~Sunday Best Before Christmas~

The Sunday before Christmas we always dress up in our Christmas finery for church.  Afterwards we take a picture in front of the tree that goes in our Christmas picture frame, and this year was no exception.  

Not bad for a "camera timer" picture, eh?

The kids were all three such funny little hams.  They all definitely have their own personalities.
I look at the three of them together and can hardly believe they are all my precious children.  

My handsome little man.  I took 10 different pictures and he posed himself and gave the exact same smile in every single one.
I look at this picture and wonder when he got soooo big... in fact, I almost cry about it.

My lovely little lady.  She was not exactly cooperative with pictures this year.  She's starting to only give that weird fake smile these days and insisted on having her animals with her.  
She's a cute, stubborn little lady... kind of like her mom.  :-)

My sweet sweet sweet baby girl!  This little one is such a delight.  Our friend from church, Ms. Marye, gave Cordelia this sweet Christmas dress.  The two of them spend most of our three hour meetings together each Sunday, making them both happy as can be.  We sure love Ms. Marye.  

Handsome Nick and our little doll of a baby.  

The most FANTABULOUS  picture of the lot.  

(What? You've never heard Fantabulous before? It's a cross between fantastic and fabulous. Who says I can't make up my own words.  After all it is my blog.)

Merry Christmas from our happy, silly, growing family to yours!

~Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree! Part 2~

Part of our reason for not decorating our tree right away was because it was super late the night we pulled everything out and the kids needed to get to bed.  At the same time part of our reasoning is that the kids were feeling particularly destructive and we wanted them to prove to us that they weren't going to destroy the Christmas tree and decor.  After a week (I know, I'm the meanest mom ever!) of proving their ability to control themselves we finally decorated our lovely tree. 

As usual Alec was pants-less for the entire event.  :-)

The kids were all excited to unwrap and hang all their favorite ornaments.  

They also broke into the last of my ancient candy canes and got all sorts of sticky.

Ancient candy canes don't sound all that appetizing to me, but Alec and Elyssa disagree.

I was once again reminded how much I absolutely love my Christmas tree.  It's by far my favorite decoration and the most Christmasy spot in our house.  As I unwrapped and hung Christmas ornaments I thought of Christmases past when we have bought a special ornament for every year.  

I told Nick I was glad that we bought all these pretty ornaments and decorations when we did because (even though we didn't have any money back then) I would never feel like I could justify spending that kind of money now.  Funny how priorities change as you add little ones to the family.   

But you know what? 

I wouldn't trade in a thousand beautifully decorated Christmas trees, homes, cars, or designer clothes for even one of my precious little ones.  They are my pride and joy, my gifts from heaven, my little treasures.  

I can't imagine life without my three beautiful babies.  

~Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!~

We usually put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving but this year it just didn't happen.  Life this Holiday season has been a little hectic with Nick taking a class twice a week and Chrissy starting work back up at The Gap right on time for holiday retail.  After a few days of the kids jumping up and down, pleading to put up our tree we pulled it out and put it up a few days late, on November 29th.

The kids were great helpers, pulling all the branches out of the box, poofing branches out, holding Christmas lights, playing with Cordy, and adding the perfect touch of child-like Christmas excitement to the general mood of the house.

They were both a little disappointed when we didn't have time to add any Christmas ornaments, but decided that adding our sparkling star to the top would make due for the time being.  

Cordelia, who has always had a fascination with lights, was in awe of all the beautifully lit bulbs across the limbs of the Christmas tree.  You could just see the wonder and awe in her eyes, the beginning sparks of Christmas magic. 

What a wonderful way to kick off our Christmas.  

Next up... decorating!

~A Toddler Fashion Trend: Take 2~

Meet Puss in Boots and Princess Fiona.  A few weeks ago we watched Shrek the 3rd with the kids for our Friday night pizza and a movie night.  At a certain point Alec came downstairs with his snow boots, church belt and a random bucket hat declaring himself Puss in Boots.  Ever since that fateful evening we have found him dressed (or rather not dressed) like this at least once a day.  After a few days Elyssa decided to join in on the fun in her own way and has declared herself Princess Fiona.  Apparently the princess does not wear pants either. 

Alec frequently corrects people when we call him by his name.  

"I'm not Alec.  I'm Puss in Boots!"  

I love their developing imaginations and can't help but laugh every time I see this latest get-up.  

