Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas!! We had such a nice Christmas. We stayed home and Santa came and brought the kids alot of nice things. They were a bit spoiled. Olivia got a pretty cool 4-wheeler, a camera (one of the cute kid proof kind), a Disney princess tent, and a bunch of other little things. Oh and of course, the one thing she wanted to ask Santa for, a pink ZhuZhu pet!! Callen got a fun little scooter thing, diapers, a few baby toys, spoons, and a bunch of other things that really aren't too exciting but he needed. Boring Santa, I'm sure next year he will actually get things he kinda wants! Even so, he was still happy and cute!
Papa and Lou Lou hanging out in the new tent
Picture from inside
Lou Lou riding her new 4-wheeler over to Grandma and Grandpa's house. She thought she was pretty cool and actually drove it pretty good!! It'll be fun when the weather is nicer and she can ride outside more!!

My brother wanted an iPad for Christmas so my dad got him one. It may not be the kind of iPad Brandon was talking about, but it is an "eye pad." My dad thought he was pretty hilarious on that one.

Brandon with his present from Lou Lou. She went shopping with my dad a few days before Christmas and picked out a present for everyone all by herself. He let her get whatever she wanted for us. So Brandon got a baby, I got a Belle blanket and doll set, Casey got a Toy Story Woody blanket and doll set, my mom a Tinkerbell one, Callen a little baby rattle, and my dad got a blue dolphin pillow pet. She was so proud of herself and happy to give them to us, it was so cute. She even makes Casey and me keep our dolls in our own room.

Daddy swinging with Lou. She doesn't get to do this too often now that it is so cold but she has a nice daddy that she can talk into it every once in awhile.


This isn't the best picture but they are the cutest slippers Casey's cousin Mark got Callen for Christmas. They are the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was so nice of Mark and they are adorable so I had to put them on here!!!
We were able to have dinner with my family that evening and have some more fun. In the middle of Christmas day, Olivia developed a red rash all over her body. She had had a high fever a few days before and seemed to have a cold but I took her to the doctor the next Monday and found out she had Roseola. It isn't serious and I guess most kids get it before they are 4. Still not too fun to be sick on Christmas. She was a trooper though and still had fun.

Merry Christmas!!

A Thompson Christmas

About once a year,around Christmas, everybody on my dad's side of the family gets together. The family is getting pretty big so when everyone is together it is a little crazy but always fun.

Grandma with her grandbabies


They always try to do a few games for the kids. Olivia wouldn't do the cake walk by herself so of course Papa volunteered for the job. She even won herself a nice pink cake.
Lou Lou and Daddy

My Grandma and Aunt Denise. This is our first Christmas without my Grandpa. It was a little weird but he hadn't been going to these parties for a few years because of his health anyways so it didn't really sink in. It really hit me when I got my Christmas present from my Grandma and it only said "From Grandma." As hard as it was for me to read only her name, I'm sure it was even harder for her to write only hers.

Pop toss. We wanted in line with all the other kids for a turn just for Olivia to get shy and decide she didn't want to try when it was our turn. Silly girl. Oh well, we didn't really need any soda. I love how Cade, or Cake to Olivia, is trying to talk her into trying it. Such a good cousin.
Mommy and Mr. Cal. Oh how I love my rolly polly boy!

Callen and my cousin Misty's daughter, Bailey. These two are only about 6 weeks apart but I think my son trumps her in the weight department. But she is not going from much, both her parents are pretty little. She is so pretty and looks like a little porcelain doll. And has so much hair!!! My kids did not get that gene.
Misty with her other kids, Merrick, Marrissa, and Harley

My cousin Sunny's son, Treyton. Isn't he adorable. I offered to take him home, which Sunny said I could. Treyton wasn't sure if it was a joke or not but was a little scared of me the rest of the night.
Treyton's sister and brother, Maddie and Triston.
Olivia with my cousin Sarah's son, Logan. They had a lot of fun together and Lou still tells me she had fun with Logan getting her.

