Christmas 2010

We were blessed with a wonderful Christmas this year! On Christmas Eve, we were invited to our friends home, the Jenkins, for dinner and a Christmas Eve reading of the birth of Christ. It was beautiful and spiritual and even though it wasn't with our family, it felt like it was, because these wonderful people here have become that to us. Afterwards, we came home and opened our Christmas Eve pajamas.

Christmas Day we opened Santa gifts and then family gifts and just lounged around and played. That evening we went to the Wysowski's home for dinner. We are so blessed to have so many friends here and people that we love. Some of the pictures aren't the best, but they are the ones that I have and it's so important to document these memories. I don't ever want to forget.

We are immensely grateful for the knowledge of our Savior and all that He has done for us. We love him and we love this wonderful time of year to celebrate his birth and life and remember all that He provided for us.

Thankfulness

This pregnancy had been a bit more complicated than the last 2 were. If not for the fact that Zofran kept me from puking up anything and everything I ate or drank from weeks 6-18, I could have lost a lot of weight, like I did with Sienna. Thank goodness for that medicine!

Starting at 17 weeks I have had bouts of sometimes very regular contractions, which if you know pregnancy, they say more than 4 Braxton Hicks in an hour is a reason to go to the hospital in case of pre-term labor and we were well above 5 an hour. I knew the drill, since I was also on bedrest when I was pregnant with Sienna. Lay down, drink tons of fluids, empty your bladder. I was very worried, and counting down until Baby was viable, then until Baby was 28 weeks, which is where I was when I had pre-term labor with Sienna. But the contractions kept coming, and getting stronger. They have gotten to the point where my uterus is so irritable that if I stand for about 5 minutes or longer at a time, I will get them every 2-4 minutes for a few hours.

The Dr's are not okay with this. While I am not dilating yet, things are changing and we don't want a bout of contractions to send me into true labor. Especially since I am only now at 33 weeks and they don't deliver babies in the hospital on Kauai until 35 weeks, which means I would have to be flown by Spencer's company to Oahu. If the baby did come early, it would be in the NICU there. So I have been on modified bedrest since last Wednesday. I swear each day gets a little harder for me. I am not one to sit still, to lay down, to feel like I cannot even clean up after my children. But it's just a few weeks until I can and is such a small thing to keep this baby baking a little longer. While the timing here ended up crazy, with Spencer working 15 days in a row (all 24 hours), I am super thankful for friends and neighbors that have chipped in and tried to make things easier, to take my kids for a little while, to pick up paper plates at Costco so I don't go insane with unwashed dishes collecting all over my home.

 I am extremely grateful that I am not working. It has been such a gift to be home with the kids, and they have expressed so many times how happy they are that I am here. While I have occasionally done a few haircuts or colors, I wasn't taxing my body the way I did in Utah and I can't imagine how much earlier this could have started if I had been working like that. I just feel so blessed, which might seem crazy, but I can see the Lord's hand in my life, inspiring me to wait until we were here to try for a baby, where my husband has been able to be home every other week, helping take on homemaking duties to take the load off of me throughout this entire pregnancy.

I love Christmas-time. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ, and I am immensely grateful for His many sacrifices for me. I am thankful for my knowledge and testimony of His life and love for me and how that knowledge has gotten me through my darkest of days. I am so grateful to be able to celebrate His life at this beautiful time of year, with my beautiful 3 children and new little one to come, with a husband better than I could have wished for. I didn't post for Thanksgiving, but my heart is overflowing right now and I just had to share at this, the most wonderful time of the year. Merry Christmas! We wish you all the same joy and happiness!

Gingerbread houses and Tree Decorating

We try to do some kind of Gingerbread decorating as a family every year. This year we did mini houses. The kids had a ball, as always. After that, we set up our Christmas tree. Aidan is so funny because he is obsessed with candy canes; he has been since he was tiny. We used to try to spread them out over the month, but here in Hawaii, with all the moisture, they get kind of soggy and yucky pretty quickly. I don't think Aidan minded us telling him to hurry up and eat all the candy canes! Madelyn was super excited to be able to put the star on the tree this year. I remember how excited I was as a little girl when it was my year to put the star up! I love Christmas-time and all of the fun traditions and memories that go along with them!

