Let the celebrations begin!

Tonight was the annual Shaw Family Christmas Party, 

which was hosted by my parents. 

It's always enjoyable seeing family members you haven't seen all year, 

eating good food, exchanging gifts, watching the Great Grandkids play, 

and congratulating Tay on getting the Shaw Perpetual Education fund!

(Liam with Auntie Whit and Finn with Aunt Katie)

May your start of Christmas celebrations be full of

Joy & Cheer

that lasts the entire week!

Detox Day

My family has been sick for 8 days. I HATE, HATE, HATE it when my family is sick. I ended up taking Finn to the KidsCare last night to make sure he didn't have an ear infection or some kind of pneumonia. "Luckily", he just has a really cruddy cold. Is it just me or do you mamas end up on your knees at the end of the day just wishing you could be sick if that meant your kids could be healthy?

Last night I broke down to B and expressed how helpless and out of control I felt. I also started to play the guilt game and that's never a good road to travel. My husband, the amazing man he is, just held me and let me cry it out. I was also completely exhausted, so we both agreed things would look brighter in the morning. And they did. Finn still has a booger nose and a little fever and Liam is coughing a lot, but I'm crossing my fingers we're on the up & up.

After dinner, I asked B to take the boys for a drive to my grandparents' house to pick up some bread so I could do some serious cleaning and disinfecting. I turned the music loud and went to work. It was incredibly therapeutic.

Here's to a HEALTHY and HAPPY week before Christmas!

Star Box

I've decided it's time to be a little more creative with the boys' playtime. I found a great idea on Play At Home Mom today and I decided to try it out. 

The Star Box: We still have so many boxes left over from moving and extra Christmas lights downstairs, so it was easy for me to put it together quickly. I punched holes with an old pen for the lights to go in and cut off the flaps so it's easier for the boys to crawl in and out. 

As soon as I set it up, the boys were on it like bees on honey! We put their cars and books in there and I crawled in to play with them as well. They LOVED it. The only thing I've got to figure out is how to keep little hands from pulling the lights out of the holes, which results in bulbs being pulled out and the whole strand going out. It's kind of annoying having to go through every light to get the strand to work again.

(Liam a bit annoyed with brother getting in his way.)

*Check out the link on the right for Play At Home Mom blog

Time out...to laugh.

B recovered enough to drive to work today. So it's back to the good ol' days of just me and ma boys. With a house still a bit under the weather, I called off the visiting teachers and we've been cruising around in nothing but our pajamas. For lunch, we enjoyed some string cheese, apples w/ peanut butter, fruit loops, and peppermint patties. Yep, ya heard me right. I have a feeling the past few days of "whatever easiest" meals is going to bite me hard. How do I help my kids understand pumpkin chocolate chip cookies and fruit snacks are not the only things we eat for breakfast, lunch, and dinner? Within 2 days, I've created monsters.

It appears Liam and Finn have taken notice that mama's not so "with it" lately and have revved up the engines. Every time I turn around, there's something spilling, dropping, smashing, soaking, tearing, or being pulled out. It came to the point I yelled right out loud "That's it! Time Out! For all of us!" I plopped Finn in the play pen and, wouldn't you know, here comes little Liam jumping up and down to get in as well! I even asked him "You want to go on time-out with brother?" He smiled and jumped up and down some more. As soon as I put him in, it was a party. And I had to get out the camera.

We laughed and giggled and laughed and giggled. 

It was the best time-out I've ever been a part of.

(Finn's fists curled up like that remind me of when he was a tiny bebe.)

And then it was NAP TIME. Yeah, baby!

Living Gifts

4 hours. That's the amount of sleep I got last night. Poor little Liam couldn't breathe through his tiny congested nose. We rocked in the chair. We set up the humidifier. We did saline drops and baby ibuprofen. We even tried letting him sleep with us, which we NEVER do, but to no avail. At 2:30 am, B and I decided to just let him cry it out and he eventually went to sleep. 6:30 rolls around and two babies are up again with poopy diapers. 7:30 comes an hour later and two babies are ready for breakfast. Morning waits for no one, including a tired momma and a very tired and sick daddy. Poor B caught the icky bug that decided to set up house with Liam and Finn and I, in the meantime, am pushing the Zicam like it's chocolate.

Being sick is a total bummer and our house is just not at it's best. But getting a Christmas package in the mail makes things seem a lot brighter, especially when the package is a set of these:

Have you ever heard of living ornaments? I never had until today. They are beautiful! Oh, it made my day to hang these beauties up on the tree! 

Thanks to B's family in Maine for sending these our way! We love and miss you! 

Nothing like some living gifts to bring a little life to this "land of the dead". 

New Snow

This week it snowed. And our furnace stopped working. And our sweet neighbor hiked through the blizzard of a storm to lend us their portable heaters. We wrapped the kids in heavy jackets and started the fireplace up. After we put the children to bed, I baked up some brownies and sat on the couch, staring at the fire and eating my treat. It was quite cozy and, in a way, I was kind of happy to be bundled in blankets next to a warm fire because of a broken furnace.

