Fun Christmas

We had lots of fun leading up to Christmas. 

Sami's preschool had a performance at a nursing home. It was so sweet to see the kids up there and to see the smiles on the faces of the elderly. Sami wanted to be Mary, but her part was already taken when we got there, so Sami got to be an angel. I thought that was perfect, since Sami is an angel to us.

During the performance, the other Olsen munchkin was making faces.

After the Nativity scene, the kids sang and passed out Christmas cards. (Sami kept her reindeer hat over her eyes, which we thought was funny and cute.)

Jonathan took that day off so he could see Sami perform. It was so good he was there because after the performance, a sweet, cute, elderly lady fell and Jonathan was able to help her.

A few days before Christmas, we had a Christmas cookie party at Grandma's house. The older cousins were there, and Sami and Janie are their biggest fans. They made a gingerbread house, decorated cookies, and had lunch. It was all very fun and very yummy!

My girls are so blessed to have amazing Grandmas! I don't know what I would do without Grandma Trish.

After the cookie fun, we went to Build-a-Bear so Janie could pick out a bear. It's a tradition when the grandkids turn three that Grandma buys them their own bear. What a fun day! 

Then on Christmas Eve, it was Janie's birthday. She was so sweet and thanked us for every gift. (Even the yard sale ones.)

Her favorite gift is a Baby Alive doll from Grandpa Larry. I told Grandpa that she would love it. And she does. But the baby "pooped" green stuff on my floor and I haven't been a fan since. Now she doesn't get "real" food. Because I can't handle any more yucky messes. So it's my fault she has it, because I told Grandpa to buy it for her, but take it from me, people, don't buy the pooping baby!

She had a great birthday. Grandma and Aunt Tami brought her some super fancy (and yummy!) cupcakes, and she got lots of presents and food.

And then it was Christmas morning. Jonathan had the day off (Yippee!), and we were so blessed with beautiful gifts. 

And I didn't take one picture. Not one.

I am so disappointed that I didn't take pictures. But by this time, I was exhausted. Really, between the parties, birthdays, and trying to do meaningful traditions for birthdays and Christmas, I was so tired. Jonathan is on wards, so this month has been hard for him and he has been gone a lot. But he was there on Christmas morning,which was so nice. (He bought me a GPS, so no more getting lost!)

By the time we were getting ready for church, I was ornery. I am ashamed to say it. But getting everything ready seemed so tough. I knew I still had to get ready for our Christmas dinner (we had some family coming over), and I felt overwhelmed. 

Then I went to church.

It was so beautiful. Just what I needed. I realized (again), that all this wasn't important, it really is about celebrating Christ, his life and Atonement. 

I repented, apologized to Jonathan for my bad attitude, and we had a wonderful afternoon.

Everyone helped with dinner, we talked, laughed, played with the girls.

It was so nice.

I am so thankful for the Savior.

We had an another great Christmas.

Happy Birthday Jane Noel!

Three years ago today, Janie came to us. It was a warm, beautiful, Arizonan afternoon. And our life has been so blessed with her in it.

She has brought us so much sweetness and joy. She is our favorite Christmas gift ever!

At three years old, Janie is:

Sweet: If we had to describe Janie in one word, this would be it. 

Sensitive: Janie is very sensitive to emotions. If someone is scared on tv, she is scared. She is also very sensitive to discipline. If we talk to her a bit too harshly (in her opinion), she bursts into tears. When we tell her to go to her room to time out, she runs to her room. (That part is kind of nice, no kicking and screaming. She just goes herself. But she is usually sobbing.)

Not completely potty trained: This can be very frustrating for me, depending on the day. We have been working for months. She is about 75% there. Ok, maybe 65%. It's the poo poo part that's hard. (Sorry, too much info, I know.) I have high hopes now that she is three. 

Charming: She knows how to do it. The way she tilts her head, moves her hands, and her quiet voice...it can be hard to say no to this one. (Mommy and Daddy don't have a problem, but Grandparents have a hard time.)

Adores her big sister: Where Sami goes, Janie wants to follow. And she is a great playmate for Sami. 

Mama's girl: If I were to completely smother her with hugs and kisses, and do nothing all day but hold and kiss her, it would be a dream come true for this one.  I hear "I need a hug" and "I need hold you," (that's how she asks to be held), all day long. And I try to hold her and hug her as often as she asks, but it's not always possible. But I do enjoy a cuddle bug.

Happy Birthday, Janie! We love you so much! We are so glad that you came to our family. 

