fact that Jonah is growing up so quickly makes me want to cry--he's not a little baby anymore. But, I'm loving each new thing he learns and each new phase, so I'm trying to enjoy each day.

Turkey Day

We traveled to Utah to spend Thanksgiving with my family. The boys did awesome on the drive, and my favorite part of the trip was stopping at a Las Vegas McDonald's at 1 am for a bathroom and food break. Hayden and I got $1 hot fudge sundaes, which Hayden thought was the greatest thing ever. He was so excited to be at the "ice cream shop." (Several days later, Hayden asked if we could go to the "ice cream shop" where he would get a treat and mommy would use the bathroom. How does he remember this stuff?!)

We stayed with my mom in my childhood home, but I hardly recognized it. My mom has been in a renovating frenzy for several months, during which she has added on to the house and put in new countertops, appliances, hardwood floors, and carpeting. We had a very yummy Thanksgiving dinner with my mom, my sister and her family, Uncle Robert, and the Sorensens in my mom's new dining room.
Jonah enjoyed sucking on green beans.

Hayden (who wore his Superwhy costume to dinner, much to my chagrin) enjoyed the pumpkin pie.

Other highlights of the trip included meeting Jay's cousin's new little girl Ivie, endless hours of Rock Band (though I can never listen to the song "Eye of the Tiger" again) and seeing New Moon again with my favorite girls.

The following Sunday, my sister Erin and her husband Steve blessed their darling little girl Hannah. She is such a sweet little angel and I loved meeting her for the first time on our trip. Here we are after the blessing:The fam:

We had the perfect holiday because we got to spend it with so many loved ones!

Happy Birthday to Me

My birthday was on a Monday back in November, and it definitely felt like a Monday. Is it terrible that I didn't have a good day on my birthday? Both boys had a rough, whiney day, and Jay was working all day. We did go out to dinner, but even that was kind of stressful because Hayden just wanted to get into everything and didn't want to sit still. Argh!

Me putting on a smile at the end of a long day. Apparently Jonah had had enough too.

There were a few highlights of the day, however. First (and probably most important) is this:It's Triple Chocolate Mousse Cake, and I made it for myself. MMMmmmmm.... so delicious.

The other highlights were my gifts--I felt so loved. I got very nice cards and gifts from my parents and in-laws, Jay got me a baby food cookbook that I really wanted and Jonah and Hayden got me the New Moon soundtrack. I looooooove the soundtrack--I literally could not stop listening to it for three days straight.

My birthweek only got better after Monday. Tuesday just happened to be a really awesome day--the boys and I had fun playing, there were no tantrums, I got to watch a chick flick while the boys took simultaneous naps, and I got to eat leftover birthday cake for breakfast. I kept thinking the whole day "Why couldn't my birthday have been today!" That weekend, Jay took me out for a birthday date while the boys played with one of their favorite babysitters. We went to see New Moon--which I loved so much that if I hadn't been so hungry for dinner afterward, I would have gone right back in to see it again--and we went to dinner at Buca di Beppo. All in all, it ended up being a great start to being 28.

Thoughts on Motherhood

I recently finished the book "The Mother in Me," a collection of short essays and poems on being the mother of babies and young children. It is an honest, touching, and humorous look at the challenges of being a mom, and I couldn't put it down. It's a read worth sacrificing what little free time we mothers have.

Here are a few thoughts from the book that I loved:

"My days were colored by the paradoxical perspective of not wanting life to change, yet wondering if I could bear its chaos a second longer. I'd wonder how I would make it through the next twelve hours before bedtime arrived, while worrying that those hours would never be enough to harvest all the possible joy. How could I want to fast-forward, pause, and rewind all in the same breath?" --Emily Halverson

"I want to spend my life doing something that really helps people, something meaningful, like Gandhi, Mother Teresa, or Martin Luther King, Jr. did. I can't believe my best intellect and creativity are needed to find socks." --Ailene Long

"Propped,
bottom wedged firmly in the corner of the couch,
he sits with a blanket-wrapped bundle
posed precariously across his arms.
Mommy has so carefully coached him
he dare not move.
Muscles frozen lest he drop her precious package.

Mommy is home now
and she calls him her big boy
but he is still so small

so small" --Darlene Young

St. George

My best friend Kelli and her adorable son Grant were up from Brazil, so we decided to take a weekend trip to see them where they were staying in St. George--a much easier place to meet than Brazil :) And, as luck would have it, Kristina and Kenz, two of our college roommates, were able to meet with us too. It was such a fun (and too short) trip!

We ate delicious food, visited Tuacahn, went swimming at the world's coolest indoor pool, got spoiled by Kelli's in-laws, had a terrible waitress at the Brick Oven, and had plenty of girl talk (much to Jay's dismay). We also got in a quick visit to my dad and his family, who were in town for Dyana's basketball tournament.

One highlight of the trip was visiting the Red Rock formations just outside the city. Isn't it beautiful?!
The girls. This photo totally looks staged with our coordinating shirts and it harkens back to our photo shoots of freshman year. Good times.

Silly boys at the foot of the dinosaur-shaped tree
What little boy doesn't love climbing rocks?Thanks again to Kelli, Grant, Kristina, Kenz, Dad and the Allens.