Catch up #7: December

December began with something momentous.

Our first     .......     real    .......   Christmas Tree.

Yes.  This is a BIG deal.  I was raised by a man of tradition, and one of our favorite traditions was going to pick out a live Christmas tree.  I remember racing from tree to tree, searching for some sort of Pocahontas/Ferngully-style connection with the perfect tree for our family, and then doing my darndest to convince the rest of my siblings that yes, this was the tree that was meant to fill our home with holiday cheer.  

But since having virtually no income while in school in California, I have survived my last six Christmases on a $5 fake tree from a yard sale.  It served its purpose, but I was more than happy to throw that sucker out as my little family went to find a real, breathing, fragrant Christmas tree.

See, we are adults now.

The rest of December was followed by a mad-dash to do all the holiday things we wanted to do with all the family we have now, as well as attempt to form some new friendships out here.

We hosted a Christmas party for some friends from church.  Two couples showed up.  I'd call it a fail - since we invited 8 couples - except for ... I really enjoyed those two couples who came.  A lot.

Our ward held their Christmas party in the morning with a breakfast ... Santa Clause came and though I brought my camera, I forgot to charge the battery.  I am devastated to report that I do not have Belle's first picture sitting on Santa's lap.  She was totally fine with it.  We handed her over to a magnificent, legitimately white haired and bearded Santa ... and she just looked at him.  Then she turned to us, held out her hand and said, "Where Mac?  Mac!"

Where was Mac?  Hiding face-down in his chair.  Several hundred feet away.

Besides this, we went to Christmas-themed story time at several nearby libraries.  We went to Temple Square, where the sardine-style crowds of people made us feel like we hadn't left California at all.  Aaaaaaaargh. 

At least Belle loved the lights.  So much so, she had to hug them all.

And, I saw two different marriage proposals ... so that was, of course, fantastic.

My dad called me one day in December to ask if he could buy my kids a dog for Christmas.

What.

My first thought was, "Do you not remember how I had to beg and plead to get a dog from you people back in the day?  And now you're just offering up some dog to my kids?"  And my second thought was, "How in the world would I fit a dog into this tiny apartment?"

But then .... my thoughts changed to, "I do need a dog.  My kids would love a dog; he could be a new playmate!  Something that might enjoy wrestling, ball games, and sleepovers, and give me a break from being the grand entertainer every now and then."

Unfortunately I took too long in deciding, and the dog my dad had found was given to a different family.  

So I've been day-dreaming.  And researching.  And I want this dog:

 Big enough that my kids won't kill it, but small and lazy enough to survive apartment living.

Unfortunately, these guys cost around $1,800-$2,500 ... and I'm sorry.  I just won't ever pay money for a dog.

Can't find the right fit at any animal shelters either ... so if you know of any perfect little/medium dogs, send one my way!

Next, the biggest event in December (besides Christmas itself), it snowed.

As in a white out.  Blizzard.  Can't-see-two-feet-in-front-of-you.

The little Logan girl inside of me jumped out of her skin with excitement, and I bundled the kids and we headed out.

We visited Mark that day at the office; bringing him lunch and prepping to tell him about the bomb snowmen we made.

He was just sitting there, at his front desk.

Staring.

At all that snow.

After we all barged in, he said, "Do you realize what we walked away from?  We lived 20 minutes from the beach."  (It was more like 45.)  "We had enough money for a down payment on a house."  (But probably not the kind of house we would've wanted with California's real estate market.)  "We were comfortable."

My poor St. Georgian husband just realized what he had signed up for, for the rest of his life.

Winter.

Luckily, we had a Christmas in Panguitch to look forward to, and that seemed to keep him going.

The Sunday before we took off, the entire Gunn family got together at Rachelle's house for a family dinner and Nativity.  Chris brought some adorable homemade costumes, and Mac refused to wear a single one.  So he got the job of the sign-holder, which was perfect.  ("Don't worry, I'll do the words, Mom," he consoled me.)  I was a star, and got to hold up Belle ... an angel.  So clever and completely adorable; and though I  remember taking plenty of pictures, there isn't a single one on my camera.  Utterly depressing!

And last the best, Christmas.

We went to Panguitch.  Grandma Gunn, Grandpa Rand, Uncle Adam and Aunt Sam were our company this year, and we had a blast.  We picked out and cut down our own Christmas tree, we went four wheeling, jogging, yoga, took the kids to Thor 2 (Mac loved it), read plenty of books, and played even more games.

We cooked and ate ourselves silly; particularly since we had Chris Gunn as our personal chef.  Belle made herself an assistant.  At one point she dumped an entire bottle of garlic salt all over our Christmas Eve steaks, moments after Chris had finished telling me she'd been saving them all year and this is the way to season them, and that  is the way to cook them, etc.

Oops.

Luckily a quick scrub of the raw meat saved the day, and we still ate the best steaks ever.

The night ended with stories, gifts from Santa's Elves (pajamas ... surprise!), milk and cookies for the big man, and one massive carrot for the reindeer.

