Girls Outing to See 'The Crack Nutter'

I have been taking Lia to see a version of The Nutcracker ballet every December since she was four years old.  Last year, when Ella was finally four years old, we decided to do something different and went to see Disney's new movie version, The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, instead.  This year, I decided to go back to our tradition and bought tickets a few months ago for the three of us to go and see it today.  Needless to say, Ella was so excited.  When Ron asked her this morning what she was going to see today, Ella replied, "The Crack Nutter."  How cute is that?!  We got her all dressed up in one of her pretty, Christmas dresses and headed out to see a matinee performance.  We enjoyed perusing the gift tables before the show started, watching the entire performance together, and posing with many of the dancers afterwards.  Ella quietly talked to me throughout the entire performance.  It seriously was just the cutest thing to me (but probably not to the people sitting around us).  Ella was so mesmerized by the entire performance that she constantly asked questions or pointed out things that she saw on the stage.  After all of the different dancing groups were done performing for Clara and the nutcracker prince while visiting the Land of the Sweets, I asked her which was her favorite.  Without blinking an eye, she answered back, "Every single one was my favorite."  It just melted my heart.  What a great way to spend an afternoon with my girls!

Lia, Ella, and I posing in front of the picture backdrop.

The girls framed by the large nutcrackers.

A close-up of my cuties.

The girls sitting in the theater waiting for the show to begin.

The girls posing with Clara and the prince.

Posing with the Sugar Plum Fairy and the Cavalier.

Standing with the Snow Queen and the lead Russian dancer.

One last shot of Ella with the lead Spanish dancer.

11 Months Old!

I know that I say this every month, but I cannot believe that my baby boy is almost one year old!  How on earth did this happen?!  The last year has just raced by in a blur of children, activities, trips, commotion, and chaos.  We have just been so busy ever since Emmett was born, but I have truly tried to savor every bit of it as I know that he will be a walking and talking toddler in a matter of months who will have very little interest in cuddling with me or sleeping in my arms.  Most nights when I nurse him before bed time, he will fall asleep in my arms (either while he is nursing or after I rock him to sleep).  I usually will just hold him afterwards for 10 to 15 minutes before I put him to bed in his crib for the night.  I just stare at his sweet, sleeping face and try every night to freeze this picture in my mind forever.  I just love him so much and am so grateful that Heavenly Father sent him to our family so late in the game and after so many years of waiting.  *Sigh*  He has truly been the best, Christmas gift for me this year.  

So what is Emmett like at 11 months old?  He is really a happy, busy baby.  He loves crawling around our house and getting into as much as he can.  His favorites are the toilet and the open dish washer which he can be found playing in the second we turn our backs.  He has mastered how to crawl up and down the one step that goes down into our living room and also how to climb the stairs.  As a result, the baby gate has officially been installed at the bottom of the stairs.  Emmett also can stand for a good 5 to 10 seconds on his own when he is concentrating.  He eats like a champ and has a huge appetite.  Emmett will eat basically anything we put on his tray for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  With the exception of using fruit baby food mixed with his baby cereal, he eats table foods 100% of the time now.  Emmett also is totally into a routine and will take a morning and afternoon nap and then is up all evening long until I put him to bed most nights around 8:30 or 9 p.m.  He sleeps through the night about half of the time and needs to be nursed once a night about the other half of the time.  I never ended up having him 'cry it out' since he is so on and off with the nursing-for-comfort thing and also because I hated doing this with both Logan and Ella so much.

Emmett loves clapping and banging together toys and other items he finds around the house to make noise.  He loves playing with toys and will sit for several minutes and just play if someone will sit down next to him.  He is getting so big and really just looks like such a 'big baby.'  He wears size 3 diapers and size 12 months clothes.  Emmett also loves patting our backs when we carry him (which I love) and he said his first word last night which was "Uh Oh."  (the story behind that is in a different post).  Ron will disagree with this as he has gotten Emmett to say, "Da Da," several times.  However, every time Emmett has said "Da Da" he was just copying the sound Ron was saying instead of really saying it in context (like trying to get Ron's attention).  So the kids and I all agree that he really said his first word last night which was quite a few months earlier than the rest of our children.  Overall, we just love our Emmy Bems to death and are so excited to celebrate his first Christmas with him!

