Meet Makai

Makai is our little chunky chunk. I can't stop squishing his roly poly thighs and kissing his fluffy, soft cheeks. James calls him Big Mak. He actually isn't very big. He's much chunkier than Ezra was, but he's still a little guy. He's in the 10th percentile for weight. I know he's short too, but I can't remember his percentile for height. He's got blond hair and blue eyes. I'd be surprised if we have any babies that don't. He's got a dimple in each cheek. His eyes have a sort of sparkle to them when he smiles at you. No teeth yet. I'm not expecting any for awhile if he's anything like Ezra was. He has a big red birth mark on the back of his head. He also has the biggest soft spot I have ever seen. The doctor's say it's normal, but it has caused concern for me while I watch it pulse with his heartbeat or even sink in real deep some days. I did research and said lots of prayers that his head wouldn't cave in. He's fine. I'm ridiculous.

He's rolling over. He has been for awhile, but it seems like it took him forever to make the final flop and once he did it one time he couldn't stop. He likes being on his belly, but he grunts a lot on his belly. He's sitting up now too. I'm still not confident enough to walk away from him sitting up, but he's getting better.

He eats everything, but then again, what baby doesn't? He's been saying "mama" since the beginning of January though I have yet to get him to say it for James, so he doesn't believe me. Okay, so it's just a sound at this point, but Ezra can say "Despicable" and have no idea what it means, so I'm counting "mama" as Makai's first word.

He likes to twist his ankles over and over and over again. He loves when I sing to him. He gets the biggest smile and just watches me. He's a talker. He's always squealing and squeaking to tell me stories. He's sort of a binky fan, but only when he's tired and if his nose isn't too stuffy to suck on it. He likes to be held. His new favorite thing is splashing in the water. He gets really hyper and won't stop kicking. Last night he was getting so hyper when I was giving Ezra a bath that I just had to hold him in the water so he could kick a little bit. He was very content afterwards.

He's such a happy baby. He doesn't cry very often. When he does he's easy to console. He loves watching Ezra. He is constantly smiling at him and reaching out for him. Though he does get scared easily. Ezra just has to laugh a little too loud and it sends Makai into a frightened scream. It's quite sad to watch actually. It makes me want to hold him and never let him out of my arms to a scary brother who can bring about such fear.

(It's string, not boogers or whatever else it might look like to you. I was working on a project, he was doing tummy time on our bare carpet with a snotty nose and this is what I discovered when I picked him up. Awesome. I know.)

How's he sleeping? Better. Thanks for all of your words of advice. I have been trying just about anything that I can and it's slowly working. He has always been good at falling asleep on his own, it's just the staying asleep that we have trouble with. Now he wakes up about 3-4 times instead of the minimum of 6 times from 10pm-8am. One night he only woke up twice! James kept commenting on how I must have had a great night sleep because I was obnoxiously happy that day.

He's got issues with his adenoids which is part of his sleeping problems. He has been stuffy almost every night since he was born. Seriously. It goes through the day too, but gets worse at night. He snores and can't breathe a lot. He has also had a chronic cough and constant snot since we brought him home. We finally brought him to see an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist who confirmed my assumption that his adenoids are enlarged. He didn't give any exciting solutions though: surgery, steroids or nothing. We decided on the nothing for now, but he has trouble sleeping and nursing because of it, so we might have to take action sometime in the near future.

He's eating real food. Well, real mushy food. Though he did manage a big bite out of brother's banana the other day. Ezra was upset that Makai slobbered on his banana, but Makai was quite happy to be given such an exciting new treat. He loves bananas now. He's getting better at containing his messes. He would somehow manage to get his food everywhere when we first started. His favorite is carrots. He goes nuts. We had our friends Thomas and Caley babysit a couple of weeks ago. I brought carrots for Makai. When we got back he was crying. She said she just couldn't get them in fast enough. He just gets so excited that it makes him really sad when you take the spoon away to get another bite.

