Late Christmas Eve we headed to a Cabin to join Peter's family. Dallin was especially exited about getting there. He will be a great scout some day. I was so tired from all of the activities of the week that we almost backed out but seeing Dallin run around so exited like he was at Disney Land made it worth it. We had a christmas program and played games, then headed to bed. Tanner coughed most of the night so we didn't get much sleep. Peter and I were very happy to get up and be over with trying to sleep. We got everyone up just as it was starting to get light outside. Dallin came down and found a drum set and Eden found a dolly stroller.
This was the first year that the kids were old enough to really get the whole opening presents and being exited thing. It was so fun to watch.
I noticed that Peter was helping Dallin open all his trucks and boy stuff and I was helping Eden with dollies and such. This was really much funner than opening our own gifts. I just set mine aside for later. This was a new thing for me to have the satisfaction of seeing our children experiencing the majic of Christmas morning for the first time(although I still don't think they get the Santa concept).
Peter ended up getting a really nice fancy pool stick and a pull up bar and I got the fancy nerdy cell phone/pocket PC that I have been dying to have and a cute new purse.
Tanner explored a couple of new toys and eventually just fell asleep, tired from all of the late night coughing. After leaving the cabin we had all of the Dickinsons and Grandpa Hedman over to our house for a movie and games. The day after Christmas we went to a Dinner with the Hedman extended relatives (people that we dont know very well). It was at a fancy chinese place with no kids allowed so it was our date for the week. It was fun exept I just felt like I was getting really sick. I had been feeling kind of wierd for about 3 days and now I was getting aches and chills really bad. We came home and I went right to bed. During the night I woke up sooo miserable. I finally realized that I had mastitus. I had been so busy that I didn't recognize it. So I finally got the antibiotics that I needed the next day. It took about 24 hours really feel better, but ibuprofin helped me through it. Now I can relate to all of the women out there who have gone through this. It is really painful. Last night we went skating with Peter's family again. It was fun as usual but this time we found a room in the back that had a whole bunch of little kid cars. Dallin and Eden had a great time riding around in them. I was so sad that we forgot our camera. Dallin would open the door for Eden and she would get in and he would shut the door and push her all over the rink. Then he would open the door for her again and she would get out and they would find a different car to use and repeat the process over and over. Dallin's legs would just go so fast as he pushed her and he never seemed to get tired. He fell asleep in the car in about 60 seconds though. They were the cutest little buddies ever. I think we are having a break from all of the parties today but we will start up again for the New Years celebrations. Life is going to seem so boring when we get back to our daily routines.

Christmas Eve

Chrismas Eve was so wonderful. We went to church in the morning where I sang in the Choir and did a Duet and and Solo. I felt very
calm for some reason and was able to deliver without being too nervous. For Christmas Eve we had all of my immediate family over for a buffet and gift exchange. It was a great time. Eden was so tired that she had a hard time waking up. Grandpa was a convenient bed for the waking up process. As soon as we started opening presents she snapped out of it.

We didn't really do a program so I just read the book How the Grinch stole Chrismas to all of the kids. They were really into it. My nephew Adam had never heard the story so his eyes were as big as quarters the whole time. Then we all followed our tradition of opening gifts from youngest to oldest. Everyone gets one gift because we draw names.
My brother in law Bryan got Daniel my other brother in law this year. His gift was the movie Brokeback Mountain. It was so funny. Of course there was a receipt taped to the back so he could go get a movie he really wanted.

Peter and I had my Mom and Dad so we did a combined gift. I got family pictures from all five of our families and put them in nice matching frames. My parents don't have anything like that so it was a nice end to the exchange since they are the oldest. I spen't weeks coaxing people to take the pictures and begging them to email them to me. It went over well. After the party we packed up our kids and headed to a cabin to join Peters family.

