Damien's 33rd Birthday!

Damien's birthday always creeps up on me. He is a New Year's Eve baby and between the chaos Christmas creates and the few down days in between, it is always difficult to feel like I am organized and prepared for his big day! This year was complicated because the day before his birthday I had my cerclage surgery and really had to have a few days of rest. Luckily I prepared in advance and was lucky enough to have his parents stay the night and his family come down and help us celebrate!!!

Early in the morning I had a doctor's appointment to see how the cerclage was healing and we were thrilled to get great news on that. Afterwards- Damien and went out for a cup of coffee and just enjoyed being alone together and being able to talk without being interrupted. We came back to the house and opened presents and I was thrilled to see that Damien was so happy. The kids had a real interest in picking out gifts for him this year. They decided that they wanted to pick practical gifts and I enjoyed watching their little minds work to find just what they wanted. Claire decided to get him the shampoo he likes because she said that, 'Dad loves to shower and he will appreciate having shampoo!' Very true Claire. Michael opted more for the oral hygiene department and wanted to get him a couple bottles of Act fluoride rinse saying, 'He loves to brush his teeth and can't go to bed with using his Act'. Again true Michael! They weren't gifts with great flair, but they represented the close relationship they have with their Dad and that they know what their Daddy likes. Damien appreciated their thoughtfulness and we both had a quiet laugh at the simple, yet sweet, nature of the gifts they picked.

We all went out that afternoon to a great Chinese restaurant in Willow Glen and had a great time. Afterwards, we all came back to the house for gifts and cake and it was nice to just sit around and talk with everyone and catch up. It was especially fun to see the cousins run around together. They are all growing up so fast! That night, the Bowles family (Damien's sister and her family) and Seamus stayed the night at our house to ring in the new year. Lani (another of Damien's sisters) stayed the night with her husband and kids in a hotel and joined us the next morning as we celebrated our niece Sierrah's birthday. This crazy group enjoyed a yummy breakfast together and made the most of the morning. We had a great birthday weekend and were happy that everyone could be together and celebrate Damien and Sierrah's birthday!

And So It Begins!

For those of you that know me- you know that I am a big communicator. I am really not afraid to be open and honest to people, even when letting people know my fears and my hesitations. You might say that I wear my heart on my sleeve. Because I blog and because it is a great creative and expressive outlet for me- I am going to be very open about my journey through pregnancy. I am not afraid to speak my truths and find it so gratifying to look back at my entries months and months down the road to see how much I have grown. So bear with me, here we go!

Due to my pre-term labor and diagnosed incompetent cervix, I get a cerclage placed between week twelve and thirteen of my pregnancies. A cerclage is a stitch (actually two of them) that are placed in the cervix to give it extra strength and something to 'hold on to' during the pregnancy. The hope is that the cerclage will prevent me from going into preterm labor and get me through the most volatile and important weeks of the pregnancy. So on December 30th, Damien I checked into the hospital for my cerclage surgery. The procedure itself takes about fifteen to twenty minutes, but you have to get a spinal and then wait to get full feeling again and be observed. We were thrilled that the procedure went just as planned and even happier that it appears to be placed in the right spot and holding well.

When Damien and I decided to get pregnant again, we knew that there was a lot of craziness that comes with it. However the stark difference between thinking you are ready and actually having to do it is a big deal. It is hard to be pregnant and go into a procedure that can cause miscarriage. Once I find out I am pregnant- I am instantly in love with the baby. It is time to put my head down and go as positively as I can through each day. I am ready to give my all to this pregnancy and give this baby the best chance I can to be healthy. In the end- I am so thankful that I can even be pregnant. I am so blessed to be able to give my kids a new sibling, and I am even more fortunate to have such a wonderful, understanding, just-as-crazy-as I-am husband who is on board with it all. We have faith in God that what is meant to happen- will happen. And until we meet this sweet new life that is growing in my belly, we will continue to work as hard as we can to do the very best for him or her.

Breaking News!!!!

