Nutcracker

Oh man, am I behind. December got super-busy, as always. We are now in Utah on the beginning of our Christmas Vacation that I have named "The Western Tour." We are going from here to Vegas, to San Diego, back to Vegas, back to Utah, and finally back to Colorado. All driving. 7 1/2 months pregnant. Guess whose idea this was?

As of right now, I am at Nate's parents house without Nate's parents or Nate. They are in Hawaii and he is in California, on one last business trip for the year bringing the grand total of days Nate has spent in California this year to 58. Yep, that's almost 2 months. As my mother-in-law pointed out, at least we're not ALL in California 365 days a year. Tu Chet. (Sorry Cali Lovers). We miss Nate and are excited to welcome him back home just in time for Christmas, on the morning of the 24th. In the meantime we're trying to enjoy time with cousins, friends, and all of consumerism that Utah has to offer (really not too much of that, but who can resist going to IKEA where they watch your kids FOR FREE while you shop? All I ended up getting was some Swedish chocolate, but I'd go back in a heartbeat and just sit on a bench for an hour. Why doesn't every store have this wonderful service??!!)

Anyway, going way back to November, we kicked off Christmas the night before Thanksgiving with a trip to downtown Denver to see a dress rehearsal of The Nutcracker. Nate's company had tickets.

At the suggestion of friends, we showed our kids the Barbie Video of the Nutcracker to familiarize them with the plot and music. Super Why (a kid's cartoon) also happened to do a Nutcracker episode that morning, so that helped too.

One of the most exciting parts for the kids had to be riding the light rail into Denver.










It was perfect for our kids to be at a dress rehearsal, because it was a much more relaxed atmosphere and we didn't have to be uptight about their behavior. Although, they were surprisingly into it (especially Harrison). Only about half the dancers were in costume, the others were in sweats, but I don't think the kids really noticed. It was also cool to see an insiders look into the process. The director would call out notes to the dancers every once in a while. They left the curtains open during set changes, and the director answered a bunch of questions during intermission.

During intermission we also entertained ourselves with several elevator rides and taking silly pictures. Here's Harrison showing of his newest Bakugan shirt that I made with freezer paper.






We left a little early, because Elizabeth had had enough. Harrison was pretty disappointed to leave. At least we stayed for "Waltz of the Flowers," a song they do in his music class. He sung/hummed along to the entire thing. So cute. I love that he has interest and ability in music.



We went to Chili's for dinner. I hadn't been in years. Now I remember why. I would not be disappointed if that was my last trip to Chili's ever.

While waiting for the train to ride home, Harrison popped the "Asian Squat" in the train station. Nate and I got a good kick out of that. For those who don't know, this is a very common sight to see all around Asia as people wait for things. I guess it just comes with the genes!


It was a really fun night with the family. One I think we'll all remember for a long time. I hope to be able to provide more cultural experiences like this for our kids. I love that when we're out in stores and they hear a song from the Nutcracker they recognize it!

Cutest Christmas Present Ever

This post has been a work in progress for about 10 days. I have repeatedly tried to upload the second video and have not had any success, so I'm giving up.

Elizabeth had her first dance recital. I must say it was one of the highlights of my life as a mother thus far. I know that may sound a little dramatic, but it was so fun to do her hair, put make-up on her, and then go watch her dance on stage. She didn't have one bit of stage fright or hesitation. She is in the youngest class, and as you can see, she's one of the littlest ones. They were so stinkin' precious!

They were supposed to be Christmas presents. Adorable!

She did the whole thing with a broken arm too! (You can see a bit of her new purple, sparkly cast -- a separate post on that later).

Here she is showing how to hold your hands in whatever position that is!

Here she's showing how she's taps her foot at the beginning of the dance.

Claire and Elizabeth. I always think that Claire is the blond version of Elizabeth, they make the same facial expressions and remind me of each other (this picture isn't a good example of it).

Here she is with her dance teacher, Miss Mindi. We are sad that Miss Mindi won't be doing dance again for at least a year. Elizabeth has grown to really love it and look forward to it, asking everyday if she has dance today.

Unfortunately, I was the only member of the fam who could come support our little dancer. Nate is out of town and Harrison had a birthday party. (He did get to come to the dress rehearsal). When he realized he had missed the recital he was very disappointed. But honestly, I think it was more enjoyable for both of us for him to be at the party!

A friend of mine gave me some of the roses out of her bouquet for her daughter to give Elizabeth. Good thing we're not all slacker moms!

Okay, I rarely watch videos on other people's blogs. They take too long to upload so this is mostly for Daddy and Grandparents/Aunties! If you do watch it, listen for the beginning when she says, "Why is all them still talking out there?" AKA don't they know they are supposed to be paying attention to us?! Also watch for how concerned she gets that there is an extra present and how she is so conscientious about staying right on her spot.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZXghxwdM6o

The tap dance was to "If You're Happy And You Know It." At one point they were supposed to shake their hips and Elizabeth still sings around the house, "If you're happy and you know it, shake your bum." And then she chants, "SHAKE YOUR BUMS! SHAKE YOUR BUMS!"

