What A Week!

Background From Last Week 

• My bread machine broke while attempting to make swedish tea rings for the neighbors. 
• We picked up the donated bread for the branch. Which meant we had a huge box of pastries in the kitchen (it causes contention when passed out to the branch). 

Monday 

• We a guy named Ernest came for dinner. 
• We pass out plates of St. Louis Bread Co. pastries to the neighbors. 
• I go grocery shopping after the kids are in bed. 
• Woo works on ooTunes. 

Tuesday 

• Ruby's birthday! (4 years old) 
•  She gets: goggles, baseball bat, soft ball, books, clothes, doll, money and phone calls from Marcus, Taija and Grandma. 
• She requested french fries, chicken strips and peas for dinner. Donuts for dessert. 
• I apparently can't make donuts without a bread machine because the dough never rose. 
• In frustration, I make a quick trip to the store for donuts before the G--- kids come. 
• Ruby has the time of her life. 
• Herbie has a rough day---keeps talking about when it will be his birthday. 
• B-- G-- (6 months) cries for one hour straight. 
• I bake and bake after the kids go to bed. 
• Woo works on ooTunes. 
• We receive a call from the bishop of a ward in our stake: They want to bring us presents for Christmas. Will we be home from 10-12? We're not sure what to feel---anger, excitement, confusion? We didn't think we needed more presents, but we'll take 'em. 
• At 12:30 we go to bed---nothing! 

Wednesday

• We realize they probably meant 10-12 today, but we'll be gone. 
• Go to a Christmas Eve party at the G---'s. 
• Ruby refuses to be Mary. She insists on being a shepherd. 
• Herbie, as Joseph, holds the baby Jesus and rides Woo, the donkey. 
• Moses is bothered by all the noise and ruckus. We come home to find presents for the kids from the Parkway Ward (Moses now owns a few outfits from Nordstrom). 
• After our nap everyone is still tired and worn out. We order pizza for dinner. 
• The pizza is undercooked and gross. We get credit for a free pizza later. 
• We read some Christmas stories and sing songs. 
• The kids are all riled up, and at one point all three are crying. Woo decides it's a good time to wish me "Merry Christmas!" 
• Kids go to bed. 
• I make turtles for Woo's Christmas. 
• Woo works on ooTunes.

Thursday

• Merry Christmas! 
• The kids enjoy opening their presents. I think they all are a hit, and they entertain themselves peacefully for the next two days. 
• A very relaxing day. 

Friday

• Another great, relaxing day. 
• Woo gets lots of positive feedback from ooTunes testers, but it's still not ready! So close! 

Saturday 

• In the morning, we talk to Woo's parents. 
• In the afternoon, we go to another party... this is definitely getting to the kids. 
• I design my first website after the kids go to bed. 

Sunday 

• Church 
• Ate more leftovers (I haven't had to cook for 3 days! :)) 
• Sensory overload for me leads to long and boring email for you.

Very Cold, Very Drab, Very Icy Week!

This has not been the most exciting week, mostly because we've spent so much time trapped in the house. Even Steven spent several days working at home to avoid the chill he couldn't avoid either riding his bike, taking the bus (standing, waiting in the cold), or driving (parking far away and walking).

I still had a couple of things I wanted to get/do before Christmas, but I didn't feel good about taking myself or the kids out on those icy roads. We finally had some relief on Friday and Saturday, and I was able to get stuff done, but today is the freezing-est day of them all. I'm so glad I'm not crossing any mountain passes with a handcart, or homeless, or anything.

Today the primary sang several Christmas songs dressed as the Nativity. Ruby walked into the chapel dressed half as an angel and half as a shepherd. She stood with the other shepherds---the only girl---and described herself as either a shepherd or an "angel-shepherd."

I'm guessing that she was encouraged to be an angel with the other little girls, but that she insisted on being a shepherd.

Woo tried to get her excited about Christmas Eve by telling her that she'd get to be Mary. Well, it turns out that she does not want to be Mary at all. There was some yelling and some tears, and to make a long story short, she's agreed to be a "baby-Mary" if I'm a "mom-Mary."

