CHRISTMAS 2011

The wait is over!! Yes, we did celebrate Christmas this year. And YES it was in December. And YES it is now February and I’m blogging about it.

Christian and I were a little worried about Christmas this year since neither of us have jobs. However, we have been immensely blessed this whole year and Christmas was no exception. It helps that we have such great kids and they would be excited for new socks if we made it exciting enough.

We started off by going out to Grandma and Grandpa Alo’s for a few days before and after Christmas. We had Christmas Eve out in Raleigh with my parents and had a fun dinner with them. We decided instead of making a big dinner that the kids would most certainly underappreciate, we went with an appetizer themed dinner. Buffalo wings, Mexican sausage dip, fresh fruit, etc. It was really good and way easier. We headed home that evening and rolled up to Baity Hill to see this:

We couldn’t even get past all of the fire trucks and ambulance's. Apparently someone’s dryer caught on fire (in a different building) and they brought out all the big guns. I do kind of love that their fire trucks are Carolina Blue. We ended up walking to our building and moving our car later. As tradition, we let each of the kids open one present on Christmas eve.

And set out Santa’s gift from us. Since we didn’t have time to bake something when we got home we thought it would be a good idea to make sure Santa kept up with his dental hygiene. The kids were very proud of themselves.

Christmas morning certainly did not disappoint. Instead of boring you with all of the details I’ll just put up a few of my favorite pictures of the kids expressions. Kalea (as always) is calm and collected. Mia get’s excited. Landen… well, he just takes the cake.

    

If you know Landen at all, you know this kid is OBSESSED with Mario Brothers. He got both Mario and Luigi for Christmas along with Donkey Kong, Toad, and Yoshi. This boy was in H*E*A*V*E*N.

     

We woke up a certain baby girl a little bit early for her taste. She was none too happy and certainly not impressed by Christmas morning. She went back to bed pretty much immediately after she opened her toys.

Ok, I’m over this. Time…. to… roll… over.

Christian and I weren’t left out, we both got some new clothes and I got a new bag which I’m in love with. Not to mention a fancy new waffle iron and a SEWING MACHINE (which I have absolutely no idea how to use). And Christmas would not be complete at UNC without new attire.

After a delicious waffle breakfast we headed out back to Raleigh. We headed over to my parents to stay for a few more days. The kids were spoiled rotten by their Grandparents. Here are a few more pictures to overload you with.

We’ll start with Alana first this time since she went last last time. Grandpa held her most of the time and helped her open up her presents. I love how she and her new puppy are checking each other out.

Anything involving jewelry and beauty Kalea is ALL OVER IT.

Mia has been asking for 2 years for Gogo. Last year she asked for it and we explained that it was SO expensive it would be one of her only gifts if that’s what she wanted to have for Christmas. She burst into tears. It was really sad. This year Grandma got her the “pet” of her dreams. Lucky girl!

Mario Backpack. Landen. No explanation needed.

Then we headed over to the Simpsons where mass chaos erupted. We would expect no less from Christmas at the Simpson home. We got a big group shot with most but not all of the cousins that were there. Great memories for the kids!

(GUESS WHICH KID IS MINE)

And of course a silly shot.

The kids always get a big box with it loaded with treats from Grandma and Grandpa Simpson. This year it contained a family calendar, tons of snacks and goodies, and an Eternal Marriage book to keep Christian in check. Just kidding.

And of course it wouldn’t be complete without lots and lots of FAMILY.

 

PORTRAITS

I don’t think I’d be very good at taking portraits of the kids if they weren’t a Simpson Family requirement. Christian’s mother likes to have an updated picture of each of her grandchildren on a huge wall in their house. Here are the pictures I just took of the kids that will be making the wall. Sidenote: There are 30 grandchildren in the family. That makes for one HUGE wall.

ALANA THE ANGEL

Alana has changed SO much. She have always been beautiful, but also a challenge in the very beginning. She got really sick when we first brought her home because we were all getting over a REALLY BAD stomach bug. Sadly, she got it too and that kind of set the tone for the first 3 months of her life. Super fussiness. However, she has done a total 180 and is the sweetest easiest baby now. She really only fusses when she’s sleepy now. THAT I can handle.

*Alana smiles at everything. All of the time.

* She no longer screams the minute we put her in the car seat. She may not like it, but she’ll fall asleep in the car, which is a HUGE success

*Alana has learned to scoot when on her tummy around the bed. She is strictly a crib napper now.

*She has learned to LOVE her daddy. He’s learned to love her right back.

*She only wakes up once a night for a feeding. Now we’re just working on her sleeping straight through the night.

*She follows her brother and sisters with her eyes all of the time taking in all of what they do.

*She’s a bit of a night-owl… which is nice since we can spend time with her one on one.

