Christmas

We're still at the point where Christmas morning doesn't have to start at the crack of dawn. I think it was almost 10 before the boys came downstairs (we spent Christmas Eve with a group of friends, so the boys were awfully tired by the time we made it home). I had stayed up all night getting everything ready, so unfortunately we didn't get a lot of pictures, but it was a wonderful day. Will was excited that Santa had finally filled their stockings--every day he was looking and telling Ethan that Santa hadn't come yet. (The night before he was wondering why we were putting out cookies and milk for Santa: "Is Santa very hungry?") Ethan was so excited to finally see his pillow pet that morning under the tree. It was pretty cute, "Pillow Pet, Daddy!" We'd been in Fred Meyer the week before, and he was almost in tears asking for a pillow pet. Darn marketing department! That was also the evening that he was trying to open a Matchbox car in line, and I told him we had to buy it first. He said, "Okay" and tried to take a bite out of it. I guess bite made more sense than buy. Anyway, Christmas morning we started out by watching the First Presidency Christmas Devotional and ate cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate. By the time we started opening presents, it was already noon. We got part way through and once again, they were done. Ethan refused to open any more that day (I think it took 3 days to get through all of his), and Will just wanted to "tear the presents." He'd pull off the wrapping paper and move on without even looking. Some of their favorites were the Pillow Pets, a telescope, their doctor's kit (everyday they say they're going to "shot me"), all of their movies, and these awesome I Spy bags our sister-in-law Laura made. They loved everything of course, but those are the ones that stick out. The best by far was the bouncy castle we got them with money from Great-Grandma and Grandpa. They've always loved to bounce when ever we're at an even with one, and I found a great deal on this one, so we figured it would be wonderful to get out some energy while we're stuck inside these next few months. Every day Ethan tells me, "Jump bouncy castle! Come on Will!" and they head downstairs.

This is probably loud, so you might want to turn down 

the volume on your computer.

And it's kind of long--I figured mostly the grandmas 

would want to see it. :)

Christmas morning before the fun began. I guess that's why everyone looks so somber.

Not excited at all.

Opening presents from Santa

Ethan's 2!

It's hard to believe that Ethan's already 2! It doesn't seem like that long ago that we were with him in the NICU, scared of what was going to happen and wondering if he'd be okay. And now, there's' no stopping our little tornado. We celebrated at home because the boys were getting over being sick and Anthony was just starting to be. We had a wonderful dinner of barbecued ribs, opened presents and had a peanut butter and chocolate cake.

 Playing with the new toys and rug

 Every time I tried to get a picture, I saw Ethan's hand creeping in to grab a piece.

Happy birthday, Ethan!

Our Thanksgiving Baby

This year we weren't too sure what to do about Thanksgiving. I was due to have Jonathan on Saturday the 27th, and I was sure if I bought a turkey, I'd go into labor as soon as I started cooking it. We were invited to have dinner with friends, and that seemed like a good idea, until we were blessed to receive a full Thanksgiving dinner from the First Sergeants group. Every year they choose families (usually young Airmen with families) that may need a little extra help during the holidays, and this year they chose to do a breakfast and then we "shopped" in the Commissary--really we just walked through the front of the building and they handed us each item. The only issue I was worried about was that we had to be at the breakfast at 7 in the morning. I've been blessed with boys that like to sleep until 9 a.m., so having them up and out the door by 6:45 seemed like a tremendous task. Will is the one I really worried about--Ethan's totally a morning person--but I explained to him the night before that we were going to get up early for a special breakfast, and he totally grabbed onto that concept. As soon as we got him up, he was asking if we were going to our special breakfast, and for days afterward, he asked if we were having another special breakfast. Nothing can ever compete with it in his mind. When we got home, I was faced with the task of figuring out where to put a 16-pound turkey. Our freezer was already filled to the brim with 3 weeks worth of meals I made for after the baby was born, so that was out. We decided that as long as Jonathan didn't come early, we'd go ahead and have Thanksgiving at home, which ended up being a great choice. Everything was pretty relaxed, and we had a wonderful dinner together.

 Ethan, being picky as ever, mostly ate turkey and deviled eggs.

Will ate so much, he had to unbutton his pants.

