Christmas Break - Week 1

I've been home in Ontario, Oregon now for a week. It has been so nice to get away, even though it is far colder here than it is in Lubbock. We had a few days of snow which Hattie loved. Every time she looked outside she would shout "SNOWMAN!" But the really cold front has passed, so most of the snow is gone, but it looks we'll have more before Christmas.

Getting here was quite the battle. I was able to get a free ticket for Hattie, but in order to take advantage of the deal, we had to fly out of Amarillo, TX. So last Thursday, we drove 2 hours north to Amarillo, dropped our van off at a friend's house, and headed to the airport. Our first flight to Dallas was delayed, so of course we missed our connecting flight to LA. I was quite literally running through the airport, with Anna strapped to me in a wrap, Hattie in the stroller, lugging a diaper bag, backpack, and a car seat. I'm sure I was quite the sight, and I felt like everyone was thinking I was crazy for traveling with two small children. By the end of the day, I agreed with them.

Luckily there was another flight to LA that I hopped on right before it left. Poor Hattie was probably wondering what happened to her crazy mom, since I kept saying, "We've gotta hurry...run fast." The kids did okay on the flight, thanks to a handy DVD player. Once in LA, I thought I had plenty of time to catch my flight to Boise...an hour and ten minutes. I deplaned, only to discover that my connecting flight was going to take off from an entirely different terminal. And in LA there is no handy train or moving sidewalk to take you from terminal to terminal. Nothing that logical. I actually had to leave the airport, walk outside for a bit, and go through security again! It was ridiculous. Especially with 2 kids. As I approached the terminal, I saw that the security line was a mile long. I knew there was no way to possibly get through security in 40 minutes. Then I finally got lucky. The line went upstairs before going to the security check point, and, since there was no elevator going up, I got to go downstairs with my stroller to another checkpoint, which happened to have a line that only took 15 minutes to go through! Thank heavens for strollers. If it weren't for that, I would have certainly missed my flight and ended up staying the night in LA. I boarded the plane for Boise, relieved to have actually made it on my correct flight, considering all the bad luck I had. Again, I boarded just as they called for the final boarding call. I finally called Paul and Mom to let them know I was okay...it was the first second all day that i had a minute to talk since I had been running every second that I was on the ground. Hattie was ridiculously tired by then, since it was about 10 in Lubbock and she missed her nap. Of course she finally fell asleep when we landed...perfect timing.

Lessons learned: 1) Never fly to LAX. It's a nightmare. 2) Flying with 2 kids is harder than I imagined. 3) Even if a free ticket is involved, it might be worth my sanity to pay for the ticket and fly more direct.

This week has been great...spending time with sisters/sister-in-law, celebrating Kerri's birthday, watching Hattie rememeber and love her cousins again, sleeping in, having Mom's wonderful help, watching movies with Spencer, putting up the Christmas tree, and finishing up last minute shopping. But the girls and I are anxious for Paul to finally get into town tonight...he finished up his final yesterday and is on his way now. I don't have a way to upload any pictures until he gets here, so sorry for the pictureless post.

A nice birthday present

Since we celebrated my birthday while we were in Dallas for Thanksgiving, my actual birthday was rather low key. But Anna rolled over for the first time! Enjoy!

Our little girls

I woke up this morning at six and though I should get out of bed and be productive before the girls wake up and Laila gets here (I have two more days of watching her). So I'm posting some pictures of the girls fromthe last few months, random ones not necessarily worthy of an entire post, but cute nonetheless.

Hattie has recently developed a new love affair with books. She has always liked them, but now she'll actually sit and listen to an entire story and demands to be read "bookies" numerous times a day.

We had a pizza picnic one night. Hattie loved eating on the floor. Notice our little copy cat leaning in for the picture like Dad.

I walked into the room one day to discover this...sweet moments of being a mother.

There is an excellent frozen custard place here in town, which of course Hattie loves. Here she sports messy hair and a messy face...this picture also provides proof that I am part of my child's life, since I am never in any pictures with them!

