Christmas Eve... T-Bird Style

I know I'm doing a little catch up here, but I wanted to get in everything that we did while my mom was here before the new year, so bear with me. On Christmas Eve, we went hiking up Thunderbird Mountain which was actually our first time going out there. It's a great park with a ton of hiking trails for miles and miles. It's about 5 minutes away and this was the first time! It's crazy to me how little time you feel you have to do the things you want to when you have a husband in school and 3 little kids. Anyway, we were grateful to finally make it out there and it was a gorgeous day out (On Christmas Eve?! I love AZ) so we were able to each lunch and spend the day outdoors. Porter definitely found his calling in life when we were there. He was the leader and hiked up all the treacherous terrain on his own (Kyle was close behind in case anything happened). The two boys even went off the path to climb up the steep portion of the mountain as you can see below:

Even though Porter loves the outdoors, I don't think he will grow up to be much of an environmentalist because when they got back down from the cliff, we found this sign where they had just traveled:

Anyway, it was a great Christmas Eve and I can honestly say I've never experienced such a beautiful day in the middle of winter!

Week 7

This kid is getting cuter and chunkier by the minute. He is finally staying awake and not crying all the time. He eats like a champ and we can't get enough of him. We love our little Graham Cracker!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas (a day late)! I always put up my Christmas card and this year I combined it with the birth announcement so here is a smathering of good tidings and news for you to enjoy! Hope your day was great!

I love to See the Temple... Lights

Since we've lived in Arizona, all the members of our ward have raved about the lights at the temple. The Mesa Temple goes all out and decorates the palm trees, has musical programs every night, and sparkles the entire temple grounds with Christmas lights. We knew we had to make the trip out there when my mom was here, so we bundled up and headed to Mesa. Unfortunately, we decided to go on the worst night for weather. It was windy, stormy, and super cold. The kids even had to wear their winter coats! We only stayed about 5 minutes because we were so freezing but it was fun and the lights were beautiful so the trip was worth the little jaunt.

Week 6

He is 6-weeks-old and the time cruises! His eyes seem to be getting wider and his cheeks are getting chunkier by the day. It's just too bad his scrawny legs haven't caught up with the rest of his body yet! He's a little bit of a fussy baby and the evening times are the worst (we think he's a little bit colicky), but he's sleeping well during the night with only 1-2 wake ups so I can't complain. More wonderful quilts were sent to us by my mom. Growing up, whenever my mom would sit down, she always had a quilt on her lap. She was always hand stitching quilts for family members or friends so each time we have a new baby, we know a quilt is not far behind. That being said, my mom made this super cute dino quilt for Graham and I couldn't resist using it as a background. She has a real talent and it's such a special heirloom for each of my kids to have from their Nana. Anyway, the little gus is 6-weeks-old which means I can officially start working out again! The only struggle will be finding time to do it now with 3 kids in tow! Wish me luck!

A Day of Performances

Today Brighton had her very first tap dance recital and my parents were lucky enough to be here for it. She has been loving taking classes and finally got to show off her stuff. To be honest, I was terrified for her. Brighton can tend to be introverted when it comes to the spotlight being on her so I was super worried that she'd get out there on that big stage with all the lights and start crying or something, but that was not the case. She remembered her routine (which was All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth by Alvin and the Chipmunks and it was the cutest routine ever) little and smiled the whole time. The day before they had a dress rehearsal and we talked about stage fright and how it's normal to be a little nervous so I think that helped her panic to be subsided. Maybe it was me remembering all the times I performed when I was little that made me freak out a bit, but it all turned out great and I couldn't have been prouder. It was the first time I really felt like my little girl was not so little anymore and it made me cry. But they were happy tears. Anyway, Kyle brought her a rose at the end of the performance and she was ecstatic. We are so proud of our tiny dancer.

Then later on that night we had our ward Christmas Party and the primary was supposed to get on the stage and sing. Brighton was dressed as an angel using one of Kyle's dress shirts and it was cute. Right before she had to go up on the stage she turned to me and said, "Mom, this one is a piece of cake." so after a long day of performing, I guess the stage and her are friends.

And to top it off, Santa was there. This was the first year Brighton actually just climbed up on his lap by herself and told him what she wanted. She was such a good example that Porter wasn't scared of Santa and he followed right after her with a big smile on his face. It was the perfect end to a great day. The only bummer was that my dad left today, but I still have my mom around for a while so we are in good hands.

Week 5

Graham is officially 5-weeks-old and his photo shoot can be described with one word: squirmy. He has been kicking and squirming like crazy since he's been awake a lot more now. I just had to put him on his new and super cute blanket my sister just sent him. My sister is ridiculously creative and crafty and this is her first attempt at quilting so I had to document how amazing she is. Anyway, 5 weeks down, 47 more to go until little chicken legs becomes a full year!

The Not-So-Great Architects

The other night we made our annual gingerbread house. I'm a fan of the boxed gingerbread houses you buy at Wal Mart so that's what we went with. It's just too bad that the frosting was too soft and the roof fell off about 2 minutes after we were done. Let's just say no one in this family will go into the field of architecture anytime soon. Oh well. It's the memory that's shared while you're doing the project, right?! Anyway, it was fun and there was only a minuscule amount of candy eaten during the creation process.

And why is it that I can't get a decent picture of both of these ones smiling? I dread the day when I'll have to make all 3 smile for the cam at the same time!

O Christmas Tree

Since my parents came in right after Thanksgiving, we decided to wait for them to decorate the tree all together. The kids loved looking at all the ornaments we've collected over the years and my parents enjoyed remembering when my sister and I were that young and excited about our Christmas tree too. When I was little my dad made our Christmas star out of cardboard and tinfoil and I always loved it so when Kyle and I first got married I made one and it's been ours ever since. Kyle, Brighton, Porter, and my dad all joined forces in putting it on top of the tree and the whole thing made for a great night.

Week 4

Graham is now 4-weeks-old. The time is cruisin' and I'm really liking the newborn phase. He is a lot different than my other 2 so it's kinda fun to see the independent personalitiies. He is a scratcher so his face is always cut up from his long nails. He is getting big eyes and wants to look around everywhere. He also is a big time cuddler and CANNOT be set down. That's probably the toughest part right now. Trying to get things done with a tiny baby in your arms 24/7 is a little difficult but then you look down at him and his cute dimple and it's all worth it.

Phoenix Zoo

We've had some very special visitors in our house as of lately. My parents came to stay with us for a little while! We've been able to do some fun things in spite of the fact that we have a 3-week-old. One of the things we've done is go to the Phoenix Zoo. It is a pretty nice zoo and the kids loved running around to see the animals. Porter was so crazy we were thinking about leaving him there! Anyway, it's been fun having them here and I'll be sad to see my dad go in a week. Luckily we have my mom here for a whole month! I am one lucky mama who gets to keep her mama around for a bit!