Good things come in small packages

One of my favorite outfits to dress Eli in this season is this onesie that says "Good things come in small packages." My sister sent it to us when he was born. Last night I had an experience that made me appreciate that statement even more!

Eli is cursed with hiccups daily, and sometimes more than once a day. I think it bugs me more than it does him...just the fact that he gets them so frequently is an odd phenomenon I think. But this is how that phenomenon blessed our lives....

I was having a pleasant dream about him and then I randomly wake up with the hiccups in the middle of the night. I haven't had hiccups in what seems like years! What's even more weird is that they came randomly in the middle of my sleep! I thought, "That's odd. I was just dreaming about Eli, and then I wake up with the hiccups like he usually does." Then something told me to go check on Eli. I'm glad I listened to that voice. Eli had wiggled himself into the corner of his crib and was face down in the sheets, unable to move his head from left to right. I knew he wasn't getting any air. I immediately adjusted him and could hear him suck in a deep breath. I know he wasn't in that position for long, otherwise we wouldn't have had such a happy ending, but I'm grateful for the blessing it was to wake up with hiccups in the middle of the night, for the voice that prompted me to check on Eli and for the timing of it all! Timing was everything last night. I usually sleep through the night so long as my kids are sleeping, and I never would have thought to check on him otherwise. I know Heavenly Father is watching out for our little family, even as we sleep! I have a line in my patriarchal blessing that says I will receive promptings from the Lord, and that I will know that they come from the Him and they are not accidents and those promptings will be a blessing to me if I listen. I'm so grateful for that!  

I have to say Eli is more than just a "good thing" in our lives.

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas

Christmas is less than a week away and I feel like the season has gone so quickly that I'm not ready for it to end. We have had a WONDERFUL time celebrating all month long. I have been keeping a "December daily" journal to record the little things we have done each day to make our Christmas Merry. Here's a little recap: 

 

 Picking a Christmas tree...Jackson had the final say on his favorite!

Taking the kids to temple square to see the lights. They LOVED it!

 Enjoying Hot cocoa with Zoey.

 Making a snowman with Jackson. He named him "Santa"

 Brian making snowman blueberry pancakes

Jackson and Zoey belting Christmas carols at the breakfast table all season long. A favorite line is "Glory to God! Glory to God in the highest. Peace on Earth good well to men!"

It's the little things each day that make this season so special. They have been such a treasure to me that I just want to freeze time and soak it all up! Merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Christmas at our house...

For months, Jackson has been asking for a car transporter. All summer long I kept telling him "Maybe for Christmas"...

In October, I found a good deal on one and ordered Jackson's Christmas present online. But when the UPS guy delivered the box to our house, Jackson got to it before I did, opened it up and found his Christmas gift inside.

Christmas came early for him, but I took it away and hid it, hoping he would forget.

Nearly three months later, as we were writing letters to Santa Clause, Jackson was giving me a list of wants that were not what he had asked for a while ago (and what he was going to get from Santa). I tried to re-direct his thoughts to some of those gifts he had wanted, asking him things like: "What about a car transporter from Santa?" to which he replied, "No, the mailman already gave me one!"

So... he hasn't forgotten about it afterall, but he has been patiently waiting for Christmas!

Other sayings you would hear around my house this season:

"Mom, don't check the elf to see if it's on fire." (long story) "Maybe the North Pole can fix him"
"I'm going to play with the activity (nativity) set. I'm going to be the farmer (Joseph) and Zoey can be the camel."
"Dad, I love Jesus." Awe. Melt my heart..."But dad, I love Santa more!" Burst my bubble.
"Jackson, too much candy will make you sick." "I WANT to be sick, mom!"
Analyzing my Nativity arrangement, Jackson said, "The Angel is suppose to look down upon them!" (where does he pick up that language-"look down upon them"?!? I mean he's right, smart guy)
Also bits of songs like "Silent Night", "Jingle Bells", "Far, Far away on Judea's Plains" (they like the "Glory to God part"!), and "Up on the Housetop".
It's a wonderful time of year! We are enjoying the season so far!