A new favorite! Hattie actually smiled when I prompted, "Show me your teeth." She likes to pretend that the toy she is holding is a birthday cake. She'll put all the pieces in, walk up to you and say "Happy Day Mommy!" She then proceeds to take a piece out and pretend to eat it, but not after blowing out the candles first.

Kisses...and Anna doesn't even care.

Both Hattie and Anna love bath time.

Hattie decided to join Paul and Anna's session of tummy time.

Here is our little friend Laila. She loves to play with Anna, but I can't trust her the way I do Hattie. She's only 11 months old.

She also likes giving Anna kisses. She has been such a good playmate for Hattie. She has helped Hattie be better at sharing...whenever she does share, she says "Ook Mommy, I sharing." Although I won't miss being so homebound, I will miss having a constant friend for Hattie once she is gone!

Thanksgiving in Dallas and an early party

We left on the Monday before Thanksgiving to drive 5 hours to Paul's parents in Dallas. The girls did okay on the drive...Hattie complained only of an "ouwie bum" and was otherwise entertained by her little DVD player. Anna cried a bit, but slept a good portion of the drive. As always the week at Paul's parents was great...we just stayed home and spent time with family instead of rushing out and trying to get a million things done. Sadly with 2 kids there is never any sleeping in on vacation, so by the end of the week we were both exhausted from too many nights of late night board games.

The Thanksgiving meal was a huge success. Christina had a great time prepping the turkey.

And of course, per Iverson family tradition, we fried the turkey. Yum...it still makes my mouth water. Fried is definitely the best way to eat a turkey.

I didn't take very many pictures while we were there. Paul's brother Michael who was married in August had his wedding reception in Texas over the break, so we were able to see some old friends as well. But no pictures of the party, sorry! Paul and I did go out on a date, the first time since Anna was born, enjoying some free babysitting.

Hattie enjoyed being the only grandchild there (besides Anna) and was spoiled by aunts, uncle, and grandparents. She loves Grandma's house with its easy access toy closet and constant entertainment from Tang the Cat.

We also decided to celebrate my birthday early...we had a 1/2 eaten cake from the reception, and parties are always more fun with more people. As I have said before, Hattie LOVES birthdays. She wishes everyone in the family a happy birthday on a daily basis, so she was thrilled to have a real cake with real candles and real presents to open. Like on her birthday, Hattie opened all my presents and passed them over to me without looking at them. This girl is going to love Christmas.

When Grandma comes

My mom came into town on the Wednesday before Anna's blessing. It's always so wonderful when she visits. We went to the Science Spectrum, a cool little museum here that is great for kids...it was so nice to have another adult along so I could care for Anna while Hattie had someone to interact with her.

My mom is so great at playing with kids. She would color with Hattie or play with Play-doh all morning and afternoon. Hattie never once asked to watch TV or a movie. And even now that Grandma is gone, she hasn't asked for TV much. On Saturday my dad and in-laws arrived for the blessing so it was a bit crazy for a while. But Hattie loved all the attention.

Sunday night I got a horrible headache. I never get headaches, and this one was so bad that I could barely turn my head or move my eyes without pain surging. After a long, sleepless night, we discovered I had a fever and limited ability to move my neck. Paul, having just studied neuro at school, was worried I might have spinal meningitis, so we went to the ER for the first time in my memory (technically I went when I was about a year old, but I don't remember). Four hours later after a CT scan, a few pokes, and some pain killers, they sent me home. It wasn't anything serious, just a bad headache. I feel a bit silly that we went to the ER for a headache, but since I never get them, it really did have me worried. Better safe than sorry.

So Monday was shot...I slept most of the day after coming home from the hospital. It was such a blessing that my parents were there to take care of Anna and Hattie...it would have been a lot more stressful. That's the second time in the last few months that my parents have saved us during a hospital stay...gratefully this one was just a few hours instead of 2 weeks!

Tuesday morning I drove my parents around Lubbock...not much to see! But Dad got a Texas Tech shirt and we went to a museum. Hattie was terrified of the dinosaur skeletons. She was either burying her face in Anna's car seat or saying "Close eyes!" the whole time we were in there!

We grabbed a quick bite to eat then took Grandma and Grandpa to the airport. Hattie cried half the way home.

