Happy Christmas!!

I love how Augi tells everyone, "Happy Christmas!"
The holiday has been lasting for days this year...I guess that is a good thing. On Christmas Eve morning, the Elves left a final gift for the kids--new jammies. Augi wore her new princess pj's all day. Unfortunately, they were about 6 inches too long so she kept slipping and tripping. They are all mended up now, but now she isn't interested in wearing them. Silly girl. The elves left us for the year. Augi handled it fabulously! I think she had enough of their naughty antics!
So, after the jammies, Augi got to open one gift Christmas Eve. It was from mommy and daddy--her new digital camera! Whoo-hoo. She took some great crotch-shots of just about everyone. She will get the hang of it. It is cute. Once she sees them on the computer and gets actual prints, she will be even more motivated.

Christmas morning was pretty low-key at home. Santa brought Augi a princess watch and loaded her stocking with princess gear. Emmett got a new ride from mommy and daddy. Santa brought him cardboard bricks to smash as he sees fit. They are a little mature for him, though. I anticipate mass destruction with them as soon as he is walking. The elves left the kids a "Bilibo." If you aren't up on the latest trendy toy, read on. The bilibo is a toy without a pre-defined purpose. It can be a turtle shell, a chair, a spinning toy, a snow toy, a hiding spot, a baby cradle, or anything else the imagination can create.


It was a good thing that the early morning was quiet at home because as soon as we got to Meme and Papa's, the madness began!!! I actually handled it better this year than I ever have. Meme really chooses the best gifts ever. Augi got a doll that pees, books galore, art materials, clothes, a handheld video game, and loads of other fun things.

Ready for a night on the town

The boy cousin's playing with their new cars. Great gift! Being 4 is so wonderful! Notice Kaedyn's car driving off the cliff. Whoa-whoa-wee-whoa!
Daddy getting into the spirit. Or is that Santa?

Rockin in the Bilibo.

The family photographer in action

Emmett hangin with the cool kid

and the cool Papa...

Augi in heaven...holding a REAL baby that pees and poos and cries and everything. Our baby Em was never quite this small. Augi looks just like my sister Angie in this picture. Funny.

Finally, we made it home and relaxed as we looked at our new books.

Did you think it stopped there? Well, think again! We didn't make it to the Jolley's or Gma Valerie's because of the snow. So, on the day after Christmas Gma Valerie arrived with her booty (I am referring to the gifts, not her rear end). As Augi watched her walk up, she said, "Ohhhh, she looks cute." It was true. She was all decked out in red for the holiday. The kids were spoiled even more.
Yesterday the weather improved so we headed down to have lunch at IKEA and visit Uncle Bruce and Aunt Tammy and their little Matisse. More gifts, more fun. I was feeling a little sad to see them, though. Or envious. They left for Hawaii today. We planned to go with them, but the state of the economy made us stay. I am sure there will be another chance another day ...
I took a lot less pictures than I had hoped. Check out Munch's blog for more pics of the family. I loved reading all of your blogs.

I am exhausted, Eminem decided to wake at 4 am this morning and he stayed up until about 3 minutes before I needed to get up for work. He was so cute, even in my sleepy state. He cooed and gooed and smiled as I rubbed/tickled his back. It was a nice time together.

We are watching Lars and the Real Girl right now. What a weirdo show! But, it is entertaining when one is sleep deprived and punchy! I highly recommend it.

Oh, before I forget, thanks to our Colorado family--Ron and Gail--for sending us such wonderful gifts and yummy sweets. Chris and I are fighting over the delicious cakey blondie brownie thingys. MMMMMMMMM! I miss watching Gail completely lose her mind at Christmas as she made dozens upon dozens of cookies. We certainly had fun the year we made Kahlua. Those were fun times. I am so grateful for all of the people I have met in my life--Gail and Ron, the Brandls, The Lanes, the Lerews. I feel sad when I think of how much I miss you all. But, I wouldn't give up the good memories for anything. Thank you for the gifts and greetings this season!

