Oh, Sweetie, Don't Cry...

I'm sorry I didn't post yesterday. I know I promised every day, but I'll be back on Monday.

Busy, busy, busy!

(P.S. The picture was taken when Ian had left for work. Shaylor was sad about it. Breaks your heart, don't it?!)

Noelle's Baptism

Noelle was baptized on November 7th and it was such a special day for our family. She is such a wonderful little girl. She is so full of life. She crawled at 6 months old and started walking at 9 months. She never slowed down - even now she runs everywhere. She is so full of passion and life; of ideas and enthusiasm. She only seeks love and to make people happy. She has a definite point of view and demands to be heard. A value that, when older, will be admirable, but for now gets her sent to her room. ;) We love this sweet girl so much.

She has been waiting for many years for her Baptism Day. She has always sought to do what is right and has been so excited to fulfill this commandment.

She skipped down to the baptism font - so typical of her!

We're so grateful to have her in our home and for the lessons she teaches us; lessons of joy and standing up for what is right and unconditional love.

We love you, Noodle!

You've Gotta Friend In Me

In going through my pictures to help me remember what has been happening the last 6 months, I noticed how many pictures I have of Shaylor and Gracie together. They are such good friends and run around all day having such a good time. I'm very grateful for that. I'm grateful that Ian had the foresight to know that our 3rd child would need a "buddy." I'm grateful that I am able to stay home with them every day. I'm grateful they are so stinkin' cute!

(P.S. None of these are posed. They really do walk around holding hands, and snuggle together while watching t.v.!)

And then we...

...got (much-needed) haircuts for the girls. Ashlyn donated hers to "Locks for Love."

After that, there were a lot of tired, snuggly people in our house ( I never promised that this would be an exciting post! I'm just showing you what we have been doing!):

She loves her Daddy now. In October, she decided that she didn't love Daddy.

Mom: "Gracie, do you love Daddy?"

Gracie: "No, I luv MOMMY. Shaylor luv Daddy."

The little stinker has picked up Shaylor's habit of waking up at 6am (if we're lucky. Grrrr.) So, now she's hardly able to keep it together past 10am. She used to sleep in until 8am...the good ol' days.

(Don't know why I was so tired at 4pm, but I crashed! Maybe waking up before dawn has something to do with it.)

Ian had knee surgery on November 13th. He had a torn meniscus. Instead of re-attaching it (6 weeks on crutches, chance it wouldn't take and they'd have to re-do the surgery, but if it did take it would have the best results later in life), or completely removing it (just a couple of days on crutches, but high probability of arthritis later in life), they were able to remove 40% of it and leave the rest. So, he hobbled around for a couple of weeks (no crutches) and now he's doing physical therapy and things are healing well. So, that turned out the best it could have. The kids loved that he was stationary for a few days. As you can see, they can't get enough of him!

Thanksgiving

We hosted Thanksgiving this year for part of Ian's family: His Dad, Larry and his wife, Loretta came from Arizona. Ian's Step-sister, Michelle and her husband, Jason, came from New York. Ian's brother Bryson, and his wife, Kristy, and their girls, Kaitlyn and Aubrey, who came from 3 miles north of us! (The rest of his family is in Arizona, and we missed all of them!)

The food was yummy (if I do say so myself!), and we had a lot of laughs...

... and a lot of love, too.

Cuteness, of course, was present as well!

And then there was the after-dinner nap.

While they were here, we also went out to shoot targets and clay pigeons. Despite being very cold, we had a good time!

(That's me below...missing the clay pigeon.)

The last night they were here, we went downtown to Temple Square to see the lights. It was cold and beautiful - just like always! (Ian stayed home with Shaylor and Gracie. He had knee surgery on November 13th and didn't feel like walking around in freezing temperatures, fighting the crowds and holding a cold, whiny, wiggling kid...can you blame him?)

(Will someone teach that girl a little decorum, please?!)

That smile (and personality!) could warm me up any cold night! She's such a jolly little elf!

One post per day...

...Until I'm caught up! That's my goal. I can handle one short post per day.

