Cute kids

Having two children is hard, infants are especially hard for me. Luckily, our society is in the habit of capturing the cute and precious moments of babies more than the hard, emotionally and physically taxing moments. (One of the reasons I think I stress out so much when it does get hard, so when I look back all the dark times are literally blocked out.) Here is a little tribute to those good moments that make us think we are sane when we decide we want another one.

Maybe I shouldn't, but sometimes I like to just watch her cry. Infants have impressive lungs, and when they cry it seems to me I can see this big spirit stuck and straining in a tiny body. It weirdly reminds me how fresh she is from Heaven and the precious responsibility I have. Unless its 3 in the morning...then Heaven doesn't really cross my mind.

Asher recently discovered he gets lots of hugs when he finds his nose.

His new "that was so hilarious I'm going to raise and flare everything on my face" look.

He didn't want in a picture until we told him to stay out.

Got in but can't get out. Muahahaha

She found my favorite place and person to cuddle. 

Then there is this which sums it up. All of these happened to me today, except being peed on, missed that one, and I got bit on the face instead of while nursing :)

Christmas Trip

Disclaimer: I am blogging while holdimg babies so any typos are from little toes, and me attempting to type one handed.

We went to Houston for Christmas and were able to see so much family it was awesome! Allen's came down from Rexburg to stay with the Christmans while we stayed with the Childs and we all partied and went on adventures. Besides being sick, I think my kids did really well on the nine hour drive, and with all the traveling and stimulation, and not sleeping at night.

Strong uncle Nathan did a push up with a few of his favorite little people.

Miriam usually takes a while to get used to the bath, but this one in Grammie's sink hit the spot right away.

Crazy family Christmas picture

Happy anniversary at the Potato Patch Mom and Dad!! Thanks for all of this.

Santa came Christmas eve and gave all the kids a candy cane. For a second I felt like I should be getting one, not handing one to my own kid. But, the half smiling half terrified look on his face was much more rewarding than a candy cane.

I got to Skype with Riley! We all did, and his companion who is awesome, they both sang a Christmas song and it was really good to see his face and hear his voice. I haven't realized how much I miss calling him up or having him call me just to chat.

We saw some pretty crazy Christmas lights, some were classy and some were trashy (haha) but I loved it all and am glad Asher was semi patient with the drive and that Miriam slept the whole time.

Nathan and I were able to go to Handle's Messiah with the Houston Symphony with Phil, Maren and Mom and Dad Childs. It was much more enjoyable this time, two years ago I was sick and pregnant and just wanted it to end.  This time I actually understood it, and very much enjoyed the talent of the symphony. And sneaking/sharing chocolate with Maren and her wonderfully sized purse.

 One item on my dad's bucket list since he was a kid was to go to NASA. Weirdly, none of us knew this, and he didn't realize until this Christmas how close it was to where we were spending Christmas SO, obviously, we had to go. Lucky for us a really nice guy in Jill and Jason's ward works there and gave us a ground tour that was cool. I got to shake a robot's hand! And he let us go inside a rover! Sadly, Asher had to go to the emergency room the night before and had croup. Ended up with a steroid shot, being on the breathing machine, meds for an ear infection, poor kid. So Nathan stayed back with him and let me go with Miriam since I had never been. Worth it. Even if I had been kind of a grump being worried about my kids and missing my hubby (sorry family).

Galveston is so much fun, even when its freezing.

 Strong man

Love this lady.

One request I had for this trip was to get professional family pictures from my talented brothers, Jason and Brian. They, along with everyone else, were awesome for dealing with crying kids on a cold beach. Asher was more crying because he wanted to get in the water and play in the sand than because it was cold. 

These are just a couple of my favorites. They all turned out so great!

Every Christmas gets better, and it becomes easier for me to remember the reason for the season. I have a testimony of Christ, his miraculous birth, life, death and resurrection. 

Miriam was blessed!

Both Miriam and Asher have been incredibly lucky to have most of their families present when blessed. It is humbling to see the love these wonderful people have for my children and the strength of the priesthood that is so readily available. 

I could not have chosen or been blessed with better family and friends.