A Very Merry December

At 3 months old, Jayda rolled from tummy-to-back. Kallie didn’t do that until she was 5 months old. Even though Jayda did actually do this earlier, time is just going by faster with two kids. I love having a little baby again. Every time Jayda is lying on the floor and looking up at something with wonder she is just SO beautiful I can’t get enough of it.

 

Yes, she puked as I took the picture.

 I've been feeling really tired the past couple days; almost as much as I was during my pregnancy with Jayda. It’s really annoying because as soon as the kids go to bed I’m tired enough for bed too. I suppose I should simply follow my body’s signals and go to bed but I’m afraid I’d still sleep as late as I usually do, therefore losing about four hours of my day.

We had fun going to Ruby Tuesday for Joel’s birthday dinner. The servers were totally off their game that night; first our orders apparently got deleted from the computer by accident so we waited a long time for our meals (but they served awesome cheesy rolls and all-you-can-eat salad bar so we weren't starving). When they did finally serve our meals Joel’s plate was half empty so he had to wait even longer for his side and they also ran out of mac & cheese. In the end, the food was still really tasty. Kallie hadn’t gotten a nap that day so as we left the restaurant she was twirling in circles, shaking her head from side to side, crossing her eyes and sticking her tongue out. Just try to picture that for a sec. Unfortunately I didn't catch it on video. But we did catch Kallie acting crazy with her friend Ariana:

 I discovered for toddler girls, long shirts and leggings are the way-to-go. I have such a hard time finding jeans that properly fit Kallie. They're ALWAYS way too long so the bottoms get stepped on and dirty and they also fall off her butt. I'm excited about this revelation and buying her new clothes. 

We went to the Tree Steakhouse again for Brad's Christmas work dinner. It wasn't quite as fun as last year just because we had to bring Jayda this time and I had to take her to the car and nurse her right as our main meal arrived. We also had to leave early (with our desserts in to-go boxes) in order to relieve our teenaged babysitter at a reasonable hour.

We went to the temple with Joel and Jen this month and it worked out really well. Joel's recommend had expired so he watched all the kids while the rest of us did a sealing session. Afterward we went to Ikea and OH MY GOSH I forgot how awesome it is. We ate lunch there and bought a few things but Brad and I totally wanna go back and buy tons more stuff we saw on the way out. While shopping I met and got to know a deaf couple with twins the same age as Kallie. Later I learned he is not only deaf but also LDS! It was fun to practice my signing. I told the dad I’m rusty because I have no deaf friends here to help me practice. He got all excited, whipped out a piece of paper and wrote down all his contact info for me. Then I had to break the news that we live in Jacksonville, not Orlando.

This year I started baking Christmas treats. Although I had planned on making three or four things to combine and pass out to friends, I ended up only making my favorite dessert in the world, Oreo truffles. What’s even better is I was able to make them look good this time too! It took me a couple times to master the candy coating.

We decided to drive to Bentonville, AR to visit Brad’s oldest brother Dustin and his family for Christmas! It took us quite awhile to make the final decision because I was NOT looking forward to an 18 hour car ride (each way) with two small kids. Eventually we decided experiences are way better than anything we can buy for ourselves and we wanted to be with family so we went for it. It turned out great. DVD's players in cars are life savers! We became extremely lenient in our car seat rules on this trip. I nursed Jayda in the back seat and often held her for a little while afterward so she could stretch out and stand up. I also let Kallie out of her seat to walk around (with my close supervision) while we drove. 

We stopped at a random parking lot for lunch and while Jayda stayed in the car the rest of us did fast exercises like jumping jacks, lunges, jogging and much more. Kallie was so cute trying to do all that stuff. We had planned on stopping at a hotel but ended up pushing through and finishing the whole trip in one day! We left at 7:30am and arrived shortly after midnight. Brad drove the entire way up until the last TWO hours when he suddenly got tired and asked me to drive. At this point I thought he was gonna make it the whole way so I hadn’t planned on driving. I was getting tired as well and was about to sleep! If I had known I was gonna be driving at 10:30pm I would have taken a nap earlier. I took over anyway so Brad could take a rest but I only lasted one hour before we had to switch back. Luckily one hour of napping was enough to rejuvenate Brad to finish out the trip. The girls napped in the car and also fell asleep at their normal bedtimes, which was wonderful.

Dustin (as well as most people in Bentonville) work for the headquarters of Wal-mart so the employees have available to them cool things like a fitness center, store with huge discounts, etc…Dustin & Heather’s house is beautiful and we had so much fun there. Kallie loved playing with her cousins and got her exercise running around the house and up and down the stairs the whole time (I didn’t need to entertain her at all!) We went to the fitness center multiple times and played volleyball, basketball, swimming, ice skating. We acted out the nativity and had a talent show on Christmas Eve and Grandma & Grandpa McGary participated from Rexburg via Skype. There was forecasted to be snow on Christmas day so we all waited and waited but it never came. However, on our last day in Bentonville it SNOWED! We bundled up Kallie in all the snow clothes and she played outside with her cousins for quite awhile. They built a snow man and went sledding. I felt like I got to know their family a whole lot better and they are awesome.

Joseph and Wise Man

Kallie the Wise Man

New backpack from Dustin & Heather

Her favorite thing to play with the WHOLE time we were there was this fake ice cream cone that belonged to her cousin Madalyn.

Christmas morning! From left Madalyn (back to camera), Ashley, Mikayla, Porter, Heather

Dustin in the rocking chair

Let's zoom in on Kallie and her fake ice cream cone bliss:

 

Christmas sleeper from Dustin & Heather

Little girl at a big table

 We spent New Year's Eve with our good friends, the Hills. We ate tasty food, played lots of board games and toasted with sparkling cider as the New Year arrived (it probably sounds like a cheesy parents night but it was actually a lot of fun). Kallie and Sam played together and then had a sleepover (even though they slept in separate cribs and separate rooms). We learned a couple a new games that night and are excited to play them again :)

We can't find our camera charger. I'm deathly afraid I accidentally threw it out with the trash I cleaned out of the car. It's basically useless to us now. That's why we didn't get very many pictures in AR.

A different way of taking the girls jogging. They loved it! I didn't. The way their weight is distributed makes it feel SO heavy!

She's wearing my sports bra like a purse....complete with nursing pads.

I love her smile even though she's not looking at the camera. Giggling from tickles

Brad did not point out my smoothie mustache before taking this picture.

Attempting to wear the shoes to her toy monkey.

why...won't...they...FIT?

Decorating cookies at her friend Sam's birthday party (close to Christmas)

Kallie & Sam

I kept the camera below her face so it wouldn't distract her

Current Kallie Phrases:

Soss and shoes

Kayee (kallie)

Orsh (orange)

Hep (help)

Nack (snack)

Dananananana (banana)

Pagettee (spaghetti)

I hungee toOOoo!

I yuv you!
Fow down Kayee
Hep couch
Daddy burp
 Mommy funny
Sam fend/Emma cousin/Donny fend/Emme fend/Ana fend (friend)
If I'm holding Jayda, Kallie now walks up to hug us both and say, "famiwee!"