Sunday Checklist

1. Wake up to Charlie wanting to get out of his crib.
2. Roll over and wish there was a snooze button.
3. Don't fight Sean as he says he'll get up and get Charlie.
4. Have Charlie crawl all over us, in bed, which gets us up and moving.
5. Sean showers as I get breakfast going.
6. Eat breakfast
7. Lay Charlie's clothes out (so he doesn't end up in something completely mismatched), and the two of us (Charlie and me) jump into the shower.
8. Sean gets Charlie ready as I get ready.
9. Nurse Charlie
10. Pack bags (diaper and lesson) and load them into car.
11. Quickly get my clothes on.
12. Try taking new routes to church that have fewer traffic lights (cause we are late).

Today we needed to add a couple more items to the list.

13. Turn bright red as a kind soul wanders up to the front of the chapel to tell your husband that his wife's shirt was on inside out.
14. Run out of the chapel, bright red, to switch clothes around.
15. Thank kind soul on my way back up to sit with my family.

And that was a fourth of our day. Thankfully the last half included pajamas (which were put on correctly), naps, and good food!

We need a full length mirror. Today proved that!

(I had a couple other people tell me that they saw my shirt on inside out, but weren't brave enough to come up and let me know)

The After Party

The partying did not die down, once Christmas day passed. We played games, went shooting (guns and archery), spent a day in Seattle (Pike's Place, monorail, H&M, and the Ballard Locks), attended a family baptism, exercised, hiked, purchased lots of great children's books at Value Village, went after Christmas shopping, got pedicures, and took family pictures.

After a crazy week like the one we had, I have drawn a conclusion: I LOVE FAMILY!

Family members love you despite your quirks, mood-swings, lack of sleep, when you have a running nose, if your zipper is down, if you have bad breath, when you beat them over and over again at the same game, and so forth.

I don't want to imagine what life would be like without family.

I went through a family 'cleanse' the week after break. It was more like a week of withdrawals. Severe ones. I was SO homesick, lonely, tired, etc.

We left the kids at home and went for a relaxing pedicure. The two hours away was the only time the women were completely without children. Bless those children, but bless those two hours!

Visiting one of Seattle's hot spots-- the gum wall

On the monorail

A nice way to end each day

Robin Hood (my dad) took little Sean and the others out wandering through the woods, shooting cardboard animals. Apparently it was tons of fun-- I was on baby-sitting duty.

My FAVORITE picture from the week! I love Sean, Micah, Emily, my dad, and Eve's expressions. I also love Shane sneakily applying his mustache.

Love the mustaches and expressions on all of the men (and Ryder)!

I am Charlie's favorite person in the middle of the night. Sean and my dad are the favorites during waking hours. He is always reaching, crawling, or climbing up on those two. I get slightly jealous. They go out and have fun, I stay home to watch the little one and he STILL prefers the other two? Unfair!

Teaching Ethan to shoot

Couples' therapy.....

And we lived happily ever after.....

So did they!

Christmas Day

Christmas day was a lot more fun with a baby, even though he didn't know what was going on.

*Side note* This blog won't let me upload vertical pictures, so I was unable to post some of my favorites: sitting on the stairs before coming down to see the tree (all of us--crowded stairs), Charlie with his first gift from Santa (a little walker that he can push around the house instead of our kitchen chairs), Eli morphing into batman as he put on his cape and mask and Ryder with his new jeans.

Still unsure as to why we woke him up.... Didn't really pay any attention to the tree or gifts.

Happy to leave his wrapped gift to play with Lincoln and his unwrapped gift.

When we decided that Charlie just needs a giant box, with wrapping paper, next year.

Seriously LOVED every minute in this box.

Koby decided to see what it was all about and was pretty pleased with his decision!

First granddaughter/niece to join the family, Ivy. We went to her baby blessing before heading home for more festivities.

Such an easy-going, beautiful baby! I don't think Charlie ever slept as much as other babies do, so I was amazed at how she would just lay in your arms!

And that's what it was all about...

Dress-up for men

Oh Sean. He's goofy. He's fun. He's smart. He's hard-working. He's handsome. He's entertaining. He's a wicked mullet-grower. He's mine.

For Christmas this year, we all gathered at the DeFreese household. Sean thought it would be funny for the guys to grow out/cut their hair into mullets. I was used to dress-up, I grew up with an older brother (who laughed at dress-up) and three sisters who were constantly dressing up. Sean, James, and Shane brought dress-up to a whole new level. Not only did I keep cutting just the sides of Sean's hair (for 4 months), but I flat ironed the back. It was wonderfully hideous!

Here are some of the 'additions' to the family, in their finest. They go by 'The Mullettes'.

Looking for an album cover for this righteous boy band....

And now for the head shots....

Man oh man am I a lucky woman!

Emily's heart throb

Megan has the privilege of being married to the trendy mullette. I believe this style can be seen across the country, in various cities.

An album's not complete without a jumping shot.

please excuse the gift wrapping in the back

The wives lived Happily Ever After the haircuts/shave.

Thanksgiving

We had Thanksgiving with Sean's family this year. We enjoy spending time with them, and wish we lived a little closer.

I think this post was neglected because the day after we came home we had mice (plural-- four to be exact). We got rid of the mice and then problem numero dos crept in. Sean had a lump in his arm. We met with a surgeon, I was in a puddle of tears for a week and a half, lump was extracted, lump seems harmless and benign, and the Thanksgiving post was lost.

The start of the trip wasn't the most wonderful, but it had to happen. I got pulled over. Well, I got my first speeding ticket. Oops! We were on the way to the airport and I got caught in a speeding trap after I had climbed a hill and was descending. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Thanksgiving was wonderful for various reasons. It's ALWAYS wonderful being with family, either mine or his. The food looked as amazing as it tasted! It was especially fun this year to watch the babies, Lacey and Charlie, play. They are only seven weeks apart and are doing similar things. They were babbling in baby talk the whole trip-- that was my VERY favorite part! I am a big fan of the baby babbling!

Post-bath picture cause we forgot the before picture. Their bums are pinchable, but we'll leave the viewing to us.

They were crawling and pulling themselves up on everything. Poor Charlie had daily bruises from falling and bonking his head. He has learned how to land safely now.

The dads (brothers and best friends) cheered the babies on as they climbed all the way up the stairs, for the first time.

Playing with the 'motorcycle'. Always next to each other playing.

Sean's oldest brother (also best friend) and his beautiful family, at the lights on Temple Square. It was freezing, but beautiful.

We did get in a hike, party night at my sister's place, shopping, pedicures, eating, and Temple Square with siblings, brothers and sister-in-law, nieces, nephews, and cousins. We had quite the group.

I am pretty sure the baby babbling was all about how Charlie is supposed to hook Lacey up with his friends and vice versa, when they get to be 25, of course.

I love holidays! I love family!

Lucky Lady

Even though I have Thanksgiving and the recent Christmas Extravaganza to blog about, I had to share my favorite pictures from this past week.

My favorite gift from 2011. Still can't believe he is mine!

Trying to get everyone to smile and pose perfectly was impossible for this massive group-- I love this picture because it shows the chaos, charm, and love. Love my family

The men

The women

Too many words come to my mind with this picture. Sean got a 'daily mustache' kit for Christmas, and pulled it out at the perfect time-- Micah didn't need a fake.