Christmas 2007

We had such a wonderful Christmas but a report on it is going to have to wait. Both of the children have the stomach flu and all of my time is being spent holding them or cleaning up after them. I wanted to post a quick update to thank all of you for your generosity this holiday season. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

A "Stinky Boy" To Call Our Own

Eric has long served in the Young Men's Presidency. It is where he has served for all but about 2 years of our marriage. So, we are kind of used to having large groups of boys around our home on occasion. When Allie was 2 or 3 years old she started calling the YM the "Stinky Boys". This came about after the boys returned to our home following a week long campout during which no showers were taken and probably very few clothes were changed (YUCK!). The name stuck. From that day forward the YM have been lovingly referred to as the Stinky Boys by our family. The boys even get a kick out of it.

Just the other day when I was changing Landon's diaper Allie walked in, got a sniff, and remarked "Well, I guess we have a Stinky Boy of our own now. It's a good thing we have had a lot of practice with having Stinky Boys around". I couldn't agree more. Having a son of my own gives me a little bit more patience with teenage boys. I realize that all too soon another wife and mother will be smiling as my Stinky Boy invades her home. I also realize that no matter how big and stinky my Stinky Boy gets, he will always be my baby.

Adios and Buena Suerte Elder Andrew Swain

Eric's oldest nephew Andrew will be entering the MTC tomorrow, December 19th, to serve in the Michigan, Lansing Spanish speaking mission. He is going to be a great missionary. Allie made him one of her infamous personalized cards and we sent him off with a great big bear hug and lots of well wishes. With 29 nieces and nephews on the Swain side of the family and 5 on the Toone side, this scene is sure to play out regularly for our family in the next couple of decades.

Whoa Baby!

Landon is a big baby. We found out yesterday at his well child visit that he weighs 22 pounds!

Here is a non-cooperative Landon showing off his two teeth.



Look at these chubby little hands!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

Tonight we attended the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas Concert. It was really difficult to get tickets this year. Luckily for us, my sister Angie was one of the "chosen ones". Not only did she get selected to receive tickets, but she even got really great seats. Thanks for sharing Angie! We were lucky to have my Brother, Paul, and his wife, Jenn, offer to tend our children. And while we're dishing out the thanks, thanks to Mom, Dad, and Marci too. We enjoy spending time with all of you!

Swain Family Christmas Party

This morning we had our annual Swain Family Christmas Party. We have a traditional meal each year that is a lot of fun (and a lot of work) to prepare. We have aebelskivers, a delicious egg casserole, fruit, meat, and hot cocoa. Yum! This year I helped cook the aebelskivers with Scott and Karma. It was a lot of fun. We even learned that Scott could toss an aebelskiver across a large room and land it on someone's plate with pretty reasonable accuracy. I think Landon was held by nearly every Swain cousin today. That's really something considering that he has 30 of them. He is a good sport to let everyone take a turn with him. We hardly knew Allie was there. She disappeared to the basement and only surfaced for a few short minutes to scarf down a little breakfast.

Later on we had an after the party party at our home. Allie, Larkin, Caleb, and Amber had a good time preparing themselves a meal and playing some more. It is so much fun to see these cousins loving every minute together. I hope that they always treasure these relationships they share. It has been so great watching them grow up together.

Working to Get a Laugh

Eric tries to make Landon laugh. Allie succeeds without even trying. End of story.

Allie's Christmas Concert

Tonight was Allie's highly anticipated Christmas Concert. She attends a weekly choir class in our neighborhood taught by Ruth Ellis. Ruth does a great job picking musical arrangements that are fun for the kids to perform and lets them show off their little personality's. It is especially fun for me to see because the choir is largely comprised of my Primary children. (Sometimes it's even fun to see them being a little bit naughty for someone else! It makes me realize that what they do in Primary is totally normal.) Allie LOVES to sing and we really enjoyed being at her concert tonight. Way to go Allie!

HANGING OUT BEFORE THE CONCERT BEGINS.


SNEAKING IN A LITTLE WAVE.

