"Christmas Mells"

Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve at Aunt Leslie's home in Yorba Linda. We even had a visit from Santa Claus. Natalie was so excited but Sabrina kept her distance. Natalie loved Santa this year. He came riding through our neighborhood in Redondo Beach on a fire truck and she was able to sit on his lap and talk to him. Then a few weeks later we went to Disneyland and saw Santa in the Christmas parade. Natalie waved and yelled up to him, "Santa...it's me Natalie. Remember I saw you in Redondo Beach?!?"

Family Craft Night

We had our family Christmas craft night and the kids made reindeer and Christmas trees. Grandma surprised all the kids with new pajamas. They loved it!

Hooray!

When we had our "photo shoot" for our Christmas card I was trying to get the girls to both look at the camera so I was singing them a fun song but I forgot that at the end of the song you shout "HOORAY!!!" Maybe this should have been the picture on our card.

Merry Christmas 2007

This quiz is wacky...

Shannon...you're not alone. This doesn't really sound like me but I took the quiz 3 times and I always came up as Clark. The holiday freak-outs sound about right. I've already had one!

This is why preschoolers don't blog

This morning Natalie wanted to blog. She told me what to type. It's all very strange...

All our friends want to come to Redondo Beach.
We have ten friends.
Christmas bells are ringing.
Santa Claus is much too fat. (This is a song she was learning)

Once upon a time...there was a big bad wolf and he said, "Little Red Riding Hood what are you doing?" "I'm picking some flowers for my grandmother (in a high voice)." And then they lived happily ever after.

Mrs. Joan is my teacher.
Sleeping Beauty is a princess.
My favorite ride at Disneyland is Dumbo.

The Beast is so mean to Belle. Then he is nice and gentle and they are dancing. He is still a beast. Then all her friends come and he turns into a prince.

Once upon a time there was a great mermaid named Ariel. Her daddy was so mean and Ursula turned Ariel into a human. Then she wasn't a mermaid anymore. Then she had a blue dress and was a mermaid again. She wore her mermaid swimsuit. Ariel lived happily ever after.

The Christmas Tree Fiasco of 2007

We got our Christmas tree tonight at Target. The girls came with us the first time. Most of the trees were already bound up with twine so we couldn't really see what it looked like just how tall it was. We waited outside for about 15 minutes to get a fresh stump cut and the bottom branches cut off. We (Matt) tied the tree to our car and drove home. 

We got it into the stand and before we could open it up someone knocked on our door. We thought it was Mary from upstairs coming to see our tree but it was Brooke's friend the magazine salesman!!! We (Matt) finally got rid of him and then we unveiled the tree. Unfortunately, the bottom half of the tree was MISSING!!! I guess we learned our lesson. You have to see the tree open before you buy it. So we (Matt) loaded the tree back on the car and went back to Target and finally traded it in for a new one. 

Fun in OC

We went down to the OC this weekend. We wanted to go to Disneyland on Friday but it rained ALL day. So we ended up at Grandma Rhonda's house eating grilled cheese sandwiches...yummm. Later that night I took Natalie to the Creche where she got to dress up like an angel and hold baby Jesus. She was really excited.

Halley and Sabrina

She made me put her church shoes on her and then she took all her clothes off...even her diaper. Luckily, I convinced her to put it back on.

We are having a Rushton family talent show and our family has to do something. Any ideas for a fun and cute family talent???

No Shots!!!

Sabrina went to the doctor yesterday to get some shots and Natalie was terrified that she was going to get some too. I promised her that she would not get any at this visit. She did not believe me. She said, "Well, I'll talk to the doctor," We waited in the waiting room for about 30 minutes and then the nurse came out and called us back. Natalie ran through the door and went right up to the nurse and said, 

"Hey doctor, don't give me any shots today ok!" 

Nurse: Well, I'm the nurse not the doctor and you are not the patient today your sister is.

Natalie: Ok, but don't give me any shots!

The nurse gave me that one raised eyebrow look. Don't judge me. I have no control over Natalie.

At the park yesterday Natalie ran up to all the senior citizens from the senior center that came out to enjoy the sun and said, "BODY LANGUAGE...HEH!!!" while doing a sexy hip wiggle. Yes, I'm mortified. She has got to stop watching the Little Mermaid. Don't ask me why she loves the villians. I know it's scary. 

Taco Bell

There is a Taco Bell a couple blocks away from our house and we pass it every time we drive home. Natalie has been there a few times so she knows when we're driving by. Yesterday on the way home (from possibly the worst shopping trip ever with a 3 year old and 1 year old) as we passed Taco Bell Natalie started singing...

to the tune of Jingle Bells

"Taco Bell, Taco Bell, Taco all the way!"

It made my day!

