Having survived Christmas and all of the parties, we spent the rest of this week at home playing with the new toys and catching naps when possible (or when the child cooperated) to catch up on lost naps. Alora continues to fight with those teeth that are causing her no end of misery yet will not come through :( Still, happy most of the time, she is climbing on everything and this week said her first word - "Ah-Ah" (Uh-Oh). We hear that word non stop from her as she tosses toys, food and anything else she can get her hands on!
Ezri has been busily cleaning our house with her new mop. She insisted on having water so she could clean the floor, so I obliged and she had so much fun!
I had a very wet floor, cabinets, rugs, etc., but she had so much fun and I thoroughly enjoyed listening to her as she told me she loved to clean my house and would come back tomorrow to clean it again! Love that girl!!!
This week, the girls turned another month older... Ezri is now 34 months old
And Alora is 11 months old...
We got snow later in the week, so Ezri and I took advantage of Alora's nap time one day to play outside. She had so much fun :) We realized we definitely need to go get her some snow boots and warmer gloves - things we thought we had or that should have fit did not. So, we doubled up socks and put on rain boots for the time and kept our play time shorter so she didn't get cold. Some time in the sled around the yard...
Then we played in the snow. It was not quite snowman making conditions, but we sure had fun tossing it into the air and watching the flakes fall back to the ground!
We also got in some time on the swing :)
To finish up our week, this mommy has been busy painting the dining room. Nearly finished, I am so excited to have this room finally updated as it was still the same colors and condition as when we moved into this house 7 years ago.
Gearing up for a restful weekend and with New Years Eve just around the corner, we are in disbelief that this year has flown by so quickly. How can it be we will soon have our sweet baby turning one and our little angel turning 3????? Slow down time, slow down!
It has been been a Christmas extravaganza for us here. We started out our weekend with MOPS on Friday morning. It was our calm before the chaos, and this Mommy sure needed that time to relax and enjoy the friendship this group has brought. That night, we all cuddled up to watch the Polar Express by the light of the Christmas tree, snacking on popcorn and just enjoying the calm and time together
Saturday brought about the Miller Christmas party. With most of my cousins having graduated, the young children are now great-grandchildren. Only a few were present at the party, but the girls had a good time playing... Erzi was especially excited to see "Ancy" (Aunt Nancy). Great Grandma got each of the girls a gift as well. This was Alora's first experience opening a gift...
After hanging out for a while, as we were getting ready to clean up and head home, we went looking for Ezri and found she had made herself a little "house" out of the bathrooms. She had filled the rooms with toys, setting things up just so, and was quite content to just play by herself. Needless to say, she was quite upset when we had to put things away and go home.
Sunday brought about another busy day for us. We woke up and got the girls into Christmas dresses for church. A very tired little Ezri wanted nothing to do with pictures...
Alora was all smiles, though! Although it was really quite big on her, I put Alora in my Christmas dress that was made for me when I was a baby by Grandma Miller. I was afraid, as tall as Alora is, that next year it will not fit... She was so cute!
After some convincing, we got the two together :)
After church, we headed to Grandpa and Grandma's house for a day of Christmas partying with my siblings and their children. Alora was more interested in eating the paper than the gifts, at first, but she soon got into it and figured out what it was all about.
It was absolute chaos! Kids and gifts everywhere!!!
Ezri's got some fun toys, including a camera that takes real pictures and a sleeping bag that she was so excited to use.
A very busy day with a short nap for Alora and no nap for Ezri (day 3), we had some very tired girls on our hands.
Monday, Christmas Eve, we met up with Opa, Oma, Uncle Michael and Aunt Becky at Target to have our pictures taken. After that, we headed back to Opa and Oma's for some lunch. Daddy found himself cozy with a snack!
Alora, sweet as always, was such a trooper, despite being so tired and fighting cold on top of those eye teeth moving and working their way through. A bit of a fever, we had to dose her up with some Tylenol, but she did so great!
She discovered on her own one of the great joys of the wrapping paper tube - talking into it :)
Some cuddle time with Daddy in place of a nap...
And into the gifts we dove...
