Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve was great this year. First we rode trax up to Temple Square to see the lights. It was fun to listen to the strangers comments when they noticed cute little Anastyn snuggled inside Gordon's coat. One lady even took her picture!

We ran out the door in such a hurry that we forgot Taeya's coat! Thank goodness she had decided to wear 2 long sleeve shirts, and 2 tank tops underneath her little sweater that night. I let her wear my scarf and she didn't seem to be cold. We all really enjoyed the beautiful lights and the nativity.

Then my Mom and Dad, and Ryan, Kristy, and Daylen came over to eat some yummy soup and play cards.

After cards Taeya and Daylen opened a few presents. Daylen was so nice to get Taeya a new Ariel barbie.

Taeya and Anastyn got some new snowman jammies.

Papa and Nana got Taeya this fun easel, which she loves, and Anastyn got the Snow White DVD and a toy.

After we got the girls to sleep we ended up staying up til 2:00 am getting last minute stuff done. Every year I try to get things done so I can actually enjoy the evening without thinking about the things I haven't done yet......I guess there is always next year!

Early Christmas Present

Gordon got the best early Christmas present this year - a few days before Christmas he got his braces off! Since he works for a company that manufactures and develops dental products the enployees are offered orthodontic care for a considerable discount. He got them on in September of 2008 and only had to pay $500. The Orthodontist said he would have them on for about 7 months. 14 months later he finally got them off. He is supposed to be spending the next 3 weeks bleaching his teeth teeth before the dentist makes his "lateral incisors" larger. He hasn't been bleaching though because since he got them off his teeth have been extremely sensitive, but he is still happy to have them off and is now enjoying apples again!

Christmas Card

"Tomorrow is Christmas, it's practically here!" This quote has been going through my mind the past few days, because I can't believe Christmas is so soon. Hope you all have a very Merry Christmas! I am not looking forward to a few last minute odds and ends I need to pick up today. I guess that's what I get for being a procrastinator - I think I will blame it on the baby this year!

Christmas Sunday

I always enjoy church the Sunday before Christmas. I love hearing the choir sing, music to me really invites the spirit. One of the other reasons I love the Sunday before Christmas is the tradition of getting a new dress. I have carried on this tradition with the girls.

Taeya's dress was really casual this year which I thought was very practical since she will be able to wear it longer than if it was really "Christmas-y." Anastyn's outfit was given to me whe she was born, I thought it would be perfect for Christmas. They both looked so cute. Taeya even got to go to primary (during sharing time) for the first time. She is really excited to be a sunbeam in a few weeks.

Taeya's School Program

On December 18th Taeya had a Christmas program at school. I was all ready to get her dressed in a cute red dress and at the last minute I remembered she was supposed to wear dark pants and white shirt. Thank goodness for Alyson who came to the rescue with some cute black pants. She would have really stood out if I didn't remember.

The kids sang several Christmas songs. It was really cute. Taeya was quite distracted during most of the songs, but she did participate in the songs that required standing up and moving around!

The girls looked so cute in their scarves.

After their performance we got to see santa. Taeya was really excited to see him again. As I mentioned in an earlier post, during Thanksgiving I had called Santa to tell him not to come. Taeya had been pretty good the few days before her performance so I told her we could tell Santa that he could come to our house now. Sadly I didn't get to hear what Taeya asked him for. I was too distracted trying to get a good shot of Anastyn.

I think I got a pretty cute one! After her preformance we celebrated at McDonalds.

3 months old

As of December 15th Anastyn is 3 months old. She is so much fun. Here are some photos from the past month and some things about her:

12-4-09 (12 weeks old)

12-9-09 - Anastyn was all tired out after a little crying fit. I think her tummy must have been hurting her.


12-11-09 - I had bundled Anastyn up to walk her across the street and she fell aleep on the way home. She just looked so cute I couldn't resist a photo.

On Taeya's 3 month birthday (December 15th) we had a little Christmas party. We took this picture of all 4 babies. Bryce (5 months), Alayna (4 months), McCoy (4 months), and Anastyn (3 months). These 4 babies are so much fun and are developing such unique personalities.

Anastyn is so alert and responsive. She smiles and smiles if being talked to. She is so good, she really only gets fussy if she is hungry or tired.

She still eats every 2 hours, but it only takes about 5 minutes to feed her. I started working again a few weeks ago and we discovered that Anastyn really doesn't love the bottle. Gordon ends up bringing her to me to eat - I know so annoying, but better than having a screaming baby.

