Sibling Christmas Gift Exchange

Ah, the sibling Christmas gift exchange. My favorite tradition growing up and one that I love sharing with my own children. This year we, once again, went to Five Below so the kids could pick out anything in the store they wanted to get for their sibling. I took Makenna shopping and Austin took Max. It was so fun watching how concerned Makenna was with finding the PERFECT gift for Max! Haha, Austin said Max was mostly distracted by things HE wanted in the store. Maybe next year he can focus more on his sibling. : ) Anyway, they picked out great gifts for each other and then, a few days later, had fun wrapping the gifts they bought.

On Sunday night (Christmas Eve Eve) we let them exchange their gifts. They were SUPER excited to give their gift (and see what they received in return).

Holding the gift they bought and wrapped for each other:

Max’s turn to open:

Makenna had to show/tell Max about the present. She got him a hopper ball (looks like a big bouncy ball with a handle that he can sit on and bounce around on):

Makenna’s turn:

She got a Littlest Pet Shop toy. Ha ha, Max was like, “Ooh, what did you get? Who got you that?” Oh Max…

After opening presents (and giving each other LOTS of hugs), the kids had fun playing with their new toys.

Such a fun time! I love that my kids enjoy giving each other gifts. Now, each time they play with their new toy they say, “This is what my […..] gave me!” Love it! And love that next year we will have one more kid to add to the mix!

Merry Christmas!

Dance Recital Videos Take 2

Okay for some reason Makenna’s dance recital videos didn’t show up on that last blog post… so let’s try this again!

This is Makenna’s ballet and tap dances during her recital. In each video she is on the front row, on the far left.

Makenna’s Tap Dance

Makenna’s Ballet Dance

Makenna’s Christmas Dance Recital 2012

Makenna’s dance teacher is VERY pregnant and is having a baby at the end of this month. So of course she is planning on taking a break from teaching dance to have and enjoy her new baby. As a closer for dance (for a while), the dancers had a Christmas Dance Recital on Saturday.

Makenna has been practicing for the dance recital quite a bit. This little girl LOVES to dance and will, totally on her own, practice her dances for seriously two full hours! She did great at her recital! I love that she has something she enjoys doing so much!

In both videos, Makenna is on the front row on the far left.

Ballet Dance

 

Tap Dance

Before the recital we took a few pictures of the dancer girl. I love how she posed, ha ha:

Makenna and Max (I kept telling them to stop looking at me and look at Daddy, who was taking the pictures, but they never did…)

(Why is it that the cutest pictures are always the blurry ones?!?)

Makenna with some of the dancers in her group (not sure why the grumpy face…):

During the recital, Austin stood in the back taking pictures and video and I was in the front taking the little girls on to the stage. So where was Max? Umm, running around WAY too much and probably popping up in everyone’s videos! He has entirely too much energy!

This is just a snapshot from the tap dance video. Makenna is on the front on the far left:

The final bow (Makenna is the second from the left in the back):

(middle row, second from left)

After the recital, Makenna’s dance teacher presented all the little dancers with a flower (look at how great this lady looks! Would you ever guess she is having a baby in three weeks?!?). Makenna is the non-blurry red bow girl:

Makenna with her flowers from us (the purple ones because she loves purple) and her flower from Ms. Jenni (the red flower):

Makenna and Ms. Jenni:

I think Ms. Jenni is planning on teaching dance again after her baby is born—but it will at the MOST only be for a few months because she is moving away this summer! We will miss her so, so much! Makenna absolutely adores this lady!!!

Camera phone clean up

I don’t really have anything particular to blog about, but I do have a few pictures that I’ve taken over the past little while.

Let’s see. The other day we decorated for Christmas. Makenna has been really upset that we didn’t decorate for Halloween or Thanksgiving, but I just really haven’t felt up to it. I didn’t particularly feel like decorating for Christmas either, but decided it was a “necessary evil.” For the first time ever we put some lights up outside. Just a strand across the top of the house and one around the windows, but it was enough to make the kids really, REALLY happy and excited. I put out the Christmas decorations around the house and then the kids “helped” me decorate the tree.

