Our holiday in pictures

Jameson made a menorah at school and brought it home on the last day of Hanukkah   Russell had to work that night, but they sent candles home and all, so I really had no excuse not to light it!

Seeing Santa at Bass Pro Shop.  No one cried and two of the three are looking at the camera - not too shabby!  Oh and you can't see the giant hole that Delilah ripped in her tights in the van on the way there...unless I point it out!

Christmas with Gigi!

Notice the tiny fork in his beard.  He was using a dinglehopper.  My brother is weird, end of story.

Sledding with Papa Terry at his new house.  Everyone had a blast...that is, until Delilah got snow in her mittens.  "My hands is frozen!"

 

Let me reiterate...my brother is weird!

Milk and cookies for Santa, plus carrots for Rudolph.

Huh, the kids must have been good after all...Just couple things under the tree.  :-)

Love for the Bennetts from near and far!

...And to all a good night!

This time of year is often one of the most stressful for me.  In the past there has been added pressure put on me due to scheduling issues and other people's expectations.  Everything is further muddled by the fact that we work non-traditional hours.  So this year with Christmas on a Tuesday, I was worried about back-to-back-to-back celebrations.  But, much to my surprise, this holiday season went pretty smoothly!

Our holiday season actually started the weekend before, when we celebrated Hanukkah with Nannie, Papa, and the rest of the family.  It was fun because Jameson has been learning about Hanukkah at school, so he had an idea of what was going on this year.  We usually say that these get-togethers are a success if no one cries and I'd say this year was a success!  :-)

This weekend started with a trip to see Santa at Bass Pro shop.  It worked out pretty well.  We got there about 2:45 pm and were given a card to wait in the 3:00 pm line.  So we hopped in line.  We didn't have to wait too terribly long before the kids were able to tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas - Jameson a "castle toy" and Delilah a "bicycle."  Afterwards, we dropped the two bigger kids off with some friends so that we could do a little Christmas shopping.

Saturday morning, we had family pictures with the Gordons.  I thought that Ephraim was going to be the difficult one, but it turns out it was Delilah who was going to be a bit of a diva.  Other than that, the pictures were fairly uneventful and I think we were able to get some nice shots.  Then we headed to Lincoln to celebrate with Russell's grandma and the rest of the crew.  It was a fun time, however as I saw Jameson cheat on "Pin the Nose on the Snowman", I suddenly realized that Jameson may have inherited my fear of failing.  He was far more worried about what would happen if he didn't get the nose in the right spot than having fun playing the game.  :-(  I'm going to have to work on that.

Sunday we had Christmas brunch at my Dad and Ione's new house.  After we ate and opened presents, the grand-kids (minus Ephraim), Papa Terry and Russell went sledding in the back yard.  The ladies - and Tyler )although he did eventually head out after a bit of teasing) watched, laughed and took pictures from the warmth inside.  The kids had a BLAST.  That is, until Jameson and Delilah flipped over in their sled.  Russell rushed a crying Delilah inside to me.  It was very hard to stifle the giggles as she exclaimed "My hands is frozen!" over and over again.  But, after a little hot cocoa from Mama O, she was good as new in no time!  On the way home, I dropped the bigger kids off with Aunt Ray-Ray so that I could finish up my last minute shopping.

Monday was Christmas Eve and as I have for pretty much every Christmas Eve since we bought the house, I hosted the celebration with my mom, brother and his family.  Kellie and her crew usually join us, but this year my kids developed a NASTY cough, so the L family decided it would be best to avoid that mess.  And this year, Russell had to work, so our celebration was quite a bit smaller than it has been in past years.  Nevertheless, we had a nice little evening.  Tyler, Nichole and the girls made the mistake of showing up early, so I put them to work!  We filled our bellies full of lasagna, opened some nice presents, and had some laughs.  Then it was time to get everyone to bed so the big guy could make his appearance!