(Oh, and the kid with the biggest grin is our neighbor Caleb. I love watching him at these performances! He is equally animated for our Primary program every year, but it's a little more appropriate in this setting. Some of you will probably remember his springtime performance... what a kick in the pants!)

LANDON LOVES TO WATCH ALLIE DOING ANYTHING. HE WAS TOTALLY INTRIGUED.


I LOVE SNEAKING IN SNUGGLES WITH HIM...IT DOESN'T HAPPEN NEARLY OFTEN ENOUGH.

Will We EVER Sleep Through the Night Again?

Why do both of my children refuse to sleep through the night? I know that Landon is not going to waste away if he doesn't get fed once during the night. What I don't know is how to convince him of that. In the middle of the night he goes from 0 (peacefully sleeping)-60 (screaming at the top of his lungs) in a fraction of a second and he does not let up until a bottle is popped in his mouth. Then occasionally he will also wake up and cry until we help him find his binky (which has usually been tossed across the room). Thankfully this doesn't happen every night. On some nights he goes crazy tossing his binky and the floor is littered with them by the morning. See Exhibit "A".

EXHIBIT "A"

And then there is Allie. I don't know what has gotten into her lately but it is making Eric and I crazy. She has become a sleepwalker and it happens every single night. Of course it usually happens just as I am dozing off from being up and feeding Landon. She drifts into our room, usually crying, and begs us repeatedly "help me Mom" or "help me Dad". Initially it had me really concerned because I would wake up with her standing over me crying and pleading for help. I don't think she has ever been "awake" during one of these episodes, so technically I guess I can't claim that she isn't sleeping through the night. She does a lot of mumbling, walking, stumbling around, and crying but none of it makes any sense. The light is on but no one is home, so to speak. These episodes last anywhere from 10 minutes to about half an hour. And eventually we talk her into climbing back into bed and then we retreat to our bed where we lie wide awake and talk about how freaky it is. I have an Exhibit "B", Allie's blank stare conversation, but to tell you the truth it is just too scary to post :). You're just going to have to take my word for it. When I ask her about it the next day she has no recollection of anything but finds her antics extremely entertaining. I'm glad someone is getting some enjoyment out of this (not!). The other night she was slightly more coherent and she kept saying "I have to go" I finally asked her "Where?". Her reply? "Mass". That's right. Apparently in her sleep she has converted to Catholicism. Last night I had had enough. So after I finally got her settled back to sleep I spent the next hour on the internet researching sleepwalking. Fortunately I found some helpful information and I have an arsenal of things to try to alleviate this problem. Wish us luck! As for right now, I am off to take a nap while Landon takes his so that I can be ready for tonight's adventures.

B-U-S-T-E-D

I think I am going to start calling this kid Houdini. So much for an impenetrable barrier. At least he hasn't toppled the tree. Of course, there are still 14 days 'til Christmas.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful

But we don't mind. In fact we kind of like it. On Saturday morning Eric and Allie spent time building a snowman while Landon and I watched from the front window. Landon was fascinated by the snow until he touched it. What a great way to welcome December!

This snowman is certainly unique. How many have you seen that have hula hoop arms and a pumpkin for a hat?

I Wish My Name Was "Dada"

And this is why:

The funny thing is that Eric is positive that Landon's knows that "dada" refers to him. However, Landon says "dada" when I ask him to say Mommy or Allie or any other word. It could be worse...Allie's first and only word for a long time was "NO!".

Do You See What I See?

You're going to have to look close at the lower left hand side of Landon's gums. After playing hide and seek with us for quite a while, we think this one's here to stay. Now we have to teach him not to use his fingers or ours (or our arms, legs, shoulders, toes, or any other body part he puts his mouth on) as chew toys. Ouch!

It's a little hard to see in the picture, but believe me, it's there. I've felt it.

"Wow, Landon, Mom Didn't Tell Me You Could Do That!"

