Surprise Santa

The sound of sirens filled the neighborhood the other day, and soon firetrucks and an ambulance were coming down the street. Concerned, we went outside, only to find it was a visit from Santa, traveling through neighborhoods in our community and distributing candy canes to children. What a fun surprise!

Brian really wanted to make popcorn balls with the kiddos, so he headed up this activity while we watched "The Polar Express."

Connor continues to develop great Lego abilities; building Legos is one of his most favorite things to do. Usually he is more of a freestyle builder, but today he built this tractor entirely on his own while following the "constructions" (instructions). He was soooooo proud of himself.

After a rather cold and snowy Fall and early Winter, the past couple of weeks had really warmed up and dried out, to the point where we had pretty much now snow. But a storm came through last night. It's been snowing since last night, and is supposed to snow through Christmas. Hooray! I need a white Christmas. So pretty.

We've been listening to lots of Christmas music. Connor's favorite is "The Little Drummer Boy." Isabel loves the Madonna version of "Santa Baby" (why, I don't know; I don't care for it). Lucas loves "Jingle Bells" and "Let It Snow." I love anything that ISN'T "The Christmas Shoes," Gloria Estefan's "Christmas Through Your Eyes" or Natalie Cole's "Grown-Up Christmas List." I almost have to change the station when those songs come on.

Straight No Chaser's "12 Days of Christmas" ALWAYS makes me smiles. I could watch the Africa part over and over and over again. Love.



Have a wonderful, happy, safe and blessed Christmas!

Holiday randomness

I have loved The Nutcracker for years, and have been anxiously awaiting to have a daughter - and then have one who is old enough - to make it a mother/daughter date. On Saturday, Isabel and I had that opportunity; we were so excited!

We had a fun lunch, and then headed downtown for the performance. We've been listening to the music and reviewed the story so she would know what was happening. She loved every minute of it! It was so much more fun that I even imagined. My daughter is a delightfully charming and fun little date. Love her to pieces and them some. She is just so full of life and excitement and joy and expression. Positively adore spending time with her.
She LOVED these ballerina figurines at the opera hall where the performance was held, and kept posing in front of them.
Waiting for it to start-
During the performance she leaned over to me and said, "this is so fun! I love this!" And when it was over she flitted and fluttered and flounced her way to the van and announced that her new name is "Isabel the Nutcracker Dancer." What a fabulous day.

There's been a coyote hanging out behind our house in the wee hours of the morning. I couldn't resist snapping some shots as the first sunlight hit him with the backdrop of the snowy mountains.

My cute and clever friend Jen hosted a little lunch and project party last week. I went simply to hang out, but then she taught us how to make these fabulous paper balls. They are made of 20 2-inch circles, with the edges folded in thirds and then glued together. I have been thinking of different possibilities for these (a Valentine topiary? Halloween ones to hang from my black branches?)-

Made these fun little gifts for the girls I visit teach. It's simply a 4-pack of soda pop in glass bottles. Empty the soda from 2 of them; fill one with popcorn and the other with candy. Cover the cardboard box with different Christmas paper and make a gift tag. Voila! A festive movie night snack pack. These were super fun to make.

I've had a few requests for this, my mom's cherry bread recipe. This was a big Christmas tradition when I was growing up; we had it every year at Christmastime. My mom usually has a freezer full, as we all still love it.

Mom's Cherry Bread
Mix ingredients in this order:
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
10 ounce bottle of maraschino cherries, chopped (and drained, but reserve the juice)
1/2 cup reserved cherry juice (if necessary, add water to get to 1/2 cup)
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix, and divide dough between two greased bread pans. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Warning: it is likely to produce very satisfied customers.

The 411 on baby

Thank you for all of your comments, phone calls, e-mails and in-person well-wishes on the new baby! I've received a lot of questions, and decided to post some of the more frequent Q&As here.

1. How am I feeling? Overall, not bad. My biggest struggle thus far has been EXTREME fatigue and exhaustion. I can hardly make it through the day without an afternoon nap; with Connor in school all day and Lucas still taking a big afternoon nap, and Isabel who is happy to have an afternoon movie, this has been pretty do-able. I am 12 weeks now, and as I end my first trimester, my energy seems to be on the rebound. I'm hoping so, because I have been seriously unmotivated. So don't wait too eagerly for our Christmas cards, 'cuz it doesn't look like they'll happen this year. I also have had a lot of headaches and feel rather spacey - also hoping this rebounds soon. Other than that, just the usual heartburn in the evenings and lots of gagging/dry heaving at smells, pants that are too tight, etc. Really, I can't complain. I do, however, have a history - as in all prior pregnancies - of developing pregnancy-induced tachycardia sometime in the 2nd trimester, where my heart races pretty significantly every morning and I feel so weak and almost black out every morning until the baby is born. It hasn't set in yet, so I'm hoping it won't happen this time around - but am not too confident.

