Happy Christmas!

The first thing Nathan found Christmas morning was his (& Katie's) brand new easel complete with white board, chalkboard, paints, finger paints, and chalk. He immediately put on one of the bibs/smocks Santa kindly included and got to work:

The video & pictures we took first thing are too dark, but these (taken later that morning) give the right idea.

When he was finished painting, we coaxed him away from the easel to see what else Santa brought for him. He turned around and went straight to Katie's stocking and little presents from Santa (finger puppets and "That's Not My Princess") and was very excited.

It was another minute before we could convince him these were for Katie and point him toward his own stocking and the very exciting sled, snow shovel (just his size), & bubbles Santa laid out for him. But then he showed the proper enthusiasm:

Katie's enthusiasm for her stocking stuffers & book (when Nathan finally left them alone and she could get a look) was infectious. I can't resist that smile!

As we moved on to the presents under the tree. I expected Nathan to be so enthusiastic about unwrapping presents that he would move quickly from one to the next. While he did enjoy the unwrapping, he was so excited about each toy/present he opened that he wanted to stop to play with it before he would move on to the next. It was quite fun to watch, actually.

Here was one of his Christmas morning favorites:

Doesn't he look smashing in the pajamas Great Grandma Kearl sent?

Family Resemblance

This one isn't really a fair comparison since Nathan is a lot younger in his picture than Katie is in hers (and since Mom had not yet ruined the mane by putting it in the washing machine), but what do you think? Do they look alike in the way that all babies look alike or do you think, "Oh yeah, those 2 are related"?

I pulled out the old wreath ornaments my family made when my brother Andy (who recently left on a mission to Uruguay--which reminds me, if you're into Star Wars you should check this out) was just a baby (bottom left corner, under Nathan's ear). And it occurred to me that Nathan did look a little like my Brother Matt (the one on the right) who I often think looks the most like me of my 5 siblings. I was so excited that Nathan might look a bit like me & my side of the family that I had to take a picture. After analyzing it, I believe there does seem to be some similarity in the cheek and chin region (as I have often suspected--so maybe my results are biased) but in the rest I must concede he seems to resemble his Daddy.

'Tis the Season

So, this is what it looked like outside for a long time:

And this is why I was loving life even though I was stuck inside all day with a 2 year-old, who kept begging to go outside to play in the storm even though he and his sister were both sick:

I love Christmas!

When the snow finally stopped falling, Nathan took Daddy outside to shovel the walks.  As you can see, it wasn't all work and no play--in fact the reverse was probably true.  Daddy later told Mommy about the sledding, and the snowballs, and:  Before they'd been out too long, Daddy called up to Mommy that they were building a snow man.  When they were nearly done, Mom and Katie came out with supplies to help finish it off.  We didn't have buttons for the eyes or mouth, but Mom did find sunglasses and a hat.  To borrow a phrase from Jana, this is our very own snow dude:

Nathan had already found a stick for one arm--Mom and Dad can only guess where since there wasn't another to be found when we started to look around for a 2nd arm.  Mom and Katie strategically placed themselves for the picture to shield the one-armed snow dude from awkward questions.  He has now been fitted with a second appendage and, aside from a brown, frozen nose, seems to be doing fine.

Here Nathan puts the finishing touches on his beloved snow man.  Every time we get out of the car after going somewhere, he runs to the front yard to say "hi" to his snow friend.

"We are Santa's Elves"

Katie looked smashing on Sunday in her brand new Christmas outfit from Grandma Shepherd. Some thought she looked like Santa in a dress, but I prefer to think of her as a helper elf.
Katie started chewing on her hat during sacrament meeting and Emily (Hymas) in the next pew was very concerned that she was eating it. Emily implored her Dad to get Katie to stop. It would, after all, be very distressing if Katie were to try to pass it through her digestive tract. Luckily, Katie approached her hat as a wine connoisseur approaches his next glass--as something to be savored, not swallowed.