This is what I overheard Allie saying to Landon the other day. It got my attention because I couldn't imagine what cute little trick Allie was unaware her talented brother could perform. As I peeked around the corner I saw Allie and Landon making their way up the stairs. That's right...the stairs. The ones that we keep gated to preserve Landon's life and well-being. Landon was quickly crawling his way up them while Allie followed behind him with a laundry basket. I am still trying to piece together what happened because as far as I know it was his first encounter with a flight of stairs. I had asked Allie to go downstairs and get a load of laundry out of the dryer for me. She is usually very careful about keeping the gate closed but this time she hadn't latched it shut. She swears that she didn't help him get down the stairs but found him waiting at the bottom of them. I'm not buying it. But then again, I wouldn't have believed that Landon could crawl up the stairs either if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes.

Giving Thanks, Welcoming Christmas, Celebrating BYU, and Other Fun

This post is going to cover a lot of ground so hold on. I've been slacking a bit on my blogging duties. Of course, it might help if Eric took a turn. Are you reading Eric? If so, it's time for you to take a turn. Maybe a "public" reprimand will do the trick?

So this week was filled with lots and lots of fun, food, family, friends, and football. Say that 3 times fast. We spent Thanksgiving with my family this year. With the addition of so many little ones since the last time we had Thanksgiving together, it was definitely a new experience. When we had Thanksgiving with my family in 2005, there were 3 grandchildren. Now there are 7. Babies come with so much gear that they take up at least twice the space that an adult does, making for some tighter quarters than we are used to. It is so much fun to be surrounded by all the noise and laughter that having that many little ones in a house brings. It was a very fun day...thanks Mom & Dad!

That evening we gave the kids their Christmas pajamas and a Christmas book. We think this is a fun way to kick off the holiday season.

We decorated our tree on Friday. I was totally unconvinced that this was a good idea. I was in favor of putting it up on Christmas eve and enjoying it for one day. Landon is in to everything right now. In fact he pulled something down on top of him on Tuesday and got a mild concussion. He spent the day throwing up and being mad. He is fine now but it was a little scary. I am learning what it means to have a son. Anyways, after that disastrous incident I was sure that the tree was bound to be a problem. We have a little lattice fence that Eric's brother Monte gave us when Allie was a baby. So far it has stopped him from toppling the tree. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he continues to be deterred by the barrier.

Later that afternoon we went and saw Enchanted. Eric, Allie, and I all enjoyed it. We give it a big thumbs up (especially for those of you who have watched more than your fair share of Disney princess movies).

Saturday was a big day at our house...BYU vs. Utah. Eric and Allie went and watched the big game with his Dad and brothers and Landon and I hung out at home and worked on Sharing Time for Sunday. We are all grateful and happy that BYU pulled out the win.

And finally today our good friends Gabe and Kristy blessed their baby. It was fun to spend a little time with them and their families celebrating their newest little one.

Wait

I found this poem while we were waiting for a child to be placed with our family and I almost couldn't bear to read it because it hit so close to home. Now that things have come full circle and I re-read this poem, it is even more profound to me...for I have experienced the growth and the blessings that come when the Lord says to us: "wait".

Wait
by Russell Kelfer

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

Uh-Oh Here Comes Trouble

Should we be encouraging this? Landon went crazy this evening when he discovered what he can do with this toy that he got from his cousin Carson.

Okay, I Admit It...

I am a little bit on the obsessive compulsive side. It's how I maintain order in my busy, fun-filled, mommy life. I am still serving as the Primary President in my ward, a calling which I absolutely love most of the time. Anyways, true to my OCD nature I have begun typing up lists of major Primary events that will happen in 2008. What I can't believe is that my daughter's name appears on one very important list..."Baptisms 2008". Even though I am not in complete denial about the fact that she is growing up, there are times when I am absolutely stunned by how quickly it is happening. Then there are moments like one that happened just the other day. Allie had some friends over to play and while they were searching for a movie she quietly came to me and begged me not to reveal the awful fact that she still enjoys watching My Little Pony movies. I was totally confused and asked why. Her reply was "It's embarrassing. Only little girls watch those movies." I was completely shocked and just replied "okay....". I for one am not ready for her to be done watching little girl movies. I am not ready to bid goodbye to the innocence of youth or to embrace the tumultuous time of pre-adolescence. I know that it's not all bad, I'm just not ready. I'm not sure I ever will be.