That night at midnight, I was checking out some of the Black Friday sales online when I started having contractions. By two a.m., they'd started getting pretty painful, but I didn't think we needed to head to the hospital, so Anthony tried to get some sleep. I went to bed too, but I definitely couldn't sleep. Around 3:30 I told Anthony that we might want to go in, just in case. By the time we got the boys over to a friend's house and headed back to base, the contractions had pretty much stopped. They had me walk around for an hour and then put me back on the monitor, and even though the contractions had started again, they still sent me home. I couldn't believe it, especially since I was having trouble walking out to the car, but you can't argue with military doctors. I decided that I didn't want to be sent home again, so I'd just wait until I couldn't handle it any longer. That lasted until 3 in the afternoon, and we headed back at 3:30. This time we were lucky enough to first be stuck behind a car going 20 mph in a 35 mph zone, and then once he turned off, we were stuck behind a bobcat endloader going, at least it felt like, even slower. By then I realized I'd probably waited too long, and I was starting to worry that I'd be one of those stories on the news for giving birth in the car. Anthony dropped me off in front, and even though I knew there wasn't a lot of time, all of the nurses nonchalantly went about checking me in. We arrived at almost 4 p.m, and at one point we were alone for about 10 minutes while they downloaded my file. By the time the Captain came to check on me and ask if I wanted an epidural, it was about 4:15. She then checked to see how far along I was, and suddenly everyone was rushing around to get everything ready. No time for an epidural, not even time for the doctor to make it to the hospital. As she told me later, she was at home watching "Keeping Up With The Kardashians." I can understand--it is near impossible to drag yourself away from Kim and Kourtney. It wasn't really the doctor's fault; no one called until I was at the hospital, and she never would have made it. They kept telling me to wait for her. Yeah, right. Jonathan Joseph was born at 4:26 p.m. on Nov. 26th. He was 7 lbs 15 oz and supposedly 22 inches, but he'd shrunk a quarter inch at his 2 week apt, so I guess we'll never know. We were both pretty surprised that he had dark hair, and quite a bit of it. Will's was dark when he was first born, but he didn't have a whole lot, and it lightened up pretty quickly. So far Jonathan favors me, at least in that way.

Will was so excited to hold Jonathan. He loved having 

a new brother right away.

Our favorite things he said were, "Can he talk?", "Does he have teeth?", "Is he hungry? Does he want macaroni and cheese?" and "He just walked out of Mommy." (as if it was so easy!)

 Will was obsessed with touching his toes.

Ethan was more interested in running away.

  

He just had to get back to the light switch.

 From the beginning, the Government staked its claim on him.

Our hospital experience was pretty different from the first two times in a civilian hospital. Everyone was very nice and helpful (except when they forgot to bring my pain medication and had to have a conference to determine if I was lying about not getting Motrin), but we didn't have any cell phone service or Internet access, so we had trouble getting the word out. I've never felt so cut off! Anthony had to sleep on a ridiculously small and uncomfortable fold-out chair, and by the time they released us, we were more than ready to be on our own.

Leaving the hospital

They were using Jonathan as their race track. He didn't mind.

Before the 1st bath at home

After the bath

We Broke The Rules

Since I was little, the rule has been that the Christmas tree doesn't go up until after Thanksgiving. We'd start begging for my dad to bring in the decorations from the shed as soon as dinner was done. Well, being in Alaska puts you in the Christmas mood early. There's already snow on ground, and the sun is setting by 4:30. Plus I bought all the presents really early this year in anticipation of the baby, and it just feels like it's time for Christmas. So on Veteran's Day, we gave in and put up the tree. And we couldn't be happier that we broke the rule.

 Will decided the top of the tree was all we needed.

The Finished Product

Will remembered what stockings were for from last year--candy! Every morning he checks, and the other day when he went in to wake up Ethan, the first thing I heard was, "No candy in our stockings, Ethan." I guess there's no way I can put the presents under the tree. They wouldn't be able to stand it. I'm sure they'd be ripped open while I was taking a shower anyway.

The boys are still being their normal crazy selves. They've taken to "washing dishes" when I leave the room. I left a couple pans soaking one morning, and later found Ethan had dumped about 5 gallons of water all over the kitchen and laundry room floor. You never realize how much area a little water can cover until you see it first hand. Once I got it cleaned up, I went to get the mail and came back to find a dozen eggs had been smashed in front of the refrigerator. That boy. He had a look on his face like he knew he'd done something very bad, but he just couldn't help it.

Will saw me putting on eyeshadow last Sunday, and he was amazed at what he was seeing. "What are you doing, Mommy? Are you painting yourself?" All I could think of was the term "painted ladies" and I didn't like the connotation.

Anthony just finished his first semester of school, and he's starting up his second semester at Wayland Baptist University. They're very flexible on their scheduling, plus they have multiple, shorter semesters each year, so he's hoping to get a lot of schooling done even with his limited time each week. So far he's had wonderful teachers, but he had an interesting first math class that started out with two hours of a brimstone and damnation lecture. Probably a good thing the professor doesn't know yet that he's LDS. :) When they talked about math, he was a great teacher--he's in his 49th year of teaching this course!

I think that's about all the excitement we had this week. No baby news once again, but I'm sure there will be something to post in the next few weeks! Hope everyone is well!

Extra time?

I decided that with my extra hour from Daylight Savings Time, I'd update the blog! Of course, that involves backtracking, as always.

September

Will got to attend his first concert when Gary Sinise visited our base with his group, the Lieutenant Dan Band. 