We had BIG NEWS to share with the kids today. They opened a present we wrapped for them and found this paper in the package. It says, "Congratulations! You are going to have a new brother or sister!" Yes, it is true! We are expecting our fourth little baby this July! We are so excited and so thrilled to be able to share the wonderful news with the kids! Damien and I found out we were pregnant again on Halloween morning and we are really so happy and blessed to be having another child. I know that it will be quite a journey- but we are as ready as we will ever be!

When the kids read the paper, they didn't jump up and down. Instead, they stood looking at us in disbelief. Michael was the first to utter a few words. He said, 'Your kidding right?' We answered no. He then got a big smile on his face and said, 'Your pregnant!' It was really cute. Claire was beaming and came over to touch my tummy. Then she said that she really wants a sister! No pressure there! She then took the paper in the other room, circled sister and gave it back to me. She is hilarious! Matthew loved being in on the action. He jumped around with the other kids when they realized what was happening but he doesn't really get it. If you ask him where Mommy's baby is, he will point to my tummy. He will also come up to me and pull up my shirt saying, 'Baby'.

We are so happy that after a long thirteen weeks of keeping this BIG secret from the kids- we could share it with them! I am currently thirteen weeks and feeling great to be out of the first trimester. So there you have it! The BIG news from the Swendsen house. Baby #4- we love you already!!!

(Here is the picture of the kids before they opened the gift.)

Merry Christmas 2008!

The kids had been looking forward to Christmas so much this year. For starters, Matthew began to understand the concept of Santa coming and walked around the whole entire month saying, Ho Ho Ho! Merry Clishmesh. We had a wonderful month and by the time Christmas arrived- we were ready for it!

Christmas morning was great! We were happy that Auntie Heather and Auntie Ali could stay the night with us and be here for the mornings festivities. On Christmas Eve, I had given the kids some parameters (basically to protect the adults) on when they could wake up and go see what Santa had brought them! No waking up before 7:00 a.m. and they had to come and get us before they walked out to the living room. I figured this might be one of the last years that they actually listen to me so why not see if we could get away with sleeping in a bit on Christmas morning! Thankfully, they listened and at 8:00 a.m. we all walked out to see the magic that Santa had left for them!

Michael and Claire were so excited that Santa had received their letters and gotten them some of the things they wanted. But the real pandemonium hit when they both realized they got a Nintendo DS. They were especially surprised because Mom and Dad told them they couldn't have one until they were ten years old! But Santa felt they were so good- they got one. Matthew got the Sponge Bob and Elmo toys he asked Santa for but when it was all said and done- his favorite gift was a Sponge Bob toothbrush. Figures, huh. All three kids loved their stockings and were once again surprised to see that Santa had drunk all the milk, eaten the cookies, and given his reindeer the carrots!

A surprise thrill for me was watching Heather and Ali open their stockings because these were the first stockings they had ever had in their life! They were giggling and giddy and I thought it was so cute! It was like we had five kids in the house! They weren't expecting Santa to bring them stockings here at all!!! For breakfast we had cinnamon rolls, eggs, sausage, and some yummy orange juice. We were all doing well until Claire said that she couldn't eat because her stomach hurt. Then she claimed she couldn't even look at the food. The phrase 'stomach flu' crept into my head but I quickly pushed it out thinking, This can't be the second Christmas Day in a row where we have the stomach flu! I went on my merry little way ignoring Claire curled in the corner until I saw her run to the bathroom and throw up. Merry Christmas!!! Matthew wasn't feeling well for an entirely different reason. He was on steroids and antibiotics for a terrible chest cold and he wasn't sleeping at night which was making it tough on me and Damien to be cheery and bright on Christmas morning. But what are you going to do? We went on about our morning as if nothing was wrong and I must say- we really did have an amazing time.

At about noon (naptime for the kiddos) we packed the car and headed north to Damien's parent's house for a Christmas Day feast! Claire, armed with a Ziplock gallon bag for emergency barfage, did great and didn't need to use it. Matthew and Michael slept like champs and we were amazed that we didn't hit an ounce of holiday traffic. Damien's family gathered that evening for a delicious turkey dinner and wouldn't you know I only took one picture! Between Claire throwing up and me deciding her being with us at dinner was not going to happen followed by me changing her out of her Christmas outfit and into jammies- I was a bit preoccupied to think of photographing the event. Then on top of that dealing with Matthew's incessant and deep coughing followed by this throwing up in a gift box in front of guests was just about enough to put me over the edge. He didn't have the stomach flu but his coughing was so terrible it caused him to throw up from the sheer repetition of it all. Michael was fine. In fact I barely saw him except to walk by the dinner table and notice (and I kid you not) that he had about twelve pieces of bread before the meal came out. He was so full he couldn't eat any part of the turkey dinner! The crusts of the bread piled high not only on his plate, but on the plates of his older three cousins who all didn't touch their dinner either.