But someone else almost really ruined Christmas ... me.  It seems Santa Clause forgot to bring his main presents to Panguitch.  But don't worry, he left a note on the stockings explaining that something was too big and had teeth far to sharp to make the journey to Panguitch; and would be waiting for them at their home when they returned.  (Turned out it was a GIANT stuffed shark.  Bruce the Big.)

Chris looked at our pile (mostly from my mom) and said, "If I had two grandchildren ..."
She has 23.

Christmas morning was great.  Mark actually ended up being the one to wake the kids in our little room downstairs.  "Mac," he whispered, "Mac, get up already!  It's Christmas!"  Mac stumbled over to our bed and tried to snuggle in and fall back to sleep, till it registered.

Then he was up.  And Belle was up.

But Gunn family rules; you must wait in the hall till everyone is ready, then you march out to the living room single file, so we can capture the look on each person's face.

"Can I come out YET?"

Belle was very helpful while Grandma tried to read the story of the Three Wise Men.

Please note Adam and Sam in the background.  These adorable newlyweds were SO fun to have; and I loved getting to know Sam a bit better.  Hopefully she survived her first Christmas away from her family.

And then we were on to the presents.  My kids gorged on stocking candy and were plenty entertained by their Santa presents (which Mac enjoyed, but then said, "Mom, I think Santa put a big Bruce at our house.  We'd better go get him.").

Belle made things interesting yet again by throwing up.  All over the rug.

Then she was up bouncing and playing with toys like nothing happened.  Uh ... too much candy?

Piles of presents.  Why does he have the iPad?

Princess Belle with her princess bat.

Mac was thrilled to get a truck before Daddy.  This ended up being a good sub for the shark, since he was stuck in Salt Lake.

"Swimming, swimming, swimming, swimming, SWIMMING, swimming, swimming SWIMMING!"

Mac gave Mark a book about all the greatest moments in the history of baseball ... and these three boys went through the entire thing together.

Precious ... Adam serenading Sam.  And trying to teach her how to play.  It's so fun to see him be all grown up and husband-ish.  Sam, you bring the best out of him!

Then Christmas day, a bunch of our cousins up and decided to trek down to Panguitch to join us.  Video games, gun fights, and wrestling took up the rest of our day.

Panguitch never fails to impress, and Christmas in Panguitch?

Perfect.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Card 2013

Well, we've bought a practice, we're living in the city we'll be in to the end of our days ...

I think we're grown-ups now.

So naturally, we had to do our first-ever Christmas card.

I didn't save a picture of the actual card, but included this:

And this:

Hello, hello family and friends!

Merry Christmas to you all!  We hope your year has been as fantastic as ours. 

What a year!  We spent the first 9 months agonizing over major life decisions … Mark was doing very well with his Chiropractic practice in California, and I was quite settled in with my routine and our friends.  But we missed our seasons and our family … then suddenly …

The perfect opportunity came our way. 

So here we are in the waiting room of our very own office in Holladay, Utah!  We miss California, but feel like this change was meant to be.

MARK is at the office day in and day out, cleaning, updating, and working on connections in the city to get his name out there and people in the door.  He’s busy, but so satisfied.  He has had several new patients each week, and comes home smiling.  PLUS he can actually see family; I used to leave him for days, but now we can head out for a quick dinner after work.

MAC is loving all these cousins, grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  He is constantly saying, “Mom, let’s go to _______’s house today.”  And I can actually say okay!  He does miss the Angels, and his California buddies … but lately, kicking the “teeth” (icicles) off cars and counting the trucks (we have a notepad to keep track, he’s up to 223) is well worth the move.

BELLE is thriving out here.  She’s already got a little friend at church, and smiles and hops and squeals “Hi!” to everyone she passes.  She loves the “coldie” snow, but has quickly learned to keep her fingers out of it.  Give this girl a snowsuit and a good pair of gloves, and she won’t ever come back inside.  I do have to say, besides all the family, her favorite thing about the move must surely be the “duckies” that live in our complex.  She sings her goodnight song to them every night.

And me?  I am bouncing around between it all. We’ve been cleaning, organizing, decorating the office, working on Mark’s online appearance, teaching the kiddos about seasons (and that yes, you HAVE to wear a coat), and catching up with all the family we have been missing out on.  Oh and the doula thing?  Already done an interview, but I’m not trying to really put myself out there till we’ve got things figured out at the office and with babysitters.  I have to say, my favorite thing about this is being able to come into a new community, look at every single face and realize that that person matters.  Maybe they’ll be my son’s baseball coach.  Maybe her son will ask out my daughter.  Maybe that person needs an adjustment … and that one over there could be my next door neighbor when we buy a house!  I am loving knowing we are IN OUR COMMUNITY.  Hope you are enjoying yours!  

Merry Christmas!

Belen Turns 2

Oh my sweet little "Pink Pot".  (Belle's version of "Stink Pot", a term that gets thrown around this house a lot.  It's just so versatile you know, you can use it in almost any child-related situation; positive or negative.)

This lovely thing turned two on November 30th, 2013.

And wow, what a two year old. 

