Christmas Came.....Fast!

Christmas Eve

On Monday, the four of us finished up some last minute business. Henry went to visit Grandma Granny in Morgan for a few hours while Dad tried hunting Elk one last time. (The snow proved too much and he couldn't get very far up on the mountain even with the 4-wheeler) Reese and I did some last minute shopping for the guys. Later, the family pieced on small sandwitches, chips and dip and other finger foods. Of course we watched A Christmas Story on television since it started in on its continuous loop that evening. Henners was particularly struck by two scenes in the movie: 1) When he saw Ralphie sitting in the bathroom with a bar of soap in his mouth, Henry shouted, "Oh, no! Ralphie has naughty behavior!", and 2) When he saw the scene of Ralphie and his family driving back from picking out a Christmas tree and they sing Jingle Bells and conclude the song with a raspberry noise at the end. Henry instantly fell in love with that version of the song and sang it that way nearly all night long.

Reggie Came to Our House

Every year, one of Santa's elve's named Reggie comes to see us and delivers a package of new pajamas for the whole family. Reggie showed up around 5:00 pm on Christmas Eve and rang our doorbell. Henry was so excited to see who was at our door. At first he thought it might be Santa. But when he opened the door, he only found one package addressed to our family. He ripped into the paper and had it torn apart quickly. Then he looked up at us and said, "It's a box!" He then went on about his business playing with his dart gun. Jeremy and I had to explain that he needed to also open the box (a concept lost on him at this point). He opened it up and found spankin' new pj's for the entire family!

Off to Bed

Reese retired fairly early on Christmas Eve, around 6:30. She was all about her warm bottle and some beauty rest. Henry followed about an hour later. But before that, he spent most of his time jumping into our bean bag and shouting "To Infinity, and Beyond!". Before he went to bed, we layed out Henry's favorite cookies for Santa and some milk. He was not too happy about the thought of Santa eating his cookies during the night. I showed Henry that I left a few for him to enjoy the next day. We looked at the Christmas tree and stockings before we headed up to bed. I asked Henry one last time what he wanted for Christmas, and he gave me the same answer he gave me all month long, "I want presents". Good boy.

We Started at 4:00 am, How 'Bout You?

Yep, folks, I think I was feeling a little too cocky about the early bed times of Reesie and Henry. First, Reesie woke up at 2:00 am because she was hungry. Then Henry woke up at 4:00 am because he wasn't tired and needed, or so he claimed, to watch Night at the Museum. Reesie woke up at 4:30 for a little cuddling then zonked out for a few more hours. Luckily, Henry didn't remember it was Christmas morning, so we just treated it like any other morning and let him lounge in bed with some chocolate milk.

Around 5:00 am Grandma Jo and Grandpa Brent arrived. Bless their hearts, they traveled 40 minutes through heavy snow to see their grandchildren open presents on Christmas morning! Henry was so excited and asked them if he was going to their house. We then explained that Santa had come in the middle of the night to bring presents to him and Reese while they were sleeping. Henry then noticed that Santa had eaten the cookies we left for him and drank the milk too! He shouted, "Santa ate the cookies! Santa ate the cookies!" We ran downstairs with him to see the presents under the tree. Henry continued to state to my parents "I want to go to your house", after every present that he opened. But pretty soon, he would get distracted by what new present Santa had brought him. The rest is a blur..... here are the before pictures....

...and here are the after pictures...

Spoiled, but Not Rotten
Can I just tell you how spoiled little Reesie and Henry were on Christmas? I won't list everything, because it's much too much and far too long, but I have absolutely no idea where everything will fit in our house!

After we opened presents in the morning we had a big breakfast. Reesie must have smelled the bacon, 'cause that's when she finally woke up! I say finally, but in reality it was 8:00 am, right on schedule for her.

We spent the late afternoon and evening and Grandma Lauri's and Grandpa Wayne's house. The kids played with all their cousins, aunts and uncles and grandparents. We had a delicious prime rib dinner and Grandpa's world famous potato salad and opened even more gifts.

