Belated ...

The other day I came across these pictures of this year's letters to Santa, and wanted to post them even though it's a little late. Eliot was in such a fun stage as far as the magic of Santa this year, which made the wishing and letter writing even more fun. I love that Macy's has these cute letter cards and mailboxes in their stores. I hope they'll keep doing that.

Addressing his letter to Santa.

Look how well he's "pinching" that pencil!

One for Eliot, one for Zachary. Here's what Eliot dictated to me for each one:

Eliot: "This year I would like a Cars 2 plane, a Chuggington Wilson train carrying case with trains inside, and a candy cane, please. Thank you! I love you, Santa. Merry Christmas! From little Eliot" (all his words).

Zachary: "This is my first Christmas, and I am so excited! I would like a cuddly friend for night and morning, and a nice cute toy, and some baby cereal to try. Thank you and Merry Christmas. From little Zachary." Very sweet requests from a big brother for his baby brother.

Mailing our letters.

Looking Back: Highlights of 2011

I know that 2012 is in full swing, but I'm off to a slow start (as usual!). Between perma-colds for the boys over the holidays and my own little bout of illness that wiped me out for the first couple weeks of January, I'm finally feeling ready to tackle some goals and face a fresh new year. It's always good for me to look back on the previous year and see what I accomplished and the highlights we enjoyed as a family.

Here's a brief look at our 2011:

• JANUARY: found out Zachary was a BOY! Eliot became a Sunbeam, and Monica both blushed and bubbled over with pride from having a front-row seat to watch his antics!
• FEBRUARY: Monica turned 29 (yes, again) and celebrated with a fabulous dinner at La Jolla Groves with Grant.
• MARCH: Cheered on Jimmer and the Sweet 16-qualifying Cougars at their last home game of the season, had a St. Patty's Day party with Eliot and his cousins, Eliot took and loved swimming lessons.
• APRIL: Grant surprised Monica with tickets to see a musical version of A Tale of Two Cities, her all-time favorite book, after reading it together. We also enjoyed another memorable date night at the Carl Bloch exhibit at BYU. More swimming lessons for our little fishy Eliot. Fun Easter egg hunts with both sides of the family.
• MAY: A BIG month of final preparations for Baby Z and squeezing in family fun and date nights! Our big list of to-do's before Zach's arrival included: BYU baseball game and J Dawgs as a family, Sibling Class at the hospital to teach Eliot all about being a big brother, Monica wrapping up her volunteer work at the Orem Library PERC, celebrating Grant's birthday by going to Les Miserables and The Roof with friends, Memorial Day in Bountiful, putting in our "planter box" garden ... and that's just the fun stuff we did! Whew!
• JUNE: Zach got our hopes up on June 2 with a false alarm, but made his real entrance on June 14! We loved having him here just in time for Father's Day and Eliot's birthday on June 25. We had a family photo shoot to capture Zach in his teeny tiny state, and tried to soak up all his newborn sweetness (without getting too grumpy from no sleep)!
• JULY: I honestly don't remember much of this month! Our 4th of July was low-key and rained out, we enjoyed lots of dinners and visits from friends and family (thanks to all of you), Grant took his super-excited 11-year-old scouts on a camp out up Provo canyon (and Monica survived her first night alone with two up-all-night boys!).
• AUGUST: Blessed our sweet Zachary on the 7th, had Eliot tested for allergies and found out he's allergy free (yea!!), Monica got a treadmill (awesome!), Eliot started preschool, Monica got released as Primary President (still have mixed emotions about that one), enjoyed the ward's "Salsa 'til You're Sick" event, pool party and BBQ with friends, and Grant and I laughed 'til we hurt at our first-ever experience at the Timpanogos Storytelling Festival (we're hooked!).
• SEPTEMBER: Zach's first laugh, spent Labor Day weekend grilling, roasting marshmallows, and playing in Logan with my sister Mary and her family, first family vaca with two kids -- a quick jaunt to St. George with Grant's family, Zach actually slept through the night and Monica remembered how it felt to get a solid night's sleep again. Eliot, our germ magnet, educated us about the symptoms and highly contagious nature of Impetigo (ick!).
• OCTOBER: Drove the Alpine Loop over Conference weekend, had our Family Fall Picnic, dressed the boys up in their adorable Halloween costumes for numerous events like Boo at the Zoo, ward Primary carnival, elementary school Halloween parade, and Halloween itself. Blessed with the unexpected news that we no longer need to see Grant's maxillofacial specialist because his fibrous dysplasia no longer poses any serious risks -- great news and a huge relief for us, especially Grant, to close that chapter in our health history!
• NOVEMBER: Eliot melted our hearts with his solo in his very first Primary program, a very yummy Thanksgiving with both families, celebrated our 9th anniversary (and started daydreaming about our big plans for #10).
• DECEMBER: Celebrated Grant's mom's 60th birthday with a surprise party with family and friends, Eliot and Zach enjoyed (understatement) their cousins sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa Dickinsons' while Monica and Grant got to have a getaway weekend in Salt Lake City. Formed new family traditions for a scaled-back, simpler Christmas, enjoyed seeing friends who were in town for the holidays, Zach tried his first solids!