He's our little ray of sunshine. He's always there smiling at us. He's very patient with me and loves watching us. He's got a special smile just for his daddy. I love watching those two play. I never thought it was possible to love another baby as much as I love Ezra, but I have discovered that it is indeed. I adore Mr. Mak.

Makai, our little heavenly reminder to smile.

Meet Ezra

Ezra was born July 17th, 2008. He's the weirdest of all of us. If you know either James or I then that is really saying something.

His favorite things are getting dizzy, driving cars, running, playing with trains, and sword fighting.

If we ask him to get something for us and we end up getting it instead it really makes him sad. For example: I asked him to get me a diaper for Makai. His response was, "actually, I can't." So, I went and got it myself. He started screaming, took the diaper from me, put it back and then brought it to me with a smile. He does this ALL the time.

He also enjoys destroying things, playing catch and practicing ABC's.

He is a handful, but he is my best little buddy. He shows me the same affection I show him and I love it. To him I am "sweetheart" or "baby love". He plays with my hair, rubs my cheeks and gives me constant kisses.

He never stops jumping. Like, seriously. He jumps and twirls and runs and jumps and flops and run and jumps.

He is easily excited. And very expressive. Both facially and vocally.

He loves having friends and thankfully he feels pride in sharing.

He adores his little brother. He's always asking where he is and then giving him kisses or rubbing his hair. He always shares too well with Makai, so we monitor all interactions carefully.

He's slow to warm up, but gets attached to people easily afterwards.

He loves the Wheels on the Bus soundtrack in our car and requests it EVERY TIME WE DRIVE! He also begs for it to be loud because "brudder not sleeping right now!"

He hates being left behind and always says, "mommy, you be right back please?" It melts me.

He has a very sensitive gag reflex and often dry heaves or actually vomits at the sight or smell of boogers, poop or spit up.

He still loves to shake his booty.

Every time I cry he asks, "you okay sweetie?" and never fails to provide me with a Kleenex. He'll also be there to rub my back.

He quotes movie after movie even if he's only seen it once.

He thinks the shark in our fridge has magic healing powers. I should mention the shark is a cooling pack. When he falls or gets hurt cries for the shark immediately and within a second of putting the shark on the injured area he is free of tears and back in the game. I should also send of a farewell to our dear magic shark who has leaked out all the magic liquid and been thrown away recently. He has now been replaced with a magic Buzz.

He likes this little jumper here mainly to spin around so fast over and over again.

He spins so fast and so much that it makes him lose his dinner. As noted above, it doesn't take much to get this boy to vomit. We've become vomit cleaning champs over these last 2.5 years.

We're potty training right now. See HERE.

He's a goober. Right now we're working hard on ABC's. He's off and on with what he recognizes and doesn't. Usually when he sings the song he goes to g and then skips to q, so we're a little lost somewhere in the middle. He always says, "Z for Ezra." I blame myself. What? There is a "Z" in his name. It made sense to me.

He's a full blown daddy's boy. It's sweet. He does everything daddy does. He loves to wrestle him, jump on him, fight him, play catch with him, snuggle with him, and especially laugh with him. James just has a way of getting Ezra to laugh like no one else can.

I just don't even know what to say about this picture...

He enjoys dressing and undressing though he usually gets things a little backwards. The other day he wore a backwards and inside out pull-up with backwards pants. I love the outfits he chooses too. He's a free spirit.

He hates going to sleep. He is always coming out to check on us or to tell us something or to ask for water, blankets, flashlight, books, cold water, a song, another prayer, more water, etc. He also hates having his door closed. He has to sleep with two puppies, most of his Disney Cars cars, water (cold and filled), two blankets, a flashlight and usually a book. He needs to be read to, say prayers, be sung to, hugged and kissed and tucked in. He hates going to sleep so much and is so difficult to go to sleep that even when he finally conks out he sleeps with one eye open. Can't quite tell? Scroll down.

Here's a creepy close-up for ya.