2. I thought you were done/how did this happen? Well, sometimes when mommies and daddies love each other...
Seriously, I have been on the fence about a fourth child for at least a year and a half or so and just couldn't decide what to do. Brian would suggest getting rid of the baby stuff and I'd inevitably shed a tear or two, but I couldn't commit to taking any action. But as 35 loomed on the horizon, it sorta forced me to make a decision and I felt there was just one more little one. I actually had a miscarriage over the summer (my 2nd miscarriage; I also had one after Connor), but things have been smooth now and here we are.

3. Are the kids excited? Telling them was SO MUCH FUN. I showed them the ultrasound picture and asked if they knew what it was. Connor studied it a moment, and asked, "is it ET?" Isabel thought it was vampire eyes. Lucas had no guess. When I informed them it was a baby - our baby - Connor literally started clapping, cheering and jumping up and down with glee. He started naming all the things he is going to teach the baby. Isabel just kept saying, "I can't believe I'm getting a sister!" at which point we had to make sure she understands that we don't get to choose. Now whenever we talk about what we think the baby is, they all say, "we'll get what we get and we won't throw a fit!"

4. When is my dute date?: June 21, but I will be having a C-section the week of June 14. So we are going to have two serious birthday clusters in our family. Connor is May 27, Lucas is exactly 2 weeks later on June 10, and new baby will be within a week of Lucas. So three birthdays in three weeks. And Isabel, Brian and I are all within 2 1/2 weeks in October. Who planned this?

5. Do I have a feeling as to whether it's a boy or a girl? Nope. I have reasons I would like a boy, and reasons I would like a girl. So either way I'm good! Now that I'm 35 and have entered this wonderful new thing called "advanced maternal age" my main focus is that the baby be healthy. From there, I don't really care is the nether parts are on the outside or the inside. And yes, I plan to find out at my 20-week ulstrasound. That is not a surprise I am interested in waiting on.


6. How do I feel about having a 4th C-section? Whatever. I hate that I've had C-sections at all, but what do you do? Truth be told, Lucas was my easiest recovery thus far, maybe b/c I had weird complications with the first two and spent 5 days in the hosptial each time. So I'm hoping this follows the experience I had with Lucas. My new doctor - whom I positively adore - assured me 4 C-sections isn't something I should be too concerned about. I also had an emergency appendectomy in my mid-20s, so after this baby, I will have had 5 major abdominal surgeries. My poor stomach, it is not a pretty sight. It is nice, however, when Connor asks how the baby will come out and I can simply say, "the doctor will cut it out!"

All of my maternity clothes are currently in St. Louis with my very pregnant sister, who is graciously sending them to me in a few weeks via a friend of mine who is driving to St. Louis for Christmas. I can't wait to have a wardrobe; it is slim pickings right now.

So there you have it.

Weekend fun

After the calm of November, December is certainly proving to be a busy, chaotic month!

On Saturday we went to the Winter Wonderland at Connor's school. Games and prizes, craft activities, snacks, a bake sale, pictures with Santa, it was quite the event! The kids had a fabulous time. They loved playing all the games-
They loved the popcorn and hot chocolate-

And they loved meeting Santa. I sorta forgot about the Santa pictures (darn pregnancy brain) and would have dressed them up a bit more, oh well. They still look cute :)

At the end of the party, each child got to select a free book to take home.

One of the activities was an M&M guess jar. I was so amused when I got an e-mail from the school on Monday notifying me that Lucas had won the guess! There were 1,383 M&Ms in the jar, "Lucas" guessed 1,333. Not bad for a 2-year-old ;) His prize is 2 AMC movie theater tickets.

For the past 4 years, Brian and I have gone to the annual Christmas party at our good friends the Sandovals' home. They always do such a great party, we have a blast. Lots of tasty soups, snacks and desserts, a contest for the most creative black-tie costumes, super fun and challenging games, and a rockin' white elephant exchange that gets crazier by the year. Thanks Sandovals for a fabulous evening - always so good to see you! Not a great picture of Vycci and I, should have taken this when the night was young (sorry Vycci, your eyes were half-closed in every picture we got!)

