On December 2nd we found out we're expecting another baby! Recently, Christine had some special experiences in the temple that told us we needed to try for another baby. We had no idea we'd get pregnant so fast. We are excited. Annie hopes the baby is a boy so Tommy will have a buddy. Jeremy thinks the baby is a girl. Which would be funny since we gave away all of our baby girl stuff after having Tommy. This is the most tired and the most sick Mommy has ever been with a pregnancy. Hopefully the "yucks" will pass soon. The due date is August 16 but since it will be another c-section delivery, the doctors will schedule it for one to two weeks before the due date. Grandparents.....keep your calendars open.
Tommy is a handful. We just can't keep track of him. Especially with Mommy's energy at a serious low. He is into everything all the time. Good thing he's so cute! I guess we'll keep him.
We had a little party for Madison's birthday on the 14th. She loves OREO cookies so we made a chocolate cake with cookies and cream frosting. It was super delicious. Tommy loved the birthday cake. He loved the fire on the candles, all the OREOs around the edges, and he got to have his own big boy piece. Pure Heaven for our Bubba. Madison had fun opening her presents. We are so excited to have her in our family soon.
Lily asked to go to the temple for Family Home Evening on December 15th. We went to a concert in the temple visitor's center and then walked the grounds. There weren't any Christmas lights but there was a beautiful large nativity scene. Great way to feel the Christmas Spirit.
Annie is still loving dance. She is very good at it. She can fit the ballet shoes and tap shoes I wore at her age. She thinks it's really cool to wear dance shoes that used to be Mommy's.
Lily made this Rudolph hat at school and wanted me to share it on the blog for Grammy and Puna to see.
The girls gave us a dance recital one night. We're glad no one got a black eye. It was some seriously enthusiastic dancing.
All the kindergarten classes had a Polar Express day before Christmas break. The kids wore jammies to school and went from classroom to classroom doing train or Polar Express activities. They got to read the book, make train conductor hats, drink hot chocolate and eat cookies, and color pictures. Lily said it was the best day of school ever.
One night Daddy taught the girls a game he remembers playing at Grandma Searcy's house as a little boy called "Who Has the Penny?". Oh my! It was a huge hit in our house. The girls love to play against Mommy and Daddy. It is hilarious to see them put their heads together and try to hide the penny in their hands. Annie cracks up every time we play. Lily takes the game very seriously. We played it almost every night the last two weeks of December.
My cousins Michael and Erin and their five children came to stay with us for two days. Michael's sister Angela graduated from BYU-Idaho and Erin's father's health is declining. They stayed with us to attend the graduation and then traveled to the Chicago area to spend Christmas with Erin's family. Our house was crazy busy - especially since we were trying to get ready to go to Washington too. But it was fun for all the little cousins to play together.
For neighbor gifts this year, we gave away our famous snickerdoodle cookie dough. The girls helped me roll all the cookies and dip them in cinnamon sugar. Then we froze the dough and packaged it up. It saved so much time not baking all of them. Now our friends can have fresh warm cookies when they're ready for them. And I didn't have to stay in the kitchen all day baking dozens of cookies.
Annie's friend Jaeya turned 4 and had a princess dress up party. Annie chose her outfit - from the tiara to the shoes - all on her own and asked Mommy to put her hair in a "fancy bun". It was a super fun party. Annie talked about it for days.
We heard that Elsa from Frozen was coming to a local Christmas light display. Lily really wanted to go. We packed up all the kids and went. When we got there, it was pouring rain and we didn't have umbrellas. Lily and Annie were wet and cold but very determined to see Elsa. Daddy was a good sport.
Before we knew it - or were ready for it - it was time to drive to Washington for Christmas and Brady and Madison's wedding. Our drive can best be summed up in this photo of Tommy. Yep. Thirteen hours of fun!
I will do separate posts for Christmas and the wedding. After two weeks of vacation, we returned home. It was tough to get back to our routine, bed times, and responsibilities.The hardest part was coming home to a dead refrigerator. We were concerned that the compressor was going out before we left for vacation and after figuring the cost to have the refrigerator repaired, we had decided to buy a new one. But we weren't sure when the thing would die on us. Mommy even got a strong impression to move the food from the kitchen freezer out to the garage freezer before we left but told herself she was worried over nothing and didn't have time. When we got home to find everything had spoiled, it was a big bummer to say the least. Plus my cousins Michael and Erin were coming back to stay with us on their way to Washington. Hard to feed our family plus seven more without any food in the house! We ran to the grocery store and bought the essentials. Luckily it was so cold outside (negative 15 degrees) that we could leave food in the cooler in the garage without ice and it stayed super cold. Mommy shopped around and found a great deal on a clearance refrigerator at Lowe's.
The kids loved refrigerator shopping. They were running all over the store playing tag and hide and seek. I am one of "those moms" now - too tired to keep my kids contained in a store.
After only three days of living without a refrigerator, we had a new one. The smell of the spoiled food was too much for pregnant Mommy. Daddy was a super trooper and cleaned everything out.
Annie and Tommy love wearing their Seahawks gear. We can't believe they're going to the Super Bowl again.
Putting away our Christmas decorations was a little sad. But it did feel good to box everything up and deep clean the house.
Since the table was covered with Christmas boxes, we got to eat dinner in the family room one night. Daddy was on campus teaching a class so the kids and I had a mac and cheese night. They loved it.
One highlight of returning to our routine is dance class. Both girls love their classes and love dancing. It is a joy to watch them learn and grow. Tommy also loves the music and dancing. He lives for the 10 minutes after Lily's class when the teacher invites all of us to come and dance on the floor.
Tommy has figured out the camera on my phone. I found 25 pictures of the top of his head the other day. He loves to make silly faces with me into the screen.
When it is not dance class day, we have impromptu dance parties in the kitchen. Wish I had the same amount of energy as these little ones.
In an attempt to simplify my routine I chopped four inches off my hair. It helped a little but I still think I might go shorter very soon.
Lily came home one day in tears after school. She was so upset that it took a few minutes to calm her down and find out what was wrong. She had left her snow boots at school and was worried they would be put in the lost and found. I took her back to school and we found them in her classroom right where she had left them. She was so happy that she skipped back to the van, boots in hand.
Jeremy had the day off on January 19th. We worked at home all morning and spent the afternoon swimming at Heise Hot Springs with Brady and Madison. It was a cold day and the water was warm but not quite warm enough to completely take the chill away. Lily was so brave - even going under the water and swimming without her life jacket. Annie was content to stay with the adults and keep her life jacket on. Tommy just loved the water. He really brightened up when we took off his life jacket. Not one bit afraid to go under the water or try to swim on his own. After swimming we came home and made french bread pizzas. Great way to spend a holiday!
So now we're all caught up. Christmas and wedding posts coming soon. Now I need a nap!
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