Happy Bday Eric!

Big Eric had another birthday - wahoo! :) I made him a fabulous (if I do say so myself) chocolate swirl cheesecake that we enjoyed at our family party after a yummy dinner. Then the bday boy opened his present... a Kinect! Which was super exciting because he has been pining after one ever since they came out (which is really weird because he hates videogames) but I said NO WAY - I have been waiting a long time for some furniture for the house! But it was his birthday and our friends did give us an xbox for free (yes, we have cool friends!) and our parents did want to go in on it and I knew it would be a killer surprise... so I got it! I loved his reaction when he first opened it; is was soooo Eric. It went something like this: I have my camera ready and poised to capture the first glimpse... Eric rips aside the paper and... not a change in expression at all, just a bland "no way" with no emphasis at all. Ya, I'm serious. Hahaha!! I don't know why I was expecting him to yell and shout and jump out of his seat! That is totally me, not him! :) But despite his reaction (or should I say, lack of) he was thrilled with the Kinect and has been loving it so much he went out and bought another game today! In all fairness, he did give me a big grin a minute later - see pic below. :)there it is... gotta love that smile :)our little jewel happily chewing on (and pulling apart) my pastry brush during the partyI have a feeling my boys are going to have a lot of fun with this thing!!To further the celebrations, Eric's parents flew into town today and took us all out to eat for a birthday dinner at BJ's. It was so fun!While we were distracted talking, Nyah took the opportunity to taste everything within her reach on my lap... some scraps of lettuce and a chocolate covered spoon. She was NOT happy to have those tasty treats taken away! :)
Happy birthday babe!! You are the best daddy to our little cuties and the best husband I could ask for. You bless our lives and we are so thankful for you. Love you so much... xoxoxo!

a pat on the back

Every time Eric or I pick up Nyah she gives us a pat on the back! Seriously - it is so cute! She just softly pats our back or shoulder over and over as if to say "yes, that was the right thing to do, good job." :) She is such a little darling lately. Now that I have recorded some of Gabe's funny moments, I want to remember a few of his little sister's...

For the most part, Nyah is a cautious little girl. For instance, when I offer her something new to play with she enthusiastically reaches for it but pulls her hand back at the last second, looks up at me and wiggles with excitement, then reaches again. This time her fingers will barely brush the object and she will pull back and grin at me, wiggle some more, then try again. She reaches over and over - touching just a bit more each time until she finally picks it up and has a taste! :) It is just so funny! When she was a little younger (while we were in Utah over Christmas), there were several times when I was holding her on my lap at the table and out of the corner of my eye I would see her twist her head all the way up to look at me. When I would look down at her I would see that she was holding a piece of food from my plate and solemnly looking at me as if to say "uh mom, I've got something here that I'm not supposed to have..." :) I think most babies would just immediately start trying to eat whatever it was. She cracks me up!

She absolutely loves the bath and goes nuts when she hears the water running into the tub, wiggling and yelling (or shall I say, screeching) with excitement! Then once she gets in she splashes so fast and hard that it is truly spastic!! :) Luckily Gabe just turns his head and grins and bears it. What a sweet big brother he is to her and she adores him. Truly adores him. Eric and I can jump around hooting like monkeys or stand on our heads singing Old McDonald and she will smile... but the only one that can make her belly laugh is Gabe. And all he has to do is say something (anything it seems) and she will crack up giggling. One time all he said was "it's time for bed, Nyah!" and she laughed and laughed - it was crazy!! Anyway, I love this picture - Nyah looks half-drowned while Gabe is dumping water over her head with a little grin at the corner of his mouth! That is about the extent of tormenting-little-sister that goes on around here (thank goodness) and she doesn't even mind!

too funny

It's great having a live-in comedian. That's Gabe at our house - and I'm sure anyone else with a 3 or 4 year old knows what I'm talking about! Every night Eric and I have fun recalling all the things he has said during that day that had us laughing out loud (or more often than not, trying to hide a chuckle!) I never want to forget these moments. They are too precious! Tonight's report included:

Gabe noticed some flour on the counter and immediately became a little policeman...
G: "who made this mess?!"
me: "I did - I just made some breadsticks."
G: "you need to clean this up. We don't like messes. It's not nice to make a big mess. I'm going upstairs now and when I come down you need to clean it up...." and on and on and on!!

Am I really such a nag?! It's uncomfortable how much I hear what I tell him coming back to me! It's like he internalizes the things I say and then later tries to fit them in to his own experiences.

Here is another example:
me: "Lunch is ready, Gabe!"
G: (coming down the stairs) "I'm busy right now. It's not nice to say it's time for lunch to me when I'm busy. It's not nice."

