Saying Goodbye to the Crib

Look who has a big boy bed.

December 9th brought a milestone in our families life that I have been dreading for a long time.  It came quicker than I expected, which did help.  Our crib has been having problems the past year and it finally got to the point where we didn't feel it was worth keeping up anymore.  Not wanting to go out and buy a new crib to only use for a few months, we decided to go ahead and transition Adam into a toddler bed.  That means no more babies in cribs at my house. I'm left wondering how in the world this happened.  It seems like not that long ago that we were putting that crib together for the very first time, awaiting the arrival of our beautiful and tiny Sarah Kate.  Now, 9 1/2 years later we found ourselves taking it apart for the last time after having had 6 children take their turn sleeping in it. Where has all the time gone? It's CRAZY.

He loves climbing on and off his new bed.

I'm so excited for the next stage of my life and the lives of my children.  They're growing up to be such wonderful, bright, and kind kids.  I love spending time with them, getting to know them, and watching them enjoy each other's company.  I'm so excited for all the things we can do as a family with bigger kids. I'm excited for the ease of everyday activities that having no babies brings and the sleep I get at night. However, I'm going to miss rubbing my tummy and feeling a little baby in there kicking back at me all the while wondering what this new little spirit will be like.  I'll miss holding that child for the first time, looking down at their face and thinking, "Of course this is you."  I'll miss cuddling a new sleeping baby, their sounds (yes even their cries) their smell, their involuntary smiles. I'll miss watching them grow and learn all about the world around them.  I'll miss their faces lighting up when their siblings come into view.  I'll miss their tiny little hands wrapped around my finger. Those first few steps, the first giggles, the first time they roll over.  There is so many things about the baby stage that I'm going to miss and while it leaves me so sad in ways, I'm also peaceful.  I know this is it. I know we're done and I'm very happy to have the family I have.  I just can't believe we got to this point so quickly. In the middle of all the chaos, the craziness, the laughter, the tears, and the mess, my little family has decided to continue growing up. I'm realizing just how quickly all this craziness will be gone and I hope to live in the moment and not the past and not live solely for the future.
 

And of course you have to stand and walk on the bed.  Man he's getting so big.

Back to the big boy and his big boy bed.  Though Adam was 10 days shy of 16 months old and our youngest to transition into a toddler bed, he has done pretty well.  He loves the new bed and loves that he can get in and out of it whenever he wants.  He does fairly well at night, only on occasion having to get in trouble a few times and get put back to bed.  He's such a good kid and surprisingly the 2 boys do very well in their room, in their toddler beds. So here's to my little baby whose becoming a little boy.

Christmas Lights and Kurt Bestor

Hannah and Adam enjoying the Christmas lights.

The Gallivan Center, which is right next door to Kenny's office, had a Christmas tree lighting ceremony the day after Thanksgiving.  We decided it would be the perfect way to kick off the holiday season for our family.  We called Kenny's sister's to see if they wanted to join us.  The only ones who were able to come were April and JJ and we were so happy to have them along.  We met at the Gallivan Center and waited patiently for the lights to turn on.  Either they were slow or we got the wrong time, but it seemed to take a lot longer for those Christmas lights to come on than I was expecting.  It was totally worth the wait though.  When the lights came on they made the area so beautiful and brought in such a great Christmas spirit.

This is the best picture we got of Dan the entire night.  He's just not much for pictures.

We stayed around for awhile and spent some time watching Kurt Bestor perform Christmas songs with a local kids choir. I was enjoying the Christmas spirit, but the kids were getting a little antsy, so we decided to wander over to the grassy area and let the kids run around.  It was one of those magical moments in life.  Hearing Kurt Bestor play Christmas songs on the piano while I watched my kids run, play and giggle beneath thousands of Christmas lights.  It's memories like those that I live for.

Gracie running around under the Christmas lights.

Adam climbing on a chair.  This boy loves to climb things.

Playing tag.  Do you think he caught her?

After the kids got too hungry to play anymore we headed over to Trax.  We rode the train to the temple stop and before going on temple grounds to see the lights, we made a stop at McDonald's for some dinner.  After dinner we made a quick tour of the temple lights.  I love the temple grounds at Christmas time, but I must admit the night the lights come on is not the night to bring 6 small kids along with another family that has 4 small kids, to see the lights.  We made our trip short because the temperature was getting colder, the kids were getting more tired and we were tired of corralling them.  It was beautiful though, and I'm glad we went.  It was a wonderful night and the best way to begin the Christmas season.

Most of the kids waiting for the train.

The Nielsen family at the temple lights.

Thanksgiving

All the kids making turkey's.

We had another low key Thanksgiving this year.  It seems as though we're getting good at those low key events.  My family was celebrating the holiday in California with my Aunt and Uncle and their kids and my in-laws were in Denver with my brother-in-law's family, so we were on our own.  It was nice to spend a quite day at home.  I miss the family get together's that Thanksgiving always brought me as a child, but I also enjoy the simplicity.

We started our Thanksgiving day out by making our cookie turkeys from last year.  The kids enjoyed making a huge mess and making all sorts of crazy turkey concoctions.  It was a lot of fun and I'm pretty sure we now have a Thanksgiving tradition.  Not much happened the rest of the day.  We played around and then had a simple Thanksgiving dinner.  Kenny doesn't like turkey and I'm fine with that so ham it was again this year.  I didn't cook as much as I did last year because we never eat it all.  I did freak out over the sweet potatoes and Kenny had to send me to timeout, but other than that it was a great day.

The boys hard at work.

Little girls taking time out of turkey making to smile for a picture.

Adam didn't care much for the turkey's, but he loved the cookies.

One of Gracie's turkey's

Hannah proudly showing off her turkey.

Sarah's turkey.

Picture of the Day

Kenny's decided to do a Picture of the Day folder on Facebook in order to practice his photography skills.  We've been so busy lately that it's been more of a "Picture of the Whenever I Get the Time" folder.  It's been fun even if he hasn't worked on it as much as he would like.  Back in November we got our first and pretty much only snowfall of the season.  It wasn't much snow, but it made for some great pictures while that beautiful white stuff was falling out of the sky.  Kenny and I headed out to the deck and he practiced some techniques with his umbrella's.  I think the pictures turned out great. I got some comments about the above one and how it looks like I'm in outer space and Mary Poppins like it looks.  Whatever it is, I think they're pretty cool.