Merry Christmas!

So, it was Christmas. Now it isn't. I can't believe how fast it came and went. I am still spinning. This was a very fun Christmas at the Swenson house though. I really felt like both Jake and Em understood what it is we are celebrating. They are old enough now to understand some of the traditions that we do and truly participate. They enjoyed putting their own ornaments on the tree and asked us about each one. They learned so many songs and were forced to listen to many hours of an Osmond Family Christmas (a McGuire tradition that I am carrying on).
Christmas this year seemed to take on a theme for me. It seemed like everything I heard kept turning back to "gift". I know this is a common theme around Christmas but for some reason this Christmas it was a particularly strong theme. With all the talk of gifts, and the purpose of gifts, my mind was continually drawn to the gift of the Atonement. At this time of the year I can't help but be so grateful for that. I have spent time with my own little family and my extended family and it has reminded me how much it means that these are people I can be with forever. The gifts that we have that will last forever are only ours through our Savior. The prophet pointed out some of these gifts during the Christmas devotional, "All that we hold dear, even our families, our friends, our joy, our knowledge, our testimonies would vanish were it not for our Father and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ." I have gained a greater appreciation for this during this holiday season and although I don't usually use this as a forum for spiritual matters, this is what has mattered to me lately. So, I am sharing. I believe that these things are what make Christmas the time for celebrating. So Merry Christmas!

It burns! It burns!

Well, it happened. I have always worried about having my kids around gas fireplaces because you know they are going to put their hands on the glass. With Jake and Emma we didn't have a fireplace in the house so I just had to worry when we went to my or Nate's parents. Now with Pete we do have a fireplace. We turned it on for the first time this winter and sure enough we had to tell Peter several times to stay away from the glass. Then we turned our back and he did it. He put both hands on the glass. He is so funny though because he didn't really cry, I mean he yelled, but he isn't much of a cryer. His hands didn't blister right then, so it wasn't a second degree burn (yes, for those of you who are thinking it, I am trying to avoid CPS coming to my house so this is my back-pedalling). By the next morning though they were all blistered and looked like they hurt. He didn't fuss or anything though.
So all of this happened Monday night. On Tuesday night Nate suggested that we put Band-Aids over his blistered palms to try to keep them from getting infection. So, here is our first attempt.


On Wednesday I got to thinking that it might be a good idea to call the pediatrician and see if there was anything I should be doing to make sure his hands healed okay. The call went something like this:

Me: My son is 1 1/2 and he burnt his hands on our fireplace. I was just wondering if there is anything I should do so they don't get infected.
(The nurse asks the Dr.)
Nurse: Keep the hands cool, don't put ice directly on them, and bring him in right now.
Me: (Very hesitantly knowing I am going to sound negligent) Uh, well, he did this a couple of days ago, so, should I keep them wrapped or antibiotic ointment?
Nurse: Oh, hmm. Yes. You should wrap them with... yada yada


This is how the nurse instructed me to wrap them, of course not with the tail that is hanging there, that is all Pete. Needless to say the wrapping lasted a total of a couple hours. It appears I may have been a little lax with not taking him in, but they are healing fine, and he is just as happy and "curious" as ever.

Overheard

Our little family was driving around the other day. I can't remember where we were going or what we were doing, but in the backseats this is what Nate and I overheard.
Emma: "This time light my bum on fire!!"
Jake: "Okay, WHOOSH (apparently the sound of lighting someone's bum on fire)"
Emma: Pause. Then in a "surferish" tone, "Dude, hey dude. Smell that? What's cookin'?"
Jake roars with laughter
Emma: "No really dude, what's cookin'?"

Ah, the pride a parent feels when they overhear their children playing and laughing together.