Parties

Our Christmas Festivities were plentiful this year. We were so busy our heads were buzzing. We had a wonderful time however since we LOVE to party. We started off by having a party with Peter's relatives at his parents house. We had a nice ham dinner. Then there was a nice program with stories and some performances. I sang Mary's lullaby which was good practice because I was to perform in sacrament meeting sunday. I thought it was fun to watch Grandpa Hedman open the only gift of the night because he is the kind of person who "doesn't need anything". He was given his first DVD player and some John Wayne movies. I think he liked it but still doesn't think he needs anything. The next night we went to my Aunt Cindy's for a party with my relatives. This was a sing a long program that is pretty structured. It is always so fun to sing all the songs of Christmas and hear some performances of my very VERY talented family. There are a lot of professionals in the group. I was given another chance to practice Mary's Lullaby. All of the children were dressed in Nativity costumes and kind of acted out the songs as we went along. They all loved it. Eden was an angel and Tanner was baby Jesus. Dallin was sick and fell asleep so he kind of missed the whole thing.
Eden loved her halo and just walked around feeling pretty the whole time.
All of my teenage cousins just couldn't get over how cute the kids were. They played with them all night. I love feeling like we have cute kids.
Tanner was a great baby Jesus. The kids (I mean Shepheards) flocked around him until he got completely overwhelmed. This scene made singing the songs very special for me. Tanner is such a perfect baby to play the part. He is just such a good natured baby.

Little Buddies

Dallin and Eden are so cute together these days. They even give kisses and hugs. This will be great blackmail material some day.

We had a Christmass Bazaar at our club Butterfly Life in December. It was very sucessful. This is my mom and my two sisters Laurel (right) and Elizabeth (left). We are business partners.
We went to a BYU Vs. Oregon football party last week. We pulled out our matching BYU sweatshirts that we got the kids for Christmas a little early and they were so cute. Dallin opted out of posing for a picture however.
I layed Tanner on the ground one day and the other kids decided to join them. This is a common outfit for Dallin. Although, with the colder weather, Dallin is doing it less and less.

I could not get pictures to post so I guess I should at least leave a little note (so Sarah doesn't get after me again). We have had a busy December. I was actually able to get the shopping done pretty early this year so I haven't been too stressed out. We even have the wrapping done and it isn't even Christmas Eve yet.

Dallin had a party at his preschool last week for the parents. It was so cute to watch him. He loves it there. They told us a story with their teacher about the ginger bread man, then they sang jingle bells. Dallin is so cute when he sings that song. He is talking like crazy now. He says Yes and No a lot which is so nice. I feel like I can know what he wants. I never thought I would be glad to hear "no" from a kid. He has also used the potty a couple of times. I am still in shock over that. I haven't even let myself imagine not having 3 in diapers. Maybe in a few months we will get there. Dallin has started to say I love you. That really warms my heart. He helped me lay Eden down the other day for her nap and said "Good night sweetheart, I love you" to her.

Eden has been demanding the ABC song a lot lately. She loves to sing it with me. I just love how she says "doubleboo". I think Dallin misses Eden when she naps in the afternoon. He seems so bored and the other day when she got up he gave her an unprompted big hug. Eden loves it and pats his back when he hugs her. I knew there was a reason that I wanted to have these guys close in age.

Tanner is six months now and not really moving around yet. I guess I don't really encourage anything. I remember Dallin already crawling by now and starting to get into everything. I am definately okay with letting Tanner take his time. It is fun having just a happy baby that is content to sit on my lap.

Peter and I were talking the other night about how fun it is to have little kids. He commented that this will probably be the best time of our whole lives. I try to remember that when I am having hard days dealing with way more poo than I ever wanted to know about! I think he is right though. I don't want to look back and wish that I had enjoyed this time more. It is a good feeling to live in "the now". Well that is enough rambling for now. I will add pictures as soon as I can. I have some cute ones.

We decided to put up our Christmas tree this weekend. Dallin was very helpful with the project. Eden was not too interested until we pulled out the ornaments.
Dallin and Eden loved putting the flowers and balls on the tree. Of course they were all clumped at the bottom but it was so cute.
Afterward Dallin decided to undecorate the tree so most of the ornaments went bye bye. Now there are just a few at the top. Oh well, that just one more thing that I don't have to deal with keeping hands off all day.
Tanner was a cute spectator. That had was courtesy of Eden. Lately when Dallin really wants me to do something he pulls on me and says "look at me" in a stern tone. I have no idea where he got that from. The other day I gave Eden a sippy of water and she brought me an empty pink one and said "I want pink". I didn't know she knew her colors yet. I guess that is appropriate for a little girly girl.