Tyce's Birthday & Other Happenings

Well, once again, another busy month has gone by since I last posted, featuring: Thanksgiving, Tyce's Birthday, being a Mom to a 2 year-old and a 9 month-old... Tyce's family drove out for Thanksgiving and we headed out to that vacation spots among vacation spots: Sheboygan! Seriously, though, it was a lot of fun. We stayed at Blue Harbor Resort, where we enjoyed playing at their small-but-so-fun indoor water park and where Katie looked like a doll in her new swimming suit:

Thanks, Grandma Shepherd! (Sorry, this is the only photo I have right now.)

Next up: Tyce's Birthday!

Even though it was a blizzard outside, he chose to celebrate with lunch at his new favorite pizza place: Pizza Shuttle. Nathan appropriated Daddy's drink (fruit punch mixed with Sprite) and was VERY reluctant to set it down--even to say "Happy Birthday, Daddy" for the camera.

Katie & Nathan were big helps to Dad on his birthday. As far as they could tell, he would never have gotten his presents open if they hadn't pitched in. He pretty much just sat there and let them do all the work.

Poor Katie had a runny nose and an ear infection, but here she tries to put on a smile for Dad on his big day.

Daddy was very happy to open his Beef Jerky!

And now, pictures from the event of being a Mom. These kids keep me busy and smiling. For example:

I don't know if Nathan was trying to hug or wrestle with Katie but she was enjoying it just fine until he tried to give her a kiss:

The truth of the matter is that he does to try to give her hugs and kisses to help her feel better or just because, but, being only 2 years old, he hasn't quite figured out how to do it entirely gently. He just can't figure out why she starts crying when he only wanted to hold her in his lap (as he yanks her by the head to pull her up). As a result, sometimes she starts crying pre-emptively when she feels his arm around her shoulder or waist.

Posing before church: Those aren't buggy antennae; Katie's bow is on upside down. Thank you, Daddy, for helping the kids get ready for church on time!

Some cute K'ie'na pics, just for fun:

Mom and Katie were filling sick. So, Mom let Katie stay up later than usual (because the hoarse little crying from her crib was too pitiful) and play on the floor. She finally pooped with hands still around one of her favorite toys.

Family outing to see Ratatouille

This was Nathan's first time at the movie theater (since he's been too old to sleep through it in Mommy's arms) and he did pretty well. You can see the two of them were quite enthralled--for a time anyway. Katie slept through much of it and Nathan amused himself through the parts that weren't as engaging to a 2 year-old by dancing through the aisles. This was fine by Mommy and Daddy since we were the only ones there. I highly recommend the empty Monday matinee at a budget theater for movie-going tykes.

To end, here's Nathan playing "Jaime"--Aunt Tresa's, Cole's, & Rshard's dog. He told Mommy just how to prepare the food for a doggy: "Ce-al...bowl...on ground, on ground, Mommy, on ground!"

6 Things You May or May Not Know

Well, I'm a marked woman. I have now been tagged. Twice (once by Stephanie and once by Amy). So, I guess it's time for me to actually get around to writing this post. I played tag as a child and one thing I remember is that the people who were "it" never sat on their rump for two weeks deciding who to chase--at least not if they expected anyone to play tag with them again...or if they didn't want to get labeled a "poor sport" or a "kindergarten baby, born in the gravy."
So, in the interest of good sportsmanship, I now have the task of divulging 6 things you might not know about me.

1)Well, as most people probably are, I'm a pretty different person depending on company. I even find myself--unintentionally, mind you--mirroring phrases and nuances of speech of the person(s) I'm with. Right now, as I'm spending so much time with Nathan, I have found myself slurring my speech a little bit and saying things like, "I lub you" and "What (dt)o do?" a lot [the (dt) is kind of a slurred t and d]. In the past, I found that my laugh sounded strikingly like my roommate's laugh when I was in Logan and like another friend's laugh when I was in West Jordan. I used to get flustered when I hung out with some friends I had from Georgia because I would start saying "y'all" and picking up other aspects of their southern drawl. I was embarrassed because I was afraid they would think I was making fun of them and because I was afraid I sounded really stupid with only half a drawl going on.