The night, although crazy, was really fun though. You may laugh at me even suggesting it was fun but we are so used to rolling with the punches it kind of didn't phase us. We exchanged gifts with the whole family and felt blessed once again to be surrounded by such love. Merry Christmas to all- and to all a good night. Now only if we can sleep a little bit!

The Rest of the Christmas Trip

We had a great time with Nonna and Grandpa. Sure it wasn't exactly what we planned- but we had a blast! It will definitely be a trip we won't soon forget! We did manage to get to the mall once (a great trip out) and we did see both of my Grandmas which was great. Disappointingly, the big family Christmas party where we were to see my aunts, uncles, cousins, etc. was cancelled due to snow. Also a big disappointment, many of the Christmas presents I shipped up there for my family never made it due to the snow!

One thing that was really great was that Matthew and Kyle had a great time together. They played together, watched movies, played in the snow and learned a lot from each other. Matthew in particular learned how to say the word 'show' from Kyle. Now he asks me all day long, 'Mom, show?' It is pretty darn cute!

During our visit, we had a special tea at my Mom's house for my Grandma. She really enjoyed seeing everyone and we all got to dine on some delicious goodies with tea. We took this opportunity to exchange Christmas gifts with her and were so delighted with her generosity and attention to her gifts. Everything she got us was so perfect and chosen with such great care and love. After tea, we went to mass with her and had a really nice evening. It was snowing like crazy when we went to mass and it was still coming down steadily afterwards so my parents took her straight home to make sure the roads didn't get too slick before she made it safely back! Jill, Gina, Nat, Kyle, and I went to Gina's house to get her some clothes as she had been stuck at my parent's house for about 4/5 days now. It was certainly a comical (and slipery) ride!!

My Dad wanted to have a 'Christmas Movie Night' for the whole family in this home theater. He showed Jim Carey's, The Grinch and my Mom went out and got more candy than we knew what to do with! It was really fun and we were all really cozy and happy to all sit together and enjoy the movie! Matthew was able to sit through the whole thing with is so nice for me that I could actually enjoy myself!!!! Go figure!

I am so thankful to have a family who enriches my life and the life of my little family so much. We had so much fun being with each other, laughing at old stories, cooking together, slipping and sliding on the ice, and preparing for the holiday. We exchanged gifts and I feel so blessed to have so much! I was sad to go but also nervous that maybe we wouldn't get out due to the snow/ice on the runways and the other snow storm on the way! My family was really accommodating, understanding and helpful and I had a great, great visit. Approved!

We arrived at Seatac airport three hours before our flight in anticipation of a very crowded airport due to the previous two days of flight cancellations. Much to our amazement, there were no long lines, there was no over crowding, and our flight was on time (oh, and Matthew slept the whole the way home). I guess we deserved this after our travel drama on the way in! This picture was taken at the airport and you might understand why we felt so blessed to be able to fly out and be at our house when Santa would come in two short days!

Worst Puzzle Ever!

I know for a fact that I have never taken a picture of a puzzle before. However, this 'first' for me was a necessity. For just about twenty-four hours, this puzzle was the bane of my existence. I told my sisters I didn't want to help. Yet despite my bitter resistance, I found myself sitting with them putting together pieces of an eagle head. Yes, we did laugh a lot while doing this puzzle but we all reached a point where no one was having fun anymore. I mean- look at this puzzle! It was so challenging and by the end, we all just wanted to finish it so we could put it away. To top it off, to finish it we had about 100 or so pure black pieces to fill in. You had to take each piece and rotate it to see if it fit, then put it in the discard pile, then try the next ninety-nine! And the real kicker . . . we were missing a piece in the end. Ugh! I just had to post this as evidence on why I am not a huge fan of putting together puzzles and next time I hope sincerely that I don't get sucked in.

