More About our Trip

We had the most fun ever on our trip to Utah! We did so much stuff:

• The girls played with their cousins all day every day. They loved it. And they loved their cousins. 
• Daniel took me on a hot date. We drove out to Provo and had lunch at Zupas, which I love. Then we went to BYU and walked around campus for a few hours. It was too fun to see where we went to classes and we reminisced about when we first started dating. We even went to the classroom where we first saw each other. It was very romantic. We ended the date by going to the Creamery for ice cream and chocolate milk. It was perfect!

• We took the girls to Temple Square to see the Christmas lights. It was quite the experience. Brooke did NOT want to stop playing with her cousins for anything. So she whined and fussed for half the way there. And then she fell asleep for about 15 minutes. And when we got there, I had put the pink hat on Camille, which Brooke apparently wanted, and she cried and screamed for, like, half an hour, at least, while we walked around Temple Square. Camille was an absolutely charming companion! She kept looking around and pointing and saying, "LOOK!!" She even tried to engage Brooke in her experience: "Look at the sheep, Brooke!" or "Look, Brooke! It's baby Jesus!" But Brooke wouldn't have any of it. Camille loved all the lights and the nativities. It was so fun to watch her be so enthralled with everything, despite how freezing cold it was. After a little while, I told Daniel to take Camille (so that he could have some fun with her), and I did my best to cheer Brooke up. I picked her up and started pointing out all the cool things that we were seeing. And she perked up. We went into one of the visitors centers to get warm for a bit. Brooke really liked the visitors center. She thought all the tools on display and the little temple displays were really neat. She was considerably more cheerful. And when we went back out, she was had as much fun as the rest of us. Overall, we had a wonderful time together.
• We went to see a couple of movies: Rogue One, with all of the adults in the family; and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a double date with Emily and Adam. We felt so spoiled to have people that could just watch our kids when we up and felt like going out. Such luxury!
• Daniel took the girls sledding one day, while I stayed home to rest and try to get better (I didn't think it would be a good idea for me to be out in the cold with my sickness; I figured it'd make me feel worse. I stayed home and slept). We are severely unprepared for snowy weather, but Daniel borrowed things from Rebekah and Mom and Dad, and bundled the girls up as best he could. He said they had fun for about half the time, and the other half of the time they were just too cold to enjoy anything. And he said that Camille went down once, seemed to love it, and then wasn't interested in going again, and just played in the snow for the rest of the time. They're funny girls.
• Big John's Annual Christmas Party was the day after Christmas, and it was fun, but, aside from our immediate family, there weren't a lot of people that we knew. So it was a little weird. The food was really good, though, and the girls had fun watching Zootopia on the big screen downstairs.
• Rebekah took us to the Children's Museum at Thanksgiving Point one morning. She has season passes, and was able to take us at a discount. It was a really fun place and had some amazing activities for kids: a jungle gym area, a water playroom, a little section made up into a little town, with all kinds of themed shops with activities. We stayed there for a few hours, before our girls seemed to be a little tired. 
• We played a bunch of games together after the kids went to bed, and watched some movies, too. 

It was a really wonderful week with the family!

Christmas in Utah

We got up early and drove to Utah, Friday, December 23rd. We got a fairly early start because we wanted to do it all in one day. The girls were really good on the drive, surprisingly good. They played and read and were pretty happy most of the day. And Brooke was so excited once we got into Utah and started seeing snow on the ground. She wanted to stop at every field on the side of the road to play in it.

Our Christmas Eve was pretty low-key and chill. We just hung out with the family, played some games. The girls loved playing with their cousins, Brooklyn and Bailey. It was so fun to see them loving each other and hanging out together.

Santa, of course, came later that night. It was quite a different experience for us, doing it at Gramma and Grampa's house. But we were still excited about it.

I was still sick when we drove out to Utah, and it got a lot worse once we were there, pretty much peaking on Christmas day. I had a hard time sleeping, and was constantly afraid of waking up Daniel and Camille, who I was sharing a room with. So, I woke up coughing early Christmas morning and went upstairs to lay down on the couch. It had snowed a ton that night, and there was all this fresh beautiful snow outside. The perfect kind of weather for Christmas!!

 I think I must've fallen asleep a little, but I was glad to be up there in the morning, because I could see people coming out, and the kids coming up to see what Santa brought. And it was pretty fun. Brooklyn came up first, and a little while after, Brooke and Daniel came up. We took Brooke back downstairs, had a little morning family prayer altogether, and then all went back upstairs so the girls could see what Santa had brought them.