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

We’ve had other play dates too. One rainy day I decided to brave 2 young children, terrible weather and trek it out to Wake Forest to visit my good friend Lisa and her little ones. On a side note, Lisa had a baby 5 weeks after me. Both of our babies have not been angels. Both love to fuss and be held. Alana’s calmed down a lot since, but this particular trip was a rough one on her. She screamed the whole 45 minutes there. It was a JOY! But once we got there it was just like being back at home. It felt weird to drive into Raleigh. It’s like I expected it to stand still while we’ve been gone. But, alas, it’s still trucking along like always. It’s kind of weird though because now I feel like a visitor when I go back. I got some good pictures of Landen and Katy together. They just LOVE each other and ask to play together all the time. It’s sad that they live so far apart now. Alana and Ally got to meet outside of the womb too! I mean, it was more of a reunion though… you know… since the knew each other in Heaven.

{It was meant-to-be. Look as these two cheesin’}

 

{My Personal Favorite - down below}

{These two don’t know it yet… but they’re BEST FRIENDS}

ASIANS

Christian likes to laugh that I haven’t made any friends except for the 85% of the Asians that live in Baity Hill. It’s true… they’re everywhere. The 1/8 of my genes feels right at home.

Mia’s made a friend named “Vanessa” (this is her name, but her American name). She is cute as can be and has a grandma who is just as cute. She laughs a lot, nervously. She flips her hair like a teenager (The Grandma, not Vanessa). She is all around sweet. When Mia goes over to play she has a great time. The other day Vanessa’s Grandma was walking Mia back from their apartment and brought food with her. Let me back up, so apparently after the first play date it is tradition to give a gift to the child. This is just a guess, but it has happened twice now with the kids when they have a play date at an Asian home. Anyways, I felt kind of bad so I sent cookies with Mia one day. I think this confused the grandma because the next week she brought over chive pancakes and “mystery meat”. We have NO idea what kind of meat it was. It LOOKED like sausage but for all we knew it could have been a domestic animal… you know where I’m going with this. (I can be stereotypical because of that 1/8th in me). Anyways, Christian and I were feeling daring one day so we fried it all up. It was actually pretty good… I’m not going to lie… I was surprised. And because of the weirdness of this event I snapped pictures for documentation purposes.

Ok, Now since the packaging was in Chinese I had to wing it.

Here is the finished pancake and the mystery meat.

AAAANNNNDD HERE WE GO!

ME LIKEY!

21 QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR KIDS

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?

Kalea – to say “Yes Ma’am and Yes Sir.”

Mia – to be good.       

Landen- noooo 

2. What makes Mommy happy?

Kalea – being great

Mia – when I’m a good listener

Landen – happy face

3. What makes Mommy sad?

Kalea – when Daddy loses that thing that you like (love)

Mia – when I’m a bad listener

Landen – landen cries in the tar (car)

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?

Kalea – when you say “get off my patooties” to daddy

Mia –by tickling us

Landen – (chomps at me)

5. What was Mommy like as a child?

Kalea – she was a child of God

Mia –you was like your mom

Landen – Mia!!

6. How old is Mommy?

Kalea - 28

Mia - 28

Landen – 1, 2, 3-eeee

7. How tall is Mommy?

Kalea (long pause) – taller than Alana

Mia – taller than a toy

Landen -heavy

8. What is Mommy’s favorite thing to do?

Kalea – um, nap.

Mia – to spend time with your friends (giggles)

Landen -guuummm

9. What does Mommy do when you’re not around?

Kalea – you crochet a lot

Mia – make dinner… sometimes?

Landen- you get tandy with grandma

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?

Kalea – at making the most, um, delicious dinners in the whole wide world

Mia –crocheting hats, you are famous AT THAT!

Landen – Buzz Lightyear and fly up,,, you don’t fly up… no have any wings.

11. What is Mommy really good at?

Kalea – crocheting, and making dinners… the best dinners

Mia – feeding the baby.

Landen – happy

12. What is Mommy NOT very good at?

Kalea – you’re not good, um, aaaat (long pause)…making daddy upset.

Mia – not making wooden toys

Landen – (jumping and growls at me)

13. What does Mommy do for her job?

Kalea – you don’t have a job. second answer – feed the baby.

Mia (quietly) – you had a job for making food

Landen –get presents at your birthday time

14. What is Mommy’s favorite food?

Kalea – tacos

Mia – chicken pot pie.. I mean burritos!!

Landen – chicken tenders!!

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?

Kalea (raises hand) – everything!!

Mia – your food… it’s so delicious.

Landen – boots

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?

Kalea – you’d be a cowgirl, yeeee hawwww!!

Mia (squeeks out answers) – a sheep!! a sheep!!

Landen – MARIO

17. What do Mommy and you do together?

Kalea – we fold laundry together

Mia- help me crochet!

Landen –8, 7, 9 AND 10

18. How are you and Mommy the same?

Kalea (raises hand jumping up and down) – we both have boney heinies

Mia – we both have brown eyes

Landen – Mario Tark (Kart)

19. How are you and Mommy different?

Kalea – you like to paint your toes and I like to pain my finger nails

Mia – our hair is different

Landen – we play games

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?

Kalea – you give me a hug and kiss every night

Mia – because you got us markers

Landen – love you too

21. Where is Mommy’s favorite place to go?

Kalea – Michael’s… It has yarn, you go there a lot. Well, not a lot but sometimes.

Mia –the donut store… probably not.

Landen –the park place