Christmas

We had a great Christmas this year! Scott's parents were able to come up from Utah for the weekend, and the boys loved having Grandma and Grandpa here. We had a semi-white Christmas too. It had snowed here the weekend before Christmas, but it stayed on the ground all the way until Christmas eve. We had lovely snowmen in our front and back yards, and Easton has become a snow building pro!




On Christmas Eve, we read the nativity story out of the scriptures, watched "Joy to the World", and then opened up our new Christmas Eve pj's. All the boys were matching, and then the girls had matching ones too. Christmas morning was festive, and all the adults loved their stocking stuffers from Santa's helper who works at Nordstrom. The boys got lots of good stuff and they were pretty happy with what Santa brought them this year. We didn't get around to Christmas dinner on Christmas night, but we had an awesome feast the day after when we got home from church. It was a very merry Christmas!

Early Christmas Present

Is it a bunkbed set, or a jungle gym? We haven't figured that one out yet.

The Polar Express

On Saturday we made the journey over to Hood River, OR and experienced the Polar Express. Since my parents are vacationing with my sister in Albuquerque this year, they decided to give this to us as an early Christmas present before they leave to NM. The kids wore their brand new pjs, watched the Polar Express in the car on the ride over, and we read the Polar Express on Friday night for their bedtime story.

When we boarded the train, we found cute collector's mugs waiting for us. Our "chef" made sure to point out to us which side of the train the kids should sit on so they could see the North Pole when we approached it. As soon as the train started moving, we listened to the sound track of the Polar Express over the intercom, and then they brought out steaming cups of Hot Chocolate and yummy ginger cookies. The conductor came by and punched their tickets (although not as fancy as on the movie) and we even had a few surprise visits from the Hobo who had boarded the train.

When we got to the North Pole we saw Santa and his Elves, and then we were told the story of the Polar Express. Our chef sat right down with the kids and showed them the pictures while the story was narrated over the intercom. Then we waited patiently for Santa to come. When he came, he greeted each child, took pictures, and then handed them each a bell from his sleigh. All of the pictures, videos, and memories that we got from this event were priceless. It was well worth the drive on a snowy Saturday afternoon.

Easton's Concert

It was so memorable to go to our very first Christmas Concert! Easton did a great job and was doing all of his motions with such exageration and singing his little heart out. I also had a little snicker to myself when I saw them walk in and Easton landed on the front row, second to last. (My old place!) The whole thing was darling and I can't wait for it again next year.

It's a girl!!

It still seems a little surreal, and I'm sure we'll keep the tags on everything just in case, but it definitely showed a girl, and we are REALLY excited!

(It isn't the best picture, but after 3 ultrasounds, and scanning the parts over and over again, it is a girl.)

D-Day!

Tomorrow we find out what we are having! Please make a vote quickly in our boy/girl poll.

Deck the Halls

We put up our small fake tree last week, but it was just too small for us this year. Well, it was at least too small for all the new decor I bought last year at the after christmas sales. We let the boys go all out and decorate the little tree by themselves with all the unbreakables. Then we decided to buy a real tree this year. Our house smells delicious!

While stringing the 13 strands of lights that are on the tree, the tree fell on top of me, and all the water spilled out over my carpet. Boo! But it seems pretty sturdy now, so we finished decorating it last night with all the glittery, pretty ornaments and bulbs. I love the finished product, but I still want to find a few more items to finish it off nicely. Too bad Dec. 26th falls on a Sunday this year. Hopefully there will still be stuff to rummage through on Monday the 27th.

Let it snow!

We just had our first snowfall of the year. I was prepared this year with snow gear for the boys so that they wouldn't freeze to death. The first day we only got about an inch or so, but last night we got another 4-5 inches. Max loved his first experience in the snow. He didn't last long playing in it though. Easton and Luke loved having snowball fights, making snow angels, and we attempted a snowman today but the snow was too powdery. Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Saturday's ER visit

Max was running around the house, when he fell face first, mouth open, into the corner of the end table by our couches. There was a lot of blood, a lot of crying, and then I saw it...the tooth. It wasn't knocked out completely, but was pushed up and backwards into his gums. So now he is snaggle-tooth Max. It isn't the best picture of his teeth, but you can tell that his front two teeth are no longer in line with eachother. We'll be heading to the dentist this week to see if there is anything that needs to be done, but the ER doctor didn't seem too concerned since it wasn't wiggling, he isn't in any extreme pain anymore, and after all, it is a baby tooth. Poor Max! We still think he is cute though, snaggle-toothed and all.