It was so fun! They were so excited about all of their gifts, and little Camille was just enthralled anytime she pulled something out of her stocking or opened a new present. Brooke wasn't as excited about the awesome new bike that we gave her; we thought she would be, because she'd been talking about a new pedal bike a lot. She was more engrossed in the new coloring stuff that Santa brought her.

After a while, we had some breakfast and started getting ready for church. I was really not feeling good at this point, and considered just skipping. But I wanted to go to church with my family on Christmas Day. Unfortunately, I don't think I picked up much of anything from that Sacrament meeting.

After church, and after getting comfy again, we ate and waited for all the family to gather around the tree. Michael and Michelle came with their boys, which was so fun. And we spent a while opening presents. I felt so spoiled! There was a bunch of stuff for us from Gramma and Grampa, and Daniel's siblings. It felt like a big Christmas to me, and it was a lot of fun to be with everyone.

The girls played with their cousins all the livelong day, and the adults chatted and cleaned and had fun together. We had a special Christmas dinner, which all of us pitched in to make, and Gramma Mitchell came over, and some other family. We ended the day playing games. Aside from being so sick, it was a perfect Christmas.

Christmas Fun

As usual, this December has been quite busy and filled with fun seasonal things. I participated again in the Stake Christmas Program, this year entitled "When Love was Born". So, I'd been practicing every Sunday we were in town since before Halloween. It was wonderful, but I didn't have quite the same fulfillment as usual. I owe it mainly to my having been in a weird funk for this pregnancy.

We got our Christmas things out a few days after we got back from Thanksgiving, and had a family outing to find our tree. The girls were SO excited about decorating for Christmas, and about our Christmas tree. It's hard not to get excited when they are just so thrilled about everything.

Daniel had a work Christmas party early on in the month, a masquerade down in LA that was pretty fun, and the slightest bit awkward. It was the first time I'd met any of his coworkers, and I've been hearing about them for over a year. We had a good time, took some cute pictures and ate some good food. And we used the masquerade theme as a good way to announce our coming baby, which was cute and fun.

I've been super uncomfortable with this pregnancy as I grow bigger and stop fitting comfortably in my regular clothes. So despite it being December, I had to do a little maternity shopping for myself. And I feel so much better with bras and jeans that fit my changing body! So. Much. Better.

We had our ward Breakfast with Santa party. Epic, as usual. We had some great breakfast food, the girls came in their pajamas, they stood in line to get a chance to talk to Santa, and I got to snap a few pictures. To my surprise, they were both pretty cool with Santa. I wasn't sure how Camille would handle it, since she's still new to the whole Santa thing. But, she's quite the social butterfly and a bit of a chatterbox, when she wants to be. And she didn't look overly thrilled about talking to Santa, but at least she didn't make a big fuss about it. They were cute.

Then the Christmas program. Which was wonderful. And tiring. And actually quite hard, with the things I've been struggling with, bodily, this season: I was still recovering from a cold, so coughing and sneezing (and trying to be discreet about it was hard), and drinking water; I had strained or bruised my ribs on the left side REALLY badly, which made it hard to breath -- or move -- or sing; and just being pregnant, I got tired more easily and quickly. I'm glad I did it, still. But I'll have to think it over next year. I won't be pregnant anymore. But I will have a new little baby.

Daniel and I had an appointment for our ultrasound a few weeks ago, and we found out that we are having ... A BOY! Little boy! We are both excited. We were going to want a boy at some point, so we're happy he's coming to us now. I think secretly, though, Daniel wanted another girl. He loves having little girls, he thinks they're just the best ever (and I quite agree); so I think he wanted another one. But, he's happy about our boy, and I know he wanted a boy.

We had one other party, the Faucette/Newbold Christmas party, complete with White Elephant gift exchange. It was another fun one! We chatted it up with our friends and had a blast with the gift exchange. There were some pretty hilarious gifts, a number of things that were really popular and got stolen a ton, and we got some not so bad things in the end, after a lot of stealing and having things stolen: the classic Rudolph dvd, and a cool BYU shirt that is way too big for Daniel and that we'll be regifting to Michael. 

The past week or so, I have been finishing up our Christmas shopping, and sewing some little girl aprons for presents. We made some fun holiday treats, and the girls and I spent a morning this week delivering them to our friends. And I've spent all of this week cleaning, doing laundry and packing, in preparation for our trip tomorrow. Yes. We leave tomorrow early, which is why I need to be signing off about now. But I wanted to catch myself up before the end of the year, which meant the best time to do that was ... before we leave for Utah. Who knows when I'll find time to write while we are gone! Hopefully at least once more, about Christmas, before we come back to real life.

