Don't sit on Baby Jesus!

Our Christmas festivities began a week ago yesterday with Levi’s Mom’s side of the family’s party. We had a lot of fun. The food was delicious, the gift exchange was very fun and then we played 10 cent bingo. Levi will probably add onto the bottom of this post all about the bingo game he created in excel. I never win bingo and I actually won, not just once but twice! I still haven’t decided what to do with my $2.20. We then spent Christmas eve with Levi’s Dad’s side of the family. The food there was also delicious. We played a game of Apples to Apples; that has got to be my favorite game, so fun! Christmas morning we spent at home with just the 3 of us.

We each took a turn opening a present with Claire (I feel bad that we only got Claire 2 presents for Christmas but at the same time it’s kind of silly to spend a bunch of money on toys she won’t be able to use for a while). She wasn’t very into it lol, but it was fun for us. Claire and I got Levi a pair of slippers, a Wii game and pistachio nuts and they got me a robe, a hot pink duffel bag and the newest Nicholas sparks book. It was a much lighter Christmas this year but we didn’t mind because Claire is the best Christmas present we could have ever asked for. Then we traveled up to my parent’s house and spent the afternoon with my immediate family. More good food, ahh, I’m supposed to be losing weight not gaining it!

Our nephews and niece are so adorable and they constantly make us laugh. Zenna is 18 months and she opened several presents of clothes, she would then try to put them on our dog. We kept telling her that they are her clothes. And the boys were being little Wii hogs. But it was pretty entertaining watching them. Both Claire and Zenna were dead asleep after opening presents. I love spending time with my family; we always have so much fun. I just wish we lived closer and could see them more often.

Christmas evening we stopped by the Borts’. I should have just wired my mouth shut, seriously, there was more good food and I have no self control! Levi was in heaven with their meat pie (I think they called them pasties) and leftover breakfast pizza. Then they made this delicious drink called a Hot Godiva (no alcohol in ours) but they were marshmallow crème, 2% milk and Hershey syrup. I couldn’t drink it fast enough!

The day after Christmas was my Mom’s side of the family’s Christmas party. This year it was moved to my Grandma’s church building because we can’t fit anywhere else! After another delicious meal, Levi took family pictures and then we had our little nativity scene Christmas program. Since Claire is the newest baby she was the baby Jesus. I told her that that was the only time she was allowed to cross dress. Levi didn’t want to be Joseph (this is Levi talking, this has to be the most ridiculous and embarrassing tradition ever, period.), and since Mary can’t be single, my brother Colin was Joseph. Our nephew Rayden sat on my other brother, Eric’s shoulders and was the star, and Kolten (our other nephew) was a shepherd. The rest of the shepherds and angels are all of my cousins’ children, my Mom and Aunt Cheryl narrated and the wise men were my cousin’s husbands; geez there sure are a lot of us these days! Zenna was sitting up there with us; she sat on Baby Jesus and then stole Kolten’s gun and kept pressing the button. I don’t think that’s quite how the story really went but it was pretty darn funny. Our gift exchange was really fun. We ended up leaving with an awesome ice scraper and some chocolate covered pretzels. Levi had gotten some sort of cold but he was such a trooper and still went.

Claire was so good at all of our Christmas parties! I am so grateful for all of our family and friends that have already shown Claire so much love. I think she is just so happy to be in this world and is just soaking it all up. It’s crazy how much harder it is to get out the door to all of these things with her. I’m still not quite sure how we did it all but it was all so wonderful and I wouldn't have it any other way. We hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you a very Happy New Year!

Christmas Craziness!

This last week has been absolute craziness! We finally got our tree up on Monday. Our living room is a little more squished than normal but luckily we only have to deal with it for another couple days.

Starting Wednesday I’ve been going into work after Levi gets home. I guess this is the busiest they’ve ever been. That nasty freezing we had a week or two ago has really done some damage to people’s pipes. So I just go in for like 2 hours. It’s kind of nice to get out of the house for a little bit and give Levi and Claire some Daddy-Daughter time. But it’s really hard on days that I haven’t gotten much sleep.

So Thursday I took Claire to the pediatrician. I’ll spare you all of the gory details but she’s still having a hard time going #2. When I called and spoke with the triage nurse the night before she kept asking questions implying that Claire isn’t poohing because she hasn’t gotten enough to eat and that is definitely not the problem. So she was weighed, drum roll please……. 11 lbs 15 ounces! She’s gained 3 lbs in a month! Our doctor was super impressed with her weight gain; she checked her out and said that all was well and that she is just using her food very efficiently. And just so everyone else knows this (because I had no idea) she said that it isn’t uncommon for infants to only go once a week! And she said to be prepared because it’ll be huge; great something to look forward to. ;)

When I got home from work Thursday night Levi had the best surprise ever for me. He had taken Claire to get a picture with Santa. It has got to be the cutest picture ever! I’m still so impressed that he got her all dressed and braved the mall with her. I haven’t even made it to the mall with her yet.