It was so wonderful to be with my parents again. I'm excited to head up to Ontario for 3 weeks in December. I love being in Lubbock and having my own family, but I also love being close to my parents and siblings.

Anna's blessing day

We were finally able to bless Anna in church last Sunday. Being nearly 4 months old, she was quite a big baby on her blessing day, despite the fact that she was 6 weeks premature. There's nothing preemie about this girl now! My mom and Dad were amazed at how big she was. We were lucky enough to have both my parents in town from Oregon, as well as Paul's dad, sister Christina, and brother Daniel.

It was nice to have both my side and Paul's side of the family together. Hattie certainly got spoiled by grandparent attention!

Anna was blessed in the same dress as Hattie...I still think they look so much alike!

We regularly call our babe "Anna Banana" so we joked on the way to Church that Paul would mess up and name her Anna Banana instead of Anna Isabelle. Or we feared that when Hattie heard Paul say "Anna Isabelle" she would shout out "No! Anna Banana!" Gratefully, all went smoothly.

I love her sideways grin!

I love how Paul and I are also puckering up! Hattie is a great big sister.

Cooped up

Last week both Hattie and Anna were sick...actually, we are still fighting the last bits of a bad cold. Runny noses and coughs never seem to go away. Anna is still running a fever and has goopy eyes, but Hattie is her usual self. Because they were sick, we didn't leave the house much...and once they felt better I was babysitting Laila, so with three kids under the age of 2, leaving the house is a little more complicated. By Saturday, both Hattie and I were stir crazy. We ran a few errands and every time she saw a park she would shout, "KIDS!!" hoping we would stop to play. Gratefully, we had her little friend Callie over to play. It was an hour of heaven. Usually these two buddies have their moments of fighting and trauma, but Saturday they were angels. I think it was because Hattie hadn't seen her in so long. They just ran around chasing each other and being two-year olds. But I loved this video:


(If you notice, Hattie says that her sister's name is Callie, and Callie says her sister is Anna...Hattie usually doesn't miss that question so she was obviously having a great time)

I guess even little kids need friends.

Extra babes

For the last two weeks I have had my hands extra full. I have been babysitting Laila, a sweet 10-month old whose parents are finishing up their clinical rotations for occupational therapy. Although it is certainly more work, it hasn't been too crazy either. Hattie loves to have someone to play with all the time, and she is learning to share more than she ever did before. It does get crazy when all three girls are hungry at the same time or need to nap at the same time. Hattie and Laila often keep each other awake as they cry falling asleep. Or I have to nurse Anna while Laila and Hattie sit on my lap. But on an average day, there is usually only about 30 minutes of pure chaos. Besides that, it's been wonderful. I love having a little friend for Hattie.

But with this Hattie is becoming more bossy. The other day, Hattie spilled her Teddy Grahms all over the kitchen floor. I asked her to pick them up quickly before Laila got to them, since Laila is still quite toothless. Hattie said, "Mama try." So I got down to help her clean up. As Hattie reached down to pick up her first Teddy Grahm, she said, "Ugh. It's a big one! Laila, help me!" Already she's trying to pass the buck to others to do her work!

Candy, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy, candy!

This was the first Halloween that I ever dressed Hattie up. And honestly, she probably would have been fine without dressing up. She was certainly more into the candy than her costume. But I made her a tutu for her birthday, so it was a pretty simple costume. Thanks to Payless having a 50% off coupon, I even found her some little ballet shoes. And since there was extra tulle, I made a matching one for Anna.

Here we are at the ward Halloween party. Hattie was distraught that we stopped her from running around the cultural hall to take a picture. Anna slept most of the evening. But she made a sweet ballerina.

I took Hattie trick-or-treating around our neighborhood. We went pretty early so she could get to bed...she was coming down with a cold. But very few people were home, so we didn't get much. I won't complain, and neither will Hattie. She's just glad that she has some candy. When I would ring the doorbell, she would say "Tookie Treat" before anyone came to the door. And once she had one piece of candy in her jack-o-lantern, all she wanted to do was eat it and didn't really care much about getting more.