The gifts from Santa and others recap:

Reesie:
Main Gifts: Bookcase / future doll house, books, cabbage patch dolls, clothes, more clothes, stuffed animals, glow worm, little bongo drums, Mini Star activity set, stuffed animals, piggy banks, Munchin music box, handmade quilt, and so much more.
Favorite Toy: As of press time, she loves her glow worm, her stuffed bear with lights inside that changes color and her Mini Star activity set the best.
Favorite Memory: Mine is watching Henners pet her head and wish her a Merry Christmas without even asking him to.

Henry:
Main Gifts: Dinosaurs, Robots, A robot-dinosaur, stuffed animals, books, drum set, 2 huge remote control cars, hero dress up set, spiderman action figures, spiderman shoes, lots and lots of playdough, clothes and an acoustical guitar.
Favorite Toy: As of press time, hard to tell. He loves the drums and the guitar, but constantly plays with both remote control cars and has them battle it out. Once in a while he throws the robo-reptile in the mix with the cars just for fun. Also covets his sister's Mini Star activity set.
Note: Jeremy and I get such a crack out of the hero dress up kit. It has a policema, fireman, cowboy and pirate costume for him to play with. Jeremy calls it "Henry's Village People Starter Kit". Also, Henry enjoys just wearing the sunglasses around the house and doing his best Velma impersonation from Scooby-Doo by tossing his glasses on the floor and exclaiming, "Oh, no! I've lost my glasses!" When he finds them he says, "There, that's better. Let's solve a mystery!"
Favorite Memory: When I asked him, he said that Santa eating his cookies was his favorite and then he sang Jingle Bells to me.

Jen:
Main Gifts: Huge Humidifier (oh yeah, baby!), Dirt Devil Cone vaccuumm in white, facial gift certificate, 30 Rock & The Office DVDs, gift cards, money and coat.
Favorite Toy: Henry's robo-reptile, (What can I say, it sits, it eats it acts like a little dog)
Favorite Memory: Peeking in at both kids and watching them sleep on Christmas morning knowing that this was the last year in a long time that both of them would be in bed early and stay asleep through the night on Christmas Eve.

Jeremy:
Main Gifts: Gift Certificates, more gift certificates, leather football, money, clothes, hats, candy and other misc items.
Favorite Toy: His new i-phone he picked out just 2 days before Christmas and Henry's remote control Hummer.
Favorite Memory: Knowing that we had all the batteries we needed to get through Christmas and watching the kids with their toys.

Good Jeans Day

The day after Christmas, I dressed Reese up in her first pair of jeans! I was so excited that we even staged a photo shoot! Jeremy kind of scratched his head as to why the jeans were such a monumental milestone in her life. Reese and I just laughed. It must be a chick thing that he doesn't understand. By the way, she looked lovely in her jeans!

Twas the Week Before Christmas

I’m With the Band
On December 19th, the four of us went to the Junior High School Band Christmas Concert held at the High School down the street. Our neighbor’s daughter, Amanda, was playing her saxophone and clarinet for the event. During the concert, Henners went through three packages of Scooby Snacks, although he offered half of them to his crush, Michelle (Amanda’s mom). After about 3 songs, Henry exclaimed “We done!” and kept this ritual up whenever a song would finish. I had to break it to him that no, in fact, we had 7 songs to go. As I mentioned before the “We done!” went on for the rest of the concert. Although, he did love to clap his hands whenever they finished the numbers. His favorite was the percussion pieces that featured the big drums. Reesie just chilled and watched the stage, struck by the noise and the shiny instruments. She also liked the red and green soft spotlights on the ceiling. She had a great time just being held and people watching.

Nudie Pics
Little Reese loves to have her clothes off. She kicks and grins whenever she gets her diaper changed. She gets this really intent and serious look on her face like kicking is her only purpose and she's got a job to do! She really lets loose once she figures she’s taking a bath. She looks all around at everything she can possibly see in the tub. Afterwards, I like to just hold her for a while in her warm towel. I’ve posted some pics of her below during her bath. I also told her that these are the only nude or semi-nude photos of her to ever be on the internet.