Christmas prep

We have had our days filled with Christmas prep and birthday prep. Daddy celebrated his 39th birthday yesterday. Happy birthday Chris! I forgot my camera, so I need some people to send me their photos. Darn.
I finished Lib's spool dolls and Tanner's sand box and the cousins' Discovery bags. Just for fun, I whipped up these cute rag dolls for the kids. I kept messing up on Emmetts, so I kept cutting the body shorter and shorter.
The elves have been fairly mellow--just hiding in the drawers, playing Candyland, and sometimes just staying put all night. They will go back tomorrow with Santa on his sleigh. Augi is surprisingly ok with it. I explained to her that they will lose their magic if they don't return to the North Pole, and I promised we can write them over the next year and they will return next December. I heard that they will leave new Christmas jammies for the kids tonight. Tanner and Libby got their elf--Elfin--recently. Annie got one too. Those kids are like a gang. If one has it, they all must have it. Silly kids. At least they are a cute gang.

For the first time ever I forgot an appointment with a patient tonight. Can you imagine going to your therapist and they don't show up? F-L-A-K-E-Y! We are all human, right? Especially me. I am very routine oriented and I never schedule patients in the middle of the week. That's my excuse. Not a very good one.
So, tomorrow I have a patient to apologize to, a few items to return to the store, 3 gifts left to find (ick), some groceries to grab, then it is off to Meme and Papa's for Christmas Eve fun with the fam. Hooray!

Pictures, as promised

I won't say much tonight, I just need to get some pics posted. I am crazy busy at work right now, trying to see kids before the winter break. I need to get a psych eval written up tonight for an 8 am appointment with a family in the morning. Ug. At least it is a girl. 99% of the kids I see are boys. That's the nature of autism, but it is fun to get to see a girl once in a while! Oh, the elves took a break last night. Thank goodness! Next year they might not be able to join us until Mid December!

Em snoozin at the hospital when we went to see the twins. He was trying to escape the fact that he is no longer the baby of the family. He has some competition!

Chelsie and Rocky's cutes little patootest baby boys! Welcome William and Lucas! When our neighbor asked Augi what their names are, she replied, "Lucas and Ducas." Always the comedian.Well, the snow came this weekend. Notice Augi is wearing a skirt with no leggings. That child needs to live in Southern Cal. She hates winter clothes!

Chris gave Augi an early Christmas present--her own snow shovel. It was perfect. She is a great helper.

Two of the elves--Elfina and Elfie hanging from the spermdalier. Yes, I put spermadalier. Don't those lights strangely resemble big ginormous sperm?

Ahhh, sibling love. You wouldn't believe the fussing I got from BOTH children when I removed Augi's leg from Emmett's chest. Just before I snapped this shot Em was hugging Augi's leg.

Em in action. I will get some video up soon.

I promise, pictures will come

I am so tired at night, and I have several craft projects in the works for Christmas, so posting pictures is hard right now. I am working on a tiny little sandbox for Tanner, a set of spool dolls for Libs, and rag dolls for Em and Augi. Whew. Just call me Crafty Nancy.
I have been trying to get out of Augi what Chris got me for Christmas. She says it is a Frog and a Turten. What the hell is that? She consistently says the same thing, but I haven't a clue what it is. It is funny to ask her, though. I have to be careful because she gets frustrated with me.
Yeah, so our third elf arrived this weekend. We are full, we will not adopt any more elves. This one is called Elfkin. Elfie, Elfina, and Elfkin. One night this weekend they slept all night, one night they got into mischief playing candyland. Last night they found all the broken ornaments and toys and repaired them. Elfie has chilled out and left the Pollies alone since his two new female elfmates arrived. Just give him time...
Congrats to Chels and Rocky on the new babies! Way to go little mama--two healthy baby boys!
Emmett is completely mobile, although he isn't very fast. He is still working on coordinating his crawl. He is also getting his FOURTH tooth! Two up top and two on bottom, all at once. That must hurt!!!

Elfie and Elfina

I need to give an update on the antics of our TWO elves before I forget. I wish I had been documenting this with pictures to make a book for Augi. Shoot. Maybe next year.
So, Sunday night naughty Elfie had a party at his place with the Polly Pockets. Now, they are hot, but it was a little suspicious that he didn't invite the boys.
Monday night he got into Augi's gum and took a little bite of one piece. Tuesday, we got a surprise knock at the door and found ANOTHER elf. The thing about this one is that she is about 20 times as big as Prince Elfie. (I know, it is overboard, but when I saw it was the same elf in giant form I couldn't refuse.) Augi named her Princess Elifina. Prince Elfie is quite smitten with his new large friend. For Elfina's first night she put on Augi's jammies and tried to squeeze into Elfie's doll house. Last night the elves cleaned Augi's disaster of a room and they were found reading a new book in the playhouse.
Before I knew we would get to adopt Elfina I had already sent for another tiny girl elf. So, our one little naughty elf will soon be three naughty elves. Augi is feeling better about sending them home after Christmas. She wants to make them coats, though, because it is cold at the North Pole.

