Merry Christmas!

I hope you all are having a holly jolly holiday season! We have been enjoying lots of friends and family. Here is a run-down of what has been going on in the Henderson house.

Elyn flipped over by herself on Monday night! Matthew and I were both sitting right there when it happened! I have been trying to get it on video but she is camera shy and hasn't performed for me. I can't believe that she is going to be 3 months old next week! Time is flying (I know I say that all the time, but it is so true!)

Matthew's parents and step-parents made a visit to our house this week. It was a great time and Nora really enjoyed getting to know her grandparents better. She can say most of their names (Gram and Grampa are kind of hard because of the "G" sound...she's getting there) and was thrilled to have new playmates for a few days. Elyn was true to form and pretty laid back most of the time. She would let anyone hold her and usually fell asleep if someone held her long enough.

We have spent the afternoon today with just the 4 of us. It has been so nice! I told Matthew that this is the first time in long time that we haven't had to rush through the day to complete something that was due the next day. We have been able to enjoy our time together and not feel pressured to do something else.

Tomorrow we are going to go shopping for some last minute stocking stuffers. I know, we are CRAZY to even think about getting out on Christmas Eve. But, honestly, I like the hustle and bustle of the holiday crowds.

I am so excited about Christmas morning! We are starting our family tradition this year of waking up at home on Christmas morning. It will make the actual day of Christmas a little hectic, but I think it is important that Santa come to our house. I remember waking up in my own bed on Christmas mornings when I was little (a few times we were somewhere else, but mostly, we were at home) and being so excited about what Santa had left under our tree. I want Nora and Elyn to experience that same thing.

We almost had a Christmas disaster this year. Matthew and I have known for months that we were going to get Nora a kitchen set for Christmas. We even had it picked out. It was the perfect toddler size and didn't cost as much as one our own appliances, like some play kitchens we had seen. We didn't get it months ago when we decided this because we didn't want to have to store the box. Big mistake! We went last week (I know, that is very late!) to get it and it was sold out! We called all the stores in Northwest Arkansas and they were sold out too!!!!!! Actually, one salesman laughed at Matthew when he asked about it. Not only were all the kitchen sets at Wal-Mart sold out, but at ToysRUs too. Thankfully, Matthew found this one and it will be set up under the tree on Tuesday morning. Lesson learned: don't worry so much about storage!

We are leaving Tuesday morning to go to Texas to see my family. We will be there until January 1st. We are really looking forward to getting to see more family and, hopefully, relaxing.

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!

Last weekend, it snowed (barely an inch), but Nora was impressed with it and watched from the back window for a while.

We had our Bible study group to our house last week and let the kids make sugar cookies. They weren't quite sure what to do at first, but ended up enjoying it. Although, I think they liked the dough best of all. Nora and Elyn spending time with Pops and Lee Lee (Matthew's dad and stepmom)

Nora opening her present from Gram and Grampa.

Matthew's mom made all of the bedding to go on the doll bed! Nora loves putting her doll to bed and saying, "Night night!"

Nora and Elyn with Grampa and Gram (Matthew's mom and stepdad)

Elyn sitting in her Bumbo seat for the first time! She looks so tiny!

Merry Christmas from the Hendersons!

(Poor Elyn...it's an awful picture of her, we took it this morning after church...one day she will learn how to smile)

Who do we look like?

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

New look

Well, I have a new look and a new title. Yea! It was so easy to do...because I did nothing! If you like the look, try out the gal who designed it. Her link is at the bottom on the left. Let me know if the font colors need to be changed for easier reading. Thanks Jennisa!

Happenings

We have been extremely busy lately...keeping up with an active toddler, learning how to "dare to discipline", finishing a semester of graduate classes, taking pictures with a new camera, shopping, watching the snow, attending Christmas parties, going to the gym, keeping out of the rain, and trying to get some rest.

Nora is keeping us busy!!!!!! We are struggling to find the balance between loving and disciplining. It's not an easy task and is truly exhausting. I feel like I have conquered major battles at the end of the day, knowing that the same battles will be there for me the next day. I am wondering if the three teeth that are threatening to break through her sensitive gums are an excuse for her fussiness. It's either that or the normalcy of toddler behavior. Either way, it is wearing me out!