He had his first crush when he was 1 and a half. He would always search for her belly button each time we went into Old Navy. One day I guess he realized she was perfect for him so he made his move. I don't know why he decided to go in for the kill without even introducing himself officially. I'm keeping him locked up for the next 17 years. My mom happened to catch him on camera. Here she is:

Out of all us Tressler's, you probably know Ezra the most because he's the one we always talk about. He's just the most interesting. He's got his own little style and charm about him that make him irresistible. I could just eat him sometimes. He's so much like his daddy and I guess a little like me too that he's just a mess when it comes to being normal, but who wants to be normal? Ezra is my wild child and we just adore him to itty bitty pieces.

Meet Kayleen

(Written by James and completely unedited, even though I wanted to. I did, however, re-title this ...)

"His Revenge"

My wife Kayleen- How would one describe her? To start off she is a 5 year old little girl trapped into a 24 year old body. I say this because if you were to see her when she gets goofy and you were to see a 5 year old little girl next to her at the same time you would not be able tell any difference. I would say the same for when she tries to dance. She Has The Rhythm Of A Five Year Old.

This is not entirely a bad thing because it is funny when Ezra starts playing along. Also to the positive side she is as sweet as one too. Her love and kindness could make oceans overflow, but I do give a warning if you upset her, for the next day or two that love and kindness flows about as well as water does in the Atacama Desert, ( I had to Google that) which brings me to my next thought.

To try and explain Kayleen better I feel that giving personal experiences would better pin the tale on the donkey. When Kayleen gets upset or better said when I make her upset that fountain of love and kindness turns off fast. I’m sure that this is the norm for most people. Me being a guy or just me, can let things go easily or not bother me and I can get over things pretty fast only when I turn my internal switch to the off position. Kayleen CAN NOT. The switch that Kayleen has does not have that option, in fact for some reason it goes into internal hyper drive. Every outward emotion reverts inward. On the outside she is as cold as ice but on the inside she is steaming HOT. So this is the dilemma I’m trying to lead into. She tells me that I need to talk to her to let her know that I care and so she can get over her frustration, anger, etc. with me. After reading that, one would most likely say “James that’s easy and to just do it”. I would and I have tried many times but when I do she some how knows how to say things directed to me that reach inside me and turn that switch to the on position no matter how hard I try to keep it off. I do not like how I act when that switch gets turned on. The outcome is always negative. This is why I choose to not say anything and try to let her cool off on her own. I can do that pretty well but I guess she can’t. Me letting her cool off is a bad idea. Talking to her seems to bring very similar outcomes. This is my dilemma.

She is my princess and I don’t ever want to yell at her. She definitely deserves a prince or knight in shining armor. I actually like talking things through and working things out as long as Kayleen doesn’t shoot those fiery darts. I wish they made some kind of emotional bullet proof vest to take that kind of punishment Kayleen dishes out when I try talking to her, but then I think “James is she right?” then I tell myself “Yes” and “Do you probably deserve it?” and once again I say “Yes”. They say it takes two to tango but some how women always make it seem you’re the only one doing it and what’s worse is you end up truly believing it too. I used to think that I was a big strong rock but now I can see that I’m just a piece of clay getting molded into Kayleen’s ideal prince.

Something I find admirable in Kayleen is that she tries very hard to be not just a good mom, but a great mom. She does the same with being a wife. For example she knows that I love having food made for me. I am a fat kid trapped in a skinny body. I like to eat yet I’m too lazy to make it myself. Kayleen is so great because if anyone burned food the way she did when we first got married they would have given up a long time ago. I literally couldn’t understand how she could burn everything. Toast is something you turn the number to its correct setting and then let the toaster do its thing. Not with Kayleen, some how she could go through half a loaf of bread in minutes. This went on for months. Kayleen did not get blessed with the cooking skills, in fact she got cursed. At times I really didn’t understand how she would burn everything. At first she blamed the oven, but later just accepted the fact that she was truly cursed. It’s a good thing I ate some pretty nasty things in Mexico which were a lot worse. The Wonderful thing about Kayleen is that she never gave up. In fact she has come a long way since then. I actually enjoy her meals now and look forward to them. Kayleen is not a quitter, she is persistent and a very hard worker. I love this about her because she not only knows how to get things done, but she does a really good job getting things done. She is definitely my better half.