Pretty much all the ornaments were on the very bottom of the tree, all in the front. After we finished adding the decorations and the kids left to watch TV, I totally moved things around. : ) The kids never even noticed and are really proud of themselves for decorating the tree!

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I took this picture of myself at the start of week 26.

It’s true; I am enormous! I haven’t gained very much weight at all, but I am measuring about two weeks ahead. I’m not sure if that is a sign of a big baby or if it is a sign I will go early. I went early with the other two kids and this pregnancy has been the worst of all, so I definitely hope it means I will be early again. : D

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I heard a loud bang from the kids’ room the other night so I called for Max to come to me (call me whatever you want, but a loud noise is 99% of the time caused by Max!). This is how he walked into the room:

I had to try not to laugh and yell at him (and take a picture) at the same time. That boy is TOO cute!

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The kids were drawing pictures the other day. This is Makenna’s. Notice the little person on the left? That’s our new baby. : ) I love that the kids are ridiculously excited about their new sibling!

Also I noticed Makenna drew Austin basically on my head. So I asked her, “Why is Daddy on my head?” Her response, “Because he wanted to and you told him okay.” haha

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We found a gift card to Applebee’s that still had money on it, so we went there Tuesday night. We picked the right night because not only was it Kids’ Eat Free night, but they also had free face painting. Max picked a snake and Makenna picked a kitty cat and they looked adorable with their faces painted!

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The kids have been sharing a room for a few weeks now. We decided it would work better to let the baby be in his own room for the first year or so and to have the other kids be together in a room. However, our rooms are so tiny two twin beds wouldn’t fit in them. We settled the problem by getting a bunkbed and we went ahead and moved the kids together to try to get everyone used to it before the baby arrives. Let me just tell you that I do NOT like this sharing a room business! The kids do NOT sleep now that they share a room. They are constantly up playing and talking to each other. Everyone is tired and cranky. I finally separated the kids at nap time and until the baby is born, Max will nap on a mattress in the baby’s room just so we can all nap. That has solved the nap problem, but we still have the night time problem. No matter what we’ve tried, it is still 11 or 11:30 before the kids settle down and actually sleep. Then they get up so tired and cranky the next day. So annoying. I also do not like that the kids are now forced to be together 24/7. Although they are the best of friends, they are seeming to fight a little more now and they can’t go to their own rooms to have their “me” time. Makenna is being whinier since the room change and Max is being more aggressive. A few days ago Max tried to climb on her bed during bed time. She told him to get down and when he didn’t, she pushed him and he fell off the ladder. Then a day or so later Makenna was leaning against the couch and Max didn’t want her there—so he BIT her face!

I don’t know what is going to fix this sharing-a-room problem, but it is about to drive me nuts! : )

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A few weeks ago we went to I-Hopp for dinner. The kids ordered “Funny Face Pancakes.” When the pancakes came they were HUGE—seriously bigger than the plates! The kids loved them but good grief was it a lot of pancake!

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Okay, last picture. Makenna had her own “help Dad with the leaves” day with her own cute picture in the garbage can, ha ha.

Okay, that’s it. Probably enough random pictures for one post. : D

Car Accident: The Story

I’m going to try to type this without crying. I doubt it will work, but I’m going to try.

