Macy Grew...A Little Bit!

Thanks for all that play-doh, Omi! The kids played with it all day today! Macy made me pancakes and Logan cooked up some hashbrowns with it.

We went to Salt Lake again on Monday for Macy's quarterly appointment with the endocrinologist. She has been off her hormone shots for almost 5 months and we were weighing and measuring her to see if she grew on her own. It looks like she grew a teensy weensy weensy bit on her own. I am confident that the measurements were not entirely accurate, however. The last time we were there, she was wiggling and screaming so much that I don't think they measured her very well. They decided to give her another 6 month trial to see if she will grow some more on her own. We all don't want to go back on the shots so we are praying that she will grow grow grow!!! I was so sure that she had grown because she is actually fitting in her 2T pants alot better these days. Oh well, time will tell I suppose. She hates going to these appointments because they've drawn her blood quite a bit. She gets nervous and cries alot but she handled herself much better this time and was pretty talkative with the Drs! The highlight of the trip was lunch at McDonalds in Bountiful and the Chipmunk toys they got with there happy meals (pretty easy to please)- oh, and the pink ice cream they got after the appointment. Don't worry, I made them eat lots of peas and bananas and apples the next day! That makes up for it, right?

P.S. that reminds me...today we were at the grocery store and on a whim I bought some corn dogs for the kids. I try not to buy processed foods like that very much and when Logan saw them while we were bagging the groceries he couldn't believe his eyes. He kept saying, "Those are ours, Mom? For reals?" The checker lady thought that was really funny. Dan's leaving town and I'm looking for ways to make my life easier the next few days okay, what can I say?

Christmas Jammies!!!

Merry Christmas!!

Go Tell It On the Mountain!!

Here's a pic of Logan and his friends from Junior Church singing "Christmas Bells" and "Go tell it on the Mountain". He practiced all afternoon and couldn't wait to sing in front of everyone at our church family Christmas music production.

We also were able to drive up to Montana to watch my sister Meagan's Christmas program at the school in which she teaches. Logan absolutely loved the whole thing. At one point during a song, he leaned over and said, "Mom, you need to take a picture so I can remember this forever".

December Fun

While the girls took Sunday afternoon naps, the boys went to work on a great snow fort in the backyard. I was very much impressed with the fort! I told Dan, we've got to remove the logs before it gets too warm and we have a cave in!

This is Logan's masterpiece. It was supposed to be a Logan and Macy project but Macy had no desire to decorate the gingerbread house. Logan, on the other hand, loved it. I think his favorite part was trying out all the candy pieces.

There are so many great opportunities to talk to our kids about Jesus during Christmas! Here is one of the candy canes that Logan wanted to buy SO bad today and hang on our tree. I told him it had to be a "real" candy cane so I could tell him the story about why it was made.

Here goes in case you haven't heard before or need a fresh reminder (like I did):

A candymaker in Indiana wanted to make a Christmas candy to remind people of the true meaning of Christmas. He began with a stick of pure white, hard candy. White to symbolize the Virgin Birth and the sinless nature of Christ, and hard to symbolize the Solid Rock, the foundation of the Church, and the firmness of the promises of God.

The shape in the form of a "J" represents the precious name of Jesus, who came to the earth as Savior. It could also represent the staff of the "Good Shepherd".

It was stained with red stripes. Three small ones to show the stripes of the scourging that Jesus received and one large stripe was for the blood shed by Christ on the cross so that we could have the promise of eternal life.

Isn't that so cool? I love that this is the time of year that we have things like the popular candy cane to remind us of what He has done for us. I also love, love hearing amazing hymns everywhere I go proclaiming the birth of our Savior.