During the night she sleeps for about 6 hours for the first stretch, I feed her, she goes to sleep for another 3 hours, I feed her, than she will usually sleep for another 1-2 hours.

She laughed for the first time tonight (12-22-09), she was watching Taeya jump on the tramp and thought it was hilarious.

She is wearing 3-6 month clothes and they fit perfectly. She has a really long body and I think she might not be able to wear this size for too long. She is growning so much lately.

She started sleeping in her crib at night a few weeks ago and now I can finally get her to take naps in her crib. Most of the time they are just little cat-naps but if I wrap her up like I do at night time she will sleep for 1-2 hours. Usually closer to 1 hour, of course I enjoy any break I can get. The problem is that lately Taeya wants me to play with her all day everyday. So when Anastyn is sleeping I am usually playing with Taeya. I think is might be a jealousy thing because lately Taeya has been mean to the baby, she has even hit her a few times.

I know these 2 girls will be great friends someday, but right now I think Anastyn is a little afraid of Taeya. She gets this nervous look in her eyes everytime Taeya gets close. Maybe it's because Taeya is kind of loud, and rough, and I am sure the hitting thing doesn't help. Taeya is still constantly trying to hold her hand, especially in the car!

Anastyn loves the bouncer. She gets so excited when I put her in it. I think she loves the bubbles and thinks the fish are her friends. This bouncer is a life saver, it alows me to take a shower or get a few things done during the day!

She is kind of a mama's girl at the moment and she really does seem to favor me. She follows me with her eyes when I walk across the room, and today while my dad was holding her she was looking at me longingly!

She is starting to really slobber alot and she loves to suck/chew on her hands when the binki isn't in her mouth. I am worried that she will find her thumb and decide she really likes it.

She is growning so fast and we all love her so much. I am so grateful that I have the opportunity to be her mother and pray everyday that I can be a great mom to her!

Festival of Lights

Last Monday for Family Home Evening we met at Garrick and Kelly's new house in Spanish Fork. My dad gave us a nice Christmas lesson and then we piled in the back of the truck and drove through the "Festival of Lights." Garrick provided yummy hot chocolate and donut holes. Thank goodness for that hot chocolate because it was cold. My mom sat in the truck and held the baby (while also listening to the jazz game!) We had a great time all bundled up. I hope this is a new yearly tradition.

Asilia and Taeya - they have so much fun together.

Mariel, Skyler, and Matt

Matt, Asilia, Taeya, Mariel, Skyler, Zach, and Garrick

Dad (Papa), Jayne and Kelly enjoyed the view from inside the truck.

Garrick, Jayne and Kelly

Jayne and Kelly joined us in the back of the truck for the 2nd loop. Jayne enjoyed the last half of the lights with closed eyes, but didn't ever let go of her hot chocolate lid!

We had such a great time thanks to Garrick and Kelly and their fantastic planning!

Frosty the Snowman

Sunday, December 13, 2009 we woke up to a lot of snow. So much that Gordon and Taeya couldn't resist building a snowman. "Frosty the Snowman" to be precise. It was huge, Gordon said he had a hard time lifting the middle snowball. After the snowman was built Gordon started shoveling the driveway (he shoveled it 3 times that day) and Taeya and Brielle had some fun in the snow.

They made snow angels (Brielle is the top photo, Taeya the bottom)

Taeya checked on the snowman every few minutes to make sure his body parts were still there (he had rocks for eyes that kept falling out)

Playtime with Brielle would not be complete without the "mom and kid game." This is Taeya's favorite game. It doesn't matter who comes over, this is usually her first question, "do you want to play mom and kid game." Its obviously just what it is, one of the girls is the mom and one is the kid. When Coco is around he is the dad, when there are more than 2 girls playing Brielle enjoys being the dog, otherwise she is the mom, and most of the time Taeya is the kid! This picture is the girls playing mom and kid game.

Brielles hands were freezing and Taeya must have been cold also because I could only get Lawni and Brielle to pose in front of the snowman (Brielle a little unwillingly!)

During round 3 of Gordon's shoveling Taeya played in the snow again and Gord was able to get a picture with her and our huge snowman.

1 1/2 weeks later our snowman is now very skinny with only 1 arm, and a magic hat. The hat keeps mysteriously getting put back on Frosty's head. I mentioned this to Taeya and she said, "maybe it's a magic hat?"

