Thanksgiving

HaPpY ThAnKsGiViNg 2008! You could say that it's been a pretty strenuous year for us in a lot of ways...a difficult and often scary pregnancy, dealing with the loss of my brother, much heartache for our country... - just to name a few. But we are so THANKFUL this year be back in good health (you have no idea!), for Chris' stable job despite the economy, for our new and beautiful, healthy baby girl and our 2 year old joy, to live in a beautiful free country where the first amendment allows us not only the freedom of speech but the freedom of religion for all of us, for wonderful friends & great family! What more could we ask for? We are truly living the American Dream and have been tremendously blessed. Life sure isn't perfect, but I'm grateful for a perspective that allows us to learn from the hard times & to even be strengthened by them, and to keep moving forward with faith.

We have MUCH to be thankful for, and we are!!!
We spent Thanksgiving this year with Chris' side of the fam. We had yummy food and great company... that's what Thanksgiving is all about, right?
Above is a pic of Chris' two sisters (yes, they are sisters - they look nothing alike) and you-know-who. Parker LOVES his aunts and they are so good with him!

Chris with his brother and sis helping in the kitchen.. Yes, that is a mullet that Dustin is sporting, and yes, he's proud of it. Trust me, it's worth clicking on the picture to get a close up view.

Parker, Emmie and Chris with Great Grandma and Grandpa Lonczyna

Em with the hosts of the schindig - Grandma and Grandpa Hansen
And the excitement of the week??? Bethany and Brett got engaged on Thanksgiving Eve!

CONGRATULATIONS you two! You are an adorable couple and we are so excited to welcome Brett into the fam!

Thanks to the Hansens for a great Thanksgiving!!!

....Now onto Christmas.... :)

Jealousy mixed with extreme fatigue... the effects are brutal

Here's a scenario. What do you do when you're husbandless at church & both of your kids are crying hysterically in sacrament meeting? YOU LEAVE!!! Yep, that's right folks, sacrament meeting wasn't even halfway over today and we had to leave, as in, exit the building all because I don't have enough arms to hold both of my children at the same time (Parker apparently requires BOTH my arms to hold him.)

Parker had his breaking point today. The jealousy has been building up for three months now, and today his true feelings toward his new little sister all came to the surface. As soon as we sat down in sacrament meeting, Emmie started to cry. Well, EVERY TIME I went to pick up Emmie, Parker would start to cry and say "No mommy, No mommy!", between sobs. Well if I put Emmie down, SHE would cry (& I'm telling you, the girl has some lungs when she wants to use them). I tried convincing Parker to let me hold Em in one arm in he in the other, but he wouldn't have it. We went out into the hall and foyer THREE times in the time span of about 12 minutes to try and resolve this issue, but at all times either one or both of my children were screaming. By the time Parker threw himself on the floor in the hall and started rolling around, I knew that Parker was beyond repair & that it was in the best interest of the entire congregation for us to leave. (Just a mental interpretation I made of the passerby's "what's wrong with YOUR kids" glares in the hall.) I threw (okay I didn't throw my baby) Emmie back into her carrier and sadly marched my crying kiddos down the hall and out of the building to our car. I unsuccessfully fought back my own tears as I unlocked the car door to load everyone back in. Yes, I started crying, and the good part of the day was that no one saw me with tears rolling down my face. Ughhhhhh! ALL I wanted to do was go to church today! Does it really have to be so complicated?? Did I really just spend 2+ hours trying to get myself and 2 kids packed up, dressed, ready, fed, bathroomed and out the door just to turn around and come home a half hour later?? Oh heaven help us!

So I bet you can't guess who was literally snoring before we made our way out of the parking lot. YEP - the little man in charge. The poor little guy was simply TIRED! (an already known fact.) This 11:00 church, mixed with no husband to help out is going to be the end of me, I swear! Sad to say, but I really dread Sundays these days due to the fact that our meetings are right in the middle of Parker's naptime, and knowing that I'm going to have to do it all without Chris 50% of the time.

Just a word of advice... next time you see an obviously struggling mother, offering to hold her new baby who is perfectly content as long as she is simply held, while the poor mother tends to her cranky, nap-deprived two year old, would be a nice gesture. OR you can resort to staring with pity as she unsuccessfully tries to enable some sort of super human ability to console both of her out-of-control children at the same time....

If you STILL wonder why I take Parker's nap time schedule so seriously, reread this entire post.

