Sore Legs and Weird Carni-Skater Men

Running 4 miles in a.m. + roller skating in p.m.= SORE GAMS (that's legs in 1940's talk).

Oh, and another thing...I haven't been to the roller rink in years (YW activity tonight) and the same 40- something, single, men in pants that are too tight are still there along with the ones who go to the rink on their time off from the traveling carnival. Never will I ever drop my children off at Classic Skating. Oh, and it seems that roller skates are making their big comeback. That's all.

Pick, Pick, Pick

Our son has a serious issue...he picks. That is, he picks faces--mostly eyelashes if he can get to them. If he cannot get to the eyelashes, he will settle for eyebrows or the adam's apple. As a last resort, he will just burrow his fingernails into your cheeks, forhead, lips, whatever he can get. He doesn't pick faces all day, only when he's tired. It's his way of soothing himself to sleep. Other children use a binki, a blankie, a stuffed animal. Not Max. He wants to pick your face, not his face, his parents' faces. We tried to justify this odd behaviour at first, telling ourselves that his fine motor skills were way above average. But we now know his picking fettish is a problem as we have seen him picking the carpet, fuzzies, tape, anything he can put between that tiny little forfinger and thumb. My mom pulled out the baby dolls at Christmas and he went right for the eyelashes.

What in the world? How come none of those baby books say anything about "The Picker"? It's getting quite annoying and we don't know how to break him of this very odd habit. Has anyone else ever encountered such a problem?

Life Is About To Get More Interesting

So I took a little break from blogging, mostly because by the time I have a chance to sit down to the computer at night, I'm too exhausted and I am not about to pass up a back rub from Ryan when Max goes down. However, in my blogging absence, there have been some exciting happenings in the Loveless household.

1. It's official: Max has taken his first steps. While he refuses to stand up on his own if you try to get him too, when he is completely distracted, we have found him completely leg locked, just standing there like he's been doing it forever. Last week however, we were playing catch with him and for the first time, we witnessed him go from sitting to squatting to standing all on his own without holding onto anything. Two days later the same thing happened but this time he took 2-3 steps until he reached the bed. Since then he has toyed with the idea, but we can't make a big deal of it or he will immediately spur into regressive behaviors.

2. His first real word is "ball". However, he says it "ba". How do we know it is his first word? Because he goes to the ball, picks it up and says "ba". Anytime we say "Get the ball" he goes straight for it. There is somewhat of a debate as to weather or not his first word was "Dad". He has been saying da-da, ma-ma, ga-ga, ba-ba, and every other form of jitterish for months on end now, so again, weather or not he is using "da" in context is up for debate. He has been mimicking the sound of our peek-a-boo game "Where's Max?" now for about 2 months. He says "Agh, Da" using the same tonation and influx in his voice when playing peek-a-boo, just as we do when we say "Where's Max?"--so perhaps "Agh, Da", meaning "Where's Max?" was his first word meaning...oh what are we to do? What ever will I write down in his baby book! Max, I am sure, is dually concerned with what the official first word was...

3. On occasion I find Max eating things out of my hair supply drawer. He is very, very mobile and very, very fast and I am fairly certain that he has inhaled and ingested a fair amount of hair creams, gels, and sprays. I've also caught him with dish soap on more than one occasion. I keep telling his father that there is a real need for those cupboard locks now. Max's newest hobby is just to make his way through the house, rummaging through drawers and cupboards, seeing what he can ingest or destroy.

Life is about to get even more interesting...and busy I think.

Why We Get Together

My very own angel ornament that adornes my mother's tree every Christmas

We spent 7 crazy days in Rexburg this Holiday season, celebrating Christmas with my mom, Kelsey, and Eli, along with and including the spouses and children of Cory, Jim, Jolea, and Carrie. We were sad that Ashley and her family couldn't make it up from Texas, as she just had a new baby.

It was one hectic holiday but I've realized a few things...despite all the noise, the chaos, the dirty dishes and toilets, the crying, the fighting, the laughing, the joking, the spreding of sick germs, the differences of opinion, the one thing I came home with was a love for my family. I love them. I love them because of the past we share and I love them because of the differences we have now. It's so interesting that although we've all come from the same upbringing, how different our lives are now and how the same they are all at the same time.

We've added 6 new adults to the mix with marriages, and a boatload of kids. They all bring their own ideas and ways of doing things to the family and sometimes it seems like it is all too much to take for a week together. But at the end of the day and at the end of the holiday, I would not have traded a minute of it (okay so maybe there were a few minutes I would have given up). Why? Because we were together...and we only get the opportunity to be all together at Christmas every other year. I am thankful for the spouses who give up an entire holiday with thier families, to come and be with mine, because I know that they are missing thier families the same way I miss mine the years I'm at my in-laws. I am grateful that all the kids will have memories of being together when they were young. It's worth all the hassle of making a trip that long because in those moments, memories were made and time was well spent because it was spent together.

Just after we toured the Rexburg Temple
By the end of the week, Mom and Eli both had strep throat and weren't able to attend the open house of the Rexburg Temple with Cory & Johnny's family, Ryan and I, and Jim's family. It was a spectacular sight and such a peaceful end to a rather chaotic week. I suppose it was being in the temple with some of my family that really made me realize how stupid all the petty things we stress about are. Like I said, what matters is that we are together.All the little girls dressed up for the temple open house

Snow Day @ Nana's!