Cute Kids

Friday, December 21st, Henners had a Christmas party at school. They watched a movie, sang songs and broke a piñata! When I picked him up from school and got him in the car, the first thing he said to me was, “Mom, I had a good day.” Aww…I was so happy! Here’s his Christmas card to us. The teacher asked him to tell her what his favorite thing about his Mom and Dad were. He just told her his favorite things….period.

When I got home, Reesie and I played on the bed for a while. I made noises with her and imitated her the best I could. She loved the interaction. When I stuck my tongue out at her, she got a big smile and let out the loudest “Hoo, hoo” that I’ve heard her make to date! It brought tears to my eyes!

Art Attack
What do you do when it’s too snowy to go out and your three year old is feeling creative? Well, I don’t know what you do, but we decided to finger paint! Here’s the evidence.


Do Not Attempt at Home
Every eight years or so, I get this feeling that somehow I know how to cut hair. Don’t ask me why. I should know better. For me, cutting anyone’s hair with the exception of Henry’s has always gone horribly wrong. So I guess the last time I got busy with the clippers was 1999 because Saturday (Dec 22) when Jeremy said he was feelings scruffy I told him I would be happy to trim his hair.

So…… I started....and it didn’t end pretty. Jeremy’s eyes were getting pretty wide about two minutes into my handiwork, which, by the way, wasn’t too handy. I cut him a little close and fairly uneven. I urged him to go to the “Quick Cuts” or whatever it was called up the street. After we both had a good laugh and cry (from laughing so hard) by looking at him in the mirror, he was on his way to the stylist. Before he left Jeremy asked me with a wink, “What did I ever do to you to deserve this?!” Oh, by the way, the stylist said that Jeremy was the second guy in that morning that had attempted an at-home hair cut. I'll never do that again (well, not until 2015 at least)

Tumblin', Trains and Two Months

“Nastics”
So, Wednesday, Henry had his “Winter Show” at gymnastics. He’s only been enrolled a month, but I thought he would really like to show off what he’d been learning to all the Grandparents.

Oh, my. Show off is right. Let me preface by saying that Henry is the smallest one in his class (most of them average 4 years going on 5 years of age). He may not be the best listener, but he tries so hard during class and more importantly, he has so much fun. He definitely brought the house down with his “gymnastic antics”! He did everything so well, including a few tricks he had never even tried before. When it came time to finish a trick, all the children were instructed to hold their hands high above their head and say “Ta-da!” Well, Henry did one better. After his “Ta-da!” he would then place his hands on his hips and bow for everyone. People were roaring! On the video that Jeremy shot, you can barely hear the cheering over Jeremy’s laughing. Oh, Henners, you are a crack up!


Polar “Not So Much” Express
Thursday was Henry’s birthday. He was so excited that he was finally three! That night the four of us trekked up to Heber City to ride the “Polar Express”. First of all, Henry was so excited he could hardly contain himself on the way there. Once we got there and he saw all the train cars lined up outside, he just had to be outside (in the snow) running up and down the platform dragging Dad along. Reese and I were much more patiently waiting inside where it was warm. We had Reese all bundled up in a winter snow suit that was red and white. Henry thought she was dressed like Santa Claus.

When the conductor shouted “All Aboard”, Henry pulled at us to get up to the train steps to get on the train. The only issue was that we were about 20th in line and had to wait our turn. This concept was totally lost on Henners. After what must have seemed like forever to Henry, we were on board and in our seats. We were visited by elves and hot chocolate chefs and Mrs. Claus. After that, Henry wanted off the train. We still had 45 minutes to go. Henry willed the train to go faster out loud. They call it the Heber Creeper for a reason, Folks. All this time, Reesie was enjoying her bottle and the hanging Christmas Lights. She spent a good deal of the ride looking over my shoulder at all the events going on around her. She loved it!

Finally, after I kid you not, 3 songs of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” (Santa was kind of tardy), Santa entered our train car. Henry got immediately reverent and angelic. He was so excited when Santa got to our row. He handed both Reesie and Henry a jingle bell. The rest of the way Henry shook his jingle bell and sang “Jingle Bells” to anyone that would listen.