Our hallelujah Chorus

Zoey is potty trained! Hallelujah.
I decided to make good use of staying home with sick kids and get her potty trained (Yes, all three kids and myself have been sick the past week). She picked it up really fast and is doing wonderfully. In fact, she likes it so well she refuses to wear a diaper any more. During her naptime/bedtime I had been putting a diaper on her 'just in case,' but when I would check on her, I would find the diaper tossed across the floor of  her room. Apparently, she prefers to sleep naked than with her diaper!
She gets so excited to use the potty. The other day she announced she needed to use the potty and I said "Hurry run!" So she ran, and ran so fast she couldn't stop herself in time to make the corner and ran straight into the wall. It was hilarious! But at least she made it to the potty in time! She loves the potty so much that she will stay on it for about 10 minutes after she gets the job done and will tease me that she's going to fall in "I'm going to fall in mommy! Just teasing you!" It's such a novelty right now. She's cute about it.

Zoey's Two!

Zoey turned two yesterday! I can't believe she's getting so big.

Here are a few highlights on Zoey:

She LOVES food, sleep, and accessories.

She is talking up a storm.

She takes a while to warm up to strangers.

She's a great big sister for Eli.

She is learning to potty train.

She hates a diaper.

She likes to dress and undress herself (the picture below is of her putting on ELI'S pants)!

She's daddy's girl! (Brian bought her flowers for her birthday, so sweet)!  

We love you Zoey! 

How many does it take?

Do you remember the old cartoon Tootsie Roll Pop commercial where the little boy asks the 'wise' owl "How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll pop?" and the owl responds by taking the lollipop and licks "One, two..." but ends up eating it after the second lick and says, "I guess we'll never know!"

That's how I feel after taking family pictures. How many shots does it take to get everyone looking at the camera? One? Two? Three? I guess we'll never know! Ha ha.

We did have a couple turn out alright, so be looking for them on our upcoming Christmas card!

Smile!

Eli gave me the best birthday present yesterday! I captured one of his first smiles on camera! He slept for 8 hours through the night on the night before last and 10 hours through the night last night! I can't believe it! It just makes us all happy! Definitely worth a smile.  

Brothers

Jackson BEGS to hold Eli all day long. I have had a few opportunities to snap some of these precious moments of them on our red chair. Who do you think enjoys these moments more? Eli or Jackson?

When I see them together I think of the words to the old Primary hymn..."I lived in heaven a long time ago it is true. Lived there and loved there with people I know, so did you."

I frequently get the feeling that these guys were friends before they came to our family on earth! How fun to be reunited together again!

13 days of Halloween...part 2

The week of Halloween was a bit busy...we didn't even get around to carving Jack-o-Lanterns this year! But this is what we did do....days 8-13.

Day 8) Witch hat Calzones

Day 9) Homemade caramels

Day 10) Ward Primary Halloween Party (pictures to come)....

Day 11) Neighborhood "Phantom Ghost" (drop treats at someone's door without getting caught!)

Day 12) Trick-or-treating (Jackson was a dragon, Zoey was a butterfly, Eli was a polar bear which I have only one picture of and it's on a friend camera.....)

Day 13) Eli's Blessing

13 days of Halloween...part 1

I was especially excited to do the "13 days of Halloween" this year because I wanted to make sure I made time for fun things with Zoey and Jackson so that they wouldn't feel "left out" of all the time I spend caring for their new brother Eli. This is what we have been up to this past week...just easy, short, fun activities to help them get excited for Halloween!  

Each day we take a tag off of our Halloween tree and get to do the activity attached to that day.

Day 1) Making Halloween sugar cookies at Grandma's house...more frosting than cookie.

Day 2) Paper bag monsters

Day 3) Cheesecloth Ghost

Day 4) Movie night with the kids (Toy Story 2)

 Day 5) Gray family Halloween party, the kids dressed up, we had the traditional Halloween meal (i made the veggie tray), pinata and lots of fun!

Day 6) Decorate mini Pumpkins

Day 7) Pumpkin and Ghost grilled cheese Sandwiches!

We'll keep you posted on what we're up to this last week of Halloween!

Newborn Pictures

A lot of pictures, very few words....

He's precious!

My sister-in-law Taraleigh helped with these fantastic shots.