Snow, Snow, Snow, Snow, Snooowwwwwww

Once we warmed up at my parent's house and our travel amnesia had set in, we went outside to enjoy the winter wonderland that surrounded us! The kids were so excited and just couldn't get over how everything was blanketed in a beautiful fluffy layer of snow. Luckily I had brought their rain boots (not much insulation but at least it kept them dry), gloves, and a heavy rain jacket. Michael and Claire ran out in the back yard and just went nuts. It took about two minutes before they were doing snow angels in their pajama pants so I knew that they would be frozen soon and either come in to change or be done!

They loved it! All I could hear was squealing, yelling, and then crying when Michael pummeled Claire with enough snow balls to really make her mad. Matthew got all bundled up too but had a hard time walking through the thick layering of snow so Damien had to take carry him and then strategically place him in the places he wanted to go. Matthew loved throwing snow at Mommy and even liked tasting it, too!

When we arrived at my parent's, they had about eight or nine inches of snow. On the third day we were there- more and more snow fell and that number grew to about fourteen inches (or so I was told that was the count). It was amazing and beautiful.

The kids gave us endless requests to go out in the backyard and I had no problem with getting them out of our hair and outside to burn off some of their boundless energy. Michael was bound and determined to make a snowman while we were in Kirkland. He tried to make a snowman on the first day he was out in the snow but the snow was too powdery. The second snow that fell was much better snow and he made this sweet little snowman with cranberry eyes and a chocolate chip nose. He was so proud of himself! One thing I noticed about Michael was that he continually smiled out in the snow. Every picture- he has a big genuine grin pasted all over his face and I was happy to see him so happy!

After the little guys (Matthew and Kyle) had their naps, everyone went out to the main hill by my parent's house to go sledding! I was so happy Damien could experience it because I have tried to describe to him what our 'snow days' were like when I was a child. We had sleds, laundry baskets, broiler pans and cookie sheets out to try and see what worked best! Kyle and Matthew loved being pulled up and down the hills in their own luxury snow basket and it was so cute to watch their sweet little faces. And yes, if you look closely in this picture the boys are wearing socks on their hands in lieu of gloves. Hey- use what you got, right?

Next came some combination of Gina, Natalie, Damien, Michael and Claire on the sled. They started up at the top of the driveway and then would fly down the hill while the kids laughed and laughed! It was so much fun to watch!!! While the snow was great- it was also a source of frustration. Because of the steepness of my parent's driveway- only one car could make it out! Basically we had twelve people in the house and only one car that fit five passengers that could get out! This provided us with some pretty decent cabin fever! We tried to make different activities, take walks, and change it up a bit but at times it got a little nutso in there!

All in all- the snow was awesome! The kids had such a great time being creative and exploring and Matthew had his first real snow experience. And although we were trapped all together in one house, we all had a great time bonding and enjoying one another. Forced family interaction. It doesn't get much better than that!

Traveling H-E Double Toothpicks

I promise not to make this post very long- mostly because it is painful to relive! Basically, we were scheduled to fly to my Mom's house today and to complicate things a little bit- the Kirkland area got dumped on with snow the night before we were to arrive. And it wasn't just any kind of snow. It was the kind of snow that sticks like to the street like crazy and cripples the city. That being said, we were thrilled to learn that the flights to Seatac airport were not cancelled and we would be able to make it up there for our Christmas visit!

This enthusiasm is basically the last happy thought you will hear from me. Earlier in the day- my Mom called me and said that they wouldn't be able to get two cars out of the driveway to pick us up at the airport. She said she wanted to either get us a shuttle or pay for us to take a taxi home and I happily obliged and thought is was a great (and much safer) idea. Okay. So. We showed up at the airport and were in the longest line for check-in I have been in for a long long time. Matthew is still a lap child so I have to stand in a special line that took FOREVER! Then security was sluggish and then we learned our flight was delayed for 1 1/2 hours (which eventually turned into three hours). Picture kids going crazy, Matthew falling everywhere because he just needed to get on the plane and sleep, tons of people packed like sardines in the gate area, and then a call from my Mom saying that they called to see how long taxis were taking at the airport and someone told them two hours. Hmmm. Yeah. I was the one who said no to a shuttle earlier that day and really there is no blame to be placed here. We just wanted to get the heck out of San Jose and into Seattle so we could get to my Mom's house and relax.

