Mitchell Beach House Christmas

We got to go down to the Beach House for Christmas this year! Rex and LeeAnn invited us to go down and I could have one last hurrah before going back to work.

The beach house always has fabulous weather the week of Christmas and we love it! Now if only I could get a little more sleep so I could be motivated to go outside!

Look at our little "Santa!"

Crawford Christmas

Ethan has gotten a promotion. No longer stuck to the grinding work of elfship, Ethan is now the big man himself. And he appears pretty content with that idea.
Here is my tablescape. Yuck, how did I just quote Sandra Lee? Well at least it doesn't have a theme like hers. And no, I didn't pick up everything from the craft store. Most of it is from when we got married. So thank you to everyone who contributed to that. You can see we continue to enjoy our table settings. Look at those darling characters. Remind me to improve my posture from now on.
Here are the grandma's...Ethan's and John's
John's bro Tim and the ever-so-popular Sharon
John's Aunt Joan and cousins Juli and Mariel (I think I have finally mastered spelling everyone's names in John's family.John's cousin James and wife Brigitte, who by the way we got to see for a bonus visit on Christmas Day. James was working so John, Ethan and I got to take a tour of his station (He is Fire captain in Morgan Hill -- I have mastered the spelling of names, but unfortunately not the correct terminology for work positions)James and Brigitte's kids, Cody, Zach, and Courtney. These three might look friendly, but you should see them with the remnants of wrapping paper from the gifts. Uncle Jim and Mary Kate, who, by the way happens to make wonderful Blackberry Jam.
Merry Christmas to all of you!

Ethan the Christmas Elf

If you scroll through these pictures really fast, it's kind of like movie.


Did you try it? Ok it doesn't really work. But I lack the ability to edit. Usually this happens when I'm talking, but it also can happen here on the blog. Oh well.

Ethan loves his great grandma.
Ethan got to see Santa via our Ward Christmas Party this last Saturday. He asked for remodeled bathrooms. I love how practical he is. Way to take one for the team champ.

Twin Boys!

So I bet you didn't know that I have twins in my family. They are separated by 32 years. And miraculously, they also came from different mothers. I have also found out that all my genes are recessive. It's a medical anomaly. I bet if the pictures were'nt curved on the corners, you would think that I'm posting more pictures of Ethan. Nope, it's John. Really. Can you tell the difference? Ethan even makes that face all the time.
The shirt Ethan is wearing here was John's from when he was a baby. I think it's become one of my favorite things for him to wear. On a sidenote, the stitching on it is hand-embroidery done by either John's mom or his grandma.

Christmas Card

We are the ultimate slackers. This is the closest thing to a Christmas Card we will be sending. We decided to send out Christmas cards to John's clients and we have simply run out of time to try and send another card to all of our own friends and family. That, and, with John's long hours, we never all can get together for a picture that would be cute enough for the holiday season. So I beg your forgiveness, but we would like to wish you all a fantastic holiday! Hopefully soon we'll be able to take a fancy family photo. But until then, this will have to suffice.

And do you want to know the secret to our big smiles? Ethan is filling his pants, hence the look of concentration on his face.

Three months!

Life is going by way too quickly! I feel like Ethan already is a grown-up boy. Not a baby anymore. I know this is ridiculous. He has to at least be a baby until he's eating real food, but come on! He's really getting big! Last time I measured, and granted, it probably wasn't too accurate, but Ethan was 26 inches and 15 lbs. That was at least 2 weeks ago too. He outweighs many kids that are older than him. He is also getting so much more interactive. He loves playing games and squeals like a banshee all the time. I'll have to try and get it on the camera because it's slightly on the scary side the first time you hear it.

Mom's the word

I have heard a few complaints about my lack of blogging in the past month. I realize I am a bit of a slacker, but I also think it's unfair for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas to be only a week apart for me right now. I've done a lot and don't you worry. I'll catch up. I haven't forgotten you. For now, a quick thought on something that happened the other day:

I have come to learn that motherhood means an entirely different thing than I previously believed. Not that I was completely wrong. It does mean that you get to change diapers, wake up at night (although not any more...thanks little E), deal with a few uncomfortable issues, but that in the end it's still worth it in the end. Right now, not only do I feel like it's worth it. I feel like I would do anything in the world to keep this going.

I realized I had reached a whole new level of motherhood when Ethan was taking a nap the other day and I was doing something highly productive (as I ALWAYS am doing). I turned my head to the side and got a huge whiff of spit up. This wasn't the surprising part, in fact, I would bet 90% of the day right now I probably have spit up on my shoulder. The surprising part was that I enjoyed the scent. It made me smile as I thought of him. Almost like he was someone I hadn't seen in a while and thinking of him again made me smile. So now I know that not only do I get to change diapers and smell like a puke factory all day long. I actually enjoy it. I am one sick puppy. But really, look at this kid. I bet you like his spit up too.