12 days of Christmas

We've been having a "Secret Pixie" delivering fun treats and gifts to us for the 12 days of Christmas! It has been so fun for us all to open our door and find a little treat there waiting for us. We do not know who it is, we were hoping they would reveal themselves on the 12th day but they have already left the gift today. (They are SERIOUSLY sneaky, dropping off the items in the middle of the night, even in the snow!) So, if it happens to be any of the few people who might see this blog, or if someone who sees this blog and knows who it is and could pass it along, we want to send out a huge THANK YOU - for thinking of us and making us feel so special! We loved each little gift and while the treats are not helping me lose baby weight, they are delicious! We love your creativity and thoughtfulness! We hope you have a very Merry Christmas!

Snow, sleep, and stuff

It seems that a lot of things have happened in the last week, so this is a post about it all!

It has been so fun getting ready for Christmas. My favorite things this year have been 1) having Thomas. He makes it so that I have to slow down a bit and not worry about doing every little thing that goes through my head. He is growing fast and he is doing great! (more on that later). And 2) I am loving how Travis and Makenna are understanding the story of Christ's birth more this year. We acted out the story during a FHE early in the month and they asked questions and they will play and act it out themselves. We also have a Little People nativity set that they can play with to their hearts content and they love to play with it. (I also love that we put it away until next Christmas so that they will still love it then!)





What kind of blogger would I be if I didn't write about the SNOW?!? It was fun, for sure! The day it came down, the kids and I pulled out our cold weather bucket and bundled up to go out in it as it was coming down. We built our little snowman that we thought for sure would get us on the 6:00 news, but whatever. Makenna stuck out her tongue to catch snowflakes and said "mmm, tastes like sugar." (She couldn't truly be our kid unless she quoted movies!) Then later when Derek got home the kids went out in it again. I guess the frost bitten fingers were still numb, so why not? I love our Holiday house all covered in snow!

The kids having hot chocolate after round 1 of playing!

Our little man of snow! The thing I can't believe is we still actually have snow- a little in the front yard and some in the back- in the areas that don't get lots of sun. It was very fun to get the snow but I am so grateful that we had it and now it's gone. I remember shoveling a long driveway and sidewalks of our home in Salt Lake when we were trying to sell it. It snowed every night it seemed like and I had to shovel every morning. I got tired of that real quick!

Another crazy little thing that happened a few days ago - we had this little visitor IN THE HOUSE! Makenna went to her room and let out a shriek saying there was a lizard on her bed. Derek and I thought she was just messing around, that it was a toy or something. But sure enough, when Derek went back there to see, it was a real lizard on top of her comforter. GROSS! It took a minute for Derek to catch him but here he is in the cup he was caught in. We let him back out into the back yard to eat other bugs for us! (this was before the snow- we probably sent him back out to his frozen death!) There has been no shortage of critters in the house lately. About 2 weeks after Thomas was born, we had a scorpion right in the middle of our family room. It was on the wood floor so he met his maker before any photos were snapped.

And for the best news of all, it has been 3 nights in a row that Thomas has slept from 11:30 pm to 6:30 am. (knock on wood) and he is in bed right now as well! That is a full night of rest for me! I love it when my babies start getting into their little routines and sleeping in their beds all night. It is great!

Good night cutie pie!

Disco Allen's

So, in the video post below, I have to give all the credit to Collette! We totally copied her! The video of her family had my kids laughing so hard, so we had to do our own and share it on our blog, too! We love Thomas' face dancing!

Disco Christmas

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Thanksgiving Day

Since we just had the baby, we stayed home this year for Thanksgiving and let the family come to us! It was so great to have my mom and my brother Steve and his wife Ashley here for the week. Travis and Makenna made good use of an aunt and uncle who are super fun playmates and my mom made an awesome Thanksgiving meal. I am grateful to them for putting up with me as a very sleep deprived cranky lady. I thought it was a great Thanksgiving and I hope they did too. Then on Saturday, my other brother John and his family came down to be here for the blessing that weekend. It was so great to see them, even if it was for just a short time. They all have to travel so far to come here, so I know it is a great sacrifice on their part. We love all of our family so much and love it when we can get together!



The whole family- starving but trying to smile!

Thomas' first Thanksgiving!

The line up- carving the turkey and getting the fixin's!

