Christmas With Mezmur, Rhett, and Mavis

Awww...Christmas.  This year we spent Christmas Eve in Salem with Dan's Dad.  We had fun tearing up Aunt Anne and Uncle Ryan's house while they were out of town.  We sat on all their fancy chairs and drank all their fancy wine (at the perfect temperature).  Just kidding.  But we did eat their chocolate and catch their toaster on fire.

 Murray and Dobby got lots of people food.  Not by choice!  Boy, they sure act out when their parents aren't home.  Sorry, A and R, but you may need to retrain your dogs when you come home.  I think their Grandpa is too lenient.

 I found this dress for Mavis at Goodwill a couple days before Christmas.  I love it!  I also love her muddy knees before church. 

 We ate chicken potpie and watched A Muppet Christmas Carol.  After the movie the kids put on their mama made Christmas pjs.  I LOVE how Rhett's turned out, but I don't love the girl's.  Too much fabric and not the cutest results.  I used Rhett's old Pac-Man sheets for the big kids.

It has a cute classic look, but not very practical and a little "itchy."

 Mavis was a royal wreck on Christmas Eve.  She wouldn't pose by the fire for me.

By the time we got home from Salem...I was spent.  I got the big kids to bed and was getting ready to take a breather to watch an episode of Revenge and make a Christmas pickle, then I remembered...we forgot milk and cookies!  Now, do I get Mezmur out of bed or do I just forget about it?  I was so close to skipping milk and cookies, but I got her out of bed and just her and I put out the Santa treat.  It was a sweet moment.  I'm glad I got her out of bed and was glad to put her back in bed.

 The tree.  Before the day was over...one of those tea party cups will be broken, due to a little girl (Mezmur) "slamming it down."

 Here is Mavis' finished Waldorf doll.  I crocheted for the first time ever to make the hair and knit her a sweater.  Her pjs even match Mavis' Christmas pjs.

Christmas morning.

 Thank you sweet baby Jesus.  A piano I don't have to hear ALL DAY LONG.  Don't get me wrong,  I LOVE hearing Rhett play the piano, but we have a very small house and the piano is very loud.

 This was the year of Hello Kitty and Barbie for Mezmur.  She asked Santa for a Barbie for Christmas.  I was resistant, but I figure...I'll be messing her up a lot more than a Barbie ever could.  I searched Ebay for one that didn't look too much like a street walker and we ended up with a 1984 black astronaut Barbie. 

 Mavis liked her doll I made for about 2 minutes then she wanted me to take off all the clothes then she threw it on the ground and grabbed the doll she got last Christmas.  Oh, well.

Christmas was another success.  I made brunch for the family (mom, grandad, and Jay), which included our Christmas cranberry coffee cake, leek and asparagus frittata, bacon, sausage, and fruit salad.  For Christmas we got a Rancilio Silvia espresso maker!  Yes, we did!!!  Today (the day after  Christmas) I made us the best lattes ever!  Ever!  I can't wait for tomorrow morning, so I can do it again.  We stayed home in our pjs the whole day and went to Portland International Raceway to see the lights.  I'm not going to lie...Christmas day felt like the day that would never end, but I'm sure there were lots of memories made.  Like taking turns diving the car at P.I.R., learning what techno music was and learning about how to play the theme to Seinfeld on Rhett's new keyboard, and finally sitting down to watch another episode of Revenge while I worked on a Christmas gift for a member of the family for a later Christmas celebration...see?...the day that may never end.



Christmas Time

On a mild Monday afternoon in early December...

This might be the best photo ever with all three kids.

Notice Mavis' cute Portland hipster coat?  If you can't see, it has deer wearing glasses and hot pink piping.  I don't think I'll get to the big kids coats until after Christmas.  Christmas pjs are still in the works.

 Rhett chose the tree this year.  He was very proud.

 Mavis was excited too!

 And just like any family fun adventure (or just about anything we do) one child will have a fit.  It was Mezmur's turn this time.  This was either over the fact that she thought the tree Rhett chose was "too fat!" or that we wouldn't let her navigate the wagon with the tree on it through the trees.  I believe she had a fit over both on this trip.

 The "golden child" just laughs.

 I take it back...this is the best photo ever with all three kids...

Right before this trip to see Santa Rhett sat us down and said, "I WANT TO KNOW THE TRUTH."  After a little him and hawing...we told him.  Rhett has always been cynical and logical (like father like son), so I'm not surprised that this was THE year.  It was more sad for me than him, so I call it a success.  He was refusing to sit with Santa, because, "It's for little kids."  Regardless that the kids in front of us were middle schoolers.  I guess my guilting worked ("kids do it for their parents, to make their moms happy"), because at the last minute he agreed to stand for the photo.  He wasn't happy about it. 

