Christmas

I know this is a little late, but better late than never.

Each year when we get out the decorations, Ethan gets his own little tree. He was so excited about his tree this year! Since I was 5, my family has had a Christmas tradition of going to the Hallmark store and picking out our own ornament for the tree. I have a lot. Some years, I've managed to get more than one. *wink* It might be because I'm the only girl, or maybe because my mom is a sucker when it comes to the cute ornaments. :) Anyway, Ethan got to put some of my old ornaments on his tree from when I was little. He loved them! The boys couldn't leave the tree alone the entire time we had it up!

Our finished tree before it would get destroyed by little hands and a cat who likes ribbon. 

 A couple years ago I taught my boys about Christmas magic! I thought I posted a video or photos about it when I taught them, but I can't find the post. If you sing a song to the tree and fill your palm with magic dust, you can blow it on the tree and the lights will turn on and off! This year when the tree was setup, Ethan remembered and got started singing his song to try out the Christmas magic!

Mart has never been to see the lights at temple square, so one Sunday in December we drove down to see the lights and show my boys the temple!

 

Ethan was super anxious for Christmas and was getting so excited!

His cute little face Christmas morning! He was a little bummed he had to wait for Lincoln and sick Mama to wake up.

 

Kya even had a good Christmas! She was so happy about her Christmas bone. 

Both of my boys were so excited and had a fun day

 

After Christmas Kace's family, Ber and Dallan and MarDee came over for Christmas lunch. That evening we went over to my moms for dinner and Christmas at her house.

It was a good day and my boys had a good time! It was a little harder on me because I was still super sick and just wanted to sleep, but I made it through the day with my family.

Lincoln and my mom elbow bumping Christmas night. :) What a silly boy.

Update

There has been a lot going on, hence the lack of posts lately. So here is my update since Halloween. 

Since Lincoln was about 6 months old, I've had serious baby fever. The problem is that they grow up way too fast. Then this last year Kace was pregnant and about every other lady in my ward was expecting a baby sometime at the end of last year or the beginning of this year. I thought that would be fine and I would get to hold enough brand new babies that it would hold me over for a while. I just didn't feel like I could go through another 9 months of torture this soon. But I'm tough and my babies are cute, so here we go again! 

In November my cute friend Trisha took some announcement pictures for us. It was freezing so my kids were having a hard time, but we got a few good ones. :)

At around 6 weeks, the dreaded morning sickness hit. And it hit hard. I was so sick , especially at night. I could barely function and spent most of the day laying on the couch. Our original plan was to tell my Mom at Christmas. I thought this would be easy because I didn't see her all that often and I would be able to hide it until then. Then something clicked in my Mom's head or something and she started inviting me to all sorts of things (very out of character for her) and I was feeling very guilty for lying to her. I just didn't feel well enough to go or to go and hide it. The end of November she just kept pushing to do something for my birthday (also very out of character ... she usually will throw a "party" in December some time and we'll eat dinner and she'll buy a cake ...). My Aunt was in town and they wanted to go to a movie for a girls night out (also not very in character ...) so they invited me. I couldn't say no, so I just said about 50 prayers on my way to the theater that I would survive and not throw up all over the place. I actually made it and I did great! After the movie, I decided to just tell them and get it out in the open so they would leave me alone and quit inviting me to do things that I couldn't do. Ha ha.

I said we should take a picture and when it went off I just said "Say Kelsie's having a baby!" because at that point I was feeling yucky and was ready to just be done and couldn't think of anything else. Lame, I know. My Aunt was so cute and was in shock and just kept hugging me over and over again. My mom looked completely stunned and Debi actually told me after that she had had the thought to ask me when I was having another baby in the car on the way there ... ha.

(Not a great picture, but that's what I get for talking while the guy was taking it)

Because twins run in my family, I have been super paranoid with each pregnancy that it will be twins ... so when I go to the doctor I tell her to double check that there is only one in there. :)

Right before Christmas we confirmed just the one!

Both of my boys act just like they did in their ultrasounds. Ethan NEVER stopped moving, and he still doesn't! Lincoln had spurts where he was super wiggly and then he would calm down, and he is still like that. When she put the wand on my belly and the image of the baby came up, I honestly forgot it was an ultrasound. I was thinking it was a frozen image of the baby like right before they print it out for you. The baby was so calm and didn't move at all! It's little legs were straight up and crossed and it must have been sleeping. It was eventually annoyed by getting prodded and it rolled over onto it's side and then stopped moving again. Maybe this will be a sign of a super mellow baby! (Wouldn't that be nice!)

I am 14 weeks this week and the babe is a size of a lemon. Growing fast (but sometimes not fast enough). I am so anxious to find out what we are having next month! It's starting to drive me a little bonkers. 

Everyone has always told me that as you enter the second trimester, the morning sickness should go away. It never did with my boys so I wasn't expecting it to this time. It has started to go away and I've had way more energy and been able to eat and actually drink something!

Here's to hoping for a much smoother ride this time! 

Halloween

8 years ago early Halloween morning, Martin and I got engaged! It was fun to reminisce about that and remember that day. We have always loved Halloween, so what a great day to have a special memory associated with.