When I think back through the past few years of marriage I realize that Kayleen is a rock to me. She gives me strength and is always there for me. She is also always there for our two boys. She is a light and example to me in many ways and always makes me want to be better. I am lucky to be a piece of clay she has control over. With out her I would have probably ended up as a turd in a bucket that deserved to be thrown out, but instead I get to become a true knight in shinning armor. I guess those fiery darts is her putting pressure on those hard stubborn lumps of clay that need molding.

Meet James

Aside from his obvious good looks, there are a lot of things that you probably don't know about James. It also tests just how well I know my husband. He never reads this, so we'll never know if I'm wrong.

Mainly as a record for our family, let me fill you in:

-He's a 12 year old boy stuck in a 28 year old man's body. The end. Just kidding. Kind of.
-James is from Maryland and that's where is attitude is from too. Or maybe it's from his mom? (love you Gramalene!)
-He says he doesn't have a sweet tooth, but requires that I always stock up on chips ahoy chocolate chip cookies. He also devours any sweet I make within minutes.
-He does asset protection at Wal-Mart and not only does he like his job, he's really good at it.
-He also works at the county jail and gets to carry a gun to work. I think it secretly makes him feel cool, but he'd probably never admit that.
-When we were first married he was making us milkshakes and decided to stir it with a spoon while the blender was on. He's smart. I'll never forget the look on his face when I ran in the kitchen to find him completely covered. We chucked the spoon and were still finding chocolate milkshake stains on our ceiling months later.
-He has back problems and snuggles with a HUGE body pillow each night. (I got it for him, so no, I am not jealous.)
-He loves nothing more than a home cooked meal and a clean house to come home to. (I should apologize here for the fact that he rarely gets it.)
-He can't help but get home and get the boys all wound up right before bed.
-He makes it look like our bed has been destroyed by a tornado when he sleeps and then blames it on me. (Nights that he works at the jail the bed looks like it has barely been slept in and he knows it!)
-He served a mission for our church in Mexico and therefore speaks spanish.
-He graduated in Sociology (thus his success at his "people-watching-suspiscious-behavior-finding" job). He minored in Business and Spanish.
-He would love to start his own business.
-He loves learning and welcomes trials and failure with open arms.
-He plays racquetball on a league. He likes to win, but he loves losing. Really. He has his reasons.

-He has strange dreams ALL the time. He also remembers all of them in full, even years later. They are very long. It goes like this, "I had the weirdest dream..." me: "weird. let me get you some breakfast." or "cool, the baby needs me." (No, I am not heartless.)

-In connection to the previous, he makes short stories long and long stories longer. He always says, I'll give you a short version, but it never really is. He knows it, so it's okay to make fun.

-He's the President of our Home Owners Association.
-He hates getting hot, slapped in the face and being left home alone.
-Before I met him he was described to me by one of my roommates as "butt boy".

-I won a date with him and he planned on spending the gift card on his roommates instead. Again, he had his reasons, but c'mon!

-He says the longest prayers ever. He also forces me to kneel on a book if I refuse to kneel on the ground instead of the bed.
-He hates when people say "shut up" even in a joking tone.
-He almost always makes one of our neices or nephews cry whenever we get together with them. He just plays too rough and forgets he's a grown man now, not just one of them.

-He loves being a dad. He watches the boys sleep with the same adoration I do.

-He's a great dancer. Never had training, but one day I will get him into a hip hop class or something and he'll be a star for sure!

-He loves video games, but for the most part he is careful with when and how long he plays.

-He loves guns.

-He plays airsoft and dreams of one day creating his own airsoft arena. He always sees things on the side of the road that would be perfect for it. Like this old run down bus just past Idaho Falls. He wants it. He tells me every time we drive by.