Mavis was too scared to smile, Mezmur was too shy to smile, and Rhett was too mad to smile, but alas...the best photo ever!  Trust me...out of about 10, this was the very best.

 

You might be wondering...how is she surviving the break so far.  We are almost a week in and I'm hanging by a thread.  I started no-nurse-to-sleep sleep training yesterday after I hit my breaking point.  So far, it has been very successful.  Today, I nursed her for a little bit and left her in bed while she was still wide awake.  She protested a bit, but after I brought her a baby, she didn't make another peep.  SUCCESS!  Also, last weekend in a very horrible lapse of judgement I gave Rhett a consequence...NO COMPUTER/VIDEO GAMES FOR THE WHOLE WEEK!  The second the words left my mouth I knew I was doomed.  I've stuck to it (except for one play date) and Rhett is actually more pleasant to live with after a short couple of days, which I refer to as "the shakes."  Once "the shakes" are over I might find him making up a card game or needle felting a Christmas banner or finger knitting a scarf for his sister.  Now, that's a Christmas miracle!

Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving break was soooooo long.  I took it day by day.  One day Rhett played computer games all day...and the next we did lots of art.  It's all about the balance. 

 We went to Salem for Thanksgiving this year.  We had a great time.  First there were turkey hands and a turkey plane.

 Then there was cousin time.  Just look at those cuties!

 Next...ELF!

Oh, Mavis.  Always so photogenic.

 Rhett got to use Aunty Anne's Butter Beer mug.  He was only a little embarrassed excited about it.

Rhett likes to sneak into photos when I don't want him and scream at me or disappear when I want to take a photo of him.  Pain in the ass.

 Cousin Lucy helps stir the sweet potatoes.

 After dinner Rhett draws a picture of his favorite part of Thanksgiving.

I love spending quality time with my kids.  It's everything in between that can be really difficult.  Only two more weeks until Christmas break...how did that happen?  I've been a sewing/knitting machine over here.  Mavis and I got new Christmas coats a little early.  I'm working on 3 pairs of Christmas pjs, I just finished a Waldorf doll for Mavis, I'm working on a sweater for it, and I hope to make 2 more kids coats...we'll see.

 

I'm skipping my yearly hotel stay this year and I'm extremely sad about it.  I did it last year, but Mavis came later to spend the night with me.  Oh, Mavis...next year if you aren't sleeping through the night...I'm going anyway!

Mavis Miriam, P.I.

I just can't get enough of this photo.

Halloween Minus The Rainbow Bench

Holy crap.  It's almost Thanksgiving. 

 

We went to the pumpkin patch on a beautiful day and I didn't bring my camera.  I mean, I wore a sleeveless sundress.  It was beautiful!  I brought my camera on this crappy day at the pumpkin patch though...

This Halloween I had time to make 2 costumes!!!

The glory of having a baby is...dressing them up as you wish.  Mavis got to be a garden gnome and the cutest garden gnome I've ever seen...if I do say so myself.  I knit her hat, made her shirt, and jumper.  All the fabric came from my stash.  Yay, fabric hoarders!!!  It may have come out as my proudest Halloween costume achievement...you be the judge...I think she was made to dress up as a garden gnome.

This was the best and only photo of all the kids together...why no rainbow bench?  Well, Dan got a new job and it's not as close to Embers...bummer.  Maybe the rainbow bench will make an appearance in coming years...when I have an extra 5 minutes to do something that is a little out of the way...what do us stay-at-home moms do all day?

I took the kids out for a photo shoot, because I knew the only other photos I would get would be the back of their heads while they trick-or-treated in the dark.  Mavis was no better than that at the park...

Mezmur requested that she dressed as a princess who wears every color...she was a rainbow princess.

War of the wands.  I never thought I would say, "Don't say, avada kedavra!"  (please click on the link...you will not be disappointed)

Who taught her to pose like this?  Seriously, who? 

I made Mezmur's costume as well.  I went over the top rainbow and she loved it.  We even made a rainbow wand and her beads in her hair are in rainbow order.  I used the same pattern as the flower girl dresses and just added lots of embellishments.  See the layered rainbow tulle?

Rhett requested Harry  Potter.  Him and Dan are deep into Harry Potter right now and Rhett took the costume very seriously. 

 I mean seriously...look at this little gnome.

 Oh, Billy.  Always following us on our walks.

Update: I'm still up 4-8 times a night, but amazingly, I function like a semi-normal person.  That, or I forget how I functioned before.

