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.