All Hallows Eve

Here is the Halloween Report from our family. It is really kind of crummy here because they don't let the kids in elementary school dress up for Halloween. I swear those Halloween parades in elementary were the greatest. The other thing about dressing up for school is that you can wear your costume without your coat over it. As Jerry Seinfeld said, "I don't recall Superman ever wearing a jacket." The coat with the costume is a drag, and during school you didn't have to wear your coat. Enough of my blathering on about this.
As soon as the kids got home from school we packed up and headed to my parents for a Halloween party with my siblings and parents. It was fun, my kids trick-or-treated in my parents neighborhood which wasn't the highlight because we don't know anyone there, but the kids didn't seem to care. Then we went back to my parents and paarrtied!!! We had a great dinner and some great games (thanks Nat and Ju!).
Jake was really funny all night long. He referred to everyone by their costume. He liked answering my parents door and he would say things like, "Red Power Ranger, that is a great costume. Oh, Dracula how is the trick-or-treating?" Nat dressed up as a devil and he just called her 'devil' all night. During one of the games we drew out trick or treat cards. If it said trick, you had to do a trick, and if it said treat you got a treat. You get it. So Jake pulls a trick card and it says to fly around the room like a bat. So he starts flapping, not a stretch, then he starts pretend biting people and yelling, "Now you have rabies!" I am not sure who told him that bats give you rabies but it was pretty funny for Jake to run around and give my whole family rabies. . Then during desert Bob asked the kids if they liked "Camp Rock" and Jake just comes out with "hated it". He didn't even skip a beat. This is a boy who has obviously been forced to listen to too much Disney Channel pop against his will. All in all, it was a great Halloween.
Here we are. I am supposed to be a cat (I didn't realize the headband I was wearing was so fluffy until I saw pictures), Jake is Anakin, Emma is Hannah Montana, and Pete was a Monster (not a stretch).
My camera ran out of batteries, so I have to get some pictures of Nate in his costume from my Mom, it was pretty funny. You'll have to tune in later for the pics.

It Has Begun: the first of the Halloween posts

The Halloween festivities have begun. We carved pumpkins with the Jacobsons, Emma had a Halloween party at her dance class, and Emma went to a friend's house for a party. So, here is a sneak peek into Halloween at our house.
Our pumpkin carving has taken on a tradition of sorts. Jake and Nate carve a pumpkin, with a face as simple as possible and get it done as quickly as possible. Then Emma and I carve another pumpkin using a stencil, not a very hard stencil mind you, and spend a bunch of time trying to get a good looking pumpkin. We have carved pumpkins at the Jacobsons for the last few years and it is always fun. My friend Audrey is really into carving pumpkins and always makes these elaborate, impressive pumpkins. So it is pretty funny to see Jake and Nate's circle eyes, circle mouth, and Jake-carved-nose pumpkin along with all these fancy-schmancy pumpkins that the Jacobsons do. You might not be able to tell from the pictures but Emma's has a ghost with a moon and a tombstone. Jake's has 2 circle eyes (different sizes of course), a nose, and a circle mouth. It looks great and he is happy. I guess that is all it takes for successful pumpkin carving.

For Emma's dance party she decided to just wear one of her dress up dresses instead of her Halloween costume. Fine by me. So she was dressed as Ariel. Her friend in the pictures is Alexis.

Here is most of the Hannah Montana outfit. She ended up getting pretty sick of the wig, but overall I think she enjoyed being a diva. I am in for it for the next 15 years. Actually, she was really cute about the whole thing. She told me about everyone else's costumes and how great they looked too. I just know that she is one who loves getting all dressed up and it is not going to end any time soon. BTW- these pictures completely freaked Nate out.

Pretty Uneventful

Because Nate is gone to Redmond, WA for the week I am updating my blog to keep him in the loop of what is happening at home. And what is happening at home...not much. I, of course, got sick with a cold on Sunday right before Nate flew out. As a result of having medicinally wiped out my immune system I can't shake the cold. It doesn't help that I can't sleep very well without Nate here, and Nate usually gets up and gets Jake ready and off to school while I am spoiled and get to sleep in a little. Well enough about why I feel so crummy and on to what is going on at the Swensons!!!!
First things first, on Monday, I got up, got Jake up, and he got all ready and to the bus on time. I know that most of you who know me thought for sure without Nate here Jake would end up missing the first few hours of school each day, but no. I have been a responsible parent. Which is a lot to say now that my oldest is almost 8. I guess responsible parent may be pushing it, but when it comes to getting him to school I am a responsible parent. Because of the many who will question this I got actual photo evidence to prove it. You can't see the numbers on the clock, but I assure you they read 8:12. That my friends is the exact moment Jake must leave the house to make it to the bus stop in time.