OH THE JOYS OF MOTHERHOOD!

Parker's perfect plan....

Parker has adjusted pretty well to his new sister. He doesn't show much interest in her...just an occasional, "Mama, put baby down", or "Baby sad", or "Baby awake", but then he goes about his business. He definitely realizes that she's a huge inconvience for him, but I am grateful that he mostly just tries to ignore her.
A few weeks ago, we had the following conversation:

I was sitting on the couch feeding Emmie, and Parker was being mean to our poor dog, Roxy. He teases her relentlessly and it drives me crazy. After asking him a number of times to be nice to her, I finally told him, "Parker, if you keep on being mean to Roxy, she is going to have to go and live with another family who will treat her nice. Do you want Roxy to have to go and live with Jakie and Cameron?" (his little friends who live up the street, although I know they aren't dog people.) Parker sat and pondered this for a minute before his eyes got all big and he excitedly replied, "Oh! EMMIE go and live with Jakie and Cameron!", as though he had just formulated the most perfect plan.

Sorry buddy, she's here to stay.... ROXY on the other hand is questionable. If anyone out there would like a great little dog who is loyal and affectionate, just these days extremely neglected due to other little people's needs coming first in this home and horribly teased by a 2 year old, let us know. We might just consider your offer.

It happened IN the dryer, BY to be determined, WITH....

So I've found with having kids, that shopping for clothes isn't just something that you do for fun. Between season changes, spills and stains, and just mere fact that these little people GROW every few months all contribute to the need for, yet again, more new clothes! It can be hard to keep up, not to mention EXPENSIVE! Well, just last week I was patting myself on the back with relief that we seemed to be all stocked up on winter clothes for Parker who just went through a major growth spurt this summer, and that Emmie's closet seemed pretty well stocked for at least a few months (the girl is growing like a weed!). Well, when I retrieved my laundry from the dryer yesterday, this is what I discovered: To my shock and horror, the entire load, which consisted mostly of clothing for the kiddos, had bright pink splotches ALL OVER THEM! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? There were a few salvagable items, and some that aren't so noticeable, but the majority are RUINED!

(This picture does not begin to do the damage justice and these are just a few of the many articles involved in this tragedy)

The culprit? A RED crayon!

GRRRRRRRR!

I guess from now on I'm going to be checking my two year old's pockets before doing the laundry... I wasn't aware that he knew he even HAD pockets, but apparently he's smarter than I give him credit for. :) ...
Anyone have any advice on how to get red melted crayon stains out of clothes? I'm pretty sure it's hopeless, but I'll take any suggestions if there are any to be given!

I guess I'm not as "done" shopping for Parker and Emmie's clothes for the winter as I thought I was..... Sorry Chris...

FINE RED PRINT:

The above stated insinuation is just a THEORY as to how the red crayon made it's way into the wash. There is no proof of this, and probably never will be. But if you want to take bets.... :)

Who? Me? Bad hair day? Nah.

Emmie has a LITTLE bit of a crazy calic in the front of her hair. It's kind of hard to see, but if you look REALLY CLOSE, you might be able to see it.

Emmie's cure for this slight problem:Mat down hair, slip thick band around head, and finish with huge bow on top. No one will ever know! :)

Walah! Problem solved.

Sorry to pass on those bad hair genes, Em. Don't worry, I'll teach you how to use a hair dryer and roundbrush that you'll be able to use EVERYDAY for the rest of your life to combat this minor problem. Whoever told you that beauty isn't high maintenance is crazy! Isn't it fun to be a girl?! :)

2 Month Check Up

Don't you just want to squeeze those cheeks??

Emmie is 9 weeks old today & had her two month check up on Friday.

She weighed 11 lbs 13 oz (51st %tile), and was in the 84th %tile for height. She has gotten so big, we can't believe it! She is much bigger than Parker was at this age. A trick-or-treater Dad at my door on Friday night thought she was six months old because of her size! Just what you want, right? Husky girls and petite boys...Chris has had many sleepless nights over this. Kidding, but he does joke about it endlessly. We of course think she's perfect in every way & are so glad that she's a part of our family! Chunky cheeks and all! :)

Trick-or-treat

A mix of two of Parker's favorite things:

MiCkEy MoUsE + ChOcOlAtE

=ed

One HAPPY two year old at our house on Friday night!

Such fun!!!