We landed in Seattle at 10:00 p.m. All the kids had fallen asleep on the plane (their bodies thinking it was nighttime) and they were not happy at all to wake up and have to get off the plane! It took forever to get the stroller from the gate check, it took even longer to get our luggage, and we still needed to make our way to the taxi bay and catch a cab. It was about twenty-two degrees outside and yes people, the taxi bay was outside. We bundled the kids and headed outside to see one of the most shocking horrific sights ever. The line for the taxis was about 300 people deep. Yes, it wound around and around and around and I wanted to crawl in a hole and never come out! After thirty freezing minutes in line, all my kids were crying and I was trying to keep them occupied and push the six bags in line while I told Damien to go talk to all the limos and charted cars to see if he could work his usual magic. NO SUCH LUCK!

Okay, so this short story is now painfully long but apparently I need to get this out (you are all my therapy). Some guy comes by the line and says he has a chartered SUV and will take people to the Eastside (where my parent's town is). I said how much, he said $120. I said yes without really realizing I did. But I just wanted to get us out of there asap!!! The guy took us to his SUV and started loading the bags in the car when the head of security came over and told him NO, NO, NO! Apparently the guy wasn't licensed and didn't have insurance and the security guy told him if he saw him trying to drive people here again he would call the cops. Alrighty. We were now screwed. We had gotten out of line and were stuck again! I played the drama up a tiny bit to the security guy and said that we were now in trouble because we had gotten out of line! He told us to stay there and he would take care of us. Sure enough- the next minivan taxi that came up was ushered over to us and I didn't look back. Dude- load us up and get us the heck outta there! After a long, long, day- we made it to my Mom's. They were thankful to have us there and we were just happy to have the travel drama behind us. ***The pictures here were taken in the taxi on the ride home. Michael was done, done, done. Poor babies!

Michael's Christmas Play

Having attended Catholic grammar school myself, I can remember the Christmas plays that we would put on. I remember the songs, I can remember being disappointed when I wasn't picked to be Mary, I can remember how excited we were for our parents to see what we had been working so hard on! I knew that St. Chris had a Christmas performance but last year was disappointed to learn that the Kindergarten class didn't participate in it. But now that Michael is in first grade- I looked forward to being able to work this into our Christmas season!

Michael's class portrayed the manger scene and Michael was supposed to wear a brown shirt because he was a donkey. The song they sang was so sweet. His part of the song went something like this, I am a donkey shaggy and brown. I carried his Mother up hill and down. I carried his Mother to Bethlehem town. I am a donkey shaggy and brown. It was so cute! Michael even located us from the altar of the church and gave us a little wave. Claire, Matthew, Damien and I had so much fun watching all the kids in their performing glory. I must admit, all their sweet little voices singing together bought tears to my eyes.

We were a little stressed getting to the church for the Christmas program because we had been packing all day long for Seattle and knew that after the show- we had to go home and leave for the airport. The Christmas program was just what we needed and I was proud of Michael and his enthusiasm for it! Merry Christmas to all!

Bob

Because Matthew is the only 'little guy' in our house, he is exposed to a lot of things that kids without older siblings don't get to see. One of those is Sponge Bob. The kids don't watch a lot of TV, but they do occasionally watch Sponge Bob. Matthew really thinks he is funny and in a scatchy voice- calls him Bob. When Matthew saw Santa this year, he told Santa he wanted Bob. I find it kind of funny because I think he likes Sponge Bob because Michael and Claire think he is cool. What a pleaser! Matthew also loves Elmo but if Michael and Claire are asking- he will say he loves Bob more. Man, already knowing how to play his cards!!