This brings me to number 2) which I'm affectionately titling, "Where are you Corinne when I need you?" Sometimes, I just really have the desire to get up and do interpretive dance to the "Saturday's Warriors" soundtrack or something else really liberating like that. I just really like to get crazy: laugh too much, dance too weird and just not care what the people I'm with are going to think of me the next day (usually because, like Corinne, they had as much fun as I did). Tyce doesn't always seem to understand this compulsion of mine (which is why I need girlfriends) and he certainly won't let me own the "Saturday's Warriors" soundtrack. So, anyway, I've just been wondering lately: where are you Corinne? Larissa? Does anybody I know here feel like rocking out to Josie and the Pussycats?

3) You probably know this, but I will mention it anyway. I don't wear matching socks and I don't ever intend to.

4) Something else you probably know, but which I don't usually like to broadcast: I write poetry. There it is. I've confessed it. I'm one of those people. I haven't really written in a while, but it's a part of me that I'm really glad is there. The process is sometimes onerous, but I love it when I can read something I wrote and just think, "yeah, that's what I wanted to say."

5) I love my name. Sometimes people ask me if I get annoyed at all the puns on my name that others throw at me. You know, "You gotta have faith," or something like that, when I answer a question in Sunday School (no, that one hasn't happened in a looong time). But I don't. I love my name; I love what it means. In fact, I relished the opportunity for puns when my good friend Charity and I became roommates. I thought it was really funny when others called us the "hopeless apartment." I didn't even mind (too much) when Charity put up her embroidery of "the greatest of these is charity" or when she reminded me of that scripture...again and again...
I was sitting in the temple the other day, looking down at the temple bag my Mom made for me and on which she embroidered my name, and I was struck by how pretty my name seemed to me in that moment. I thought about what it stood for and how lovely it looked embroidered in white and I felt so warm and happy.

6) I like Star Trek. A lot. Good Science Fiction is just one of those joys in life for me. I love the way it explores the human condition through robots and aliens. I love the way it can make you think--really think--about societal problems or the complexities in life (that you might normally just gloss over) by exaggerating them and placing them on a strange planet...or in a parallel universe...or a future time...Plus, as you can probably tell, I just think science fiction is a lot of fun.

So, there it is. 6 things you may or may not know about me. As for tagging a new batch of people, the only person I know for certain who actually reads this blog and who also has a blog of her own is my big sister. So, Janice, I guess that means: Tag. You're it.

Happy Halloween, finally

Well, it seems when it comes to making costumes I'm stuck in the 70's (approximately: The Empire Strikes Back was actually released in 1980). But, Nathan really started it when he was a baby. You can't make sounds like an Ewok all the time and not expect to get dressed like one! After that, well he walked around with a hamper on his head A LOT and I couldn't help thinking that would make a good R2, and Katie is bald with those pointy little ears...

The force is strong in this one.

I didn't make the R2 costume 'til I saw how badly the Ewok costume fit at the ward Halloween party. I swear it fit better 2 weeks before!

Now, what to say about these videos! Well, the setting is our ward Halloween Party where Nathan is trying to dance with his good friend Emily Hymas. (BTW they are really cute together and hold hands sometimes when they're playing and other fun things like that.) Perhaps what I need to say first is my disclaimer: I neither filmed nor witnessed the filming of these events. To the best of my knowledge no one was seriously hurt during the making of these films. It should also be clear that no animals were harmed during the production or pre-production of the film: what appears to be a boy that has ripped through the inside of a bear and has carelessly swung said bear's head over his shoulder Davy Crockett style is really just a toddler in an ill-fitting Ewok costume with fake fur. However, viewer discretion is advised: If you hold to traditional values (such as chivalry), proceed with caution. What you're about to see may shock you.

Wow. Maybe Nathan learns his chivalry from his father who, it should be noted, did not stop filming when his son ran right over the top of Cinderemily--neither to prevent the crash nor to help up the poor damsel, who was instead rescued by Cher holding a very young Zorro. He continued right on filming, catching on camera poor little Cinderemily rubbing her poor little behind.