Well Baby Check-up
Friday, Reesie had her two month check-up. Of course the nursing staff cooed over her the entire time. She measured 22.5 inches long and 12.25 lbs (wow!). For height she’s in the 60th percentile, for weight the 90th. Good girl. The doctor commented on how pretty she is and what a well dispositioned baby she is too. When it came time for her shots, I was upset, because Reese never cries hard and I knew that she would. She did pretty well, I think she was startled more than in discomfort. She stopped crying immediately once I picked her up. What a brave little girl! I brought her home and gave her a warm bath and massaged her little legs. She was pretty awake so she exercised her legs with her kicking ball that she loves so much. Then she zonked out completely. She slept a good deal of Friday and Saturday, but was in good spirits when she was awake. We think she is amazing!

Bruiser is a Loser
Saturday, the four of us headed to “Salt City” as Henry calls it to see an art exhibition at our friend Scott Buckner’s house. He just graduated from the U as an art major and is extremely talented in contemporary art. He works in our office and is a good friend of mine. Once we arrived, Henry recognized him and immediately started calling him Buckner like we do at work. He remembered that Buckner has a betta fish named Killer that he keeps at his desk at work. Henry asked Scott several times if he could see his fish. Scott told him that his fish wasn’t there, but that he had a better animal for him to play with. We all went upstairs and Scott’s wife brought out their Chihuahua named Brusier. Henry loved Brusier! He held him and petted him so gently. When Bruiser ran downstairs, Henry chased after him calling, “Loser! Loser, where are you?” Scott and his wife thought it was hilarious. For the brief 30 minutes we were there, you could hear Henry calling for their dog “Loser” throughout their house. As we left I thanked them for the food, the art and for letting my 3-year old insult their dog.

Super-Duper Dino Birthday!

Hank the Hot Rod
Sunday morning around 9:00 Jeremy and I decided to give Henry one of our birthday presents to him early so that he would have some time to play with it. We got him a 4-wheeler hot wheels. It’s fire engine red and called something important like “The Ninja Extreme”. It goes about 2.5 miles per hour on the lower setting and 5 mph on the higher one. (We have it set to the lower). He was so cute when he first saw it. We thought he would be so surprised and excited, but he just ran up to it and got on it and started it right up like he knew what he was doing. He drove up and down the sidewalk for about 40 minutes before I coaxed him in for some hot chocolate to warm up, then he was out for another half hour. I hope the neighbors didn’t mind us riding up and down the street Sunday morning – the little motor is kind of loud. Most everyone that drove by was heading to church, and they know us so they would wave and Henry would wave back just as proud as could be. I held Reesie up to the window so she could see Henry riding on his new toy or “trailer” as he calls it. We don’t have any idea where that comes from. He wanted to ride it later in the evening after dark too, but Jeremy thought ahead and told him that the battery needed to recharge (wink, wink) and that Mom would take him out Monday for a few rides one the battery had more juice.

My Party at Dinosaur Park?
That’s the number one question Henry has been asking me all week. Well, Sunday, I finally got to tell him that, yes, today was indeed his birthday party at the Dinosaur Park. After we spent a good deal of the morning riding on the 4-wheeler, we loaded up and went to Henners’ party at the Dinosaur Park. He had so much fun! All his cousins were there as well as Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles. Of course, he was spoiled with tons of goodies and gifts from everyone. After lunch, the kids and some of the brave grown-ups braved the frigid temperatures to go outside and feed the ducks, Henry’s favorite albino trout and visit the other sites in the park. As usual, Henry urged everyone to “run real fast” through the park. His “best friend Lexa” as he calls his older cousin, was so good to run with him through the park and help him and the other small ones on the play ground equipment.

Henry declared it too cold for Reese to go outside to visit the dinosaurs, but that it would warm up at night, so we should bring her back then. He also reminded Aunt Kimberly and Uncle Jake when each of them were holding Reese that Reesie was his sister and that she drank milk, not orange soda. Thanks for the clarification there, buddy!