Ezri was so excited to open a tea set from Opa and Oma, that once she got it opened, she ran excitedly across the room to show me and demanded I open it up right then so she could play with it. It was so cute!
Alora got a baby doll that she loved immediately, and was hugging and kissing on :)
A microphone for Ezri...
Which she put to use in a way we hadn't quite planned. After gifts, we headed to our church for a Christmas Eve service. I was singing while Alex ran sound, and as there was no child care, the girls were in the sanctuary as well. I could not convince Ezri to sit with anyone, she demanded to stay with me, so up on the stage she came with her little microphone. The entire time I was singing, she was in my arms singing her heart out into her little microphone as well, not at all phased by the people watching her. It was the sweetest thing, and I wish I had a picture!
Tuesday, Christmas Day was upon us. After all of the chaos and parties, we laid low and stayed home. We all slept in, and then got to business opening gifts. This year, Alex and I decided to only give a few gifts to the girls, knowing they would be overloaded by all of the other gifts. We started with stockings...
Ezri helped Tucker open his gift...
And then, after our small celebration, we relaxed!
Christmas night, we celebrated by sharing some Chinese with our friends Andy, Scott, Dawn and Kenny.
Amid all of the Christmas, life happened here at the house as well. Stay tuned for part 2 of our Christmas Week - the daily happenings that kept us smiling ;)
This past weekend was a busy one for us! Friday, the girls and I spent the afternoon with Oma while Daddy was at a meeting. While there, Ezri and Oma got to work decorating some Christmas cookies :)
I believe Ezri sampled quite a bit of frosting and sprinkles along the way, but she sure had fun :)
Saturday we spent the day with Grandpa, Grandma, Kevin, Katie, Drew, Luke, Mike, Kerri, Aubrey and Wesley. We started the morning with some family pictures. We ended up getting some good ones in the end, but boy was there chaos with all the kids!!! We made it through and got in some play time before lunch too.
By the time we got done and around to eating lunch, there were some tired little ones. Poor Wesley could barely keep his eyes open while eating lunch
After some lunch and a little time for rest, Grandma, Kerri, Katie, Alex and I headed out with all 6 kids to Coopersville to ride the Santa Claus train.
The guest of honor started out in our car, and our kids were the first to go see him! Santa and Drew had quite the conversation.
Ezri, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with Santa. She finally cooperated for a picture once Mommy sat down...
Alora was not quite sure what to think...
Aubrey did fairly well...
Wesley needed some Mommy motivation to sit with Santa too.
It was a fun ride, crazy and chaotic with 6 kids cooped up, but fun :)
Alora especially loved looking out the window as the train rolled along!
Little Luke was a trooper the whole time, sleeping much of the ride and full of smiles.
Sunday, Ezri was in a small program at church. She did a great job standing up front singing, not that she's had any influence or practice doing so...
A bit on the fidgety side, she stayed there through the whole program and was so excited to tell us about it after church :)
Our week was busy at home with the usual fun in addition to some gift wrapping. Our little monkey Alora is climbing everything... the TV stand, toys, furniture, stairs... she even pushes chairs over to the piano to pull books off the rack! There's no taking our eyes off that child for fear of her falling off of something. Ezri is busy learning her numbers and letters each week. This week we are working on "N" and "14". She's such a little helper, always wanting to do what I am doing, especially in the kitchen. Anytime there is a hint I might be cooking, out comes her little step and there she is ready to help. She's also been learning about and participating in helping clean up after meals and even setting the table before meals. Still working on the potty training thing, she's got it figured out as long as she is wearing no bottom, but as soon as undies, a pull up or diaper go on, forget it. Who knows? But, we're rolling with it and grateful for each moment we have with our little angels.
In light of the terrible tragedy in Newtown, last Friday, we have been even more mindful of our blessings and trying to keep perspective when the little things threaten to distract us.
As we look ahead to a very busy weekend filled with Christmas parties galore, we are trying to remain focused on the true reason for celebrating this season - the birth of our Savior.
There have not been many opportunities to catch our breath this week...on
Alora, up to her usual antics, has been climbing EVERYTHING! This past week, I caught her up on the little table, headed to the top of the toy box. Anywhere she can get a let up, she is climbing... chairs, toys, people, you name it.