It was a fun night. I think Casey even enjoyed himself, even though he was a bit anxious to get home because the Boise State bowl game was on (don't worry, we recorded it!). Maybe we will all actually get together before next Christmas but if not, I guess I will see them all next year!!

The Nightmares before Christmas

Casey's work had a Christmas party for all the employees' kids on Saturday. We were pretty excited to go and Olivia was really excited because I told her that Santa was going to be there. We went and were having some fun when Santa arrived. All the kids were so excited and Lou was even excited. Then came time to sit on Santa's lap. Oh boy. The death grip on her daddy and screams she let out were priceless!! She did not make it on his lap. That's okay. She was still happy Santa gave her a toy, which has been a hit, a little magna doodle pad thing. When you ask her were she got it she will tell you "Santa."So this was all done. I didn't think it was too bad. I did not really expect her to sit on his lap, she gets pretty scared and shy around anyone, and Santa is no exception.

Saturday night rolls around. I am just getting ready to hop into bed and was checking on the kids when I come out of my room and am scared to death because there is my precious little girl standing in the hallway. She had went to bed 3 hours ago. Oh course, being the jumpy person I am, I let out a death scream (wonder were Olivia got hers?). This in turn scares my daughter and she starts to cry and says she wants to sleep with Mommy and Daddy. She has never done this before. My daughter has never slept in my bed with me besides when she was tiny and I would put her in bed with me in the mornings. She seemed pretty scared and after talking to her a bit we figured out that she had a nightmare. What was the nightmare about you ask? Of course, it was Santa getting her. Yes, my daughter is now terrified that Santa is coming to get her at nights. She has now came into our room 3 times in the middle of the night. It would not be too bad if she would just go to sleep but she thinks she has to watch some TV, lay sideways in the bed with her head on my belly and her feet kicking Daddy's head, or sing us "Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer." We let her stay the first night. Casey actually went and slept in her bed and she stayed with me and eventually fell asleep. We have had the put her in her own bed after awhile for the other two.

The second night she came into our room, I was trying to get her to lay down and go to sleep. I told her "Olivia, lay down and go to sleep, Mommy is tired." She sat up faced me and said "You need to be patient with me, I'm only little." It was the funniest thing and is now said regularly between Casey and me.

So the nightmares in our home are filled with Jolly Old Saint Nick. I thought that I would be able to get a good nights rest now that Callen sleeps through most nights but nope, my 2 year old is now waking me up instead. I just need to remember to be patient, she is only little.

Happy Holidays!

Thanksgiving

I am finally getting around to post about Thanksgiving, now that Christmas is only 2 weeks away!! We were able to go to Bear Lake and spend a few days with Casey's family for Thanksgiving. We planned on leaving Tuesday morning but woke up that day to a huge snow storm. We hoped that we would still be able to go someday that day but the weather thought otherwise. We ended up being able to go Wednesday morning and we still had a lot of fun!! Casey's brother and his family were able to be there the same time we were and the kids had a lot of fun together.

We alternate Thanksgiving and Christmas between Casey's family and my family so since we will be spending Christmas with my family, we did Christmas with the Payne's while we were all together for Thanksgiving. It is always fun to do it that way, and it works for Casey's brother Justin too since they alternate holidays with Joi's family.

Opening Christmas presents the night before Thanksgiving.
Lou trying to play with Dexter and Ozzie, Justin and Joi's dog

Olivia and Amelia in their matching PJ's from Aunt KJ. Olivia loved her cousin and followed her around most of the time we were there. Amelia was a good sport and let Lou follow her around and copy everything she did. Olivia is even thinking she needs a ZuZu pet from Santa because Amelia got one in Bear Lake. However, she calls them 'Lou Lou' pets, which is the one thing that did kind of bother Amelia. But I don't blame her, Olivia figured out it annoyed her so she kept running up to Amelia and and saying, "Amelia, it's Lou Lou pets!" with Amelia saying back "ZUZU pets!!!" Oh my teasing child.

But don't they look so cute together??

Making candy necklaces with Grandma Julie. Grandma Julie is always so great and always has at least one holiday craft for the kids to do together.