What silly kiddos.

~Kitchen Catastrophes~

 The Holiday Season has brought a number of kitchen catastrophes in our house.  Every single day for a week I seemed to botch something up in the kitchen.  Some call it new-mommy brain.  My mother likes to call it cognitive overload.  I just couldn't seem to juggle everything, resulting in one disaster after another.  One particular afternoon I was making chocolate chip cookies for a cookie exchange later that evening.  In order to make enough cookies for the party I needed to triple my recipe... but somehow ended up putting THREE TIMES as much salt in my cookie dough as was needed.  The worst of it was that I didn't realize my mistake until after I had already adding every last ingredient and put a couple trays in the oven....

which after a taste test went straight into the trash.  It was like throwing $10 straight in the trash.  I could have cried.  In fact, I almost did cry, but then realized I only had a few hours to pull something else together and to make matters the kiddos were up from naps and looking for some mischief.  So what did I do?

Well first off I decided not to let all that cookie dough go to waste.  I put Alec and Elyssa to work digging out all the chocolate chips.  They spent a good hour digging in the cookie dough, finding chocolate treasures, and making shapes.  I'm sure they had some taste tests but the dough was so salty that they weren't very interested in eating that nasty stuff.  It was great fun to play with though! 

Meanwhile I dug around my kitchen and luckily found enough ingredients to at least do a double batch of cookies that did not completely flop.  Yay!  I was happy to keep the kids entertained and finally make something edible.  

Hopefully the cognitive overload has run it's course and I can start cooking again.

~Wishing on a Wishbone~

We saved the wishbone from our Thanksgiving turkey and let it dry out for a few days.  Then we let the kids try their luck to see who could get the bigger piece, granting their wish.  

Elyssa was the winner!  

Alec didn't seem to mind.  

He was satisfied just getting to break the wish bone in half.  

I asked Elyssa what she wished for and she said she wanted Grandma and Grandpa to come back.
(I think Alec and I felt the same way.)  

Good thing we will get to see them in a few weeks and between now and then we always have the phone to talk grandma's ear off... and things like wishbones, Christmas, and Alec's birthday to keep our minds occupied. 

Let the Christmas season begin!

~Cordelia at 3 Months~

On December 1st, 2010 Cordelia was officially 3 months old.  Cordy grew out of her 0-3 month clothes right on time.  After switching out her clothes, I got her all dressed up and pulled out the camera to take some pictures!

At 3 months Cordy is full of expression.  She smiles and coos and "talks" to Mommy and Daddy all the time.  Nick is her favorite person in the whole wide world and her entire body lights up when he walks into a room.  She loves her brother and sister very much and loves it when they pay attention to her.  She giggles and laughs and is extremely ticklish on her neck.  She cries and screams during tummy time, and will then will cry her angry cry for a few minutes after you flip her over.  Still we persist, and she is getting stronger every day.  Over all though she is a very mild mannered little lady.  We think she's the sweetest baby around, but recognize we are totally partial.

Not long into our little "photo shoot" my two older helpers were wreaking havoc on the house and   poor Cordy was feeling pretty tired by the time I got around to photographing her.  She didn't really get fussy, but she just wasn't her normal smiley self.  After a few attempts I decided to just give the cute little lady what she wants and let her take a nap.  Just wrap her up in a blanket with her arms down and pop in the pacifier and she puts herself to sleep.  Speaking of sleep, she's a pro!  At 3 months Baby Cordy is sleeping 10-12 hours a night.  We are counting our blessings to have yet another good sleeper.  

  I'm a believer that healthy sleep habits make happy babies and happy mommies.  

Dearest Cordelia,

Thanks for being a wonderful sleeper, baby girl.  We appreciate it more than you know.  We love you, beautiful giggling, talking, happy baby!

love always,

Your Mommy

~Thanksgiving 2010~

Grandpa Steve decided it was high time he came and met his newest little grand-daughter, Cordelia Margaret... so why not come for Thanksgiving and bring Grandma and the brothers along!  And while we are at it, Robert's girlfriend, Liz, came along for the ride as well.  We were sure excited!  They even drove through a Wyoming blizzard to get here.  