-He made his own ghillie suit because he's cool. (the above picture is the incomplete suit.)

-He makes the best breakfast sandwiches and thinks it would be cool to open his own breakfast shop.

-He hardly ever gets mad (unless he is slapped in the face or gets hot). He never ever yells or has yelled at me.

-Most people who don't know him think he is very serious. Especially if they see him at church. He's not. Not at all. His face is sometimes, but not my James.

-He laughs so hard when he watches America's Funniest Videos or Wipeout or sees anyone fall with style.

-He makes fun of me for watching The Bachelor, but if he can't watch it with me then he almost always asks what happened.

-He can see Heavenly Father's hand in every situation (good and bad) throughout his life. It's really inspiring.

-He has three sisters that he totally adores.

-He's definitely a momma's boy.

-He never stinks. Not even after a hard workout. (Unless I'm pregnant, but then who doesn't stink?)

-He's good at almost everything he does. If he isn't, he works so hard until he's good at it.

-He is very laid back and calm.

-He loves the smell, touch and look of leather.
-He is grateful for everything he has and is always quick to remind me how blessed we are. Especially when I complain about the ants I keep finding in the kitchen he reminds me of the little girl he saw on his mission playing on the dirt floor in the middle of her living room completely content and happy. (Boy do I hate these guilt triggering, but necessary reminders sometimes.)

-He can fall asleep in a matter of seconds. On our honeymoon he was asleep before the plane even took off. Then he woke up right when we were about to land and said, "we haven't even taken off yet!?" I tried to hold in my annoyance while I told him he had been sleeping for hours while I just sat there.

-He desires nothing more in the world than to raise his boys well and send them off to worthily serve missions for our church and then see them married in the temple.

-He wants 5 to 7 kids.

-He's my best friend and accepts criticism or instruction well.

-Sometimes he needs a little push to get out of his 12 year old boy mind set and change that poopy diaper before I get mad.

-He doesn't watch sports; he'd much rather play them.

-He has an obsession with camoflauge.

-James is not a perfect man, but he is the best man for me. He brings me closer to the Savior and is quick to comfort me. He always tries to do the right thing and fulfill his divinely appointed role as father and husband in our family and I love him more than I'd ever be able to express.

Meet the Tressler's

To know us is to love us.

If you don't love us, then you might know us a little too well ;)

We're quirky and fun. Silly and serious. Shy and outgoing. American and Russian (well, maybe just Kayleen. Well, maybe not). Ugly and cute. Young and old. Stressed and carefree. A little bit looney all around.

There's probably a lot you don't know about us. Don't ask James, he'll go on for years. I'll tell ya what you want to know about the Tressler's. I'll probably tell ya more about what you didn't want to know, but that's just a little something you need to know about all of us: We talk. We don't make sense. We linger longer. We laugh too loud. We make jokes that aren't funny. We don't get jokes that are. I can keep going here. Let's break it down. One Tressler per day ... I'll start with James (tomorrow). Why? Cuz he's my favorite Tressler.

well, he's in my top 3!

Sleep Deprived

My little Mr. Mak is such a joy in my life. However, my little Mr. Mak doesn't sleep much. He never has. He started out waking up every 2.5-3 hours then every 1.5-2 hours then every 1-2 hours then he had three wonderful days in a row where he slept for 5 and then woke up every hour after that. That didn't last. It soon became every 40 minutes to an hour and now we're at every 30-40 minutes! I am going insane! If he wasn't so darn sweet and happy during the day, I might be admitting myself to a mental hospital. He's such a good baby other than the lack of sleep. I don't know what to do. The more I pray for a good night sleep, the worse it gets.