Dates with Augi

This was a really nice weekend. Poor little Emmett has a bad cough--we are going to see Dr. K tomorrow, in fact. Despite his cough, he was a sweetie all weekend. He coughs and starts to cry because it hurts, then he smiles and nuzzles in to us. He can move all over the place, although he isn't "crawling."
Augi was a doll this weekend. Yesterday we ran around, as a family, to do some shopping. I am frightened by whatever Chris found for me at Saver's. However, we found a PURPLE warm coat and PRINCESS boots for Augi. Used is the only way to go for that kid. She will wear her coat a handful of times and it will be a miracle if she wears the boots more than twice. Last night she wore them both, though. She and I had a "Date Night." We went to the park to walk around and look at the lights. They had loads of fun animal lights. She kept telling me how much she loved me and she seemed really proud to be out with Mama--and without "Baby." Afterwards, we went to Baskin Robbins for a treat. There was a mother there being horribly mean and grouchy to her 9-10ish year old daughter. It made me stop and think about the way I treat Augi when I am angry with her. I have to remember that she is just 3 and we are all adjusting to my return to work. I never want to be like that lady. It was such a fun time together. I love that little girl.
Well, she had so much fun that she asked to have "Special time" with Daddy tonight. They went to the same park. I don't know much about their experience, they were both pretty quiet. I think they enjoyed it. I forgot the camera last night, but they took it tonight.


Oooo...Elfie update. Friday night he slept soundly all night, no tricks. Saturday night he set up the train tracks and took it for a ride around the tree.

Light Show, in her purple coat, princess boots, and Dora Jammies

SNOOZIN'

CUTEST KIDS EVER PLAYING IN THE TUB
PRINCE ELFIE'S PAD, ALL DECKED OUT FOR CHRISTMAS

EMINEM PLAYING IN THE DRAWERS

Buttons, Crawling, and Elfie

I am so amazed by Augi. She showed me tonight that she can button her own jammies. I am amazed that she can continue to progress with a nut for a mommy!

Emmett is just seconds away from crawling. He now gets all the way up on all fours, with his head up too, and rocks. He rolls all over and scooches and pulls.

Prince Elfie has been busy. After the toilet papering incident, Augi locked him in the dollhouse. He was able to escape with the dollhouse ladder, and he hung Augi's unders all over the Christmas tree. Augi was not thrilled. She was determined to lock him up for good. She piled blankets and a book on top of the dollhouse so he couldn't break out. Well, Monday night he used his magic to put up a tiny Christmas tree and some decorations inside the dollhouse. Silly Elfie.
Tuesday was a mellow night for him. Augi released him from the dollhouse prison and just put him to bed in there. She woke up in the morning to find him reading a tiny book in his tiny bed.
Wednesday Elfie found the crayons and drew a picture and a note for Augi. He is still trying to make up for hanging her undies on the tree. We sure are happy to have Prince Elfie around.

Happy Turkey Day! Em has a tooth!

Well, almost. I can feel the little jagged edges and he is biting like crazy trying to work it through. He just barely missed turkey day. He is such an easy going little guy. Other than being a little high-maintenance he has barely fussed.

Caisy had a sleepover at our house. Augi was thrilled. The evening went great--they played like crazy. But, then the night came. Augi woke up around 4:30 am and went out to cuddle with Daddy, who was on the couch as usual. Well, she fell back to sleep immediately and Chris went to find a new spot to sleep. He ran into Caisy, who was standing in the hall. He went to our bed with Em and I went to Augi's room to entertain Caisy. She wasn't interested in going back to sleep. Augi slept for a while, but the whole morning was filled with three (yes, me too) cranky girls fighting over everything!

Augi and Dayton have recently renewed their interest in each other. The 10 month gap seems to be getting less significant over time. Augi has always had a special soft spot for him, though. She used to save some of everything "for Dayton" from the moment she could say his name. Their favorite theme is to be a husband and wife and Augi is pregnant.

