Moments

Just a few moments I've captured over the past week or so.


Anna lifting her head up high.

Josiah made himself a sandwich. Flatbread, celery, grapes and cheese. He didn't eat a bite of it, but it was fun to make.

Caleb was so proud to hold Anna.

After being outside for all of 5 minutes on a cold day, Aliza and Josiah came in declaring they needed hot chocolate to warm up.

For the 100th time....You are too big for the swing! Plus it is not ours, it is Aunt Janell's.

I don't know how Anna sleeps, but she does. She will most likely be able to sleep through anything.

This sign appears on Aliza's bedroom door. It is a stick figure with an X through it. The translation is: No Josiah allowed in my room.

We attended the community Christmas potluck tonight. This is how close the children got to Santa. He wasn't very engaging and didn't even give them a prize out of his bag. I guess you had to actually sit on his lap to get that.

Bad Luck

I was talking to my Mom on the phone this morning. Aliza has a habit of loudly interrupting my phone conversations. So she came up to me saying something very loudly and excitedly. I couldn't quite understand what she was saying, but after her saying it 10 times I figured out that she was saying "We are about to have bad luck." I figured she was playing some sort of imaginary game so I very wisely said, "Aliza, there is no bad luck in our house!" She insisted that we were about to have bad luck and pleaded with me to come look. I walked into the kitchen and saw Josiah holding 2 eggs in his hand and the rest of the carton of eggs was sitting on the floor. Aliza said, "See Mom! We were about to have bad luck." I just laughed. Yes, Aliza. Yes. We were about to have bad luck. Thank you for telling me.

Inventions

I was given a couple new gadgets before Anna was born. They are new inventions to me and I have loved them.

This is Anna's high chair and one of her favorite napping spots right now.

This car seat blanket is awesome. There are holes for the straps and it can unzip to be a flat blanket too.

And this is called a puj tub. It is a sturdy foam material that stores flat and keeps it shape in the sink with magnets. It is super awesome for c-section Moms. It must feel very secure for baby because Anna has never cried during her bath.

Chaos

Now you will appreciate the family picture on our Christmas card.
(Assuming I get them ordered and in the mail.)
Thanks to my brother for being such a good sport and putting up with our craziness.

The Gift of a Good Start

My Mom and Jeremy's Mom tag-teamed to give me a great start to being a Mom of three. What a huge gift the last 2 1/2 weeks have been.

Even before the Moms stepped in my good start started with a good anesthesiologist. I could tell right away that the spinal went very smoothly--despite me being extremely nervous. Surgery went fine. It is a little surprising what surgeons say while they are working.

While I was in the hospital, my parents kept Aliza and Josiah at their house. Jeremy's Mom took care of Anna and I at the hospital. She spent the night with us so that Jeremy could come home and sleep. It was a much better experience to have a private room at the hospital. Because Karen could stay with me I was able to keep Anna with me the whole time. I was much less emotional and was able to get a little sleep. The first morning I had to cry. I had kept Karen up all night with one need or another. She really was a private duty nurse for me and I was so very thankful to have her with me.

My Mom was able to take off 2 weeks from work. She either spent the day at my house or I spent the day at hers. The day included supper and cleanup. Jeremy and I got spoiled having a few minutes each evening to sit alone at the table and chat. She reassured me that I was really supposed to do nothing because, in fact, I had just had surgery. It took me a while to adjust to doing nothing.

Jeremy's Mom came back to our house for 5 days to help. She came loaded with groceries and supper ideas and some fantastic pumpkin harvest scones. Today she left me with a clean bathroom, swiffered floors and leftovers.

Now I'm on my own! For the first day I'd say we made out pretty well. Now when Anna settles in for the night I'll be asleep instantly.

Anna--2 Weeks

I'm in love with this sweet little face.

Today my driving and lifting restrictions ended. I guess I thought that meant I was magically healed. Not so much. All I did was take Anna to the doctor by myself and carry Josiah to the step for time out and my body let me know I still need to take it easy.

A Little Bit of Christmas

We made our M & M pretzel treats and decorated the tree. That's the extent of Christmas decoration for me this year!

I took the ingredients and the mess right to my Mom's house. I had great helpers and it was really fun to do. Josiah ate and ate and ate the Hershey Kisses and the M&Ms.

This was Josiah's first year of really getting in on the decorating. He wanted to put the star on top.

Josiah and Aliza hung most of the decorations by themselves. Can you tell? Jeremy spent a long time trying to get one string of lights to work. It was a puzzle that didn't get solved. Aliza took a good picture of the tree (and Daddy's elbow!) I call this our interactive Christmas tree. It can be handled and redecorated whenever the mood strikes my little ones.