Welcome Baby Brooklyn!

My brother Paul and his wife Jenn have welcomed another baby girl into their family. She was born on Tuesday, November 13th at 4:43 pm. She was 9 lbs 8 oz and 21 1/2" long. She has long fingers and toes and a little bit of black hair. She is very cute and we have already fallen in love with this sweet little girl.

BABY BROOKLYN A FEW HOURS OLD

IT'S SO FUN TO HOLD A BRAND NEW BABY AND THINK BACK TO THE BIRTH OF MY OWN CHILDREN.

ERIC GETTING IN ON THE ACTION

OUR "LITTLE" GUY SEEMS SO BIG NEXT TO A BRAND NEW BABY. TIME MOVES WAY TOO QUICKLY!

(Another!) Mini Vacation

This weekend we did something that we are getting very good at. We mooched our way to a 2 day vacation. Eric's parents have a condo in Midway that they get every fall and we were invited to use it for Friday evening. Unfortunately, I had prior commitments for a few Primary things and wasn't able to get away. When Saturday afternoon rolled around we were bumming around the house being disappointed that we weren't able to take advantage of getting away Friday night when it occurred to us that we should see if we could a solicit an invite for Saturday night. The timing was perfect as it was Stake Conference for us this weekend and both of our kids have horrendous coughs. Being the level-headed people we are, we realized that we would certainly miss Stake Conference on Sunday anyways. After all, it's not like one of us could go while the other one stayed home with the kids or anything. One phone call later we had our invitation and we took full advantage of the opportunity to get away. It was a lot of fun and I really believe Keith and Karma enjoyed having us there. I also believe they are going to enjoy it even more now that we are home! We had a relaxing couple of days and spent a lot of time just hanging out together. It was so much fun. Unfortunately, I don't think the kids coughs are getting any better. I think our big outing for tomorrow might be to the Pediatrician. Here are some pictures of our fun time:

Eric really was happy to be there despite the look on his face in this picture. Look how cute Landon is reading his book...

Despite being sick, Allie insisted she be allowed to swim. Are we bad parents or what?

Allie played peek-a-boo with Landon and a couple of leaves. He thinks she is so funny.

Then there was a crawling race.

Followed by Allie attempting to teach Landon how to roll down a hill. He was more interested in eating leaves.

Landon tried to escape Allie but he wasn't fast enough.

Are these the cutest kids ever, or what?

There are times when I feel as if I am intruding on them. Karma commented this weekend on how watching them together she knows that they must have been best friends in heaven. I have had the very same thought.

What happens when I leave Allie in charge while I take a shower?

Landon gets a custom designed fort. In the pictures he might even look happy about it...but don't be deceived. He was hollering up a storm until he saw me. He knew he was about to be rescued.

Happy Halloween!

I am not a big fan of Halloween, but even I must admit it can be a little fun with the kids. Allie came home from school loaded up with candy. But, because she didn't yet have "enough" we went to Eric's work and did a little trick-or-treating.

GETTING A DECENT PICTURE OF BOTH KIDS...

IS GETTING MORE AND MORE DIFFICULT...

CLOSE ENOUGH!

YUM...CANDY.

Next, we headed to Poppy and Grandma's for some Halloween fun! The kids got spoiled (of course!) and had fun handing out candy to the children who came to Grandma's.

TOONE COUSINS. POPPY AND GRANDMA ARE VERY GOOD SPORTS AND TAKE THE KIDS OUT TRICK-OR-TREATING EVERY YEAR.

We finished the evening in Scott & Leann's cul-de-sac roasting hot dogs and sipping hot chocolate. Allie got involved in the great candy swap that inevitably occurs among the cousins every year and Landon went crazy trying to get his hands on the cat and dog at their home.