Living Bethlehem

I believe we have started a new Christmas tradition in our family! I heard about a live nativity scene from one of the Mom's at Michael's school and knew we had to check it out. When we read up on the event, we realized that this was not only a live nativity scene but also a journey to the Biblical city of Bethlehem. We were really excited to go and be reminded of what Christmas is really about. That is precisely why I think we might make it a yearly tradition! We always seem to driving around to see amazing light displays, we make it downtown San Jose to Christmas in the Park, we make gingerbread houses, watch Christmas movies and it is about time we celebrate the coming of the birth of Jesus!

We couldn't believe how many people had come to see this attraction. There were people directing traffic, tons of people walking everywhere, and the parking lots were completely full! This only made us more excited to see what everyone was raving about. When we got closer, someone gave us some hints about how to best enjoy the whole experience. First we watched the three wise men getting prepared for the birth of Jesus. They talked for a while and then headed off to the town of Bethlehem. The kids were particularly thrilled with the giant camel that led them into town followed by a little baby one, too. We went into Bethlehem and the kids were able to enjoy crafts and activities from the time period of Jesus' birth. They made clay coins, jewelry, watched some of the village girls dance to the music. Roman soldiers came in and interrupted the girls dancing and declared that everyone register for the census. Then the crowds parted and Mary and Joseph came riding through the crowd on a donkey looking for a place to stay. We were able to follow them as they went from place to place and were denied shelter.

Finally, we followed them to a giant manger where Mary gave birth to Jesus. The kids thought the whole thing was so amazing! In came the three wise men bearing gifts, next some amazing animals and we all enjoyed a great moment of being reminded of what really matters this time of year. The whole evening was really wonderful. That is up to the point when Jesus was born and Michael decided to leave Claire in the front row and come and look for us. There was literally a giant sea of people watching the manger scene and it was about 8:30 at night when Michael wandered off for some reason (we were only two rows behind him and he missed us)! Damien gave me Matthew and thankfully we found Michael a few moments later. So basically- after the wonderful moment of seeing Jesus born, we had to talk with Michael about the idea of 'safety in numbers' and how he should never leave Claire in that situation. Talk about being brought to reality! Anyway- it was an awesome night and we are already looking forward to going next year!

Claire's Gingerbread House

Damien and I have a tradition of making a gingerbread house every year around Christmas time. While I do love making them- I also dread trying to put the house together and then having it slide apart! It has ruined the festive moods several years when you think you have it all made and then the roof starts sliding and before you know it- you are cursing the person that put too much royal icing on it or blaming it on something else. The fact is- gingerbread houses are so cute around the holidays. However- they are truly is a labor of love. This year, I bought a great gingerbread house that had grooves for the walls of the house to sit in for extra stability. Woo hoo, I thought. Sure- the walls stuck just fine but the problem always lies with the blasted roof! Martha Stewart suggests decorating the roof pieces before you put them on so that you aren't messing with the roof once it is 'glued' on. Yeah, that doesn't work either. What we ended up doing was making our house in two phases (not by choice). We put all the pieces together and then left it overnight to stick together. We shoved glasses under the roof pieces for extra stability and left it alone. It worked but what kid has the patience to make a house in two phases? The kids were less that thrilled.

The next night, we all prepped to make our house. Claire was totally ready but at the last minute, Michael asked if he could just eat one of the gingerbread men that came with the set and not decorate. I tried to change his mind but he really doesn't get into stuff like this. Needless to say, Michael chose to eat gingerbread, Damien watched Matthew, and Claire and I got busy building her house. I have to admit- all I did was pipe the royal icing on the house. Claire did the rest of the decorating. I loved to watch her creative mind at work and was really impressed with her vision. In the end- it looked beautiful. Everyone that comes over comments on how pretty it is and I give Claire all the credit. The whole process didn't go the way I thought it would but at least Claire and I still had a great time doing it!

My Very Own Clark W. Griswold

I was so excited to be able to put lights up on our house for the very first time! In the four years we lived in our town home, we never put up lights on the outside of the house. This year in our new house would be different! Our neighborhood goes all out with Christmas decorations. Not only does almost every single house put up some kind of lights on their home, most everyone puts a five foot tree (adorned in colored lights) in their front yard. It is so cool to be able to drive down street after street and look down and see a row of colored trees!