Our Fancy Nancy Party

Last Saturday we had the girls' birthday party.  Our theme was "Fancy Nancy," based on the books. So we had nine girls total, all dressed in their "fanciest clothes." It was so fun. 

Here are the birthday girls. I opened the dress-up trunks and they picked out what they wanted to wear. They looked so "fancy." And so darling.

In the first book, Nancy loves parfaits "which is fancy for ice cream sundaes." So that's what we served. Jonathan and Aunt Tami served up the ice cream sundaes but each girl had her own cup of sprinkles that she could put on her own ice cream. 

We read the book, ate our ice cream, colored a Fancy Nancy page, opened presents and played games. All the girls were so sweet and cute. 

All the girls looked so adorable. But the girl dressed in black and hot pink (Kaari) would have won the "Closest to Fancy Nancy in the Flesh" award, if there was such a thing. She looked just like her. Even had the leg warmers. Love it!

And Jonathan's mom and sister came, which was so sweet. I love this picture of Grandma!

Jonathan was supposed to have come home on that Saturday at 11 am. Our party was at 2, and he walked in the door at 2:15. I am so grateful that he made it and didn't miss the party.

And the girls got such beautiful gifts. They got a bit spoiled, which I think is ok on your birthday. (If everyone got a little spoiled on their birthday, I think the world would be a nicer place. ☺)

We are so thankful for all our friends, and all their little friends, who came to celebrate with us. 

And mostly we are thankful for Sami and Janie, that they came to our family, and we love to celebrate their birthdays!

Sami's Birthday

 I can't believe my Sami girl is 4 years old.

Sami is a sweetie pie. For sure.

At 4 years old, Sami is:

Confident: A few weeks ago we were at a new park and there were only 2 swings. And there were lots of big kids. While Sami was waiting for me to help her on a swing, a big kid (she was probably about 7 years old), came and jumped on it. Sami was upset and crying when I got to her. I told her that wasn't nice of the big girl but we would wait and she would have a turn soon. She said, "No, Mama, " and she ran up to the big girl on the swing and said (in a pleading, loud voice), "Girl! Girl! I want to swing!" Well, after a few moments, she got off and gave the swing to Sami. I thought that was very brave of Sami.

When my parents were here for Thanksgiving, we took the girls to our usual park. There were two boys about Sami's age there, and she just started playing with them. Their moms were talking on the other side of the park. The boys went to their moms' bags and started getting out crackers. Sami ran up to their moms and in a loud voice said, "Excuse me. Can I have some snacks please?" The moms were surprised. But kindly said yes, she could. I was glad that she politely asked instead of just eating them but I was just surprised at how confident she was to do that. 

A back seat driver: She tells me when I'm going to fast, when to stop, etc. She definitely doesn't understand left hand turn arrows though. Or why I can make a right turn when the light is red. Ha, ha.

A Daddy's Girl: She and her Daddy like the same things. For example, when we go to the pool, Jonathan puts Sami on his shoulders and then walks to the deep end where he takes them both under the water. Sami comes up smiling with her eyes wide open asking for more.
And then there's the dragon game. Where Jonathan says he's a dragon, and Sami runs away screaming. A happy scream.

A bit bossy: It's a big sister thing. I would know. ;) Just ask my brothers. 

Kind: Sami wants to be a good friend. She loves people and says hi to everyone.

Loves preschool and tumbling: Oh, these are a few of her favorite things!

Enthusiastic about life: When she's excited, she can't help but yell when she's trying to tell us something. She doesn't even realize it. But life is so exciting to her.

And she says cute, funny things:Yesterday she said, "Mom, I like pets. I like sharks. I like mermaids. I like donkeys, and cats. And I like you. And I like Daddy and Sissy." 

 We are so, so blessed to have her in our family! I can't imagine life without her. She is sunshine in our home.

 Happy Birthday, our sweet Samantha!! We love you!

Blessings & Priorities

I love this time of year.

I love the Christmas trees, the lights, the music, the movies.

The food.

I love that both my girls came to us in the Christmas season.

But I don't love how busy this time of year is and how often I feel overwhelmed.

So this year I am determined to not be stressed out. To keep it simple. To remember the real reason for Christmas. And to make my family the priority.

It's easier said than done, I'm realizing.

There are so many parties, things to do, cool places to go, gifts to buy.

