3rd day...no Bobo!!

I can't believe that it has been this easy. We got rid of Malak's pacifier about 3 days ago. The same day he started crawling out of his crib. Although thankfully he hasn't crawled out since! I thought he was going to kick and scream about the bobo, but he's done surprisingly well. I thought I would have it gone by nursery time (18 months), but I wasn't ready. We all know pacifiers are more about the mom than the baby, and I loved being able to plug what was coming out of his mouth!! But, I've repented and realized it's only going to get harder to take it away the longer I procrastinated! He's actually stopped asking for it and just goes right to bed now. Thank goodness this hasn't pulled my heart right out. It's hard being tough on your last little one!! I want to keep him little as long as possible.....but any of you that know Malak--he's far from little! 35 pounds and counting. Alot of people have said just this week that he seems to have turned into a little boy instead of a baby. So I guess there's no more wishing to keep him small forever--he's already big!!

Cribs...

Malak can officially climb out of his crib! I've been dreading this day for a long time and it is finally here. Now what do I do to contain this rascal? He's been such a great sleeper and I am so worried that it will all end now that he's figured out he's able to do what he wants. He can also open the doors to every room in the house including his own. We have lever handles in our rooms and he figured those out a long time ago! I really enjoy sleeping through the night and cannot deal with another Kai. Esther (our nanny) went up to check on him during his nap yesterday and he was on the floor playing with his barn animals, not making a peep. When she asked him how he got out of his crib, he giggled and shrugged his shoulders. I can just picture the face he was making. What a little devil!!

FYI

Just to let those of you that care...I am trying to catch up my blog for 2008 so I can print it out, therefore I am changing lots of dates to actually post when the events happened. If you want to catch up as well--you'll have to scroll through old posts....Sorry!!

Grandma's House

We came up on Wednesday afternoon to visit Grandma for the Holidays. It has been good to be up here to visit and spend time with all our family. It was a little different not being at home for Christmas Eve but special to enjoy the traditions with Grandma and Kieth. When James took the kids to Utah on the 19th, I gave the kids the choice to go and spend 4 days before Christmas with Grandma or stay at home where their presents were. I explained as best as I could that Santa wasn't going to be able to leave their gifts in Utah because we couldn't get them back. We wouldn't have enough room in our car for all of our luggage and presents. They chose to spend time with Grandma--but I think they thought twice about that decision on Christmas morning when there wasn't much under the tree for them. It was a little difficult to watch as a mom, but a good lesson as well about the true meaning of Christmas. Grandma was wonderful to buy some toys that would stay at her house but that they could play with while they were there. Malak really cracked me up while we were opening presents because he just got really comfortable and propped himself onto his belly and held is head in his hands and just watched so closely. He was really focused on what was happening.


On Christmas Eve we had a little spiritual lesson about the true meaning of some Christmas Songs. It was really neat to understand what the songs were about and their hidden meaning. I will never look at the "Twelve Days of Christmas" the same again. Then we sang some of the songs and let the kids open their pajamas that Grandma bought for them. We had a lot of fun!

Christmas morning was very quiet. It was just my family, Grandma, Kieth and Lizzy. It was so nice to watch then open their gifts and then eat our traditional breakfast together of toast, ham and orange juice. We just hung out the rest of the day until all the siblings got there. We had a wonderful Christmas dinner and enjoyed everyone's company. We got to play a fun game with the gifts that we had brought for exchanging. It was pretty mellow until Brent stole a gift from somebody else and then all the fun started. You have to be careful in the Wright family to not get everybody too upset..you know we all have anger management problems!! Ha ha! It turned out to be alot of fun and a new tradition that we will carry on every year on Christmas Day.

Party Party!

