Consequence of Sleeping In

This is a confessional as well as a funny story about Hannah.
(Confession part) Jon and I stayed up very, very late last night and slept in this morning til 9:30. The oldest three girls got up at 7. When we came downstairs we saw what happens when a 2-year old is hungry and left unsupervised.
(Funny part) Hannah got into the snack drawer (that has since been relocated) and had 8 bags of cookies for breakfast. We're not sure how the next step came about, but she stuffed the wrappers into the water jug. If she was trying to hide the evidence then maybe her older sisters can give her a few tips! Not hiding our smiles very well, we asked her what happened. She said, "Rachie did it." When we kept looking at her she changed her story to, "Izzy did it."
Lizzie had nothing to say in her defense.

If I Would Have Done a Christmas Letter it Would Look Like This...

Hi! After several months of me being pretty quiet I thought it was my turn to say a few words. I'm Lizzie—the youngest of the Hamilton girls. I also go by "Elizabeth" and "Izzy" (said lovingly by Hannah). I know I'm really special because my family spends a lot of time with me. My family used to travel a lot before I came along (Rome, Paris, Bath, Brighton). I think they were just lonely and bored before I got here. Mom and Dad must have felt bad that I didn't get to go to Paris, though, because we're all going there next month. Emily and Rachel say they're excited to see princesses and some mouse named 'Mickey'. My Grandma Hamilton gets to come with us, too! This will be her second trip to see me. I've had lots of visitors. First Grandma and Grandpa came, and I let them hold me a lot. Then Uncle Justin and Aunt Carrie and their girls came and I let them tell me how cute I am. Then Uncle Justin and Aunt Teresa and their kids came and I let them play with my parents and sisters. I am really loved!
My family makes me happy. Emily sings me nice songs and loves to hold me, so I smile at her. I like to see Emily's smile because it looks kind of like mine—no teeth! Rachel's fun to watch—either she's making lots of noise and jumping on her trampoline or she's very quiet reading lots of books. She reads more than my Mom! I smile at Rachel because she likes to get really close to my face. Hannah and I used to be a diaper duo but now she's like our older sisters and wears panties. I love smiling at Hannah when she calls me her "geek heart", but I think she means sweet heart. I know my parents think I'm very special because at night Mom puts my sisters to bed so that when Dad comes home I get him all to myself. When Dad comes home Mom tells him it's his turn--I think she means it's his turn to see all my beautiful smiles. I put on a pretty good show for Dad! I smile at my Mom the most, though, because she gives me the best food—milkshakes! And lots of different flavors, but chocolate is my favorite! I like to remind my Mom of how much I love her—like when she is on the computer or making dinner for my sisters or trying to do something she calls "cleaning the house". I know she appreciates my reminders because she picks me up and holds me. Sometimes I get lonely at night and call for my Mom. When she comes to get me from my crib I give her really big smiles and that makes her happy so she lets me sleep with her and she even gives me more milkshakes! Isn't she great?
Yep, I love my family and they love me. If any of you want to come and visit me I bet I'll smile at you too!

Christmas with the Texas Cooks

We are so glad you came Justin, Teresa, Alexis, Ethan and Isaac. Our house was very empty after you left!

We had a great time showing you around a small part of England. Some of the highlights:

1. Justin and Teresa sharing their great news with us! Congratulations!

2. Charlie the Unicorn--thank you Ethan for introducing us to Charlie (see sidebar under YouTube videos)

3. Swinging on the rope swing discovered hidden in a forest

4. Playing games (Settlers, Killer Bunnies, The Bean Game)

5. Going to The Royal Standard (oldest pub in England) and opening up a tab at the bar and eating a

"Spotted Dick"

6. Getting a private tour at a bird conservation center and holding an owl (they were closed but opened just for us)

7. Ice skating in front of Henry VIII's castle

8. Jon and Emily seeing 'Wicked' and watching the kids reenact their favorite parts

9. Discovering English Christmas traditions (crackers, foods, ice skating)--skipped most of the traditional foods (think fruit cake) and enjoyed non-English foods at Wagamama

10. Spending time with an awesome family!

The annual lining up on the stairs before attacking the presents

Our warm-blooded Texas family endured a cold Christmas here in England. Not a lot of rain, but the wind made up for that. Nonetheless, we braved days out and enjoyed just being with each other. The girls absolutely loved being with their cousins and even went on another "boring" trip to Oxford (viewing Harry Potter sites) just to be with them.

We are lucky to have a very capable and kind babysitter across the street from us who was willing to watch all 7 of our kids while the adults went to the temple. I truly feel that one of the blessings of attending the temple is that our kids are watched over. We came back to happy children and a very tired babysitter. It must have been all right because she came back!

The girls got to go to work with Dad one day to see where he spends so many hours.

Justin and Teresa spent a few days in Paris while the kids got to hang out together having parties, dancing, going on a treasure hunt, playing games, watching movies, playing outside and pretending, pretending, pretending! What a great time. What great memories!