Dayton is a great birthing coach.

Thanksgiving morning we three joined Daddy for a 5k. He ran, we walked. It was really cold and rainy, but fun none the less. I met the only other walker--a nice lady from Idaho with her granddaughter. We chatted the entire time. I think we will join him on the next one. I might try to run one if we have the jogger stroller, but then I miss out on meeting fun people.

After the race...happy to be in the warm, dry car.

I finally got a new washing machine--my Christmas present!!!!!! I have wanted a front loader for years and years (Augi's favorite phrase.) Our old top loader finally bit the dust this week. We checked out Consumer Reports and Chris got this scratched and dented beauty for a bargain. I love it. I washed like 10 loads today for fun. I'm sure the fun will wear out soon, but I am really excited about it.
So how is Prince Elfie, you ask? Well, he has been up to no good. He arrived Wednesday. Wednesday night he set up a tea party in the living room.

Thursday night he snuck into Nanny's bed to cuddle with her.

Friday he climbed into Augi's dish drawer and got stuck in her cup.

Saturday he toilet papered Augi's bedroom.

It's funny, Augi likes looking for him in the mornings and she talks about him throughout the day. But, she was not really thrilled that he tp'd her bedroom. She was a little peaved, in fact.

What will he do next? Stay tuned....

Welcome, Prince Elfie

Lucky us! We were able to adopt a little Christmas Elf, and he arrived today. Augi named him Prince Elfie. In case you aren't familiar with adopting elves, read on...Most elves are finished helping Santa with the toys by Thanksgiving. Well, they need some rest and Santa needs help knowing what the kids are up to during this last month before Christmas. So, you can adopt an elf who comes to live with you each year. The elf watches the children during the day to make sure they are being good. Then, at night, he reports back to Santa. Sometime he gets into mischief or hides. Every morning the children need to find him and put him safely back in his spot. Augi doesn't believe a word of it, but she is a good sport and she is going along with it to keep mom happy. As you can see from the pictures, she fed him some dinner. She likes the little creature. He set up a tea party tonight and she will find it in the morning. I am really excited. I will love seeing her surprised each morning!

Thank Goodness for Weekends

I needed this weekend. I have a cold, as does everyone else in this house. Augi seems to be on the downhill side of hers, Chris too, but Em and I are right in the middle of ours. This will be a short week with the Thanksgiving holiday. Hooray!

Augi put on some monkey socks. Quite fitting, don't you think?!

Augi and I made brownies today. They turned out pretty yummy, especially before they were cooked. Notice the Obama print in the background. Our house is soon to be wallpapered in Obama gear. Not really, but Chris got a couple of really great prints for our Christmas present.

Daddy read with Em for a while tonight. Augi also read this book to him, but she made up her own story as she went along. I wish I had it on video.

Augi rarely lets me do her hair. We saw this cute little black girl at Zion's birthday party tonight who had her hair in ponies all over. Augi asked me to do her hair that way tonight. It was fun. Maybe she'll start letting me do her hair soon! I did cut her bangs tonight. They are a little crooked, and a lot short, but every little girl should have mommy-cut bangs, don't you think? Seriously, they look much cuter in person.

Update and Ewwwwww!

I haven't been bloggin' much lately because I am terribly exhausted at night. Working is killing me! I love it, though. The kids have really handled the transition well. Much better than I, actually. Augi is showing some jealousy lately. She will be fine, just happy as can be, then she will start to dig at me and cry and pinch me or something. Poor thing. She is such a great kid and she loves Em so much. She tries really hard to be happy and include Emmett in everything we do. Sometimes she just can't contain it anymore.
OK, so the Ewie story. Today I was at work and it was milk pumping time. Well, my pump was not really working well. It was as if it was clogged or something. I checked all the tubes, no kinks. I shook it around and readjusted and it started working fine. So, I finished up and as I was pouring the milk into the storage container, I thought I spotted something dark out of the corner of my eye. Naw, it must have been a shadow. But then, I thought I saw it again. Ok, so I swished the milk around. Nothing. So, I swish a little more and sure enough there was some sort of dark object. The milk is now contaminated, so I decide to investigate. THERE WAS A FREAKIN SPIDER IN THE MILK! It must have been stuck in the valve and it finally pushed through. Blah! (As Augi loves to say)

The Many Faces of Augi

Guilty

Silly
Angry

Just Plain Cute
Mischevious

Giggly

Frightened

Sorry these are mostly out of focus, but you get the idea. They are super cute-a-licious!