The only other thing that was kind of fun that Nate missed was that as I was looking for a costume for Pete in some of Jake's old clothes I found a cute Halloween outfit for Pete. So, without further adieu here are the pictures of Pete in a little monster outfit (this is not his costume).

As you can see things in this new outfit started out pretty uneventful, but the series of pictures shows just how much Pete liked me dressing him up. Oh well, he's young and I am the Mom.

Disneyland

We finally took our trip to Disneyland. We went with Nate's sis Natalie, who is one of my BFFs (that is so awesome that I can sound so hip, oh, I just said awesome, nevermind) and our friends the Jacobsons, who we basically didn't see. Disneyland is the most magical place on earth, but you add 95 degree weather, and crowds, and it takes away some of the magic. We had a great time, but I really want to go back in like February when the heat and the crowds aren't as bad. I am not a nice person when I am hot, and my feet hurt from standing in lines, even in the most magical place on earth. Don't get me wrong, I love Disneyland and was so grateful I got to go with my family and have a vacation. Plus, I got Nate away from work for a whole week WOOHOO!
Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure:
Here are some Pete pictures, basically he did a lot of sleeping in the stroller.
Emma loves Minnie and the Princesses. She didn't even eat most her meal at the Princess lunch because she was turned around in her seat watching the Princesses.
Here are some pictures of Jake. He has his Dad's ability to look angry all the time. It is quite unsettling to take a 7 year old to Disneyland and get pictures of him looking angry.
Here are a bunch of pictures of Emma and her cousins Julie(older) and Kate(younger) at the princess lunch. I don't look forward to when Emma thinks the Princess lunch is too immature for her because it is so fun to watch the girls get so excited about the princesses.
This is a great picture of Jake and Nate and Emma on the rockets. I especially love it of Jake because he is so excited.
Just a photo op shot, but don't you love how Jake isn't even smiling and Emma thinks she is supposed to pose for the camera. Goofs.

"Baby Boy Erickson!" and "Baby Boy McGuire!"

Yes, I am not kidding I got not just 1 new nephew today, I got 2!! I am just so relieved both boys arrived safe and sound and now everyone can relax and get some sleep while some nurses take care of babies and let the pain meds do their thing.
First nephew: My sister Nat and her husband Jeff finally had their baby. It was a rough 24 hours for them, but he finally arrived at 11:36 this morning. He is 7 lbs. 12 oz. and 20 1/2 inches long. I absolutely fell in love with him the minute I saw him. He is beautiful and I am so glad he is doing so well.
Baby Boy Erickson about 30 minutes after he was born.

Second nephew: My brother Billy and his wife Jacee also had their baby today. Labor and delivery are never what I would call "easy" but from what it sounds like it was as smooth as you could expect it to go. He was 8 lbs. 11 oz. and I am not sure how long he was. I am so glad everything went okay because they are down in Texas where we couldn't be there so we just had to keep calling and giving love and support over the phone. I won't lie to you, I really think it stinks for my brother to have a baby so far away, but I digress. He has a name, so not just Baby Boy McGuire for him. Cade William. I think it is adorable. I have seen pictures, but nothing that I have the ability to post...hopefully I will talk them into some soon.
With my sibling having babies a few things hit me really hard today. I truly can't believe the instant love I have for these new little members of our family. I know that I am emotional, Nate says I have emotional diarrhea, but when I first saw Nat's baby I couldn't believe how much I loved him. It is just surprising to me that it is such an instant thing. Then when Billy called to tell me they had their baby I just felt this overwhelming desire to be there with them and see and hold and love this new little one. I just know these little ones were sent to our family for a reason and I love the immediate connection that I feel with them. Enough blubbering, I know.
Anyway, Happy Baby Day for the McGuires!!!

More Info

I have been asked repeatedly about my new niece because of the lack of information I provided. Here's the deal. She is Nate's sister Holly and her husband Adam's new baby girl. The name has been up in the air, so, sorry there. She was 6 lbs. 9 oz and 20 inches long. She came a few days early and is doing great. We were the first Swensons outside of her mother to see her! She looks a lot like her Dad. Nate and his siblings have all had babies that look more like the spouses than the Swensons, so the assumption as of now is they have pretty recessive genes. We are just happy she is here and doing so well. Adam and Holly will make great parents too, except for the fact that they are both attorneys :)

