Holiday Fun

I have to admit that I don't get that excited about Christmas anymore. Basically, this happened when we moved to Arizona. For one thing, it didn't feel like Christmastime when it was sunny and in the 70's outside. That was in Yuma, but here in Sierra Vista, it's a bit cooler which helps. Also, it wasn't fun not being around family and not knowing a lot of people. I like being around extended family for the holidays. Plus, Christmas has become more work for me. I have to figure out what we are going to do for Christmas Eve and Day and what we are going to eat. And then guess who has to prepare all the food. Me, of course. Then we have to find ways to entertain the children. Previously, we spent Christmas with family and had a potluck type of meal so I only had to prepare one or two dishes. The kids were able to play with their cousins, and the adults could socialize. This year, we are going to spend Christmas Day with some friends, and I won't have to prepare a whole dinner.  I am glad about that.  On Christmas Eve, we are probably just going to order take-out from a restaurant before Trent goes to work. Then the children and I will just stay home and relax until they go to bed.

Before December, I was telling Trent that I didn't want to do Christmas, that I was too tired and didn't feel like doing all that work. I said that he would have to do it. I think he was a little concerned because I wasn't joking. I was pretty serious. So at the beginning of December, he took some initiative and got the Christmas tree and decorations out of the garage. I actually ended up putting up the decorations around the house, and I let the kids decorate the tree. They did the whole thing themselves other than me putting the lights on. Brooke really enjoyed it, and they did a pretty good job. I was just glad that I didn't have to do that task. Anyway, I decided that I would have to do some Christmas stuff so that at least the kids would have a good Christmas. So I bought a gingerbread house kit to do with them. Today we started working on it, and Aspen was crying. Brooke and Jade were telling me how they wanted the house, and they wouldn't hold Aspen. I told them they could do the house by themselves instead. I wasn't mad; I just realized that they didn't need me to help them. Besides, I was tired and not particularly interested in doing the house anyway. So Aspen and I napped on the couch while Brooke and Jade decorated. They had fun, didn't fight, and did it the way they wanted. (I have to say that one nice thing about them getting older is that they are becoming more independent and actually even helpful at times.)

I also got an "Elf on the Shelf" for the kids. They named him Alexander, and every morning, they look to see where his new hiding spot is. That has been fun for them. Sometimes I can even get them to behave by telling them that Alexander is going to report their bad behavior to Santa.

The rest of this week, I am going to be wrapping presents. There are a lot, and I haven't even started. Tomorrow I am going to attempt some Christmas baking. I am only planning on making four things, but who knows if I'll actually accomplish it. It depends on how cooperative the children are. I would also like to get the house clean so that after Sunday we can just get back to our normal life and not have to try to catch up on housework. Trent is good about helping me with the kids and the housework so we should be able to do it. Hopefully, I won't get stressed with all the Christmas stuff and maybe even enjoy it.

This past Sunday after church, I attempted to take pictures of the kids, but Bristol wasn't being cooperative.  So Trent tried to sit with her in the picture.  Since there was a picture of him with the girls, I thought that we should also do one of me with them.  Now we just need a picture of us as a whole family.

Aspen Update

Aspen is almost two months old, and I am realizing how few pictures I have taken of her.  In the first two months of Brooke's life, I am sure that I took lots of photos of her.  I guess that when you have more children, you have less time to go around taking pictures of the baby.  So the past week or so, I have made a concerted effort to take more pictures of Aspen.  I need to do the same with the other children as well, but at Aspen's age, they change so quickly.  Here are some recents photos of her:

I have to say she has some pretty cute facial expressions.  Over the last few weeks, she has also started to smile more, and thankfully her crying has decreased.  She is sleeping fairly well at night now and wakes up about one time.  On December 1, she had her one month check-up and weighed eight pounds and was 20.5 inches (I think).  So she has been growing, and I am sure that she weighs more than that since that was about three weeks ago.  I feel like things are starting to get easier now that she is going to sleep better and isn't crying so much.