Christmas Dinner

Christmas Eve & Christmas Morning at Nana's house

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MAX

Well, since I'm trying desperately to catch up on all the holiday happenings, there's one thing that can't be left out...MAX turned 1 on Christmas Eve! Like any crazy parent, I through him a great Blues Clues birthday party at my Mom's house that he could have cared less about and that he will only remember through pictures. But all his cousins on my side were there (besides Ashley's kids) and we played Blues Clues to find out what to do at the party. It was fun for the little ones anyway!

Surprisingly enough, he wasn't for sure what to do with his birthday cupcakes at first.

But once he tasted it...

...it was all over from there!

His cousins were much more interested in his presents than he was!

Johnsen Family Christmas Party This year we were fortunate enough to be able to attend Ryan's family's Christmas party hosted every year by his Grandma J. It is usually held on Christmas Eve but this year they decided to hold it on the Saturday before so that more could attend. Since it was my family's year for us to go to Christmas, and since last year we missed Christmas with Ryan's family due to the arrival of one little Max on Christmas Eve, we didn't want to miss Grandma's party this year. It was a nice party. It was nice to be with the Johnsen side and Max really enjoyed himself. Grandma Johnsen is 88 years old and still manages to make sure (with much help from Ryan's parents) that there is wonderful food, a variety of songs & games, gifts for everyone, and enough love to fill the church that we schedule in advance for the festivities. We sure do love that Grandma J.!

Jolea is having a boy. We will have even teams...8 and 8.

Snow Days

Don't get me wrong. I have fond childhood memories of winters in Texas. I just didn't know what I was missing out on...you know, what all those kids "up north" were doing on their winter breaks!This photo was taken out my kitchen window this past week. I am certain that I was not spending my weekends doing this when I was 5!

This was taken this morning as Ryan and I were leaving his parents' home in Tooele. 8 inches of snow. He said that when he was little, sometimes the snow would be waist deep as they were walking to school!

Last night Ryan and I went to the Mo Tab Christmas concert featuring the King's Choir from Great Britain. It was really good and very entertaining. The singing was great, the King's Choir was awesome and all the dancers were phenomenal. Every year we try to get to one of the events on Temple Square, and this concert certainly is a favorite. You now have to be randomly selected to get tickets and we were lucky enough to be selected. If any of you have the chance to go next year, it is well worth it. It leaves you feeling just the way a Christmas extravaganza should!

OH BABY...

IT'S GETTING VERY PINK WITHIN THE HASSMAN HOUSEHOLD.

JUST 10 SHORT DAYS SINCE CARRIE BROUGHT LITTLE ADDIE JO TO US,

ASHLEY BROUGHT TO US MIKAYLA PAIGE THIS PAST TUESDAY.

SHE WAS 7 LBS. 14 OZ. WITH LOTS OF BLONDE HAIR AND WE CAN'T WAIT TO MEET HER (HOPEFULLY SOON AS THEY WON'T BE MAKING

THE TREK TO IDAHO FOR CHRISTMAS).

THE STATS ARE NOW:

BOYS 7 GIRLS:8
WILL JOLEA EVEN IT OUT, OR WILL THE GIRLS BE UP BY TWO?

WE WILL KNOW NEXT WEEK!

CHRISTMAS IS FOR HIMIt's hard to believe that Christmas is just around the corner. I promised myself that this year I would get all the tedious stuff done early so that I could enjoy the Spirit of the Season with my family, perhaps catching a few of the local festivities without having to worry about neighbor gifts, and what the heck to get the in-laws and the grandmas and what kind of Christmas "goodies" I'm going to have to make for people I hardly know, and the wrapping that's not done, and how I never got my trim up around my door or the Christmas lights hung on my house, and then there's my son's first birthday on Christmas Eve to plan for. Well here it is just two short weeks from Christmas and I find myself worrying about all of the above and a few dozen more things. And for what? A recent poll showed that over 60% of us can't even recall what our favorite gift was that we got last year.

I have thought a lot about what President Monson said in the Christmas Devotional. It's a time to remember the greatest gift that we can never forget, the birth of a baby boy, our Savior Jesus Christ...and Christmas is for the children. It's a time to let them experience the magic of it all. As I look at my little boy, our own baby that came to us last Christmas, and see the twinkle in his eye as he experiences some of the magic of it all for the first time, I understand what President Monson was saying. It's his turn...and he doesn't care what fudge recipe I use, or if the ribbon matches the paper, or if the trim is up around the door. He needs his Mommy and his Daddy to help him capture the Spirit and Wonder of the Season. This is his first time hearing the carols and the bells, watching the falling snow, smelling the pine, and seeing the twinkling lights.

How wonderful it would be if as we all aged, when Christmas came, we only experienced the wonder of it all, like we did when we were children. No worrying, no stress over money and needless gifts. No freaking out over Christmas cards and what to wear to parties. What if everyone just shared in the magic of it all and only gave gifts that would improve the life of someone less fortunate than themselves. Perhaps I've been missing out on more than I realized. I have lost the simplicity of it all. There was nothing commercialized about the first Christmas; it was perhaps the most humble of all circumstances. Yet what wonder and magic accompanied the birth of one very special baby boy. What a blessing to have my own little boy to put it all back into perspective. Thanks Max. Christmas is for you.

Our Attempt at a Christmas Card Photo Shoot

Some of the pics that didn't make the cut....and oh were there many

Ryan and his GQ poseKarate Kid?

Cute...but all my pics were cute?

Ryan and Max were done at this point