Child-proofing

Just imagine the locks aren't there, and that is the actual speed at which this lovely child went from one thing to the next. Locks were finally essential to my everyday sanity.

Nervous

The worst part about pregnancy for me (besides the throwing up, of course) is the needles!

I do not like to have my blood drawn. The poor nurses always have to use the butterfly pediatric needle, and I have had a few miserable experiences with the poking and then searching for the vein. The searching hurts, and it gives me the heebie jeebies. I always have to concentrate on taking big deep slow breaths, and I more often than not have to end up laying down, sipping juice, to get my color to come back.

I don't like IV's either. Giving blood is bad enough, but now having to keep a needle inserted into my arm/hand is the pits. I can't look at it. I usually cover it up with a towel or something, because I would faint if I saw the needle sitting under my few layers of skin. I have had a nurse blow a vein trying to insert an IV, and if you ask me, it hurts worse than natural labor. Well, at least it would hurt worse if the feeling lasted as long as natural labor does. It feels like someone literally took a hammer and whacked your hand with it. Not good at all. As soon as I give birth, my usual first question is "Can we take the IV out now?!"

And last, but not least, I don't like my progesterone shots. Regular shots I can actually handle just fine. These shots are not regular shots. Usually a shot is given with an extremely thin needle, and the nurse can administer it in about 5 seconds or less, depending upon the amount being injected. My progesterone shots are like shooting corn syrup into your skin. Even with Scott's strength, he is usually pressing down on the needle with all of his might to inject it, and it still takes about 30 seconds to go in. They are not fun. Plus, I usually get a sight reaction to them, leaving a warm itchy red bump on my bum. By the time it usually goes away, it is time for the next shot. Bummer!

At the end of this pregnancy, I am looking forward to a very long time without any needles.

A very happy Halloween!

Oh boy, where to begin! It all started on Friday with Trick or Treating on Main Street here in Hermiston. All of the businesses get really into it, dress up, and hand out candy to hundreds of local kids. It was fun to see Main Street bussling with hundreds of kids in costume. The boys had a great time, until Lucas got freaked out by the "haunted house" (aka An old house transformed into a business with a ghost hanging from the door way where they were handing out the treats). After that he just wanted to go home.

On Saturday, we attended the Stake Trunk or Treat. Yes, I said Stake, not ward. It was huge! I handed out 2 costco sized bags of candy, and then our kids had to wait in line for a good 10-15 minutes to play one ring toss game. After the game, we were done. It was just too crowded for our liking, and the kids were ready for bed by that point.

On Sunday our kids just did our neighborhood loop (15 houses), and only 4 of them were home to hand out candy. They still had a good time though, and by the end, Max figured out how to say "Trick or Treat" with the other boys. It was adorable!

Happy Halloween! (Can I start listening to Christmas music now?!)

Pumpkin carving

We carved Max's pumpkin first, and when Scott held it up to show him, he backed away from the scary pumpkin face. But then he got closer and saw that it was okay.

He kept wanting to take the tops off all the pumpkins and look inside. Whenever we go out our front door now, he has to look inside each one and growl at all the faces.

Luke instructed me to make an angry face and drew a face on paper with slanted angry eyes and a frowning angry face. I did my best to interpret his drawing. Easton took more initiative this year, and actually helped me gut his pumpkin (I'm usually left to do this myself because no one wants to touch it, even Scott). He then drew his own face onto the pumpkin and Scott carved it out exactly how it was drawn. He did great!

Here they are in front of each of their pumpkins. Things like this get so much more fun as they get older and can be more involved in it.

Do you like Max's "cheese" face? Happy Halloween!!

Birthday party....a little late!

spider web cupcakes

spider hats

playing a game

The whole gang

The happiest birthday boy ever!