McGuire Filled Weekend

I went to my Mom's house for Friday/Saturday. It was a lot of fun to be with the family. My sister Nat is supposed to have a baby tomorrow, and we still drug her through a bazillion stores. Those who know me well know I am obsessive about Emma's Halloween costumes. Last year was the first year I let her choose her own costume, a witch, but I still got to design and make the costume the way I wanted. This year she wants to be Hannah Montana. I am at a bit of a loss. I got a wig, a microphone, and a shirt that I think I am going to use...but it just hasn't come together in my head yet. So, while I was with my sisters we went looking for some boots, but finding go go boots for a 5 year old is harder than it sounds. We went to a lot of stores, to no avail. I did end up getting some gold fabric to make a pair of leggings, but I am still not sold on what the costume will look like.
We also went to see the movie Kung Foo Panda, which Jake always calls, "Kung Foo Panda, with Jack Black, he is hilarious." Apparently since Nacho Libre, Jake is a big Jack Black fan. Kung Foo Panda was a hit! My kids loved it and, no surprise here, I laughed through the entire movie. All my laughing made Pete really excited and he laughed and yelled at the screen through most of the movie too. All in all, a good day, but then.....I go out to my car.
So, my car was parked across from the Kaysville Theater, yes we went to the Kaysville Theater. As Erica and I stood next to my car and talked a police car, with its lights on pulls up behind my car. I couldn't imagine what this officer would possibly be pulling over for, maybe we were loitering. Oh no, something even worse. He came over to us and said, "Is this your car." I answered, "Yes." Then he says I am parked in a "UTA bus loading zone" and he really could give me a $100 citation. Erica and I were both quite confused at this whole thing. Erica, being more outspoken than I am asked the officer how I was supposed to know that I was in a "UTA bus loading zone" because there were no signs, granted there was a bus stop. Then the officer got a little defensive. This is when we realized he wasn't a police officer, but a UTA enforcement officer. I couldn't believe this. I am sure that sometime in driver's ed I was supposed to be paying attention and learning this "UTA bus loading zone" business, but I truly don't recall ever knowing this. I couldn't believe that I could possibly get a $100 citation from this guy when there was no sign and I was on a public road. It was just annoying. So, if you ever get caught parked too close to a bus stop, you too might just get caught by a UTA enforcement officer and you might get a $100 citation.


Here is a picture of the kids with my beautiful brand-new niece. She is adorable, and so tiny!
Here is a good look at the little one.
And a picture of Pete, just for good measure. For a boy who likes his food so much he should be packing on the pounds, but instead we are having to feed him tons of extra calories.

SCHOOL'S IN!!!

So, school started like 3 weeks ago, and I am finally blogging about it. I have been enjoying the quiet afternoons.
Well, Jake is doing AWESOME in 1st grade! I have worried and worried about how he would do, and he is doing great. His confidence in his ability to handle the work is so much better than last year. Confidence makes such a difference in his whole attitude about everything.
Emma started Kindergarten. I cried. Not when she could see, and frankly I didn't expect to. I am sure that everyone who knows me will be laughing at that, yeah right, Kris not cry, that will be the day, but really I had it together when we set off to school. Then the Kindergarten teacher did this whole thing where we had to do a couple of "centers" with our Kindergartener and then he read "The Kissing Hand". What kind of crazy torturer is this Kindergarten teacher? I still was keeping it together, then we were getting ready to leave and the kids were all sitting on the mat and they turned to wave goodbye... and Emma was looking and couldn't find me because, well, because I am short...and then I started crying. She was looking kind of frantically for me then found me, as I suppressed tears I waved and basically ran out of the room. I just kept thinking about how I wouldn't be the main influence in her life any more, and I am not ready to turn my little girl over to the world yet. She is so sweet, thoughtful, beautiful, and I just don't want to let the outside world have influence over her. I realize I am saying this as she watches "Hannah Montana" but at least I am here and we can talk about "Hannah Montana".


This is Emma on her first day of Kindergarten. She wore her new school shirt, and being the awesome Mom that I am, I made her a bow to match her new shirt.

Psych!

