Christmas 2007

We had such a wonderful Christmas but a report on it is going to have to wait. Both of the children have the stomach flu and all of my time is being spent holding them or cleaning up after them. I wanted to post a quick update to thank all of you for your generosity this holiday season. We are so blessed to have such wonderful friends and family!

A "Stinky Boy" To Call Our Own

Eric has long served in the Young Men's Presidency. It is where he has served for all but about 2 years of our marriage. So, we are kind of used to having large groups of boys around our home on occasion. When Allie was 2 or 3 years old she started calling the YM the "Stinky Boys". This came about after the boys returned to our home following a week long campout during which no showers were taken and probably very few clothes were changed (YUCK!). The name stuck. From that day forward the YM have been lovingly referred to as the Stinky Boys by our family. The boys even get a kick out of it.

Just the other day when I was changing Landon's diaper Allie walked in, got a sniff, and remarked "Well, I guess we have a Stinky Boy of our own now. It's a good thing we have had a lot of practice with having Stinky Boys around". I couldn't agree more. Having a son of my own gives me a little bit more patience with teenage boys. I realize that all too soon another wife and mother will be smiling as my Stinky Boy invades her home. I also realize that no matter how big and stinky my Stinky Boy gets, he will always be my baby.

Adios and Buena Suerte Elder Andrew Swain

Eric's oldest nephew Andrew will be entering the MTC tomorrow, December 19th, to serve in the Michigan, Lansing Spanish speaking mission. He is going to be a great missionary. Allie made him one of her infamous personalized cards and we sent him off with a great big bear hug and lots of well wishes. With 29 nieces and nephews on the Swain side of the family and 5 on the Toone side, this scene is sure to play out regularly for our family in the next couple of decades.

Whoa Baby!

Landon is a big baby. We found out yesterday at his well child visit that he weighs 22 pounds!

Here is a non-cooperative Landon showing off his two teeth.



Look at these chubby little hands!

Mormon Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert

Tonight we attended the Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square Christmas Concert. It was really difficult to get tickets this year. Luckily for us, my sister Angie was one of the "chosen ones". Not only did she get selected to receive tickets, but she even got really great seats. Thanks for sharing Angie! We were lucky to have my Brother, Paul, and his wife, Jenn, offer to tend our children. And while we're dishing out the thanks, thanks to Mom, Dad, and Marci too. We enjoy spending time with all of you!

Swain Family Christmas Party

This morning we had our annual Swain Family Christmas Party. We have a traditional meal each year that is a lot of fun (and a lot of work) to prepare. We have aebelskivers, a delicious egg casserole, fruit, meat, and hot cocoa. Yum! This year I helped cook the aebelskivers with Scott and Karma. It was a lot of fun. We even learned that Scott could toss an aebelskiver across a large room and land it on someone's plate with pretty reasonable accuracy. I think Landon was held by nearly every Swain cousin today. That's really something considering that he has 30 of them. He is a good sport to let everyone take a turn with him. We hardly knew Allie was there. She disappeared to the basement and only surfaced for a few short minutes to scarf down a little breakfast.

Later on we had an after the party party at our home. Allie, Larkin, Caleb, and Amber had a good time preparing themselves a meal and playing some more. It is so much fun to see these cousins loving every minute together. I hope that they always treasure these relationships they share. It has been so great watching them grow up together.

Working to Get a Laugh

Eric tries to make Landon laugh. Allie succeeds without even trying. End of story.

Allie's Christmas Concert

Tonight was Allie's highly anticipated Christmas Concert. She attends a weekly choir class in our neighborhood taught by Ruth Ellis. Ruth does a great job picking musical arrangements that are fun for the kids to perform and lets them show off their little personality's. It is especially fun for me to see because the choir is largely comprised of my Primary children. (Sometimes it's even fun to see them being a little bit naughty for someone else! It makes me realize that what they do in Primary is totally normal.) Allie LOVES to sing and we really enjoyed being at her concert tonight. Way to go Allie!

HANGING OUT BEFORE THE CONCERT BEGINS.


SNEAKING IN A LITTLE WAVE.

(Oh, and the kid with the biggest grin is our neighbor Caleb. I love watching him at these performances! He is equally animated for our Primary program every year, but it's a little more appropriate in this setting. Some of you will probably remember his springtime performance... what a kick in the pants!)

LANDON LOVES TO WATCH ALLIE DOING ANYTHING. HE WAS TOTALLY INTRIGUED.


I LOVE SNEAKING IN SNUGGLES WITH HIM...IT DOESN'T HAPPEN NEARLY OFTEN ENOUGH.

Will We EVER Sleep Through the Night Again?

Why do both of my children refuse to sleep through the night? I know that Landon is not going to waste away if he doesn't get fed once during the night. What I don't know is how to convince him of that. In the middle of the night he goes from 0 (peacefully sleeping)-60 (screaming at the top of his lungs) in a fraction of a second and he does not let up until a bottle is popped in his mouth. Then occasionally he will also wake up and cry until we help him find his binky (which has usually been tossed across the room). Thankfully this doesn't happen every night. On some nights he goes crazy tossing his binky and the floor is littered with them by the morning. See Exhibit "A".

EXHIBIT "A"

And then there is Allie. I don't know what has gotten into her lately but it is making Eric and I crazy. She has become a sleepwalker and it happens every single night. Of course it usually happens just as I am dozing off from being up and feeding Landon. She drifts into our room, usually crying, and begs us repeatedly "help me Mom" or "help me Dad". Initially it had me really concerned because I would wake up with her standing over me crying and pleading for help. I don't think she has ever been "awake" during one of these episodes, so technically I guess I can't claim that she isn't sleeping through the night. She does a lot of mumbling, walking, stumbling around, and crying but none of it makes any sense. The light is on but no one is home, so to speak. These episodes last anywhere from 10 minutes to about half an hour. And eventually we talk her into climbing back into bed and then we retreat to our bed where we lie wide awake and talk about how freaky it is. I have an Exhibit "B", Allie's blank stare conversation, but to tell you the truth it is just too scary to post :). You're just going to have to take my word for it. When I ask her about it the next day she has no recollection of anything but finds her antics extremely entertaining. I'm glad someone is getting some enjoyment out of this (not!). The other night she was slightly more coherent and she kept saying "I have to go" I finally asked her "Where?". Her reply? "Mass". That's right. Apparently in her sleep she has converted to Catholicism. Last night I had had enough. So after I finally got her settled back to sleep I spent the next hour on the internet researching sleepwalking. Fortunately I found some helpful information and I have an arsenal of things to try to alleviate this problem. Wish us luck! As for right now, I am off to take a nap while Landon takes his so that I can be ready for tonight's adventures.

B-U-S-T-E-D

I think I am going to start calling this kid Houdini. So much for an impenetrable barrier. At least he hasn't toppled the tree. Of course, there are still 14 days 'til Christmas.

Oh, the Weather Outside is Frightful

But we don't mind. In fact we kind of like it. On Saturday morning Eric and Allie spent time building a snowman while Landon and I watched from the front window. Landon was fascinated by the snow until he touched it. What a great way to welcome December!

This snowman is certainly unique. How many have you seen that have hula hoop arms and a pumpkin for a hat?