Skating

Skating with the Dickinson's is always a fun time. Lori rents out a whole rink.
Tanner and Aunt Sherry. She got home from her mission in Brazil last summer. It was fun to see her. She is about to graduate with her Bachelors at BYU.
Dallin was so exited about roller hockey. So exited in fact that we had to take his skates off so that he could run around. He kept trying to get us to let go of him with his skates on.

I wasn't expecting Eden to start skating but when she saw that Dallin was she was all over it. The wheels are so tight the hardly moved so it was pretty much like walking around. After a few minutes she got tired of them and took them off. This was Dallin's first time to try skates. He loved it. He liked the wheels to glide and really wanted to do it by himself. He didn't understand that he would fall if we let go. I have no question that he will be on his own soon enough.
Tanner was a good baby for us too as usual. I just wish that he would stay exactly how he his at this age. So cute and cudly and NOT MOBILE.

Recap

The last couple of weeks have been so fun and busy for us. It all started with all of the youth in our ward having a movie night at our house. I think there were about 50 people over to watch "Cars." It was kind of fun hosting something like that but I spent a lot of time detail cleaning our basement to make it presentable. Then we decided to have another party for a few people in the ward. Our ward was having a game night with "no kids allowed" so we had our own at our house. It was a really good time kids and all. Then Peter took his scouts to the Ape Caves for a great hike (see picture). The next week some of the Dickinson college kids came into town so we spent a lot of time hanging out with the family. We went skating, watched movies and of course ate lots of turkey on Thanksgiving. We also went to the giant jungle gym called Safari Sam's. The kids had a great time. Even Eden was brave climbing around all over the place. We spent the first half of Thanksgiving day with the Dickinson's and spent the rest of the evening with my family. Our families have totally different dynamics. Peter's family is a lot more silly and loud around the dinner table. Lots of laughter. My family has the nice goblets and a separate kids table. Dinner is centered around adult conversation. I think I like having it both ways. We were very tired by the time we got home. On a sad/kind of happy note, we lost my Grandma Arave this week. This is hard for me and I have felt pretty wierd trying to carry on as normal. Because of cancer she was in so much pain and was very ready to pass on. We lost Grandpa a few months ago and she has been anxious to join him. We will be going to the funeral tomorrow.

Dallin was hard to keep up with through the jungle gym. He lost me a couple of times. Dallin is still so into Nacho Libre. He even quote some of it. When it is over he grabs my hand and says " More Nacho?" Peter even saw him dive off the couch onto the bean bag the other day at the end when Nacho flies through the air. Eden loved climbing around with grandpa of course.
Tanner and Joshy were being so cute together that we had to capture the moment. Tanner really enjoyed the taste of Josh's fingers. I was imagining them as roommates at BYU some day.
The great Ape Cave experience. It sounds like the boys really enjoyed it.
I can't believe how cute and moody Eden is. She is so responsive and cute all the time. She talks all the time and loves to be told that she is pretty. Today in the car we were talking about her and she said "I pwetty". I guess it is going to her head.

This was our crazy finger painting experience. Eden wouldn't take her clothes off so Peter threw and old T-shirt over her nice sunday outfit. Too bad the big green blop of paint bled through. Oh well, I am just hoping that these paints don't stain. The kids had a blast though. Dallin has had some huge breakthroughs this week. He has started repeating things we are saying all the time. Whole sentences. I hope this will lead to a lot more spontaneous language. He is also starting to share. As much as he beats Eden up, they are really good friends. When we give Dallin two of something and tell him to give one to Eden (even a cookie!) he will. Peter and I just look at eachother in shock each time it happens. Eden has decided to be a Blanky girl. She has one special blanket (it happens to be the one I made her) that is her best friend. It is so funny how relieved she is to see it every time she needs it. My guess is that this is a comfort mechanism from the above mentioned beatings. This weekend was fun. Friday night we visited with Peter's family while his brother Andy had his 14th birthday party. It was fun to see the boy/girl thing going on. On our way home all of our kids fell asleep so we rented a movie and went to Larry and Michelle's house and hung out until around midnight. That is really late for us these days. We just put the sleeping kids on a bed and had a grown up party. Saturday we went to Peter's sister Heidi's dance competition. They were really good. They came in second place. Then we went to Peter's parent's and Peter helped his mom with her homework (ironic). The rest of us watched Nacho Libre. Dallin is in love with this movie. We borrowed it all last week and that is all Dallin asked for. Usually it is just Monster Trucks. He has seen it probably 10 times. This time was particularly funny though because there was a matress on the floor in front of the tv from a slumber party. During the wrestling scene Dallin started jumping around and going crazy. Whenever anyone body slammed someone else he would throw himself down on the matress. It was hilarious. He also repeated everything Nacho was saying. He is a cute kid.

