The Kids' Christmas: Miscellaneous Glimpses

C slept in the tent tunnel Christmas Eve. He woke me up at 3 AM telling me needed to go to his bed.

Guess who woke up first?

We had to wake L Child up.

Christmas morning: Santa drank all of the tea C left him.
The other kids leave him milk, but not in the Nichols' home!

Button got baby dolls.

And tried to eat them gave them kisses.

Dad refurbished Mom and my old baby doll crib. We of course had to sit all the dolls in it.

Liam got superheroes among other things.

Button in one of her Christmas outfits for the day.

C did his own hair with his new hair gel.

L Child is doing karate. As usual.

Decorating for Christmas

 




We finally finished decorating our Christmas tree on the 23rd. It's been a wild and busy semester of school. Then we had Mamaw's birthday party and April and Bret's wedding this month. We got the decorating done in time though!

Our Little Lamb

Our little lamb for the Christmas program:

This was Liam's stance the entire time. Dad asked if he was singing. I replied, "No. He was waving at us the whole time."

To avoid the inevitable blue icecream on his WHITE sweatsuit, L Child just wore his coat and pants into Braum's. Yes, that's how we roll.

A Special Mamaw

My mom and her siblings threw Mamaw a surprise birthday party this month. She turned 80!

We started out the day with a ladies' tea. Here's Mamaw with her almost all her great-granddaughters.

Her birthday party was full of family members.

 Here's Mamaw with most of her great-grandkids.

It was a special blessing to see aunts, uncles, and cousins. I got to see and meet some of my cousins' children. I am thankful for my Mamaw and Papaw and the family they started!

Celebration

I'm thankful God gives us reasons to celebrate. Friends. Weddings. Happiness. What blessings!

April, Andrea, and April with me at my personal shower in late 2000.

April, April, and I at Adub's personal shower in Summer 2005.

April's wedding last week.

So happy for you and Bret, April!

Paci Baby

After three kids, I'm discovering how unique each one of them is.  H is especially different from the boys. For instance, neither of the boys took a pacifier. This ended up being a good thing later on - I never had to break the. of a paci. 

H though liked her newborn paci during her first weeks. Then she didn't want it anymore. I was okay with this. It'll be easier later on I told myself.

One afternoon, when she was cutting her first tooth, H was pretty fussy. I had to put her down to take care of something, and the boys, the best big brothers ever, tried to entertain her. It wasn't working. C went and got out a package of two pacifiers I had been given at a baby shower. It told him it was okay, that she didn't have to have a pacifier. He insisted that it would help her, and I let him give it to her. 

Yep, she loved it. She chews on her paci sometimes even. 

On our flight last week, I lost one pacifier on each leg of the journey. The next morning, I ran to Wal-Mart and bought two more and a pacifier- clip. Definitely worth it.

I might regret the paci in a year, but for now, it helps her out and...well...she is just so cute with it!

My Little Elves

Helping me with the stamps.

5 Months

Where is the time going? As much as I love parts of this age (and parts of all of them after), I sometimes wish I could rewind or at least push pause. Our little Button is a joy.

 

 
She can roll from tummy to back and is close to sitting up on her own. Button is still pretty easy-going. Her bottom two front teeth came in about a week apart - she was a bit fussy, but not as much as the boys were (and they weren't really that difficult compared to other babies).

H likes to squeal and babble. She seems like an extrovert already. If someone isn't talking to her, or at least smiling (and by someone, I mean anybody - even strangers), she will stare at them until they notice her. If she sees someone she really likes, she yells at them and smiles. She did this a lot on the plane to the babies and kids around her.

She is eating solid food and is always willing to try new things. She had some of my gyro today - and seemed to like it! She kept leaning towards me with her mouth open waiting for more.

Finally, she is getting a little clingy with me. It could be due to us traveling together for 5 days. Whatever the reason, I don't mind. I'm soaking up my little Button as much as I can!

Wild Shopping Trip

I always say that after Halloween, my kids will be extra wild until after the New Year. Candy. Excitement. Anticipation. Extra family and friends time. I understand they are hyped to the max. One particular day right before finals, I had to take the kids to the grocery store after work. I knew it was going to be wild so I brought my camera to Wally World.

I was right.

Yeah, that's right. My kid wore his pajamas to Wal-Mart in the afternoon.

And he wore his hat like this for most of the shopping.

I also decided to throw the towel in and let C push the cart with little to no supervision. 

Yes, the items are blurry because they were moving. Fast.

Finally, this little angel fell asleep during the hooligans' antics. Yay, Snuggybaby sling!

Conversations

C and L Child were "working out" on Friday (translate: they are lifting my weights on my yoga mat). I overheard this conversation:

C: You know, Liam, if you work out every day, you'll grow big and old.

L: Really?

(They work out a bit. Casen has them stand next to each other to see who is taller.)

L: Casen, am I still three?

C: Uh, yes.

L: How old are you now, Casen?

C: 49.

L: No you aren't.

C: Yes, yes, I am, Liam.

 

I had the boys come into Button's room at bedtime and told them they could sing her a song (she was fussy due to teething; I was waiting for the Tylenol to kick in for the poor girl).

Casen's song choice? Patty cake.
Good choice.

Liam's?

L (in his sing-song voice): Trick or Treat. Smell my feet. Give me something good to eat. If you - ....

Me: You aren't gonna finish it?

L: No. 

Me: Why?

L (whispering): Because it says, "I'll pull down your underwear."

Me: Guess that's inappropriate for her?

L: Yes it is.

And thus starts big brother's rules for his little sister. Rule #1: She can't sing or listen to inappropriate songs.

The Last Month or So

 
Before it got cold, we went for a walk/bike ride at the park.
 

  

Then the boys had their creation showcase at church...

And got to show friends and family their crafts they made.

 

Then we got to go to the Lighting of the Commons. The boys and Haddie got to sit on Santa's lap.

 

Haddie tried baby food for the first time...and really liked it!

 

Having her is such a different experience than the boys. The boys never liked baby food and just had table food around a year old. Not so for Button! She likes the bottle, but is very interested in food already.

Finally, we got some snow - enough to miss days of school and spend some extra time with our Oregon friends. 

Despite the stress of the end of the semester, it was a blessing to have them visit. It was good to catch up and laugh together. Hopefully, we don't have to wait another 5.5 years before we see them again!

Old Man Nichols

On a bike ride last month, my old soul had to stop to just sit on the bench and look around.

He also like Werthers and peppermints.

Liam's Blessings

My camera got broke last month so I finally got a new one and downloaded the pictures. 

Love L Child's honesty.
Oh, and just to clarify: that red blessing is of course "Spiderman."

"Dead Week"

I say "Dead Week" because we don't really have one at my school. Therefore, I'm preparing finals, finishing up lessons, and finishing up my grading all in the same week. 

This is how I look today during a lab practical:

While looking for a picture, I found this:

Funny enough, I am wearing a hoodie today. It was a long night of grading.

Is it bad that I'm hoping that it snows a ton tonight and classes are cancelled tomorrow? Maybe I could get my Christmas tree and decorations up then. Otherwise, sorry kids, you'll have to wait until finals are over!