Even her ride on/walker dog... The child is into or on top of anything she can be.
Add to that new fun with toys, and she has been entertaining this week to say the least...
Alora is so close to standing on her own. Many times, we catch her doing so for several seconds - until she realizes and quickly grabs something or sits down.
This past Saturday, the girls and I met up with Aunt Kerri, Aunt Katie and all the cousins at Grandma's house for some holiday baking. It was essentially contained chaos, but we had fun. Luke was quiet and slept, Alora kept herself entertained for the most part, Wesley was all over the place, and Ezri, Drew and Aubrey were right in the mix of baking, playing, fighting...
I let the kids get in on the baking to keep them busy. The girls had fun cutting out cookies. The shapes may have overlapped and the dough had to be re-rolled several times, but oh-well.
Throw in some play time with Grandma (Ring Around The Rosie) while the cookies were baking...
And then time to frost and decorate. This was a HUGE mess!!!
Frosting and sprinkles (mounds of them) everywhere... But oh so yummy!
Sunday, we were privileged to be a part of Luke's dedication. We visited Compass Church in Byron Center for the dedication. Afterward, we (the Rynbrandt and Whiteveen families plus grandparents) headed out for lunch. It was a long day, with no naps, but we were so glad we were able to be there.
Monday, after opening a box of baby wipe refill packages, Ezri claimed the box for Barky's house. While she napped, I adapted the box a bit to make it into a house with a roof, carpet, a door and windows. When she woke up, she was so excited! Even more fun, we decorated it together. Barky has been in his house non-stop this week, "sleeping".
Monday, Ezri and I headed off to the library to get some more books. Ezri really likes going to the library so she can play with the little kitchen set and car table. Getting books is fun, but the toys are even better for her right now :)
We saw several days of snow covered ground this week. While it melted away each day, the girls were very curious and excited to see the snow :) Me, not so much...
On Tuesday, it snowed in the morning, and the roads under became VERY slippery. Alex returned home from his bible study after 9am and said it was still quite slippery, even after trucks had been out. Around 10am, Ezri and I headed out to take Tucker to the vet to have stitches removed from his back where he had had cysts removed a couple of weeks back. Nearly to the vet's office, we stopped at the corner of 130th and 30th, waiting for traffic to clear so we could cross the road. As we waited, another vehicle turned the corner and slid right into the side of our truck.
Fortunately, Ezri, Tucker and I were just fine, as were the other passengers... The truck, however, looked worse than the other vehicle :( And this right after we just last week switched to a new insurance company. *sigh* An hour and a police report later, we were on our way, late, to Tucker's appointment and then back home. Alora, who was at home napping for our "short" trip, slept the entire time, allowing Daddy to work (at least some - when he wasn't talking to me or dealing with the insurance company about the truck). Now to get it fixed...
Wednesday night brought band practice, and the girls came with me while Daddy worked. Thursday, we got to spend the whole day with Kevin, Katie, Drew and Luke! Much of the afternoon, the kids played at our house. It was fun for Ezri to have a playmate, and Mommy sure enjoyed catching up with Aunt Katie.
Late afternoon, we all headed to Great Grandma's house to have supper with her. This was Drew's first time on the farm, so he was beyond excited and curious. Uncle Fred was able to get a tractor started and off they drove...
After supper, Ezri became little mommy and tucked Drew in for a nap on the floor while she read him a book... Aww.....
Then they got wild again. Ezri has finally warmed up to Kevin and was back and forth playing with him all night. When Drew got on the Sit n Spin, Ezri joined him and the giggles filled the room as they got some extra spin power from Uncle Kevin
So hard to believe we are looking at Christmas so soon! With all the chaos, we are trying to make sure we instill in Ezri the true purpose for celebrating Christmas. We have been opening our advent boxes each night, and she enjoys seeing what little item will be in the box. We also talk about the nativity scene and play with her little people version. Gratefully, she is not into Santa or making a wish list, so we don't have those worries for now.
Glad to have all of our family gathered again for Christmas, we will soon be seeing Aunt Becky and Uncle Michael again too. While it is wonderful to see everyone, it sure adds to the busyness and chaos, with so many places to be and people to see.
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