January Birthdays

Josh's birthday celebration was pretty simple this year. In fact, I had Young Women the day of, so I asked if we could celebrate the following day. I made him dinner, and a new cheesecake recipe.

 Grant's birthday was also fairly simple since we just had Christmas and he was spoiled. In the morning, Josh just couldn't wait to give him the toy that he picked out.

 Every once in awhile, when we have guests, Grant gets so excited to bring his "Fixing Hing" downstairs to show them.

 Then he chose to go to Old McDonald's for lunch.

 I spent the time during his nap making this cake and then Meili set all the cars up for the display. I loved how it turned out!

 The cake kind of evolved as I made it. I made Grant a cars cake last year too, so I tried to figure out how I could change things up so it wouldn't be the exact same. He's also more in to monster trucks and construction machines than cars, so I wanted to try to incorporate that.

 He loved it! This may be hard to believe for those that know Grant, but he was obsessed, and just couldn't leave it alone the whole time we were trying to eat dinner.

 Blowing out the candles

 The sad reality in my world is that no one in my family really likes cake all that much. There are many treats we would all choose over cake. But I love making them. So I make the cake, and then a few days later, we throw the majority of it away. Totally worth it!

 However, Grant would have driven his cars in the frosting for days if I had let him. He was pretty upset when I told him we had to throw it away, and I'm still pretty sure that he honestly didn't know that the purpose of the cake was to eat it, and not just look at it or play in it.

 My parents got this tent for Grant, and they just couldn't wait to use it. We slept over at my parents' house shortly thereafter, and Meili and Grant took it with them so they could sleep in the tent.

 And, of course, they had to get Cam in on the action!

 These are the pictures from the rest of Grant's presents. Pay no attention to his pants being on backwards :)

 

He got an expansion to his Paw Patrol track, and...

Paw Patrol suckers!

I've heard people say for years, "Everyone says "terrible twos," but three-year-olds are way worse!"

I didn't really feel that way with Meili, but so far, it is definitely true for Grant. He has developed a defiant, independent streak that is no joke. But he is also very cute and so sweet. He loves cars and trucks, still loves Paw Patrol. He has obsessions with a few songs: Shut Up and Dance with Me, Jesus Take the Wheel, True Colors from Trolls, and How Far I'll Go from Moana. When he sings his ABC's he sings, "ABCDQFG..." and then, "Now I know you ABC's..." He knows that it's wrong, but because we've tried to correct him, he will never change, because he's like that. He loves being silly and crazy. He likes dancing and I think he got his moves from his dad ;). He frequently says, "I love my new baby brother!" And tells me that he loves me. I think he and Meili are really pretty good together. They fight as all siblings will, but more often than they fight, they share, and if Grant gets a treat, he makes sure to get one for Meili and vice versa. I wish I could just record his every move all day long because I think he is so cute and funny, and I know this age will pass in the blink of an eye.

Christmas

 

Christmas was fun this year. Enough said.

 

Just kidding!

 

But, really, right now, the ages my kids are, Christmas is magical. And I'm starting to realize that our years of Christmas being quite this magical are numbered.

 

I stressed in the days and weeks leading up to Christmas. I stressed about what Meili asked Santa for-if she would really like it. I stressed about what Grant asked Santa for-that he wouldn't be getting exactly what he asked for, but something similar instead. I stressed if the kids were getting too much. I stressed if they weren't getting enough. I stressed if they were getting equal amounts.

 

And, you know what, none of it really mattered in the end. I think their faces really say it all.

 

Next year, I'll try not to stress so much.

 

(Yeah right.)

 Here's the fam, in their new pajamas!

 

Then, the next morning...

Grant went downstairs to wake Meili up. He said, "Meili, come see what Santa brought!!!" She, sleepily said, "I don't think I got enough sleep." To which I replied, "So, you don't want to see what Santa brought?" She said, "I'll come open presents and then I'll come take a nap."

 

I think that should be the new Christmas tradition! But once she got a little sugar in her, she forgot all about sleep!

I wrapped this horse for Meili in the box from her Build-A-Bear unicorn, so that was the present she went for first. Even before her stocking, and before her present from Santa. I don't think she was disappointed.

 

 

I also don't think Grant was disappointed with his present from Santa-even though it wasn't a Paw Patroller.

 

 

 

And I had to get a picture of the utter mayhem left from Christmas morning.

 

We hurried and got ready, because the plan was going to church with my parents in Bountiful.

 But it was snowing so much that we quickly turned around, came home, and made a new plan.

We went to our own church, and then headed over to Honeyville. (I, of course, didn't take pictures.) But the kids loved being together. Loved, especially, having a sleepover at Grandma's house. And then went sledding in the morning.

 Nice winter attire there Josh!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then, we headed to Bountiful-this time, for real.

 This was hilarious! I tried to be the mom that doesn't let her kids get all their presents out-so as not to lose pieces.

Grant had other plans. We kept telling him that he could get out his Paw Patrol track later, and he kept getting frustrated. He was persistent, and just waited until we were distracted and ripped into the box himself.

 But, none of Christmas is really about the presents-even though that has been a lot of this post. We loved making memories with our little family, and our extended families.

Christmas Lights

The weekend before Christmas, after a month of trying, I convinced Josh and my parents to take our kids on the train and to Ogden to see Christmas Lights. My mom was packed with things to do (as most are a couple days before Christmas), so she kept going back and forth trying to decide if she should go or not. She finally said, "Christmas is about making memories, not everything being perfectly wrapped!" Well, hopefully she didn't regret her decision because memories were definitely made.

 We took the Young Women at the beginning of the month, on Frontrunner to the lights at Temple Square, and ever since then, I couldn't get it out of my mind that Grant needed to ride the train! He thought it was pretty cool that it could go frontwards and backwards. He still calls it "the backwards train."

 When we got off the train, it immediately started snow/raining. And we had to walk with three little ones about a mile each way. Luckily, they were troopers, but I will admit that I second-guessed whether I should have convinced everyone of this plan or not.

 The kids were done pretty early on. But nothing a little hot chocolate, cookies, and treats couldn't fix.

The whole way back to the train, Meili was complaining that her feet were cold. So I made her make up different items to put in the 12 Days of Christmas. When we got on the train, my mom took off Meili's boots and found that her socks and feet were totally soaked. :( No wonder she complained. So all in all, I actually think she was a trooper.

It was definitely a fun Christmas memory. And I foresee me trying to convince my family of something similar again in the future!