Christmas

We enjoyed spending Christmas with Shae's family. They came and stayed with us. And this year we have a house that everyone could fit in. Thanks for all the presents. We all got spoiled by Shae's parents. We also went sledding at Soldier Hollow again this year on Christmas Eve. We are making it a tradition. One of my favorite gifts from Shae was a new camera. I took these pictures with my new camera.

Happy Holidays!

Preschool Christmas Program

The girls just had their Christmas program at preschool. All the kids were supposed to wear red. They sang a lot of songs, a lot of them with sign language and some with bells and drums. Grandma Bennett got to come and watch too. At the end they went around and said what they like about Christmas, saying and signing it. Lizzy was the first to go and Ali was the last to go. Lizzy said, "We like Christmas lights." And Ali said, "We like Christmas reindeer's." Everyone thought Ali was so cute because she is the youngest and littlest in the class. Their teacher told me awhile ago that Ali is their mascot for the class because everyone wants to be her friend and calls her, "little cutie." But they both did a great job. Afterwards we went to Carl's Jr. for lunch and let the kids play on the slides.

STITCHES

It was bound to happen...one of our children getting stitches. It just happened to be our youngest child who is almost 14 months old. So Wednesday night I was giving Aiden a bath. After the bath I set him on the bathroom floor and put a towel on him. Then he started to walk away and he slipped on the floor and hit his head, right above his eyebrow, on the edge of the tile, where the tile from the bathroom and the carpet from the hallway meet. As soon as I picked him up and saw his cut I knew he needed stitches. Shae confirmed my diagnosis. I then started crying because I felt so bad for Aiden. Aiden, however, stopped crying pretty quickly. Lizzy also started crying and saying that she didn't want Aiden to get stitches. We had to explain to her that stitches will help the wound heal better and quicker than not having them. So I then called my Mom to see if she could come over and watch the girls and Shae called one of the doctors he works for to see if he could stitch Aiden up. So Shae and I took Aiden to their doctor's office. I was still crying a little in the car as we drove over. Aiden wasn't crying at all. But I pulled it together before we got there. Anyway I ended up holding Aiden to my chest while he first got a shot to numb the area and then 6 stitches. The worst part was getting the shot. Aiden would cry off and on during the stitches because he new something was going on. At one point though he actually almost fell asleep because he was so tired! I didn't cry at all while at the office. But Aiden is doing well and doesn't realize he has stitches in. Shae will pull them out sometime on Monday. I am grateful for all the connections we have with many doctors. We didn't have to take Aiden to the emergency room and wait forever and pay that bill. Shae also says that ER doctors don't stitch very well either.

Leaves and more leaves

So we have 3 trees in our backyard that I love! But when it comes to Fall, they are a lot of work! I decided it was time to rake the backyard and clean up all the leaves. But of course in the process you have to let the kids run and jump in them and take cute pictures of the kids covered in the leaves. Fall is my favorite season!

BIRTHDAYS!

Aiden just turned 1 and Ali just turned 3! On Aiden's birthday I made cupcakes. (which worked out perfectly because on that same day I took some to preschool so they could celebrate Ali's birthday since they don't have preschool on Fridays) Aiden wasn't too interested in eating the cupcake since he was full from dinner. Then we let him open his presents. We gave him a new winter coat, a little football, a fire truck, and a couple other clothes. But Aiden is now only walking. He doesn't crawl anymore and when he falls down he stands right back up to walk. He is also a little climber. He recently likes to climb on our little Lego table we have in the playroom and stand up on it. He has also found a new way to annoy the girls by turning the television on and off while they are trying to watch a movie. We have to remind Ali and Lizzy that they also liked to do that when they were little.
Ali's birthday is on Halloween. We let Ali open presents in the morning and later that night we took the kids to the mall to go trick or treating and then to Build a Bear so Ali could pick out an animal. But I am amazed at how smart she is. She is thriving in preschool. She has the Pledge of Allegiance memorized, can write her name, can count to 20 or higher, knows her letters and points them out, and loves to sing and do the actions. She is a joy to have around and I love her smile!
But on Sunday, November 2, we had a family birthday party for Aiden and Ali. It was fun to get all my family together to celebrate. They loved all their presents. I also made my first double layer cake with frosting in the middle. I have to say it was pretty yummy!

The Girl's Haircut

I decided it was time Lizzy got her hair cut because it was always ratty and stringy and not looking too cute unless it was pulled back all the time. I had a couple coupons for kid's haircuts at David Douglas Salon, who had cut my hair and I loved it, so I told Lizzy we were going to get her hair cut. Lizzy was scared and wanted Ali to get her hair cut first. I wasn't planning on cutting Ali's hair, but I thought it would be worth it to get Lizzy's done. So Ali went first and was really brave as usual. She loved sitting on the booster seat on the special hair cutting chair. Lizzy went next and I had them wash her hair since at bath time I had already planned on getting her hair cut so we didn't wash it that night. But Lizzy had to lay on my lap while they washed her hair because she was nervous. Then she got her hair cut. She did really well. Both Ali and Lizzy got an A-line cut. I think it looks great on both of them. I think the haircut really soot's Ali because she doesn't like anything in her hair. I wish they didn't cut Lizzy's hair that short, but it will grow out and I still think it looks cute!