On Sunday afternoon we hosted my good friends Wendie and Janae and their families for a tasty Mexican dinner and to watch the First Presidency Christmas Broadcast. I made my favorite new recipe, Crispy Southwest Chicken Wraps. They are postivitely fabulous - you must try them.

Janae with her simply gorgeous twins:
Wendie and Nate:

Is it just me, or is December just speeding by?

Observation Day

Isabel had her only parent observation day for the year at dance class on Friday. She has a new teacher this year, which she was hesitant about, but it has turned out to be a great situation. Isabel continues to improve and do well in her class; she is incredibly flexible and tiny, both of which are ideal for dancing! Dance class is one of her favorite things to do, which gladdens my heart.

Come June...

... a fourth little one will be joining us.
And

we

are

joyous.

Thanksgiving weekend

So much to be grateful for, and this weekend really caused me to reflect on my many blessings. An old friend from the singles ward, Heather - we also both worked at Children's Hospital and would have lunch sometimes, got married a couple of weeks apart and were in the same stake after we got married - passed away on Saturday after battling breast cancer. She was 34. She leaves behind a devastated husband and three young children about my kids' ages. I've been following her journey/struggles on a CaringBridge site for a while, and it has been incredibly heartbreaking. Although we hadn't remained in close contact, her illness and passing have weighed heavily on my heart, as I can't get her family out of my head. I pray they can find some peace as time goes on.

Witnessing Heather's passing has really given me a deeper and greater sense of gratitude for my family and for our health. If you have your health, you have so much. In my 3 years of full-time and 6+ years of freelance/consulting work for Children's, I have interviewed dozens of families with sick children, from heart defects to cystic fibrosis, cancer to mental illness, extreme prematurity to brain tumors, life-threatening illness to complications from birth, and more.

All of these experiences have really given me an ongoing sense of gratitude for healthy children, but this holiday I have been especially and truly grateful for our health. And after that, my gratitude list is indeed long, and includes my family, friends, the gospel, our home and jobs. I have been blessed indeed.

A few highlights from our Thanksgiving week:

Thanksgiving Thursday was a really nice, somewhat low-key day. It was exactly what I needed this year. Brian's parents came over, and I played hostess. The kids are lucky to have 2 sets of grandparents who adore them. Dinner was delicious, my kids (esp. Isabel) got really into the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, we started watching Christmas movies that night (our house rule); Connor does a stinkin' hilarious impression of the Grinch. During dinner we all named things we are grateful for; was fun to hear the kids' answers. Lovely. I am grateful for all my family: husband, children, our parents, grandparents, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews and more.

On Friday we went to the Catch the Glow Christmas Parade in fabulous Estes Park. It was a beautiful evening, with no clouds, an almost-full moon and tons of stars. We had a wintery picnic on the street just before the parade started, and then enjoyed the parade. The kids LOVED and ADORED the parade. Lucas was especially mesmerized. Nighttime pictures are so not easy to take, so we don't have many good ones of the actual parade. After the parade we walked around downtown Estes Park for a bit and warmed up with some hot chocolate. There is a river that runs through Estes Park, and it was full of snow and ice. The moon was shining on it, and it was like a postcard. And on the hill above the river, there were three wisemen on camels that were lit up. Again, we couldn't get a good picture of it, but I have it captured where it counts. I am grateful for a beautiful Earth, fun family outings, and a mind full of fun memories.

On Saturday evening we went to dinner with my dear friend Monique and her husband Allen, who were in town for the weekend. We always have a fabulous time together. It's a good thing our husbands can make good conversation (mostly about college football) since Monique and I can TALK. We were at dinner for 3 1/2 hours and finally had to drag ourselves away. Such a fun night. Loved seeing you Frosts, as always. I am grateful for all my friends, near and far, old and new. I would cease to exist without my friendships.
On Sunday we decked the halls. It's so fun as the children get older, they bring a momentum all their own. Isabel and I baked our first batch of Christmas cookies, we watched the "Joy to the World" DVD (Isabel asked if the shepherds were Little Bo Peep) and we hauled out all the stuff and put it up. I am grateful for the peace and joy of the holiday season we are heading into, for the birth of our loving Savior. We really try to teach the children what Christmas is all about, that Santa, snowmen, presents, trees, ornaments and lights are surely fun, but the real reason is Jesus' birth.