More Christmas Preparations

This past week was a fun filled week. Per Ryan's request (and probably some others as well), I am starting at last Monday, and going forward through last week.

On Monday, Keira, Soren, and I didn't do much during the day at all. We did manage to get dressed and bathed before lunch, but other than that, didn't really accomplish anything until Ryan got home. One he got home, we headed up to the mall for some Christmas shopping! Shopping with Ryan is a lot more fun because I can actually look at things that I want to, instead of just hanging out at either the food court or mall playarea. Ford is apparently strategic partners with Lucky Brand Jeans (we think it is because you can buy a t shirt with a mustang or Ford logo on it), so we had a sizeable discount there last week. We were "lucky" that we did not shop at Lucky in NYC. We had considered it, except that I was pretty sure we could get stuff there cheaper at costco back home. While what we needed wasn't at costco- they don't come small enough there for me, we turned the store at the mall upsidedown bringing both children in and trying on nearly every jean. Jean shopping is worse than shoe shopping! The kids did pretty well, considering that the Lucky store was our 3rd stop on the denim quest, and none of those stores were terribly interesting to her. Thank goodness almost all stores have some sort of sticker, and the salespeople were even more patient with them than we were. We did let Keira play at the playarea on our way out, so she was happy about that.

Tuesday was another relatively lax day for us. Ryan had scouts and I just did some errands. We had several early mornings ahead of us, so we enjoyed the lazy mornings while we could.


Wednesday was a pretty busy morning for us. We went over to Haley's for visiting teaching with Rebecca and Cortnie. Keira got to play with big Avery and little Avery. We could only stay for an hour before Haley had to leave, so we went to the Wednesday storytime at the library. Keira enjoyed it, and I was glad we made it because we couldn't go on Friday this week. I also went on a run outside in the freezing cold once Ryan got home. It was so cold, but I know once I get used to it, it will be fine.


On Thursday, we were up and off to free Kindermusik first thing. I forgot my camera, and it was probably the worst one to forget it! I had to use my camera in my phone, which only does OK. Keira was so cute today. We did a lot with scarves, which she really likes, throwing them like snowballs. It wasn't super crowded, so there was a lot of room to play today.

I was quite overbooked on Friday, and really struggled this morning. I had been staying up too late during the week wrapping presents and working on Christmas cards that it finally caught up with me. We woke up really late this morning, and we had about every setback getting over to Michelle's house for what should have been an all day presidency meeting followed up "moose munch" baking session. We were about 45 minutes late to her house, after waking up with an itchy eyelid that swelled up when I rubbed it because I accidently scratched it. Soren threw up on the floor (over my shoulder) and I didn't notice it until I had stepped in it, and Keira was being her typical slow self, not wanting to stop watching Sleeping Beauty to get cleaned up. The crazy thing was that we were not the latest to Michelle's! Needless to say, we didn't get any moose munch made before I had to leave with Soren to go to Ryan's BCE Holiday party at Thunderbowl in Allen Park. Keira got to stay and play with Lizzie and Elise. Ryan and I had a good time bowling and enjoying the lunch of pizza and desserts. Neither of us are stellar bowlers, but we had a good time. Soren was also fairly content, and managed to make it through both games without needing to eat.

I had to rush back over the Michelle's to pick up Keira before she had to leave to pick up her other children from school. When I got there, they were just finishing up, and I was able to bring back a bag of moose munch for us, even though I didn't really help. For the rest of the evening, Ryan and I were running around the whole time, trying to do errands without the kids. It is amazing how much faster things go! Ryan picked out this amazing pyramid from Kris and Linda for Christmas. They found them at Tuesday Morning for a steal. This was what I had been really wanting from Germany, and they found it right here and for less! It was made in Germany in the same region where our other expensive pyramid had been made. We also got an arch. Thank you so much!

Saturday was finally a slow morning for us. We all slept in a bit, and I went on a run again in the freezing cold. At least it was light out this time! We went and finished up some Christmas shopping at the mall again, and Keira was so mad that the playarea was a madhouse. We were amazed that Keira ate almost a whole happy meal from McDonalds (her new favorite place to eat because of the toys, not the food). We had her take a nap, and were in for the evening. Here, Keira is pretening to be on the phone.


The kids wore their matching Christmas pjs Saturday night, and I made a few attempts to get some pictures of them together. They didn't turn out as well as the ones we did earlier in the week in their winter pjs.

Sunday was our typical church day. We were late, though, because Keira had several tantrums over her wardrobe. She did not want to wear a cardigan to church, but wanted to wear the skirt that went with it. Finally ,we just stuffed her into it after offering up 3 entirely different outfits to choose from that were seasonally appropriate. Once there, we realized that we missed Ryan's favorite Christmas hymn due to all of this. Keira was particularily irreverent during church, giving the play by play of the sacrament and telling the Primary children to sit back down after their musical number. When Haley stood up to give the closing prayer, she shared with everyone that we had been to her house in the week. It is great that she notices all these things, but it is hard to keep her quiet. The cardigan that caused the problem is pictured below.

Soren likes to stand (with help). He makes the cutest faces while standing- he looks amazed at what he is doing.
Soren has also been laughing when tickled. I tried to catch him laughing and cooing with the camera, but I didn't get much, and accidently turned the camera on its side for the second video, forgetting that I can't just rotate it the same as I can with the still shots.





Today, we went to the Dr for Keira's 2.5year check up. What is that you ask? It is an additional visit that we needed because she is so tiny. Dr Swartz was happy with her weight gain, finally. She was in the 3rd percentil for weight- 23.7lbs (all those fries and m&ms, I guess), but only 82cm tall (just over 32inches), which is not even on the chart. Soren could catch her soon! He is going to be too heavy for the bassinet in no time, he is already 14.5 lbs.