My favorite gift came from my mum. It was a sweet, handmade scrapbook that she did for me. It took her a long time to do and I can tell it was made with love. It has photos of me growing up (which I don’t have many of) and little snippets of where/when they were taken. She also included a little pull-out book with a special story on.

Anyway I took some photos of it:

Me, looking very much like a boy (in my opinion!) The first page, middle pic, my mum used to have a huge blown-up version similar (different shot) hanging on her wall….

I used to love this horse riding area they had in our hometown. I remember it well (I have memories from as young as 2 years old).

The first one is a little blurry….once again I look like a boy in the far left pic.

My teenage years. I was very skinny back then!

He turned 4 months old on the 21st….my gorgeous little boy! We have definitely decided that he is our last baby (the last few weeks made up our minds…he has been sick, and a terror). I couldn’t imagine our lives without him though. We are blessed.

He loves to play now….he loves his Exersaucer and play-gym mat. He grabs for things and puts them straight to his mouth. So funny.

He has a check-up scheduled for Jan 6 so we’ll see how much he’s grown then.

His sleeping has got soooo bad these last few days (sickness). Right before mum got here he started waking up at 4AM to feed. This wasn’t too bad because I’d breastfeed him laying down in bed and then put him back in his bed until we all got up. He actually stopped doing it for about 4 days when we supplemented with some formula for his last feeding. He was sleeping 11-7! It was awesome.

Well then he gets sick with a terrible cold. He can’t breathe properly and is just so uncomfortable. Awful cough too

He wakes up all night! - And cries every 10-20 mins so I have to put him in bed with us and keep popping his paci back in. On top of being so tired and exhausted, I am sick too

His hair has started to grow some and his eyes are still blue (I thought they would change like Tayah’s, but they’re still quite blue).

So handsome

Tayah did a trial class of gymnastics while my mum was here (12.15.08). She loved it so much and we hope to put her in permanently soon.

In the morning the kids opened their stockings (Talon was with Crit this year) and then 2 big gifts each. Kyne opened his ELMO Restaurant (this was his biggest gift) and Tayah opened a Barbie Car and Barbie. We then ate breakfast and got dressed. Ricky and I then opened gifts from each other (even though we weren’t supposed to get anything for each other!). I got 2 rings, a Sephora Gift Card,  a front license plate with a British and US flag together for my new car (more on that later!), some chocolates, an engraving tool, wine preserver, Will & Grace season 8 on DVD and a GPS holder for a GPS that I do not have

I got Ricky a big bottle of Jack Daniels, an electric saw, a MP3 player, some chocolates, some Jack Daniels sleep shorts and some new Sonic Toothbrush heads.

The kids got quite a lot of stuff…we didn’t go quite as overboard as last year though. They also got a trampoline between them which was their main gift from us.

Pics:

Opening stockings.

I love the excitement on her face…she appreciated every.single gift she got….so worth it!

The gifts before opening.

Kyne with his ELMO kitchen/restaurant.

Around noon Talon and Crit came to do the main opening of the gifts (the kids waited patiently until Tal arrived). You can see our new Plasma HDTV that we got with Christmas $ from family.

The wrecked front room after present opening!

The 3 oldest eating their marshmallow pops from Santa.

It’s been too long since I posted….I have just been major busy with Christmas etc. We had mum visit for a week, lots of colds (Kyne was very sick, now Rhys is), Ricky was off work for a week, Christmas and all that comes with that…it’s just been a busy month. I am glad things can get back to normal now, but I sure do miss Christmas being over already….it was one great Christmas this year! (We already took our tree and decorations down….the house was too crowded with all the kids Christmas toys and we needed the room back!)

Mum’s visit was awesome! We did lots of fun things like seeing the Christmas parade in our hometown, eating out, shopping etc. We had our own special early Christmas and opened up lots of gifts. The kids got spoilt (as always) and so did Ricky and I. Here are some pics:

This was at the Christmas Parade. It was the coldest days we’ve had here so far I think (the last few days have been in the high 60’s to 70′!

Our ‘first’ Christmas with mum.

Our actual Christmas was so nice. We spent it at home just us (and Crit was here for the present opening). We made a lovely roast turkey (18pounder!) for lunch and I got some awesome gifts! - In the evening we had Becky and family over. We had snacks and played games (and opened gifts) and I drank far too much (I haven’t had that much to drink in 4 years, well ever really….it was a lot!).

Christmas Eve

Tayah in her Christmas Eve gift (Snow White dress).

(Continued soon………….)

Well first off our minivan has lost it’s heat…we took it to get checked out and it’s gonna cost $600+ to fix Apparently the radiator is cracked and leaking.

As for the kids, they are doing well. Kyne is sick (he always seems to be sick!) again. Tayah has been getting on my last nerve with her attitude (she is talking back all the time, like a teenager!), Rhys is being very good (he is such a joy these days) and Talon is his usual self (sometimes good, sometimes bad). Overall they are great though.

I managed to snap a few pics of the four of them on Thanksgiving. We went to Becky’s in the afternoon (well her mom’s) and then we did a big dinner here in the evening with Crit and Phoenix. It was a fun and tiring day!

All four of them……these were so hard to get!

My attempt at Thanksgiving dinner…..it was great homemade food (but I didn’t make it;))…

I took these the other day and he looked so adorable! All snuggled up on daddy.

Kyne that is! This little boy can talk like a 3yr old…and he copies everything Tayah says (which isn’t always a good thing!).

Some of my faves are:

"I love you, mommy" (or whoever he is talking too). He tells us all he loves us about 20 times each a day.

"I’m sorry" - I love this because he knows why he is saying it…..he is constantly telling Tayah he is sorry for hitting/hurting her!

Some of my not-so-faves:

"I don’t want too"

"I can’t"

"I don’t like it"

"Shut-up!!!!"

He is such a happy baby nowadays…it sorta creeped-up on us…he went from being a fussy little thing, to this smiling happy boy. He loves his mommy & daddy the best, gives us the biggest smiles. He loves to just sit and stare at our faces for long periods. He is so intent on just staring into our eyes….it is so funny.

He does still have some fussy moments, but they are getting fewer and fewer. He slept 11-7 for the last 2 nights….so we hope that continues, or even gets longer. Actually he sleeps 9PM-7AM but the first part (9-11) is in the front room with us and then we wake him at 10:30-ish to eat and then he’s back down for the night.

Rhys had his 2 month pediatrician check-up yesterday (he is almost 2.5 months though). He is 12lb 6oz and 24 inches long (75% and 90%!).

The Dr put him on his front to see how his head control and muscles were. He got right up on his forearms and was moving his legs all around. Dr says "I think he’s gonna be an early roller the way he’s moving his legs and arms"….and whaddya know, he rolls over right then and there! It was too funny.

Anyway he checked-out just perfectly. He was all smiles while waiting for the Dr to arrive….in a wonderful, happy mood. 

We didn’t get any vaccines as so far I am foregoing most if not all of them. Dr gave me his "legal opinion" and then we were on our way!

Kyne and Tayah both threw tantrums on the way out because I didn’t let them have a pop. They got a sticker each, but that wasn’t good enough for them. They both started crying and Kyne threw himself on the floor. Everyone was looking at us….ah, it was fun! Gotta love kids.