Actually, the furnace isn't broken. The next morning a nice guy with a pony tail checked it out and came to the conclusion it was just getting over heated because our home's duct work isn't big enough to handle a furnace that size. We also learned our Home Warranty won't pay to fix the duct work...so we are stuck with the bill if we decide to make changes that would allow our furnace to work properly. Nice.

In the meantime, B has pulled out the filter and taken off the covers of the vents to help the furnace "breath" more. It seems to be working for now. But I'm still a bit annoyed and was thinking about it this morning while eating breakfast with the children. And then I looked around me. I have a beautiful home, two beautiful boys happily filling their chubby cheeks with peanut butter toast, a picture of the Salt Lake Temple hanging on the wall next to a picture of our little family, which is a reminder to us of where our family began and the eternal goal we strive for each day.

After breakfast, I put the boys down to play and I opened the curtains to let the light in. The boys quickly crawled to the glass doors and pointed outside at the snow. Even at 1 1/2 years old, it's magical for them. And it was magical for me to watch them enjoy the simple pleasures of the world around them...even with Whit and Joey's puppy's poop still lying in a doggy bag outside the door.

I am grateful for the subtle ways in which the Lord guides and teaches me. It's amazing how a gentle reminder to be thankful, patient, and understanding can be more powerful and effective than a harsh, blaring loudness. And I will consider this an answer to a fervent prayer last night and this morning to help me be a better mama.

Happy Snow Day!

Thankful.

You know that moment when you realize another month has gone by and you wonder "How in the world...where did the time go?" You rewind the past 30+ days and play through events, memories, normal days, abnormal days, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I have a brother on a mission and I realize I'm not the best at keeping him updated with well-written letters, so I use this blog as my back-up. I'm keepin' it short and real Elder- here's a summary of November:

1. The kids have been getting their molars and it's a nightmare sometimes and other times it's not so bad. This particular day was pretty awful and we ended up letting them just chill in our big master bath tub with their red bums before laying them down to bed. We introduced them to bubble bath and they LOVED it.

2.  Oh, and the very next day we were sitting together as a family on the couch, watching some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse Road Rally (we watch this daily- sometimes multiple times a day) and Liam reached out to point/grab something and he tumbled off the couch and landed on his right arm. We knew something was wrong when he wouldn't stop crying and he wouldn't put any pressure on his arm or hold anything with it. It also looked kind of funky. We ended up at the Instacare and within the hour we were informed he had fractured his ulna and radius. It was NOT an awesome mommy moment. 

3. 2 days later, in the middle of the night, Liam woke up crying hard and he wouldn't stop. His hand was 2x bigger than his left hand, so we decided to take the splint off and when we did, this is what we saw: 

Yeah, the splint was put on too tight. 

The poor little guy had to postpone getting a cast for 2 more weeks to let this wound heal.

4. But after two weeks, Liam got his beautiful blue cast and he has since learned this new accessory has some advantages, including an improved way to get bigger brother out of the way.  

5. I had the opportunity to attend Time Out For Women in Salt Lake City this year. B's mom and I carpooled and met my mom and sisters at the event. Friday night we got to hear Ann Romney be interviewed by Sheri Dew and it was AMAZING. My dream of raising 5 handsome boys with an amazing husband may or may not have to do with this woman. I am an Ann Romney fan club member. The rest of the program on Saturday was inspiring and I left feeling spiritually fed and hopeful.

6. THANKSGIVING DAY. I got up at 6:00 am, put my running shoes on, and left B and sleeping babies to run in the Human Race 10K. I was SO nervous! As I waited at the start, I looked around me at all these fit people and I felt incredibly out of place. When we began running I started to feel better, until I realized no one would be waiting for me at the finish line. I started to feel discouraged and I prayed that someone would feel inspired to come watch me finish. As I approached the last stretch to the finish line, I looked to my left and saw a sign "We (heart) Megan!" with a screaming mom and sister. I burst into tears. I felt a burning in my heart as the Spirit testified to me that prayers are heard and answered. 

(Auntie Taylour treating the boys to some post-Thanksgiving fun.)

7. Today is the last day of November. B, being the incredible husband that he is, climbed the roof to put up Christmas lights and helped me set up Christmas decorations inside. We also spent the day "winterizing" the yard. After a long day, my sisters called and we invited them over for dinner and games. Whit and Joey brought their puppy Franklin. He and Finn are little buddies and it's kind of cute. A couple of hours into the evening, we caught Finn doing this:

November is over and December is starting. I have a beautiful home that I get to share with the most important people in my life. I have a family that loves me. I have health. I have a body that can take care of a growing family and help me accomplish my goals. I know I am a Child of God. My prayers are answered. 

I am thankful.