Friday, in the store, Herbie was thrilled to discover some Spiderman sunglasses in his size. Just as he slid them on his nose, "The Jingle Bell Rock" came over the loud speaker. Even if he didn't love the Christmas tree that dances to that song at Mom's house, we all know it's a great song to dance to. He immediately started pulling all his best moves. I don't think he's ever felt cooler. It's too bad that he'll dance like there's no tomorrow in the middle of the store, wearing sunglasses, but he's too inhibited to dance for anyone he knows.

It's really a sight to see, but unfortunately, you'll never see it.

Moses has discovered that he doesn't have to immediately fall asleep just because I've put him in his crib. He's pretty pleased with his discovery, peeking at me over the blanket I've hung over his crib at nap time and laughing like it's amazing. I usually find a couple of books in his crib in the morning that he's managed to reach and maneuver through the bars. Luckily, he doesn't play around for hours. It just seems to last a few minutes, and then he drops down to snooze.

Woo still hasn't released ooTunes mobile yet. The closer he gets, the more glitches he finds, it seems. Sometimes he feels like there's no light at the end of the tunnel, but he keeps plugging away. It's certainly a good thing he's doing this, and not me. He has the patience and perseverance to see a project to perfection that I just don't have.

He's also getting dangerously close to actually buying an iPhone. He's applied for a special credit card (to get money back on AT&T purchases), and he's been accepted as a supplier for the card (so he'll receive $$ back that way too), and has generally got it all figured out to cost him as little money as is humanly possible.

Also, I guess I announced our pregnancy a couple weeks too early, because I miscarried this week. I don't know how other women feel, but I don't feel like I'm grieving at all. It was unexpected, but I'd much rather have a miscarriage than a stillborn or baby born with genetic defects. We'll just have to try again later.

We're excited to celebrate Ruby's birthday and Christmas this week. Merry Christmas everyone!

Thank Goodness For The Internet

Did I really used to leave the house to do my Christmas shopping? It's been great to be able to do it all lying in bed with the laptop. Merry Christmas!

I did leave the house a couple times this week, where I surprisingly found a china cabinet that fit my taste AND my budget AND Woo's records. I'm thrilled to get rid of those flimsy wire shelf things, and I finally felt good enough about the living room to start decorating it for Christmas.

The kids thought I was getting presents out instead of the decorations, and Herbie started yelling about "A bike! A bike with pedals for Kistmas!"

He wasn't too let down when I explained that there wasn't a bike, just some trees, lights and snowflakes, but Ruby was convinced that I could bring Kistmas now!

Everything about Christmas is super exciting to them, and it's fun to remember how magical and wonderful Christmas seemed to be as a kid.

Ruby remembers every song we sang on that Polar Express Train ride, and smiles and yells, "I know that song from the train!" whenever she hears one.

She also thinks Santa lives on the train. Woo and I have never decided what to tell the kids about Santa, and as a result have not said anything. Whenever anyone asks Ruby if Santa's coming to her house, she says, "No! Santa was on the train!" 

She gets a lot of confused smiles and nods.

Herbie has decided that he likes to sing. He walks around the house singing almost every word (or a variation of...) to all the songs we regularly sing. I was even surprised to hear him singing "Jesus came to John the Baptist, in Judea, long ago..." 

Not one of the first songs I expected him to learn. When we sing hymns he holds half the hymn book with us and repeats what we sing. He's pretty good at it.

Moses was clingy after the trip. Then he got shots on Monday. Then he got his two top teeth (4 total), and finally, today he's been acting like himself again---crawling, exploring, laughing and eating like he hasn't eaten in ages. Woo and Moses worked on their relationship one night with the help of a ball. Moses got hurt the next day and crawled, bawling to Woo instead of me. Woo was pretty pleased. 

Steven says that ooTunes Mobile (MooTunes) is reading to be submitted to the app store, and I think he's planning on doing that tomorrow. He's put a lot of work into it, and it really looks sharp. The original ooTunes has gone down twice this week because of the server he's running it on now. It's been a huge pain for him, and he worries about his customers. His next goal is to get a better server.

I'm being very deliberate about getting the extra protein that I need for growing a baby this pregnancy. I guess I'm an idiot for not having done this with the first three because it's taken care of the raging pregnancy appetite I usually have. I also think that I am less tired. The last hour before the kids go to bed is where I hit my wall, and luckily Woo has been stepping up and playing with the kids most nights.

I think that's about it for this week. I hope things are going well. Talk to you all later!