Corn Maze and Pumpkin Carving

We found out about a corn maze on the island, which we couldn't miss! It has always been a tradition for us in the past, so I am very grateful we didn't have to miss out while living in a tropical location. It was very warm and there were lots of bugs, but still, a corn maze! It took us about an hour to do, with Madelyn having a ball and leading the way most of the time.

We also carved pumpkins. One thing about living here is that they start to rot immediately, so even though we did it only 3 days early, I think next year we might just do it the day of Halloween. The kids really loved it and it's nice now that Sienna is older and able to do her own. I love the fall and all the fun activities and traditions we have!

Mad's, Aidan's, and Sienna's

Halloween and Party

We had a fun Halloween this year. I love Halloween! Since it fell on a Sunday and we no longer live in Utah where it is changed to Saturday, (so Trick-or-Treating was out) I told the kids we could have a party. I remember my Mom doing one when I was little and it was so fun, but I think she is more patient with a ton of other people's kids running around than I am. I had them limit it to 3 friends each. I think it turned out really well, but it was a ton of work. Thank goodness the next 6 years they can just go Trick-or-Treating! I don't have a lot of pictures of the party, a bunch got deleted somehow. Bummer! But there are a few. I loved the kids' costumes. It was so much fun to get them ready! We went with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland, although Mad was really the old-school Alice. Aidan even won a prize at the ward trunk-or-treat. He was pretty stoked about that!

Straightening Madelyn's Hair

Madelyn's curls are so adorable, but I wanted to see what she would look like with her hair straightened for once. It is crazy how much older she looked and how long it really is. It was a fun little change, but it doesn't last long here with all the humidity.

Sienna's 1st Hula performance

Sienna's 1st Hula performance was for the Coconut Festival in the city of Kapaa. I don't have the greatest of pictures, but Aidan did a great job while I was video taping it. She has been taking lessons since January and it was so nice to finally get to see her perform. They will be doing more performances in December and we can't wait to see!

Baby Kicks

I'm not one that enjoys pregnancy. It makes me super guilty to say that, because I truly know what a blessing it is to be able carry a baby in my body. Despite not enjoying how I feel during the 9 month gestation period , I know it is such a miracle.
I have been sick this week and the baby, normally very, very, active, hadn't been moving as often, or as strongly. We decided to try playing some music and see what Baby did. We played some of our very favorite classical songs and Baby went crazy! I loved it. It was so amazing to see the movements of this tiny little person inside me responding to some of the most beautiful music in the world.
I am so thankful for this opportunity to have this new little family member growing healthy and strong inside my body. It is such a witness of the true miracle of life and I cannot say how grateful I am to be able to experience it one last time.

Kauai Fair

The Kauai Fair came to town and we had to go. It's kind of like the city fairs in Utah but way more expensive. Seriously, Spencer kept talking about how much cheaper everything in Utah was. You had to pay to get in, each ticket was $1 and some rides took 6 tickets per person. Even the petting zoo cost $. But it is one of the few things like this around here and it's only once a year so I kept reminding him that these are the memories our children will have and it's important to make them.There were pig races, which were interesting to see. They loved the rides, but I think their favorite part was the petting zoo and getting to hold the animals. The kids were very sweet and gentle with them and it was so fun to see them enjoying the animals. 

Si, Ainy, and Ty 

 Mad and Baby Shay

Pig Races

Madelyn's 3rd Birthday

Madelyn's birthday was celebrated a little early because Spencer was going to be working and things just aren't as fun if he's not able to be around. I posted late though because I was late with Sienna's birthday post and didn't want her to feel overshadowed. Don't ask how I plan to keep up when I have this new baby!

We had our good friends the Clarks and the Jenkins over. They're like our family here and we are so lucky to have them! Madelyn is all about dolls, dress-up, princess and pink. Seriously, she's so funny. I love seeing my children grow and their own little personalities develop. She is just her little self and we didn't really do anything to make her that way. It's just who Mad is and I love it! We are so blessed to have her in our lives. Happy Birthday Baby Girl! We love you!

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