Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas!! And what a Merry Christmas we had!

Throughout this season I have been reminded of how blessed our family is and how lucky we are! We have each other, we are healthy, we are full, we are warm, and we are loved - loved by family and friends, but most importantly loved by our Savior. We have enjoyed celebrating His birth these past weeks!

I'll begin to show you what we've been doing, but I must say, I've got a brand new Whirley Pop waiting for me and a bed that's calling my name (man it's rough working 2 days a week! HA HA) so I may not get through our entire BUSY family filled weekend.

We woke up Christmas Eve and realized we had a lot to do! We had cookies, cake and salads to make, presents to wrap, a car to be packed and much more! Isaiah, Levi, and I started with the cookies - of course we wanted to bring a sweet treat to all of our parties, but we also needed some cookies to leave out for Santa! When visiting Santa at the mall, he informed us that chocolate chip were his favorite, so of course that's what we needed to make... (but daddy's favorite desserts include peanutbutter - so we, well, I, decided to make double peanutbutter chocolate chip!! YUM!).Before we knew it the morning was gone, Levi had napped, and it was time to get ready for church! Because the weather was questionable, and we had to get back to the ER to remove Levi's staples, we decided to go to the first service at our church at 3pm.

My boys looked so sweet. They were so impressed with the carolers who were singing in the lobby. Of course Levi started dancing to the music! :) You may notice the stickers on the kids' backs - those are for the nursery. We've decided to utilize the nursery/Sunday School program that our church offers for our boys. It lets Mark and I focus while in church and gives them the opportunity to learn about our Faith in an environment set up for them. We debated on taking Isaiah with us for Christmas Eve service, but decided not to.
After church, we went to the ER to have the staples removed. Surprisingly this was a breeze! Levi was happy-go-lucky the entire visit this time and was patient while the nurse removed them. Now we just hope his cut heals without infection!
Next we were off to Mark's dads house to celebrate with his family. We knew this would be an exciting time with five crazy brothers and four crazy grandkids, how could it not be? :)

Isaiah and Dakota turned into 'bears' and growled around...when someone asked Isaiah what kind of bear he was, he said he was a polar bear. :)daddy and grandpa decided to join in the fun, by this time, I think it was just wrestling and the bears were gone.
Later on, it was time for presents! Isaiah and Dakota waited so patiently for everyone to get their gifts before we started opening.Ready, go.
Somehow I made it in a picture! So I figured I'd better post it! :)
Isaiah and Dakota thought they were pretty cool in their new Sponge Bob sweatshirts! What is it with kids and Sponge Bob? We don't get to watch him at our house. If Isaiah sees him on TV he knows we don't get to watch it, and he'll say, "he's naughty." ha ha. But for some reason, he still thinks he's great. I don't get it! :)
We gave Mark's dad a UNI sweatshirt, they match!
Both Isaiah and Dakota (well, really Isaiah & Levi and Dakota & Khia) each got a new kitchen set from Grandpa and Grandma. Here are the dad's behind each set - why I got a picture of the dads instead of the kids with the kitchens is beyond me! I guess all I can say is, it was getting late.
Levi climbed up in the chair and just sat. He was all done partying for the day...and so were we, shortly after this picture we put on jammies and packed up to go home.
And before we went to bed, Isaiah made sure to set out a glass of milk to go with the cookies we made for Santa...
Well, I am going to stop here... but stay tuned, I'll post about our Christmas Day soon!

snowpants.

This week the big kids were obsessed with their snowpants. We've had lots of snow on the ground for quite awhile now and so the snow pants have been out and taken back and forth between our house and Jayda's. I must say, we only made it outside twice in the last two weeks, but they've had their snowpants on many more times than that!

One day I had them pause for a few pictures...

I think they turned out really cute.

I love you, Jayda.I love you, too.

"I want in on this too," says Levi."hey wait! I want to be in the picture, too!"
don't worry, I have a few pictures of them in the snow too...
that'll be next.

our first trip to the ER! yikes!