Last weekend was fun for us and very busy. Friday night Peter took me on a date. I love it when we can just go out and visit together. It really helps a frazzled mommy like me. Saturday we actually stayed home all day and worked on the house. Usually we are off and doing things on the weekends. Saturday night we had a party at our house with my family for my brother Christian's birthday. He is the oldest of our 5 siblings. It was such a good visit. Everyone stayed late and seemed to really enjoy being together. I love times like that. It was fun to prepare a nice buffet of food for everyone too. I have really learned that having good food makes a good party because everyone is happy and wants to visit longer. I guess it is sort of a bribe. For dessert I made my friend Sarah's special lava cakes. They were so yummy. Although most of all of the children were there, they seemed to dissapear into the basement and it was nice and peaceful upstairs for visiting. That made it way less stressful and probably more fun for the kids anyway. I can't believe I totally forgot to take any pictures.

Our week has been pretty normal. Almost each morning Dallin goes to preschool or we all go to speech therapy. Dallin has learned how to sayYes and nod his head when he wants something. He is also into giving big hugs. He will reach for me and say "bee hug" in his sweetest tone. These are both big deals to me. He has made so much progress in the last few months. He will also bring a clean diaper to me when he needs a new one sometimes. He likes to sit on the potty for 10 or 20 seconds but nothing really happens yet. No rush. I am not ready to fight any more battles with him.

Eden is such a good talker. Tanner woke from his nap the other day and she came to me and said " baby's cryin". I think she will be a good helper as our family grows. She can also tell me what Dallin did when she comes frantically crying to me. Probably a tattle tale in the making. I have learned that after nap time Eden needs a good half an hour to become her good natured self again. I try not to say too much to her because if the slightest thing goes wrong she thinks the world is ending. Sometimes she ends up back in her crib for a few minutes to calm down. But most of the time she is very happy.

Tanner is still just perfect. I think Heavenly Father blessed our family so much to give him to us. He likes to use his voice now by making a lot of coos and such. He is also starting to reach for things, so I am bracing myself for a lot of hair pulling. I never knew being a mom was going to be so physical. I get scratches and hair pulled and hit and wrestled with a lot. Of course nothing significant, but it is enough to wear me out by the end of the day. I imagine that I also get more cuddles than the average person too though. I love it.

Happy Halloween!

We had a very fun halloween this year. First off we went to our ward party which was at the relief society presidents house. She made the best chile ever which tasted so good on a cold night. Peter and I kind of laughed at ourselves because we were more exited about that than candy which means we are just old people now. The kids were in heaven with their candy of course. Eden kept going through the candy bucket and bringing every different kind to us to open. She would try it a little and then go back for another kind. She must have tried 20 kinds. Dallin ate a good amount too. It was fun to see all of the other costumes from the ward.
I can't believe I actually have a picture with all three looking at the camera and being content next to each other. I don't really know if they knew that there costumes were M&Ms but it was cute to see them all matching. I look forward to a day when they all smile for the camera too.
Speaking of smiling, here is a classic Tanner. What a happy boy.
I thought Dallin was at least trying to be cute here. He even gave Tanner a kiss. After the ward party we joined many of my family in St. Helens. for the tail end of their trunk or treat. The kids were hyper all running around with their cousins in costumes. Then we went to Elizabeth's house and sipped cider while the kids burned off their sugar high. In the end we had missed all the trick or treating and trunk or treating because of timing and I was so glad that there was no candy for the next day.

