Say Cheese!

Katie is growing up so fast! Last night I found TWO teeth on her bottom gums! They look like they just broke through because they are still hard to see.

I had to take quite a few pictures because she stopped smiling after the first two pictures (do you blame her? every time she did, this flash of light practically blinded her!).

Then she kept sticking her tongue out every time I tried to get her lip out of the way! My cute, adorable girl!

I finally got this one, although it's still kind of hard to see her teeth, especially since my finger is covering one of them.

Little Miss Laughs-a-lot

Christian was throwing an orange segment into the air and catching it in his mouth while making a funny sound. Katie thought it was hilarious!

Katie's Belly Laugh from Amanda Maldonado on Vimeo.

Christmas Day

On Christmas morning, we opened stockings first, then presents.

This year for Christmas, our family tried to focus on Christ in a different and fun way. We exchanged names with each other and made gifts for the chosen person. It was nice to think of someone else in our family and come up with something we could do for them that uses our time or talents. The homemade gifts were:

• Jonathon made Michael a small calendar to put on his desk at his work that has pictures of all of us on it
  
• Nathaniel gave me coupons for helping around the house
  
• Timmy, Katie and I gave Jonathon, Eliza, and Christian bed sheets in their favorite color to be made into curtains and an IOU for fixed up bedrooms
  
• Michael gave Nathaniel a song written about him
  
• Eliza gave Timmy a framed picture of him
  
• Christian gave Katie a poem written about her

After we opened gifts, Michael had everyone put on their coats and shoes and took us outside to the garage. When everyone was ready, he opened the door and there was a huge box. The kids looked at the picture on the side and one of them (I can't remember who) yelled, "It's a trampoline!" They have been wanting one for quite a while. They were the MOST excited about that gift!

Luckily for Michael, Aaron came over with some of his kids and my brother, Scott, came to spend some time with us on Christmas day. So Michael had some people to help him put it together. Now that it is up, the kids have spent a LOT of time jumping on it!

Christmas Eve

Michael's parents arrived on Christmas Eve around 8 p.m. We had dinner, then celebrated Christmas with Michael's side of the family.


The kids got some really nice gifts and so were happy that they weren't just getting homemade gifts. Louise made two really cute lions, one for Katie and one for Spencer. Mom crocheted hats for Katie and Eliza. I sewed a checkerboard and she crocheted checkers for the older kids. They loved it!

Each of the four oldest got a new Webkinz. Jonathon got a gray stallion, Christian got a brown dog, Nathaniel got a light yellow dog, and Eliza got a pink poodle. They were so excited!

Timmy opened a Lightning McQueen toy first and then it was hard to get him to open any more gifts!

It was a very fun evening and so much better because Mom and Dad were there. Just like old times, but better because now there are more grandchildren and Linda is with us, too!

Yummy!

Katie is at the age where she puts everything in her mouth. If she can't find anything to suck on, she will settle for her fingers, toes, and upper lip.


Yummy Lips and Toes from Amanda Maldonado on Vimeo.

I had just changed her diaper and was about to put on her pajamas when she started eating her toes (she just recently discovered them). She has been licking her lip for a few months now and I finally got it on tape.

Christmas Around the World

This year Kathy was in charge of the ward Christmas party. There were quite a few booths set up that had members of the ward to teach us about how Christmas is celebrated in different countries. Some of the countries were: Israel, England, Mexico, the United States, Germany, and Japan. It was great to learn about the different countries.
The kids also got a turn to sit on Santa's lap.
After that we had a delicious turkey dinner and pies. Awesome job, Kathy!

The Tree

I think the Christmas holiday truly starts when the tree and other decorations go up. That's when it really starts feeling like Christmas. Every time I walk into the living room and see the lights on the tree and smell the wonderful pine tree, it feels a lot like Christmas.

Usually, we go as a family to pick out a special tree from a tree market in the area. It is really adds to the excitement and fun that we have as a family to do that together. This year, however, Timmy and Katie were both sick and using the nebulizer the night that we promised the kids that we would go get a tree. So, we did the diplomatic thing and asked the kids to vote on getting it as planned on Monday and Michael would pick it out and bring it home or wait until that Saturday. It was unanimous that Michael would get it on the way home from work.

Unfortunately, Michael had to work late and didn't get to the tree place until just after 9:00 p.m. Yep, they closed at 9. So did every other place he went. So we had to wait until Tuesday. Michael worked late again, but made it in time to get the tree. He went to Sears since it was on the way home and if he'd tried to make it to the market around the corner from our house, he probably wouldn't have made it again. The kids were so excited when he brought it in. But, it seemed like every time we got near it, the needles fell off like crazy. Michael said that they were shipped from Canada and were somewhat frozen. I guess that's the down side to not getting a tree grown locally. The best tree we ever got was grown right there at the farm.

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful tree. And one of the benefits of having the needles fall off is that now our vacuum smells like pine every time we vacuum!