Rain Rain, Go Away

A friend recently informed me that we're offically Oregonians now. That's because we've finally experienced a real Oregon winter. Apparently the last two winters we were here were mild, but this year really delivered.  Delivered as in... it rained every day. Okay, I exaggerate. In the month of December it only rained 28 days. So there's that.

But let's get further into the data because it is rather impressive. For example, December in Portland was the wettest December and wettest month ever in Portland in 75 years. As of the 21st of the month we had had 13.52 inches of rain. For reference, that's about an inch short of what the state of Utah gets in an entire year. All over the state there was flooding, sinkholes, landslides, mudslides, and even a tornado up in Washington.

I won't lie and say it didn't affect me. Be it hormones or the weather, I had a moment in the middle of the month that I told Ben, "I'd have to go on medication if it was always like this!" But thankfully Christmas brightened my spirits and we've recently had some sunny days. They are still cold, but we bundle up and get out of the house because, we can! And we don't even get wet!

Although there have been plenty of rainy days that we've gotten out of the house too. And Oregon is still beautiful, even when it's wet.

And I apologize if I sound dramatic, but I did just survive the wettest month in Portland in 75 years, you know? Here's to more sunny days in 2016!

Growing Up

My kids are growing up. Of course they are, you say, but don't act like that realization is so obvious. Don't be that lady in the grocery store who longingly looks at your kids and says, "Enjoy this stage. They grow up so fast". This is, of course, happening while you are in the check out line, trying to pay for your groceries while one kid is crying because you won't buy her a candy bar and the other is seconds from breaking his arm as he tries to climb out of the cart. 

Because although I can appreciate the message this woman is trying convey, I have to say that most days I don't believe her. Most days, after I've picked up countless toys, cleaned up a plethora of messes, and changed innumerable diapers, I can promise you that it feels like they will never. grow. up. Really.

And then they surprise me. Like the first time Teddy slept through the night. After over a year of sleepless nights rocking him, nursing him, burping him, singing to him, I felt a light penetrate the darkness of my life. I would sleep through the night again. Of course, we go through phases, but his sleeping through the night gave me hope for the future.

Then this week I was getting lunch ready and Nayeli told me she didn't want to drink milk from a sippy anymore. She wanted it in a cup. Just like that. Is that how it happens?

Not to mention that we had to move Teddy to a toddler bed a few weeks ago. His fantastic climbing skills extended to the crib where he fell out multiple times (without serious injury). We finally bit the bullet and jimmy-rigged his crib, which is not made to convert into a toddler bed, into a toddler bed. Ta-da!

He's actually done surprisingly well with sleeping in an open bed. Yes, there are many nights that he falls asleep by the door to his room and I have to move him, but overall he has managed to control himself enough to fall asleep in the confines of the bed.

He's also become interested in Nayeli's underwear and the toilet as of late. I finally broke down and bought him car underwear after a few days of him wearing Nayeli's Minnie underwear all over the house. At his own insistence he has gone pee in the toilet twice and insists on being put on multiple times a day. He's only 20 months so I won't be pushing him to potty train until he's ready, but it is promising that he's already showing interest.

 Putting it on himself

Speaking of Teddy wearing Nayeli's things, he's definitely taken a liking to her Elsa dress.

When he puts it on we call him King Elso.

As for Nayeli, she is also spreading her wings and becoming more independent, especially when it comes to fashion. She's very into the monochromatic look, or she goes for the "everything must be Minnie" look that you see below (note the socks).

I think it's fun to see her creativity come out in her clothes and I let her dress herself however she wants unless we're going to church. Then I have to make sure she looks at least half decent.

So maybe the lady in the grocery is right, it does go fast. They will grow up and I'll look back on these days and not remember the messes, tantrums, and diapers. I'll remember the good more than the bad. I'll be that woman in the grocery store that counsels the young mother in line. With that realization in mind, my resolution this year is to enjoy each phase more and wish that they were older less. Because as they grow, there are few things I'm certain of, except for one thing: they have both stolen my heart and I am happy everyday to be their mother.

Teddy climbing me as I was working on my computer one day

Another Christmas in Oregon

This year for Christmas we decided to stay in Oregon. With our trip to Utah for Thanksgiving we felt it would be good to stay at home and enjoy a Christmas with our little family. Something to know about me is I love the holidays and I love to make them fun. I especially like to plan fun activities when I know we won't be with family. That way I don't have time to miss anyone and I get to just enjoy time with Ben and the kids.

Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve we went up to Mt. Hood to go sledding. It had been raining for weeks straight at our house and I just wanted to see some snow! So to Mt. Hood we went with some sleds we borrowed from our friends.

We weren't disappointed. There was A LOT of snow!

Ben and Nayeli headed down the hill!

Ben decided the snow was just perfect to dig a snow cave, so we all dug in

We had so much fun! The weather was great and everything was BEAUTIFUL!

Our final snowcave- about the time the kids were tired and wet and we called it a day.

