We had a snow day Friday.  It snowed ALOT for here in Kentucky.  Like more than I've ever seen it snow here.  Friday morning it was just mostly raining ice, but by that afternoon REAL snowflakes were falling.  The big beautiful kind.  The boys were begging to go out in it, so finally I relented.

They both loved it.  Jace, especially.  He stayed outside until Brice got home and then he helped Brice shovel the sidewalks and the driveway.

Snow really is beautiful.  And fun for little boys.  But I, for one, am glad that these snows days are a very rare and special occasion.

I almost forgot about this cute picture of Cam wearing one of Livvy's head bands the other day when I was taking pictures of her.

He is a pill.  But at least he is a cute one.

Also I think I've mentioned before that I hate insurance companies.  And how they screw things up.  Like applying all of a payment to the medical part of the plan and neglecting to apply any of it to the dental part of the plan for two months in a row, which results in the dental part being cancelled.  And then denying dental claims.  And then me getting insane bills in the mail and also letters saying "your coverage has been terminated".  And then me having to spend hours on the phone, mostly on hold, while they sort it out.  Ugh.

Also sometimes I play this game called, "at least."  Here's how it's done:

When you pick up your eleven month old out of her crib and discover she has had a blow out, you might say, "At least it stayed inside her pants."

Get the idea?  I played last night and it went along those lines.  And also like this:

"At least tonight was bath night anyway."

"At least I discovered the poop from her on my own pants and shirt ten minutes after I was done cleaning her up, instead of when I got ready for  bed."

It was a nice little round of playing "At least."  I thought I was done.  But I got a chance to play a second time.  And it went like this:

"At least Cameron managed to keep his diarrhea inside long enough to get out of the bathtub."

"At least when he screamed for me and I came running into the bathroom at full speed-- barefoot-- and stepped directly into the mess and went skidding across the floor, I managed to keep my balance and not fall down into it completely." 

"At least the second pants in thirty minutes that have gotten poop on them can be washed in a nice washer."

"At least the bathroom floor is linoleum and not carpet."

"At least I can clean the bathroom floor with disinfectant wipes and bleach and don't have to bleach all the bath toys."

"At least Jace got to laugh and think it was funny and not be scarred because he was sitting in a bathtub of Cam's poop (because that has happened before)"

And finally, at least I only had to play "at least" twice last night.  Even though it was a pretty hard round, and when my mom face timed me right after cleaning up the nasty mess, I did have a break down for about five minutes.  Thanks for letting me have a break down, Madre.

11 MONTHS?!?

Stop it.

Shut up.

No way.

Yes way.

Livvy has finally graduated from army crawler into regular crawler.  And she can pull herself up on stuff.  She will not be walking in the next month, I'm pretty sure.  But she has figured out how to get around pretty quick.  I need to go through my phone to find snap shots of her actually doing those things.  Maybe tomorrow.

She likes mashed potatoes.  And kraft single cheese.  Anything mushy really (besides the cheese) that resembles baby food.  Anything with real texture she is still not a fan of.  Most of her food nutrients still come from formula.  I'm not sure what we'll do if she doesn't start eating better in the next month. . . keep feeding her formula until she does?  That is a question I will definitely need to ask the pediatrician.

Lately she loves to play hide and seek with the boys.  She loves crawling around to find them.  But she is not so great at the hiding part yet since she is a heavy breather (as Brice calls it.  Seriously sometimes she sounds like Darth Vader) and starts squawking as soon as she hears them coming.

Her second top tooth finally broke through so now she has four teeth. 

She is loud.  In the car when she is mad or bored or tired she doesn't cry. . . instead she just yells and sings and makes lots of noises.  Anything she can do to keep herself awake.  Much like her oldest brother. 

She is awesome.  And wonderful. And she has us all smitten.

Yay for the Christmas tree being up!!

We put it up Saturday night.  I love Christmas trees.  Even though this one has tinsel on it (which I am not a fan of, but Brice is) and my job for the last few days has consisted of picking tinsel up off the floor and out of Livvy's mouth.  But I still love having the Christmas tree up.  So do the boys.

We're doing the Christmas advent that has been floating around pinterest where we read a scripture story about the Savior each night before we put a ball up on our felt Christmas tree.  Tonight will be our third night.  Last night was a roaring success (said with sarcasm) as by the time we actually finished with the scripture story and Christmas song both the boys were in sobbing tears and I was almost shaking with rage at the fact that they could not stop fighting, whining, crying, sniveling, hitting, jumping, and yelling for even five minutes to let the the Christmas spirit into our home.

