Nickles!

Before being a parent, I had no idea about the power of a nickle. They work for everything from awards to bribery. Our latest nickle use had proved to be quite beneficial. A couple of months ago we initiated using nickles at dinner. We've always had a lack of manners at the dinner table, so here's how we are remedying our problem.

Before dinner starts, everyone gets three nickles. If you catch someone using bad manners, they have to put one of their nickles back in the bowl. Catching Mom and Dad is a special treat (also a great way to exaggerate kids' bad manners). Everyone gets to keep the nickles left at the end of dinner. Mom and Dad's usually go back into the bowl for another day.

The only problem we've had so far is Ashy refusing to give up a nickle and often hiding them. But they both think now about using good manners. In fact, tonight, when Emma spoke with food in her mouth, she caught herself twice and gave up nickles without any prompting. And at meals when we choose not to use them, we often hear, "You would have lost a nickle over that." It's been fun and a special treat to go buy something with saved up nickles. Everyone wins.

Trials

It hasn't been easy around here lately, and yet, I can't help but feel how very blessed we are. We've learned a lot over the past year. We've had our ups and downs with trying to add to our family, raising the girls, and coping with the realities of trying to lead successful, fulfilling lives. I'll admit that we've had some hard times. Yet the blessing are numerous.

Nick and I have a strong relationship. We've been through a lot together, but we trust each other. I've talked with several friends about how they cope with stress in their marriages, and Nick and I are fortunate enough to say that we can always talk. It may take some lengthy moments of silence between comments between one another, but we never manage to be angry with one another very long. We both have a desire to always have one another, and that makes all the difference.

We are just beginning the path of parenting our girls, and we make mistakes daily. I often feel like I don't spend enough one-on-one time with them, and there's always more that I need to be teaching them. But they love each other, they know we love them, and they appear to be happy overall. That's worth a lot.

We've had a lot of frustration with trying to get a third child. I miscarried again this week, even after being on a high dose of folic acid and even giving myself heprine injections twice a day. Those were NOT pleasant shots, and a week later, I still have some pretty good knots and bruises on my belly to prove it. But it still didn't make a difference. For some reason, our pregnancies are just not developing properly. We're not sure what is going on exactly, but we know it's worked before. Odds are that if we keep trying long enough, we'll luck out again. It's just frustrating beyond words to get pregnant, try to not stress for a couple of months, and then lose the pregnancy time after time. I have to admit though, it gives me a greater appreciation for my girls. We're not sure what we're going to do next, but neither of us feel like our family is complete. Time will tell.

We're very blessed to be surrounded with caring family, friends, and neighbors who have watched out for us. We're very, very grateful for those who continue to be there for us. Thank you.

Lost Tooth!

My Emma is getting big! While eating breakfast this morning, her tooth FINALLY came out. She started wiggling it in November. Seriously. And it's been hanging crooked since Sunday. She was very, very excited and can't wait for the tooth fairy to come tonight. I wish I could see her showing her gap to all of her friends at school today. She's growing up on us!

Happy 6th Birthday!

We can hardly believe Emma is 6. Time sure flies around here. Emma's 6th birthday was very fun. She wanted froggy cupcakes for her birthday treat at school. They were pretty fun to make.


Then we had a few friends over for a party. Since we had an animal-based party (we're enjoying Littlest Pet Shop toys these days), we played leap from, duck-duck-goose, and animal charades. The kids loved it.

Then the kids decorated more froggy cupcakes before opening presents. It was a lot of fun.



To finish it off, Emma begged for months to go to dinner at Wingers with all of her grandmas and grandpas. A funny location for a 6-year-old, it'd been at least a year since we'd been there, but she must have good memories of eating there. It was fun to have grandparents and my sister and her kids there to join us. Emma especially loved getting her own HUGE ice cream dessert. Unfortunately I forgot my camera for this part.

Emma is such a great kiddo. She loves to pretend and do crafts. She's a very good big sister and loves taking care of Ashlyn (when Ash lets her). She loves to do her little chores, especially when it comes to making her bed. Emma loves cuddling with those she loves, really likes reading chapter books with Mom and Dad, and loves her doll Alexa and her Webkinz toys. We love having her in our family and are proud of the wonderful person she's growing to be. Happy birthday sweetheart!

Christmas!

Emma woke us up bright and early Christmas morning (um, at 8:15) with a, "Mom, Dad, Santa came and he brought me . . ." Then she ran in to wake up Ashlyn and told her, "Ashlyn, Santa came and he brought you . . ." It was rather hilarious. Next year we'll have to explain a bit better to wait for Mom and Dad.