(Cordy and Grandpa taking a pre-dinner rest together)

The morning started early with lots of dinner preparations.  Meanwhile Nick, Mike, and Grandpa Steve went out and played some turkey bowl with the Elder's Quorum.  No one came back broken, though they all felt a little banged up.  Grandpa Steve reported it was likely his last football game he would be playing.  Alec and Elyssa were in 7th Heaven with all the attention from Alan, Michael, Robert and Liz. 

After hours of cooking up a storm and talking to my mom for hours, dinner was ready.  On the menu for the day: Turkey, stuffing, rolls, green salad, lime whipped jello salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, pomegranates, cranberry sauce, veggies, pumpkin pie, and mixed berry pie.

I set up the timer and got a group shot.  Too bad Lyssa looks like she was beamed in.  :-)

Everyone had a good time (though you may not be able to tell from Alan's face).  The food was yummy, the company fantastic! I really was so happy I could have cried.  We finished the day eating pie, talking, and playing games. 

The next day we did a little Black Friday shopping, ate amazing leftovers, played games, and went to see the latest Harry Potter movie.  It was wonderful.  In fact, the two days were practically perfect in every way... except if Erin and Ryan had been here of course.  It was a quick visit, but it was fabulous.  The kids and I did our best not to cry Saturday morning as they left.  

Thank you for braving the storm and making the amazing trek across the country, spending more time in the car than here.  

We felt sooo loved and so very special.  

We can't wait to see you soon!  

~Right Before Bed...~

November 23, 2010

When Nick is gone at class it can be a long and hard evening.  I find that I have to start getting the kids ready for bed at least an hour before I actually expect them to be in bed.  In fact, sometimes I put them in the tub right after they eat dinner so all I have to do is brush teeth before scriptures, stories, and prayers.  This night was a particularly long night for me with lots of squabbles between Mr. Alec and Princess Elyssa, but then they climbed on the couch happily sat and read stories.  Then Alec begged to hold Cordy and have me take a picture.  He really really loves her.  What a sweet boy!  

 Lyssa wanted her picture taken too.  Gotta love those fake smiles.  

I'm always amazed at how the overwhelming stuff can wash away when they're sweet and loving to me and to each other. 

~Our Anniversary~

 On November 20th Nick and I celebrated our 6th wedding anniversary.  

 Nick, being the wise man that he is, came home with bouquet of daisies and six roses, one for every year we have been married.  They were lovely!  He also snuck a brand new container of Body Shop mango body butter into my nightstand.  Perfect timing!  I had just used up my last tub the night before and I love that stuff!  What a thoughtful guy.  

 We didn't plan anything big or elaborate this year because well... we just had a baby and things had been busy and since our favorite babysitter went to college in July we don't even know who to PAY to watch our kids.  We just figured it would be a laid back evening at home with chocolate cake.  Then we realized that Sammy would be in town!  Yippee!  (See, Nick's parents kicked off our month of visitors.  They came for a weekend, then our friend Ryan came for a weekend, and then Sammy!  So fun!)  Sammy is pretty much the only friend from high school that I have kept in contact with over the years... which makes sense because she is pretty awesome.  In 9th grade she once bought a big bag of m&m's and picked out all the yellow ones for me and put them in a bag with a big yellow bow because she knew I loved all things yellow.  Chocolate and yellow all in the same combo!  Who wouldn't love that?

  Sammy's just a hop, skip, and a jump away in Omaha where she is going to medical school.  She came here to interview for a residency at our children's hospital.  Though I'm sure it's not her first choice, we (especially Lyssa) would all look like this!

Sammy once again proved her awesomeness and offered to watch the two older kiddos and even put them to bed for us so we could go out to dinner and get a little Christmas shopping done for our anniversary.  What a cool friend, eh?  

Lyssa is pretty much in love with all things Sammy.  From her hair and makeup to her shoes, she just thinks the world of my high school BFF.  Sammy Lee, thanks for coming to visit us and thanks for watching the kids and being soooo good to my little ones!  

We love you to pieces!

~Sick, Sick, Sick~

Alec looks like he's living the easy life in this picture, but do not be deceived...

 The afternoon before Grandma and Grandpa left Alec got really really sick.  We're pretty sure he had a nasty flu bug, and the poor boy did not understand why he kept "spiting up" like a baby.  After cleaning the couch once I decided to cover everything up with a blanket.  And that bowl there?  In case he couldn't make it to the bathroom in time to spit up again.  And the thing that looks like a laptop?  Turns out the portable DVD player is useful for more than just road trips!  I was able to keep the little guy entertained and close to his mommy... not to mention the bathroom.  He spent the next few days on that couch or doing this...