Will wasn't too happy with how loud the music was, but he was very excited to have his picture taken with a fire truck.

Anthony, along with several other Airmen, was able to have breakfast that morning with Gary Sinise and a Medal of Honor recipient. My favorite story from the breakfast was when the MOH recipient was in the middle of imparting his wisdom, and he looked up at a television screen to see Lady Gaga sporting a dress made of meat. "What the h*** is that?" he asked the Airmen. They tried to explain who Lady Gaga was and what she did. He replied, "See, that is why we work so hard. So people have the freedom to wear a dress of meat." In the end, it's true. All of the things that we are able to do, no matter how wonderful or ridiculous they may be, are because men like him put their lives on the line to fight for our freedoms. What a great lesson.

That month we also celebrated both Will's and my birthday. For Will's, we took the boys to play miniature golf. Ethan was more interested in running around with everyone else's golf balls and saying hi to the alligator statue.

Will was very helpful throughout the game. Each time we would hit it, he'd grab the ball and put it in the hole. Amazingly we all had a hole in one every time!

Then we had our ice cream cake that I made in the shape of a cheeseburger. Maybe that's an odd choice, but Will loves cheeseburgers, so I couldn't help it when I found the recipe. Not only was it classy, it was delicious too.

Will and Ethan have discovered the joys of dressing up after receiving some super hero costumes from Aunt Katie (Biehl).

Batman/Superman is having an identity crisis.

 

 

For my birthday, Anthony surprised us with a sunset trip to Arctic Valley, a beautiful area that overlooks part of Anchorage.

On another occasion, Will told us one evening that he was Daddy and he was going to work. Both boys like to dress up in Anthony's uniform, so this was no surprise. Will put on the boots and the hat, but then we heard the front door open, and he was heading down the front steps. He got to the car, then turned around and asked Anthony to open the car door so he could drive to work. Good thing he can't reach the car keys, or he might really be off one day.

And this was Anthony and Will being silly.

October

We spent most of the month getting ready for Halloween and doing a few fall activities. Since we can't put our pumpkins outside except on Halloween--apparently moose love to eat pumpkins!--we had to wait until late in the month to carve ours. But we made it a fun night with homemade doughnuts as well.

 

So good!

How many of you used power tools on your pumpkin?

And after all our hard work, we forgot to take a picture of the pumpkin, which was destroyed in about two days by a combination of the boys and mold. Pumpkins don't last long here!

Since Halloween was on Sunday, we did our celebrating on Saturday with a trip to the downtown trick or treating and then an evening at the Church festival. Last year we had to almost force Will to wear his costume, but this year he was all for it. Ethan didn't argue at all.

Ethan got to be the zebra this year, although he says zebra with a British accent because that's how Carla the Zebra says it on Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies. Will was Corduroy the Bear, from the Corduroy books.

Both of them were very cute and way into the trick or treating. I learned that we need to work on waiting our turn, instead of shoving to the front of the line and grabbing a handful of candy, although they always said thank you.

November

The big event this month so far has been our first snow fall. We were all surprised we made it this long, and even now, there isn't a lot of accumulation. But winter is definitely here.

 

Why Will still insists on saying snow cows instead of snow plows, I don't understand. Must be his stubborn streak.

Ethan has also graduated this week from a crib to a toddler bed. It seems much too soon, since Will only made the switch a few months ago, but it became necessary when Ethan started climbing out of the crib. So far he's doing well, except for nap time, and it makes me laugh every morning when he runs into our room with a cheerful, "Hi Mommy. Out bed!" He's very excited to be so grown up.

We also had a funny experience while going to vote earlier this week. Anthony explained to Will where we were going, and then as we were getting ready, Will told Ethan, "We're going to vote! It's very important!" Such a smart boy. The way they express themselves is always so funny. A few days before, Will was trying hard to do something (I forget what), and Anthony told him to use his brain to figure it out. Will told him, "No, I'm just going to use my hands." You've got to love him.

Striking it Rich

In July, we had the chance to have a truly Alaskan experience--panning for gold. We took a day trip with our neighbor Dan, his son Devon, and friend Daylinda down to Hope, AK and spent the day searching a river for gold and silver. The boys loved playing in the water, even though it was awfully cold, and while we didn't find anything, it was a fun to do something out of the ordinary. My favorite part was on the drive down, I told Anthony that before we left Alaska, I really wanted to see the Dall sheep on the mountains that run right next to Turnagain Arm. It's a beautiful drive that we love taking whenever we get the chance, and you're supposed to be able to see the Dall sheep right from the road, but we'd never been lucky enough to do so. This time, not more than two minutes after I said how much I wanted to see them, we passed a row of stopped cars where people had gotten out to see two sheep that had come all the way down the side of the mountain. I wasn't able to get any pictures, but it was still neat to see. What a great day!

Ethan panning in his own water

Will was mostly interested in throwing rocks in the water.

Not a surprise.

The Professional