Thanksgiving

Time sure does fly during the holidays. I am happy that this is my second baby whose pregnancy has been hurried along by holiday happenings.

Thanksgiving week was fun. We went to a celebration in Harrison's class. They each took a turn saying what they were thankful for. Harrison was thankful for his mom and dad. Pretty sweet. Then they sang some songs and he was really embarrassed as you can see from these pictures.

It was crazy hair day, so that's why his hair is red.

Then we had pumpkin pie, pumpkin muffins, and egg rolls. I know, random, but delicious. I've been happy that Harrison's class is pretty diverse (our town is very homogeneous, so we must have all the other races in this one class). One of the Asian moms made egg rolls.

I was trying to get Harrison to look up and Elizabeth said, "He's busy eating, how about one of just me?" And then proceeded to do her new signature picture face.

Her other new thing for pictures is a hand up, usually in front of the face. Arg.

We've been lucky to have a student teacher for the first 14 weeks of school, and she's super fun. Both my kids adore Mrs. Kozmata. You can see why kids would like her -- she's fun and silly.

This was her second to last day and we were all sad to see her go. Harrison worked really hard on a book for her called:

I Love Mrs. Kozmata Bekuz. . .

-I love her.

-She is funy and sily.

-She is butiful and fanse. She wars mak up and julre.

(He is so funny. He often told me how fancy she was that she wore make-up and jewelry. It cracks me up that he notices stuff like that. He also told me he's really going to miss looking into her beautiful eyes. His primary teacher just told me that when she told the class that they were getting a new teacher next year he said, "I'm going to miss looking at your beautiful face." I think we have a ladies man in the making.)

-I wil mis hr a lot.

-So wil my sistr.

Elizabeth really will miss her too. Mrs. Kozmata has been added to the list of people she pretends to be or wants me to pretend to be ("I'm just tending" she tells me.)

Thursday morning began with a pumpkin pancake breakfast. My family tradition was to have this for dinner the night before Thanksgiving, but we were downtown that night, so we did it for breakfast.

(Note the hand up I mentioned previously.)

Here's some of my silly kids at the Tibbitts house for Thanksgiving dinner.

He kept giving her kisses while I tried to take pictures. Sweet.

His new thing in pictures is to put up a three. I don't know if it's a modified peace sign or what!?!

The Tibbitts are like family to us. Cindy and my mom were college roommates and we've kept in touch since. So being with them was the next best thing to being with my own family. It was fun to have Julia and Gloria in from Utah.

The food was DELICIOUS!!! Cindy and her girls are excellent cooks. Some of the best stuffing and sweet potatoes I've had. I had to bring my own mashed potatoes because I can't have Thanksgiving without these certain mashed potatoes (cream, cream cheese, butter, garlic salt and green onions). I was the only one who ate mine, because the Tibbitts are as opinionated about food as I am and they are mashed potato purists.

I was proud and grateful that I was able to have enough self control not to be miserable by the end of the night. The last time I was really pregnant at Thanksgiving I ended up purging at midnight because I was still so full and uncomfortable that I couldn't sleep.

So much to be thankful for. The gospel of Jesus Christ, family, a helpful husband, sweet and funny children, friends, health, employment, food, technology (internet, cell phones, texting, DVR, blogging), reliable cars, a comfortable home, epidurals (thinking ahead here), an easy pregnancy (so far, knocking on wood), I really could go on and on.

Turning Myself In

Warning: If you are one of those Twilight Haters, please don't read this. You would lose entirely too much respect for me (assuming you had any in the first place!)

I saw New Moon on Saturday night with a group of girls from the ward. I liked it way better than the Twilight movie (which I did like, but not nearly as much as the book) and way better than the New Moon book. It's rare to find a movie that I like better than the book.

A big reason I liked it so much better is probably quite obvious. Taylor Lautner sans shirt. I had pictured Jacob as pretty darn cute in my head, but I guess I hadn't really taken the time to visualize all the big, hunky muscles. And his smile was right on with how Stephanie Meyer always described it. He really was just SO good looking. As others have expressed, Edward paled in comparison. Literally. He was so pale, scrawny, hairy and somewhat disgusting after watching Jacob through the whole movie. I wish they had exceeded my expectations in casting Edward like they did in casting Jacob. Then again, that may have been darn near impossible considering he's supposed to be the most perfect, gorgeous guy ever.

So, I left with a little crush on the werewolf. I told Nate that if he wants to put on 30 pounds of muscle that would be okay with me. After some discussion, we concluded that 30 pounds of muscle on his frame would be too much, but he'll work on it. I can't believe I, of all people, especially in my current physical state, would have the audacity say something like that to my husband who has some pretty nice muscles as it is. He was so funny, he said if werewolves were what did it for me, he could get into that and proceeded to start howling right there in the middle of the kitchen. Sadly for him, it did not have the desired effect. But it did make me adore him.

So, I am the only one who didn't know that Taylor Lautner is 17 years old? When I found that out I felt like I should be put on of those lists that the neighbors can look up on the Internet. I mean honestly, he is a boy child. I was slightly disturbed. Especially when I heard myself saying, "Well, he doesn't look like a 17 year old." Can't you just hear some creepy guy saying that about a well developed teenage girl?

