~Christmas and it's Eve!~

A few Christmas festivities we participated  in this year included parties, playing in the snow, talking about Christmas, reading a Christmas book before bed each night, singing the songs, AND... making donuts for Santa's elves!

Maddix was rolling the cheero-donuts
in syrup before coating it in
the sprinkles, powder, etc.

Our cute box, full of
donuts for the hard
working elves!

I found that idea in Pinterest, of course. And they actually turned out pretty cute. Now Santa can have his cookies (which Maddix informs everyone will make you fat if you eat), the deer can have their carrots, and the overlooked elves can have their donuts. 

Then we had our annual Gingerbread/graham cracker house building tradition over at my mom's. 

And after that, we had our annual gift exchange with the Johnson's. We cleaned house and were very spoiled, but my favorite were the traditional jammies with their adorable little footies!

Laying in his new blanket/pill/roll-up
from Gma Jo and reading his
new book:) 

It was almost too pretty to open

Digging through his presents
from Gma Jo!
(Thanks for spoiling Us!)

I LOVE all these little slippers!! 

Then once all the little ones were tucked in their beds, Santa came, the night finally ended and it was CHRISTMAS: 

Merry Christmas!

Snuggled with his bear all
night and kept it during the present
opening :)

Nala found her presents

Maddix was so good to put all the wrapping paper in the garbage after
each present he opened. 

Finally sits all by himself!!

LOVES her Frosty baby so much! 

Maddix's loot

Aaron's loot

Nala's loot

And a highlight of the morning was when I walked past my phone to see that someone was face timing me and guess who it was???? My missionary sister, Tayla! Oh it was incredibly wonderful to talk to her, and to see her. She really sounds like she is doing well and I couldn't be more proud of her. Maddix was beyond himself as he tried to keep all her attention on himself :)

After a leisurely morning we went and opened presents at my mom's 

Maddix and Aunt Brenna

My little Newsie and his new cup

New Christmas outfits! 

We didn't get to stay for too long before we made a quick dash back to the house where the DeBuck Christmas party was going on!

Christmas Goodies

Gma Eileen wearing Maddix's
new hat and giving out gifts

Maddix getting loads of attention,
as always. 

Then just as quickly after arriving we turned around and drove to Pleasant Grove for my Gma Wells' Christmas Party!

Isn't he so sexy?? I LOVE having him home,
especially for driving because I DON'T
like to drive. 

One min he was awake, the next
min he has pulled the carseat cover over
his head and is zonked out; poor guy really
just needed a nap! 

-Unfortunately I did not take any pictures the rest of the night-

However, we had a great time being out there just like we did at every other party we went too. For thinking it was going to be such a relaxed, low-key Christmas day, I couldn't have been more wrong. But in the end I was happy we made it to almost every grandparent/parent's home and just got to be around so much family on such a special day. 

I know that Christ lives. 

I know that the SOLE reason for this holiday season is to celebrate his birth.

He lived and died for us. 

And during his life he suffered more, experienced more, and went through more for us.

And he also loved more. 

I know that we need to keep as much love in our hearts for those around us as we possibly can because without unconditional love we'll never be truly Christ-like. I encourage everyone, especially myself, to start now at the beginning of the new year, to practice unconditional love, and to start working on Christ's Birthday present for next year: 365 days of sharing that love with family, friends, neighbors, strangers, co-workers, and everyone in between. 

Merry Christmas, and thank you for the special role you play in my family's lives. Whether you know it or not, you're important. 

If you don't believe me go watch It's a Wonderful Life (I haven't actually seen it, but I hear the message is great ;). 

Oh, and then this was all too cute to not record: 

Happy to be with the boys

This morning Maddix opened one of his new toys, a monster truck arena (Thank you Robert and Melissa!) and Aaron was on my lap. Well, he just HAD to be with his brother and dad and wasn't happy until I put him on the floor... then he gave me this attitude like, "you're exused mom. This is boys time!" It was pretty cute the way he had to be apart of it all. 

The boys have been so happy since Travis came home. I mean Aaron is always happy, but they just seem to be at ease. I'm very grateful for this time he has with us, and so grateful he's only leaving for one month, instead of two like we originally thought it would be! 

We are so blessed, and I just have to say that. Sometimes (all the time) I just step back and think, "How am I even going to pay the Lord back for all he keeps blessing us with." "How can we possibly be worthy of all we have?" And I seriously become guilt ridden with just how fortunate of a life we have. I know I will spend my whole life trying to pay the Lord back for this life, and never even come close. 

But, if anyone out there would like to hear about the Gospel or know anything about Christ's love for you, I invite you to email me and we can talk, or I can put you in touch with the missionaries because I would feel SO ungrateful if I didn't try to share the wonderful gift of the Gospel with those that I love around me! 

Merry Merry Christmas! 

Ho Ho, He'S hOmE!!

HE-IS-HOME.
           Period.
And thanks to the help of those who babysat the boys, I was able to pick Travis up from the airport, by myself, and then we were able to just be together for the day before surprising the boys the next day.