Here are a few pictures that I took with Emmett on his monthly, milestone blanket with a Christmas ornament and a Santa Hat.

Uh Oh!

***This picture has nothing to do with this post.  I just thought it was so cute, I decided to include it.***

So, it happened last night.  It really did.  Emmett said his first word.  Ron had to work late, so I was in charge of all of the family's activities which can make for a crazy, busy evening some days.  Today, Ella had tap until 5 p.m. and then I had to race home and make dinner, feed the kids dinner, and then rush out the door by 6:45 to get Logan to his 7 p.m. basketball practice.  Luckily, I can now leave children home with Lia since she is old enough to babysit our kids for short periods of time.  As we were heading out the door, Lia put Emmett in the baby saucer so that she could do some homework on my computer.  Ten minutes later, as Logan and I were literally walking into the school gymnasium, I got a call from Lia freaking out that Emmett said his first word.  Apparently, while he was sitting in the saucer, he dropped a toy on the ground and said, "Uh oh."  Startled, Lia looked up from the computer and realized what had just happened.  Lia and Ella immediately freaked out and then gave Emmett 100% of their attention.  Within the next few minutes, Emmett said "Uh Oh" over and over and over again.  By the time she called me, Emmett had said it several more times.  Needless to say, Logan and I were so disappointed that we had missed hearing it!  But this morning while Logan and Emmett were hanging out in my bedroom, Logan dropped his blanket off my bed and Emmett immediately said, "Uh Oh."  And since then, he had said the word several more times both in context and also just for fun.  He has truly discovered saying his first word and it is just the cutest thing!!

***And just a fun side note:  Emmett has kept the tradition going in our family of saying, "Uh Oh" for their first word.  As of last night, ALL four of our children have officially said this word as their first word.  Lia said it after dropping a toy on the drive to church, Logan said it in Hawaii after dropping a toy on the sand on the beach, and Ella said it after dropping something off of the changing table while I was changing her diaper.  What a crazy, family coincidence!

Santa Parade with the Girl Scouts

Lia headed out for a seventh year in a row to participate in our town's Santa Parade with her Girl Scout troop.  This year they dressed up in pajamas and rode in the back of a truck that was decorated as the Polar Express complete with a puffing smoke stack.  We drove down and watched the parade from our favorite corner near the library.  Emmett remained happily in his stroller while Logan and Ella stood at the front of the crowd with the rest of the children to get a good view and to catch as much candy as possible that was being handed out.  After Lia's troop rolled by, we quickly walked to meet her in front of the library where we picked her up and quickly dashed home.  After taking a break last year (since I was 32 weeks pregnant at the time), we hosted Lia's troop and their families again for a Christmas party.  We hosted almost 30 people for this party and enjoyed a delicious potluck dinner.  The kids had a great time running wild around our house with the other children until everyone headed home around 8 p.m.  Since I was busy playing hostess during the party, I completely forgot to take any pictures, but here are a few from the Santa Parade!

The kids and I standing at the curb while watching the parade.

A close-up of cute Emmett hanging out in his stroller.  What a good baby.

A very well-lit truck driving past us.

A beautiful, white Christmas tree on a trailer.

A decked out, old fashioned truck driving by.

Lia's troop marching towards us with two girls at the front holding their troop sign.

The cattle guard mounted at the front of the Polar Express truck.

Lia and her troop driving right by us.  Lia is the one at the far right in the pink bathrobe.

All of the girls posing for a troop picture at the end of the parade.

All four, Hartland kids posing in front of the Polar Express sign before heading home.