I have tried formula before bed several several times (he barely drinks any of it). I've given him rice cereal, rice cereal and formula, rice cereal+formula+and breast milk. I just started him on solids a little early out of desperation hoping that it would solve all of our sleep problems, but it hasn't :(

I have put him in the carseat, bassinet, pack-n-play and our comfy bed and it hasn't made a difference. Fan or no fan, swaddled or not, lots of blankets or one, side or back, binky or no binky, etc. The only things I feel like I haven't tried is putting him on his belly or letting him cry it out. I just don't feel like I can let him cry every 30 minutes at night. That's worse than getting up to feed him. Yes, I feed him EVERY 30-40 minutes at night! Many doctors and probably mothers would think I was stupid, but I'm desperate and it's the only thing that'll get him back to sleep. And every time I nurse him he eats like it has been days since I fed him. He is little, but I know he doesn't need to eat that often. That's more than a newborn eats! I need help.

I usually don't ask for advice because I'm stubborn and I like to figure things out on my own, but I need sleep and my ideas aren't working. What can I do? I'm trying to tough it out and I am actually handling it a lot better than I was when he was first born, so at least my hormones seem to be working in my favor for now, but I would still like to sleep for more than 30 minutes or an hour at a time. Any miracle tricks you know of?

If not, we will survive. I will just keep praying, try to comfort him some other way than nursing at night and smile as often as I can with Mr. Mak and Tressler Boy #1.

I Live For Little Moments

Like These:



• James got me a camera for my birthday. He couldn't wait to give it to me, so he sent me on a treasure hunt through our house two days before my birthday. I found it the very first place I looked :) He was shocked because he didn't think I'd ever look there. I told him that's the reason I looked there first. The best part of this gift was that I didn't even ask for a camera. He was so thoughtful and I love it.

• Ezra asked James to give him a Father's Blessing. My two year old asked. I am so grateful to have a worthy husband who can give all of us Priesthood Blessings.

• Sickness has been lingering in my home. It started with Ezra. He had a double ear infection and a sinus infection with all the fun symptoms that go with it: aches, fever, vomiting, headache, coughing, running nose, etc. Well, one day I caught him just sitting on the couch looking up at a picture of the Savior. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "I'm looking at Jesus." I asked him if he missed him and he said, "yes". He then proceeded to tell me that Jesus' ears and head hurt too. Maybe it didn't mean anything to him, but it sure reminded me the comfort we can feel knowing that He knows our pain. I talked to Ezra about the atonement and how Jesus got hurt so we didn't have to and so we could live with He and Heavenly Father again. He of course told me he knew that already.

• When I took Ezra to the doctor we opened the door and he walked right up to the desk and said, "I got hurt, make it feel better." He told every person we saw at the doctor the same thing.

• Every time I would try to give Ezra his medicine he would quickly run to the bed or the couch or some chair, close his eyes and say, "I sleeping" just to avoid it. Good thing I'm a little smarter than a fifth grader and can identify a true sleeper vs. a faker.

• For Christmas James got me a work-out-stretchy-jumpy-ropey-muscle-builder-thingy. One day he was trying to be funny and show me all the "cool" things I could do with it. One of them was hold the handles with my hands, step on the rubber ropey part and extend my leg in and out. Well, the rubber rope snapped right in between his legs. He fell to the floor in pain and I couldn't stop laughing. I'm sorry. I know it's painful, but sometimes it is so funny! Don't worry, James laughed too and he is fine.

• Ezra came up to me while I was on the computer and asked me if he could play a game. I told him he needed to wait until I was done and his reply was, "but I haven't played the game in 3 days!!" Not true, he had just barely been playing the game, but it must've felt like 3 days to him. Now anytime he asks for something this is the excuse he uses.

• I put Makai sitting up next to me on the couch the other day and looked away and when I turned back I found him face down like a beached whale. It was only for literally a second or two, so don't worry. I just think it is so funny sometimes when babies fall over and face plant. Maybe that's awful of me to say, but as long as their okay, I can't help but laugh.

• Anytime Makai is crying, all I have to do is walk into the room or reach out to hold him and all is well. I love having mommy magic.