Matthew and I have both finished our semester of graduate classes. I really enjoyed my students this semester. They taught me a great deal. It is always nice to go to class when you enjoy the people you will be interacting with. Matthew finished his first semester as a doctoral student Monday night. He got his grades yesterday and I am happy to report that he received A's in both classes. One semester down, many more to go.

We got a new camera last weekend! We are loving it and I can't wait to go to Texas and get some professional help from my stepfather. I'm hoping I won't miss sweet expressions and unforgettable moments now.

Matthew and I got to go shopping tonight. It was Parent's Night Out at church and we dropped off Nora and took Elyn with us. Elyn slept the entire time, so it was kind of like it was just the two of us. Soooo nice!

The weather has been crazy here lately. Last week it rained cats and dogs almost every day. It was brutal getting in and out of the van with Elyn and Nora. Usually, when I reached the front door of my destination, I was soaked. Today, it snowed!!! Not enough to cancel anything, but it was pretty to see. Nora called it "no"...very cute. Her new favorite things are "no man".

I went to the gym twice last week. It was great! I am spending 30 minutes on the treadmill each day and think my flabby parts are already becoming a little bit more toned.

We have gone to two Christmas parties this week. It is so nice to have such wonderful friends to spend time with!

I hope you all are enjoying your holiday season! Matthew finishes school on Thursday and his dad and stepmom are coming to our house Thursday night. They are leaving Saturday morning and his mom and stepdad are coming Saturday evening. We are looking forward to both visits.

And what you came to see...pictures of the girls:

12 days of Christmas-a remix

My sister-in-law sent this to me and I thought it was pretty fun. Maybe we'll see these guys on "Clash of the Choirs".

Disappointing pictures

We had the girls' picture made last week, hoping to get a good one for the Christmas card.

We didn't get any good ones:

Two accomplishments

1. Elyn slept from 11:00 pm to 6:15 am!!!!!! Way to go baby girl! Although she slept for over 7 hours, I woke up 3 times wondering when she was going to be ready to eat...I was ready for her to!

2. We made it to the gym this morning! I walked (at a rather fast pace, I think) on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then called it a day. A good start.

I'm not one of those women

Before I had children, I would hear women talk about how when they breastfed their children the weight just "fell right off of them". During my first pregnancy, talk like that gave me hope. I planned on nursing Nora from the beginning. I had dreams that by the time I went back for my 6 weeks check-up I would be back to my pre-pregnancy weight. Those dreams were destroyed within the first few weeks of her life.

I think I probably went for my 6 weeks check-up with Nora wearing maternity clothes and I am positive that I went for my 6 weeks check-up with Elyn wearing maternity clothes.

I am not one of those women who sees the weight falling off.

I hang on to the weight (or it hangs on me to be more precise) the entire time I am nursing! I read one time that a women who is breastfeeding is not going to lose that last 5 pounds (or in my case-10 pounds) until she has weaned BECAUSE if there was a natural disaster and she was not able to eat, she would still be able to feed her child because of the extra fat that she had.

Bring on the natural disaster and let's put that theory to the test! I think some woman came up with that lame theory because she was having trouble losing the last 5 pounds.

Not only do I have trouble buttoning my pants sometimes because of the "survival fat" but none of my shirts fit me like they are supposed to because of the expansion of my chest. After having Nora I did not understand why women spend thousands of dollars to have their breasts augmented. It still makes no sense to me. Bigger isn't always better in my opinion. Although, I can understand why women would spend thousands of dollars to put the "girls" back where they belong.

Elyn is 9 weeks old and I have been given the "okay" to exercise for 3 weeks now. Friday is the day!!!!! One of my Christmas presents is a gym membership (thanks mom!) WITH free childcare. I am excited about possibly becoming one of those women who has the weight fall off. Only, I am going to have to actually work at it.

2 months old

Elyn turned two months old today...time is going by sooooo fast!!!! I cannot believe she has lived in our house for that long. I also can't believe she has lived in our bedroom for that long-I am ready to introduce her to her OWN room. Any day now, we will kick Nora out and move Elyn in.