I did resist the urge to cut his picture out of a magazine and hang it on my fridge. At least things aren't totally out of control around here.

Breaking News

At 7:30 AM Friday morning, Elizabeth was climbing on the couch (climbing is a very regular occurrence in this house) and she reached over the back to get something off the floor. She went over the edge and started crying pretty hard. I went over to console/lecture about "how many times do I have to tell you not to climb on things because you're going to get hurt," when I saw her arm and immediately knew it was broken.

I forwent (?) the lecture and proceeded to freak out and yell for Nate's help. Thank goodness he was still home, because I was a mess and definitely couldn't have handled it on my own.

First of all, don't mind the hat that makes my head look ridiculously huge. My very dirty hair would have been even more disturbing.

Most of you probably know that I avoid the ER like the plague and generally think my kids will be fine. In this case, I knew there was no avoiding it, so we headed over.

The x-rays determined that both bones in her lower right arm were broken enough to need to sedate her to set them, and that we would most likely be there until 1 PM at the earliest. So we decided to have Nate take Harrison to Logan's (Mina has become my go to emergency girl! Thank you SO much, again!) and he went in to work for a few hours. The reason we had to wait so long was so for the breakfast in her system to get digested so that she wouldn't have any complications during sedation. So we waited and tried to keep her happy and entertained for 3 hours. They gave her a teddy bear and wrapped up it's broken arm too. That helped a little.

She was pretty enamored with this tiny bottle of Tylenol. (I was actually trying to get another good picture of the broken arm, which she was very opposed to, so I had to pretend to be taking a picture of the Tylenol). She hated the IV (I don't blame her, I hate IVs too), but I was grateful that she'd only have to have one poke for all the different meds they needed to give her.

They eventually put a splint on it. Then they moved her to a new room for the sedation and resetting. At this point she was very ready to go home and not wanting me to take anymore pictures!

She got very concerned when all the people came in for the procedure. She wanted my face right next to her face. I obliged and watched her quickly get "out of it" when they gave her the medication in her IV. The weird thing about this sedation was that her eyes were open, but she wasn't "there." They sent me out to the waiting room while they reset it. I don't know what would have been more difficult -- watching them reset the bones or waiting by myself. Thankfully, it went really fast and they brought me back to wait for her to come out of the sedation. They said she had asked for mommy a few times while I was gone. Sad.

She was pretty funny coming out of it. She recognized me right away, but was definitely not fully there. After a little while she said, "What do I look like? Halloween? Can I have some candy?" She kept doing funny things with her mouth. It was cracking me up.


Then she got pretty happy and had some apple juice.

It didn't take long for her to come down off her high and crash. She got REALLY fussy and cranky and then just conked out.

So we finally got home at about 2 o'clock. She laid on the couch, watched movies, and milked her situation for all it was worth. She ate skittles and chips and ice cream, she repeatedly asked to sit up, then lay back down, and wanted to be carried everywhere she wanted to go "because my arm is broken." Yes, I know, but your legs are not broken, sweet child. I decided to indulge her for one day.

In true Watabe fashion, we went to Chick-Fil-A for dinner, because Chick-Fil-A makes everything better.

She was very disappointed that we wouldn't let her play on the play place. She ended up pretty whiny by the end, but a promised trip to King Soopers cheered her up again. (Who wouldn't want to go ride in a car shopping cart and get a free cookie?)

By the end of our King Soopers shopping, both kids were completely falling apart. In trying to get her ready for bed we found ourselves in a predicament with her shirt. It wouldn't come off over the cast. It was brand new shirt and I really didn't want to cut it. Either did she. "Don't cut it, it's special to me." But we had to snip it a little to get it off.

She went to sleep watching Charlie Brown, but woke up again around 10:30 and was very distraught. The plan was for her to sleep in the bed with me and Nate and Harrison would have a sleepover downstairs. I was envisioning a night of crying and really didn't want to deal with that after our exhausting day, so we called over a friend to help give her a blessing. By the time he got here, she was asleep again, but they gave her a blessing anyway, and she slept soundly through the night. She did wake up crying at about 6:15 and said, "My armie still hurts, but daddy said it would feel better today." She had more Tylenol and watched Lion King and then went back to sleep until 10 AM. I think she just need a lot of sleep, because she was very happy and has been 100% herself today. It's great to have her back and gives me a lot of hope for the rest of the recovery.

My other great hope of the situation is that Harrison will be motivated to be nicer to his sister. He was very concerned about her and kept giving her hugs and kisses at the hospital. He said he was worried about her while he was at school and keeps saying that he feels bad for her. I hope having the cast on will be a visual reminder that he needs to be soft with her and can't hurt her. I'm hoping that after 4-6 weeks of that, he will have kicked his habit of picking on her (at least physically). We'll see.

I am thankful for modern medicine, good insurance, that Nate was home, the sweet nurses and good doctors, the priesthood, that it happened on a day that we didn't have anything going on (unlike last Friday when we went to Wicked), Chick-Fil-A, movies, and the care and concern of friends and family.

That's our breaking news.