We only got about 7 trick-or-treating groups at our house. Every year I tell Paul to buy just one bag of candy, but of course he buys 4, so we've got all sorts of candy at our house, despite the fact that Hattie got so little while we were out. Paul is determined to get more into Halloween, and he's already planning our costumes for next year. It'll be our new tradition I guess!

Strolling through the mall

Here's a random video of Hattie and some friends at the mall the other day. They were having such a ball together. I love how Hattie is getting to where she has friends and plays with them better.

Stina come!!!

Last Friday my in-laws told us that Aunt Christina would be able to come out for a visit. She had fall break at her high school, and since she flies for free, it was just a quick 40 minute flight for her to come see us. When I told Hattie that Aunt Christina was coming, she wouldn't stop talking about it. She constantly said, "Stina come!" Finally Saturday came and I told Hattie that when she woke up from her nap, we would go get Christina from the airport. The minute I opened her door after nap she said, "Stina come? Stina come!!" Much to her horror, Christina's flight was delayed 2 hours, so poor Hattie had to wait, and all afternoon I had to keep consoling her, promising her that eventually Christina would come. Once Christina finally arrived, Hattie ran to give her a big hug, then quickly remembered her toys and forgot her aunt. Silly kid.

We had a great time with Christina, playing late night board games and watching movies. On Monday we went to a cool park here in Lubbock, which Christina deemed was the coolest park she had ever been to. One point for Lubbock!

She refused to slide...just wanted to crawl around!

When Christina got out of the van at the airport, Hattie started bawling...and didn't stop for about 10 minutes. And she's been asking for her ever since. She's even asked to go to Grandma's house!

Our blog neglected daughter

I'm sure many of you fellow bloggers feel like you blogged a ton about baby #1, whereas baby #2 gets neglected. Looking back to when Hattie was a baby, I always posted about her...random pictures and long, boring videos. Poor Anna...I hardly even remember to get the camera out for her! So this morning I got a few pictures, sporting her cute shoes and bow...thanks Chelsea! She is definitely a Hattie look-alike.

Oh, and this little angel went 10 hours between feedings last night. She smiles for us occasionally, but mostly just lounges around being happy. She loves to sleep on Paul's stomach and is never sad for very long. We love our girls!

Temples to dot the earth

Another weekend of General Conference has passed. My in-laws flew in from Dallas to spend the weekend lounging in pajamas with us. It's always wonderful to have them around. Hattie has been asking for "Stina" ever since.

I simply want to express how excited I am for another temple to be built in Chile. WhileI was there as a missionary, all of the members dreamed of when Chile would be ready for a second temple. It was one of their goals, and the dream seemed to unite all of the members from Arica in the north to Punta Arenas in the south. When President Monson stood up on Saturday morning, I said aloud to Paul, "I wonder what he's going to announce today...maybe some new temples?" As soon as he said he would announce 5 new temples, I knew that Chile would finally have its dream. Even though Concepcion wasn't in my mission, I know how much this temple will bless the people that I served in Vina. So much of what I, other missionaries, and the members worked toward is represented in this new temple. Hearing of this temple has reminded me of how much I love Chile and its people. I hope to be able to visit there again with my family someday.

Santiago Chile Temple

My growing girls

Today I was brave. I took both girls in to the doctor for a check up and shots. Here's the results:

Anna
Weight: 11 lbs 8 oz - 50%...amazing considering that at 4 weeks she was in the 5%
Height: 21 inches - 5%
Head circumference: 15.5 inches - 50%...again, also amazing considering she was preemie

Hattie
Weight: 31 lbs - 90%
Height: 33 inches - 25%
Head circumference - 20 inches - 95% +

So what do we learn from this? My children have huge heads, they are good eaters, and they will be short like me.

And the shots went reasonably well, although that was certainly the loudest either of them had cried in recent memory. I dread going back in another two months for Anna's next round of immunizations. And I'm sure that as soon as we walk in the door, Hattie will try to run for her life. The doctor's office is starting to equal pain!

But here is a sweet moment from last night...I love having a snuggly baby!

Some random bits

Hattie's favorite place to play lately is her crib. She stands in it and asks me (very politely) to give her a train, a book, a blanket, a stuffed animal, another book, and so on. Then she passes all the toys back to me, and then asks me again to give them to her. She can play in there forever. The other day she was having such a great time that Callie had to join her.