Being as it was our first year with exterior illumination, we decided to go with colored lights. When I was a little girl- we always had colored lights. It seems like a little more fun, especially when you have small kids to enjoy them! Damien- with the help of his little elf Claire, strung the lights on the entire perimeter of the house. They looked great! And the obsessive compulsive side of me loved that Damien hung them so straight! Watching Claire out there helping Damien reminded me of when I was younger. Somehow- I always got the job of helping my Dad hang the Christmas lights. While a giant part of me loved helping him, an equally giant part of me hated it. I hated the pressure of handing him the lights as I untangled them. I hated that he was on a rickety ladder that brought him two stories high to hang the lights! I hated even more that that rickety ladder was never level and as he moved up and down the ladder I feared so much that he would fall! He never did fall and the lights always looked great.

Damien did an awesome job and he was able to do it in relatively fast time! When he had hung all the lights, we all came outside to see him plug them in! We gave him a drum roll (just like they do in one of my favorite movies National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation), and wouldn't you know that as quickly as they lit up- they went out! We had to laugh because this is just what happens in the movie! After much deliberation and some checking and re-checking, we realized that there was too much electricity running through one extension cord. Once we changed this, the house glowed and looked so pretty! It really got us in the Christmas spirit and I was so happy that finally, we got to have lights on our house!

E's Nutcracker

Like we have done every year for the past ten or so years, we went to the Nutcracker. Every year, Damien's Mom (E) narrates a children's production of the great holiday classic and we look forward to it so much. We love it for the music, the dances, and of course to see E on stage- but we also love it because the production has been condensed to just one hour. We met my good friend Eileen and her daughter Mia for dinner beforehand and for the second year in a row they joined us for the show! Apparently Mia talks about it year round.

My kids did great and it was especially fun to see how Matthew reacted to the show. This is really his first year of being cognitively aware of what is going on and he couldn't believe that E was on stage. He did start to cry when all the mice were running around on stage with swords because he thought they were going to hurt his E. Damien brought him outside for a minute and then he came back in and enjoyed the show (until he fell asleep about fifteen minutes before the show was over). The performance was beautiful and they even made some great changes to the show. It was great to get together with the family and to be able to get togethere afterwards for dessert with Ali, Heavenly, E, Papa, Teresa and her kids. We really had a nice time and we are already looking forward to next year!!!

O' Christmas Tree

I am a huge fan of getting our Christmas tree early. For starters, I love the look, the smell, and the feeling of having a Christmas tree in my house. Another reason is that for some part of December- we always go up to visit my family so I like to have my tree up and ready to enjoy since we are gone for a good chunk of time visiting. For the last two years, we have gone to the kid's school Christmas tree lot to pick out our tree. The pricing has been really reasonable and the kid's school and classes benefit from our patronizing this particular tree lot! This year we wavered on whether to get a douglas fir or a noble. We always get a douglas fir but this year their nobles were so full that they looked like a douglas firs. In the end- we stayed with our usual tree choice. The person running the lot had some trees that were freshly delivered that day. We watched him cut open some of the trees and when he unwrapped the tree pictured- it was absolutely perfect. No bare spots, perfect height, and the smell was to die for! Done and done.

We brought it home, put it in it's stand and gave it some water but didn't decorate it until the next day. It was too late for the kiddos! When we woke up the next morning our house smelled sooooo good! This is our first Christmas in our newish house. We will have been here for a year towards the end of December. Being that we really don't have set places for all of our decorations- we had to visualize what would be best. We put the tree in our living room so that at night it can be seen through the front window. When I pull into the house at night and see the tree in the window it makes me so happy!

The kids had a great time decorating the tree. I think we only broke three glass balls and we managed to do a pretty good job of making our tree look really pretty. I love watching the kids pull the special ornaments out of the box. Claire's most favorite Nutcracker ornament, a little golden Eiffel Tower for Michael from the trip to Paris when he was born, a sweet white ornament with Matthew's red chubby hand print pressed into clay. This memorable and important ritual we do every year decorating the tree brings us all together and reminds us of the very special days in our past. As we prepare for the birth of Jesus, putting all the kid's First Christmas ornaments on the tree reminds me of their own births. This truly is a special time of year and I am again reminded of the most special blessings my family brings me.

Bunked!

