2 Of My New Favorite Things

I would like to share with you two of my new favorite things. The first product was given to me as a gift by my friend Amy. If she didn't give them to me, I would never have known how great they are, so I am sharing with you. They are facial cleansing cloths by Mustela. I LOVE these things. They smell so good and are so much nicer to use on your kids or babies face than a wet wipe (or licking your thumb, c'mon we've all done that). I especially love to use one on Hannah and Claire's face if we are going somewhere and they just need a quick freshening up. If Claire spit up, the lovely fragrance of the wipe takes that smell away and makes her smell baby fresh again. And if Hannah happens to have colored goldfish drool dried on the side of her face, it comes right off and she smells good and looks clean again too! I love these things. If you have little ones, you should really try a package out. They sell them at Babies R' Us and Nordstrom. Thanks for giving me my first pack Amy! I am a big fan.

My second new favorite thing is our DYSON vacuum cleaner. Oh how I have lusted after these for years now. When they first came out, I thought how ridiculously expensive they were. Then I learned the importance of a good vacuum. We have gone through three different ones in the last 5 years and for the price we paid each time, we should have just saved up our money and bought the Dyson. I know this will last a long time and it works like a champ. Jake's Mom and Grandma sent us some Christmas money for the whole family and we decided to use it on this. Thanks Diane and Grandma Preston!! We really really love it. I'm telling you ladies, there is no better way to get your husband to do the vacuuming than to go and buy one of these babies. Jake vacuumed the whole house just minutes after taking it out of the box, and he's already planning when he will do it again! I might never even have to use it.

Do You Hear That?

Me neither! It is the sound of silence. It is 8:15pm, both girls are asleep in their beds, the Christmas tree is back in it's box and stored away, the stockings have been sent back into the garage storage totes, and Jake and I are about to make some stovetop popcorn and settle in to watch a movie.

Christmas Morning

This year Jake had to work on Christmas, but he didn't have to go in until 2pm, so it was nice that we got to have our morning with him. He has worked the last several years on Christmas day, but we figure it's better for him to do it now, and then in a few years when our kids are old enough to really want him home, he will have worked enough Christmases to say I want it off the next few years.

I think Jake and I were more excited to see Hannah's reaction to the whole day than she actually was. We woke up and opened gifts at our house, and then we went to Gamma and Geeps house to open more gifts and have breakfast. It was a fun morning.

Santa brought Claire a soft "nie nie" (as Hannah calls it) from Nordstrom, and he brought Hannah a Dora scooter with a helmet.

When Hannah wakes up in the mornings she can't get out of her room by herself because we have a childproof knob on the inside of her door. It keeps her in there until we are ready to get her, and she is really good about quietly playing and reading to herself in her room. When we went to get her yesteday morning she was sitting on top of her pillow with her rainboots on, and she was reading. We said "Merry Christmas Hannah, Santa came!" And she said, "I wead stowees (stories)."

Then she gathered that Santa came and she was excited.

Hannah thought her scooter was "cool-neat"!

Today while Jake was at work, and Claire slept, Hannah and I played with this new gift. It was a play dough fun factory. She had fun.

Santa also brought a potty for Hannah. We opened it up and she wanted to sit on it today. While I fed Claire Hannah was looking at the potty and talking to me all about it, and when I was finished feeding Claire I helped Hannah try out her new potty and....SHE WENT!! I was so excited for her and she got so excited. We will try to master that very soon I think.

Santa also knew that we would be going over to Gamma and Geeps house, because he filled a stocking for all of us over there! That sure brings back memories of mine when I was a kid going to my Grandma and Papa's house in the morning with all of my cousins, to find that Santa also knew that we were coming there. I was always so excited to have two stockings on Christmas. By the looks of it, I think Hannah was too.

Claire got a stocking too, but she didn't even seem to notice.

My nephew Noah. I'm not sure what he was doing down there on the floor. I was just trying to get a picture of him in his cute Christmas jammies.

The beautiful tree, moments before the chaos began.

Drew, or Uncle Goo, as Hannah calls him, holding his niece Claire.

Looks like Erika stole Claire from Drew.

Then I stole her back.