On another random note, this picture was too funny...Hattie stretching to bounce both Anna and baby James at the same time.

And lastly we went to the South Plains Fair. Hattie adored the baby ducks and chicks,

was pretty hesitant around the petting zoo (this was as close as she would get),

and loved the lemonade.

She just discovered a seed in her drink, hence the pretty face. She and Juliet were quite content to sit and drink their lemonade all day. She was pretty interested in checking out the rides. Gratefully they were closed, but I think we'll have a hard time keeping her away from them next year.

You gotta have friends

Friendships have always been important to me. Once I make a friend, I try sincerely to keep in touch and continue to develop our friendship even if we move away. I love calling old friends when I am in town and having lunch with them to catch up. Paul has never really understood this...he thinks it's kind of strange that I still keep in touch with friends from High School, or that I recently had a roommate reunion with my friends from BYU. I guess he's never been blessed with the kind of friendships that I have.

Since being married, though, I have made very few new friends. The first four months of our marriage we were in a student ward with about a zillion other newlywed couples. We knew we'd be leaving soon, so we didn't really befriend anyone. Then we lived at my parents for the summer, so I didn't make any new friendships. We lived in American Fork for a year while I was working and pregnant with Hattie. But that ward was unique in that there weren't many young couples, and no other married students in the ward. And since I was working full-time, I didn't have as much time to spend at ward functions. I did make one wonderful friend at my less-than-stellar job. We still keep in touch.

Then we moved to Spanish Fork. I had a new baby and lived at storage units. I made another great friend who also worked the storage units with me and lived upstairs. But again, there were no other students in our very old and established ward...we were the odd ones because we were transient.

But then I moved to Lubbock. After 3 years of marriage and only two new major friendships, I was really feeling the need for female friendship. And I have certainly found it! I have been overwhelmed by how wonderful our ward is...how willing people are to be your friend. When I moved here, all I had to do was attend playgroup or book club a few times and I felt like I was home. When I was home in Oregon for the summer, some of my sisters said, "Wow, you have a lot of friends in Lubbock...I can tell from all the comments from them on your blog!" There is always someone willing to have lunch, watch Hattie, have a playgroup, or go to the park. Being a stay-at-home mom has been wonderful since I have so many friends in the same situation. It has made moving to a new place so much easier. I find that I really miss Lubbock when I am away.

Thank you Chelsea, Kristina, Debbie, Kristy, Kristi, Cynthia, Jenni, Brittney, Lindsay, Kimber, Julie, Kat, and SO many others who have helped make Lubbock a wonderful home for us.

Look alike

Can you tell which baby is Hattie and which is Anna?





Too bad Paul's hair is a giveaway!

Our little 2 year old!

Happy 2nd birthday Miss Hattie!

Taken when she was 1 day old

Snuggling noses with Uncle Michael, a few weeks old

Her first grins, about two months old

3 month photo shoot...I love these picture...thanks Tandy!




7 months old


Her 1st birthday...living in our dumpy apartment in Lubbock


Opening the Gator from Grandma Dame...thanks Mom!


A new little pony from Keira


Modeling...this will be her Halloween costume too, without Tinkerbell of course

We had her party first thing this morning since Paul had to head off to study. She would open up one present, look at it, and quickly toss it aside to open the next one. Finally when they were all out of their wrapping paper she took the time to actually see what she got. I made her the tutu, thanks to Chelsea's help, beaded the necklace, and knitted her the boa. Paul made her some French toast, but she was more interested in watching "Cars." By the way, Laura, when she first saw it, she said, "Anson!" You can see Hattie has many interests: dressing up, trains, cars, and recently, pajamas.

I love how she is afraid of the fire at first!

Since Paul is studying all day, her friends Callie, Brooklyn and Juliet came over and swam in our little pool. They had such a ball...for about 20 minutes, then they all wanted out. But they loved the cupcakes, or better said, the frosting.

This is how she sings Happy Birthday...and she has been singing it all day. Thanks Lindsay for the cute dress up stuff...she loves it!