Since Michael was about three years old, he has slept in his Race Car Toddler bed. He loves it because it looks cool, but also because it was passed down to him by his cousin Seamus (who Michael absolutely idolizes). When Claire was four years old, we got her a new twin bed. She had to move out of her toddler bed because we needed the crib mattress for Matthew's crib. When Claire made the move to a big girl bed- we asked Michael if he wanted to make the change too! As expected, he was happy with his little bed. He also has a hard time letting go of things and I just don't think he could say goodbye to his bed.

Well it has been a few years since we first asked him if he wanted to graduate to a big bed and lately he has been complaining that it is now too small and uncomfortable (which is understandable considering he is 7 years old). We knew when the time came that we wanted a bunk bed for the boys room because it would be a huge space saver. Well, when my Mom and Dad were here around my birthday- my Dad heard Michael complaining about his bed. Later that afternoon at Michael's soccer game, my Dad took me aside and told me he wanted to get Michael a bunk bed that weekend. Wow! We were so surprised and thrilled. We had planned to get him a bunk bed but were going to wait until after the New Year. So as promised, we ordered a bunk bed that weekend and we now have it all set up in Michael and Matthew's room. They love it. Claire now sleeps on the bottom while Michael reigns supreme on top! Yes, all three kids are sleeping in the same room and it is a piece of cake. I don't know if we will ever get Claire out of there and back in her own room!

I am so appreciative of my parent's generosity and I know that every night Michael stretches his legs out and is comfy, he is thankful too. Thanks Nonna and Grandpa!

Downtown Seattle

In the days leading up to Thanksgiving- we pretty much just stayed home at my Mom and Dad's house. However, once Thanksgiving was past, we felt the need to go and get in the holiday spirit! It is weird calendar year this year. A short Christmas season because Thanksgiving fell on the 27th. That meant that we had less than a month of Christmas shopping, Christmas music, and eating too many Christmas cookies . . . you catch my drift. My Mom is always great about having activities for us to do when we come up there. We searched our holiday options and decided to try and go to downtown Seattle and see what holiday cheer Westlake Center could bring us.

Westlake always has a great setting for all things Christmas. I knew that it would be well worth the trip (only 20 minutes or so from my Mom's house) and I was pretty excited. My Mom thought it would be a great idea (both logistically and a great experience for the kids) to drive into Seattle, park the car, and then take the trolley to Westlake. It was actually pretty darn easy! As my Mom predicted- my kids thought it was really cool to ride the trolley and it dropped us off in prime location to see all the sounds and the sights.

Our first stop was going to a Snow Show (aka it is snowing soap but the kids think it's snow) in Westlake Center. People crowded into the downstairs of the mall to get ready for the great snowfall! My kids LOVED it! They screamed and hollered and loved that they could catch the 'flakes' with their hands and that it was sticking to their clothes (at least it made the clothes smell fresh). Matthew even tried to catch some with his tongue at which time I nudged Damien and told him no.

While all of this was going on, some of the characters from the Nutcracker were circling around and passing out pins. When the basket came to Michael- he saw that there were a good number of pins in the basket but also a dollar bill. First he picked up a pin and then put it back and grabbed the dollar. We got a great laugh out of it but made him put back the measly dollar that someone had donated. I don't blame him. Who wants a little pin over a dollar? In the meantime- the snow kept falling and Natalie was concerned because she had just straightened her hair and didn't want it to get all 'soapy'- hence her fashion forward look. It was a funny Snow Show and the adults were glad when it was over and we could head outside to get some fresh air!

We met up with Gina and Jill who were downtown registering for the Seattle Half Marathon which they planned to run the next morning. Then we all headed over to a great carousel where we ate some elephant ears (picture giant flat churros) and hot chocolate. Yummy! Jill (Kyle), and Gina went back to the Eastside to do some carb loading for their race and the rest of us went and had a yummy light dinner together. After dinner, we took the trolley back to our cars and rode home truly satisfied and ready to drive head first into the Christmas season.

Bath Time!

Matthew and his cousin Kyle took a bath together at my Mom's house. Jill was nice enough to wash them both and let them have some fun! The boys are only 3 1/2 months apart and are really starting to have fun together!