I'm a little taken aback at this point and explain to him that when someone does something for you, like make you a yummy lunch, you stop what you're doing and say Thank you!! But this has me reviewing what I've said to him in the last few days... have I really told him I'm busy that much?! I know I tell him it's not nice to interrupt me on the phone...maybe I said I was busy. Oh dear. Well, it's a good thing to have this echo in my life - he's like a little red pen that goes back over my day and highlights a lot of things for me to review! :)

Eric's story was when he was tucking Gabe into bed, Gabe noticed a train that was still out - all lined up along the floor. He very seriously told Daddy that he better put it in the box or he was going to get out of bed and play with it! Thanks for the warning bud! :)

Lately Gabes loves hearing stories about when he was a "little boy". He also likes coming up with his own "memories" and tells us all kinds of stories from when he was a little boy - it is so cute. Especially because he tells his stories like they are the funniest things ever and that he was the silliest "little boy"! We love hearing about all the naughty things he supposedly did when he was a little boy. Haha! Tonight at dinner that is what he wanted to talk about. He told us he would take a turn, then we would take a turn ,telling stories about when he was a little boy. He listened delighted to my story...then his...then mine again... then when it came to Daddy, he listened indulgently to Eric's and at the end said matter-of-factly: "no, I didn't" and moved right on!! It was hilarious! Gabe hit it right on though because Eric was really teasing him with his story about how Gabe used to share his bb with Daddy and let Daddy suck on the tail - which of course rarely happened, if ever! (I know that sounds weird...click here if you're lost!) Anyway, we sure love talking with our big boy. :)

New Year's Eve

This New Year's Eve Eric and I went out, just the two of us, and it was so much fun! We went to Thaifoon for dinner - the Gateway is beautiful at Christmas time! - then took the train down to temple square. Having been living out of state for the past 18 months, we were struck anew by how lovely and majestic the Salt Lake temple is. With the lights up for Christmas, temple square and the park next door are enchanting! It was so much fun to just linger and enjoy the atmosphere with my sweet hubby.

our little buddy

I had to add these two pictures of Eric and I hanging out with our little buddy Gabe. He is truly so fun to be with! His imagination is amazing and his commentary about day-to-day events hilarious!

Here is Daddy and Gabe dangling their legs off the balcony at Grammy and Papa's. It's not quite the same for Eric (since only his feet would fit through) but he was a good sport and Gabe loved sharing one of his favorite spots with Daddy!Gabe and I made a foam gingerbread house that Aunt Erin and her family sent for him to do. (Yes, we are still in our pjs...it was a laid back morning!) We had so much fun fitting all the pieces together then decorating it with stickers and glitter! I forgot to take a picture of our finished masterpiece but it was pretty amazing! It graced the shelf in Gabe's room for the rest of the trip.

and there's more!

More family, more presents, more fun at Gabe and Nyah's other grandparent's house! Those kids got spoiled silly... we all did! After opening presents we had a Christmas dinner with Eric's extended family. It was fun to catch up, relax, and enjoy the day with everyone.Nyah loved her little kitchen. She can bang away at it and it sings her songs! :)When Gabe first saw his new train table, he ran straight over and immediately started playing with it! He loved it! It came with trains and cars galore, a crane, a round house, tunnels, bridges and anything else a train-loving-boy could dream of! Now we just can't wait to get it home to Seattle... but as Gabe says with complete conviction: "Grandpa will fink of something. Grandpa will get it home on the plane!"

Christmas Morning!

The kids on the stairs all ready to go see what Santa left (Mindy and Mom couldn't wait so we let them join the little kids...heehee, jk! Thanks for holding the babies for the picture, guys!)Gabe was thrilled to see Cranky the Crane waiting for him next to his stocking... just what he asked Santa for! He was equally thrilled with Wesley's Buzz and Woody... and Wes loved his crane of course. Isn't it always like that on Christmas morning! :) They both had lots of fun checking out each others cool stuff!Nyah is much more interested in watching all the big kids run around screaming with excitement than check out her own presents! :)Eric and I got a surprise present from Gabe...a handmade Rudolph ornament that he made and wrapped in preschool. It was so fun to open! We loved it!!

Matt was in the Ukraine this year and brought back some beautiful Pysanky eggs for Mom. She loves them. They even gave me one in my stocking - yay!!Mom quilted each of us a scripture blanket for Christmas! Eric's was U of U (he had a big grin on his face!), Gabe's has all kinds of sea creatures and ships on his (last summer he got to pick the fabric out himself!), Grammy already made Nyah's pink and green quilt with little animals, and mine was a beautiful pattern of bees and beehives in a Relief Society theme... I love it and I know we will all cherish these hand made gifts. Thanks mom! Now we can snuggle up in our warm, soft quilts and read the scriptures together!As you can see from that wild-lookin' grin, Gabe loves his fishing rod from Erin's family... and has been asking to go fishing just about every day since Christmas!

Jack's favorite gifts were books!! Gabe is checking out Jack's bat and ball while Jack is otherwise occupied at the moment... :)

What a fun and exciting morning - for the big people as well as the little! :) Eric and I are so excited for this new phase of our lives when the magic of Santa Claus makes Christmas morning extra special. We had no idea how much we would love being parents!!

Christmas Eve at Grammy and Papa's

On Christmas Eve we started off the evening with our traditional dinner of Chicken a La King. It was delicious, as always, and fun to share such a lovely and heartwarming meal together. After dinner we all went downstairs (with big platters of candy and cookies) to have a wonderful program full of fun activities!The Nativity

starring:

Colt as Baby Jesus

Amy as Mary

Gabe as an angel

Nyah as an angel

Wesley as a wiseman

Jack as a wiseman (lasted about 30 seconds!)

Logan as a wiseman or shepherd

(can't remember since his costume lasted about 10 seconds!)

Next we enjoyed Christmas stories and singing carols...Sweet Nyah Mindy and ColtGrammy had lots of help at the piano! :)Griff and Jack Cute Logan!

Papa, Grammy and Logan

Matt and Amy

After the kids went to bed we all cuddled up and watched The Christmas Carol (with George C. Scott) another favorite tradition of ours. It was such a fun night. Then we all went to bed so Santa could come.....!