 

Yay Obama!!!  I dreamt that he would be president for 8 years and our future daughter from Ethiopia would know there was an African American president and that he was an awesome president.  Today she pretends she has daughters and their names are Sasha and Malia.

 

Apparently the insurance company doesn't think a giant hole in your stomach is medically necessary to repair.  So, it will be more difficult than we thought for insurance to cover it, but with a relentless husband like Dan...I'll be fine.  Also, regardless of the pain in the ass insurance...I'll be having the surgery.

 

I forgot to document my favorite thing the plastic surgeon said to me.  He said, "You will loose your belly button in the surgery, but don't worry!  I'll make you a new one!"  I might prefer looking like an alien.

September Happenings

I'm writing this in between screams, making dinner, and homework (not mine)...but I WILL write a blog post...if it's the last thing I do!  September has come and gone...sort of like a haze, but I'll try to remember what happened, because this is my journal after all.  It's funny, my sister-in-law (love ya Anne!) asked the other day, "Aren't you so relieved that school has started again?"  Relief doesn't describe back to school to me...at all.  Back to school does mean some much needed distance from a couple of my kids, but it also means...pick ups and drop offs, parent helping, soccer practice, homework (!)...all while managing the transitions at each thing (which continues to be tough for Rhett), getting dinner on the table, all while trying to do the things I love...the things that keep me a happy mom (sewing and knitting).  Yes, I know...women have been doing it for hundreds of years, but man, it's not easy. 

 

Mezmur's first day of school.  

 Mezmur is so happy to be back to school.

 BOO-YA!  Take that gender stereotypes.

 Look at that face...man, I love her.

 Oh, soccer.  Rhett's team is a bit like Bad News Bears, but he has fun...that's all that counts.  I can't say I love two soccer practices a week or "loosing" a whole Saturday to a game in the middle of the day, but I guess I better get used to it...I have two more kids.  I see a lot of soccer practices in my future. 

 An action shot.

 Mavis is now 18 months.  She is changing very fast.  She LOVES her sister and lovingly calls her "Nonie."  It is possibly the cutest thing ever. 

 In anticipation for my coming surgery (read below) I've started to wean Mavis.  A couple weeks ago I hit a wall.  Mavis is still up around 5 times a night on average.  Usually, she would fall right back to sleep, but a couple weeks ago she was staying up for up to an hour and a half nursing the whole time.  I was drunk on lack of sleep.  I was so tired...I was nauseous.  Oh, and I wanted to kill everyone.  Dan and I made a serious plan to night wean her, but then...(personal info coming up) I started my first period in 27 months.  NO WONDER I WANTED TO KILL EVERYONE and no wonder I was so tired and no wonder Mavis was nursing so much...she probably wasn't getting what she wanted.  Then...I got all weepy about weaning Mavis, so I bailed on the night weaning plan.  It's a good thing Dan is so supportive.  Instead of starting with the night weaning...I've decided to start with the daytime weaning.  It has been very successful!  Mavis used to want to nurse every time I sat down at the computer, or sat at the table, or sat on the couch, or sat on the floor to play with her, or every time she was bored...there was a lot of nursing going on.  Now, I can sit at the computer without nursing Mavis!!!  She still asks to nurse, but I say "not now" and sometimes I need to do some serious distracting, but it works every time.  She nurses only at nap and bedtime (and all night long) and today...she didn't even nurse at nap time.  Complete weaning will be easier than I thought...thankfully.  It still makes me a little weepy, but all good things must come to an end.

Me?  I'm fine.  Thank  God for supportive husbands, wine, coffee, sewing, and knitting (in that order) or I might just loose my mind.  Oh, and if another old lady touches my stomach and asks if I'm pregnant...well, I don't know what I'll do, but the old lady better watch out. 

I did have my much anticipated plastic surgeon appointment last month.  He said that I have one of the worst cases he has seen in 22 years.  I have a 4-5" by about 12" hole in my stomach...making me look about 6 months pregnant.  A normal lady 6 months...not a me at 6 months.  My ab muscles are basically hanging out on the side and my guts get pushed forward with no protection.  It isn't a diastasis or a thinning of the abdominal wall...it is a large hole.  The only way to repair it is through surgery...I wish I could fix it with exercise or Mayan massage.  I'm thinking I'll have the surgery around the first of the year...by then Mavis should be weaned...maybe.  I just can't wait to NOT LOOK PREGNANT!  Hell, a maternity nurse in the elevator at the plastic surgeon office said, "You look so cute."  Me: "Thanks?"  Her:  "I'm sure you are feeling VERY pregnant..."  Nice.