She has turned into a super baby! The past week, she has been going to bed between 8:30 and 9:30 and sleeping until 3am or 4am. I feed her and she goes back to sleep until 7:30am. I think that is fantastic! She is pretty laid back and has only been crying when she is hungry or tired. If her big sister doesn't try to interrupt her naps then she gets some good naps during the day. For some reason, she doesn't like Mondays (but, hey, who does?). The past 3 Mondays, she has cried all day long. And it's only on Mondays...weird.

We are so incredibly blessed to have two healthy girls (although, Elyn has been waking us up at night with a horrible cough and sneezing. Notice I wrote "us", she sleeps through it).

I leave you with some pictures of our girls:

WHAT????? I am 2 months old already?

Okay, I'm over the shock

Before Nora saw Santa

Look at her neck...it looks like a lizard

Nora loves these sunglasses. Usually she puts them on and then says, "Munny (funny)!"

This is the swing that Elyn hangs out in during the day. She looks so relaxed.

Nora is thinking: I do not want my picture made in our matching pajamas!!!! Golly mom, why do you always have to take our picture every time we have something matching on? It is getting old! Quit dressing us alike!

Elyn is thinking: Please support my neck!!!! Oh wait, I'm sliding, I'M SLIDING! Hey lady, you with the camera, rescue me! The kid has no idea what she is doing and she looks angry.

Tonight they took their first bath together. As soon as I got Elyn out and we got her little bathtub out, Nora lay down in the tub and stretched out...I guess she was glad to have the tub all to herself again. Get used to sharing kiddo-it is the game you will play for the rest of your life

The jolliest man of all...

didn't help the disposition of my little girls. We went tonight to have their picture made with Santa. It is a little bit better than last years picture, but not much. As soon as Nora spotted Santa, she clung to me and was climbing up me. I guess she figured that if she was on my head he wouldn't be able to reach her. We still forced her in his lap. Elyn was calm until she heard Nora crying and she decided to join in. This is the best picture of the ones that the elf got. Maybe next year will be better.

Thanksgiving and more

We had a great time at Thanksgiving visiting Matthew's family. We all went to Little Rock, where his sister and brother-in-law live. Here is a slideshow from the visit:

We have been extremely busy since we got back home. Matthew is working late every night on a research paper and project. We are ready for the weekend! I hope to post more later on this weekend, but right now, I have a baby to feed. It's never ending.

Happy Thanksgiving

A lot of firsts

*****WARNING: LONG POST AHEAD

So much has been going on since last Thursday. Since I have been using blogging as a "baby book" of sorts, I am going to attempt to write everything down. I apologize ahead of time if you are not a family member and choose to read. I warned you!

Nora, Elyn, and I went to Texas last Thursday. We FLEW to Texas! I am officially insane to be flying with a newborn and a toddler. To say I was nervous about it would be an understatement, I had no idea what could happen. Thankfully, it was nice and easy! Several people took pity on me and offered to lend a hand. I am sure they were a little taken back when I would look at them and shout, "YES! Oh, thank you!!!!! Could you carry her (Nora) on/off the plane for me????" Little Miss Social was not worried at all when complete strangers (all women by the way, not a single man offered to help!) would pick her up and cart her around. We'll teach her to avoid strangers later.

Here we are on the plane. Nora is watching Barney (her absolute favorite...he's getting annoying so I'm ready for her to love someone different) with her pacifier. It was a special day...she usually doesn't get any paci-loving until she in bed. I was hoping the paci would keep her quiet and keep her ears from hurting. Notice Elyn in the baby carrier. That is where she stayed the entire time...sound asleep!

Thursday night was a family dinner at my mom's house. It was so good to see everyone and Elyn got plenty of lovin'. This was her first time to meet everyone.

We tried to get a "great-grandchild" picture that night too. There are 5 great-grandkids. The ages are: 5 years, 21 months, 18 months, 6 months, and 7 weeks. Before you even see the pictures, I'm sure you can imagine how the "photo shoot" turned out. It was hysterical!

The best picture

What the rest of the pictures look like...Elyn is the only one not moving or crying-what a good baby.

