Naptime

Jonah had a bad dream about a bird so he has been having a hard time sleeping in his bed lately. So for nap time today, instead of trying to get him to sleep in his bed, we had 'quiet time' where everyone got a blanket and pillow and laid down on the couch to watch a movie; in hopes that Jonah would fall asleep. It was only important that Jonah fell asleep so naturally...

...Mikelle fell asleep...

...even Tyrel fell asleep...

...but do you think Jonah fell asleep?

no.

Ty's Xrays

As I have mentioned before, Tyrel has simple syndactyly (adjacent fingers joined by soft tissue; or webbed fingers). We had his first doctor appointment today with the hand surgeon. They took X-rays and talked to us about the surgery. Basically, in about 2-3 months, Tyrel will be old enough and they can separate the two fingers. Without boring anyone and to put it simply, they do a zigzag cut between the fingers, and if necessary, might have to do some small skin grafting. They said by the time he is an adult, the scars will only be noticeable if you know he had the surgery. So after the surgery, he will have to wear a hard cast that covers his whole hand and goes up to his elbow for a month. Anyway, here is his cute little xray, and a couple pictures of his hand:

It is kind of hard to tell, his syndactyly is on his right hand. And don't be alarmed, he doesn't have three bones in his arm, those are my fingers holding his arms down to position his hands.

Big Cheeks and the Christmas Party

I just love being a mom. Of course it is stressful and frustrating at times, but I am so thankful for my beautiful kids and the joy they bring into my life. I know this sounds cliche, but each one is so different and special in their own way, and I can't imagine life without them (without Matt either!) Anyway, here are some pictures of the kids before we left for the ward Christmas party, and also of Tyrel and his cute chubby cheeks. It is so fun to have a little chubster! Mikelle and Jonah were always SO little and had problems eating, and are just now starting to be good eaters. Infact, Jonah still has to take iron drops every night and get his blood tested every four months. It stinks (aside from having to watch him go through that) because I feel like I am doing something wrong, or not doing something I should be; I just don't know how to get that kid to eat. So it is so cool to have a BIG kid that eats! He will soon be bigger than Jonah I fear. He is just three months old and is fitting into 9 month clothes. Mikelle and Jonah were pretty much opposite; 9 months old and fitting into 3 months clothes (maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but you get the idea). So, here are the cuties:

Tyrel with his first tie

the pouty face

my baby, check out those checks and tummy!

Again, more cheeks. Thats how he get what he wants, I just can't say no to them.

loves bathtime

getting ready for the Christmas party

Mikelle and Jonah with their Christmas pins from Grandma!

New Pics

Just thought these pictures were cute:

My Little Happy Aquarium fans

Tyrel

Reading books

Watching a movie, they set this up themselves

It's that time of Year Again

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Yes, I am a sucker for ElfYourself.

What can I say, I am amused easliy.

Also, the kids absolutely love it, they think

it is so funny that everyone, including Ty, is singing.

Happy December everyone!

Oh Christmas Tree!

Tonight we went to the Castle Rock Outlets and saw the HUGE Christmas tree, and then we came home and decorated our own. We had Christmas music and football in the background because it was a pretty important game I guess. The kids had tons of fun; after we had put on all the ornaments, they kept going in their room and finding toys and things to put on. I kept looking over and would see blankets and sippy cups on the tree and had to keep telling them to stop putting stuff on. Anyway, it made me really excited for Christmas and the trip to Utah. It does seem really weird to not have any snow and pretty good weather. Utah will give us a white Christmas I bet.

Happy Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving we went over to Sam and Becky Knowles house and some of Sam and Becky's family were there also. I spent almost the whole day before Thanksgiving making desserts and preparing the turkey. I made three things this year that I always considered 'hard' or 'scary' so I was kind of proud of myself (not to brag or anything). I made a turkey, a dutch apple cheesecake, and a pumpkin roll dessert. For some reason, turkeys are just scary to cook; maybe because it is the focal point of Thanksgiving dinner and would be horrible if messed up, or maybe because it is the biggest piece of raw meat (a whole bird) that I have ever handled, who knows, it is just scary. I love to make cheesecakes but it always makes me nervous because the first time I tried to make a real cheesecake that you bake, I totally messed it up. The pumpkin roll was scary because although my mom had taught me how to roll up the cake, I had never done it before by myself. All turned out pretty well I thought. Anyway, we all had a great Thanksgiving dinner, followed by playing cards and hanging out.

Playing Cards

Jonah, a little tired after Thanksgiving dinner

Tyrel, look how big he is, I just laughed when I saw his big cheeks and chin. What a cutie!

Emily and Mikelle

Mikelle with the cute turkey hairbow that Grandma made...

...and wearing the cute Thanksgiving dress.

Pumpkin Roll, Turkey, Dutch Apple Cheesecake