Lia's Recognition Assembly

We received a letter in the mail a few days ago from the kids' school stating that Lia had been chosen yet again by her current teacher to receive an award for her behavior at the student recognition assembly that happens three times a year.  As always, this is kept a secret from the students until right before the assembly.  In previous years, I have pulled Logan out of class to support Lia, but decided to keep things simple this year and just take Emmett with me.  In addition, Ron was unable to slip out of work like he has been able to do sometimes in the past.  It turned out to be a good thing as there were no seats left in the gym when Emmett and I got there a few minutes early.  I am not sure why there was such a larger crowd of parents this year, but I was grateful that I hadn't pulled both Logan and Ella out of class as there would have been no where to sit.  I found a little spot by the door where I was able to tuck the stroller into a corner and watch the assembly without being in way of students entering and exiting the assembly.  As always, Lia looked pleasantly surprised to learn that she had been chosen to receive an award.  She has always been such a respectful, conscientious, and hard working student and stands out amongst her peers every year.  Her teacher chose her to receive an award for the hard working category and wrote the following message on her certificate:  "Lia works very hard on all of her assignments, asks great questions, and keeps on trying!  She also works very hard at getting her work turned in on time!  Great job!"  Well done, Lia.  We are so proud of you!

Lia waiting on the stage to receive her award.

Standing with her classmates after getting her certificate.

Clapping for another student who was being recognized.

Lia posing after the assembly with her certificate and beloved brother who she loves to pieces.  She asked if I could accompany her all the way back to class so that she could carry Emmett down the long hallway to her classroom.  It was so cute to walk behind her and watch her proudly carrying her brother through the crowded hallway.  

Journey to Bethlehem

We headed out as a family early this evening to attend one of my favorite, holiday activities:  the living nativity hosted by a large, Adventist church in Auburn.  I learned about this incredible, Christmas event way back in December 2012.  Although we have attended a few times since then, we were unable to go last year because it was cancelled due to some unfinished construction projects.  I was excited to take the children after a two year break and to have Ron join us for the first time since 2013.  We ate an early dinner and then headed out to Auburn in rush hour traffic.  We arrived a few minutes late for our 5:30 reservation, but luckily we did not have to wait very long in the chapel before our group number was called.  As always, we had an amazing time going on this 45 minute tour with our two guides navigating our ways through the streets of Bethlehem, the sheperd's' fields, and finally to the stable where baby Jesus was laying in his mother's arms.  The three older children ate up every minute of this experience and Emmett was a total champ sitting happily in his stroller the entire time.  We finished off the evening with some hot cider and freshly baked cookies in the reception room.  It was a wonderful experience for everyone and I loved that it gave our three older children an opportunity to remember what this Christmas season is really all about.

The real camel that was kept next to the tent where the wisemen were located.

Some of the merchants selling their goods inside the markets of Bethlehem.

Another merchant trying to sell us her wares.

We witnessed a Jewish wedding in another tent during our tour.

The real baby cuddled in the arms of his mother in the stable at the end of our journey.

Our adorable baby all wrapped up in blankets during our journey outside.

The kiddos and me pose for a group pic before heading back to our car.

Trimming the Tree!

As per tradition, we bought our tree, put it up, and decorated it this Thanksgiving weekend.  We piled in the car yesterday and drove to our favorite, tree lot run by the Lions Club and picked out our favorite tree in less than one minute.  That was a new record for us!  We then came home and immediately got it put up.  Before dinner tonight, the kids and I gathered around the tree to decorate it while Ron had to take care of a huge amount of work emails in the other room.  Normally he lays on the couch and mans the Christmas music, but we managed to get some playing on my laptop while the children and I flitted around the tree decorating it from top to bottom while poor Emmett was quarantined in his baby saucer.  Luckily, Emmett was a good sport and managed to stay in there until the decorating was done.  This is always such a fun way to kick off the holiday season each year. 

The girls hanging up ornaments at the same time.

All three kids striking a pose in front of the tree.

Baby Emmett entertaining himself from his saucer.

Ella and Logan working hard.

A quick family photo once the project was finished!