Good thing we have 22 more chances to get it right.

Actually, good thing we have eternity to get it right :)

More zoo pictures?

Yes.

Because yesterday we went.  And Daddy came with us, too.  And this time we saw some animals that were hiding last time.  And also there are some pictures of me.  

We got to see the jaguar pace around his cage.

I was walking holding hands with the boys and they were happy and smiling and I thought, you know, I really want this moment captured.

So I made us stop walking.  I gave Brice the camera.  I made him walk about fifty paces ahead of us.  I made the boys KEEP holding my hand.  They started to whine, since this was taking a while, and of course was no longer natural and fun.  But by gosh, I didn't care.  I forced them to act happy with threats of leaving the zoo right then.  So yeah. 

We got to see the rhino this time.  He peed.  And then licked it up.

And then made this face at us, as if to say, "How do you like them apples?"

We only stayed at the zoo about an hour and a half since it was pretty chilly and we didn't bring water or snacks or anything really.  The last place we went to was the kid area, where they have the otters.  The otters have been MIA like the last five times we've been.  But this time they were not.  

And they were a delight.

I think they were really bored with the fact that there was no one at the zoo, so when they saw us they immediately perked up.

They even played with the boys.  It was pretty awesome.  They have a tunnel that goes through their display where you can see them swimming around you and above you.  Jace and Cam would run to the tunnel and see the otters, and then they would run back to the outside and the otters would go meet them there.  Then the otters would dive back in the water and the boys would race back into the tunnel.  I feel as though the boys AND the otters loved it.

Otters are pretty dang cute.  Almost so cute you might think about touching them.  But they had signs all around the cage warning against that.  This lady who came up with her kids as we were leaving said she saw a kid reach his hand over the display, and true to the message on the glass, the otter bit him.

But look at that little face. . . I took this picture as he was watching the boys leave.  Seriously  How cute is that?

Livvy is a great cuddler.  At bedtime, she will drink her "baba" and then she will lay on me like this.  She does the same squirms every night.  She looks at my face and pats it.  Sometimes she gives me kisses.  Then she squirms again and lays her head back down. I love it.

I wrote a poem for Jace the night before he turned one year old.

One year ago I held in you swaddled in my arms so tight,

Today I try to cuddle you, you squirm and screech and fight.

One year ago I lay you down, you couldn’t move around,

Today I put you on the floor, now you can’t be found.

One year ago I fed you, huddled close against my chest,

Today you throw your food and grin, you make a monstrous mess.

One year ago you couldn’t hold your head up, laugh, or smile,

Today you chase the pup and squeal, giggling all the while.

One year ago you held my finger, with your tiny little hand,

Today you wave hello, good-bye— you crawl, you even stand.

One year ago you ate and slept and oh, if I could know,

How fast this year would come and go, how quickly you would grow.

One year ago I would have held you longer in the night.

Today I creep into your room and think that I just might,

Pick you up and rock you till the sun comes shining through

Remembering one year ago when you were so very new. 

   

One year ago today you were a brand new baby boy,

So small and sweet and innocent you filled our home with joy.

Today I remember when, one year ago you came,

You changed my life and changed my heart, I will never be the same. 

One year ago I loved you, today I love you still.

One year ago I loved you, and forever I always will.

I think about the fourth section every time I cuddle with Livvy.  I so wish I could go back in time to when my baby boys were that age and rock them one more time.  But I can't.  And so since I can't, I try very hard to not rush my night time cuddles with Liv.  I try to not think about all the things I will get to do now that all the kids are finally asleep.  I try not to play with my phone.  I try to just sit and rock with her, longer in the night.

I can't believe she is already almost one.  Time just goes way too fast. 

(also I was trying to rock Cameron last night when I woke him up to give him a breathing treatment aaaaaaand he farted on me.  Soooooo not as sweet as it used to be)

So Brice got a nice sized buck on Saturday.  The boys (especially Cameron) thought it was pretty cool.  Cameron was not concerned at all about getting right up in that deer's business.  

I am not a huge fan of dead animals.  The other day Andy had killed a rabbit in our yard.  Or maybe it died of fright.  There was nothing outwardly wrong with it except for that it was dead.  I discovered it up against the fence in the morning and I knew that if I didn't dispose of it there would be dead rabbit flesh flung around the yard, courtesy of a bored dog.  So I had to get rid of it.

I'm sure if any  neighbors were watching me get rid of it, they got a show. I have a pretty weak stomach for that stuff.  

But I guess I better get on board with this deer, because he will be mounted on a wall in our house soon, I imagine.