Last Sunday we woke up to a little surprise outside:

Our first snow of the year! The kids were SO excited to finally have snow! Mom, on the other hand, was NOT excited. See, I just really don’t like snow. Growing up in Alabama, it only snows once a year and that is enough for me! I absolutely hated the snow while I lived in Idaho and was THRILLED to be moving to Arizona with its warm winters. My biggest complaint about moving to Michigan was snow. It was honestly a BIG discussion to move to Michigan and weather was my only complaint! Luckily, last year was a super dry, mild winter here in Michigan and we only had snow maybe three times and it didn’t last. So point was, I was NOT happy to see the snow. In fact, as we were getting ready for church I said to my family, “Raise your hand if you like snow?” and when Austin, Makenna, and Max all raised their hand I boo-ed them! I sent my mom a message, complaining about the snow. I just REALLY don’t like snow! I was also extremely nervous. I could (MAYBE) deal with the snow if I didn’t have to ever DRIVE in the snow. And on this particular Sunday Austin had to be at work at noon… so the plan was for Austin and I to drive separate cars and Austin would attend Sacrament meeting and then go to work and the kids and I would stay for the entire church. So I was doubly unhappy about the snow because I would have to drive in it. However unhappy about it I was, it wasn’t a huge snow so I assumed I would be ok.

So the kids and I jumped in my car and Austin got in his car and off we went for Church. As I drove down our little street, I noticed how slippery the road was but I assumed it would be better once we got on the main roads (because seriously there wasn’t THAT much snow on the ground). We got out on a main road and I was still driving at a snail’s pace, but was doing okay. We stopped at a redlight and I slid a little bit, but remembered to pump my brakes and came to a stop. I actually thought, “This isn’t so bad! I’m actually driving pretty great!” True story—I HONESTLY thought that! Then we turned onto the freeway. I assumed because it was a freeway it would be completely clear. The other cars speeding past me seemed to confirm that assumption. I was feeling a little braver as we continued on down the freeway. Then we started to go under an underpass. And my car hit a super slick patch and I started to slide (and now as I type this, the tears are coming). Time seemed to slow down. I thought, “Okay, pump the brakes. What else am I supposed to do?!? Which way am I supposed to be turning the steering wheel? Do I turn into the slide or away from it?!? Pump the brakes!!! Please, please, please don’t let us get hurt. Please, please, please let the kids be safe.” We went off the road but I managed to turn the wheel and we started back onto the road. Then I hit a slick part again. This time when we slid off the road we hit the wall of the underpass. Hard. The kids were by this point screaming and crying at the top of their lungs. I kept saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay” over and over again. We hit the wall and the car spun around again. I was so scared we were somehow going to flip over. So it was actually very lucky when we instead hit the back of our car against the wall again and came to a stop. The kids were still screaming and I was still saying, “It’s okay, it’s okay” over and over again. The church CD we had playing seemed SO loud. I jumped out of the car and ran to the back to see what was going on with the car. I noticed the back was all smashed in. I ran over to the kids to make sure they were all okay. I was still saying, “it’s okay, it’s okay.” Then I finally noticed that Max’s car seat, though still buckled in, had flipped over and his window had broken out and there was glass everywhere. I felt like the worst mom ever for totally missing that point right at the beginning. I unbuckled Max and started pulling his coat on him while Makenna was literally climbing over Max to try to get out of the car. Both kids were crying so, so hard but I was outwardly very calm. Some people in our ward had been passing right at that minute and stopped to help us. I gave the kids to them to take to their car to warm up. I didn’t know where Austin was. He was in front of us that whole time, but now I had no clue where he was. A police officer came and said he would wait until Austin got there. I finally remembered to turn off the car because that church CD was honestly driving me crazy. All I could think about was now we weren’t going to be going to church but I was supposed to be bringing the poster and the sign up sheets for the church Christmas party. I’m not sure what really happened after that. I remember thinking that it was taking Austin WAY too long to get there. I remember thinking how neat it was that I wasn’t cold at all even though I was standing outside in a coat that won’t button and without gloves or anything. While I was standing there, two other cars hit the wall of the underpass on the opposite side of the freeway. They seemed to hit HARD but they drove away afterwards. I remember thinking that I should drive away too, except how could the kids ride in the car again with glass all over their seats? Finally Austin arrived and only then did my calm demeanor vanish. As I started talking to him I started to cry. I was so worried about our friends from church being late to church. The car was drivable, so Austin said we should just drive home. Then I really started crying. I did NOT want to get in the car and drive again! Austin kept asking me which car I was going to drive and I just kept crying that I was scared I was going to have another accident and hurt the kids. Austin said I had to just do it. So we loaded the kids up in Austin’s car and I drove his car home and Austin drove mine. We had to go down to the next exit and turn around and then come all the way back. I tried to be brave but my hands were shaking and my stomach hurt SO much. I kept thinking, “Just wait until you get home to melt down. Just wait!!!” Max kept asking why his windows broke and every time we turned Makenna would start screaming, “Please no! Please no! No, no, no!” I finally had to tell them no more talking. We drove about 25 mph the whole way home but I was still so, so scared. We passed probably three other cars off the road. I saw Austin fishtail a few times in my car when we stopped at red lights. We finally got home. And then I lost it. I cried and I cried and I cried. I threw up. My stomach hurt so, so much. I’m not sure I have ever cried so much or so hard. We had to have a talk with the kids about what had happened and they were really (understandably) upset about it. Austin went to work at noon and, although everything had melted off the roads by then, I was so, so scared that he wouldn’t be okay. I cried on and off all day and the kids were overly sensitive about everything and cried several times. When the kids finally went to bed I cried a ton again. Then when it was time for Austin to come home I cried and cried again, so scared that he wouldn’t be okay. That night I had nightmares all night. Every time I closed my eyes I saw the wall coming at us and felt so out of control.