Last night was our little ward Christmas party. It was so wonderful. We go to church with such great people. The talent is amazing; it seems like everybody either plays an instrument or sings beautifully. Well everybody except for Levi and me. Back in the day when I was a teenager, I was dating this guy and we went to his house after our date. His family was very musically inclined and it was around Christmas time. When we got there, his sister was playing the piano and the rest of his family was singing Christmas carols. We joined in and it was really fun. Later, this guy said something along the lines of, “My sister was really impressed that you sang even though your voice isn’t very good.” Ouch, so needless to say I keep my singing to myself now.

Baby Claire loves her little jungle mat (thanks Tia!). I try to put her down on it a couple times a day for some exercise. She is so cute though, she hits the hangy-downy things (I haven’t quite figured out if that’s on accident or if she actually meant to) and then just watches as they swing back and forth. And she’s smiling at us! It is the cutest, toothless smile I have ever seen. It literally just melts my heart!

Well I had better get going, Levi’s family’s Christmas party is in just a couple hours and I’m not even finished getting ready yet.

Baby Blessing

Yesterday was Claire’s baby blessing. For those of you that aren’t LDS (aka Mormon), this is a blessing that is given to a baby usually by the baby’s father, in other religions it’s called a “christening”. The father and other worthy men chosen by the baby’s family stand in a circle around the baby while the blessing is given. Baby boys usually wear an all white suit or romper type thing and girls wear a white dress. My Mother made Claire’s dress and I can’t even believe how wonderfully it turned out; she is so incredibly talented.

So Levi gave the blessing and it was absolutely beautiful. He blessed that she would be obedient and always read her scriptures, say her prayers and attend her church meetings. He also said that he always wanted her to know how much her family loves her and to be a peacemaker and not hold on to grudges, and blessed her that her body might be strong and work the way it’s supposed to. We had so many family members come out for it. They took up 3 and a half of the middle pews at church; it was like 35 people! Then afterwards everyone came over to our home for a light lunch and just to visit. It was a little cramped in our tiny home but it was so nice to get to visit with everyone. We have such wonderful families; we are so grateful for all of them!

-Elizabeth



P.S. I still can't believe we fit this many people in our house, it was like a clown car!

-Levi

Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

After 2 years of Christmas tree shopping in a parking lot, we decided to make it a tradition of going to a u-cut and picking out a perfect tree. Levi knew someone at work whose family owns a Christmas tree farm. We got out of the car, walked to the Douglas firs and decided on the first one we saw. Levi’s coworker was so nice, cut it down and hauled up for us. He even bailed it and threw it on top of our car! So it ended up being more of a u-pick, we-cut. But then on the way home we heard a loud noise. Crap, did our tree just fall off!? Levi was on the phone and there was nowhere to pull over so we were trying to adjust the mirrors but had no luck being able to see the tree. We pulled into the driveway and I held my breath as I opened the door and looked on top of the car. Hallelujah, it’s a Christmas miracle; our tree was still there.

Grabby Gus

Yep, that’s right. Claire has learned how to grab things and she won’t let go. A lot of times when I’m nursing her, she’ll grab onto my shirt. This presents a problem when I go to set her down in her bassinet. Both of my hands are lowering her into her bassinet and her sneaky little hand still has a hold of my shirt. So I have to bend over with her until I have set her down and then very carefully pull her hand off my shirt. Another of her favorite items to grab is Daddy’s headphones. She gets that from me. Sometimes that’s just the only way to get his attention. A couple days ago Levi was holding Claire when all of a sudden I hear Levi scream. I go running thinking the worst, like that our baby isn’t breathing or he dropped her or something. I exclaim, “what’s wrong!?” and Levi said, “Ouch! That really hurt! She just pulled my chest hairs!” And then a minute later he said, “Gross, she has some of my chest hairs in her hand.”

This last Sunday we took Claire to church for the first time. We tried to go last week but she kept me up the night before so then I wasn’t feeling so good. She was so good! She slept right through the first and second hour while Levi held her. But then it was time for Relief Society and just a couple minutes in, Claire started grumbling. So I went and changed her diaper and fed her and then she was a sleep again and it was time to go home. She did however manage to pee on one of her socks while I was changing her diaper. I’ve always known that boys were really bad about peeing when their diapers are off (Thanks to my little brother Eric for peeing on me 3 times when he was a baby) but Claire does it too. And contrary to all laws of gravity, it goes up! And at just the precise moment her little ninja foot wiggled right under the stream. But I should count my blessings that it was a #1 and not a #2.


We're going to the chapel



Today was the nursing support group again. Claire is almost 5 weeks old and weighs 10 lbs 13 oz! It was funny; I was sitting next to a girl I have never seen there before. Her baby girl was 3 months old but she looked super small. I asked her how much she weighed and she said “Oh 10 something” and so I was thinking her baby had to have been a preemie but no, she weighed like 7 and a half pounds at birth. Maybe it’s because Claire is so long but she doesn’t look chubby to me, she just looks healthy.

Something exciting happened tonight. I put Claire on her back on the floor while we were putting away laundry and she rolled onto her side all by herself. She stayed on her side for a couple minutes but never quite made it to her tummy.