Last year, Russell had to work over night, so this mama was Santa's helper until about 3 am.  Then -and I'm still not sure of the exact sequence of events- but as R got home from work, about 6:30 am, the kids were already downstairs or came downstairs, so they saw their presents from Santa before I joined them.  Talk about a major let down!  So, this year, I not only got to bed a *little* bit earlier due to having a second helper elf, but I instilled in Jameson that he needed to wait for me.  So, everything worked out great.  Everyone loved their gifts!  Jameson was even excited about his clothes!!  :-)  The kids got just what they asked for from Santa - Jameson the "castle toy," Delilah a Minnie Mouse bike, and Ephraim a jumperoo.  And what was my gift from the kids, you ask?  Why, their cold, of course!!  Wah!  So, I spent the rest of the day resting on the couch!  Haha!  But, overall it was a WONDERFUL holiday season.  And as usual, we were absolutely spoiled!  Thanks to everyone who spent their holiday with us.

Merry Christmas, from the elves!

Someone is on the move!

Keep rollin' rollin' rollin' rollin'

What?

Uhhh…oops, sorry - my inner Limp Bizkit was showing.  I guess I reverted back to the year 2000 for a minute.  Haha!

On Tuesday, Ephraim FINALLY rolled over for the first time.  He’s been sooooooo close for quite a while.  (For the record – there has been a debate going on in the house for a few weeks.  Russell seems to think that it counts when he rolled over in the bouncer seat.  I said no way because he totally could get some leverage from the side – it only counts when he’s flat on the floor!!  What is this??  His first kid?  Haha!)  Anyway, back to Tuesday.  He rolled for the first time – from flat on the floor – from his back to his belly.  Well today, I left him on the floor in the family room for a minute and when I came back he was in a completely different spot than where he started.  I asked Jameson about it and he said “Ephraim just moved himself.”  So, I watched him for a while.

He would roll from his back to his belly, play for a bit, and then roll from his belly to his back, play for a bit – rinse and repeat.  Well, apparently that little booger knows how to roll both ways!  He will now roll pretty consistently from his back to his belly, but will roll less frequently from his belly to his back.  Sometimes he’ll sit there, get frustrated and cry – even though he has done it before!  Oh well, I know that it won’t be too long before he’s completely mobile!!

I’m going places, Mama!

Ephraim is 4 months!

Let’s see what’s new…Ephraim is getting stronger and stronger every day.  He can consistently hold his head up.  When he’s agreeable to doing tummy time, he’s able to keep his head up and push his chest up.  He’s much more likely to do tummy time if his brother and/or sister join him.

Ephraim has had a few instances where he cries inconsolably and becomes very clingy.  While I love me some baby snuggles, it makes it quite difficult to get anything done around here!  We’re not sure if it’s teeth or the cold that we’re all battling.  Whatever it is, I just hope that it passes soon!  Unfortunately, he seems to know when Russell and I get a date night out because that’s when he really puts on a show!  Dearest Ephraim, I love you, but your mommy needs a night out from time to time for her own sanity!!

At Ephraim’s 4 month appt, the only milestone that his pediatrician asked about that he hadn’t hit yet was rolling over.  He’s super close, but that’s an awful lot of body to move!  I’m sure it’s only a matter of days.  He weighed in at 17.11 lbs (91%), 25.5” long (69%), and head circumference of 17.25” (86%).  As you can see, my buddy is still a big guy – though his height percentile is dropping a bit (shocking, right?). 

Dr. Zimmerman did diagnose Ephraim with laryngomalacia or “floppy vocal chords.”  It’s generally a benign condition.  The soft, immature cartilage of the upper larynx collapses inward during inhalation – which just means that he’s noisy.  He always has a bit of a wheezy sound when he’s breathing and when he gets excited he makes this ADORABLE squeaky sound.  In fact, Dr. Zimmerman says that they call children with this “happy squeakers.”  His breathing seems fine, which is the only real concern, but we do need keep an eye on him for sleep apnea.  And, in most of the cases, the babies grow out of it by the time they are 1 or 2.