The next day I went out and looked at the damage again. It actually wasn’t as bad as I remembered or as a bad as it definitely could have been. We were really blessed because we weren’t going that fast and because hitting the wall prevented us from flipping over. We were blessed that no one was hurt. In FHE that night Max said that Heavenly Father and Jesus were both hugging us tight so we didn’t get hurt.

It has now been a week since the accident. I keep trying to push it out of my mind. We had to run to the store, I think it was Tuesday or Wednesday, and even though Austin drove I still cried. Yesterday I had to drive for the first time. About a month ago I chipped my tooth while chewing (pregnancy does a NUMBER on my teeth). Well Thursday night I was flossing and a big chunk of that tooth fell out. And it hurt. So I had to go to the dentist Friday. So I had to have the car. Austin drove to his work and then I had to drive the kids over to a friends’ house and then drive to the dentist, drive back to get the kids, and drive home. As Austin drove to work I cried again, but then I tried SO hard to be brave so the kids wouldn’t be scared to drive with me. I was honestly shaking all over any way. When we got home I was so relieved—but the day was not done. We still had to drive to pick Austin up after work. I get nervous driving in the dark ANYWAY; I was a nervous wreck about driving AND driving in the dark. All day long I got sick and had the worst tummy ache. When it was time to get Austin, I called my mom and talked to her the entire way—that may not be the safest thing to do but it took my mind off of things (for the most part) and allowed me to drive to get him. However, I was still so, so relieved to be there and not have to drive any more!

So what’s next? I don’t know actually! My car is still parked in the garage and we haven’t even taken it in for an estimate yet because Austin’s had to work every day. We aren’t sure if the insurance will just fix it or if the costs of repairs will cost more than the car is worth and they will consider it totaled. And if it IS totaled, then what? We will probably have to wait until the income tax money comes in and use that plus the money from the car to buy something else (we need a van or a bigger car anyway). So I will be without a car a LONG time. As of right now I never want to drive again (although I have another dentist appointment next Friday) but I will soon be having my OB appointments every two weeks (and then every week) so I know it’s not realistic to think I can just NOT drive. But as for now we have the one car and I don’t want to drive anyway so we plan on just hanging out at home everyday (plus Austin goes to work too early and gets off too late for me to drive him every day). As for what happens in the future, I just do not know! I think the kids are slowly getting over their worries and fears, but I just do not know if I will be able to any time soon!