For the first time in her life Sabrina did not take a nap yesterday. She is usually such a good sleeper. So she went to bed at 6 pm and of course woke up at 3:30 yelling for "wa-wa!" I brought her some water and then a half hour later I could still hear her talking to herself so I went back in and climbed behind her crib (my favorite thing to do at 4 am) and found her binky. I got her favorite silky blanket and laid her down. She looked right at me and clear as day said, "Thank you!" I told her she was welcome and we all went back to sleep. 

Her little voice is so cute and she is learning so many words. She tries to say Natalie and it comes out as "Na-na" which is confusing because that is also the same word for banana. Binky and blanket are also the same word, "bi-bi" not to be confused with "baby." The word game is fun and there are still words and phrases Natalie comes up with and we have no idea what she is saying. We figure she must be learning spanish from Dora. 

Elmo Again!

Natalie went through the Elmo phase and now I guess it's Sabrina's turn. We have an Elmo toy that sings songs and I keep it at my mom's house but Sabrina found it when we were there and she is obsessed with it. She has never seen Elmo on TV but she loves Elmo...he must have secret baby powers.

The other day I found one of Natalie's old Elmo DVDs and I put it on for Sabrina. She pretty much freaked out and started screaming, "Elmo, Elmo, Elmo!!!" This morning I could hear her coughing and crying at 4:30 so I went in and she said, "ba-ba." So I gave her a bottle which she handed right back to me shaking her head no. Then she said, "baby" so I gave her the baby that was on the floor. She threw it right back out of the crib. Finally I said, "What do you want?" She said, "ELMO, ELMO, ELMO!!!" I told her we don't watch Elmo at 4:30 am so I left her there and went back to sleep. 

Matt eventually heard her talking to herself about Elmo and went and got her up. She fell back asleep with him on the couch. This better not become a habit. What is this sick hold that Elmo has over kids? Matt and I have concluded it's some sort of black magic.

We've joined in the craziness

We finally elfed ourselves!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=9622990043

My Dancing Girls

The best part of this video is seeing Matt make our bed in the background!!! Thanks babe!

Sweet Sabrina

Grandma Rhonda took these adorable pictures of Sabrina yesterday. I am convinced that Sabrina is the sweetest most loving baby ever. She takes such good care of her dollies and kisses them and loves them. 

She is trying hard not to be afraid of Natalie. Whenever Natalie approaches her she is unsure of her intentions. Sometimes it will be a hug, a kiss, a dance or a push, a shove, or a gimme-your-toy. Natalie has really been trying hard to be a good sister. Whenever she wakes up in the morning the first thing she tells me is that she hasn't hit Sabrina yet today. 

My girls are so different from each other but I wouldn't change a thing. They make my life so fun and joyful!!!

High chair cousins

Thanksgiving 2007

Thanksgiving came and went in a flash. We drove down to my parents house Wednesday to avoid traffic. That night we went to Disneyland with Ron and Rhonda. We were party animals and stayed until midnight. It was way too much fun!!! The next day we had Thanksgiving at my parents house. My Dad's brother came with his wife and 2 sons. My brother John came and Matt's parents came because all their kids were eating at other places.

Natalie kept saying "is today my Thanksgiving birthday?" and "why are we having Thanksgiving again?" She celebrated Thanksgiving at school and cannot understand why we had a repeat.

Here are some pictures from our Turkey Day.

Crazy Week

I survived my crazy week. It was such a blur I can't even remember what happened. I think Monday was pretty normal but then on Tuesday night the YW counselor over Mia Maids called and said she hurt her back and could I be totally in charge of the joint activity Wednesday night. I was a little overwhelmed since I just came into YW I don't have a clue about anything.

The next morning I went to Disneyland with some friends from my ward. It was really fun. We even saw Alicia Silverstone. Matt, you're not the only who has celebrity sightings.

Natalie, Sabriana, Kailey, and Hannah on Jungle Cruise

Natalie with her FAVORITE princess...Sleeping Beauty

Beautiful Belle

As soon as we got back from Disneyland I rushed off to the combined mutual activity that I was supposedly in charge of. Besides not having eaten in 6 hours it went well. Who says you can't have a brownie sundae for dinner? The next morning I had a job interview at a hospital and then Natalie had school. The rest of that day was a blur as well. I do know that Friday morning I went to Orange County to get everything ready for Marci's baby shower.

It turned out so well. Marci's very talented sister-in-law made a bouquet of baby booties. She also made the adorable diaper cake. It's not a real cake it's just a bunch of diapers rolled up to look like a cake. Marci got lots of cute presents and made it through the shower without going into labor. Thank you Marci.