So, I know I am the absolute worst blogger in history. I have 3 crazy kids and never take the time to blog about the funny stuff they do and say. Well, this blog isn't about them.
I had a great weekend. There were many good things about it. I visited my parents, spent time with my sisters (that includes Erica for all of you who don't know how much I love that chica), was ready for church on time, and spent Sunday night just relaxing with Nate. But it wasn't all that that made this an AWESOME weekend...my shows started again.
While all the rest of the world is bemoaning the lack of good television, they missing some of the best shows on television. I absolutely love USA Network. They have Psych (my personal fave) and Monk, and Burn Notice. I mean really people, these shows are great! Every time I watch Psych I wish it lasted longer. I hate when it ends. The comedy is witty and wry. And man, James Roday is hot. But I digress, the point is that both Psych and Monk started this weekend and now I have something on tv to look forward too again. It is great and the whole time I watch there is a big ol' smile on my face.

Holy Randomness Batman!

So, I haven't blogged in a while so I have a ton of tidbits to share. First, my baby said Mama! I know he has been saying Dada for like a month and a half, but HE SAID MAMA! He is so stinking cute, and just so much fun right now. He learns something new almost everyday. I love watching children learn.
Next, school is out, which also happened over 2 weeks ago, but I am just barely coming to terms with it. Actually, it hasn't been that bad...yet. I have tried to make some sort of plans for each day so me and the kids leave the house each day. Mondays are still open, Tuesdays we go to the library for reading time and then to the park for lunch, Wednesday we have tickets to a movie at Provo Towne Centre, Thursday we have the option of going to another movie (which totally sounds lame unless you take into account this one is free and outside it could be like 95 degrees or hotter even), Fridays we are going to try to go to Seven Peaks. So far , so good.

And, last but not least, Emma had a dance recital. She is such a little performer. I know, its hard to believe (ha, ha) but she was completely in her element on stage dancing. Oh, and she graduated from preschool, and lost a tooth. I can't take this all at once. If anyone knows how to keep their baby from growing up, let me know cuz I'm in.

Party Pictures

So, I am way late with this, but here are the pictures from Peter's 1st Birthday Party. It was so great to have friends and family with us to celebrate this. I know that he will never remember it, but it was so fun to celebrate this first year with our friends and family.
Nate's sister Holly and her husband Adam gave Pete this cute little dump truck. Adam had the idea to wrap it in tissue paper. Pete loved it. The paper made this cool sound when he tore into it and he could actually open the present himself. It was a really great idea! So, most of my pictures of Peter opening presents are of him opening that one, because it was the only one he could open himself.

I made him a Cookie Monster cake. I love Cookie Monster, and I figure by next year he will be able to give some opinion, whether taken into consideration or not, about his cake, so this year I got to choose.

Pete gave a great performance with the cake. He began by just checking it out. Then he tentatively tasted it. Then he really dug in and got cake EVERYWHERE. He started to get tired after a while. At one point he was just taking handfuls of cake and smashing it onto his face in the general vicinity of his mouth. Then with hands covered in blue icing and chocolate cake he rubbed his eyes. So truly he was covered in cake. It was a great party and we all took a good rest afterward.

Here is a series to show how much Pete enjoyed his cake.

My Baby is ONE!

I can hardly believe it has been a year since my sweet Peter was born. As I think back over the year there is no way I can possibly put into words how happy that little guy has made me. I just love being his Mom. He is busy, and happy, and intense, and so much fun! The day Peter was born was really touch and go, the doctors were trying to hold off delivery a little bit longer, but his heart rate dropped and I had to have an emergency C-section. Nate made it to the hospital just as I was getting back from the operating room. I was just so glad my sweet little boy had made it and was doing okay. The first hour or two were bumpy, but he did so well. It is hard to imagine he was only 2 lbs 10 oz! Today at his 1 year check-up he weighed in at a whopping 16 lbs. 1 oz. That is over 6 times what he started at. I am just so happy to have him in our little family and that he is doing so well. I really can't imagine life without him. Here are some pictures of our journey from the past year.
I LOVE YOU PETER!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

This is one of the first pictures of Peter. The first day he was on a respirator for a few hours. He was only 14 inches long!This was after they took him off the respirator. His eyes are covered because he was under lights to treat his jaundice. That is a preemie diaper and it still looks gigantic!
This is the first time Jake met his new brother, May 15. Pete was 1 day old.
This was the first time Emma met Peter.

This was Peter's first day out of an incubator. This was Peter's first day home.