Last night we were at an extended family Christmas party all having a great time, the boys love this side of the family gatherings because there are 35 great-grandkids to play with, when we had a little accident! Levi was playing by with his cousin when he fell over backwards right into the metal railing of the stairs. He immediately started screaming so I picked him up and everyone said, "he's bleeding, he's bleeding!!!" and sure enough he had blood all down his head and on my hands. Mark took him and we got a towel and applied pressure, but knew we needed to get to the Emergency Room for a doctor to see it. Thankfully Mark's grandma lives just behind Covenant so it was a 5 minute drive away! We thought we'd leave Isaiah at the party and go, but with all of the commotion and with Levi bleeding, Isaiah started screaming at the thought of us leaving him there (in any other circumstance, I don't think he would have noticed if we left him). So Grandma Cindy said, "Go, I'll be right behind you." And off the four of us went. Levi was still bleeding and we were all a little scared, so Mark held Levi in the front seat while I drove (don't tell the police!). We made it to the ER and they took us right back to a room. Luckily by this time the bleeding had stopped and all Levi wanted to do was get down and explore. Grandma Cindy arrived with a few Christmas gifts to keep both boys distracted (Good idea!! Thank you!!). But before we knew it this really nice doctor came in to look at Levi. She was so nice and gentle with him. She told us that he needed to have the cut stapled or glued and gave us information on both. We decided to have it stapled. She then looked over Levi quickly and said, "Has his ears been bothering him? or is he teething?" and what do you know, he also had an ear infection. (I wasn't surprised because he was really cranky the day before and his first molars are popping through). Poor little boy. Anyway, she left, Levi played in the sink and Isaiah and grandma went off to explore the hospital. A few minutes later the doctor came back with a nurse to staple him up! (yikes!) They had me hold him and told me to hold him tight. The nurse then looks at me and says, "Are you okay?" I just looked at her, and she says, "why don't you sit down?" So I did. They quickly cleaned his cut with alcohol and then put two little staples in his head. He SCREAMED for about 30 seconds and then was just fine. He wanted to get down and explore. They hadn't taken any of Levi's insurance information or even his basic information yet, so we went out to give that. Levi was happy and walking around. You wouldn't have guessed that he just had his head stapled without any numbing and that he had an ear infection. We decided to go back to the Christmas party -- we wanted to make sure everyone knew he was okay - and we didn't want Isaiah to miss out on the fun (Santa was just about to arrive at the party!!!).

Whew! What a night! I'm still shocked that our whole trip to the emergency room only took 45 minutes and that Levi was such a trooper!

Our little patient

Thanks grandma for coming to help and for thinking to bring toys to distract!
His little ow-ey. (the next day, it doesn't look too bad, does it?)

Back at the party.
Santa brought Isaiah a really fun Cranium Polar Bear game

and he brought Levi the book "Little Hands Love" Levi wasn't sure of him, so he just watched Santa from a distance.

Presents from Great Grandma! Look at all the kids -- that's only about half of them! Isaiah got his first set of "real" Legos (which he has already spent lots of time with and LOVES) and Levi got a Build-a-Bear that's white with red and blue stars. She named him Iron Man, which is the name of Mark's Army Unit. Thank you so much Great Grandma!!

Mark making Levi sit still. He really wanted to be running around!

Isaiah and Dakota playing together with his new toy, Isaiah and Dakota have so much fun together! Aren't cousins fun!
I must say, it was quite the adventure! But we survived, and we did it together!

this week...in pictures.

With the all of the snow, getting ready for Christmas, Mark finishing his last (yes, last!) semester of classes (he has an internship this coming semester and he GRADUATES in MAY!! HOORAY!), and all the little things in between, we have been really busy around our house this last month or so! That being said, I feel like I could write 2 posts a day just to fill you in, but I won't make you read all of that, haha! :) I'll just give you a small taste in pictures.

This week...

we had a fun playdate/pizza party with Erika and Rhea!

we received lots of fun Christmas cards, the boys like the singing dog card from Great Grandma & Grandma the best (thanks everyone!!)