Take for example, the girls' birthday party. It's a Fancy Nancy party. We love the Fancy Nancy books. And I found myself having so much fun planning all the decor, the food, the games. But then I stopped. Because I don't need to spend every night making decorations or making elaborate gift bags. The girls don't care. And they would rather have a mom who is happy and calm rather than a grumpy mom who stayed up late making silly banners. So I am simplifying. Sometimes it hard because it's easy for me to carried away. 

But I keep reminding myself to not get stressed. I'll let you know how it turns out.☺

Now back to Thanksgiving. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Jonathan had Thanksgiving day off, which was such a blessing. We spent the day with his family that lives around here. And I forgot my camera so no fun pictures. 

Then the next day my parents flew in. They were here for a little over four days, and the time flew by. We did so many fun things. 

My dad played and played with girls. And showed them how to "fly." Sami, with her adventurous spirit, loved it. Janie loved it eventually.

We had a family home evening of reading a Jan Brett book about a gingerbread boy who wanted to make friends and then we made a gingerbread house. It was fun. The girls, especially Janie, kept sneaking candy thinking I didn't see. And I pretended I didn't, because that's what's fun about gingerbread houses.

 I love these two. 

I always feel bad when I realize that I haven't been grateful. Because I know I have everything.

The Lord has been so, so good to me and my family. 

I know I will look back on these years with so much joy, and I want to appreciate every moment. 

I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Family Pictures

My friend, Whitney, took our family pictures this weekend. 

(Thanks again, Whitney! And thank you, Katie,  for the girls' matching shirts! )

I love these pictures, and have loved editing them. 

For me, family pictures are treasures. They mean so much to me.

These are some of my favorites (more to come!).

I especially love pictures of the girls. They change so much, so quickly. And I confess that I added the sun flare on this picture of  Sami. It's just too fun with photoshop.  

Jonathan isn't really this much taller than me. I told him I didn't want to be taller so he is standing on a dirt pile.

Pictures For Daddy

This past week it rained, and then the temperature really dropped. In the morning, the girls wanted to go outside and I told them to bundle up because it was cold out. It was 52 degrees. Which, in our defense, is cold for us desert dwellers. It just cracked me up that they were dressed up for snow and ice. I texted Jonathan at the hospital and told him about our girls being dressed for the artic, and he responded that I should take pictures, because it is so funny. Our girls don't know what weather is. ☺

And then Jonathan gave the girls some Halloween candy that turned their tongues black. He thought it was so funny that he lined them up and had me take a picture with their tongues out. It's this kind of thing that makes Dads so great. I would have just told them to go brush their teeth.  

And on a personal note, I got my Young Women Recognition Award this week! When I was a Young Women, I finished my Personal Progress right before I left YW. Back then, you got 4 necklaces, one for each age and a big necklace when you finished all the Personal Progress. I got all 4 necklaces in one Sunday because I put off the program. Then my mom became  YW President in our ward and that all changed. She strongly encouraged me to work on Personal Progress.  And I am so glad I got my award as a Young Women.

And I have been a YW leader for a long time (5 years: 2 years in MO, and 3 years here in AZ). The whole time I have been a leader, I have been encouraged to do the YW Personal Progress Program. But it's easy not to do it. I was busy with work, and then acquiring babies, then raising babies, etc. And since I felt like I put my heart as well as my time into my calling, I didn't feel about not doing it. But I got to a spot in my life where I realized that I could do the program and I really wanted to do the program. Now, let me say, I did the modified program for the leaders. And I think it's awesome that the Church recognizes that as leaders, we do 10 hour projects ALL the time so they modify the program for us.   

I have been working on my Personal Progress just about every day for the past three months, and it felt so good to be done and get my necklace! I felt like I had really accomplished something big in my life. I do have a testimony of Personal Progress and I am going to strongly encourage my girls to do the program too. Even better, I'll do it with them and get another necklace to add to my collection ☺!

Adoption Ramblings

November is National Adoption Awareness Month. 

I love adoption.

Yesterday Jonathan and I went to the Southwest Region Adoption Conference. 

It was amazing.

I had a feeling we should go when I saw the class line-up. And miracle of miracles, Jonathan had the day off. My sweet mother-in-law babysat the girls so we could go. It was such a blessing to be there with my husband and know that the kids were having so much fun with their Grandma at home. 

Now, let me just say, that we are not in the adoption process right now. If I am still not pregnant when Jonathan is done with residency, we may start again. It's just that we never got to go to something like this conference when we were going through the process with Sami. And people told us it was awesome. It did not disappoint.