We had to have snow chains on our car since all the roads on the mountain looked like this

All the trees were beautifully frosted with snow

Once we arrived home, we got to cooking dinner. After enjoying a yummy ham dinner, we frosted gingerbread men to leave out for Santa and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas, even though Nayeli told me she was too afraid of the Grinch to watch it (she's a very sensitive child when it comes to entertainment). 

This is how Ben rigged up our snow clothes so they would dry- genius.

Once we finished the Grinch, we acted out the Nativity story. Nayeli was Mary, Teddy was Joseph, Ben was the donkey and I was the angel.

After that the kids soon fell asleep and Ben and I readied the house for Santa to come. The elves had worked very hard to make fun stick horses for the kids and were so excited for the kids to see them!

Santa came! And we were even all in bed by 11pm.

The next morning at about 7am Nayeli came to my bedside and said, "Mama, can I lay by you?" I let her crawl into bed with me, wondering if she had forgotten that it was Christmas. Then she excitedly asked, "Do you think Santa came yet?" to which I replied, "Well, we'd better go see". 

Stick horses! They were so excited!

A pink flashlight!

Elsa and Anna bandaids! Whenever anyone asks what she got for Christmas, that is the first gift she mentions. 

Teddy got a dinosaur from Grandpa Dave!

Elsa and Anna figurines from Grandpa Dave!

Teddy got an airplane and wasted no time in making it fly.

Our friend Veniece gave Nayeli unicorn slippers

Of course Santa had to bring Legos

The Christmas morning mess is the best mess of all

Stick horse rodeo!

Showing off her gifts. Can you tell her favorite color is pink?

After we opened gifts we ate breakfast casserole and berry drink. That was Ben's family's traditional Christmas breakfast growing up and we have adopted it as our own. As for the rest of the day, we stayed in our pajamas and didn't leave the house once. It was wonderful.

Ben spent the entire day flying this mini-drone that I surprised him with for Christmas. He has always wanted one, so when I saw one at Costco in September for a great price, I jumped on it. He loved it.

In return, Ben surprised Nayeli and me with tickets to the Nutcracker ballet. She has been into ballet for months and so she was thrilled. It was performed by the Oregon Ballet Theater on the 26th downtown so we made a date night of it. It was so great!

My favorite moment was twenty minutes into the performance when Nayeli turned to me and excitedly asked, "Mom, are they doing ballet?" She was so well behaved and I loved it. It was magical.

In our seats

In summary, it was such a great Christmas. We had so much fun as our little family making traditions together. I'm especially grateful for the time I had to reflect on the gift that the Savior was to the world. Every Christmas I feel closer to him. It's because of Him that I have all that I have and love. I couldn't ask for more.

Feeling the Christmas Spirit

We've been feeling the Christmas Spirit around our house. Here's a little bit of what we've been up to:

We started the month out right by getting our Christmas tree. Usually we cut our own, but Ben spotted a tree farm not far from our house with a camel. That pretty much sealed the deal so we went to Frog Pond Farm for our tree this year.

Visiting the animals

Meet Betty the camel. She is a BIG animal- the owner said she weighs 1,500 pounds and eats A LOT of food. I can only imagine. My kids were a bit afraid of her, but I think they liked it.

 Frog Pond Farm

 This place is just magical.

Free hot chocolate!

 You may remember from last year, but typically we get trees that don't fit in the car. This year Ben was ready and so proud of his ingenuity.

The tree in all it's decorated glory, before the kids tore it apart. It's like a big toy to them, which is okay, but I'm a little worried that we won't have any intact ornaments left for next year. Teddy's wrath knows no bounds, you know?

As a side note, see that tired man lying on the couch with a bowl close by? Right after we got home from the tree farm and set up the tree Ben started to throw up. He was SO sick- by far the sickest I've seen him in our marriage. He threw up all night and the next day too. I think it was just a bout of food poisoning because he was fine 24 hours later, but those 24 hours were bad ones. Poor Ben.

Another Christmas tradition we have is to make gingerbread houses out of graham crackers and decorate them. This year we put Teddy to bed before we did said project because, poor boy, he doesn't know his own strength. I felt bad he missed out on the fun but also... he'll get plenty of years of decorating in once he knows not to smash all the things.

 Our finished products

Nayeli also dictated her first letter to Santa this year. Then, to my surprise, she wrote her name at the bottom for the very first time. She wrote the letters in the right order- she just didn't put them in the right order. Details, details. It was such a proud and exciting parent moment for me I didn't care.

Mailing our letters!

 Decorating felt ornaments with glitter. Lots and lots of glitter.

One weekend Ben went camping with scouts and I stayed up until 3am sewing Christmas projects. Two of the projects I did were these Christmas pillowcases. Growing up my mom had special Christmas pillowcases that I always loved so I wanted to make some for my own kids. They each picked their own fabric- doggies for Nayeli and monkeys for Teddy. I used this tutorial to make them with the burrito method- a quick and easy method to make a pillowcase. I would highly recommend it.

It's been a great month and I think it's safe to say that we're ready for Christmas to come. Let's be honest- we've been waiting all year long for the magic this season brings.