FRIDAY: built with anticipation until the moment I was ready to go. I left early just to make sure his flight didn't come in early, and good thing I did! I missed my exit 4 TIMES. Seriously, I kept getting off too early. Then I missed the correct one so my phone routed me to the next exit...which I either missed or ended up hitting and then getting lost... I don't know. I've never had that many problems getting there before! In the end my phone routed me to the far side of the airport,.. to the restricted area, so I had to get back on the freeway and go BACK. Eventually I shut the phone off and followed the signs the rest of the way.
                  -Despite all that- I still made it to find out Travis's flight had been delayed by 45minutes. So I sat. And sat. And sat. I then double checked I was in the right spot and waited. I don't know how many people I watched come down those stairs, but Travis was never one of them. I watched his flight appear on the board, turn to arriving, to here, to arrived, then disappear. At that point I asked the new info person who was just getting on shift who told me I was in fact, in the WRONG area! So, I BOOKED it to the international hanger (where I was originally, until they told me otherwise) and frantically looked around. I heard my name from across the airport and THANKFULLY, Travis had only been there about 5 minutes. After all that, I still missed him coming off the plane, but I am grateful he wasn't waiting for very long. After a long explanation for why wasn't there, many hugs and kisses, we made our way out of the airport, just all too happy to be together again.

Waiting at Olive Garden

Temple square lights

City Creek

We actually had time to get ready!

Delicious Breakfast!

Breakfast

 

Christmas shopping at City Creek!

 Saturday was just as great. We got to sleep in, eat breakfast, then we spent hours shopping over at City creek. What started out as window shopping quickly became a dangerous game of lets just not spend too much... this kept going. That night we met over at Trav's aunt's house for a Christmas party. With much anticipation, the boys finally got there... and it was NOT the reunion Travis thought it would be. Travis went over and tried to hug Maddix but Maddix didn't know who he was!! He wouldn't look at him, wouldn't make eye contact, and got nervous and called for me when Travis wouldn't let him past. Trav stepped back for one last plea, "Buddy! It's me, Daddy!" Maddix finally made eye contact and his body made a sudden jolt! "Daddy! It's you!" Then he ran over for a hug and wanted to show him everything the rest of the night. 

Gpa Herb and the boys

Finally got one where they were all looking!

Someone else missed her Travis

Then for our first Sunday together I sang a duet at church; my co-worker and I sang 'Oh Holy Night,' and this was pretty much on my Bucket list. Tonight we had our Christmas Sunday dinner with the Johnson's. The dinner was great, Vaughn read books to the kids, and the best part was when Keili taught Maddix how to dance. "Keep your hand on my back, Maddix! Now twirl me!" 

Last Update before Travis comes home!

Alright.... I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! Travis is on the plane to come home right now. And it's somewhat of a nice feeling to know I just get to go to sleep while he does all the traveling ;)
To make this week go by a little faster, we stalk piled it with activities, and errands so that it flew by!

Monday: Well Monday we stayed at the house and got our exercise in, cleaned the room, did 4 loads of laundry, swept/mopped the house, vacuumed, and cleaned the bathroom. We played with cars and pirate toys, took a Spanish lesson and then skipped nap time to go with my dad to run errands. We went to my hairstylist to pick up my new blow dryer (which I'm excited about), got lost in Orem (don't judge me), to Zions (do you know the max amount of ones you can send up the tube before they don't fit? I do:), then up to the mall to do some Christmas shopping. While we were there we ended up stopping over at Spaghetti Factory for a late lunch (Maddix loves the train seats). We finished by running to Walmart and then home for bed.

Found her sleeping this
way:) 

 Tuesday: Was another Marathon day of getting things done, but the highlight was our Girl's Mid-day Movie Outing! Mackenzie and I met over at the dollar theater and were soon joined by Steffany and Megan (two very good friends from high school, whom we haven't seen in almost two years)! Although Kenzi had to leave before the movie ended, we all had such a great time together. We saw Autsenland and I really enjoyed it!

This was NOT at all where I left him, or the Position
he had been asleep in:) and He was 1/2 snoring, 1/2 cooing! 

Wednesday: We played, read some books, had my other friend, Stephanie over to work on our duet for this Sunday, had nap time, and then I went to work.

Mleh!

EH?

Thursday: Today was an emotional day to say the least! Aaron woke up 5:30am and found my body rested and wanting ti start the day.

