Christmas

We had a fun Christmas. Sleep-deprived, but fun.  Christmas Eve was the worst night for me in my parenting career.....ever. It's a long story which some of you have had to hear about (and some of you witnessed!), but now at least I can laugh about it. It's all good and everything turned out just fine. The last few years, on Christmas Eve each family has made a 'sleigh' and then raced them on a track down my parents staircase.  There's even a tracking bracket (similar to March Madness) and awesome prizes for 1st and 2nd place.  We have yet to ever win, but David always has a great design and high hopes. Cyrena sang a Christmas Primary song while I played the piano. Actually she was a little shy so everyone mostly heard David singing it while she sang it very softly. Christmas Eve is always so special and full of tradition, David said it was his favorite part of the whole trip.  This was the first year Cyrena was SOOOO excited about Santa Claus.  Four of her cousins slept over so they were all together Christmas morning. 

What fun!

Natalie's Blessing

While we were in Utah for Christmas we were able to bless Natalie. It was such a great day. She looked like an angel and didn't cry at all during the blessing! Cyrena cried all through hers. :) David's grandparents were able to come and it was so wonderful that Natalie's great-grandfather could be in the circle. Afterward David and I were able to express our feelings about Natalie. I was honest and said how hard it's been for me (especially the hormones) but how truly grateful I am for a Heavenly Father who hears and answers our prayers. David expressed similar sentiments about how much we wanted this baby, especially through the losses we experienced and that the Lord has a plan for each of us. Later, we celebrated Cyrena's birthday and had some yummy cake. She was spoiled of course, everyone did way too much. It was a special day.

Sisters...do you think?

I took some great pictures of Natalie yesterday. She's 6 weeks old now!! I love getting past the first 6 weeks.....aahhhhhh. Anyway, she has been pretty happy lately so I wanted to capture it. The first is a picture I took of her yesterday and the second is of CYRENA on Valentine's Day when she was about 8 weeks old. Sisters?? I think so.

Party on

Yesterday we celebrated Cyrena's birthday with one of her friends who has a birthday close to hers. We just went to the park and had lunch and cupcakes with a few friends. It was low key and fun! Well, except for the part where Cyrena was panicking and having a meltdown because she had to use the bathroom so badly. Other than that, just peachy!

The Birthday girls

When we got home, I made Christmas almonds to give out and Cyrena helped us bag them up.  She was really concentrating.

We're alive!

Ok, so I apologize for the lack of updates lately. There's been a lot going on with getting ready for Christmas, starting preschool again, and taking care of a crazy baby! Here are some pictures of what we've been up to the past little bit.

We finally went to check out the 'Glendale Glitters' hype.  We loved the lights, but didn't love the crowds.  It was like we were on a moving walkway in the airport because there were so many people.  

The bus ride to and from the parking lot was the highlight of the evening for Cyrena.  She has always wanted to go on a bus!

Cuddling with Daddy.  We still haven't caught any of those award-winning smiles on camera yet.  Soon I hope.  She sure is a cutie and looks so much like her sister!

The proud gardener.  David harvested this awesome looking broccoli and we ate it with dinner that night!  Yum!!  He sure loves his garden, I'm glad he has this hobby because we all get to benefit from it!

Yep, we are ashamed to admit it but we took a 5 week old to a Suns game.  We kept her bundled and protected the majority of the time.  We needed to get out!  Cyrena was in heaven!!  In this picture she is pointing to the gorilla mascot on the court who does many, many tricks during the timeouts.  Everyone around us loved watching Cyrena's enthusiasm, I think her hands were raw from clapping so much.  

Natalie is 6 weeks tomorrow and we are able to see little improvements everyday.  She seems less fussy in the evenings and is sleeping pretty well at night.  She just LOVES to be held, who wouldn't??  Cyrena is going to be 3 in a week, I can't believe it.  She is such an amazing little girl.  We leave for Christmas vacation a week from Saturday.  Woo-hoo!!!

Letter to Santa

David sat down with Cyrena the day after Thanksgiving to write a letter to Santa. She had been looking at toy ads the past few days and had her eye on a few things. It was really cute watching her tell her dad exactly what to write and then of course she had a turn with the pencil. She asked me for an envelope and 'stickers' (stamp and return address label). She got the letter all ready to send and then carried it around all day. It still hasn't made it's way to the mailbox, she wanted to hang onto it. :) And yes, this is after breakfast and yes that is a piece of pie that David had for breakfast.

What a day!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!  Grandma flew in Tuesday night and we were all excited!!  We spent all day Wednesday making preparations for our feast.  And then Thursday we ate and ate and ate!!  Grandma is an amazing cook and we all benefited from her expertise. It was a little rainy but we still enjoyed our day.  Cyrena had fun making pies with grandma and we all loved having daddy home.  It was a great day to reflect on the many  blessings in our lives.  Cyrena loved saying all the things she's thankful for.   She can be such a sweet girl when she wants to be.  :)