Mr. Mom

It has been nice having time off from the cooking, cleaning, laundry, and all the responsibilities of taking care of the boys.  Alex has been doing it all.  Aside from some meals brought in by church friends, Alex has been running the show.  He made a yummy egg & ham breakfast on Christmas morning.  He did ham, peas, mashed potatoes, and green bean casserole for dinner.  I was impressed!  He has also taken the boys on a couple of outings, to the park and hiking, to get them out of the house for a while.  This is pretty nice!

We finished off Christmas Day with sugar cookies and the movie "Brave".  Fun times!

Savannah's 1st Christmas

Savannah slept most of the day on Christmas.  She was awake for short amounts of time.  I snapped a few pictures of her when she was most alert.  

Christmas morning frenzy

Some people like to take turns opening presents, carefully and calmly examining each gift.  We do things a little differently.  When we were ready (meaning grandparents were watching via facetime), we just said, "GO!"  They all started opening presents at the same time.  I got little clips here and there, but in general I missed most of the frenzy.  I'm not sure what they got, but they were pretty excited about everything.  I do know they got a TON OF LEGOS.  We had a pretty peaceful afternoon, since they were busy working on their new Lego sets.  Nathan & Jared got the "Helm's Deep" Lego set from Lord of the Rings.  That was a favorite.  Owen loved everything ("I GOT THIS!").  Weston opened a blue longneck dinosaur toy first, and basically was done opening presents.  Some little "baby so-saurs" caught his attention later.  

Savannah slept through the whole thing.

Her brothers were more than willing to help her open her stash of gifts.  

THANK YOU FOR ALL THE PRESENTS FAMILY!

 Note:  I pulled out my stocking that my mom made for me and used it for Savannah.  

See the bear stocking in that 1st picture?

Christmas Eve

We sang some Christmas hymns and read scriptures about Jesus' birth.  Following that, we had a simple birthday party for Jesus, each making a wish for something we will work to improve this year.  Too bad we only had trick candles... they had fun with them.  

After cupcakes and a timely visit by our home teacher to drop off ice cream, we let the boys open one present.  Nathan & Jared knew it was going to be clothes.  I didn't expect anyone to be excited about the gifts.  I have never seen anyone SO excited about socks, underwear, and PJ's!  This video shows Owen's excitement, but we missed Nathan & Jared opening their underwear.  They were almost just as excited.

Think of their new Ninjago underwear they have on...  :)  

We'll be home for Christmas!

We came home today!  Just in time for Christmas Eve fun and Christmas Day tomorrow!

Savannah meets the family

Alex's bed and window seat provided a nice view.  I think it was pretty comforting for both Savannah and Alex to snuggle in the window seat.  I loved the seagulls that came around, especially in the morning.  They'd sit on the telephone poles or along the tops of the buildings.  

The boys were pretty excited to meet their sister and wanted to hold her and touch her.  Weston was cute about pointing out her eyes, and mouth, and head.  

My sister Alison was a trooper and watched the boys while we were in the hospital.  I kept wondering if she was doing okay, and whenever I asked, it sounded like she was having fun.  I'm so glad she was willing and able to come!  

  Alison brought the boys over on the day Savannah was born.  She also got them all ready for church on Sunday, and they had lunch at the hospital with me.  Alison had to head out Sunday evening.  Wish we could have spent more time with her.

Savannah Ann

She's here!  Savannah was born on December 20th.  Stats:  8 lbs, 19.5'' long.  It's different to see a bow on her head (I don't think she liked it very much)!  We're still in the hospital, recovering from the C-section.  Savannah is doing great.  Mom is just okay, but making it.  Can't wait to be strong enough to go home.

D-day tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day.  It's D-day (delivery day), bright and early in the morning.  Probably by the time most of you read this, baby girl will be here.  I'm not looking forward to the C-section & recovery, but definitely ready to get this baby out!  Excited and ready to meet her...stay tuned for updates and pictures.

Here are a few more recent belly shots:

I think she was resting different in this one (or maybe it was just the shirt) - whatever it was, this shot has more of the "shelf" look.  

FOUR!

Owen was excited about all his presents, even the ones he didn't know what they were.  I love the one where he exclaims, "I got THIS!"  He has especially been talking about "Jay's Jet", with the blue Ninjago, so he was particularly excited to get that one.  He wanted a blue Ninjago cake as well.  Luckily a simple Ninjago face was great for him.  I appreciated the short amount of time it took to do the cake this time.    

Can't believe Owen is four - we love him and his big personality!