This girl is active, active, active.  Have you ever seen that um ... great ... prancercise excercise video?  Well that's exactly what Belen does all day long.  She flits, flutters, and gallops her way through the house, outside, and in stores.  If it weren't so cute it would be kinda frustrating; this girl cannot stay still for long!

She is also quite giggly lately and immune to all kinds of discipline.  When Mark or I speak firmly with her, she grins, says, "Why?" and continues to do it till we stand up to put her in time-out.  She usually runs herself to her room before we can touch her.  Her time-outs are so  different from Mac's; his were usually in response to losing his temper, and hers have only ever been because of disobeying.  She doesn't throw tantrums, and she rarely cries.  But geez ... she already seems to think she can charm her way out of any discipline. She is only two!

And of course, we can't ever stay mad at this little goof-ball for long.

Before long she is up climbing cupboards (I regularly find her on the kitchen counter, having used the handles on the drawers as a ladder), balancing on arm rests, and hiding in my closet.  (I can't wait to put her in gymnastics.)

She checks up on me from time to time, always with a, "Hey, Mom.  Wha' doin'?"  I'll reply, and ask her the same thing.  She typically responds with an, "Um ... playin'."

And she does.
\
This is so new to me; Mac wants somebody with him every second of the day, and taking care of himself?  He's getting better, but all day long I hear, "Mom, I just don't have time to do that," or "I just think it's better when you do it."

But Belen?  I try to help her zip her coat.  "No, I do it!"  Or get a spoon, or find her shoes, or put on her pants ... she is constantly pushing my hands away.  It's probably good for me as a parent; because I certainly am not doing Mac any favors by doing everything for him.  However, there are still plenty of things I just cannot let her do herself, and she gets to learn to deal with it.

So between the two of them, I'm finding my parenting balance.  These babies were definitely meant to be mine.

Miss Belle is quite opinionated about most things, like what she eats, what she plays with, and what she wears.  Having come from California, shoes have been a real problem with this move.  It has been devastating to cover up those toes in actual shoes; she's never had to before.  All her walking life I've had her in some kind of sandal.  When it got cold here in Utah and I insisted on shoes, she would kick those leggies and tell me, "No, Mom.  Toesies!"  Eventually I figured out that if we held a miniature farewell ceremony to the toes and promised we'd see them soon, they went in the shoes much easier.

And so we have done that all winter long.

Her favorite foods are still definitely cereal, yogurt, any fruit, toast, pancakes (German Pancakes in particular), eggs in all forms, quesadillas, avocados, and toast.  We sneak spinach into her quesadillas and Chia seeds into loads of other things, but besides that?  Most vegetables are hit and miss.  Mac has taken a real liking to vegetables, so on occasion she'll take a bite to copy him, but it never seems to go past that.

Belen will play with every toy in the house.  The three I see her with most often?  A mermaid barbie, her mommy and baby animal set, and cars and trucks.  Those are her main interests.  When driving she points out diggers, scrapers, big rigs, ponies, and puppies.  "Oooo, Mommy wook!  Big wig!"  She also loves princesses and makes them dance together whenever I pull them out. And if I let her pick out her own clothes?  Princess dress every time.

This girl is well-rounded, and I love it.

We celebrated her 2nd birthday a little early, as the actual day of her birth had me in Arizona at my Grandma's Funeral.  (When I called to tell her happy birthday, Mark said they had just came out of "Frozen", and that she was adorable; held her own bucket of popcorn and crunched through the whole thing.  Which ... by the way ... if you know Mark's crunching pet peeve, shows some real fatherly love here.)

And since Belle's birthday is the day before my baby sister Rachel's ... we decided on a combined party.

Belle loved it ... but Mac was a little frustrated by the dates.  "This is not November 30.  This is just a party day. She is still 1, mom."

Nevertheless, we started the day with streamers, German pancakes and sprinkles, and her present from us.

 We dressed in a birthday outfit from my mom, then played outside, fed the ducks, and went to the library.

While she napped, Mac and I set to work on her cake and cupcakes to bring to Bumpa and Nana's as soon as Mark got off work.

"Woah, Mom.  That dress is HUGE," Mac repeated again and again.

Mark surprised us and returned home while she was still asleep.  So awesome ... but we didn't end up leaving much earlier.  I just wasn't ready!

When we finally did arrive to the Thomas household, it was indeed a party.  My Aunt Jen had arrived with her brood of six, and we had a blast.

Sophia the Cake tasted as good as she looked.

Birthday ladies.

My brother Jake with the Barney kiddos.

Jake got the girls matching teddies.  Cutest everrrrrr.

My cousin Alyssa kept us germ-free during all the present-opening.

This is awesome.  My mom's sister, Aunt Jen, made each of us a blanket when we were born.  We all loved them, but Jamie snuggled hers to its grave.  (Literally, shreds!)  Jamie has decided to carry on this beloved Auntie Jen tradition and has made blankets for both of my kiddos.  YES.

Mac picked out the "Doc-N-Stuffins" toy himself and was thrilled to give it to her.

"Jeemee ... Iko ....."  She asks for these two daily.

The fire was a little scary.  But we survived.

Happy birthday little Sweet Pea.  We're sure glad you're ours.