Almost on her tummy

I’m really sorry if there are spelling/grammatical errors. I’m usually very concerned with double checking but I’m so sleepy I don’t really care so I am going to bed. Good night!
-Elizabeth

Mmmmm… is this hand shucked?

I can't believe Claire is 4 weeks old today! Where has the time gone?

Tuesday we had our nursing support group again. I really think we’ve gotten the hang of the whole nursing thing but I just keep going to make sure Claire is gaining the appropriate amount of weight. And plus it’s an excuse to get out of the house. Claire weighed in at 10 lbs 2 oz! She gained 12 ounces in a week. The nurses like to see at least an ounce a day so she is doing excellent. The only downside to her weight gain is that she can no longer fit into her newborn clothes. Darn, there were some super cute ones!

Claire does the cutest things while she’s nursing. I would videotape it but that would be slightly pornographic. She makes all sorts of little noises while she’s eating. It reminds me and Levi of What About Bob when Bob is eating dinner with the psychiatrist and his family and while eating corn on the cob he says, “Mmmm… Mmmm… Mrs. M. Mmmmm… is this hand shucked?” She also plays with and grabs her hair which has got to be the most adorable thing ever! And usually her other hand is stroking my side.

She’s really been getting so expressive lately. Everyday her smiles become more and more real and not just the result of gas. We’ve caught her sucking her thumb a couple times. We’re wondering if that is going to become a normal thing or if it was just an accident. We tried giving her a binky but she wasn’t too excited about that idea. She sucked enthusiastically for a minute and then made a stink face and spit it out. We keep trying though because she seems to just want to suck sometimes. I don’t know how I got so lucky with such a great baby. Every couple nights she sleeps for about 6 hours. The other nights are only 3-4 hours at a time but I can’t complain. She also loves her swing. I set her in it when I have to make dinner or do some chores and most of the time she falls asleep but like right now she’s in there just looking around and taking it all in. She especially likes watching the little mobile in her swing. I think this is pretty common with most babies but Claire loves lights. She loves to look at the sunlight coming through the blinds and this little light up toy she has.




It was really cute yesterday I was holding her so she was facing me and Roxcy (our dog) was sitting behind her. I was talking to Claire and Roxcy thought that someone else was here so she barked and Claire jumped and then started to cry, it must have scared her. Roxcy barks a lot though and Claire has never reacted like that. But as soon as I snuggled Claire and told it was ok she stopped crying. I just love that she is starting to respond to us and her environment; it’s so fun to watch her learning about the world around her.

I love being a Mommy. It's seriously the best thing ever! I’m really starting to feel like I’m getting the hang of this whole thing. And I'm finally starting to feel like myself again. It's so much more wonderful than I could have ever expected. Now if only I could get caught up on the housework, but I would just rather stare at my beautiful baby all day!

-Elizabeth

Gobble Gobble

I’ve asked Levi to write the Thanksgiving blog but it’s been a week now so I gave up on him. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. We first went to Levi’s Grandma & Grandpa Longs’ and enjoyed a most excellent meal with all the trimming along with his Aunt Rae & Doug. Rae brought brussell sprouts (they were in a delicious cream of some sort), which I have never had before and they were super good. I love his Grandma’s corn and rolls, they’re my fave. And we had some yummy banana cream pie; it was out of this world!

Next it was on to my parents’ house. My Aunt Cheryl, Uncle John, Grandma & Granddad were there in addition to my Mom, Dad & Eric. The highlights of the meal were my Mom’s stuffing (she puts sausage in it; to die for), some yummy artichoke and spinach dips and not to brag but I do make some darn good candied yams. I usually make candied sweet potatoes however the sweet potatoes were like 65 cents a pound and the yams were 27 cents. And really it only would have been a couple dollars difference but it irritated me so I just went with the cheaper yams. Ok so there is a difference for all of you that use the two interchangeably. Yams are orange and funny shaped and the sweet potatoes are more of a potato shape and color and are much sweeter than yams. Anyhow, my Aunt Cheryl made some delicious desserts, pumpkin pie, pecan pie and pumpkin cheesecake. The pumpkin cheesecake was amazing! Two of my favorite desserts combined, it doesn’t get much better than that.

On our way home we stopped off at Dan & Lacey’s. Lacey needed a Baby Claire fix. And we ate some of their apple pie. I don’t know how our bellies hadn’t exploded by then. We always stay too late at their house but it’s always just so wonderful to see them and we always have so much fun. Claire was so good all day. She only cried a couple times when she needed to be fed. Her Grandma Janet bought the adorable bib you see in the pictures.

We are so blessed and have so much to be grateful for this year; most importantly a healthy, adorable baby girl. We’re also so grateful for:
-Such a great pregnancy, labor and delivery
-Each other and a happy marriage
-Our wonderful families, immediate and extended
-Great friends and an amazing ward
-That we are an eternal family and for the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ
-That we are able to provide for ourselves financially

The list could go on and on but I would like to go to bed. I hope you all also had a wonderful Thanksgiving!