Let's start at the most recent: Decorating Gingerbread Houses! Our yearly tradition. I found out that this is what my girls look forward to most during the Christmas Season. We bake them by scratch, Grandma and I, and we all get together with bags full of candy to decorate them. Ashlyn, Noelle and Shaylor each got to decorate their own small house, and I decorated the big one. We have decided that giving them away is the sweetest part.

Shaylor decorated this one all by himself and couldn't wait to give it to his best friend, Preston.

I don't have pictures of the others. Life goes by so fast sometimes that I don't even think to pick up the camera.

Have you been Naughty...or Nice?

OK, so I haven't blogged in forever. I have 6 months, 1 new house, 5 birthdays, Halloween, a Baptism, and Thanksgiving to write about. I don't think I can handle all of that. How about I tell it to you 'someday' and for now, just share a couple of pictures of my angel (?) with you!

Grandma Laurie came to visit in November and Gracie couldn't keep away from her make-up. Here she is after she found Grandma's bronzer.

How she felt when I caught her:

How she really felt about her little discovery:

I wonder which of Santa's lists she'll be on this year!

Gracie-Goo

Our baby is two today. Words cannot describe how precious this girl is to us. Sometimes 'Googly-bear,' sometimes 'Gracie-goober', always 'Muffin.'

We had such a great day! I'll let the pictures tell most of the story.

Breakfast Donuts...TRADITION!!

First Present. This is from Noelle who couldn't wait to get the festivities started!

Next was Jumpin' Jack's Playground. We lasted all of 10 minutes. Gracie was forced onto these inflatables long enough for me to get picture before she ran for her life off of them. Shaylor literally crawled up me as I approached the 'baby' one with him. Ashlyn and Noelle had about 10 minutes worth of fun and then were over it. I got my money back and I gave the "It's not you, it's us" speech to the dumbfounded employee who said, "I've never had to give a refund before."

The only ride Shaylor would get close to:

Next it was naptime; during which I made Gracie's rainbow cake. It's a beaut...no? Very festive. Under the blue goo is "Too Much Chocolate Cake" which is a favorite that lives up to it's name. (Check my recipe blog soon for the recipe.)

Gracie woke up and approved of the magical creation she found.

Then, it was time for her party at the park. She loves the slide and could go down it endlessly. Monkey See...Monkey DoWe played football, futebal, played on the playground, and relaxed in the fresh air.

Amidst the endless rain of the past month, Heavenly Father saw fit to shower His sweet Gracie with sunshine, blue skies, and a cool breeze for her special day.

Happy Birthday, indeed!

(Thanks for the fun presents everyone!)

Time for cake! Gracie was very patient, arms folded and all, during the singing of her birthday anthem; and then afterwards, snuck a chubby hand out to snag a marshmallow. Shaylor thoroughly enjoyed his cake...good thing because he didn't touch dinner...stinker!

After the party, she was bathed (quite the 'ring around the tub'...must've been a fun party!), and then we read a book in her rocking chair. The lights were dim, and as I snuggled her in my arms, I told her how special she is to me and asked her if she had a fun birthday party and she grunted, "mmmhmmm."

I began to sing her "The Barney Song" ("I love you, you love me...") and she took her thumb out of her mouth to say,

"No. Nigh noo moo peekeeng."

Which of course means, "Night is near, Moon is peaking."

That is her lullaby. I have one for each of the kids. One that I sing from their birth. One that evokes so much emotion from me that I can hardly make it through the song some nights. It is the epitome of the infants they were. The sleepless nights, their tiny head resting under my chin, the possessive grip of their tiny fist, their soft hair, their sweet smell; the things I hope to never forget.

Night is near

Moon is peeking

Stars will soon twinkle bright.

Little babies are sleeping

So my darling, Good Night.

Do you hear Sandman knocking?

Soon you'll fall fast asleep.

I will hold you while rocking

'Till you slumber so deep.

Some nights, Gracie sings along with me. Some nights, she just hums past the thumb in her mouth. Tonight, as her eyes struggled to stay open, she brought her head up from where it lay in my arms to rest on my heart and melted into my body.

My tears softly fell and I whispered,

"I love you, Gracie."

And she sweetly replied, as she always does,

"Too."