De-decking the Halls

I'm one of those people that hates taking down Christmas. It's not even the effort I mind, though admittedly our post-Christmas bouts of the flu wiped me out and postponed the take-down. Grant teases me and sings, "I cry the day that I take the tree down" to me, and it's true ... I always feel a little sad when Christmas is officially over and we have to take down all the lovely things of the season. But like I had to tell Eliot and remind myself, "that's what makes Christmas special -- that it's here for a little while and then we get to wait for next year."

I always miss the tree the most once it's gone. I love the lights and all the ornaments that bring back so many wonderful memories. We always get a new ornament each year -- something Grant and I pick out during our anniversary getaway. It's usually something to remind us of that trip or something special about that year. We have ornaments from the Polynesian Cultural Center in Hawaii, a Willamette University ornament, a Portland temple ornament, a 2002 picture frame with a picture of us as newlyweds inside ... our tree isn't the biggest or fanciest, but it's full of love and memories.

The nativity. I loved having this on the table at the top of our stairs. Every morning when I brought the boys upstairs, I would see it and think of the Savior and His humble birth. Eliot was so good about not touching "mommy's" and playing with his Little People one instead, but the one thing he could not resist ... the chain on the camel. Every morning I would find it stretched out the way he preferred it (and I would of course tuck it to the side, the way I prefer it!).

Santa and THE list. Too bad our kids' names aren't Frank or Sally or Joyce. Maybe that's the bad list?

My other favorite part of the season. I love getting Christmas cards. I love seeing pictures of college roommates, mission companions, Oregon friends, high school BFFs, former co-workers, etc. and their growing families. Our favorite card this year (if it's okay to pick favorites!) was my cousin Becky's and her picture with Mater. Eliot squealed with delight when we opened it!

The mantle. One of the things I will miss most about this place will be the awesome fireplaces. They're especially cozy and inviting at Christmas.

Last but not least, Eliot's decorations. Once again he brought home such fun crafts from preschool, so of course we had to display them. My favorite is the Christmas bell that had a chain leading up to Christmas (the last "Christmas Day" link was yellow and meant to stay on the bell, and the other links were red and green). When I picked Eliot up the day they made the bells, his teacher told me, "Eliot is the reason I do crafts like these!" Apparently he was so thrilled with how his turned out and kept declaring how excited he was about his bell and how he couldn't wait to show me.

My big dilemma about Eliot's pictures and crafts has been how to keep them. I don't want/need to keep all of them, but I always feel guilty tossing them. I found a great suggestion on BabyCenter today:

Twice a year, I take a photo of each of my kids' paintings and drawings, then toss the originals. At the end of the year, I upload the photos and have a book printed of them along with a little blurb about the kids' school year. They make great gifts for grandparents!
— Alisha

I loved this idea! What a fun idea to make a photo book of your kids' creations -- cuts down on the clutter but still documents all the fun things they make! I'll probably still hang on to my favorites, especially the ones with little hand/footprints and things that show how little they were. I'm a sucker for things like that.

Our house is now officially de-decked of all the Christmas decor, and I have to admit, it feels NICE and clean! My favorite quote of the whole process was Eliot stating in a very somber voice, "Mom, the gingerbread house has to go buh-bye." Yep, all of the decorations went buh-bye. Until next year.

Adorable

a·dore

   [uh-dawr, uh-dohr] verb, a·dored,a·dor·ing.

verb (used with object)to regard with the utmost esteem, love, and respect; honor. To like or admire very much.

I adore this child!

Mmmmm ... Mush!

Everyone, including Mr. Zachers, got a special box of cereal for Christmas morning! Zach's first taste of rice cereal was a semi-success. He was STARVING when he started, and gobbled up the first several bites. Once the edge was off his hunger and he started actually tasting what he was eating, he decided he wasn't too sure. We'll keep at it! Here are Z's first bites:

Eliot was my awesome "baby bird" eater and would open up super wide. It was a cinch and not too messy at all! Zach is proving to be a little more difficult and a lot messier! He cocks his head, leans forward, and doesn't really open his mouth but just shoves his closed mouth over the spoon. We have some training to do! I can't believe we're already to this stage!

Christmas Day

We had church first thing, so we went and battled our kids through what I'm sure was a lovely sacrament meeting (we were in the hall for most of it), then came home. This was the best we could do for a picture in front of the tree. This was the first one, and they went downhill from there.