Hungry Boy, Lazy Old Lady

We have given up on feeding Emmett any baby food. We've moved on to road kill. The little bugger still has no interest in baby food. He likes french fries, graham crackers, and tortilla chips, though. Oh boy does he want to crawl. I bet I'll be posting that he crawls any day now.
Sweet little Nooshy. She is the old lady. Don't even tell me you were thinking it was going to be me!

Back on the Charts!

Happy 1/2 bday to Emmett (yesterday that is...)!
I am too tired to post pics today. Emmett had his 6 month check up with Dr. K. today. I didn't get to go...I had my first day back at TCC. It is the first doc appointment I have ever missed. Daddy took him, though, and Dr. K still sent some cookies home with Chris for me. They are yummy German cookies. Is it that obvious that I love pastries?

Anyway, Em is 19 lbs and 26.5 inches. That puts him, roughly, between 50-75th percentile for height and 75th for weight. Keep in mind that is all unadjusted for prematurity! In my field we adjust until a child is 2 years. Most importantly, he is healthy and developing appropriately! It is always such a relief for me to have well child checks. My mommy goggles completely block out my child psych goggles and I suddenly know nothing about child development when I am with my own children.

As I said earlier, I started back to TCC today. It was invigorating, and stressful at the same time. I am so excited to be back working with that population. The staff is all new to me, but they seem really great. The kids are harder than ever. The commute is a bummer and my day will be packed from the minute I get there until I leave. There is absolutely no room for monkey business. I'm ok with that, though.

I thought about my kids all day and I missed them. We will adjust. We cuddled all evening. Tonight, when they were going to bed, Augi wanted to come in to my room to sleep with Emmett. I laid down with Emmett between Augi and me. They held hands and Emmett cooed and giggled whenever Augi kissed his cheek or ear. Then, they just drifted off to sleep together. It was very sweet. I wanted to stay there with them all night and just watch them. But, tomorrow is another busy day and I have dishes to do, laundry to fold, cases to review, emails to write, blogs to post, lunches to make, and diaper bags to pack. I'd also like to squeeze in some r & r and maybe visit with that husband guy.

The kids

Sometimes I just can't think of a title. Sometimes I just can't think.

I am so happy Obama is the pres elect. My children are going to grow up in a very different world. It is wonderful.

Augi loves her Snow White dress. She also loves getting her picture taken, so she is a great poser. She doesn't know it yet, but she is getting her own camera for Christmas. I can't wait to see what sort of photographer she is.

Augi and Braden spent all day Saturday playing together outside. Braden is 2 years older than Augi, but they get along really well. I wasn't so excited about his ideas of feeding Em Dots candy or pouring gasoline on the leaves. Is that what boys do? Is that what I can expect? Please tell me he is an unusual kid.

We are trying like crazy to get Emmett to enjoy eating food. I just started a few weeks ago. He is sort of indifferent to cereal, but he does an entire body quiver for anything else. I wanted him to at least get used to the taste, so I let him get nakie and play in it. He definitely enjoys food, just not when it gets in his mouth. Little stinker.

We got to see Grandpa Albert this weekend. We snapped a quick picture...

Oh work. I have just a 4 day work week this week. Next week will be 5 days. It is exhausting. I could live without the workplace drama. Ug. I have only been back for 2 days and I am already sucked in to it all. I am just going to keep my mouth shut and smile a lot.

Hooray for Obama!

We are just giddy today. That's all I have to say about that.

Back to Work

This is just a word post, no fun pics. Today was my first day back to permanent work. It was sort of weird. I have worked quite a bit this summer, but it is different when it isn't temporary. I had mixed feelings...I was excited to be back at work doing what I do best, but I missed my munchkins terribly. I am tired, in a different way. Staying at home with kids all day is really really hard. I honestly believe it is much harder than going to work. I am just torn about what is best for them. Sarah is wonderful. I know I am a better mommy when I have work as an outlet. It is just an adjustment for us. I think we will spend the weekend home together after this busy week, although our Saturday is already booked!