5:30: Feed Aaron. 
6:00: Insanity work out in the icy garage while doing my Spanish lessons at the same time. 
7:15: Breakfast and scriptures w/ Maddix. 7:45: Sweep/mop, dishes/counters cleaned, straighten up the bathroom, do my hair 
8:15: Madix requests a book that I agree to read once Aaron is awake. 8:20: I hear over the monitor, "Hey.... hey buddy... hey buddy Aaron. Wake up.... ROAR!" ha ha ha 8:30: Read the book to Maddix and Nala, then to them + Aaron, then Maddix reads it to me and I feed Aaron :)
 9:00: Begin packing up to go to my mom. 
10:00:  Begin assisting Santa in wrapping presents locked in the room upstairs while Maddix bounced on a mini tramp and watched Buzz Lightyear:) 
12:00: Get to work, discover my shoes are not in my bag. Go inside to find out I was scheduled a half hour earlier than I thought and the restaurant is SWAMPT and I'm in SUPER big trouble! Plus... the shoes. This was my first time in 8 YEARS this has ever happened and I'm devastated I no longer have a clean record. I'm disappointed in myself for letting my manager down. I'm not that kind of person. AND, I had no missed calls; however, when I checked my phone after work there were three messages from my Manager... but NO missed calls; go figure. 
4:00: leave work feeling very blue over the bad day at work, yet uplifted because my babysitting situation that had fallen through on my way to work was once again working itself out! 4:30: Begin wrapping presents again, only this time with Maddix's assistance while Aaron spun in circles on his belly. 
6:30: Get the boys home and clean up a Big Green BLOW OUT that Aaron had just as we were leaving my mom's.
 7:00: Home teacher comes over. 7:45: Maddix tickled my face while I dozed out during his end of night cartoon. 
8:00: Late dinner. 8:15: Cute little Lilah McConnon brings over a Christmas treat for Maddix and tells her dad as they're leaving, "Maddix is just so cute in his pajama's" ha ha. 8:30: Talk to Travis as he packed to head to the airport. 8:45: Maddix gets out of bed for his 3rd trip to the bathroom.
 9:00: Relief Society brings over Holiday treat. 9:30: Clelan up dinner and the kitchen
10:30: Shower/ get ready for bed
11:30: Start blog/ feed Aaron
12:06: Contemplating WHY I'm not asleep, WHY I keep blogging, and HOW am I going to get all the things done that I need to before picking Travis up tomorrow! 
The End. Goodnight. After I proof ready and add photos..... boo.

Better Late than Never; Update: 5 months old!

Sleep: Oh my... every time I think we've got it figured out, you throw a curve ball. It's an every other night thing for you. You really do well going to bed around 7:00-7:30pm after your bath and eating. I still feed you around 11:00pm because I'm just afraid to switch you off of it and not know if you'll wake up crying angry and hunger with everyone in the house. Also, I get off work at 10:00pm, so it's just so convenient. You typically nap at 9:00-9:30 and sleep 1 to 2hrs. The rest of the day is so hit and miss since we coordinate with your brother's nap, and me dropping you off at sitter's houses. Thank you for being such a good baby even though you're not getting as much as sleep as you need and deserve!
Weight: At your last appointment you were just over 14lbs. Dr. Weipert says you're looking good ;)

Sitting in the big chair

Chewing on everything

Milestones: Well you are enjoying more tummy time these days (Hallelujah). You are sitting up by yourself a little better (but you still lose it and tumble). I think you might be cutting a tooth because you're drooly, whiny, not sleeping well, runny nose, fever, and you chew on everything. I just can't find the tooth that is probably coming through. You're eating lots of food now: oatmeal cereal, banana, yogurt, apple sauce, mushed potatoes, bread, apple juice, etc. And you just sat up in the counter booster chair at Grandma's for the first time ever! Oh and on a good day you like the Bumbo chair. Oh, and you sat on Santa's lap for your first Christmas season:)

Maddix asked to hold his brother

Likes: You LOOOOVVVEE your toes! You love to talk talk talk to everybody now. You love poking your beety little eyes over the edge of the crib whenever you wake up, as well as having Maddix climb up on his ladder to say goodmorning to you ( you LOVE seeing him in the mornings). You are always proud of yourself after you roll over. You enjoy the Christmas lights and playing with the ornaments on the tree. I have had not problems in the past just letting you pull off the bottom nut cracker until the other night when you wrapped your little fingers around the lights and yanked the tree completely over (thankfully I caught it before it came down on you). You love your brother... I mean LOOVVEEE Maddix. He is by far your favorite and can get you going whenever he wants. And like your brother, you love your Nala. Lately you've been trying to roll all over her and grab her face... good luck Nala. 

Holding hands with your puppy

Dislikes: You don't like being put down when you're in the mood to be held. You're not a big fan of sitting in the bouncy chair or the gumbo for me (but you will for other ppl who watch you). You don't like bubbles in your tummy. I think you spit up more when you eat any bread. Sometimes you get angry if you wake up too early and it's not time to eat. And you definitely don't like being strapped into your carseat unless we're moving somewhere. 

Bath time at G.Gma's house

You are just too much fun. Everyone who watches you walks away saying you're the happiest baby. There isn't a single person that can't walk up to you and either say Hi, or smile, that you won't smile back to. My favorite is you'll give an initial smile, and then when you're in a certain mood you'll lock eyes with a person, tilt your head to the side, tuck your little chin into your neck, and break into an even bigger smile (if that's possible) as you look away. It's like you're being shy, or coy, oh it melts my heart!