*Our new baby! A boy! I don't know a thing about boys...*

Thanksgiving in Medford

We decided to go to Medford for Thanksgiving this year, for a few reasons. One, we've never, since we've been together, been to my parents for Thanksgiving. Two, I think Daniel was tired of working SO MUCH and needed a little break from life. So he took the full week off for us to be able to go. And three, we knew we weren't going to be able to go for Christmas, or anytime in the foreseeable future, considering Daniel's work schedule and also the coming of a tiny delicious person.

So, we left the Saturday before Thanksgiving, drove all day, had a few mishaps (we stopped for little potty breaks throughout the day, and then popped a tire a few hours before making it to Medford), and made it in a little before 11pm. It took us about 13 hours. Phew! The girls were so good during the drive. With the exception of a few squabbles about toys and books, and also them nagging either Daniel or myself for certain things, and also excepting the fact that they did not sleep at all, until about an hour before arriving, they were fantastic! They played together and entertained each other, they didn't require many stops at all, they were cheerful and happy. They were fantastic!

We had a nice week with my family. We hung out together. We helped mom with some things she needed help with. We went to see a couple of movies. We had a game night. We celebrated Mom's birthday (where we played a rousing game of Bingo, complete with prizes, a gift from Brian and Sammy; and my friend Viktoria came to help us celebrate, which was so much fun). The girls loved playing with their cousins, although, like the last time the girls and I were in Medford, Brooke and Makai had some rough times where they didn't play well together. It shocked Julie and I, because they've always been such good buds. We got to meet our newest nephew, Declan, and he was such a tiny thing, and so sweet and cute. It made me excited about having our own baby.

The house was crazy! Aside from Julie's family being there with Mom and Dad, and ourselves, of course, Brian had brought his girlfriend (now fiance!), Sammy, for the holiday. There were a ton of people in and out of the house all day, each with their own messes and quirks. We got along swimmingly, really, considering all the craziness. But I must say that there were a few times when I was having a hard time dealing with it, on top of being crazy pregnant and totally sick with a cold (oh, did I mention that I was sick a week before Thanksgiving, and then REALLY SICK the week of Thanksgiving? No? Well, it was really fun. Really.). Thanksgiving Day was actually fairly rough. Mom couldn't be up and about because of her knees; Julie was dealing with her family craziness and keeping Mark happy (ask me how I feel about this. I'll give you an earful); Diane had a new tiny baby. So I spent most of the day in the kitchen preparing food. I didn't mind, that much, really. But I was also feeling really tired and crappy, being sick and unable to sleep all that well. And I would've liked some company. And some help.

ANYWAY ... It was a fun week, and I'm glad we went. But, by the time we left, I was ready to go. I wanted to go be sick at home. I'd gotten Daniel sick, and Mom, by the time we left, and I was feeling pretty guilty about it. Most of the family ended up getting sick at some point afterwards. I didn't sleep almost at all the night before we left (we left the following Saturday), so Daniel did all the driving, the trooper. And I tried to sleep in the car, and take care of the girls, who were, once again, gems on the whole drive back down home. It took us about the same amount of time, owing to some weather and a little bit of holiday traffic on the way.

*The best picture Julie could get of all the kids (except Ares. Don't know where he was) with Uncle Mark-Shake (who Camille calls Uncle Shake) in his cool turkey costume. Thanksgiving Day.*

*We had to stop and play in some snow on the way back home. Camille's first time in snow. They were pretty thrilled. And obviously not dressed well for it.*

Hooligan Stuff

I have a couple of hooligans. They are really good at getting into things, making messes that they don't want to clean up, and requiring me to tell them things that I never ever thought would come out of my mouth. They say funny things and do funny things, and they each have their own quirks that are so funny and cute. I really love them, despite the hard stuff and my off days. Lately, though, I've had to work hard to be happy in my mothering. A combination of many things has made it rather difficult of late. But I love being a mom and the growth and joys that come with it.

Here are some funny things the girls have said:

• Camille, until very recently, called napkins "nakkies".
• Brooke loves to make up her own songs all the time. And then she likes to request that I sing them for bedtime, which is rather difficult. Once during lunch, Brooke was singing her own song ... only, it sounded just like Scuttle's song from Little Mermaid (the one he sang trying to get a romantic atmosphere going). We couldn't understand at all what she was saying, and it was very high pitched and screechy. I was cracking up. She also sang a song during one lunchtime about grapes and cherries. I love her made up songs. The most recent one that keeps recurring is one she calls, "O, Star".
• Once, a long while ago, when we were getting ready for bed, we were missing Camille's kitty that she sleeps with. I left the girls looking at books in Camille's room, and started looking EVERYWHERE for Kitty, for like 10 minutes. I came back into the room and said, "Camille, I can't find Kitty anywhere. I think you might have to sleep without her. Do you know where Kitty is?" She promptly got out of the chair, walked across the loft, and pulled Kitty from around the Spin bike. She had tucked Kitty in a nook of the bike while they were playing that day, and she remembered exactly where she had left it. I thought that was so cute. I should really get the girls to look for their own things more often.
• Camille is the cutest thing ever, and I'm quite obsessed with her. Her little 'okay' just slays me! When I tell her to do something or tell her what we are going to do, she just responds with a little, "okay." And then she cooperates, like the angel she is. It's so cute. One time, I said, "Come here, Camille. I need to pinch your cheeks." She said, "Okay," and walked over to me and let me pinch her cheeks.
• Camille somehow found a couple of little lollipops one day. Brooke and I were sitting on the stairs, talking or something. Camille came up with her two little lollipops that she'd found and gave one to Brooke. She wanted to share with her sister! It was the cutest thing ever, and my poor little Mamma heart melted.
• We pulled out a new size of shoes for Camille a couple months ago, which included a cute little pair of tall brown boots. One Sunday, I said, "Camille, should we put you in your cute new boots?" She wanted to, and she looked so cute, that I couldn't help fawning over her and exclaiming over and over again how adorable she looked. And she was pretty excited about them, too. When we went to church that day, she kept going up to people, any and everyone she saw, and saying, in her tiny Camille voice, "Look at my boots!", and she'd hold up one of her little booted feet. Daniel and I could not handle how cute she was. So excited to show her boots off to people!
• Brooke cracks me up. We have this old smocked dress that I used to wear when I was a little girl, robin's egg blue and so cute. Well, Brooke wears this dress almost every single Sunday to church. I try to convince her to wear some of the other fun and cute dresses she has in her closet, but she sticks to this one because, "it makes me feel like Cinderella. And it twirls." Well, I guess I can't argue with that. 
• We have an animal sounds book that has one page for an elephant. The noise that an elephant makes (according to this book) is "bralooo". So now, Camille calls elephants "braloos". 
• Camille is very fascinated with the whole teeth-brushing process. And she loves to get into the stuff all by herself. One day, Camille started yelling down to me from the kids bathroom upstairs: "Where's the paste? Where's the paste, Mamma?" Me, yelling up to her: "You don't need the paste, Camille!" (she's always getting into the toothpaste and making a big mess out of it) She just yells back to me: "Okay!"
• One night at dinner, I started tapping my feet on the ground in a little rhythm. Brooke looked under the table to see, then she looked at me and said, "Mom, your feet are making music."
• Me: "Brooke, you should sing you're 'O, star' song for Camille. She wants that song." Brooke: "Well, I can't. I don't have the 'O, star' voice today. I only have the 'Once There was a Snowman' voice today."
• We've been trying to prompt Camille to say "I love you!" for months. She won't say it much, even though she can. I've gotten her to say it if I ask her, but only a handful of times. A few weeks ago, she said it all by herself without any prompting: "I loves you! And Brookie loves you, too!" It was so adorable, and, again, my heart just melted.

Here are some things they've gotten into the last few months:

*Camille, click-clacking around the house in these Minnie Mouse shoes.*

*We had to put a lock on Brooke's door, because her getting out of bed all the time got way out of hand. She was not happy about it, but basically learned to stay in her bed after a few nights of screaming and crying. After one such hard night, I went in and found that she'd fallen asleep like this.*

*Brooke loves to help me with dinner. She asked to arrange the chicken and potatoes on the tray for Camille's birthday dinner. So I let her. The way she did it had me laughing! A little OCD?*

*Brooke and I have days when we butt heads a lot. And I get very frustrated with her at times. One morning, she woke me up pretty early, and I was really tired, so I basically told her to go away and find something to do by herself. When I got out of bed, I found her coloring and drawing in her room. She drew this picture of Me and Dadda, and I felt a little guilt and more than a little affection for her sweet little person.*

*When we paint, Camille just likes to paint herself, basically. Which I let her do. But it doesn't last long before I carry her up to a bath.*

*Brooke playing with some old celery. And her dolls.*

*Double pacifying today.*

*These girls really love each other, and really love playing together. They get along pretty well together, most of the time, and I love watching them and hearing them play and giggle together. Here they are, playing together on Dad's first Christmas present.*

*The toothpaste thing. She gets it EVERYWHERE if she can get her hands on it. And also eats a lot of it. Best to keep it out of reach.*

*I make the girls lunch, and then Camille steals my salad instead. She loves salad, rice and beans, chili, and almost all things healthy. But she refuses to eat hotdogs, mac and cheese, and quite a number of unhealthy things. This is my good eater, and it just makes me love her all the more. Such a great kid!*