Luke had his birthday party almost 2 weeks ago, but I've been lazy with my blogging. He had a great time at his "Spider" party. (Whats easier than a Halloween-ish theme for a birthday party in October?!) They made cute spider hats, played "pin the spider on the web", opened presents, and ate spider web cupcakes. All the kids had a blast!

Happy 4th, Lucas!

Lucas is 4 years old now! Usually a parent reacts with "I can hardly believe they are this old already", but not with Lucas. He is finally the age that suits him. Lucas is so big (already taller than Easton), so smart (already reading), and they do everything together anyway, that it is hard for us as parents to remember that he is almost a year and a half younger than his older brother.

Lucas is a special kid! He is definitely our goofball. He does and says the most random things, usually followed by "I'm just joking!" and his big giggly laugh. He has quite the imagination and usually is the one to spur on the interesting dialogue when playing with their toys. He is also our stubborn one, and he can dig in his heels like no other, but we know that will be a strength to him as he gets older too. Like I mentioned above, he is really smart. He knows everything he needs to know for Kindergarten already, and he can read really well, almost just as well as Easton can. It is going to be hard for him next year when Easton goes to 1st grade, and he still has to wait one more whole year before he gets to go to Kindergarten. I don't know what I'm going to do with him! But he is starting to become a really good big brother. Easton took that role when he was at home, but now that he is in school, Luke has stepped up and is Mom's big helper with our crazy one, Max. They are starting to play together too!

We love that Lucas is a part of our family, and we're glad that he came when he did, we wouldn't have it any other way. Happy Birthday Lucas!

Camping for Conference

This was our last hot weekend of the year (I think), and so Scott decided to camp out in the backyard with the boys. They had a blast! They got treats, watched a movie in the tent, and then slept the night away in the cool night air. The boys love anything they do with their dad, but this one I'm sure they'll remember for a very long time.

News Flash!

We are expecting another sweet Pingel baby to grace our household in April 2011!

To answer the questions, here you go:

*Are you hoping for/were you trying for a girl? Absolutely not! The church tells us not to gamble. But honestly, we are completely fine with another boy (way less expensive at this point).

*How are you feeling? Like poo that someone stepped in. I am always like this for the first 4 months or so. I am just happy for the moments I get to rest on the couch, and for the days that all the food stays down. I'm on the downward slope now, and it should be over soon, hopefully.

*Is this your last one? I'd like to say yes, but never say never. Put it this way: after we have this one, and we don't have another one in about 5-10 years, then we are probably done. (p.s. Do not ask this question to someone in their 1st trimester, or last 2 months of pregnancy, because the answer will most likely be a firm "YES! I'm never doing this again!")

18 months old

Okay, so Max isn't 18 months old for another two weeks, but he had his Dr. appt. today, so I thought I'd post while the info is still fresh in my mind. Max has graduated from being a baby, into looking like a little boy. He had a big growth spurt and is now in the 60% for both height and weight.

Here are some things we love about this little boy:

*His blonde hair!
*His big brown eyes. (The feature that everyone notices first).
*His laugh. It is never loud, but sweet and between his teeth.
*His love of games, especially peek-a-boo and chase-around-the-table.
*His never-ending energy.
*His love of his older brothers. He follows them around and wants to do everything they do.
*All things new to him. I love watching him explore something for the first time, or study and observe something so intently. It must be an amazing world for an 18 month old!

Things he can do:

*Walk backwards and spin in circles. (Newly discovered talents).
*Say 15-20 words.
*Sit nicely at the table like a big boy to eat some of his meals.
*Climb onto everything!
*Jump; both on the floor and the trampoline.
*Drive his mom crazy with the "never-ending energy".
*Give the best snuggles before and after naps. I would let this little boy be permanently attached to my shoulder if he wanted it that way.

Happy 18 months to my little boy Max!

Labor Day Vacation

We decided to take one last summer trip and go to Utah. We left on Thursday when Easton got home from school. The trip was going great and we had finally made it to Orem around midnight, when some crazy guy lost control of his vehicle and side-swiped us on the highway. Thankfully, Scott was able to control the car and we didn't hit any other traffic, and no one was injured. It sure scared our boys who were asleep, but they were able to calm down, and an hour after the crash, we finally made it to Scott's parents' house.