All Noah and Hannah did was fight. They argue over everything. When Noah opened up a present, Hannah wanted it, when Hannah opened up a present, Noah wanted it. And so on and so on. I hope they grow out of that soon. Here I think they are fighting over a dish towel.

My Dad took a few family pics for us. This one turned out the best of everyone but Claire. The other ones were good of Claire, but Hannah was about to cry. Why is that always the way it goes with family pictures? If anyone ever complains about how they look in a picture my Dad always says, "This is the way we look people". Funny, but true. This is the way we look.

I should have taken pictures of our breakfast. It was SO delicous, but I think I gained 5 pounds after eating. My Mom made an egg and sausage casserole, and gorilla bread. Gorilla bread is like monkey bread, but it is Paula Dean's recipe from her Christmas cookbook. OMG! If you've never had it, you must. It is so so so melt in your mouth good. I ate way too much of it. I also made a french toast strata that I must say was pretty good too.

After a fun filled morning and lots and lots of wonderfully nice presents, it was time for Hannah and Claire to nap, and Jake to go to work. By 2pm Jake had left the house, the kids were asleep, and I, believe it or not, after all of that yummy breakfast, was hungry again. So I settled in my chair to enjoy a cup of chai and some instant lunch, while listening to the rain outside.

We had a lovely Christmas. Today I busied myself with taking down the decorations. Last night I removed almost everything, and today I took down the ornaments off the tree, and when Jake got home from work he and Hannah put our tree back in the box. See ya next year Christmas decor!

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve we went over to my parents house for dinner after both girls and Jake and I woke from our naps. It was so nice because it was just our family and we all wore our comfy sweats. It was very relaxed and fun. They ordered tamales,taquitos, and enchiladas from our favorite local Mexican food joint, Miguel's Jr. Everything was SO good! My Mom also made a great dinner salad to go with it, and it was the perfect meal. I say we have that every year!

Relaxing by the fire.

Claire looks a little funny in this picture. I think she was stretching.

Drew jamming on his guitar.

The yummy food.

Dinnertime!

Erika and Noah were there too, but they came late, so we started to eat without them. I didn't get any pics of them but just wanted to let you know that they were there too.

I Got My Wish...Almost...

Santa granted me my Christmas wish on Christmas night! Well, almost. I asked if I could please sleep from 10pm-4am, and I got to sleep from 10pm-2:45am. That is almost until 4am. He must of not given me until 4 because I did something naughty last year. Oh well, sleeping until almost 3 was nice. Claire was up until 4am, but we are progressing. I fed her at 7, and she went down in her crib at 8pm and didn't wake up once. Hallelujah!

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas. Ours was busy and fun. I felt like I was a little kid again waking up with such excitement to see Hannah enjoy herself. She really had fun this year. I will try to post pictures sometime today. If I don't it is because I am sleeping when the girls sleep. That cold finally caught up with me so I don't feel on top of my game today, but hopefully it will be gone soon.

My Wish List to Santa

Dear Santa,

I know it's Christmas Eve, so I hope I am not too late in getting this letter sent out to you. I think I have been a pretty good girl this year. That is why I am hoping that you can still grant me my one wish. It can not be wrapped in a box, or tied with a bow. It won't fit inside my stocking either.

Santa Clause, what I am wishing for, is just one solid night of sleep in my very near future! Please Santa Clause grant me my wish. I wish that Claire would sleep at least until 4am without waking up through the night to eat. I will get up everyday at 4am and not ask for more sleep after that, if you could just grant me more sleep between the hours of 10pm and 4am!

I know you are a very busy man tonight especially, I just hope this letter reaches you in time. I promise I won't ask for anything else. I won't even ask for anything next year if you could just grant me this one wish this year.