I always smile when I see pictures of other people's kids sleeping.  My kids would wake up in and INSTANT if I took a picture of them sleeping unless they are dog sick.  Poor guy.

 It seemed to be the beginning of the sick season at our house and it seems like we've only had a handful of days since where someone wasn't feeling nasty.  We've already been to the doctor a few different times, Nick had a sinus infection/possible ear infection that he suffered through, and even baby Cordy has her first nasty cough/ear infection.  I forgot how awful it is to give small babies the pink stuff.  Sigh.

At least the flu bug made it's way out of house!

~Visiting the Apple Orchard~

While Nick's parents were in town we took them to one of our favorite Iowa places, Center Grove Apple Orchard.  Though it was a bit chilly, we practically had the place to ourselves and the kids had a blast!

The corn pool is still our all time favorite thing to do at the Apple Orchard.  Alec and Lyssa love to jump into the corn over and over again.  I think they really enjoy the feeling of being in the air.  They were kiddos meant to fly.

We also buried Lyssa in the corn!  She was such a good sport about it.  

Since Grandma was there to hold baby Cordy, Nick and I BOTH got to get in and play.  I had such a good time with my little ones.  Last time we came Cordy was only a few weeks old and I was still healing from delivery.  This time I was able to run, jump, dive, "swim", and have all sorts of fun in the corn pool with my kids.  (I'm soooo thankful for a body that is so capable of moving, bending, and doing things!  I still find it so exhilarating after months of not being able to bend over without pain.)

We also got to go down the super slides!  It took a little coaxing for Alec (our notorious self-preservationist), but eventually he even joined in on the fun.  With Cordy strapped to Nick's chest in the front pack we slid down the slides laughing all the way as a fabulous family of five...

And Grandpa was there to capture the moment!  Thank you!  

I love this picture.  It's not very often that you get a picture of all of us spontaneously smiling and laughing like that.  

What a fabulous time we had!  

Thanks for coming to visit, Grandma and Grandpa! 

Our kids have no clue how LUCKY they are to have you for Grandparents.

 We can't wait to see you again!

~Cordelia's Baby Blessing~

On November 7, 2010 little miss Cordelia Margaret Parkinson was given a name and baby blessing during sacrament meeting in our ward (Des Moines 2nd Ward) by her Daddy dearest.  It was a beautiful day!

Grandma Lael and Grandpa Stuart came all the way from Idaho to meet this sweet little lady.  Her baby blessing was the main event!  

She was all dolled up in a beautiful white blessing dress sent to her by my loving Grandma Marion.  

She sent Elyssa her dress and made Alec a little outfit for their baby blessings too.  Each of these tiny little outfits are so precious to me.

Though I have no pictures from the actual event, I will say that Nick did a fine job trying to stay calm and follow the spirit while giving Cordy her baby blessing.  Likewise, Cordelia was quiet as a mouse the entire time.  

Thanks, Baby Girl!  I'm sure he really appreciated it! 

Though I have no picture of those dear friends that we asked to join in the circle... For the sake of keeping records I do believe we had the following persons in attendance:  Stuart Parkinson, Greg Welch, Bob Rose, Bob Bahr, Ben Thomas, Micah Murdoch, Tyler Mons, Justin Walker, and Wayne Ross. 

All are men that we consider friends, family, or friends like family.  

I do have pictures of our family though!  Look at those three crazy kids!

Sometimes I still can't believe we have THREE kids!

 While we were at it I decided to get a picture with my girls.  I love the way that sounds, "my girls". 

Alec  was feeling kind of grumpy and wanted no part in a mommy/kid picture.  I still love him to bits.

We also got some pictures of all three grandkids with Grandma and Grandpa.  

Too bad all three were starving and ready to eat lunch and take naps!

The rest of the afternoon was spent in the kitchen, cooking away, preparing for a yummy little Post Baby Blessing dinner... but whenever I got the chance I made sure to love on this little lady.  She is such a sweet baby and such a joy!  

Dearest Cordelia, 

We love you so much.  We are so glad you came to our family. And I am so glad that I get to be your Mommy. You make me want to be better and remind me of what is really important in life.  Thank you for teaching me so much every day.

love always,

Your Mommy