MACY, my baby

So, since we got back from our cruise in November, Macy has been quite the challenge to put to bed. Before that, I've NEVER had a problem at bedtime. She has been an easy going girl. You put her in her bed, say goodnight and she would go to sleep, waking in the night, rarely. After we got back, I gave her more love and attention because I'm sure it was an adjustment for her. She started needing to be rocked or something until she was asleep. This was ok for a little bit but now it is stressing me out. I'm really dreading nap time and bed time. She moved herself to a big bed and said she didn't want the crib anymore, so we took it down. I decided today that we needed to let her cry herself to sleep. She keeps waking up at night and won't go back to sleep without effort on our part. We are all exhausted. So I let her scream today and she fell asleep by the door but only slept for 30 minutes. Same routine at bedtime tonight only we decided to put up the play pen so at least when she crashed she would be in bed and hopefully sleep through the night. Brynn was a screamer at bed time for a LONG, LONG time. I hated it and was so glad when Joel was always so easy, and then Macy. Now I'm back to screaming child and I really don't like it. Any other suggestions? Is it really worth it to lay down with your child every night and every nap time and every time they wake up in the night? What happened?

Christmas Fun

We had a fantastic Christmas. It was really fun having my parents come and spend Christmas with us. They arrived early, avoiding the worst of the winters storms. As a result, they were able to attend church with us where I played the piano for the choir, Joel gave a talk and Brynn a scripture in the primary, and I taught the lesson in Relief Society. They couldn't have planned a better week to come. We enjoyed watching movies, playing games with the kids, eating lots of food, visiting and being lazy. I don't think I've ever seen my dad so content to do nothing. I thought he would be bored and ready to go home by the second day.
Christmas Eve was so fun with friends from our ward and the missionaries. I started a new tradition having our big dinner on Christmas Eve. It was too cold to sled on Christmas so we hung out, watched movies, played games. It was so nice to be together. The kids were in heaven, having so much attention all day long. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad! We love you.

Grandma and Grandpa Wright came for Christmas this year and stayed for 9 days!

New jammies

This is the cast of our Nativity on Christmas Eve, with our friends, the Aweres

For Christmas we bought our family a super fun attractions pass to the West Edmonton Mall. For three months we get to swim at the waterpark, ride the rides at the amusement park, ice skate, visit their aquarium, and mini golf, as many times as we want. We've almost paid for it already. It's been so much fun.

Weather

Many people have been sharing their weather experiences so I thought I'd give you a view into mine.
For the past week, the average temp has been around -15F, with the wind chill -30F(has anyone heard of the wind chill factor? I hadn't until I moved to Alberta).
Growing up I thought it was cold when it got to the single digits in Fahrenheit. This cold weather hurts when you go outside. It's so normal here that nothing shuts down. As long as your car starts, which is sometimes difficult, everything is still up and running. I'd like to say that you get used to it. But I'm not sure that is true. If you are dressed appropriately though, it is bearable! A lot of gas is used for the car to warm up enough to get in without getting frostbite. We have quite a bit of snow too but it will be here until March or April. We're hoping it warms up a tad so we can go sledding!

Brynn turns 6!

We wrote this message to Brynn for her birthday. The small writing says "You are: smart, happy, loving, kind, helpful, beautiful, excellent singer, great speller, wonderful reader, nice sister. She is all of these things and we are so glad she is part of our family!
I just can't believe she is 6!

Brynn's Birthday cupcakes. She's so flexible. She originally wanted them in the shape of a princess. This mom couldn't do that without a lot more time and someone else to help. She was happy with the bright pink frosting and the sort of heart shape we attempted.

We went to the waterpark for her birthday. She loves it there. Now that she knows how to swim, it is so much more fun for her.

Ward Christmas Party-A night in Bethlehem

This is Stan with our Bishop and the other counselor in the Bishopric. They were the Wise Men and they sang "We Three Kings"

Whitney, Stan's sister was a huge help keeping the kids close by.

The kids and I eating pita bread with hummus, stew and salads.

Joel, Cooper (Joel's friend), Madison (Brynn's friend), and Brynn-I had to add to this. Cooper told his mom that Joel was dressed up as the Holy Ghost! Don't you love the things kids say?
We tried to dress in traditional attire of the time Jesus was born. The props were great. The Activities Committee did an awesome job making the gym look like Bethlehem. The program was the Nativity, with songs performed by various groups in the ward. We all had a great time.

Breakfast at Denny's

My sister-in-law gave us the idea to take our kids to breakfast or something similar, once a month on the day of their birth. It was Joel's turn so we went to Denny's. He looks happy in these pictures but it wasn't a super fun experience. We had to wait 15 minutes to be seated and to pay after we were done. He's 4 and waiting with nothing to do is not his forte. After we sat down, he said "I miss daddy, Brynn and Macy. Can we go home?" He asked this question several times while we were eating. The food was good but I think he would have been much happier if we gave him $5 to use somewhere at the mall. Cheaper for me, more fun for him. I guess I don't know this 4 year old of mine very well.