During the shower Matt took Natalie to a birthday party in Redondo Beach where she blew out the kids candle and pretty much opened all his presents. I was totally mortified when Matt told me and I talked to his mom at church yesterday and she said not to worry. I'm sure Natalie has officially secured no more invites to birthday parties for the rest of the year.

As soon as I got home from the baby shower I had to prepare my lesson for Sunday and practice the musical number for Sacrament meeting that I was doing with my friend. We did a piano-violin duet. I played the violin. Just kidding. I wish I did!!!

My week finally ended and I am looking forward to doing absolutely nothing today!!!!!!!!!!!

Messy eater

Sabrina is becoming more independant these days and insists on feeding herself with a spoon. I'm glad she is letting me know her opinions (would she be related to Natalie if she didn't?) but it sure gets messy. I let her eat yogurt by herself for the fist time and it ended up everywhere except her mouth. Natalie thought it was hilarious. She kept calling her "messy head!"

Sisters

Sabrina fell asleep in the stroller the other day and Natalie kissed her cheek in the stroller and held her hand the rest of the way home. When we got home Natalie asked me to take a picture of her and Sabrina asleep in the stroller. So, Natalie is pretending to sleep but Sabrina really was asleep.

Tonight I was playing with the girls in their room and Natalie suddenly stood up and announced, "I'm the best sister ever!" Half a second later she took Sabrina's toy away and pushed her over.

Natalie stories

The other day Natalie said, "Mom, when we get married in the temple we can kiss our husbands." I told her I agreed and then she said, "I think I'm going to have two husbands." I then asked her who they were going to be. She knew Parker was going to be one husband but she was very undecided about the second one. I explained that she could only have one husband and she said, "Ohhhh...Parker is ok then."

This morning Matt and I were talking and Natalie ran in and put her palm up to Matt in crossing-guard-stop fashion and very officially said, "Dad, pause for a second so I can talk to Mommy!"

A few weeks ago the girls and I were grocery shopping and Natalie was singing to herself (loudly) as she usually does, "I like to move it, move it. I like to move it, move it." Yes it's the hip hop song you're thinking of. They played it at music class to help them learn beats. This guy walked by and stopped his cart and turned around and said to me, "Is she singing I like to move it?" I told him it was and he said, "that is the funniest thing I have ever heard." He obviously hasn't met many 3 year olds.

One more story I have to write down before I forget. We drove to Grandma Rhonda's house a few weeks ago and Natalie spilled milk all over her pants in the car. When we got to Grandma's house I told Natalie that we had to put the pants in the washing machine. She started crying and I asked her what was wrong. She said, "I don't want to go inside the washing machine!!!" I assured her only the pants were going in and not her. She was very relieved. I often wonder what is going on inside her little brain.

Do you know the lyrics?

The girls and I were out on errands the other day and we had Natalie's favorite CD playing. She now has almost every song memorized but I noticed that she adds her own interesting lyrics sometimes. The best one was...

John Jacob Jingle Heimer Schmidt became John Jacob Jesus Joseph Smith!

I think I almost got in a car accident I was laughing so hard. There were some others but I'm suppose to be getting everyone ready for church. I'll post some more later. 

Sleep Talking

Matt left for New York yesterday morning. He is staying in Times Square. I'm trying really hard to not be jealous. I guess he will be working most of the time so I'm not really missing out. He should be jealous of me because I get to take the girls to Disneyland on Wednesday...except he took our passes with him to New York. Is he trying to sabotage all my fun or what??? I can still get in with a one day courtesy pass. So I forgive you Matt. I'm just trying to make you feel guilty so you'll bring me back a souvenir (anything over $500 will do fine).

I made Natalie sleep next to me last night so I wouldn't feel so lonely. She was asleep in her bed so I picked her up to carry her into my room and I tripped over her doll stroller and in her sleep she put her finger up to her mouth and said, "shhhhh!" I started laughing so hard I almost dropped her. That kid doesn't miss a beat...even in her sleep.

New Computer

Our laptop finally crashed! I think it was the best day of Matt's life...you know...time for an upgrade. We and by we I mean Matt and Craig decided on a mac. I haven't really used one before and I have to say that I am really enjoying it. I think my favorite feature so far is the photo booth. I mainly like it because it keeps Natalie entertained for a few minutes. It really cracks her up. Does anyone know how we retrieve all our stuff from the dead laptop? 

I'm sure I've never looked better.

It's just wrong...

Thanks for your help Craig and 

thank Margaux for playing with Natalie!

Last of the Halloween Pics

The Santa Monica Pier

Marci and Parker Wallin came to visit us for a few days. On Tuesday we went to the Santa Monica Pier. Natalie and Parker had a blast feeding the star fish raw fish heads. I was a little grossed out though. They even went on a huge ferris wheel that seemed to go right over the ocean. We had a fun day.