Christmas Eve 2010

This year, for Christmas, we headed up to Albuquerque to spend Christmas with my family. But the day we were going to leave, Monica woke up with a terrible cough, low-grade fever, and complaining of an earache. I took her to the clinic, and they confirmed strep throat! So we pushed our trip back until she had been on the antibiotics for a full 24 hours. When the girls got up Christmas Eve morning, they all piled on the couch to cuddle with their daddy. I just thought it was so sweet and had to snap a few pics!

Picture Overload

Something that is quickly becoming a favorite hobby of mine is taking pictures. It helps that I have some very willing subjects. But one thing that I absolutely love is when we have a photo op and so many pictures turn out well. How do you choose your favorites to represent the whole batch? Especially when they are of the people you love the most? I decided you can't. At least I can't. So here are my favorites of Sunday's photo op.

Jillian is now three weeks old and growing like a weed. When we brought her home she weighed 6 lbs. 9 oz. At her two week appointment she weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. Her first couple of weeks we thought she might be a tiny bit colicky. No. No colic. Just my diet. She has been a new baby since I laid off the caffeinated sodas and anything remotely spicy. It's a bland diet, but it is really worth it. I had forgotten how many foods tear up a newborn tummy. So, no more red or green chile for a while. The happy baby I have in return is wonderful. Now she only really fusses when she is tired, hungry, or dirty. Much better than the cranky-anytime-she-was-awake fussing!

Leah and Monica love their baby sister! Leah calls Jillian "my baby". "Mom, I hold my baby?" "My baby wake up!" "Here's my baby's diaper." Monica is protective and does her best to keep Leah from getting too hands on with her. Last week when I was taking a final, I heard Monica all of a sudden yell, "No, Leah! Leave the baby alone!" To which Leah yelled back, "Never!" Laughter and love abound in our house for sure!

Seeing Santa- The Guy Who Looks Nicer on Posters Than He Does In Real Life

Saturday night was our ward Christmas party and the girls were really excited because Santa was there. Up til this point, Leah would point out Santa on every poster on every store and jabber on about how excited she was to see him. The entire way to the church, Monica sang, "You better not pout, you better not cry, you better not shout I'm telling you why, Santa Claus is coming to town. He sees you when you're sleeping. He knows if you're awake. He knows if you've been good or bad so be good for goodness' sake." Over and over she sang her version of the classic to peals of laughter from Leah, who would occasionally join in and add her own verses. We only understood "Santa". And when we actually got to the church and stood in the line to see Santa, they were still getting pretty giddy with it. But when it was actually their turn to see him, Monica suddenly got shy and whispered what she wanted to Santa. He had to ask her a few times to repeat what she wanted and then he took a different tactic and just smiled and nodded. The poor guy was trying to do a good job but just couldn't hear what she was saying. (I can relate!) Then Leah wouldn't go near him. She didn't want to tell him what she wanted. She didn't want to stand next to him, let alone sit on his lap. So, Monica stood next to Santa and Leah stood next to Monica. In the first picture you can see how unnerved Leah was, poor baby. And Jillian was fast asleep in her carseat. We weren't about to wake her up!

Hide and Seek

We were getting ready for our friends to come over and the girls were cleaning the toy room when Ryan walked by and noticed a game Leah was playing. He called for me to grab the camera and we had a fun little photo op!

Gramma Kris' Visit

This last weekend Kris came down from St. George to visit and we had a great time!

We shopped for beads, and sorted beads, and talked over sorting beads.

We watched "Fame!", "Eclipse", and "Sorcerer's Apprentice".

She built a fort with Monica and Leah and watched "Toy Story 3" with them. 

She cleaned out Jillian's belly stump, which turned out to be quite the ordeal. (We are ALL glad that I was in the shower at the time and so glad she is a nurse!)

We gave Jillian her first bath and Gramma took pictures.

We made red chile and just enjoyed being in each other's company.

Thanks again for coming, Kris!