Christmas 2014 Happened

 It's almost February and I still haven't caught up on December.  I thought things would calm down after the holidays, but I swear it only got busier. 

Well Christmas this year did not disappoint.  We kicked off Christmas Eve at Hotts's house.  Milo and Taya were in heaven.  Both of them were thrilled about opening presents.  Milo opened one tractor and didn't care about opening another-he was just so delighted with his toy.  Taya on the other hand got excited for every present.  She would get all big eyed, and gasp in excitement for every thing that she opened.  Then she'd say, "I love it!"  She tried on every piece of clothing, every little necklace, and hugged every mermaid. 

Then we moved on to Christmas at the Church with Grandma and Grandpa Bird. 

The kids got more than a little bit spoiled!

And as if Powerwheels for each kid wasn't enough, they each got a special present to open too.  Talk about little kid heaven!

We were worried that Taya and Hallie would be a bit too small for the cars, but they LOVED them.  They were crazy drivers (especially Tay), but they kept right up with the big kids.

Anna and Brave :)

This year I insisted on a quite Christmas morning at our house.  It was amazing!  The kids got up around 7 and got in bed with us.   Somehow they had forgotten about their new toys, and that it was Christmas morning.  It was so fun to just cuddle in our big bed all together.  Then Chris said, "Hey guys, last night when I was sleeping I heard Santa's reindeer on our roof."  All of the sudden it clicked.  Milo started screaming, "ahhhhh, it's Christmas!!!!"  I've never seen two little bodies get out of bed so quickly.

Milo got an astronaut suit and space toys.  Of all of the nice things that he got, I think that he liked the "rocket pack" the best.  Santa may have crudely fashioned out of two liter bottles and tape.

 Taya loved her doll house.  It was worth every minute of effort to see her enjoying it so much.  She had luckily forgot all of the girls that we bought off of KSL.

I really loved it when they played astronaut and dolls together.  I can finally admit, having two kids this close together was a good idea:)  They play so cute now. 

Then it was on to Grandma and Grandpa Manning's house.

Again, spoiled rotten!  Tay was adorable with her toys.  She just loved everything. 

Grandma put a lot of effort into gifts this year, and the kids were delighted.

Although we toned down all of the running around this year, it still was busy!  Especially when you're trying to be considerate of a 5 month old's not so perfect schedule.  But Crew did awesome.  He usually isn't a big crowd fan, so I had planned on one of us always having to be in the other room, but there he was,  laying in the middle of tons of gifts, people, and Christmas chaos, just beaming.   

Then to top it all off, we had a cousins sleep over.  I imagined everyone being way to exhauted to really enjoy the sleepover part (especially the morning after Christmas/sleepover part), but the kids loved every minute!

I was so worried about how things would turn out this year.  I missed my brother. I worried about him.  I wished that he was there for even one small part.  But kids help ease all.  They were so happy, that I couldn't help but be happy.  Christmas 2014 will be a hard one to beat.

9 Days Til Christmas

I think that I'm the most nostalgic person ever born.  Crew has outgrown so many outfits, but I can't stand to put them away, because then he really won't be "that little" anymore. Taya sang me, "Sweet Child of Mine" the other night when I went to put her to sleep and I just started bawling.  What happened to my baby that would curl up and coo as I sang that to her.  Then we have Milo, don't even get me started on what a big boy he has become!  He goes to school, doesn't need his mom for hardly anything, and is embarrassed when I give him kisses in front of his friends!  Ah, time is so precious.  I can't believe how they are growing.  No one even cried on Santa's lap!  I was secretly hoping that all three of them would lose it.  I think those pictures are hilarious.

Milo has been warned that Santa is really tired of making tractor toys, and I encouraged him to branch out.  .   .  So he did.  This year he asked Santa for an astronaut suit, but then he quickly added, "But if you don't know how to do that, then I'd probably love a tractor."  I keep telling him, "Santa knows how to make that... Don't change your mind on me:)".

Taya is going to be super fun this year.  She loves toys, but doesn't have a ton.  When she sat on Santa's lap she told him that she wants a Brave dress and a Fiona dress (yes, like ogre).  She can't remember Christmas last year, so she kind of has it confused with Halloween.  And since Milo wants a dress up thing, she thinks that's what she needs to ask for too.   Hopefully she also wants a doll house because Santa's little elves have been working overtime to get one put together for her. 

Crew wants diapers...poor 3rd child syndrome... practical, practical, practical.  Maybe I'll let him splurge and have two jars of baby food for dinner.  Might even get wild and let him lick a Christmas cookie:)

 Kids really do make the holidays! 