Eliot with his special message from Santa on his new easel.

A little overwhelmed by all the "bells and whistles" of his new exersaucer.

Candy cane Z happily raiding Mom's stocking.

Our tired little babe obliging us with opening gifts.

Eliot and his special gift from one of his sweet admirers at Daddy's work. Spoiled!

Z with one of his new books. He looks so grown up!

E with his very special gift from Santa -- a Cars 2 plane. "He knew just what I wanted!" was his reaction. He was thrilled with the gift he's been asking Santa for for weeks. Santa always comes through! The sweet thing about Eliot's wish was that he also asked for a gift for Zach -- a "soft, cuddly friend," which Santa also happily granted.

The Night Before Christmas

This was our first Christmas Eve with just our family at our home. It was pretty quiet and simple, with a simplified Nativity story told with flannel board pictures, a couple Primary songs and Silent Night, "The Night Before Christmas" story, then leaving cookies and a key for Santa. The best part of all was Eliot's excitement. He must have come out of his room 10 times, each time using the excuse that he needed to remind me that if I didn't go to bed, Santa couldn't come. What a magical time for kids ... and their parents!

The boys in their Christmas jammies.

Eliot and the Nativity.

Singing Christmas songs with Mom.

Reading "The Night Before Christmas" with Daddy.

Hanging the key for Santa. Yes, we have a fireplace, but Eliot insists this is how Santa gets in.

Leaving cookies and milk for Santa. He was just a teeny bit excited.

Lights!

The lights at The Riverwoods were fabulous this year! Our trek down there kept getting put off because of other plans, sick kids, etc., so we didn't actually make it down there until Christmas Eve. Even though our full plans ended up being a total bust since the restaurant I wanted to eat at, the carriage rides, and Santa house were all closed because it was Christmas Eve, we still had a fun time letting Eliot run around the virtually empty place and taking in the beautiful lights. Next year, we'll go earlier in the season so we can experience it all.

Girlfriends & Co.

My high school girlfriends and I try to get together during the holidays, since it's one of the only times we're actually all in the same state! This year only four of us were able to get together, but my friends Amy and Amber were in from Texas and California, so the remaining Utah girls, Lori and I, were able to get together with them and their families for a breakfast. Here's all the girls (plus the kiddos who couldn't resist a photo op):

Our munchkins! We're getting to be quite the crowd! The hubbies were good sports and came along, too, but I didn't get a picture of all of us. It's crazy to think I've been friends with these girls for almost 20 years! I sure love them, and I'm glad that they've always been there for me. Always fun to reminisce about the crazy (and stupid) things we did as teenagers and to hear about all the craziness we're experiencing as we try to raise our little families.

Pre-Christmas

One of Grant's sisters spent Christmas with her in-laws out of state this year, so we held Christmas a week early at the Dickinsons'. It was a very fun night of appetizers and gift-exchanging chaos. We went home stuffed and spoiled, that's for sure!

Doesn't this picture just sum it all up? The anticipation of Christmas really is the best part!

Grant looking suave by the Christmas tree. No wonder I married this man. The charm just oozes.

Mom helping Zach open his very first Christmas present. He mostly loved sucking on the ribbons and paper (while, in some cases like this one, simultaneously sucking his thumb), but he seemed to enjoy the experience.

"Oh, What Fun!" ... Eliot's Preschool Christmas Program

Eliot's Preschool Christmas program was so fun! His teacher has taught them dozens of adorable songs, which I've heard in part over the past few months as he's come home and sung them to me. But it was fun to piece all the bits I've heard together as I saw him perform them with his class. The hand actions, facial expressions and all the extra bonuses that come from kids performing were hysterical! Here's a sample of the experience.

This was pretty much Eliot that morning. He had been to a cousins' sleepover the night before at his Grandma and Grandpa Dickinson's. We're guessing he didn't do too much sleeping at the sleepover.

Eliot's class. They are all darling!

I love this picture of Eliot. He looks so theatrical.

A taste of the organized chaos. It really was so impressive to see how well the children had learned the songs (some of them with multiple, complicated verses) and dancing.

Little Brother = Target

I'm sorry to say it, Zach, but I think being a little brother means you're bound to be the victim of your brother's "big" ideas, like these:

Being adorned in a pre-school wreath crown.

And being dressed up in all kinds of funny outfits ...

My only consolation is it could be worse. You could have had five older sisters like your daddy did. Ask him to tell you those stories, and the wreath and ball cap (and whatever else the future and Eliot's creative mind hold ...) won't sound so bad. In the meantime, thanks for being such a sport. And knowing you and your feisty personality, it's only a matter of time before you defend yourself. Until then, I'll do my best to come to your rescue quickly when I hear your brother laugh hysterically and say, "Mom, you've gotta see Zach!"