Oliver's blessing

This post will be mostly pictures, since I currently lack the energy for lots of words, courtesy of a stomach flu bug my son (Andrew) graciously gave to me. On the other hand, Andrew suffered through it on his birthday (Christmas Eve), so I guess we're even!

Last Monday we let the kids do family home evening, so they retold the Christmas story using the strangest assortment of toys: Evelyn's Belle doll was Mary. The wise men included  the king pig (from Angry Birds) and a penguin; the donkey was really a puppy, and the angel was a sea horse. There was also a triceratops, but I don't remember what it's role was. Dan and I couldn't stop giggling.

Andrew celebrated his 7th birthday with friends last week, at the local aquatic center. We decided this was easier for all involved, since trying to do the kind of party I've done in the past was beyond my abilities with a baby. Bubby graciously took Oliver while the rest of us swam, but she may have regretted it since Oliver cried most of the time before finally falling asleep.

Saturday, the kids got dressed up for a lovely tea party at Bubby's house; Dan and I used the time to clean house and get ready for company on Sunday.

On Sunday, we (finally) blessed our sweet baby. Grandma made him a darling blessing outfit out of scraps from a wedding dress she made a few years ago.  We were grateful to have so many family in attendance: my parents, Bubby and Poppy, Sarah and her family. We missed those who weren't there, but we understand about distance, weather, and illness.

We had a lovely Christmas (aside from the illness! luckily, no one was sick on Christmas itself). I took lots of pictures, but none of them turned out well, so you'll have to use your imagination. The kids were thrilled with their gifts and even more thrilled to play with cousins and eat lots of good food. We had the chance to visit Dan's Aunt Karen and Uncle Phil, and they always put on a good spread. Trisha made filet mignon and twice baked potatoes for Christmas night, so we had plenty of good things to eat that day! (And then, of course, I got sick, so I made up for all the calories consumed on Christmas . . . the only good thing about the stomach flu, I think.)

We hope all our readers (you few, you happy few . . .) had a lovely holiday as well. Preferably sans sickness . . .

In the bleak mid-winter

This has been a rough week--I imagine it has been for most people, after the news of the Connecticut shootings. I don't want to say a lot about that (a lot has already been said), but it's been on my mind the last few days, particularly since my Andrew is the same age as all those poor children. It's heartbreaking. It does make me grateful for my little gang, though, even on days like today when Andrew seems determined to make it hard to be grateful for him. (He spanked his sister tonight because she'd taken her underwear off before putting her pjs on).

Dan and I were both sick today, so we kept everyone home. Dan has some kind of sore throat and I've got something that feels flu-like (chills, aches, etc.). Parenting is hard under the best of circumstances, not to mention when both parents are sick! Hopefully we're over the worst of it.

Yesterday we helped clean the church. I think it's good for the kids to help serve, even if they get in the way more than actually help. (There were several families with little kids yesterday, which helped). Andrew announced afterward that he liked cleaning the church more than going to church.

On Friday, we took Oliver to see one of the occupational therapists from the NICU. (They like to track the babies' development). She said some great things about Oliver--she complimented his fat cheeks and his nice round head and said she could tell I was still nursing. Also, Oliver's right on target for his adjusted age--no developmental problems that she can see so far. All of that was good to hear.

However, because we made a family trip out of the visit and took Evelyn out to lunch afterward, we felt like we needed to do something for Andrew (who was in school). So yesterday, he got to pick his lunch spot. He relented at the last minute and offered to let Evelyn share the lunch with him. He can be sweet when he wants to--moments like this give me hope for him!

Today was Oliver's 6 month birthday! Hard to believe it's already been six months.

Oliver at 2 months (about 36 weeks development)

Oliver today.

December

Judging by the state of our camera, this week was all about Oliver.

That wasn't really the case--he's just a captive audience when he's home with me.

Dan and Evelyn finished up classes for the semester (him at college, her at preschool). Andrew still has a couple of weeks to go.

This was a pretty quiet week, but we're gearing up for things to get busy. We had the ward Christmas party this week, which Dan always loves. I enjoy seeing people, but they do have the same food every year (the one time they tried to change it, the older folks in the ward--of whom we have quite a few--apparently protested). I entered a couple of online writing contests (which I did not win, but which were good experiences nontheless).

In other news, Evelyn announced today that her nickname is Avalaunche. Not sure where she got that one! (Most likely, she made it up herself).


Oliver has been discovering his fingers. He puts them in his mouth as frequently as humanly possible (esp. when he's hungry). He's also started talking. His favorite words are "goo" and "glee" (as you can hear from the video). Andrew insists that he's saying "an-goo" (Andrew), but Dan and I are skeptical.

I told you it was a quiet week!

Bring on the Holidays

 Since Dan doesn't like starting the Christmas season too soon, we waited to decorate the tree until it was officially December (i.e., yesterday). The kids spent all week looking forward to it, but in the meantime, we tried to keep them occupied.

Evelyn was supposed to have swim lessons three times this week, for her final week of lessons. However, we kept her home on Wednesday, mostly because she had a cough, but also partly because Andrew had Tae Kwon Do at 7, the same time that my book group was meeting, and we couldn't figure out how to make everything work. (And she was sick).

I enjoyed my book group, although the book we read--Katherine Boo's Behind the Beautiful Forevers--was sobering and wrenching (about life in a Mumbai slum). I came away incredibly grateful that we have so many blessings and aware of our responsibilities to serve. Because I'd been reading the book, for FHE on Monday we talked about different ways that we can serve during the holidays and put some of those into practice during the week.

Wednesday, we took several bags of old coats and some new clothes (as requested) and donated them to a community drive. We also picked up some tags off the angel tree. We're hoping to come up with a few more service options, but we don't have all the details yet. (Ideas, anyone?)

At the Black Friday sale at the Gymboree outlet, I found Evelyn a girlie version of pajamas that the boys already had, so the kids get to sport coordinating Christmas jammies. I love Evelyn and Oliver's expressions here. Andrew, I think, looks like his dad in this picture. It makes me incredibly happy to see him looking more like his dad as he gets older (and not just because everyone always comments on how much the kids look like me. And like each other. I was at Jo-Ann's with Evelyn and Oliver on Friday--one of our first ventures out with O.B.--and a woman looked at Evelyn, looked at Oliver, and said, "Oh my gosh, your kids look a lot alike!")

 We also pulled out the finger paints, which the kids loved, but which also reminded me why we don't do crafts more often (even though I loved them as a kid): it takes almost as long to set up and clean up as the kids spend doing the craft.

 Trisha made this cute little pumpkin hat for Oliver. It's still a little big, but he'll grow into it. I took him out on a couple of walks earlier in the week when the weather was beautiful (in the 50s). And then a cold, bitter wind moved in and I didn't want to subject Oliver to that, so we stayed inside.

 

 I love this sweet little intent face.

Finally, on Saturday, we got the tree up. And the 3 nativities (a little ceramic one, Little People and Playmobil). And 4 advents. (I do like advents). Two are new this year: a second Lego Star Wars (Dan's idea) and a Playmobil princess advent for Evelyn. So far, they've been a big hit.

 

Dan and I have decided that Evelyn is going to be trouble in a few years. Somewhere in the last couple of weeks she's discovered boys. There's a little boy in her preschool class that she wants to marry (barring that, her dad will do). This morning she told her dad "I like boys the most." To which Dan responded, "talk to your aunt Sarah about that."