Droppin by...

to say hello from two of the loves of my life.


And promising a real post tomorrow wherein I will show you why you should all come visit me RIGHT NOW.

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Stockings at your house.

Who stuffs the stockings? Well, Santa, of course. But who.

You? Your husband?

What's in them?

Do you stuff your own? Or if your husband does it, does he stuff his own?

Why do I always seem to forget about stockings until the last possible minute?!

My answers:
When I was growing up, my mom always stuffed all the stockings. After awhile, she started refusing to buy stocking stuffers for herself. So, there were some Christmases where all my mom had was an orange and a candy cane. Not even kidding.

Around here, I do the stocking stuffing. But I make sure Matt is fully aware that he needs to stuff my stocking. I would be really upset if I only had an orange and a candy cane.

What's in them? The kids each get a book. The adults get a magazine. It totally takes up a ton of space and fills out the stocking nicely. Plus, it's a nice read for a leisurely Christmas day. Always oranges. Always a candy cane. Some toiletries. Some small toys or card games. Nuts maybe. Sometimes an apple.

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Twirling Dresses.

The dresses I made for the girls for Christmas did, in fact, make an appearance (however brief) at church today. By the end of Sacrament Meeting, Matt (who wasn't feeling all that well, either) opted to take the older kids home.

Fortunately, I had them up and dressed for church early so I could get some pictures of my slave labor handiwork. Enjoy the show!


I'm starting here as a basis for you to see both dresses in their entirety. My intention was to make them both exactly the same. But after making Abbie's dress, Anna said she didn't want the white ruffle at the bottom. I'd already cuffed the sleeves in white, so I decided to bind the bottom with a thin white band instead. LOVE IT. Wish I would have done it on Abbie's dress. I did cut Anna's dress about an inch shorter than Abbie's but now I kindof wish I hadn't.

In case you can't tell, Anna was not really all that pleased with me wanting to take pictures. She wasn't even all that happy with the dress. She didn't want a "poufy" dress. Especially the "poufy" sleeves. But we have a deal in our house: You can choose what you get to wear all week long (as long as it's not dirty and is weather appropriate), but on Sunday, Mom gets to pick. She also gets to do your hair how SHE wants it. Anna was unhappy with the curlies, and the dress, and the shoes... and well, just not happy in general.

But she warmed up.

Once I invited her to twirl!

And twirl they did!

And so she was happy. And finally, my favorite from the twirling series. I just loved the way the light hit her in this one.

I asked Matt if he could possibly Photoshop some snow into these... He didn't think it was funny.

And I got this golden shot.

I'm thinking it might be almost time to go buy a weapon with which to beat off prospective male mates.

And Miles, who got the short end of the homemade clothing for Christmas stick.

He did NOT want his picture taken. He was sobbing before I took this picture... I said, "Smile Miles!" and this was his expression. He really did try to smile for the picture, but it just looks painful.

And finally, Lucas.

I know he looks ridiculous. But I figure that he's a baby. They're SUPPOSED to look ridiculous, right? Someone back me up here!

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What is wrong with You People?

Apparently, my last post where I mentioned a Very Important Dr Appt led some of you to believe that we are expecting another child.

Definitely NO.

I was simply talking about Lucas's Pediatric Endocrinologist visit.

A recap.

Basically... he's just a skinny kid. The doctor thinks he's just genetically small. With Me being only 5'4" and XXXlbs (like I'm telling you!) and Matt being only 5'6" (if we're being generous) and 135lbs... well, our children don't have much hope as Linemen for any professional football teams.

His lab results were inconclusive. He did have one thyroid thing come back slightly low, but the doctor said that if there was a real thyroid issue, all three of the things they test for would have come back wonky. Doctor does want to re-check that stuff, so Matt's taking Lucas BACK into a lab on Monday to get the bloodwork done.

Provided those results are not abnormal, we don't have to go back until March for a weight check (which by the way is totally bogus - drive the 1/2 hour down there for a weight check when my ped can do it)... but whatever.

I really feel relieved. This was what I had believed all along. He's fine. He's happy. He's healthy. I'm overjoyed. I can breathe a sigh of relief.

And in case you needed a visual of this climbing monkey we've created:

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Glad Tidings.

From our family to yours! We decided to forgo printed Christmas card this year, mostly because of the plague (which Matt now has.) Instead you get to enjoy this:


Feel free to reopen this blog page anytime you need to hear some Holiday Greetings from our family.

Matt totally adapted and freaking knocked the socks off one of my designs. Unfortunately, his services are alot more expensive than mine.

Another post coming soon, updating all ya'll on our Very Important Dr Appt. Also, perhaps some pictures!

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Too Much Sick.

We're drowning in sick over here. Anna's been running a fever near constantly since Friday. Miles picked up the fever on Monday. Abbie came home from school sick yesterday. Lucas just has a runny nose. No fever, thankfully. Or yet.

And it has totally thrown a huge monkey wrench in our holiday party plans. Abbie missed her holiday party at school. Anna's Christmas Performance at school is tomorrow night and she's just not gonna make it. Despite me sewing my fingers to the bone to get her Christmas dress done.

I swear I'm bringing the kids to church on Sunday. Just for Sacrament Meeting, so I can show off the dresses that I worked so hard on. When else are they gonna get to wear them!?

Best part of all this: I'm coming down with a sore throat and starting to lose my voice. Best Christmas Ever.

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Dress? What dress?

Oh. That's right!

This dress:


Oh, and I made the bow.



Oh. And I made the girl. But I did that awhile ago.

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