• In the book Glimpses about the life of Sister Hinckley there is a story where one of her daughters calls her and starts crying about her kids saying, "I just can't take this." Sister Hinckley just laughs and says, "well, it's too late now." Lesson? Any mother will tell you that being a mother is the hardest thing they have ever done, but they will likely also tell you it is the most rewarding thing they have ever done. It's so nice to know that when I am going crazy, I am not alone and it will get better.

My little moments probably don't mean much to anyone else, but I am so grateful for all the moments in life that remind us, teach us, comfort us and allow us to see the bigger picture and the Master's hand in our lives.

Christmas

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and doesn't feel too down about the day already having come and gone. My birthday is New Years Eve, so it always seems a little easier for me to keep Christmas going because there is a whole other day of celebration just a week away!

Our Christmas this year was wonderful. It was just the four of us. I was really disappointed about it at first, but as the days led to Christmas Day I got more and more excited. I am so glad to have a wonderful husband who saw the excitement of it just being us and who gets just as excited about Christmas Eve as I do. We still haven't sparked any great Christmas Traditions like we want to, but there's always next year. It's mostly because James had to work until after 7 Christmas Eve, so when he got home he went straight to wrapping my presents and then we spent hours getting Ezra into bed.

Ezra has been really into Christmas this year, which has made it that much more fun. He enjoyed learning about Baby Jesus, though I don't think he quite understands that Christmas is His birthday and not a day of presents. I'm working on it :) He has visited Santa a handful of times, though he is still afraid to get close to him. The last visit we made he cried until I let him see him, ran to him, held his arms out to sit on his lap and then very quickly backed away in horror at what he was about to do. He stood about 5 feet from Santa and said, "I want pesents, cookies, candies and cars!" Then he walked a little closer, held his hands out and waited for Santa to give him his coloring book. Every time he would hear a noise outside our window he would gasp and say, "Santa! He's here! He's bing me pesents!"

Christmas Eve we set out cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for his reindeer. He was so excited about that. When he woke up he couldn't believe that Santa drank all the milk, ate most of the cookies and his reindeer ate the carrots. After Ezra went to bed James and I (and Santa of course) set out the presents and then we spent about an hour building his train track throughout the room. (He got a bunch of hand-me-down pieces from his cousin Tyler to fit the ones he got for his birthday, so it was huge!)

                                      
                               

James and I didn't sleep hardly at all that night. I never sleep well Christmas Eve. This year it was in part because we have a sick baby. (He was up way more than usual (his usual is every 1-2 hours). He has a really nasty cough for a 4 month old and he is so congested.) I set our alarm early so we would be up before Ezra to see his face when he saw everything. Well, we didn't need the alarm because we were just too excited.

When Ezra opened the door he just stopped, looked at the presents with wide eyes and then looked at the train tracks. The first thing out of his mouth was, "we're missing pieces." It was funny because the train track was huge; what was he expecting? We took it really slow this Christmas which was great.

We got a Kinect from my mother-in-law this year. James let Ezra open it and right when he saw it he said, "that for you daddy" and moved to the next present. Though now that he has seen how it works and has played his Kinectimals game, he loves it! We spent Christmas afternoon rearranging our living room to make the Kinect work. It was fun!

(Poor little Makai wasn't/still isn't feeling well :( )

When we were cleaning up the gifts we put some back into Ezra's stocking just to get them out of the way. When he noticed his stocking wasn't empty he ran to it and said, "Oh, der's more!" Just for a family history side note: presents inside the stockings are now called "stuffing stockers" because James just couldn't get it right all month long!

Later that evening we went up to the Stake Center next to the Temple where we enjoyed a wonderful Christmas dinner with our neighbors and friends. The only thing I actually made was sweet potatoes and guess what... I burned it. haha! It's not unusual for me to burn things. It was only the marshmallows and James claimed they were perfect, but I like them just barely brown, not slightly crispy. Oh well. Cristina provided most everything else and it was great! Thanks Cristina! We played games and ate lots of yummy dessert. Then we came home, played more games and went to bed.

