Catching up

We had a pretty wonderful Christmas this year. It will forever be the year remembered for termites and kitchen remodeling. We were blessed by an anonymous family as well with many presents for the Princesses. I can't express my gratitude enough for the amazing love this family showed. Christmas eve was spent with my family.
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, and enjoys a Happy New Year.

Reading the Christmas Story

Daddy tickle time before bed

Christmas Eve Jammies! (this pic was almost impossible to take!)

Princess R woke Christmas morning with a fever. So she cuddled with her new baby doll and bathrobe on my lap the whole day.

Princess V and C enjoying all their new toys like play doh and tinkerbell.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

May you all have a wonderfully peaceful day

Full of family, love and laughter



Cardboard cut outs

I saw this neat craft to make cardboard gingerbread men. I knew the Princesses would have a lot of fun, if I let them make a craft, and it would keep them pretty busy for awhile. Instead of gingerbread men I cut out little girls/angels.  I pulled out some beads, buttons and glue, and let them go at it!

This was a good hour at least of their time while we tried to figure out what to do in the kitchen after we found termites (yuck!)

Tonight we were going to go see lights, but plans didn't pan out. So instead the Princesses are sleeping by the Christmas tree

Awe! Princess R was the first to drop, and I was quite surprised. She must be going through a growth phase.

It's been a long week

I am baffled at how the Princesses have been acting this week. I don't know what it is, but I'm so done with it!  On Monday Princess V bit Princess C on the back, leaving a full set of teeth marks that turned into a nice welt later in the day.
Then on Tuesday, Princess V and Princess C climbed over the baby gate, so Princess R attempted it as well. She managed to flip herself over the gate, and land on her head, getting this nasty bump.

This was followed up an hour later with me finding hair all over the basement floor. That's right, Princess V cut Princess C's hair, and Princess C cut Princess V's hair. One of them cut up our Peter Pan picture book, and one of them gave their stuffed bunny a tail trim.

Princess C by far got the worst of the "trim" and we had to make a date with the hair salon.

sisters hair cutting attempts

thank goodness bob cuts are cute, and there are professionals out there!

Adimettedly the week (last 2 days) hasn't been all bad. We have managed to have some fun in there. Monday night for FHE we went to Temple Square to see the lights

and Tuesday night we made our own Personal Pan Pizza's

Christmas Dance Showcase

Princess V and Princess C had their Christmas Dance Showcases this week. I am ever so grateful to my parents for helping with the expenses of dance this year, so these Princesses could continue doing something they both really enjoy! 
Princess V had her showcase yesterday. Unfortunately the camera batteries were going and I misplaced my wallet. So here's a few snapshots I was able to get out of the camera.

Her posture and focus on her teacher continue to impress me! I definitely think putting her in a class specifically for ballet, and without her sister has helped her to grow more confident in herself.

Princess C had her showcase this morning, and thanks to the King we had new batteries for the camera.  Here's some cute videos.

Princess C is the one on the right in the red skirt. She's also the one singing along. I think singing lessons may be in her future as well.

Getting this little Princess to smile was a trick! I found if I wanted her to smile she would frown, but if I frowned she would smile.

Again, I am impressed at this girls progress. We kept her in the level 1 class for a second year, and she really has improved greatly.

Teacher Gifts

Today is Princess V's last day of preschool before the Christmas break. So this morning we sat down together and made these cute little "pencil" gifts for her teachers.

I found the idea while browsing pinterest (seriously love that site!).  So credit for this idea goes to the DCW Diary.

The "pencil" is just a pack of Rollo's wrapped in paper, with a Hershey Kiss added for the tip.  I am so excited about these, and hope her teachers will love them as well. I also hope her teachers know how much we appreciate all the time they  put in to teach our kids.

There are many benefits to being a teacher, mainly the satisfaction that you are training up the next generation of kids. I think Christmas time is another wonderful time to be a teacher. Parents get so creative when giving gifts. King Daddy has alreayd brought home a jar of homemade caramels, which he then gave to me since he knows they're my favorite.  I love seeing the appreciation that parents give to their kids teachers, and I am so excited to be a parent with a school aged child so I can get in on the fun! 

Strawberry Cheesecake Santa Hats

To get the Princesses excited about Christmas, and to spend more time as a family, we have been doing an activity advent. We told the Princesses that an elf comes each night and leaves an activity for us to do together. Day 11 was making Strawberry Cheesecake Santa Hats.  Our elf sure knows what these girls like!

Princess R enjoying the cheese frosting

Princess V and Princess C ready to eat some Santa hats!

Princess R didn't make it to this point with us. She's been fighting naps, and bedtime severely lately, and it's made for one grumpy little girl.  So she and Daddy were found doing this

They both eventually fell asleep and took a long 2ish hour nap. They both needed it, and were a bit more pleasant when waking up.

18 month Well Child visit

We're a bit late, but we took Princess R into her 18month well child check today. Since our last doctor vanished (not kidding!), I was a bit lazy in finding a new one. Since there was no urgent need for the Princesses to see a doctor it just got pushed out.
Well, Princess R started fighting bedtime, and naptime. Normally she went down pretty easy. So we switched her to a toddler bed, but she was still fighting sleep. I thought perhaps she had an ear infection, and decided to make that 18month appointment. 

OH MY WORD!!! Almost as soon as we got into the exam room Princess R was freaking out. It was like she knew shots were coming, even though it's been 6months since she's seen a doctor.  We almost didn't get her immunizations today, since I didn't have the records, and this is a new doctor. Thankfully there's a new electronic system (maybe just in UT, but every state should have this!), and we were able to look up where she's at on her immunizations. She needed two shots today. Also, since we live in an older home, they tested her blood for lead as well.

I knew she was going to scream, I expected it. What I didn't expect was that her sisters would also be screaming as if they were getting the shots! Princess V got all concerned and curled herself up in a chair silently crying because her baby sister had to get shots, and she remembered getting her shots. Princess C was screaming just as loud as Princess R and going a bit frantic between watching the shots, and running back to her chair. 

I always knew my kids were sensitive. The slightest booboo's, trips, and hurt feelings can send them into fits of whining and crying. Before today it would upset me, and just drain me of energy to "toughen thm up". Today showed me just how sensitive they are. Their love and concern for their sister to show that much outward feeling was quite touching. If they can grow up continuing to feel that much for those around them, I will gladly kiss every booboo no matter the size, and comfort their tears.

Admittedly though, I will never take them all together when anyone has to get a shot again.  No need to intentionally over worry them!

Changes

Notice anything different? Yep! The blog name has been changed!! Last week we had an appointment with the ultrasound tech to find out baby #4's gender (and of course make sure everything else looked good).  To many many surprised folks I've had the pleasure of letting them know we're having a little Prince!

The hard part now will be finding a name. For over 5 years King Dad and I have thrown boy names around, and have not been able to agree on any of them! Now that we are actually having a Prince, the King and I have found some names we both like. It's a matter of finding the right combination now. 

We've taken into consideration the Princesses ideas, but with a grain of salt...

Wolverine and Scott Summers are just a few of their suggestions.

Fun in the Leaves

Over Thanksgiving Break, we visited Nana and Opah. The Princesses got to help Nana rake leaves, and then jump in them.  I just love this picture the King took!