Mr. Cal, just because he is so cute!!

This is all the Payne grandkids together: Olivia (2), Ezra (3), Amelia (5 1/2), Charlotte (4 months), and Callen (2 1/2 months).

Cuddling cousins, better than kissing cousins right??

By the time we were getting everything packed and loaded to head home on Thanksgiving evening, this was my little Lou, completely pooped. She sat on the bed and "watched" Callen for me while we loaded stuff. She was asleep before we even left the drive way. We had a lot of fun, ate a lot of great food, and enjoyed some great company. Happy Thanksgiving!!!

2 year check up

This little cutie FINALLY got in for her 2 year check up on November 9th (we were only 3 1/2 months late). Here are her stats:

Weight: 33 pounds (93th percentile)
Height: 37 1/2 inches (96th percentile)
Head Circumference: cm (27th percentile)

I was a little worried about Lou getting her immunizations now that she is a bit older but she did okay. She did cry pretty hard when the nurse gave them to her but the combination of Grandma there (thank goodness, a life saver for mommy!) and a Loony Toon band-aid she was alright. She never gets sick from her immunizations and these ones were no different so that was a relief. As you can see, my sweet little girl is not all that little. She not only talks and acts like a 3 year old but she is the size of one too. Sad, why can't she just stay little forever??

Olivia at 2 years and 4 months is busy, busy, busy but also fun, fun, and FUN! Like I said, she talks really well. The doctor was asking his normal questions and asked how many words she says. I said "Um... I don't know, a lot." I know dumb answer. He then asks "Is she saying at least 50 and putting 3-4 words together?" My mom and I actually started laughing because she easily knows a few hundred words and can sing a dozen songs. He then said, "Yeah, I can understand everything she is saying, she does talk really well."

Some other fun things about my baby girl:
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She can count to 30 but usually will skip 15
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Has recently developed a love for Lady and the Tramp. It is the only movie she has ever sat and watched. She now sings along with the songs and says some of the lines with them. It kind of makes me happy because it was my favorite when I was little too and would do the same things.
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Says the cutest, sweetest prayers, which usually include blessing the puppies and rat from Lady and the Tramp
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Calls her Backyardigan stuffed toys her "best buddies" (Lou: "Mom, do you know where my best buddies are?")
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Loves to sing, some of her favorites include "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "I am a Child of God," "Itsy Bitsy Spider," "I Hope They Call Me on a Mission," "My Hands Upon my Head," "If You're Happy and You Know It," "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree," and many little songs from the Backyardigans
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Loves to color and draw. She recently began drawing the bugs from Miss Spider's Sunny Patch. So they are really just a bunch of circles but she knows who she is drawing so that is all that counts!
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Knows her colors and shapes
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Loves to do puzzles, I don't like these so much because I always have little puzzle pieces everywhere!
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Still absolutely adores her grandparents and loves to call them and ask them if she can go to there house.
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When someone aske her "How did you get so cute?" Olivia now responds "Cuz I look kinda like my Grandma." Hmmm.... wonder who taught her that one?
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Is really starting to enjoy Callen. If she hears him fuss at all she will run over with a binky or blanket. She also loves to have him watch her, which is great because he enjoys watching her too. One of my favorite things is when she goes up to him and says "Hi Cal! Hi Cal!"
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She has still not mastered the potty bit but we are still working on it. Will it never end?
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Is the best Mommy to her little babies and will wrap them up in blankets, carry them ever so carefully, change their bums, and every once in awhile nurse them. She has also named a few of her babies, one being Baby Beatrice and the other Cliff. These were named on her own by the way.

Olivia feeding her baby, Cliff


Something else exciting for my sweet Lou Lou is she got her first real haircut!! My friend Dana cut it and it looks cute. Olivia was a little nervous as you can see in the picture. I ended up having her sit on my lap while Dana cut it. Dana mostly just cut the back so we could try to get away from the ice hockey mullet look!!

Finished product. I was happy to see she still had some curls!!!