Hallie's New Blankie

Isn't life always as such that the one blanket that isn't very cute or frilly becomes your child's favorite one? Well that totally happens at our house all the time Hallie has a white blanket with pink poka dots that she hauls everywhere and recently it got a hole in it...I saw this as a perfect opportunity to make her a new one to trade for.

Update:she loved it for about 1 day and then wanted her old one back so we went to JoAnn's and let her pick new fabric and gave this one to Gracie. The new one has princess and castles and she still wont let her white one with the pink poka dots go...it was worth a try but really I don't care what blanket she loves.

Sleeping Hallie

 I can't remember the last time either of these things happened but we will enjoy it while it lasts.

Since taking away Hallie's binki she has had a really hard time napping consistently and quiet time only works occasionally these days. So needless to say there are days that she is so tired I have found if I will "slow" our day down and turn on a movie as well as build her a bed on the floor or couch she often falls asleep...then my only problem is keeping Gracie away from her...haha

Christmas here we come

We decided to kick December off a little different this year and let the girls open their PJs on the 1st so they can enjoy them all month long since they are both Christmas themed. They also got a movie so the 1st activity for our Advent calendar was a Christmas movie night with new PJs and snacks.

They were both very excited and cooperative.

We will see how it goes but it seems to me that their gifts may be more appreciated if they don't get them all at once. Welcome December...now bring on the snow!!!!

New Haircut

Hallie's hair has never been super thick but recently it just seems a little long and stringy so I decided it was time for a change and couldn't be more thrilled with the results.

Although it does make me sad because this new hair cut makes my baby look even bigger than she did before:(

Preston's Blessing

 To top off a very busy weekend Nick & Brit blessed Preston on Sunday. They had a lot of family and friends in attendance and we were thrilled to be part of it. Nick gave him a beautiful blessing surrounded by many worthy priesthood holder that he can look up to as a great example. After we had a light luncheon and visited before many family members hit the road and headed home.

Gracie not to be outdone acquired a new skill that day...blowing kisses which is one of the cutest things I have ever seen...but you can judge for yourself.

After everyone went home we gave them our Christmas gifts for them. I hope they like them.

Ill be the first to admit I hold a pretty high standard of how I hope/wish for my time to be spent. I often don't give enough credit to my in-laws for the time they spend in our behalf. I will say most times when we get together it can be extremely stressful and it feels as if there is a lot of tension...but this weekend as a whole was completely different. Everything just seemed to fall into place, children cooperated, and everyone seemed to get along. Everyone has their ideas as to why this happened but I think and hope its because we are all learning to love each other for what we are and what we aren't. I know myself personally have come to the realization that sometimes schedules take a back seat for a day of fun with the family. I can only hope it continues to stay this way.

Brower Christmas Party

We decided since everyone would be here for Thanksgiving to do our Christmas Party also. We were lucky enough to do it at Wadman so we had enough space to be comfortable which can be difficult with a family this big(we even had quiet places to put our babies down for naps)! I was not thrilled when I woke up on Friday with pink eye luckily I got on antibiotics quick and could still be a part. We had a great time we did some dancing...I should say most of them danced. Matt's family is very theatrically and comfortable with singing and dancing anytime any where...me on the other hand am not..but I'm trying and getting better. I can usually busy myself to get out of it Hallie had a ball though.

 We even had a little movie space with a projector and blankies to watch Arthur Christmas...way cute

 Joy wanted the party this year to include some service which I thought was a great idea. I think it is really easy this time of year to forget how blessed you are to slow down and help others. We did tie fleece blankets we had hoped the kids would be more into it but most were still a bit young but they enjoyed tying each other up and running around(just like kids to make toys out of nothing...I love that)

Then of coarse we had to have food...what good party doesn't have awesome food

 Tiff & Chris were in charge of games one of the games they played was duck..duck..goose they loved it

 Then we had craft time that entailed...candy trains and candy cane reindeer

Grandma Joy had a book and a little gift for each of the kids. She read them a story and sang some songs with them before opening them.

Our tripod attempt at a group photo..our husbands decided at the last minute to trade wives..haha

 After we were done we loaded up the older kids and a group of us went to take the blankets to the hospital to donate to the pediatric sedation group  to give to kids that come to have procedures done.

 Meet Tricia, Chris brought her to the Christmas party to meet the family. She is very nice and good with the kids. Carson has a major crush on her and informed Chris that he was his so he  should leave...we shall see.

 In the elevator to deliver the blankies

 Jennifer explained to the kids what the blankets would be used for and gave them a tour of their procedure area. She was great and answered all the kids questions.

 All the blankets donated

It was a great day hopefully we can replicate it every time we get together for many years to come.

Thanksgiving & Walking

This year was our year to spend Thanksgiving with the Brower's for some reason I had a really hard time not being with my family. I had been going through a bit of a hard time both with myself & with Hallie and just wished I could be with them...I guess. We headed up after Gracie had a morning nap about 1pm just in time for lunch. For the possibly the 1st time ever both Matt and I ate without making ourselves sick and could enjoy the rest of our day. Truth be told neither Matt or I really like turkey and the rest of the food was great(we do ham with my family) which is what we prefer. I think Gracie enjoyed her 1st Thanksgiving dinner.

 Our little family eating our dinner

After lunch we hung out, visited, and played some games. 

In true Gracie fashion she started walking on Thanksgiving Eve just in time to show everyone at Thanksgiving dinner. 

We headed home in time to get ready to do our Thanksgiving night shopping. It was the first time we had ever done thanksgiving shopping with the kids but it went really well. We went to Walmart at 8pm to buy a new blender the parking lot was a joke so I dropped Matt off and drove around the parking lot while he got it and paid. It only took maybe 10 minutes and we were off again. Next to Shopko but they didn't open til 9. Hallie was very disappointed that she didn't get to go into Walmart so she waited in line with Matt til Shopko opened while Gracie and I waited in the car. The weather was a little on the cooler side but much warmer than normal this time of year. About 5 minutes before the doors open I but Gracie in her carrier wrap and we went to get in line just in time for them to open. We split up each getting 1 of the 2 things we came for and then went through the line and headed home in about 15 minutes. They were great shopping partners and I would totally take them again. It was a fun Thanksgiving day filled with family and friends...just how it should be.