Thanks Santa Clause. I wish you and your reindeer a safe flight tonight.
Sincerely,
Gennifer Hass




***In a side note, I would like to share the feeding schedule for Claire that took place in our home last night. It went something like this:

-Claire drank 4oz. bottle at 9pm, and was asleep in her crib at 9:30pm! (Usually at this time she is fussy and cries if you put her down, so I thought this was a sign that she was settling in for a good night's sleep. Boy was I wrong.)
-Jake got home from the BSU game around 11pm. I talked with him for a bit, and we fell asleep close to midnight.
-Claire woke up at 12pm to eat! (WHAT? She hasn't done this since the week she was born, usually she sleeps until at least 1:30 or 2am!)
-She drank 4 oz. at midnight and would not go back to sleep! she was awake from 12-2am. Jake was up with her pacing back and forth downstairs and she finally fell asleep.
-Jake and I fell asleep around 2:01am, and Claire wakes up again at 2:30am to EAT!! WHAT?
-I fed her this time, she drank 3oz. and was asleep by 3:15am. I put her in her crib and run back to bed.
-I am tossing and turning trying to fall back asleep and Claire cries at 3:30am. I re-swaddled her, rocked her a bit, and she was asleep again. Thank you Lord.
-4:30am she cries to eat AGAIN!! What in the world is going on here? She was awake from 4:30am-5:45am, and then she slept until 7am.
-6:15am Hannah woke up crying because she was cold. I tucked her back in bed and walked out of her room. I think she fell asleep. I was so comatose by that point I don't remember.

Seriously, I thought she was supposed to be sleeping in LONGER stretches, not shorter stretches and awake for longer periods during the night! There is not enough coffee in the pot to wake us up this morning. I sure hope Santa gets that letter in time!!

Poinsettia Bowl Here We Come

Go Orange, Go Big Blue, Fight, Fight, BSU!! This morning the fans took off toward Qualcom Stadium for the Poinsettia Bowl Game. Can you tell who they are rooting for? GO BRONCOS!!!

5 Weeks Old

Claire is 5 weeks today. I took her to the pediatrician this morning for her 4 week check up (one week late) and she got one shot. Barely cried, she was a trooper. She weighed 10 lbs and 4 oz! 75th percentile for her weight, and she was 21 inches long, in the 50th percentile for height. I had some questions about whether or not we needed to change the formula she is on. She is still having constipation issues and we've been putting 5-10ml of prune juice in each bottle she receives. We stopped that for a day to see if she didn't need it anymore, and she got backed up again. The Dr. said you can continue the prune juice forever if you need to. That's good to know, but maybe we won't have to after a while. We'll see. It sure makes her spit up look pretty nasty, and I have to spray all of her clothes right away so they don't stain. But if it helps her out, then that is what we need to do. At least Claire's spit up is few and far between. Hannah used to spit up all the time, and always all over me, and right down my shirt, or in my hair. So far, Claire doesn't do it that much.

She continues to be a good baby so far. The sleep situation is slightly improving, but we are still very tired. It is really hard because Hannah is so good at bedtime and she is always asleep by 8pm, so I am used to having the time after that to myself. Lately I have one babe asleep and one who still wants me to hold her all night. Claire seems to be getting into her deeper sleep around 10pm or 11pm, and is sleeping until 1am or 2pm. Then she is up again about 4am or 5am. This isn't too terribly bad except when the times she is up to eat, sometimes the feeding lasts about one and a half hours. That is rough. Tonight she is sleeping in her crib for the first time. She's been in our room in her bassinet, and the last couple nights we moved the bassinet into our bathroom. Tonight she's moved all the way to her room. I hope we all sleep better. I think we (or at least I) hear every little noise she makes, and she hears us too. Her room is right across the hall so it's not too far away.

A few of my friends have taken a picture each month of their baby next to a teddy bear to chart their growth. It is such a cute idea. I don't have a great teddy bear to use, so I thought we would use her plush pillow. Here she is at 4 weeks in her Christmas jammies.

It's hard to believe how much she has changed and grown since she was born. They really do grow overnight and change right before your eyes. The pj's we brought her home from the hospital in are a tad too short and too tight now. It makes me a little bit sad.

I just realized that all of these pictures are of her sleeping so you are probably wondering what I am complaining about being so sleep deprived for. Funny how during the day her good sleep never seems to be at a time when I can rest too.