Friday I got my hair cut (2 1/2 inches shorter!) and we hit a major sale at Macy's. Most everything was 50% off, then 40% off of that, and finally, an additional 20% was taken off! The girls are set for the fall and winter. They got some really cute Christmas dresses too.

Saturday was busy! My sister and I took the girls to Weatherford to visit my friend Julie. Julie and I met in 7th grade band. I still laugh when I think about us in band. At our middle school, every child had to have a fine arts elective. The choices were band, drama, or choir. When I registered for school, the only openings were in band. So, I chose the drums. (I am literally sitting here laughing...me, play the drums, hilarious! I wasn't any good.) Anyway, that was the last year Julie and I were in band. But, we were best friends all through middle school and high school.

Julie has two adorable boys and Nora had a blast playing with Tate. Elyn and Grant weren't really all that excited about playing.

Elyn, Julie, Tate, Nora, Me, and Grant

Tate rode Nora around on his tractor. She loved this!

Tate taught Nora how to jump in the leaves, her first time. He was a great teacher!

I wanted to get a picture of all four kids...you can see how well it turned out

After visiting with Julie and her boys, we headed to Pizza Place for lunch. Pizza Place is where Marty and I both worked while were in high school. Roger Grizzard, the owner, was also our economics teacher in high school. He is also our friend and we love to see him whenever we go back to Weatherford.

Saturday, after Nora's nap, we went to the nursing home to see my Uncle Raymond. Nora loved riding around in the wheelchair.

Uncle Raymond, me, Elyn, and Nora

Saturday night we went to the circus!!!!!! The Shrine Circus is the circus that I used to go to as a little girl. My grandfather was a shriner and we went every year to see him and all the fun acts. I was so excited that Nora and Elyn were going to get to go also. I'm sure they won't remember a thing about the circus (obviously Elyn will remember nothing), but we have pictures to prove they were there. My uncle is a shriner and he got us some fantastic seats. Thanks Uncle Bill!

Me and Nora with Uncle Bill (notice his hat (called a fez) )

Nora in her fez, waving at the performers

Elyn in her fez, wondering what all the commotion is about

Bo the elephant was my favorite thing about the circus

Sunday we went and ate brunch and then headed to the airport. I was just as nervous about flying back home. Just because flight #1 had gone smoothly did not mean that flight #2 would be the same. Thankfully though, it was a good flight. Nora had a bit of a meltdown the last few minutes of the flight, but she was exhausted. We were so happy to see Matthew again!

Headed home!

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Sunday night we had our annual Thanksgiving dinner with our small group from church. We love our small group and the family they have become to us. We are truly thankful for them and their friendships!!!

Later that evening, Nora got sick. She threw up about 4 times and had a low grade fever. Why is it that when little kids throw up, you never expect it? She was sitting there, talking to me and Matthew, and all of a sudden...vomit everywhere! I must say that I am glad that Matthew was holding her at the time, sorry honey! She was pitiful all night long and the adults in the house got very little sleep. Monday, though, she was back to her old self.

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I took Elyn to the doctor today for her 2 month check-up (even though she is only 7 weeks old...I don't know, I didn't make the appointment, they made it for me while we were still in the hospital). She weighs 10 pounds 1 ounce and is 23 inches long. She is in the 45th percentile for weight and 75th percentile in height. She is gaining way more weight that Nora ever did and is considerably longer than Nora was at the same age. I just think she is getting more to eat. I am more relaxed this time and the nursing is going better. The doctor says she is perfect! Of course. She got her first shots too. She was asleep when they gave them to her. She cried for about 30 seconds and then went right back to sleep. I am hoping that she does not have a fever tonight because of them!

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Last week, Nora found some markers in a drawer. Well, I set her up at the table and let her color with them. She loved it and did a pretty good job. She needed help getting the lids on and off though. She got done coloring and went to play with her other toys. It was pretty quiet for a while, so I went to see what was going on. This is what I found...I guess she figured out the cap thing herself.

No, that's not a mole on the side of her face, it's marker

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There are a lot more pictures on our flickr account. If you have stayed with me this long, way to go! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!!!