Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

Hudson rolled from his back to his tummy today, and we are so proud. He is such a big boy.

Once There Was a Snowman

Early in the morning, around the hour of three when I was walking the floor with Hudson, I was excited to see that it was snowing (all of our other snow had melted when it rained). And seeing as how it was the perfect snow for building snowmen—only people who have spent a time in the snow understand this. One can’t build a snowman with just any snow. It has to be the sticky kind. Not the fluffy powder kind—I decided to help Elle build her first snowman. As Elle and I were making snowballs and then rolling them around our backyard, I couldn’t help but reminisce about times of making snowmen during my childhood. I remember one incident in particular:

It was during the time that my family lived across the street from the football field. It had snowed quite a bit, and I remember that I wanted to roll a snowball clear across the football field into my yard. Why? I have no idea. But since I got the idea in my head, I just had to do it. So, I started out with a small snowball, and by the time I got halfway across the football field, the snowball was rather large. I was having quite a difficult time pushing it. My friend, Cody, who lived down the street, was trying to help me. We slowly inched the snowball farther and farther, until at last, we couldn’t move it anymore. It was too large. I was quite upset that I could not get this snowball into my yard. Again, why? I have no idea. In my mind, I just could not leave this snowball in the middle of the football field. So, I went and asked my dad if he could at all possibly finish pushing this snowball to our house. My dad complied—thinking who knows what—and finished pushing this snowball into our yard. By the time he got it across the street and into our yard, the snowball was huge—taller than me. It was at that moment that I knew my dad was the strongest man in the world.

Though this is just one of many instances of me building snowman throughout my childhood, it brought a smile to my face to think of how I will now be building new snowman memories with my children. Well, Elle and I were doing just that, when I noticed Johnny watching us from the window and laughing. All I could think was that those California boys don’t know what fun is. However, by the time I got all three snowballs rolled, I knew he had every reason to laugh. I had made each part of the snowman really big, and it never once crossed my mind that I might not be able to lift each ball on top of the other. I’m sure Johnny had a hay day watching me try to lift the too heavy snowballs. In the end, I had to give in and have Johnny come out and lift the body and head onto our snowman. I think it was at that moment, that Elle knew her dad was the strongest man in the world, too.




And hours later this is how I found our mamma snowman (everything with Elle right now is a mamma and a baby). I just had to take a picture.

All I Want For Christmas is to be a Sunbeam

Elle has never, never, NEVER in her life enjoyed nursery. It has been a headache week after week, after frustrating week, since she has turned eighteen months. Johnny and I have tried everything we could possibly think of, but no matter what we tried, she hated nursery with a passion. She would always tell me that nursery was filled with a bunch of babies, and they all bothered her. I tried telling her that Hudson was a baby and she loved him. She of course put me straight, by telling me that it is walking babies that bother her—so Hudson has yet a little while before he becomes an inconvenience. I have since been trying to get her excited about Sunbeams—forget trying to make nursery happen— seeing as how she will graduate into Primary come January. She, of course, gets really excited, and wants to attend her new class immediately. All I have to tell her is that she gets to go with the big kids, and she is hooked—no more babies. The only problem is that she still has a few weeks before she is officially a Sunbeam. I try to explain this to her, but she is having none of it. She begs me over and over to take her to Sunbeams. She keeps telling me, “I am a Sunbeam Mommy.” Finally, today, I decided to ask the Primary president if she could sit through a little bit of Primary. She at once took Elle by the hand and sat her in the Sunbeam class. Elle smiled at me, waved goodbye, and never looked back. I kept checking on her here and there throughout church—through the windows on the doors of course; I wouldn’t want her to see me—but she never needed me. She was just fine. When church was over, and I went to get her, she was all smiles. She told me how much fun she had, and that she wants to go again. With a big smile she said, “I love being a sunbeam!”

I am so glad that she loves her Sunbeam class. I have always felt that she would like church when she could graduate into Primary (she has always liked order and structure—something that is almost nonexistent in nursery). Thankfully, she loves being a Sunbeam and participating in Primary.

North Pole Express

My parents took our family on a Christmas train ride today. It was an excursion filled with snow, beautiful scenery, Santa, milk and cookies, and lots of fun. Elle loved the train, and was all smiles the entire time. Hudson slept most of the trip, but managed to wake up long enough to sit on Santa’s lap and snap a few family pictures.

The train ride itself was very fun, but it got even better when half-way through our trip the train stopped to let us play at the North Pole. There, we met Santa, had milk and cookies, and played in the snow. Elle loved every minute of it. She especially loved eating the snow—which was not very clean. At first I tried to tell her to not eat the dirty snow, but since there was no clean snow, and she was popping the stuff in her mouth as fast as she could, I finally gave up and let her eat whatever she wanted. I just didn’t watch. Who knows what kind of crud she put in her mouth. Disgusting. But despite the dirty snow, we had a wonderful trip with many fun memories. There’s nothing like the Christmas season.

Santa Baby

Together

Just hanging out together, is the best part of everyday.

Dressing Up is What We Do

Not a day goes by that does not include Elle dressing up and pretending to be something or someone. Today it was Minnie Mouse. The other day it was a tree. Who knows what tomorrow will bring.