Zoo Lights

Last Saturday we went and saw the lights at the Zoo. I can't say that I was really impressed, but it was still something fun to do as a family. We were able to see the cougars, tigers, and leopards walking around. The monkey's were all visible but trying to sleep (poor little guys). We were really excited to see the little baby monkey that was born about the same time as Anastyn. I think it was too cold and dark to see the baby Elephant though. Taeya and Anastyn both seemed to enjoy themselves. Gordon put Anastyn in the Baby Bjorn then zipped her up in his coat. She was really content inside, she hardly moved, she even had a little nap inside the warmth of the reptiles "house."

Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus

In the beginning of December Mr. and Mrs. Claus visited Gordon's work. Taeya enjoyed sitting on Santa's lap. She told him that she wanted a "hair cutter thing." Way before Thanksgiving "Toys R Us" sent out the big toy book. As Taeya was looking through the book she pretty much wanted everything in the catalogue. She spent some extra time looking at "The Hair Cutter Thing" which is a salon chair, vanity, and little caddy that holds pretend color bowl, brushes, etc. I didn't realize that she REALLY wanted this item until she came home from school with her Christmas list, and the only thing on it was "Hair Cutter Thing." Now, I had a little chat with Santa and he and I feel that this gift might not be the best for Taeya. It's really cute that she wants to be like mom, but I am afraid she might really cut someones hair - all for fun of course! So we have extended her Christmas list to also include a jeep (a power wheel), and a bike.

(Sorry you need your magnifying glass to look at this pictures, but the image that was emailed to us is really small!)

This is the list Taeya made at school.

So far I think Taeya is on Santa's "naughty" list. I had to call him a few weeks ago and tell him not to come because Taeya wasn't being good at all. I told her that I will call him back when she is being good. It hasn't helped and she is still on the "naughty list." I am still waiting for a good day so I can call him back and tell him to come. We might be waiting for a while! Gordon says I need to figure out a way to call him back because you can't really follow through and give a 3 year old nothing for Christmas, can you?

Swimming

Saturday November 28th, the day after we got home from Arizona, we decided we needed to do a family activity. We used to go swimming all the time at the Lehi pool, but since being pregnant and having a newborn we haven't been for a long time. We thought we better start getting Anastyn used to the water so she will hopefully love swimming like the rest of us. She did great, we kept her in the water for at least 30 minutes and she never complained, even when we dunked her! (Taeya 3 years and 4 months old, Anastyn 2 1/2 months old)

Arizona

On November 19th the girls and I survived the 12 hour drive to Kimberly's house in Arizona. The girls did great considering the amount of time spent in their car seats and we had a fantastic week enjoying the Arizona sun. It was 85 degrees in Arizona while it was snowing in Utah. We planned the trip so we could be at Kimball's baptism and while we were there, figured we might as well stay for Thanksgiving. We had such a fun week. We did some shopping, hung out, watched movies, ate yummy food, and just enjoyed being with the Whitmer family.

Kierra and Taeya had so much fun together, they had fun having "twinner" hair during the week. They both loved holding Anastyn and often fought over who held her first!

Saturday, November 21st, Kimball was baptized. He is such a sweet boy and it was sure great to be there for this big milestone in his life.

He looked so handsome in his suit! (Too bad Taeya and Anastyn didn't really cooperate).

We all loved spending so much time with "Papa and Nana" they sure saved me during the week.

While us older girls were shopping, the little girls were off to the ball! They had so much fun driving in the jeep. Kimberly lives out in the middle of nowhere which was nice because we didn't have to worry about the kids getting hit by a car and there was a lot of red dirt to play in. These 2 girls spent many hours driving the jeep down the road where there was a nice soft patch of sand.

When they weren't in dress-ups they could usually be found in their princess pajama's. The polly pockets and ponies were very clean after their many "baths" in the bathroom sink.

Anastyn was so content if she was being held. Thankfully their were lots of willing arms! My mom was so awesome - she would bathe her and get her dressed for me each day. Of course I think she enjoyed snuggling with her in the process!

One afternoon Mom and I made the girls tutu's - which they loved wearing. Taeya's is already trashed from wearing it so much (it probably didn't help that it made it to the sand pile one day!)

They were very creative in how they wore them.

Kenzly and Taeya became little pals during the week. Kenzly was so good to play with the girls. This picture was taken on Thanksgiving, right after our feast.

Kenzly and Kierra are such beautiful girls.

I curled all 3 girls hair and they looked so cute, i just couldn't get a picture of all 3 of them looking great at the same time.

Papa and Anastyn became buds during the week. He held her a lot while she slept, it was especially helpful while we were getting food ready on Thanksgiving. She enjoyed her first football game with closed eyes!

Anastyn's first Thanksgiving - November 26, 2009 - 10 weeks and 2 days old

Me and my girls. I sure love them - and Gordon sure missed them!