Daddy and Isaiah went to a UNI mens basketball game and had a great time! (Mommy and Levi stayed home to wrap some presents)

we welcomed Grandpa back to Iowa after his week trip to California (wish we could have joined you!!)

we wrapped lots of presents, well, I wrapped lots of presents while the boys stepped on and played with the paper -- sorry if your present from us looks like it's wrapped in used paper! ha ha
the boys had fun dumping out an almost full box of rasin bran all over the kitchen floor and then decided to eat it. I had fun cleaning it up. (I must say, Mark wasn't too upset about this, I bought him the raisin brain with extra raisins and for some reason he just doesn't like eating a bowl of raisins with a few flakes for breakfast?? :). I told him we could give it away, but he said he'd just eat it -- hmmm, maybe he was in on this fun after all??? :)
We also had fun with Keira who came to play while her mommy went to a meeting, hanging out with LeAnna and making a late (for us, 7:45pm) trip to Target, a morning out at the playgym (daddy's first time with us - hooray for Christmas break!), adventures with Jayda and Jonah, and Mark and I actually got to go on a date last night (we went to the Christmas play at the Lampost Theatre)! Whew! And tonight we are off to our first Christmas gathering of the year! So you see, it's a crazy place around here!

snow days!

Last week we got so much snow here that we had a real snow day, as in all schools AND all (okay, most) businesses were closed-including my work and Mark's classes. We were completely snowed in for the entire day, the four of us all together. We got over 11 inches of snow that day. It was so pretty!

After a lazy morning and early afternoon, we decided we'd better go out and start on the driveway. Good thing we did! It took a few turns outside that afternoon, and another 45 minutes the next morning. Isaiah was quite the trooper outside helping. He lasted just about as long as Mark and I did the first day! The next morning I gave the kids each breakfast and hurried outside. A few minutes later, Isaiah comes outside with his boots, hat and coat (unzipped) on and says, "I want to help!!!" It was so cute and sweet of him, but he quickly realized that without gloves and an unzipped coat, that it was way too cold outside. He went right back inside. :) It was really cold, so Levi didn't get to come outside. Maybe next time!

This storm made snowblower jump to the top of our wish list! Maybe they'll have a really good sale on them sometime soon!! (If you run across that sale, let me know!!).

Isaiah says...

After a REALLY long night at church getting our directory pictures taken, Isaiah and daddy snuggled up together to watch a show. Isaiah was extra cuddly and said, "you're my best friend, daddy." So sweet! :)

Yesterday afternoon Isaiah was lying on the floor in the toy room and started to move his legs in arms as if he were making a snow angel. I asked him, "are you making snow angels, Isaiah?" "No, I'm making snow Isaiah's." he replied! :)

This afternoon Isaiah and I went to the grocery store. As we were pushing the cart full out to the car, he says, "what's that girl talking about?" He was asking about another random customer walking back to her car. I said, "I don't know." I really didn't - I didn't even notice her. He said, "I think she's talking about Levi." ha ha. Levi wasn't even with us.

He's such a funny little boy. He always keeps things interesting!!

Blankie

I mentioned that Levi has grown attached to his blankie. I must say this is thanks to our little buddy Jonah! Several months ago now, Jonah left his blankie at home so I searched through the stack of baby blankets we have to find the one closest to his and found once that is VERY close. We had it out just for the day that Jonah was here without his. Somehow it ended up in the cradle in my bedroom. Isaiah likes to play in the cradle (and sometimes pretend it's his "ocean" and he's a fish or whale :) ha ha)...

Anyway, this blanket reappeared a couple weeks ago. And Levi has started to carry it around when he's tired (just like Jonah) and likes to cuddle with it while he sleeps (just like Jonah).

I must admit, it's pretty cute!

Having the second blanket out while Jonah is here makes things easier too - Levi would often find Jonah's blankie and carry it around -- making Jonah very mad! :)

The other night, shortly before bed, Levi had his blankie and was playing peek-a-boo with me! He thought of this all on his own!

Let's play a game, mommy...Where's Levi (he did this all on his own!)Peek-a-boo!And here he is one nap-time snuggling close with the blankie.