Christmas Good and Bad

In the last conference, one of the General Authorities talked about people painting fake lives on social media in attempts to look happier than each other.  I hope that when I look back at my blog, I can see all of the wonderful fun things that we did as a family throughout the years.  But I also want it to ring true.  Life is not perfect and we have our struggles.   I started planning for Christmas in October.  This year was going to be the stress free, easy going year, with all of the presents wrapped under the tree by Dec. 1st, and the entire month left open for fun festivities.  Well the shopping is done, the gifts are wrapped, but this Christmas is the farthest thing from stress free.  Without going into detail, some things happened in our family, and now things are changing.  Change can be hard, scary, and sad--especially around the holidays.  It makes my heart heavy to think about Christmas this year.  I remember when I was little people would talk about how the holidays could be a hard time of year, and I never understood.  There are so many fun and wonderful things, and I hope so badly that our family can find a way to enjoy them together. 

John Deere Land

Milo really knows the right people to suck up to.  One day while we were visiting Chris at work, Milo made friends with one of the big wigs named Mike.  Milo happened to see a bunch of John Deere models sitting in Mike's office and wandered on in.  He then told Mike all about the bulldozers shank and hydraulics,  Mike was blown away that this 3 year old knew all of that stuff.  He hooked Milo up that day with several tractors, and a hard hat with his name on it.  Milo was delighted.











Then for Milo's 4th birthday, Mike arranged for him to go out to the John Deere training center, which Milo affectionately named John Deere Land.  This little boy was in 7th heaven. 

 He was able to operate a mini ex, bulldozer, excavator, backhoe, grader, and a front loader.  This guy Reggie took him around all day and let him just play on all of the machines.  Milo was so happy, but also all business.  He took the "jobs" very seriously:)

He even got to meet the CEO of John Deere, who just happened to be visiting- I'm telling you, this kid knows how to rub elbows with the right people.  

They even ha a little party for Milo.  He ate a big hot dog (for the first time ever).  He wants one all the time now, because, "that's what real construction men eat".  And they made him this cute cake, which I must say was seriously the most delicious cake that I have ever eaten.  And of course they hooked him up with all the swag.   He came home with 2 new models, hats, stickers... the works. 

 Nothing makes me happier than when my kids are happy, and this was such a cool day for him.  He is getting so big!  He keeps make-believing to be Reggie when he's at home.  I seriously call him Reggie all day long. It will be really interesting to see if this tractor thing ever wears out, because he is addicted at this point.

Halloween Halloween Lot's of Fun on Halloween

Does this post have too many pictures. . . probably, but I don't care because I LOVE Halloween.

Seriously, every year I love it more and more.  I think that it is possibly my favorite holiday.  I feel sacrilegious for saying that, but year after year it never disappoints!  I actually hate all of the scary things about Halloween, which kind of contradicts my previous statement about loving Halloween.  But let's brake it down:  Candy- yes,  Halloween games- yes, doughnuts and chili-yes! Kids costumes-yes x3, An excuse to walk around all night together as a family-YES!  I just love it.

 

Princess Anna from Frozen, and Jake from Jake and the Neverland Pirates.

Too many pictures of the princess?. . . Again, yes, probably, but look how adorable she is, I couldn't leave one out.

This is her freezing Milo.  Frozen has been so over marketed it ridiculous. . . but we love it all the same!

This tough guy was too cool to take pictures with mom!  I snuck a couple good ones, but he mainly just said, "Mom, I'm not doing that, I'm ready to go!"

He is such a stud.  Even if he did wear his shiny church shoes trick-or-treating:)

My favorite memory about Halloween this year was of Milo at our ward party.  There were like 100 girls there dressed like Anna. . . including his little sister, but he decided that our neighbor, Berkley was the real deal.  She's about 9 years old, and he's played with her before, but he was unwilling to recognize her.  Her costume was home made, and really cute.  When he first saw her, he started jumping up and down and said, "Mom, I didn't know that the real Anna was going to be here tonight"!  He was ecstatic.  Then he said, "Mom, if you are looking for me, just know that I am right next to the real Anna". . . and he was. . . all night!  He didn't leave her side, and he kept jumping up and down schmoozing her saying things like, "I love your cloak".  "Your hair looks so pretty in those braids Anna".  It was so funny.

 Then there is this little guy.  Is he not so stinking cute?!  Even if he did poop on his costume midway through the night, he was absolutely to die for.

 Being captivated by your kids never gets old.  Baby #3 stole my heart on Halloween. 

 

On Halloween night we went to my sister's house and went trick-or-treating with the cousins.  Taya was true to character and sat in the stroller like a diva.  She kicked her feet up on the cup holders and would wait for Milo to run her pieces of candy.  I kept asking her if she wanted to get out, and then it hit me, she was the smart one.  She ate more candy then anyone and didn't have to lift a finger to get it.  Milo ran like a maniac from house to house.  He also made up a song about getting candy and running so fast.  That kid cracks me up.  He had so much fun.  When we got in the car to go home he says, "my whole body is so tired, but I want to do Halloween again tomorrow".  

I'm with him.  I already can't wait for Halloween next year.