First of all, Happy New Year!! We had a wonderful holiday season this year. Halloween proved to be a three day event between the ward costume party, trick or treating at David's work, and the actual day. The kids picked some cute costumes as usual. Sophie chose to be Hannah Montana (since she has the perfect hair for it and adores Miley Cirus - I know...). Aidan picked out the most adorable Mario costume, which was unsurprising considering his infatuation with Wii. Actually it's an obsession, but we are dealing with it as best as we can. :) And Ian was a simply delightful Buzz Lightyear.
Of course, according to David's and my usual trend, we decided at first that life was too crazy to try and pull costumes together. Then we got too excited at the last minute and decided we had to share in the fun. Since this is our last baby, we didn't want to miss a chance to utilize the pregnant belly. So on the day of the church party, I dragged the boys to DI to pick out the cheapest and silliest looking wedding dress I could find; and we made a quick stop at Walmart to buy a toy shotgun. Here's the whole family:
By the way, shotgun wedding costumes make an interesting joke at a church party. I mean, it's kind of suggestive, but not. You know? Anyway, we still thought it was a fun idea.
For Thanksgiving, we took a long awaited trip back east to see some family. Though we traveled twice last year and I had originally promised myself that I wouldn't travel during this pregnancy (I've traveled during every pregnancy and didn't love it), all of my grandparents live in the same general area (well, if the "area" includes Rhode Island, New Jersey, and New York), and they are each declining somewhat. So I felt that we should take advantage of what was likely our last chance to see them in this life. The trip went pretty well, though it finally hit me hard that we really can't afford to continue to travel by air as family. It's too expensive and way too easy to overstay your welcome (I totally booked too long a trip). I'll just leave it at that.
We did enjoy seeing some wonderful relatives. We stayed with my father and step-mom for most of the trip, but we did take a two day trip to meet up with my Mom in Philadelphia (the most interesting "halfway point" between us). We had the chance to see Nonnie, my step-grandma, a couple of times, and that was very special. She's probably one of the sweetest people you could ever meet in your life. On our last full day before returning home, we went with my father and step-mom to Long Island to see a bunch of wonderful relatives (it really was a treat) and to visit my Grandma Mary at the nursing home where she lives. Grandma Mary is wonderful, and though she has declined quite a bit and has difficulty communicating and understanding what's going on, she's as beautiful as ever. It was so wonderful to see her with the kids, when her communication would suddenly improve greatly. All in all, it was a long but very special and meaningful day.
Despite all of the excitement of Thanksgiving, it really felt wonderful to be home for the holidays, especially as my belly has continued to grow and my fatigue has been increasing. We did have a wonderful Christmas though! Lots of wonderful family time and some yummy food. And we felt that we got a little bit closer to being able to have a spiritual Christmas as well. One of the highlights was a very special nativity performed on Christmas eve by all of the kids. Sophie got to play Mary, and Aidan was an extremely handsome (albeit shorter than Mary) Joseph. The kids did a wonderful job, and there was a lovely spirit as we sang a few hymns together. I think it was one of our most special Christmases yet.
After the Christmas holiday we had some winding down time, a fun evening of visiting with some of David's extended relatives who came into town, and a low key New Year's Eve together. For Aidan's birthday on the 2nd, we originally planned to head up to Salt Lake for lunch at California Pizza Kitchen and a few hours at the Discovery Gateway, but due to 4 out of 5 family members suffering with a cold at one stage or another we postponed the trip for this coming Sunday. Still, we made the most of Aidan's birthday with lunch at Osaka, our favorite Japanese restaurant (though the service was a little off that day), lots of Wii, a nice dinner at home, and cake and a movie before bedtime. We had a great day. Again, it was just so great to be together just as family. We feel so blessed to have each other.
As for January, it has thoroughly kicked our butts. :) But seriously, January will probably always be fairly hectic for us (lots of birthdays, check-ups, vehicle registration, etc), but this one has been one for the books. Add to our usual roster an impending baptism on February 6th (Sophie), colds for each of us (a persistent one for Aidan), one case of bronchitis (David's), weekly check-ups with midwives, a very pregnant mother in the house, and a moderate case of pre-childbirth anxiety, and you've got yourself a very interesting month. At least the month is almost over, and we've kept our heads through most of it (with the occasional meltdown from someone in the family - and really, not just me, I promise).
So our next post will contain some lovely photos of our new daughter Mira and memories of Sophie's baptismal day (which will hopefully not need to be rescheduled last minute with Mom and baby sister in the hospital). If you have a prayer to spare, we'd be grateful!