We took classes on raising a blended family (meaning adopted kids and biological kids), how to talk to your kids about the birds and the bees, how to help an adopted child develop a sense of identity, and classes about adopting trans-racially. It was so informative and I thought a lot about Sami, our experience, and her birth family.  

I also learned that foster parents are my ultimate heros. That our birthmom is really, really amazing. And that we were really blessed with our birth family and our experience. Things that I often taken for granted should not be taken for granted.

We came home and the girls were so excited to see us and that always makes my heart happy. That night for book time, Sami brought me the "How I Was Adopted Book," which I thought was interesting. So we read the story and talked about her adoption. I am pretty sure that Janie thinks she is adopted too. Sami's birth family are so thoughtful, they always remember Janie too. So I am sure they will claim her too until she comes to terms with the fact that she was, in fact, not adopted. Because adoption is pretty cool in our house. 

HaLLoWeEn WeEkeNd

On Saturday we went to the ward trunk-or-treat. We were so glad that Jonathan got to leave the hospital in time to take a quick nap and join us. The girls decided to change up their costumes from the preschool party. Sami went as Belle and Janie went as Barbie Princess Annalise. My mom sent the Barbie costume and it arrived in the mail two hours before the party. Janie just knew it was her costume! It was love at first sight.

And I got my witches hat and plume for a quarter at a yard sale on Saturday morning. The girls loved that I dressed up and was a witch. I felt kind of goofy, but it was fun.

My favorite part of the weekend was the primary program. It was our first primary program! Sami was so, so cute. There are nine sunbeams in her class and their part of the program was to sing "Jesus Wants Me For a Sunbeam." When it was time to sing, Sami went right to the front of the microphone and sang her heart out. Now, if I was totally honest, I would say that she kind of hogged the microphone. But since she is three, and so cute, and I'm her mother, I thought it was adorable! Jonathan had requested Sunday off so he could see her sing, and I must say we were such proud parents. Grandma Trish and Aunt Tami also came to see Sami sing, which was an extra special treat for Sami. I wish I could have videotaped it. As soon as Sami sat down, Janie started making her way out of the pew, determined to be with Sami. She kept saying "I want Sami." Next year is going to be just as fun with both of them up there. I can't wait.  

I wouldn't change it...

This past Tuesday night, Jonathan and I went to dinner to with his team of doctors that he is working with this rotation. Five female doctors, Jonathan, and I were at a Thai restaurant in downtown Scottsdale. I was a little intimated at first. I was the only woman at the table who wasn't a doctor (and Jonathan is the only male doctor on his team, poor guy) and we were the only ones who have children (although a med student there was pregnant with twins; I can't imagine residency with twins!).

There was a lot of talk about the hospital and medicine. These women are sharp, no doubt. But as I walked away and got in our dented minivan with the pink car seats in the back, I realized again how much I LOVE my life. I am so grateful that Heavenly Father has let me be a mother!! Not only that, but I get to stay home with them. I wouldn't change it for anything.

This week we also went to Sami's Halloween party for her preschool. Talk about fun. And organized. Her teacher is amazing and I am so glad Sami got in with her. With all of her little friends too. 

For Halloween, I just opened up the dress-up trunk and let them pick what they wanted. Both wanted to be Cinderella, but it was easy to talk Janie into another dress.  

My favorite part of Janie's costume is the back of her hat-the long, blond braid. So funny.  

This is Mrs. Carole. Sami wasn't sure about her costume at first, but Mrs. Carole is so nice, it was pretty easy to warm up to her.

Let the Halloween festivities begin! 

Party On!

Yesterday Sami went to two birthday parties, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Janie got to go to party in the afternoon. It was at a dance studio with most of the kids their age from church. They had been looking forward to it for a long time and of course, they loved it. I think they felt like true dancing princesses. And the cake and punch was pretty fun too.

All week they have been playing this AWESOME game where they tell me they are going to surprise me and that I have to go to my room and read. So I sit on my bed and read (heaven!) while they run around and clean up all their toys. Then they come into my room and yell "Surprise!" Then I go out and tell them how proud I am of them and give them hugs and kisses and give them a big treat. I didn't even care if the treat ruined their dinner because this type of behavior must be reinforced at all costs!! It's like Mother's Day or Christmas everytime they do it. Because clean up time has been a fight at our house lately.  I hope they keep it up. But if today is any indication, they are getting tired of the game. But I sure hope not. It's the most beautiful game that I've ever heard of...

One day this week when I was getting Sami ready for bed, she told me I was her best friend.

That melted my heart. Made my week.

I love you, Sami.