what do you want for christmas?

Here is the winning photo for our christmas cards. It was a little more cropped than this, but we thought it was a good picture of them all. It is a little funny though, the last 3 years Megan has had Sarah on her lap for each christmas card.



We went to see Santa at the mall and ride the train. The kids were pretty excited. Especially for the train! Sarah went right up to it with Megan, climbed in and sat down. Fun!



Megan telling Santa what she wants and Joseph thinking about it

Posing with Santa!

Sarah didn't want to sit with Santa and just watch so Daddy held her a safe distance away!

What I want for christmas...a new videa camera and to not feel morning sick ever again.

Brent....no snow and warm temptures! (and maybe a new car)(not happening)

Megan....a real life dog (not a real one) that is really cute, webkinz, and a sled

Joseph....hot wheels cars, sled, race track, scooter and everything else he saw on tv commercials that is for boys!

Sarah....kitchen items (she likes to cook) a new elmo, and a cake! (?)

I can handle.....

I can handle the constant sometimes barely there, sometimes Really there nausea feeling everyday. I can handle not being able to eat the healthy foods I really liked a couple of months ago because they make me gag. I can handle craving Subway subs (turkey on wheat with lettuce, green peppers, yellow peppers, olives, lots of mayo, and s&p, mmmmmmmmmm). :) I can handle junk food sounding yuck yuck yuck. I can handle throwing up every morning just the yuck empty stomach contents and on occasion breakfast or lunch.

But the one thing that I can barely stand is brushing my teeth every day and having to gag and gag my way through it. I have been able to handle not throwing up during this process so far....until last night. I made it through maybe 30 sec. and then I had to say goodbye to dinner and dessert(which we rarely have). Then brush my teeth all over again. I went to bed with a very sore throat and a growling stomach and still nauseaus. I can't handle that again.....
(sorry this is a gross post, I want to look back soon and think..."did I really feel like that?)

m a m spells Maam

Megan taught Joseph much what she learned in kindergarten, he starts kindergarten next year, but he already knows all the sounds the letters make and is starting to sound out words and read.
He is a tough one when it comes to bed time, won't stay in bed, needs water, then says goodnight about a hundred times to us. I finally started putting books on his bed and he can look at them, this gets him to stay in bed and eventually fall asleep, but his new favorite thing to do when he gets out of bed is tell me how something is spelled. Anything he thinks of lying in bed. Last night it was : "mom I know how to spell maam m - a - m" smiles and runs back to bed
we have also heard many others d-o-g, h-d(hood), m-o-m (this is what is spells when he wants my attention), noo(new), he is getting the hang of it, he will even rewind a commercial or video if he sees a word to spell it and has to spell or sound out all the stores we go to. This is pretty fun to see him growing and learning so much. Smart boy if I do say so myself!

On another note, we always take our own christmas picture to send to family and friends each year. Dress the kids up, put them in front of the fireplace, tell a few jokes to get some good smiles, take the pictures to the kiosk at hy-vee, get christmas cards back in an hour, send them out. Lots of fun!
This is last years picture 2007, I couldn't find the one the year before that when Sarah was just 2 weeks old. So cute!


and this was one of the runner ups for cards this year, you'll have to wait to see the winner if you get one in the mail or I will post the winner once I get them sent.
Sarah's lip is all red because she has been doing the lower lip above the upper lip and got all chapped, but for the winner we covered it with a little makeup!

Sarah turns 2:
Our little girl turned 2 on thanksgiving! Everytime we asked her what she wanted for her birthday she would say "a blue kitty cake and ice cream". So we went to the store to pick out a cake (I was in no mood to actaully bake and decorate a cake) and I picked out a hello kitty cake and an Elmo cake. Elmo won by a long shot. She was SO excited! We celebrated her birthday a day early since her actual birthday was on thanksgiving day.

"What I am really 2 now? I can open these presents?!"


Sarah opening her coloring book and other presents.


The wonderful Elmo cake with Sarah in the back waiting patiently to blowout candles and eat it!


On her actual birthday at Grandma's eating ice cream! YUM


We were telling Sarah "You're going to be 2" for so long now if you ask her how old she is she says"I'm gonna be 2" She hasn't quite figured it out yet she is 2, even though she acts very much like a 2 year old.


Sarah and Joseph love it when our cats get up on the couch with them. Sarah will actually pat the couch and call in a high pitched voice "come here Winnie come here" This day the cat finally got up on her lap and laid there for awhile. Sarah was beyond excited.

Punishment for not listening: call them by a different name. Joseph = Henry, Billy, Elmo, George, Oscar.....and many more. Megan = Zoey, just had to use it once so far. My kids, mostly Joseph, is going through a bad stage of not listening lately. So I decided, his ears didn't need cleaned out, he wasn't responding to Joseph, so there was just one other option....that wasn't his name. So the above mentioned names are just a few of the new names that we are trying out to see if he will finally responds and behaves appropriately. So far it seems to be working. The kids think it is kind of funny and it diverts attention away from whatever they were doing.

On another note, we had a good thanksgiving. There wasn't a lot of us at Brent's aunt and uncles house but it was nice and as always the food was sooooo yummy. It is always much easier to eat food during my morning sickness when others prepare the food and not me! We have much to be grateful for. I feel as the years go by there is more and more to be grateful for. Our kids, our continued health, our families, our many friends, our stability in this economy, our callings, and sooooo much more.

I heard the babys heart beat again today. That is always so reassuring to hear and is included in my list of things to be thankful for. Healthy, fairly easy pregnancies.

Now I need to kick it in gear and go out and start my christmas shopping that I haven't started yet! Wish me luck!