Below are some of my favorite verses from traditional Christmas songs:

"He rules the world with truth and grace and makes the nations prove the glories of his righteousness, and wonders of His love..." Joy to the World

"Saints before the altar bending, watching long in hope and fear, suddenly the Lord, descending, In His temple shall appear" Angels from the Realm of Glory

"Christ by highest heav'n adored, Christ the everlasting Lord, late in time behold Him come offspring of the virgin's womb, veiled in flesh the Godhead see, Hail th' incarnate deity, pleased as man with men to dwell, Jesus our Emmanuel, Hark the herald angels sing, glory to the newborn King." Hark the Herald Angels Sing (Wow, I LOVE that whole song!!!!)

No ear may hear His coming, but in this world of sin, where meek souls will receive Him still, the dear Christ enters in...O Holy Child of Bethlehem! Descend to us, we pray; cast out our sin, and enter in; be born in us today... O Little Town of Bethlehem

Oh man, that's just a few! Next time you hear some of these hymns in your Christmas music, really pay attention to the words and you will be overcome by what God has done for us! Hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season so far!!!

Pretzel Dippin' Fun

We had the kids help dip pretzels in almond bark for their Sunday school teachers. They had alot of fun. Macy got really into it. It was serious business for her. Logan was so excited to give them to his teachers. We all wanted to eat Macy's because she wasn't so great at shaking off the extra dip.

Thanks Claire!

Macy's new thing is playing in the water in the sink. Obviously this creates a big mess but it does keep her busy for a few minutes. She likes to wear the apron while she's doing it. She's our little chef! Thanks, Claire, for giving it to her! She loves it!

Our Big News

We are expecting!!!

We are super excited to be having another baby. Dan is sooo excited and Logan can't wait. He is really rooting for a brother but said he'd be happy with another sister too (phew!). We are just praying for a happy healthy little one. We were pretty anxious about this pregnancy because I had a miscarriage last spring, but things are looking good. We saw an ultrasound and heard a great heartbeat. Yay! Praise God! We have so much to be thankful for this holiday season.

I really just got pregnant so I could put that cute little badge thingy on our blog. Isn't she cute? I am just going to imagine myself looking like her throughout the pregnancy. Haha!

We were able to get out today and hunt for our Christmas tree. We missed out last year but were determined to go this year and keep up the tradition. It went about as we expected. Macy wasn't so happy but Logan, Mom, Dad and Max had a great time. This first picture is just getting started. Macy is smiling and we are all happy to get in the snow and do some tree hunting.



She didn't really like the sled...okay she hated the sled, but she was semi-content riding on Dad's shoulders.


Finding the tree happened as it usually does. We looked and looked and right when we started wondering if we were going to find anything, Dan spotted one. It, of course, looks like we got it ourselves, but we love it!

The ride home...Dan carried Macy on his shoulders and drug us in the sled while I held onto the tree. Way to go Dad!!! Lucky for him, it was mostly downhill!

Logan also got to get in a little skiing...

...Macy got to get in a little eating...

...and we made it home in time to set up the tree and hang the ornaments. Here is Logan showing one of his favorite ones: His Thomas the Train ornament from Omi. What a great day!

Christmas lights!

Climbing the ladder to "help" Dad with the lights.

No More Nanas

We have been weening Macy of her pacifier the last couple days. She has done better than we expected, but it has still been hard for her. Her "nana" has been her comfort and addiction for so long! In the midst of the hard times we have been able to have quite a few sweet times with her. We have been trying to snuggle with her more and rock longer at night before she goes to bed. I was rocking with her tonight and singing to her and smelling her freshly washed hair and all of the sudden was overwhelmed with sadness knowing that I will miss this so much when she is grown up!

We've been bringing her into our bed in the early morning because she has been waking up wanting her nana and won't go back to bed. Even though I am tired in the morning and just want to sleep, I still enjoy snuggling with her in bed. Logan used to jump in bed with us early in the morning and I although I didn't get very good sleep those mornings, it was totally worth it! I am really starting to see what a short season this is with little ones. Even though, there are days when I am crying because being a mom is HARD- and if you are a mom of little ones you totally relate-I wouldn't want to be doing anything else!