The Nutcracker

We also had the pleasure of taking Clara to the Nutcracker while we were in Phoenix. We left Jonathan at home with Popok and the rest of us headed out to the matinee. Clara loved it! It was a beautiful production.

Clara had her picture taken with the Sugar Plum Fairy before the show. This was not the actual girl or dress from the show, which Clara had some questions about, but it was a cool idea nonetheless!

We weren't allowed to take pictures during the show, but Chris snapped this one of us as we waited for the show to start. We had a great time!

Date Nights

Chris and I were actually able to steal away a couple nights and even days/afternoons without the kids (Thank you, Momok and Popok!) More than just getting a break from the kids, we were able to reconnect which was definitely needed, esp after Chris' recent 6 month deployment! One night we met up with an old high school friend of Chris' and headed to a sports bar for karaoke. The karaoke was run by these guys from a Santana cover band http://kokomaniacs.com/index2.html They were terrific and the karaoke was really good as well.

The guy doesn't just look like Carlos Santana, he played the guitar like him too!

Yep, Chris karaoked...no, I did not!

Chris' high school friend, David Elias

We went out to dinner one other night. This night I was feeling the morning sickness so I wasn't a bunch of fun. We had dinner at a restaurant/sports' bar near the new Arizona Cardinals Stadium. Dinner was good, though we had a long wait since there was a hockey game that night. Chris wanted to try and get some last minute tickets after dinner. I would've been game had I not felt like crap, so we found a bar across the street with Dueling pianos. That was a new experience for me too It would've been more fun had I been more in a party mood!

Chris practicing his form!

Christmas

The kids dressed for the Christmas church service.

Clara and Jonathan playing the piano with their 2nd-cousin, Isabelle. This is when Clara tried telling me that "Isabelle thinks she's playing pretty, but she's not. It doesn't sound so good." As if Clara's tunes sounded any better.

Test Driving a baby! Even Jonathan didn't mind this time. That's their other 2nd-cousin, Emmariah.

Cookies for Santa

Carrots for the reindeer!

Santa left flowers and a thank you note.

Time to open presents!

I love matching Christmas PJ's...next year we'll need 3 pairs!

Miscellaneous Cuteness

See all those stuffed animals? Every single one of them has a button to push, to make them sing and dance...which came to be a favorite pastime for the kids. Esp. Jonathan, who would then stand and dance in front of them all!

Jonathan and his favorite furry friend, "Blue dog".

Jonathan and his favorite 'real' furry friend, Clemson. That's right, Clemson got to come on vacation with us! The first night we were there he bolted out the backdoor expecting to find the typical grassy backyard he's used to, and instead found himself in a cold in-ground swimming pool...he didn't make that mistake again!

My reasons for everything...including subjecting myself to this morning sickness one last time!

Children's Museum of Phoenix

We headed back to the Children's Museum while we were in Phoenix so that Chris could check it out and so that we could all check out some of the new exhibits they've opened since we were there this summer. We had a lot of fun!

Jonathan in the Tunnels

Clara in the Tunnels

Chris and I attempted a 'Segue' race, but I don't think we ever actually got to the racing part. As you can see it would've been unfair anyway, I had a helper!

They added this cool vacuum system, you could stick in the scarves or foam balls and watch the air push them through a maze of clear tubes and spit them out on the other end. The kids loved watching the scarves shoot out!

We did more 'shopping'.

And even had that same waitress, Clara!

The ice cream was still a favorite, only Jonathan kept licking it for real!

There's always time for art. Chris helped Clara make an 'Eye of God'

Clara's finished 'Eye of God'

Jonathan and I did the stamps

They still have that house for the kids to paint...I wonder how many coats of paint are on it by now!

Safety First!

What an awesome (and strong!) big sister!

They added a 'car wash' to the end of the bike tunnel

Jonathan was intrigued by the ribbons blowing above him in the car wash air tunnel!

Biker babe!

One of the coolest additions was the 'noodle room'. They had hundreds of noodles hanging from the ceiling for the kids to run through. The kids loved it!

Somewhere I have a cute video of Jonathan running through the noodles. I'll try looking for it when I'm feeling a little better to post it.

Pics From a Moving Car

So I'm starting to feel like sharing all the little, but awesome achievements we've faced since we've been home, but I don't want to just skip over the millions of Christmas pics I have to share. I had hoped to wait until I felt better so I could speak of the pics in more detail, but alas, you'll have to settle for the pics and a brief synopsis. Life is not stopping for me and my morning sickness, and I have so much to share from just the last few weeks, so here goes...

As the title to this post suggests, I took a lot of pics from the car as we went through the Grapevine on the way down to Phoenix for Christmas. I'd never seen it with the snow and it was beautiful. I apologize for the blur, I did take the pics from a moving car!

This is Pyramid Lake again.

And perhaps the highlight of our trip down...Lunch at Five Guys. We became familiar with this place in VA, but when we moved away from VA we moved away from Five Guys. Last Spring, 2 opened in the L.A. area, so we made the detour -- so worth it! The best burgers I've ever had, and FRESH potato french fries all with the stellar customer service to match. Five Guys are all up and down the East Coast, if you haven't tried them, you really should...except you, Noelle, they keep peanuts in the restaurant for you to shell and eat while you wait for your burger...maybe take out for you! Check them out www.fiveguys.com

Third Time's a Charm?

We went to Phoenix for Christmas and had a great time -- We came home with almost 800 pics for me to sort through and share, but that will have to wait...

Just before we left for our vacation, we learned that I am pregnant with our third baby -- we were so excited!!!! I say 'were' because that excitement has given way to some serious morning sickness, even worse than I experienced with the first 2. It hit me on the 8 hour drive home. I took it then as simple exhaustion from not sleeping in my own bed for over a week. However, Thursday and Friday I found myself in the Urgent Care Clinic due to the morning sickness. Thursday, they prescribed a seemingly miracle drug 'Zofran' for my nausea and sent me on my way. The nurse cautioned me to take it easy with what I ate once the nausea subsided..."don't chow down on a Big Mac the first time" is what she told me. If only...it took care of my nausea, but did nothing to increase my appetite. So Friday morning I awoke to find myself weak, dizzy, nauseous and light-headed. I got Chris to drive me back up to the hospital, and they gave me some IV fluids and some more Zofran, by IV this time. I felt much better when I left a couple hours later.

Since then, I've been on a diet of bananas and applesauce, trying to keep at least that much down and Chris has had to pass up a Navy school he was looking forward to going to in San Diego for the month of January. I feel bad he's had to give it up, but know I am lucky to have a husband so willing to stay home and take care of me and the kids, with no signs of resentment.

So it may take a while for me to get around to posting Christmas pics or anything else for that matter. If this pregnancy follows the first 2, I'll be feeling better somewhere around the 14th week -- unfortunately, this time, the morning sickness caught me off guard by starting about 3 weeks earlier than it has in the past and by our calculations I'm only about 5 weeks along.

Say a prayer that time flies!