Thomas' Blessing

Last Sunday we had Thomas blessed in our Sacrament meeting. We did it on this Thanksgiving weekend as many of our family were in town or nearby so they could be here with us for this special day. It was a really great day! Derek gave Thomas a wonderful blessing and it was so great to have my two brothers (John and Steve), Derek's dad (Gylan), Derek's brother in law (Kirk), my cousin (Reed), and our good friend (Roger) stand in the circle to be a part of that blessing. It is very powerful to see these worthy men who hold the priesthood as they take a little baby in their arms to give a name and a blessing. We are so grateful to all of our loved ones who were with us that day. Thomas was an angel and he slept as he was passed around to many people who wanted to see him. He is a wonderful baby and we love having him in our family!

Happy Times

I have to admit that I was a little nervous to have this baby. It has been 4 years since Makenna was a baby and I worried that I might not remember how to take care of a baby. Luckily, once I held this sweet little one, everything seemed to come back to me. Especially the memories of when my other two were babies. I always loved (and still do) snuggling with them as they sleep on my shoulder, I love seeing the faces they make as they sleep, I love the way their hair gets really fluffy after I have just washed it, I love when they hold one of my fingers with their tiny hand, I love seeing them sleep on Derek's shoulder, I love when I take them out of the carseat and they keep their legs curled up but they arch their back and they look so tiny. Now with Thomas, I love that Makenna wants to hold him and that she loves him even though he is getting a lot of the attention these days. I love that last night in the car Travis was trying to hold his coughs in because he was worried about coughing near the baby. I love how Travis always says, "He's so cute!" This has really been a happy time for our family, even with having to adjust to a few things. I am so grateful that I can be a mother and experience all of these things!

The baby is here!

Thomas John Allen was born on November 4, 2008 at 4:07 a.m. He weighed 8 lbs. 9 oz. and was 21 inches long. He is so sweet and has a head full of black hair. He is wonderful! I can't believe we have 3 kids!

Any time now would be good

So, it is now November. I was hoping to get past all the Halloween hoopla before this baby came, so now it is safe for him to come. Really.

Remember when tag...

I think I have only ever responded once to one of these tags on an email even though I have received many of them. But since my good friend Melissa asked me to, I will, even if it means she has more ammunition to tease me with. So, here it goes. (warning: this will likely be boring so save it for your night time reading just before you need to snooze)

A. Four songs I loved as a child and still adore

1. It is actually very funny that one of Melissa's songs was by the Oak Ridge Boys because I thought that I was the only one who thought they were great. My favorite song of theirs was "Elvira" (let the teasing begin). It has phrases like, "my heart's on fire" and the guy with the very deep voice added a little "bop, bop" type of stuff to it. Good times. (and it is not that I still adore this one- I just remember liking it)

2. Captain and Tenille- Love will keep us together
I would play this record over and over and over and make any of our childhood friends who happened to come to our house also listen to it many, many times. I can still sing every word. (really, it is quite catchy)

3. Dan Seals - I wanna bop
Ok, now it seems that I have a liking for songs that say "Bop" (luckily I was way older when those pesky Hanson bros. came up with theirs) but this is another classic country song that was very catchy to me. It was when I was still in elementary school and my dad took a clogging class and I remember him clogging to this song. I thought it looked so fun.

4. Anything by the Beach Boys
It is funny that the other day we were at the Sunset pumpkin patch with our kids and they were playing Beach Boys songs and I knew every one. I realized that it was the Beach Boys Greatest hits, like the CD I had when I was a kid. It was one of the first CD's our family had when CD's first came out. (yes, to all you young'ns, we had to use cassette tapes before that) So, songs like "Help me Rhonda" and "Little Deuce Coupe" were just a couple of them.

4 1/2. So I have to add one more. Maybe I shouldn't. Ok, I will. Another of our first CD's was Milli Vanilli. (you know you had it too) Blame it on the Rain. There is another one, but I can't remember it. So what if those two yeahoos weren't the ones singing. Whoever was singing, it was good. (sort of)


B. Four friends I had as a child that I still contact

1. I sadly have to say that I have not kept in touch with any of my childhood friends, even friends from high school. There are some people from my childhood that are my mom's friends that she tells me about every now and then, but none of the kids. I keep in touch with my college friends, Brenda (frequently) and Amy and Hilary (once in a while). Then of course, my siblings, who I am so glad that we are close, even though we each live in different states right now. They are the most important friends to me.


C. Four weaknesses I had as a child that I still have

1. White bread- who didn't love Wonder bread?

2. Reese's peanut butter cups- mini ones

3. Being bossy/ Controlling- (my siblings are in total agreement right now)

4. Low pain tolerance- My mom used to brush my hair and I had a very tender head and it hurt so bad. (And now my daughter is the same- imagine that!) I can't imagine giving birth without an epidural!

