Cutest Kids in the Whole Wide World!

Okay, so I tried to be cool and make a slideshow of the various poses appear in this posting but I couldn't figure it out. Once I talk to Master Nerd (my brother Rick) I'll switch it so you can see both poses. But even with just this one I think you get the idea--super cute kids, super cute pajamas! Notice how the fabrics all coordinate? Amazing. The most amazing part isn't visible in the picture--Monroe has tops & bottoms in the stripe pattern and not only do the stripes line up on the top, but they also match up with the bottoms. I am quite proud of that, as it took me a good solid hour of planning to make that happen. (NOTE: for those of you who are worried, Elise (the oldest one, in the back) does not actually have a blob above her eye, that is just from the scanner)).

These are my 6 nieces and nephews. Later this week we'll be delivering PJs to Jerel's 10 nieces and nephews in Utah. Jerel is nicer than me and his kids all have fabric that matches their personalities, hobbies, and style instead of all matching. It won't make for as cute of a picture, but it will make for happier kids. (Although you could--and should--argue that I am still the nicer one since I actually did all the sewing.) We are supposed to leave tomorrow afternoon to drive down to Utah, but since we currently have about a foot of snow with a layer of ice on top, and since I-84 is closed, it's not looking promising. We'll make it down there, we're just not sure if it'll be before Christmas. Cross your fingers, or pray, or do a little dance, or whatever it is you do for good luck--we need it!

One of us is getting really old...

I used to be fairly confident that Jerel was the older looking one but I recently received some devastating news that may just change that. It started out as a routine visit to the eyedoctor and ended with the revelation that I will now be wearing bifocals. Me: "You mean like what old ladies wear?" Dr: "I can call them 'progressives' if it will make you feel better.'" She also warned me that I will be basically running into things and falling over for the first couple of weeks until I get used to them. I told Jerel the horrible news and he very sensitively said "aren't those like granny glasses?"

In other tragic news, Jerel's hair stylist has moved away. I can't imagine why someone making $8 an hour at Supercuts would ever want to leave, but his beloved Tina is gone. At first I wasn't too concerned. See, with his dentist, the one he had for 32 years, Jerel felt it was perfectly reasonable to fly to Utah for a cleaning. I tried pointing out that there are more than a few dentists located within the state of Oregon but to no avail. Last year his Utah dentist retired and he was forced to find a new one. Anyway, I assumed he would just find out which state Tina had moved to and start flying out for his haircuts, but apparently he was unable to find out where she is. First the dentist and now Tina. I don't know how much more loss he'll be able to handle. (As a boring sidenote, the whole flying to Utah for the dentist thing was funny when Jerel tried to convince me that the cost of the airline ticket should be deductible on our taxes as a medical expense. I mean, it wasn't really funny to normal people, but to me it was funny.)

I guess we will both have some adjusting to do. I really shouldn't be surprised, I mean I already crochet doilies and I am seriously looking forward to being old enough to dye my hair blue, so I guess this just brings me one step closer to my true identity as an old lady.

Arctic Blast

Today we got our first snowfall of the year. I ran into the bedroom at 8:09am yelling "Jerel! It's snowing!" He was so excited that he jumped out of bed, ran outside, and built these cuddly snow people as a symbol of our love. Oh wait, just kidding. He was cranky about the "stupid snow" all day and since he didn't, in fact, build any snow people I had to find this picture online.

Having lived in SE Idaho and in Utah for several years I've experienced enough real snow to know how funny this is to people who aren't from the northwest. From 6am-11am, and again from 5pm until, well, probably all night, they have been having special news broadcasts describing the "Arctic Blast," the "treacherous conditions," and the "blizzard-like conditions" here in Oregon. We got about an inch and a half of snow. Every school district around here is closed tomorrow, they sent us home from church after Sacrament meeting, etc. I remember walking to classes in Rexburg with my head tucked down and my snot literally frozen in my nose and there was not even the hope that they would cancel classes. But here you get a flake or two and it's mayhem.

In some ways it makes sense because no one here can drive in the snow (except Jerel) and they don't really even de-ice or sand the roads, they just tell everyone to stay home. I'm thinking I may have to make Jerel drive me to work tomorrow. Even after 5 years living in snow-prone places I still cannot drive in the snow. I mean, I can hardly stay on the road on a bright sunny day, snow and ice is just not a good idea.

Our backyard neighbors are a family in our ward with a daughter in my Primary class. She came and sat with me at church today and I invited them to come over later and play in our yard. We have a bigger yard than they do, thus lots more snow, and no children (yet) to play in it. So Marianne came over with her two kids--Aria and Nathan--while Jerel was home teaching and we played in the snow, had a snowball fight, and generally froze to death. We came in and while I made hot chocolate (the fake kind, not the real kind my mom makes with that special ingredient) Marianne (who is significantly taller than me) decorated the top third of my tree. I had done it as high as I could reach standing on a chair but we have a 9 1/2 foot tree. Good thing I have tall friends! She even put the angel on top that my Grandma Mosbarger made before she died. Jerel is arguing that it should have a star, but I say grandma-home-made-angel trumps store-bought star any day.

Paisley's Journey Continues

I had another ultrasound but hadn't posted the pictures because I didn't want to be one of those annoying people who can only talk about the baby. I mean I AM one of those people, but I've been trying to hide it. But a few people have asked for the pictures, so here's the best one.

You can see that instead of just looking like a blob Paisley now has a distinct head blob, an arm blob, and a body blob. She is coming along quite nicely. By the end of this week she won't even have a tail anymore. It is always a big moment as a parent when your child looks less like a reptile and more like an infant. She is now a whopping 28mm long (for those of you who are American and use the most ridiculous measuring system ever invented, that is about 1.1 inches). I was telling Jerel that one of the books said at this point the baby's arm is about the length of a printed number 1 in 12-pt. font. He was supposed to say "Wow. It's amazing how something so small and delicate will one day become our beautiful child." What he actually said was "Hm. So our kid's kind of stubby."

That's the latest on our stubby little Pasiley. The next ultrasound is in about 2 weeks so we'll have another update then.

Clifford the Big Red Dog

While we were up in Washington for Thanksgiving my niece and nephew had a birthday party. Eve is turning 5 and Monroe is turning 3. They both LOVE Clifford, so that was the theme. They played "Pin the Nose on Clifford" and also had a barking contest for all the kids. It was pretty cute. I lovingly hand-made gifts for Eve & Monroe and they both had the same response--throw it on the floor and ask for another present! It was pretty much exactly what I expected would happen. But Theresa gave me plenty of attention and went on about how adorable they were so that made up for it.

Jerel and I also gave all the kids their Christmas presents while we were up there. I can't say what they were because that might give it away for Jerel's nieces and nephews. But the little kids all liked them and the older kids all played along and pretended it wasn't nerdy. They will all have a portrait done together wearing the presents and I'm excited to see it.

When Eve officially turns 5 next week, then up until Elise's birthday at the end of January my nieces and nephews ages will be 1,3,5,7,9,and 11. The accountant in me really loves this time of year when everything goes in such a smooth numerical pattern!