It has been months since Eliot's debut performance in our Primary sacrament meeting program, but I had to get him singing his song on video. This version is a little more "forced" than his official performance (I'm sure having a captive audience of a couple hundred people helped him with holding back a little!), but this is still tender. Needless to say, he melted a few hearts that day (I still get comments about it from ward members). I'm so proud of my brave, sweet little singer!
What's Your Sign?
You have to watch this to the end to see the meaning of my post title. It's reassuring to me, in a very bittersweet way, that we all have our own beautiful heartbreaks. Working through mine one day at a time. As we all are. What a beautiful woman for writing and sharing this song. Take a minute. It's worth a watch. You should probably grab a Kleenex before you do.
"Triple D" Triple Date!
Grant and I with our HUGE plates of ribs, pulled pork, and brisket. And no, though your eyes may deceive you, that is not Mr. Fieri behind me (though I wish it was!).
As Eliot Sees It
Eliot got a kids digital camera for Christmas. After he spent over an hour last night figuring out all the special effects, I was curious about the pictures he's taken thus far. I'll post more of his videos and the special effect photos later, but I thought the assortment of photos he has taken is pretty telling. Here's a sample that pretty well represents what's on his camera:
Cars 2 cars, toys, books, videos, more Cars 2 cars, Dad, Mom, Brother, Grandma ... yep, that's pretty much Eliot's world! If only he were allowed to take his camera to preschool and swim class, there'd be plenty of that, too. Oh, to be a kid again, when life revolves around toys, a small group of important people, and simple pleasures. The world as Eliot sees it is a pretty simple, happy place.
Date Night
I've been wanting to spend more one-on-one time with Eliot lately, so when I heard Beauty and the Beast was going to be in theaters, I thought that would be the perfect night out for the two of us! Belle is my favorite Disney princess, and Eliot loves movies, especially in the theater. We had such a great time together! It made me want to carve out more time for just me and my handsome little guy. He was the perfect gentleman and followed his daddy's advice to be sure to get the door for me and be very polite. So every time there was a handicap button on a door, he pushed it. He even carried his own booster seat in and out of the theater. What a sweetheart.
Headed out the door with our tickets in hand!
After the show. Eliot's summary of the evening was perfect: "I had a great time with you, Mom!" We already have plans for another night out when Nemo comes back to the theaters this fall. I sure love spending time with all the men in my life!
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:
— 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.
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