Merry Christmas Eve!

Wow, I have a day off with the hubby around to give me a spare moment to finally make a new post in my blog. You wouldn't believe how impossible it is for me to try to get on the computer with Gwen around. As soon as I sit in the computer chair she comes over and wants to "type" on the computer. I used to let her, but she destroyed one of our shift keys and pulls off the caps lock key and trys to eat it. If I don't let her she screams and pulls herself up on the desk causing more problems. Needless to say, that's why this blog has been so neglected lately. That, and nothing new has been going on.

For once, we're all healthy. Gwen's 2-year-old molar on the bottom right has been coming in this week and it's been making her grumpy. At least it's not strep or croup this time. I can deal with a bit of teething even though I know it'll last a few weeks and we still have to do it three more times until her 5-year-old molars come in.

Jonathan is enjoying his school break. He did well in his classes and got all A's and a B in history (oh no!). He's going to bite the bullet and take five classes next semester in a big push to be done with his associates degree by next Christmas. He'll be taking History, English 2010, Biology, World Religions, and a conversational Japanese class so he can stay up on what he's learned. It's going to be a tougher semester, but he's so smart he can do it. He also sold some old Dungeon and Dragon books and saved his Christmas money and pre-purchased a Nintendo Wii. He only gets one chance with it and if his grades suffer then I get to sell it on E-Bay and keep the money. I hope he's learned some good self control because I've heard how addicting the Wii games can be.

Nothing new's going on with me. I spend each morning with my little girl. I'm happy that she's finally saying Mama as more than a swear word, though she still reverts to a whiney version of it when she's tired or angry. She's been saying Dad for a long time now and I've been trying to get her to say my name. She also started saying Baby (she's getting a toy baby for Christmas tomorrow). She'll repeat words sometimes, but they don't seem to stick. At least that's a step forward in her language development.

I have a ton of piled up pictures to post, so, uh, there.Here's me, Boot, and Gwen first thing in the morning. Ugh, morning hair for us all. We like to snuggle on the couch as Jonathan makes us breakfast. Gwen eats real cereal out of a bowl with a spoon now. She even drinks the milk out of the bowl after.

At the beginning of the month we went to the Festival of Trees. Here's Gwen drooling over the Elmo tree. We had to drag her away from it. Needless to say, most of her Christmas gifts are Elmo related this year.

They were holding hands right before this. Gwen's cousin Noah is 9 months older than her and it's neat to see what she'll be like in such a short time. He seems like such a big kid to us and boy, is he fast.

Gwen's "chair" is really our metal collander. It's in one of our non-baby-proofed cupboards and she recently found out that it's the perfect fit for her little bum. Don't worry, we wash it out before making spaghetti. The trouble is finding where she's put it.

A couple weeks ago on my day off we went up to Ogden to the Treehouse Museum. They have a Japanese exhibit there until the end of December and we wanted Jonathan to see it. Gwen loved wearing her kimono and pouring the tea. And eating the plastic sushi. She's had the real stuff once before (California rolls with all cooked stuff, no raw stuff for a few more years). She was pretty good at using the kiddie chopsticks so we're going to see if we can find a pair around somewhere to buy for her.

That's President Gwen in the Oval Office. What do you think, by 2060 will the world be ready for a Mormon woman as President? I don't know how I'd like being the First Mommy though. I think I'd worry about her all the time.

Out of all the different toys and exhibits they have there, here's Gwen's favorite thing: a kid-sized rocking chair. I wonder if she'll remember it the next time we go back there.

We'll take more pictures over the next few days and I'll try to post them before too long. Merry Christmas to everyone! May everyone be safe and healthy over the next few days so they can enjoy being with friends and family.