On Saturday night James and I went to his Christmas Party at Treasure Island. I usually hate these things because everyone is drunk and acting crazy. This year was no different, but I had a great time with my husband. We didn't have any kids to hurry home to, so we stayed out until almost midnight! That's very late for us old timers. We danced and danced and just really enjoyed each other's company. I had to change my attitude about his parties because last year he didn't invite me and went by himself! He's too dang handsome to go unaccompanied to those kind of events so I was very glad he invited me this year! We got to sit at the table with the Commander of the Squadron who James works for and all 3 First Shirts. It was alot of fun and we all had many things in common with our children, which made for great conversations. I was a little hoarse when leaving from shouting over the music all night long, but enjoyed it none the less. I am grateful for the military these days and for the security that we have being a part of it. It's been good to our family and we'll probably be around for a while longer so I'm glad that James likes it.

Jamie's First Date

Jamie went on his first date last night! He has been looking forward to this day for a long time. He actually took me on his first date last weekend as sort of a prelude to the real thing. He promised me I would be his first date and we had a great time. He drove and I paid. We went shopping for new suit for him for Christmas and then went to dinner at the Olive Garden. He was a complete gentleman opening doors, walking next to traffic, sliding my chairs in and initiating conversation. I was so proud of him. When we went shopping for a suit the realization came to me that he has passed from boyhood to manhood. This was the first suit that we've ever had to have him fitted for. I got very emotional when he was trying it on in the dresssing room because I realized that we don't have much time together anymore. He will be off on his own very shortly and I am going to miss him terribly. What will I do without my special, sweet son? I thoroughly enjoyed the special time spent with him and know that he will be nothing but a gentleman to these girls that wait to date him. Trust me, there is a lineup!
He asked his best friend Kelsey out for his first date. She turned 16 the day before and he thought it would be special to take her out. She has been a good friend to Jamie--although I think she likes him--but who doesn't??
He double dated with his friend Ethan Ewing and they took the girls to Opportunity Village and walked around to see the lights. They rode the train, ate funnel cake, and drank hot chocolate. He said he had a great time, and assured me that he didn't hold her hand or anything.
Thank goodness! We've had lots of talks about leading girls on and making mistakes by getting into physical trouble with them. As a mother I can only hope that he listens and makes good choices! Oh so scary to let them make their own choices! This is when faith becomes so important. I pray that he makes good choices not only in the girls he dates, but what he does on his dates! Good Luck Jamie!

Brrrr!!

The kids really enjoy sledding and being in the cold weather. I HATE being cold....not even for my kids. The lucky part about all of this is that they went early to Grandma's house and got to enjoy all that snow without me feeling guilty while watching them from inside. James actually took them sledding on Saturday before he drove home and they had a great time. My mom is so good about taking them out to play, too. They have a great hill just on the side of their house that the kids have enjoyed. My mom is great to stock all the warm clothes they would ever need. she invests every year in new ski pants and jackets just for us Las Vegans who don't own big coats. She's such a great grandma!! Malak however does not like the snow. He cried and fussed whenever somebody put him down in it. I guess he takes after me...uh oh!

Christmas at Our House

We decided to let the kids open a few presents on Wednesday night before they went up to Grandma's house. I would have felt bad to make them wait so long to open their gifts. It was a crazy day that day getting ready to send them off--so it wasn't the same as actually waking up and opening presents but the kids didn't seem to care!! We actually read the Christmas Story to them and talked about the "true" meaning of Christmas....do you think they really get that part?? Maybe one day it will sink in if we keep enforcing it every year. I think their favorite gifts were from Jamie...he bought them robes. He used to always wear one when he was little and he's passing that tradition on to his younger siblings. Kai likes to take off his shirt, leave his pajama bottoms on and sleep in his.

We had alot of fun decorating the house this year. It's always kind of an overwhelming thing for me so I decided not to put everything out. I liked it better because it became fun and the kids liked helping me. I changed our Christmas Tree decorations this year---almost 8 years of the same ones--it was time that they went bye bye!! I tell myself every year I am going to invest in new stuff and then miss all the sales, so this year I just bit the bullet and got what I wanted. I am enjoying the new things! I was so proud of my husband and his decorating skills outside. It's usually a bit of a fight to get him to hang the lights, but this year I didn't have to say a word! He was very happy with his accomplishment and enjoyed looking at the lights.

Will I?

Will I ever have time to blog again??