Christmas Fun

Warning: There are a LOT of pictures

Well we had a very fun and low key Christmas this year. Lizzie and I made her a paper chain to count down to Christmas Eve. James had Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday off that week (and he got paid for Christmas, so far this job is actually kind of nice!), he was excited to have a Christmas Eve off with us too. James and I have never had a Christmas Eve where we have both been off of work (even when dating) so it was a fun little experience. James wanted to make cookies, but I honestly hate making sugar cookies even when not pregnant, so I really didn't want to do it this year. James was understanding though and Grandpa came home with a HUGE plate of goodies from a coworker so we didn't need to make any anyways. I made the pies (Mom did help a little, but it was pretty much all me), dinner took FOREVER to cook so we had the kids open their pj's before dinner and we got them both their own sleeping bag too.

Liz got penguin pajamas and Clayton got some Santa ones (check the left of the picture). You will not actually see Clayton in his pajamas because he was soaked around 4 am and got changed into new ones.

Clayton's sleeping bag was a Cars one with Lightning McQueen on it. He was so excited and started pointing at it saying, "McQueen!"

Liz got a Disney Princess sleeping bag.

Liz was SO excited about the hole Christmas thing this year. She came into our room at 4 am to try and get us up. Well they didn't fall asleep until I bet 9pm and I'm so tired right now it wasn't going to happen. Luckily I have the best husband in the world and he went and camped out on the floor in the kids room to try and get Liz back to sleep. Around 6am they both ended up back in our bed. And Lizzie snores REALLY loud! About 8am is when we actually got up though. And here is what Santa brought the kids (and us too).

Like the stockings? James and I could not find where we put the stockings from last year, so we let Santa get creative and they ended up in some gift bags (which worked out just as good).

Clay found a Mickey Mouse puzzle in his stocking, he really like that too (he's into Mickey right now too).

Clay was really into the whole time opening present (compared to Lizzie last year). This year we just kept handing the kids presents and letting them rip them open. Yeah it wasn't as fun because I missed half of what they opened, but it kept them happy and interested and then they had stuff to keep them busy while the adults opened their presents. Clayton was picking up presents and taking them to people to help him open them (mostly James and Grandpa).

Mom and Dad went to Oregon in October to see Holly, Dave and their boys. Well Dave and Mom smuggled Dad's Christmas present back in the car. Right now Dad is trying to figure out how the heck they hid that in the car without him finding out about it.

Clay carrying another present to someone else.

Lizzie loved all her gifts, but this Belle doll I found at Ross in Tahoe is by far her favorite. Her first babydoll that she got for her 1st birthday has been replaced after 2 years of attempts by me (it's getting really dirty and gross) and she now sleeps with Belle.

James with one of his many 49er gifts. There are pictures of me too, but we didn't get a lot of sleep and I look horrible in the pictures so they are going to be used for scrap booking purposes only! We had a fun morning opening presents though. James kept referring to me lovingly as the "tape Nazi" whenever he opened a present for the kids, and then we just had a really lazy day with the kids and my parents.

Liz modeling her Dora dress up stuff for us.

Dryer Boy and Update

Clayton's new thing is climbing in the dryer now if Grandma or I are doing laundry. It's pretty cute, but hopefully it doesn't become a habit. I could really see Lizzie closing him in there thinking it would be funny.

James was having some issues with Big 5 so he resigned. It was a scary experience for a while (like the month when he didn't have a job). But now it's opened the door that James can go to school full time (found out we had been awarded financial aid and no one had contacted us). James is very excited about that and we're waiting to see how many credits are transferring from his college days in Tahoe. We saw that this was pretty important when most of the good jobs James wanted to apply for required a degree. So he'll be going to school full time starting in January (I know right before the baby is born...great timing LOL). James got a job at Office Max right before Thanksgiving. We were both so grateful for the job (and it was nice knowing that the manager their wanted to hire James REALLY bad!). He's the Key Carrying Furniture Specialist. He likes it, but it's been an adjustment. He doesn't have as much responsibilities like he did at Big 5 so he has more time on his hands at work. I told him to enjoy the "break". I really appreciate that James is willing to work full time while going to school so I can still focus on being at home with the kids.