The leaves are falling like crazy now. Dallin looks so sweet in this picture. He is so cute. Saturday was a good day. I enjoyed a great temple session. I was feeling a little homesick for it since having Tanner it has been tricky to get there. Then I also got to go to the adult session of Stake Conference (Peter stayed home to babysit). Peter of course had a pool party with his cousin Troy. He invites people over for pool everytime I go anywhere. I am glad he has something he enjoys so much. Sunday was interesting. We went to stake conference. i went early to try to get a bench in the chapel... apparently not early enough. So in the overflow our family only lasted about 15 minutes. We are usually the first ones in the stake to start a "cry room". In the past we discovered that the primary room has speakers from the chapel so we just go in there and turn them on. After a while we are joined by some other parents and children. One hour is torture for us on regular sundays, this is just no fun. I don't think we really got much out of it. We all went home and took naps. Dallin was actually the last one to fall asleep. When I fell asleep he was in bed with Peter and I. When I woke up I couldn't find him for like 15 minutes. I finally found him asleep in Tanner's bassinet with only a diaper on. I covered him up and he continued to sleep there for 3 more hours. Crazy kid. Then after peaceful afternoon of stake conference recovery we had the missionaries and Greg and Heidi over. It was very fun. The missionaries arrived an hour early because they forgot about daylight savings and so Peter was obliged to play pool with them for a while.

Dallin and Eden play so nicely together when I am not in the room. I catch them following and copying eachother and even sharing. They would never do this with me around. I had to be sneaky to catch this picture. Lately Eden's favorite movie is Shrek. When I offer to play a movie she says " I want Fwak". Also anything she sees that she likes is "soooo pretty". She is such a fun girl.
Here is Dallin's Sunday nap.

Fall is here

We have been having such a wonderful fall season as far as weather goes. The leaves are beautiful and the temperatures have been refreshing. We are plugging along as usual. This last weekend we had some family and friends over for dinner and I felt like being a chef so I made chicken cordon bleu. It was a good time, but a lot of work to make about 20 pieces of chicken. On Saturday we had our Super Saturday for Relief Society. It was so fun to have a nice long break to visit with friends and do some awesome crafts. There was even a wonderful pot luck of soups for dinner. I think it is so funny that most of the time conversations with other women always turn to childbirth. I guess it is just a big part of our lives. Then we came home and watched a movie with the Nielsons. I am getting exited to start working on some more home improvement projects in the next few weeks. Our next project will be new doors and trim. I am so exited because it may actually make the house look sort of finished. I have accepted the snails pace for our house since our lives are always going to be busy. I am just happy to see improvement over time. I have been trying to talk Peter into getting cable lately mostly so that I could get BYUTV. Then we discovered that you can watch it on the internet and pause and rewind just like a DVR. We have some wireless speakers that I can move around the house so my newest trick lately is to listen to BYUTV while I do house work. I can usually find a good education week talk or something. I also listen to conference talks or scriptures from the church site. This is great for a multitask person such as myself. I guess we don't need cable after all. Now if I could just do this enough to have a clean house all the time... Peter took Dallin and Eden to a Blazer game last night. Peter said they had a great time. That is until the 4 quarter, so they just walked around at the end.

I love talking to Eden lately. It is great to ask a question and get a response. She seems to understand everything I say. I can't get over her big blue eyes and long lashes. Her little high pitched voice is sweeter than sugar too. I am not really sure what to do about tantrums though. If she doesn't get something she wants she takes it very personally. I guess I better review some parenting books. She loves to hug Tanner lately. She is definatly a little mother.

