Back from hiatus

Merry Christmas, everyone!

I'm afraid the title of this post implies something that may not be the case, namely, that now I'm back to posting frequently and regularly after being on hiatus for a while. Being as I was never very frequent or regular to begin with, I suppose I can't take a break from a condition that never existed...Anyway, enough with the technicalities. Anybody who really wants to get the goods on what's new with will check back eventually, right? And there are a lot of goods to catch up on, what with this "hiatus" I've been on, so I hope I can remember everything. I'll certainly give it the old college try. (What does that mean? Do college students try harder than other people? Again, technicalities.)

Well, after Halloween, some other stuff happened, but mainly what I remember is Thanksgiving. I was worried for several weeks leading up to our trip to Idaho that Antonia would not take to long, long drives quite as well as Charlie did when he was a baby. I think my worries were well founded in Antonia's continued refusal to sleep without being bounced around the house for several minutes first. Will and I decided that both kids would be more likely to sleep during the 10-hour drive if we didn't leave until bedtime and then drove through the night. It was an inspired plan; both kids slept almost the entire 10 hours, and Will and I were able to switch off sleeping in the roomy back seat of the van, that blessed, blessed van. The van was an integral part of the plan; we never could have managed rejuvenating naps without it. At Thanksgiving in Boise, everyone wrote down things they were grateful for and then we read them after the meal; one thing I wrote was "I am thankful for a husband who always tries to make things easier for me." But I also should have written "I am thankful for a vehicle that always makes things easier for me" because it DOES. And it's even more dear to me now that gas is only $1.65/ gallon. Sadly, I have already done damage to the one I love (I always hurt the cars I love most, it seems) by hitting a jackrabbit on the drive to Idaho. He was BIG, but I was so emotionally distraught about what I did to him that I didn't even think about what he might have done to the Sienna, until Will showed me rabbit hair caught in a big crack in the bumper the next day. Always ready with the puns, my dad summed up the whole affair pretty well when he heard the news: "Hare today, gone tomorrow."

While in Boise, Charlie had lots of time to play with his cousins, Cameron and Eli, mostly Cameron, who is closer to his age. I'm excited to see what good buddies they'll be as they grow up, because I never had a cousin close to my age to be buddies with and I was always jealous of kids who did. Eli's not too far behind Cameron and Charlie, and I think we only have a vague notion of the kinds of capers they'll be getting into, the three of them. I stole these pictures from my sister's blog, so some of you have seen them before.

At that same traditional reading of the "I'm thankful for..." notes that I just mentioned, I pulled out a particularly exciting one. The way this tradition works is that everyone writes several notes anonymously and then we pass the jar reading whichever note we've randomly pulled out, and everyone tries to guess who wrote it. So I pulled out a note that said "I'm thankful that we're pregnant" and then there was a quiet moment when everyone glanced around the table trying to come up with a valid guess as to who had written it. I think I got there first because I had the advantage of reading the note, so I looked at my sister, Lori, (who was the most likely candidate based on my quick calculations) and yelled "Are you pregnant?!" And I was right. So if you haven't already heard, little Lori and her husband Sean are expecting their own bundle of joy in July. Here's a foreshadowing picture in honor of the occasion. (That's our baby they're holding, getting all the practice they can!) And Lori, in case you don't get around to recording the event of your announcement to the family, you can print this out stick it in your journal. You're welcome :)

After November came and went in a flash, December pounced on us and left me where I am right now, dazed and slap-happy with sleep deprivation as I sit at this computer. In all of its craziness, it has, however, been fun and exciting. I did a Christmas recital for my piano students, because there's just nothing like a recital to get me in the Christmas spirit, and get my students motivated to practice their Christmas music :) Actually that was the first recital I've done as the piano teacher, and it was super fun to watch all my students in performance mode, bless their little hearts. Then we had our ward Christmas party, which I knew would be possibly the only opportunity for a family Christmas photo, therefore I had no choice but to make sure that we were dressed in a photographically pleasing way, parents and children. Many hours (or minutes that felt like hours) of preparation and worry may or may not have resulted in a good picture with Santa, but I did remember to take a picture of Antonia in her hat just like I did with Charlie at the ward Christmas party three years ago. Antonia's about two months older than Charlie was in his picture, but you can still see how much they look alike.

Charlie actually did really well sitting on Santa's lap for the picture, after treating Santa like a leper for the last two years running. He sat on his lap, gave him a hug, and then without any prompting gave Mrs. Clause a hug, too. Anyone who has seen Charlie around strangers knows that it must have been a Christmas miracle. It may have helped that every time we've been to the mall lately, we've walked by Santa several times to watch kids get their pictures taken. Anyway, we did get this pic of at least three of us, although one of us (I won't name any names) isn't looking at the camera. Whenever I hold both Charlie and Nia like this, Charlie always says, "You got two kids!"

And the REALLY exciting thing that happened this month was the 2 inches of snow that I never thought I'd see blanketing our fake grass and palm trees. I hadn't heard anything at all about the possibility of snow, and then I walked by the window Wednesday afternoon and saw this:

By later that night some parts of Las Vegas and Henderson had 8 inches of snow, and they made an announcement that there would be no school the next day. Hah! Who would have though Vegas could have a snow day? Certainly not me. I would have laughed in the face of anyone who tried to tell me that was a possibility. I did, actually. One of my piano students had said something to that effect a while ago, and I had laughed. But having Will home unexpectedly that day was super; it's the only way I was able to bake eleven loaves of cranberry bread for his coworkers. Charlie was excited by the idea of all the snow, because it was something new and different. However, in reality, he did not like to touch or be touched by snow, so I had to make the snowman by myself. And I stupidly forgot to take a picture of our little snowman, and he was so cute! He had Mr. Potatohead parts for his face and arms.

Having snow in Las Vegas is exciting, but it's actually having two kids that just generally makes life exciting every day. When Antonia laughed (actually, more like "chuckled") the first time a couple of weeks ago, I was just as excited as I was when it snowed. There's really never a dull day at our house, as much as I might even want one...I don't think I could have ever imagined how much work it could be just to keep two tiny little people fed, bathed, clothed and sleeping appropriately. And I must not be very quiet about how tired it makes me, because Charlie has started saying "I can't, I too tired" sometimes when I ask him to do things. He also finishes sentences for me when I'm too distracted to remember what it is that I'm trying to say. For example, I say "Charlie, you need to put your shoes on so that we can go to..." and he says, "Target." But he's also figured out that he doesn't have to answer questions just because we ask them, and now when we ask him about what he did that day, or what color something is etc., he says "No, you tell ME." Watching a little person get bigger and learn new things is so entertaining; even watching Antonia try to figure out how to get her fingers in her mouth is a pleasure, when I have the time to do it...

On that note, have a Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year (because you know there's not much chance I'll be posting again before then.)