Lizzie is potty trained! I finally buckled down and just went for it, and Lizzie did so well. We had issues with her going # 2 in the potty, but she's finally has it down and it's been SO nice to only have Clay in diapers. Yes it will only last for another month and a half, but it's still has been really nice. Lizzie is our sweetheart. She tells us she loves us multiple times a day and that really makes the days easier to get through. She's also our resident teenager and gives us lots of attitude, but she's quick to says she's sorry so it's not too bad.

Clayton had his 2 year check up yesterday. He grew big time! He's always been below the 10th percentile for height and weight. Well he's jumped into the 35%. He weights 26 pounds and is 34 inches long. He's almost out of 12 to 18 month size cloths (finally) too. It's bittersweet seeing him grow up. Of course anytime I get emotional about it James kindly reminds me that we'll be having another one in a about 7 weeks. He's talking A LOT too. He's getting so easy to understand too, he didn't talk as early as Lizzie did, but he's still talking a lot considering his age. He says phrases like "I'm tired", "Nap time", "watch (insert show here)", and he's getting really good with his colors. Lizzie and Clay are the most mischievous children I've ever seen, it makes doing things around the house very difficult. They are partners in crime, but they love each other. Some days I wonder why I had my kids so close together and then I see them playing together or giving each other hugs and I'm glad they have a special bond.

The pregnancy is going well, but I am definitely ready to be done! My pain in the butt for this pregnancy is high blood pressure. So they have me on medication to help keep it down. I've been stressed a lot lately, so I can see why it's been so high. And the medication is a precaution because they don't want me to develop preeclampsia. At my last appointment it had gone down, so it's working, it just makes me more tired, which in turn makes me more irritable and snappy (yes I'm sure James and my parents are LOVING that).

We are all anxious for Christmas. Lizzie is SO excited about it this year, and it's been fun having her ask more about it. I always ask her who's birthday it is on Christmas so she'll learn why we're doing Christmas. And she's excited that after Christmas she'll be getting a baby sister (well we're all excited about that one).

Happy Birthday Clayton!

Clayton turned 2 today. It was sad and unnerving at the same time. Sad because my baby is 2! Unnerving because in 2 months I'll have another baby, the time has gone by so fast. Today we went to Wingers with my parents for lunch for Clay's birthday. We had a coupon for a free kids meal for his birthday. Well Clay got a HUGE piece of ice cream pie too and then they tried to put a chicken hat on his head and he was so mad! He didn't even care that he got dessert, he just wanted to color. Lizzie meanwhile was pouting because she wanted to get sung to and have the chicken hat.

We celebrated Clay's birthday on Tuesday the 2nd. James' parents where here so we moved our little celebration so they could participate. Clayton loves the movie "Cars" and Lightning McQueen, so that's the kind of cake I did for him. I was a little lazy this time around (lets chalk it up to being 8 months pregnant shall we) and just got a cake topper from a bakery and made the cake myself. I really didn't want to try to sculpt a car out of cake at this point. Clay loved it and once he saw it he was systematically going from person to person to see if he could get on the table to the cake.

Then the singing and candles. Clay didn't want any of it, he wanted that McQueen car off the cake. My Dad moved the cake out of reach since Clay was getting close to the candles and that made Clay so mad he didn't even try to blow out the candles. Lizzie of course was more than happy to help.

Clay enjoyed the cake and ice cream and asked for "more" several times. He's talking a lot now.

He enjoyed the presents. He got distracted easily though and now I'm thinking I probably bought him too much for Christmas again this year. Oh well we'll open presents in shifts if we have to. He did enjoy trying to get the paper off the presents though and Lizzie of course was the willing helper here too.

He had a wonderful birthday and was spoiled rotten! Lizzie and Clay have been fighting over the toys since Tuesday so it's been an interesting week.