D. Four (or 3) strengths I had as a child that I still have

1. Sticking to what I believe in- This was most apparent in high school when I was involved with athletics. I was shocked (and naive) as a freshman after our team won the state championship that many of the girls were going to party and drink. I could not believe that "state championship athletes" would do that to their bodies. I was devastated. Then after we won it all again for the next 2 years, every one of them knew how I felt about what they did (though it did not stop them) and they never tried to pressure me to join in. I have never been tempted to drink.

2. Being stubborn- this could also be under the weakness category or the same as number 1 above. Sometimes it is a problem, but sometimes it is good (especially when I get my way!)

3. Social- Although I had many insecurities that lead to being shy, I still had many friends and I guess you could say that I can make friends easily. It really pays off now as we live so far from family and I rely on the friends I have for lots of support! And I'll never turn down a social opportunity to stay home and finish housework! That can always be done later!


E. Four people I would tag

I don't really know many who would even see this blog to respond. So, the only ones I am tagging are my siblings and their spouses! I hope both of each couple will do it so I can get to know more about the in laws!

Makenna is 4!

Makenna had her 4th birthday last Friday! I know people say it all the time, but I really can't believe that she is this old already. Her 4 short years have really gone so quickly for us! She is a very happy and smart girl who loves to laugh and have fun and she loves to play and try all kinds of new things. This makes her so enjoyable and easy to be around. She adds so much to our family and we love her so much. I can't imagine not having her little personality in our family!


Makenna 4 years old! 2008

Turning 3 in 2007

2 years old in 2006

1 year old -here with Mom in 2005

A newborn in 2004!

It really is amazing to me how quickly babies grow and change in such a short time! We love you, Makenna! Happy 4th birthday!

My unofficial sisters

So I posted earlier today about missing my sister and her kids. That is pretty typical of every day. But today (like many other days) ended up being great because of my wonderful friends that I have here. We all took our kids to the park and it was a beautiful morning and the kids all played great together. Then most of us were able to continue on to lunch together as well. It was very fun and they are all a great support to me as I don't have much family here in town. I am so blessed to know and be friends with so many great women! Thanks, girls- today was so fun!

Wishing we were together today!

My sister and her family (husband, 3 kids) live all the way across the country for right now. While we talk on the phone frequently, there are times like today that I just wish we could be together. I wish the kids could be playing together. Just being together. We had a really great time this past summer for about a week that we got to be together in Arizona. It was the best!

I love this picture! Every kid is doing something different! They are all so different but they love each other and get along great!



Can't wait for them to move closer! Miss you guys!

Travis' photography

Popeye cartoon on the TV set

There have been a few times when Travis has woken up so much earlier than the rest of us, that he finds some fun things to do. Like find the camera and take pictures of his favorite things. He has done this before and this is his most recent work.

M&M stuffed guy

Football ring from a birthday party

Notice the great technique of focusing on the object while the background is fuzzy.

Bumblebee Transformer

And of course the all important self shot! We may have to think about getting this kid one of those kid digital cameras for Christmas!

Kind of quiet around here today

Now that Travis is in school all day, Makenna and I are now left to entertain each other everyday. While the sounds in the house are usually her vocals that you could imagine would go with this picture, today she has lost her voice. She has a cold of some type that has taken away her voice and so it feels a little quiet today! I can't wait for my little chatty one to feel better!

FYI

Just a little tip for everyone out there, NEVER ask a pregnant woman if she is having twins. If a woman is clearly pregnant, she will tell you if she is having twins (or more). People tend to ask "So, when are you due?" If a woman is having twins, she will probably at that point make it clear that she is expecting 2 babies! For the women who are having just one baby, being asked if she is having twins is INCREDIBLY RUDE! It does not make her feel good. During pregnancy, a woman's body is not all her own. It is different. The belly grows and is larger than normal. This is expected! A correct and polite response to a woman when she tells you her due date is, "Congratulations! That is very exciting! Good luck!" Any of those would be very appropriate. DO NOT look the woman up and down in shock and horror at the sight of her body and ask if she is having twins. Not a good idea. Hence the rant.

Good reason for a blog

As I have recently been introduced to the idea of the blog, I have seen other people's blogs that I think are so creative and fun! It also made me realize that maybe I can do more as a mother and homemaker than what I am doing now, to make my life and my children's lives a little more fun and full. I have seen how people post about the many things they do and the creative things they do with their children and it inspires me to try to do a little better. So, I am planning to do some things that we have not done before and some things that I want to try and learn. I love my kids and I want them to reach their highest potential! I also want to have more fun and enjoy the great life that we have. So, this entry is mostly for me, to remind myself to keep up on the things I want to do - then I can keep a record of it for my family on this blog!

I don't know what I am doing

I am trying to get this going but having a hard time getting it to do what I want. I am still working on it....:)