It really was a great Christmas. We talked a lot about Baby Jesus and why we celebrate Christmas, but next year I want to do a Nativity Pageant with the boys and really focus more on Christ than Santa. We got a little more commercial this year than I would've liked. I am so grateful for our Savior's birth and this special time of year. Thank you to all our family and friends for the Christmas cards, gifts and warm wishes. We love you all!

Thanksgiving Vacation

We're back! We've been back for almost a week now, but I still don't feel readjusted to "normal" life yet. We had a great time out east and I wish it didn't have to end. It's always nice coming home, especially when James was back home for 11 days before we were, but it's so nice being with family and back where the world seems a little more alive.

We ventured to Maryland for Thanksgiving with James' family. Half of the family stayed in two RV's in the driveway while the other half stayed in the house. The showers and bathrooms were always occupied, mealtimes were a little crazy and our caravan systems were always delayed (mostly, okay, totally because of me. I choose to blame the babe, but I was almost always the last to shower, so it's more my fault than Makai's. Sorry!).

We spent time in DC where I saw the White House for the first time. I have to say, it looks bigger and more magical in pictures. We also got pedicures, manicures, went shopping with the girlies and put on a cute talent show. The boys were able to go to the Navy football game. We also went to the Air and Space Museum, Port Discovery x2, DC Temple visitors center, The museum of Natural History and American History and I'm sure I'm forgetting something. Needless to say, everyday we had an adventure and it was great. We also had time to talk, make cookies, and watch the only family video of James and his sisters when they were younger. Oh and I can't forget the wonderful Thanksgiving meal we had thanks to my mother-in-law! It was sooo yummy! Ezra loved playing with his cousins. We came upstairs one morning and he heard someone and gasped, "cousins!!!" It was so cute. He still prays for ALL of them. All we have to say is "we're thankful for.." and he just fills in all their names.

Then Thanksgiving Day we said goodbye to everyone, James got on one plane back home and the boys and I got on another to go see my family. Within half an hour of James being home he was called into work where he walked the floors all Black Friday morning.

The boys were great for me on the plane. It was a little crazier on the way home due to a much longer flight plus a layover and double the amount of luggage I came out with, but the boys were still way more behaved than I expected, so no tears!

In New Hampshire we had fun shopping, shopping, and shopping. We had Thanksgiving dinner with my aunt and uncle and cousins, met Santa and rode on his train, got a house visit from Santa (aka Grandpa), and went horseback riding and Ezra and I fell off the horse. I'm still sore, Ezra landed on me so he's fine. He still talks about how he got to feed the horse, walk it, brush it and say, "whoa horsey", not once has he ever mentioned falling off, so I'm not reminding him.

We also played with more of Ezra's cousins and I found myself relaxing more than I have since I've had kids. I hardly prepared any meals for Ezra (my mom and sister-in-law, Jamie, took care of it)! I sent Ezra down with Nana each morning while mommy and baby relaxed or, some mornings, slept in. I had my first Black Friday early bird adventure and it was a little lame. My fault though. I went with nothing particular in mind. I just wanted to "look" around. Well, you can't really "look" at anything in the crowds, so I mostly stood to the side until I saw an open aisle to move through. Still fun though and not nearly as horrible as everyone made it sound. I got to see many old friends and it was great. My neice, Lily, just loved Makai. She would say all day long, "baby, oh, it's a baby!" It was so funny. Ezra spent most of his time downstairs playing with Tyler's toys. I didn't get hardly any pictures, but what else is new...

Like I said, we're happy to be back and so so happy to be with daddy again, but Rexburg is just a little more depressing to me right now. I was quickly reminded how empty it feels, how there is nothing to do, how the stores in Idaho don't have hardly anything worth purchasing, how cold it is, how people don't know how to use 4-way stops out here, how lonely we are with our friends dwindling away and no family close by. Que sera sera. Tis the season to be jolly, so forget what I just said :)

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. Christmas is right around the corner and I just can't believe it! We've got presents under our tree that James has to keep scolding me for trying to peek in. And even more presents in our closet that we have to keep Ezra's hand off! Can't wait for Santa to come this year!