Jingle Christmas Bells

We ate a LOT of treats during December.  We decorated a gingerbread house with the girls.  They loved eating as we went, Skye ate frosting straight from the tube!  We took pictures then decided to just eat it that night before it went stale.  While everyone was talking I went and got a meat mallet.  Then out of nowhere I smacked a big hole in the house.  Everyone was so shocked!!!  The older girls' reactions fit their personalities: Scarlett gasped!  Siena looked around to see what her sisters thought of it.  And Jaide went "yeeaaahhh!"  haha!  We all enjoyed our  gingerbread pieces then Jake told us: "I knew a girl named Ginger once.... but she tasted like cigarettes."  hahahaha!!!!  It was so funny and caught Berlyn and I off guard!  oh my!  Luckily the girls weren't paying attention!

At the beginning of December one morning I woke up to go potty.  I had a HUGE ovarian cyst rupture while I was going #1.  I couldn't get off the potty I was in so much pain.  Like seriously at an 11/10.  I was crying and trying not to throw up while paralyzed on the toilet.  I finally got to the floor.  Jake was ready for work but had a big meeting.  He gave me a blessing then called Berlyn's phone.  Luckily she didn't have class that day so she came upstairs and helped me.  She brought me my old pain pills (from my c-section).  I called my mom (still on the floor right next to the toilet).  She picked up even though it was 4am her time.  She told me what pills to take and told me stories to distract me until they kicked in.  I finally was able to stand up and get to my bed where I spent the day sleeping with a heat pad.  Berlyn just handed everything that day.  I was so grateful for her help!!  But man, I really hurt for the next few days.  Scarlett even told me "Mom it looks like you're growing another baby in your tummy!"  So that was nice.  I finally went in to the OB for another ultrasound.  Everything is fine, just normal PCOS stuff.  I saw the fluid from the cyst floating around in my tummy, but it will go away on its own.  I haven't had one of these huge cysts in several years, I guess that was the nice thing about having all those babies.  But now that I'm putting my body back together, I've got to figure this out.  My body has felt really out of whack lately, so hopefully once I get that all figured out the cysts won't be as bad.   

Christmas fun.  Berlyn suggested was watch Polar Express.  The girls LOVED it - even Skye!  We had to put a baby gate around the tree because it was just too tempting to leave alone.  And Scarlett made this cute elf at school!

Here's Skye singing Jingle Bells (one of her favorite songs):

We went to see the Wayne County Lightfest.  A 20 minute light show you drive through.  We turned Skye forward facing for that event, she LOVED looking out the windows (only a few more months little lady!)

Another weekend we drove over an hour to a stake center where they perform "One Night in Bethlehem" - I don't know what we were expecting, but it was AMAZING!  They take you through different rooms where you see parts of the nativity.  The actors and singers did a FANTASTIC job.  Even while we were waiting for our turn they had you sit in the chapel and people did musical numbers.  It was beautifully decorated and reverent.  Berlyn and I just couldn't believe the production quality of the whole evening.  And they had SO MANY people.  Lots of non-members too (and many missionaries there to answer questions).  The girls were so quiet and good for the presentations.  Even Skye.  The older girls just loved that there was a "real baby Jesus!"  We then talked about how they were pretending.  But I think it really helped them understand the nativity a bit more.  Totally worth the long drive.  The weirdest thing was as we were driving home, I recognized all the buildings.  We even passed the apartment I lived in during my internship in 2007.  I had no idea we were over there!  My brain was flooded with memories.  I said things like, there will be a BD's Mongolian grill right around the corner - then it would be there!  haha!

Before Berlyn left for Utah we had a mini-Christmas with her.  She got the girls the game Soggy Doggy - it's been a big hit in our home!  Jake wore this cheese Santa hat/beard thing and Skye was terrified!  Glad we didn't pay to sit on Santa's lap this year!

Video evidence of Skye's terror:

Our Ward Christmas party (thank you Aunt Jami for the redneck monster truck sweaters!)

Christmas church (thank you Grammy for the gold and glittery dresses).  That was my 2nd Sunday as Primary Pianist, and I had to accompany the Primary singing Mary's Lullabye in Sacrament Meeting!

I thought it was funny how Skye was running down the hall yelling "hurry" (also, what gave Scarlett the idea to give horsey rides in the church hallway?!?  haha!!!):

Christmas Eve with framily (the Furnessess).  It's all fun and games until someone's hair gets tangled in a drone propeller!  One of my favorite Christmas Eve traditions that we do is tell the nativity story with ALL our nativity pieces.  So as we talk about each person's role, each kid is able to put that person in the stable.  There were a LOT of baby Jesuses!

Christmas Eve Jammies (Jami sent me a spiderman onesie!  It was so hot - the temperature kind of hot, not the cute kind).  Santa brought the girls a HUGE doll house so they could play together.  He even set up little rainbow LED lights.  Santa was a little frustrated with the dang thing after spending several hours assembling it that night, but it was worth it.

‎Siena grabbed the wrapping paper like a staff and yelled "I'm King of the otters!!!!!"  hahahahaha!!!!!! 

Before Christmas I asked the girls what they wanted from Santa, they replied:
Scarlett: Powder to turn into something like a vampire or bird but only lasts one day until 7 o'clock.
Siena: A real monster truck to drive and play in the mud.
Jaide: An airplane to ride it with a "ca-mote" (remote) to fly it and with a special box to put them in that you don't throw away.

Obviously a tall order for Santa.  So we talked about how Santa might not have those things, so we should ask him for a "surprise".  Then Jake and I went shopping for the girls.  I bought them mermaid tail blankets.  But Jake was able to kind of get them what they wanted, sorta. 
Scarlett: a 3D pen that lets you magically draw vertically (even past 7 o'clock)!
Siena: a remote control truck car that can drive upside down or right side up.
Jaide: a remote control unicorn helicopter (from Despicable Me). 

We had a great Christmas day, until around 2pm when Siena threw up.  She spent the day on the floor in my bathroom watching TV and sleeping.  I think she threw up 3 times that day.  But no one else got sick that week, so I guess that's a blessing!

New Year's Eve was pretty chill.  Thank you Netflix for having the countdown.  We watched them at like 8pm (we wanted to celebrate with England or someone over thereabout).  We even watched a few of them.  The girls enjoyed counting down and yelling "Happy New Year".  I finally decided to record the last one and for whatever reason Skye got scared at the end of this one too!  I guess she was going through a scared phase?: