- I got a funnel cake maker from Aaron and Aubrie. AWESOME! Now, I don't have to wait every Fall to go to the fair for this awesome goodness treat!
- A electric griddles from Zach. YES!! There will be lots of pancakes and hamburgers in near future!
- A warm & fuzzy blanket from my parents. I LOVE BLANKETS, especially the soft fuzzy ones!
- A lovely white rocking horse from my grandparents. They had this under their tree for many years. What a nice gift! Grandpa told me that I always wanted a white horse when I was a little girl. Now, this is something that I can add to my tradition Christmas decoration.
- A phone/ipod stand that's the size of my thumb. It's from my mom. This little thing is a cool! It upright a phone so you can watch a video without having to hold it. Now, I have to make sure that Conner doesn't find it and misplace it somewhere. Little toys can be tricky to find,
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Christmas with the Vance!
Yesterday, we got to have our Vance's Christmas at my brother's house. It was great to see Zach who was home from college. Mom, dad, Zach, Aaron, Aubrie, Amira, Conner, Brian, grandma & grandpa Swaim & I were all here. We had ate dinner. We all opened presents and hung around & eat a lot of snacks. It was a very nice small family Christmas!
Spending time with my family always make me smile. Christmas traditions are wonderful too. My weird lil' brother likes to make weird Christmas candies such as chocolate covered BBQ Frito. Uh?? That's a new one this year. Haha! I kinda like them because it has chocolate. Does that make me weird too? Ok don't answer that! Merry Christmas everyone!
Monday, December 26, 2011
Our 1st Christmas in Michigan!
I cannot began to describe how awesome it was to spend Christmas in Michigan with my in-laws. Conner had a blast being with his cousins. I had a great time catching up and developing relationships with my other half's family. Brian was happy to finally spend Christmas with his parents and siblings. We were only missing our sister and brother-in-law who now lives in Alaska. Someday, Christmas with the entire family will happen.
What life is like with the Greens/Morehouse at Christmas?
So, here's one of the big question. How do everyone hide their gifts from each other? Well, pretty much just stuffed it all in my in-laws' closet and hope for the best! Some bigger presents were hidden at a friends' house. I once caught Carter sneaking around on the girls floor looking for hidden gifts. I singsong his name " oh I see you!..." AhhHh he scrammed down the stair. That was funny!
Hanging out with my nephews and niece was crazy! How do they get so much energy after being at school most of the days? I don't get a lot of quality time with them. Especially, when we come for a weekend visit. Since Conner and I arrived, they have asked "when is uncle Brian was going to be here?" so many time! They really love their uncle Brian. So sweet! They loved having Conner following them around and play. They like giving him a big hug and say goodnight. Sometimes when Conner gets a little naughty I hear the kids tell me, "Conner is trying to go upstairs!", "Conner is eating a paper", "Conner is in the pantry!" and so forth. haha! I'm thankful for watchful little eyes. Oh one more thing, sweet little Jack loved the fact that Conner has a similar belly button like his. Its an outie. He likes to go look at Conner's belly button every day. Because of that, Conner is aware what a belly button is. :)
Robin, Brian's oldest sister, is a wonderful person. I love how she works hard everyday and still try to make time to be with her family. It's really hard on her to do a lot of things at this time because of the big move. She wants to decorating/painting or clean her house, go shopping, doing errands and so on but I'm blessed to see that she has a listening ear and open arms to embrace every moment to be with her family. I had enjoyed getting to know her. Once, while we were out and about, my hearing aid battery had died and I had no back-up. It was a challenge to carry a conversation for a few hours. Her version of sign language was funny but I'm so glad that didn't stop her from talking to me. :) Thank you, Robin!
Dave--Robin's awesome hubby! What a hard worker is he! He works really hard at keeping his job organized while maintain some house repairs at home. The life of having your 1st home is a crazy experience! While we were there, the electric heater box had stopped working because of some electric power outrage. We were all freezing our butt off! Oh Dave...bless his heart! He tried so hard to figure out what was wrong with the heater. Finally, he called the professional guy to come & check it. All it was a little broken plug which cost about $3 at a hardware store. The bill $$$ to pay for the worker and for after hours. I felt bad but they were ok with it. Everyone was happy to have a warm home. He is such a wonderful dad! He loves hearing all his kids day and taking Robin on a midnight date to the movies. :)
Jenny, Hannah & Kimmy! The party girls...just kidding! Those girls have their own "apartment" on the 3rd floor! It felt like I was in a girls dorm. I like how they were able to have some privacy, especially from sneaky nephews and niece. Boy...the stairs going to the 3rd floor are a killer! Lucky, I came home with an awesome buff calves. LOL! Oh yeah, their doors were taken down when they had some carpet work but the carpet prevented the doors to fit because it was too thick. For a few weeks, they had "open door month"! Don't worry, the girls hung up cool blankets/curtains & Christmas lights over the door to give it a girly touch. Thank you Hannah for letting me crash in your room!
Lynn & Don---What a blessing it is to have a wonderful in-laws. I couldn't have ask for a better set of godly in-laws. I never thought that I will have someone like them in my life. The Greens' kids are blessed to have such a wonderful example in their home. I had thoroughly enjoyed hanging out and getting to know them, especially with Lynn while everyone else are at work/school. Lynn had enjoyed getting some Conner time. Oh did you know that Don is an artist? He is really good at watercolor...I'm stroked to have a piece of his art. It's a lighthouse and a sailing boat on the water. Beautiful!!
One more thing, I was able to paint some art in the kids room. I will make a post about that. It was great to be able to use my talent for the kids! So...that was my Christmas in Michigan. It was a great vacation!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christmas....oh boy! It's really hard to make everyone happy especially if you're married and have in-laws and your own parents who wanted to share it with you. You might have distant relatives, best friends, or siblings who usually spend Christmas with you. Every year, BG and I always wonder what our Christmas would be like. It doesn't matter where we will be, we will always try our best to share our amazing joy...the birth of Christ. I believe that Christmas focusing on Jesus is something we need to honor. I am so exciting to have our own family tradition every year with our kid (maybe more than one in the future?). We want to share the story of Jesus' birth, be generous to others, and teach Conner how to give and love one another, and don't forget...we also need to have fun too! I hope you had a great Christmas 2011! Merry Christmas everyone =)
What life is like with the Greens/Morehouse at Christmas?
- Baking cookies...if it ever get to the baking sheet.
- Going to the store everyday for something we ran out of or forgot.
- Watch kids show like "Cailou" thousand times with the little ones
- Going shopping, especially Sears, Target and Lowe's 3 or 4 times. haha!
- Eat dinner around the big family table.
- Keeping the house clean...if its possible.
- Take a cold shower or a hot shower in the cold air.
- Walk up and down the stairs multiple times for something we need. Then all the stuff end up at the bottom of the stairs because we're too tired of going up & down.
- Trying to pick up too many conversations at the same time. Awesome fun!
- Putting a zillion of presents under a Christmas tree. And finding out that Carter had made a maze behind the tree so he can find out which presents is his. LOL!
- "Come and knock on our door, we have been waiting for you!"....having lots of visitors come and visit us!
- No matter how chaos the house can be, I thoroughly enjoyed being with them!
So, here's one of the big question. How do everyone hide their gifts from each other? Well, pretty much just stuffed it all in my in-laws' closet and hope for the best! Some bigger presents were hidden at a friends' house. I once caught Carter sneaking around on the girls floor looking for hidden gifts. I singsong his name " oh I see you!..." AhhHh he scrammed down the stair. That was funny!
Hanging out with my nephews and niece was crazy! How do they get so much energy after being at school most of the days? I don't get a lot of quality time with them. Especially, when we come for a weekend visit. Since Conner and I arrived, they have asked "when is uncle Brian was going to be here?" so many time! They really love their uncle Brian. So sweet! They loved having Conner following them around and play. They like giving him a big hug and say goodnight. Sometimes when Conner gets a little naughty I hear the kids tell me, "Conner is trying to go upstairs!", "Conner is eating a paper", "Conner is in the pantry!" and so forth. haha! I'm thankful for watchful little eyes. Oh one more thing, sweet little Jack loved the fact that Conner has a similar belly button like his. Its an outie. He likes to go look at Conner's belly button every day. Because of that, Conner is aware what a belly button is. :)
Robin, Brian's oldest sister, is a wonderful person. I love how she works hard everyday and still try to make time to be with her family. It's really hard on her to do a lot of things at this time because of the big move. She wants to decorating/painting or clean her house, go shopping, doing errands and so on but I'm blessed to see that she has a listening ear and open arms to embrace every moment to be with her family. I had enjoyed getting to know her. Once, while we were out and about, my hearing aid battery had died and I had no back-up. It was a challenge to carry a conversation for a few hours. Her version of sign language was funny but I'm so glad that didn't stop her from talking to me. :) Thank you, Robin!
Dave--Robin's awesome hubby! What a hard worker is he! He works really hard at keeping his job organized while maintain some house repairs at home. The life of having your 1st home is a crazy experience! While we were there, the electric heater box had stopped working because of some electric power outrage. We were all freezing our butt off! Oh Dave...bless his heart! He tried so hard to figure out what was wrong with the heater. Finally, he called the professional guy to come & check it. All it was a little broken plug which cost about $3 at a hardware store. The bill $$$ to pay for the worker and for after hours. I felt bad but they were ok with it. Everyone was happy to have a warm home. He is such a wonderful dad! He loves hearing all his kids day and taking Robin on a midnight date to the movies. :)
Jenny, Hannah & Kimmy! The party girls...just kidding! Those girls have their own "apartment" on the 3rd floor! It felt like I was in a girls dorm. I like how they were able to have some privacy, especially from sneaky nephews and niece. Boy...the stairs going to the 3rd floor are a killer! Lucky, I came home with an awesome buff calves. LOL! Oh yeah, their doors were taken down when they had some carpet work but the carpet prevented the doors to fit because it was too thick. For a few weeks, they had "open door month"! Don't worry, the girls hung up cool blankets/curtains & Christmas lights over the door to give it a girly touch. Thank you Hannah for letting me crash in your room!
Lynn & Don---What a blessing it is to have a wonderful in-laws. I couldn't have ask for a better set of godly in-laws. I never thought that I will have someone like them in my life. The Greens' kids are blessed to have such a wonderful example in their home. I had thoroughly enjoyed hanging out and getting to know them, especially with Lynn while everyone else are at work/school. Lynn had enjoyed getting some Conner time. Oh did you know that Don is an artist? He is really good at watercolor...I'm stroked to have a piece of his art. It's a lighthouse and a sailing boat on the water. Beautiful!!
One more thing, I was able to paint some art in the kids room. I will make a post about that. It was great to be able to use my talent for the kids! So...that was my Christmas in Michigan. It was a great vacation!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christmas....oh boy! It's really hard to make everyone happy especially if you're married and have in-laws and your own parents who wanted to share it with you. You might have distant relatives, best friends, or siblings who usually spend Christmas with you. Every year, BG and I always wonder what our Christmas would be like. It doesn't matter where we will be, we will always try our best to share our amazing joy...the birth of Christ. I believe that Christmas focusing on Jesus is something we need to honor. I am so exciting to have our own family tradition every year with our kid (maybe more than one in the future?). We want to share the story of Jesus' birth, be generous to others, and teach Conner how to give and love one another, and don't forget...we also need to have fun too! I hope you had a great Christmas 2011! Merry Christmas everyone =)
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Weaning Off
Last Thanksgiving was the official day I complete wean Conner off breastfeeding. Or let's say he did. He was so busy having fun witg eating new food and playing. I was really proud of him to not fuss over the need to be close. We started to wean around his birthday and took small steps toward weaning. For example: the best time to wean is during his least favorite meal time. Instead, we give replacement milk (a.k.a the cow's milk).
After not having to breastfeed for about 2 weeks, my milk supply became really full. I felt sore in places where it's hard for me to sleep. I was wondering when will it ever go away. Eventually, I stop leaking and it was less sore. This is a very new experience for me. It was weird not having Conner to come & do his regular feeding. Yes, there are times when I miss it but boy! I was happy to say "I'm free!!" don't get upset over this. This was my choice to wean iff at this age. I congrats to those who continues to breastfeed their child until the age of two (or older). Conner is very special to me but having to continue breastfeeding is hard on me, especially since we will be traveling for for the holidays. The bond between us was a rocky start but God gave me a blessing later on with not having to use a shield. Thank you Lord for your amazing design on how children get their daily needs. May they always be bless with Your love.
After not having to breastfeed for about 2 weeks, my milk supply became really full. I felt sore in places where it's hard for me to sleep. I was wondering when will it ever go away. Eventually, I stop leaking and it was less sore. This is a very new experience for me. It was weird not having Conner to come & do his regular feeding. Yes, there are times when I miss it but boy! I was happy to say "I'm free!!" don't get upset over this. This was my choice to wean iff at this age. I congrats to those who continues to breastfeed their child until the age of two (or older). Conner is very special to me but having to continue breastfeeding is hard on me, especially since we will be traveling for for the holidays. The bond between us was a rocky start but God gave me a blessing later on with not having to use a shield. Thank you Lord for your amazing design on how children get their daily needs. May they always be bless with Your love.
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Secret Mission!
Shh! Conner and I are going on a surprise trip to Michigan in 8 hours! The girls, my niece and nephew (my other nephew, Carter, knows because it's a good secret for him to keep) doesn't know yet. I had found a really good deal on a one-way ticket to flight to the beautiful state of Michigan. So, my husband and I decided that it's a great idea for Conner and I to go visit my in-laws longer than one week. They just had moved into a huge farmhouse with 8 bedroom house with my sister-in-law's family. It's gonna be an awesome time helping them paint and getting settle in. Plus, everyone will get a chance to spend some quality time with Conner. This will be his 2nd trip to Michigan. I think he will be spoiled! Please pray for us as we fly...I'm a little nervous about traveling without a help from my husband. Oh man...I already miss Brian! Don't worry people, he will drive up on the 16th after he gets off work. Christmas in Michigan? I think so! Thank you Lord for your provisions! =)
Friday, December 2, 2011
Christmas Decorations
Last Saturday was the day we did our Christmas decorations. We decided to go with a big tree instead of doing a little tree set on a table. I really like Christmas decorations and I wanted my living room to be inspired instead of having a small tree on a table. Silly me! Even though, I won't be here for most of December, my hubby wanted me to be happy. I love him!!
Well, I don't think that was a really good idea considering we have an active toddler, a cat & a dog. My dog was fine unless the cat bother it. Conner touched the tree 2 or 3 times before he decided that the tree was too pricky for his little hands. He loved the color ornament balls. So we kept having to raise them up to keep out of reach. While that helps, my cat decided he wanted a new climbing toy. Grr! I would often hear jingling sounds in the background. Then I'll know that my cat is in the tree. I guess something about the tree made him very adventurous to climb than he usually is. This is the only tree that he ever climbed in his 2 years of life...and its fake. Come on! Some of the ornament balls fell off which gave Conner a sneaky chance to grab the most shiny ball that he could find. A glitter ball. He tried to lick it. I end up having a very pretty, glittery, cute blue eyed boy! At the end, my tree looks really funny with half of its decorations on the upper part of the tree. Oh well, tis the season to be jolly! Fa la la la! =)
I hope you will have a great start to 25 days of Christmas. While you're checking your list, enjoy this comic!
Well, I don't think that was a really good idea considering we have an active toddler, a cat & a dog. My dog was fine unless the cat bother it. Conner touched the tree 2 or 3 times before he decided that the tree was too pricky for his little hands. He loved the color ornament balls. So we kept having to raise them up to keep out of reach. While that helps, my cat decided he wanted a new climbing toy. Grr! I would often hear jingling sounds in the background. Then I'll know that my cat is in the tree. I guess something about the tree made him very adventurous to climb than he usually is. This is the only tree that he ever climbed in his 2 years of life...and its fake. Come on! Some of the ornament balls fell off which gave Conner a sneaky chance to grab the most shiny ball that he could find. A glitter ball. He tried to lick it. I end up having a very pretty, glittery, cute blue eyed boy! At the end, my tree looks really funny with half of its decorations on the upper part of the tree. Oh well, tis the season to be jolly! Fa la la la! =)
I hope you will have a great start to 25 days of Christmas. While you're checking your list, enjoy this comic!
Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving day with my extended family was fun! I mad amazing artichoke dip and pumpkin-pecan cheesecake. Boy! I'm sure I have gained a pound or two! We even had so much food leftover. Yay more happy food! Conner and my niece, Amira, were having so much fun hanging out together. I think Conner has finally reach to the point where he would socialize with his cousin.
After our thanksgiving dinner, I took my cousin, Summer, to the movies & see the latest Twilight movie. Then we went to Krispy Kreme for some awesome donuts! It was so weird to see empty parking lots at the mall and the stores. It wasn't until we left KK...boy! The traffic blocked everywhere up fast with black Friday shoppers. I'm so glad we got out just in time before we were stuck!
Guess what? I'm going to be an aunt again!! The baby is due sometimes in May. Amira is going to be such a wonderful big sister. She wanted to name the baby Diego after her favorite t.v. show "Go Diego Go!" haha poor baby!
Day after Thanksgiving is a 2nd thanksgiving for my parents, my brother & his family and my family. It was great catching up with each other. We all have been so busy with our daily lives. My brother's family still travels to different states for deputation. Dad is still busy at his print shop while my mom enjoys her new job at the daycare. It's kinda sad to see her being so busy because I love talking with her on skype every day. Zachary is still busy as ever at college. He is already a part of a play and is in some music instrument concert. We actually got to skype with him while we were at my parents' house. Conner and Amira sat in a big chair & watched the computer screen of their uncle Zach. It was funny to see them stare at Zach.
Overall, it was great having my husband home on break and enjoy the holidays together! I'm loving it!
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