Christmas Eve we kept pretty simple. We ran some last minute errands, ordered pizza for dinner (which I enjoyed for simplicity's sake, although I don't think it was Nick's favorite), and drove around looking at Christmas lights. When we got home, we checked Santa's location by radar, talked about Baby Jesus, read The Night Before Christmas, prepared a plate with chocolate chip cookies for Santa (Emma says they're his favorite) and carrots for his reindeer, and called it a night. The girls were asleep in seconds. It'd been a busy week.

The girls got new jammies from Grandma and Grandpa Millar at our family Christmas party, and they get new crayons and coloring books every year. They're always a hit.


Here is the much anticipated camera! Most of our Christmas pictures were on it, complete with video. However, we need a bit of practice, so I'll spare you the sea sickness. The camera has several features to make silly pictures and also has games. It's been a lot of fun.


You know how you never know which gifts will go over the best? Santa brought spinning toothbrushes complete with stickers to decorate them! They were the most fascinating thing Christmas morning. They spent a lot of time personalizing their toothbrushes.


Emma did get her doll. She is much loved and goes everywhere Emma feels is safe to take her. She sleeps with her at night and is careful to dress her appropriately (as deemed by a 5-year-old).

One of the best gifts this year was a bunch of games. Emma had outgrown the previous ones we've had, so we've been playing a lot of games. Her current favorites are Sorry, Guess Who, and Operation.


And yes, Ashlyn barely escaped getting coal in her stocking and got Barbie Bell, complete with a Barbie car!


Christmas this year was a success. It's taken a while for us to learn a few tricks to make it a positive memory. 1) Simple is better. Our little ones get over-stimulated easily. Keeping it simple kept everyone calmer and happier. They didn't receive countless nor large gifts, but they love and play with everything they did get. 2) I made a breakfast dish of monkey bread the night before. All I needed to do was put it in the oven. Easy. 3) Nick's family always went snowmobiling or did something active on Christmas, so he tends to get a bit antsy after all the initial fun is over. This year we drove to Rexburg and sent Nick snowmobiling with my dad. The boys had fun, we had fun with Grandma, and my sisters and their families came over for dinner. It was wonderful.

Most importantly, Emma kept reminding us of what the day was truly all about. We are so blessed to be able to celebrate Christ's birth. That sweet baby is what it is all about. I am also grateful that Emma has the inner ability to know of that importance and remind us. I feel so blessed to have my family.

Letters to Santa

The girls wrote very cute letters to Santa. Emma wrote hers back in November, so I did get a picture of it. Ashy drew a picture of a Barbie Bell and a camera. Our post office has this cute set-up to make sure the letters get where they're supposed to!

December Trip to Salt Lake City

We met Nick's parents in Salt Lake for a weekend in December for a bit of fun. Nick's little sister Lacee and her family joined us, and my little sister Rebecca and her family were there the same weekend. We had so much fun together.

We stayed at Nick's aunt's condo at the Gateway and played and played. Our first stop was Build a Bear. Grandma and Grandpa gave the trip to the girls for Christmas. They LOVED it. Here they are with Cassidy waiting to fill their new friends. Ashlyn chose a kitty, Emma a sparkly, purple bear, and Cassidy a pink bear.


Lacee and Carson joined us, too. Carson chose a monkey.

Emma cheesing it while dressing her bear in a beautiful pink dress. Emma also chose a crown and wand with a makeup bag for her bear.

Ashlyn's kitty got all dolled up in a beautiful blue and black dress complete with black slippers and blue ear bows. :) She also chose a little MP3 player that has been one of the best toys for this girl. She plays it all the time and dances to her heart's content.

We also made a trip to see the lights on Temple Square. We love going each year. It was extra special this year with so many fun family members with us. There's such a special feeling there. Plus I got spoiled by getting to play with my niece Shaylee so much while we walked around. Again, Emma looked away at just the right moment. I promise she didn't sleep through everything.


Cousins in the lights.

My sister's family: Ryken, Heath, Rebecca, and Shaylee.

We finally found Santa at the Children's Museum. We love this picture. I'm guessing Ashlyn is wondering if she's made it onto Santa's nice list and if he'll be nice to her, too.

Success! Everything must have been okay. They loved telling Santa what they wanted. Emma asked for an American Girl Doll and Ashlyn asked for a Barbie Bell.

Ryken and Shaylee loved Santa, too.

It was such a fun trip. We never did get a big group picture. And we didn't have a camera with us when we found Santa's reindeer at the Children's Museum our first trip there, nor did we bring it when we took the train to the Mayan. The kids thought the divers were amazing. One of my personal highlights was seeing Tangled with everyone. I will definitely be buying that one. All in all, the trip was a huge success. Thanks Grandma and Grandpa Charles for a great weekend.