Twilight

Teresa gave me a great present for Christmas--a book that I could immerse myself in for a day--Twilight. It's a gift that keeps on giving because the book is a trilogy, so now I get to give myself more presents by ordering the next 2 books (from play.com--free delivery)! I knew of the author because Carole recommended her a few months ago to me. The author's website says that the movie will begin filming in the spring.

I'm looking forward to forgetting the world for a few days as soon as the next 2 books arrive! What a great present!

Why I Don't Homeschool

In my attempts to make dinner time more fun (see previous post) I've been playing games with the girls during dinner. Last night we played a Christmas trivia game. One of the questions I asked was, "Why did Mary and Joseph go to Bethlehem?" I knew they would get it because all during December we read from the New Testament and Christmas books every night.
This is how the conversation went:
Rachel: Because they had to.
Me: But why did they have to?
Emily: Because Herod was going to kill Jesus.
Me: That's why they went to Egypt, but why did they go to Bethlehem?
Then Rachel's face lit up with excitement!
Rachel: Because they had to pay their taxes!
Me (beaming): That's right, Rachel! (I mentally pat myself on the back for teaching my children the story of Jesus' birth and think, 'She does pay attention during family scripture reading.')
Rachel: I knew that because Mrs. Blair (her PRESCHOOL teacher) read us the story today.
I'm going to ask Mrs. Blair if she'll continue reading the scriptures to Rachel. By the end of the year Mrs. Blair could probably have her understanding Isaiah!

Have Some Fun

This post is about the latest book I'm reading.

(After my last post I'm thinking I should find a book about how to handle sick children better, not put a baby on a couch when a midwife is coming to check how the mom's doing and how to keep up with a baby's doctor's appointments.)

I found the book at the LDS bookstore by the temple. It's called Piggyback Rides and Slippery Slides--How to Have Fun Raising First-Rate Children. Here are some of the chapters: Bedtime is Playtime, Playing with Your Food, Playing in the Great Outdoors and Turning Work into Play. I have tried some of the ideas and like the results.

Why I like the book:
I readily admit I'm not creative, and I am more than happy to become a better mom by using other people's great ideas.
It reminds me that I have so many moments with my kids that I am not using to the fullest to just enjoy being with them as opposed to counting down the time to bedtime.
I like being a mom when I'm having fun.

Happy Monday?

It's been a rough morning. Hannah has been fighting a cold and cough that has made her miserable. I feel for her and I pray for a very quick recovery so that both of us can be happy again! Lizzie now has her cold and cough. After a long morning of Hannah crying because I put jelly on her toast after she "asked" me to and then honey on her toast because she "asked" me to and then screaming for jelly and cookies and chocolate she spent some time in her room in her new big girl bed. (She finally figured out she can climb out of her crib last week!) Because of all of Hannah's screaming I put a sleeping Lizzie on the couch and shut the door to the living room so Hannah could scream to her heart's content in her room upstairs.
I took a shower during one of her tantrums and got ready for the day. A few moments later the doorbell rang. It was the midwife. She could tell by my face that I forgot she was coming. She was there to give me a postnatal depression test! After the morning I had had I was ready to hand Hannah over to her and run away.
Here were my thoughts as I led the nice midwife to my living room:
I'm so glad I'm dressed.
I'm so glad Hannah's dressed.
I'm so glad my house is relatively clean. (Only because the home teachers came by last night and the whole family did a whirlwind clean up!)
And then we walked into the living room where I had left a sleeping baby on the couch! Lizzie had pulled the blanket over her face, so I quickly pulled it off before the midwife saw. At least she wasn't there earlier watching me handle Hannah's screaming. :) So far, I wasn't scoring many points for a model mom.
The midwife asked me how old Lizzie was. "Ummm...I think about 9 or 10 weeks." (What mother doesn't know how old her child is????) By the way, I checked. She's 10 1/2 weeks.
Is she rolling over? "Yes, from her stomach to her back."
Oh, well the best place for her might be the floor. "Right."
Did she have her 6 week well baby check? "No."
Oh, well we need to get her in for that. "Yeah, I'll call today for an appointment." I called right after she left.
When was her last weight check? "Ummm...I haven't taken her in to weigh her yet."
O.K. Bring her in to check her weight. "Yeah, o.k. I'll do that this week." Tomorrow.
She asked some questions about Lizzie's cold and said I might need to make an appointment for a poor baby check. Of course, this would be separate from the 6 week well baby appointment and weight check appointment. When I took Lizzie in for her 6 week immunizations (at 8 weeks) I thought the nurse would weigh Lizzie and do a well baby check. But no, immunizations are done on Thursdays and weight checks are done on Tuesdays and well baby checks are done when I make the appointment!!!!!!!!!!! When I told the midwife that in America these things are all done at ONE appointment, she smiled and said "Different systems." I would choose something other than "different", like "more efficient" or "easier on the moms."

And then the postnatal depression test. After reading the first sentence "In the past 7 days..." I thought, "I already know I'm not going to score very high." The last week Jon was not home before midnight most nights and 3 of the girls are fighting colds and I had Enrichment Night I was doing. You can interpret that how you would like, but if you know me well, last week was a long one. But, I was happy to see my score of 7 out of 30 (with zero being the perfect score saved for mothers who don't leave little babies on the couch!)