Dallin has been quite an explorer lately. I cleaned out my spice cuboard the other day. After combining several jars and getting rid of spiced that I have never used and probably never will I filled up the sink with water and let him play with several empty little plastic bottles. He had such a good time. My floor was pretty wet but it was a good sensory project. He also decided that he wanted to put a box over his head and walk around. I helped him out but cutting a hole in it which he informed me was a "square". That was awesome. I am going to a class tonight for his early intervention called "How to deal with difficult behavior". Although speech is going well I am still at a loss about getting dressed, holding my hand when we walk, diaper changes, going to bed, not beating up his sister, behaving in public and so on. I really hope to get some pointers. On the other hand when we took Tanner to the doctor today for shots Dallin was a good brother. Tanner was still crying from the pain and his binky fell out. Before I could get to him, Dallin grabbed it and put it back in. This is amazing because he usually steals it and likes to suck on it himself. I guess he felt some compasion because he watched the whole time.

Tanner is smiley and giggly all the time. He doesn't even really cry unless he is hungry or scared. The giggles just crack me up. He will giggle at anyone who will talk to him. also when he looks at other babies like Joshy Squashy. He has moved up in life to using the exersaucer. I have to use strict supervision around the other kids and stuff a blanket down inside so he can sit up right but he likes it. I think he likes being able to look around. His stats from the doctor looked pretty good and normal for our family. 25% for head (same as the others), 45% for height and 60% for weight (15 lbs 12 oz.). I feel like Tanner will be the peacemaker in our family. I guess we will see.

weights

This week has been eventful but not really too exiting. Peter finally bought a weight set (after talking about it for 5 years). Not that we can afford it although he did get a great deal off of craigs list. We have been on a spending fast as we call it for a few months, but this month we have really broken the bank a few times. Anyway, Peter is exited to start being a buffed out manly man. I guess I won't complain. Dallin was very interested in this new contraption of course. I took Dallin to have a hearing test this week. He had one in May in which they decided he could probably hear fine but could not communicate well enough to document it. So 4 months later I brought him in. His ears are fine but the part that I liked was that the experience was like night and day for him. He allowed the tester guys to put ear pieces in his ears and looked at pictures that they showed him, said what they were and pointed! This may not seem like a big deal but he couldn't do any of that in May. He is making great progress. Then Thursday night I got sick. Some kind of stomach bug I guess. So Friday I asked Peter to stay home and take care of kids. He let me stay in bed all day and sleep. I was miserable. The kids had a blast with Daddy though. He ran some errands with them and let each of them pick out a candy bar. They were so exited and wired when thy got home. Then Friday night Peter left for a scout campout. Good thing I was finally feeling better. We rented some movies and Dallin and I stayed up late and had "special time" hanging out.

Grandpa Boat!

Well, he did it again. This time it was my lipstick. This stayed on for a couple of days because it was the long lasting lipstick. Peter finally scrubbed at it really hard so that he could look decent for church. Dallin has become quite a singer. He must get songs stuck in his head because I frequently hear him randomly start singing. His favorites are I am a child of God, ABC's, I know Heavenly Father Loves Me, and of course Happy Birthday(including blowing out the candles at the end and clapping.) Dallin and Eden both had their fingers poked to get their iron checked. I found the different reactions pretty humorous. Dallin was exited to sit on my lap and watch what the lady was doing to him. He had his finger wiped with alcohol and then the little poke. He kind of flinched but then he thought the blood and the bandaid were "awesome". Eden's turn was a little more reserved. She wasn't too sure what to think of what was happening to her and then she cried and didn't want the lady to squeeze her finger at all. But when the lady told her that her band-aid was pretty she was okay. Dallin was ready for another turn after that. Today we went to Lindsey Anne Dickinson's baby blessing. She is a very sweet little baby.
Cami's baby Clare seems to be catching up to Tanner in size. They are 4 weeks apart.
We went waterskiing again with Grandpa D yesterday. It has cooled down a lot since the last time. Dallin decided not to waterski so we didn't make him. I think he was already cold from the wind. The water was beautifully clear and the air had that fall crisp feel to it. I think we all really enjoyed it. The is Peter's brother Mark who has been working on the slolam skiing this summer. Dallin would copy anything anyone yelled like "hit it!" or "he's down" or whatever seemed like significant boat talk. We have realized that he isn't really thanking Heavenly Father for Grandpa's boat in all of his prayers, he is asking to go on Grandpa's boat. It is still the most important part of his prayers.
Eden loves grandpa's boat too. There must be something magical for the kids about being out on the water.