11-4

11pm-4am!! That's right, that is the time frame in which Claire was ASLEEP last night!! WOO HOO! That is the longest stretch so far, and let me tell you, it was much needed! Now of course I didn't stay asleep that whole time, because I am now used to getting up to feed her at 11pm, and 12:30am, and 2am, and 3:30am. So I kept waking up and looking at the clock and thinking, ok, should I just get up, I'm sure she will be up any second. Then next thing I know, I'm asleep, and she's still asleep, and suddenly it's 4am! Woo hoo!! Things are looking up. It's got to get better from here right?

Good Friends, Good Food, Good Times

Last night we had some of our friends over to celebrate for Christmas. It was a lot of fun. I made a pot of turkey chili. Amy made some delicious cornbread, Kelly brought melt in your mouth chocolate chip cookies, and Tawny made a dessert called "hello dollies". They were really good. It's always a good time getting together with this group of friends. Especially right now because all of our kids are pretty close in age and it is so fun to watch them interacting. There were 5 kids this year, and next year there will be 8! Tawny is pregnant with her second, and Kelly with her second and third! How quickly the group is growing.

I tried to take some artistic pictures of the table before everyone came over. There were 8 adults and the dining table only seats 6. So there were also two places set at the kitchen island.

Claire got a little pissy when I was primping her for the party.

Amy & Taylor

Taylor is 8 months and just starting to crawl. She is such a pretty baby.

Sammy, Derek, and Hannah all dined together at this fine looking table. And of course this photo shows my daughter pouting for some reason. Probably because we made her share her table with her friends.

Joe told Hannah he would take her outside to look at Christmas lights when they were done eating, and so of course she became Joe's new best friend. She wouldn't leave his side until she got to see those "Chrichris" lights.

We all had to kind of sit at different times to eat. Between helping our kids eat and making sure they didn't fight, it is a little harder to sit down to a relaxing meal and conversation. Here is the first shift at the dinner table. Kelly, Jason, Jake, and myself (taking the photo).

Joe reading all of the kids a story.

Tawny, Amy, Kelly, Me, and Hannah

The train table was a big hit with the kids and the Dads.

Sorry Tawny, but I had to post this. Joe was actually already reaching to take this (empty can) from Sammy, but I made him give it back to her so I could get my picture. She looks so innocent.

Little D holding the ladies hands while they walked around the block looking at lights.

This year we just got the kids each a $20 or less gift. They had SO much fun opening and playing with their new presents.

Derek got Hannah a Phil the Drill like the one Handy Manny uses. She's been drilling things ever since she opened it.

Thanks for coming over everyone! We had a great time. Hope you did too! Happy Holidays!

Mission Inn

Here are those pictures I promised from Friday night at the Mission Inn. We met up with our friends Tawny & Joe, and their daughter Samantha too. It was a lot of fun. There was a steady stream of people, but it wasn't too crowded, and the evening was cool, but not too cold. Hannah had a blast. She was so excited that when we left to come home at about 8:30pm, (an hour past her bedtime) she didn't even fall asleep, she just kept talking to us about all the lights. It was pretty cute.

Claire in her cute Christmas jammies before we left the house.


Hannah waiting patiently to see the lights while Jake & I got our caffeine fix at Coffee Bean.





Meeting up with her friend Sammy.


Waiting to board the trolley for the light tour.


This is the first attempt at a family picture that Tawny & Joe took for us. As you can see, Hannah was being very cooperative. Can you sense my sarcasm?


Tawny & Joe's daughter posed so sweet and nice. (By the way Joe, I like your man bag. Is that by Coach? Nice!)

Here is our 2nd attempt at a family photo. I think by this time the horses had begun to pull us and Hannah was being a bit more patient. Poor Claire, you can't see her, but she's there inside my sling. Kelly got me that sling for my shower gift and it has been so handy to have! Thanks Kelly, I love it!

Tawny posted this picture on her blog too and what she wrote for the caption was cute. She said that in this picture we both have babies with us, only mine was on the outside and hers is on the inside. Tawny is more than halfway through with her pregnancy and she still doesn't even look pregnant! She looks great.


Claire slept in the sling the whole time, and then woke up when we were on the trolley ride and I fed her right in the sling and she went back to sleep. She is so easy compared to Hannah. Easy compared to Hannah as an infant, and Hannah now!