Right before Ber left, we finally decided what the boys would be for Halloween. Ethan wanted to be Batman, so naturally, Lincoln became Robin. Ber was awesome enough to still make the components of the costumes and mailed them to us in time for Halloween!

Ethan has been waiting for Halloween for months. Seriously, months. October 1st, we told him that Halloween was that month and he would ask everyday if it was Halloween yet. He was so excited!

We dressed them up and headed to Lee's to go trick or treating there! I love Lee's!

When we were finished, the boys took a long nap so they would have the energy and be happy enough to go trick or treating!

Getting Ethan ready:

Getting Lincoln ready:

He wanted to jump off. :)

 

I was really worried he would hate his mask, but he did so good and kept it on all night! He loved it and whenever it came off (or he took it off) within about a minute he would ask for it to be put back on. 

The dynamic duo!

Mart wanted to dress up with the boys, so of course he chose something super creepy and made a mask really quick while the boys were napping. He went as Scarecrow from the new Batman movies. 

Kace and Hulk Tyler. Little Zack was Capt. America, but he has had a cold and they didn't want to take him out in the cold weather, so he stayed home with Ryan. 

Tyler and his mask on crooked. :) I'm not quite sure what Lincoln was doing, when I told him to stand by Tyler, he decided that he wanted to kneel down. Silly boy.

Ethan had a blast running from house to house!

Grandma and Lincoln

Once again, we visited the robot house. Ethan thought it was pretty cool. Tyler started crying a little, and then Lincoln realized what was going on and got hysterical! Ha ha. Those poor little boys. 

Ethan loves his cousin Jordan! It was so fun having them come and go trick or treating with us. Jordan is always so good with my boys. He held Ethan's hand the entire time and took him to every door. 

Robin and the Hulk having a blast!

Our trick or treating group! 

When we were finished, I wanted  a picture of the three boys. I'm not sure what was going on with Lincoln, but he had decided he had had enough! Poor boy.

They all had a great time and my boys slept like a rock when we got home!
 I hope my boys always love Halloween as much as we do.

Happy Halloween!

My baby is two!

Two years ago, we welcomed this little angel to our family. There are some days I can't believe that he's already two, and other days I can't believe that he's only two! He is so smart and learns so fast! We have a special bond, and I love that! I love that he loves me so much, and that when I put him in bed at night he yells "muggles! muggles!" and climbs in his chair and refuses to go to bed unless we snuggle. And then I have to tuck him in, sing him songs and stroke his hair until he falls asleep.
I love watching him and Ethan play together. They love each other so much! If I take Ethan somewhere and leave Lincoln home, Ethan will cry and ask where his brother is. When we drop Ethan off at school, Lincoln cries because Ethan is gone. I hope that they are best friends for life! 
I'm so proud to be his Mom, and I hope we stay close forever. I love you little Lincoln! Happy 2nd Birthday!!

Lincoln's Birthday!

Saturday night we had a small birthday party for Lincoln! I can't believe he is two. Lately, he has really decided that he likes Blue's Clues, so we decided to do a simple take on a Blue's Clues party. (After all, he is only two. No need for me to go totally crazy). For the entire week leading up to his birthday, I was sick. I have this major cold, and it has wiped everything out of me. I couldn't even function one of the days, and Mart had to come home and take care of my household. Because I haven't felt well, I decided to tone it down even more than I originally planned and not go too crazy.

Because Linc's birthday was actually on Sunday, I asked his nursery leaders if I could bring cake pops to nursery to celebrate his birthday. If I was already making cake pops for church, why not make a few more for Mart. :)

Here are a few pictures from his birthday party:

His Blue's Clues paw print cake. My original plan was to make a fondant or gumpaste Blue to put on top, and then a big bright number two to put on the front ... but that just didn't happen. Thursday night I baked all the cake so I could decorate all day Friday and be ready for Saturday. Friday morning Ethan opened the fridge and dislodged an entire sheet tray of cupcakes and cake pop balls, and they went all over the floor. Which meant, my plan for the day changed and I didn't get as much time to decorate. I had to re-bake half my stuff. 

As soon as Tyler got to our house, he was totally wired! He was laughing like crazy! He was so excited to see Ethan and Lincoln!

Zack even seemed happy to see us!

Lincoln was so excited when we light the candles on his cake. He even paused long enough for me to take a picture. (Ethan has a hard time with that ...)

And then we re-lit the candles so Tyler could have a turn. And then Ethan. And then Lincoln again. :)

I have been dying to try making a polka dot cake ever since I saw a picture of one. I decided to try for Lincoln's cake. It was fun and it turned out cute. My cake batter was a little runny on the bottom layer so the polka dots rose to the top during the baking process. I'll have to try again!

After we had cake and ice cream, then Lincoln got to open some presents! He was so excited. He wanted to play with all of them!

Sunday morning for Lincoln's actually birthday, Mart made pancakes with sprinkles! My boys were so excited and so wired. Ha ha.

And then, they had fun playing with the balloons. Lincoln kept bouncing on them. We thought for sure that one was going to pop under him.

Happy birthday my little man! I cannot believe that you are two. Crazy how time flies.