Christmas Eve

I don't really have pictures to share today but I still wanted to post a Christmas Eve post. I promise a flood of Christmas pictures later!

Everything has been pretty normal here in the Menkhaus household. Felicity is at that age where she is learning to interact with others and to entertain herself. It is weird to imagine not being pregnant and having two little ones that are not super needy newborns anymore! In fact, not being pregnant after almost 2 years straight of pregnancy, has been really weird at times. I still even get phantom movements that I feel. So strange.

Yesterday I started making our Christmas cookies, and today I have to do all our wrapping. Poor Benedict and Felicity are on a terrible sleep schedule! We have been keeping them out late ( I have to go out in the evenings now since we only have one car) these past few weeks since going to Alabama and now they don't want to go to bed until at least 10pm and they sleep until past 9am in the morning. On days like today where I am not babysitting, it is nice to get to sleep in but I know getting them back into a normal schedule is going to be hard.

Ben used to be my easy sleeper. You would tell him it was time for bed and he would go run and find his binky and blanket and then run around giving kisses before heading upstairs. Once upstairs we said prayers , turned on his glowing seahorse, and he was off to sleep. Now...he still gets his blanket and binky but he doesn't go to sleep. He screams and cries in his crib and it sounds so pitiful. I try to rock him but his little body is just on a different schedule and he isn't tired.

Last night, I announced it was bedtime at 10pm and Ben went through his routine, but instead of going upstairs, he climbed up onto the couch with his cup, blanket, and binky and snuggled into the pillows pointing at the couch while looking at us and nodding his head. That was a first! He wanted to just snuggle on the couch. It was so cute and we didn't have to get up early so I gave in. We all sat down and watched a movie together.Half way through I took him upstairs and he went to sleep without a fuss.

Hopefully this staying up late schedule will actually be a blessing since we hope to make it to midnight mass tonight. We shall see!

Speaking of Midnight Mass, I can't believe it is Christmas Eve. I feel like Advent just flew by this year! his whole year seems like a blur! So many great things happened this year, the most important being the birth of Felicity. I guess  I will have to ponder a year in review post for later.

I remember how exciting Christmas Eve was as a child. You waited expectantly for Christmas morning. Now, I understand that there is the danger of spoiling your kids on Christmas morning...but when I remember being a kid...I never felt spoiled. Obviously, I didn't think about it, but looking back...I always loved Christmas morning and I appreciated all the gifts I was given. It was just a special holiday. I loved setting up the tree and going to  look at the lights in the neighborhood. I remember driving to Grandma Bakers house in the snow a couple of years while listening to Christmas music. I knew it was the birthday of the baby Jesus, and I love it all. I hope my kids feel the same.

Well, it is Christmas Eve and that means I have cookie to bake, present to wrap, and babies to dress. I hope everyone has a  wonderful and blessed Christmas. Remember to celebrate the entire season and not just Christmas day!

Oh! And they say we won't have a White Christmas...but it is snowing right now!

Happenings, Snow, and Christmas Trees

So I finally have time to sit down and write a decent post today!

Life has been non stop for whatever reason since we came home from Thanksgiving. I guess it is because as soon as we got home both kids and Matt were sick with a cold. The babies only had a mild version but Matt had to take some time off work to get over it. Thankfully we are almost over it all now.

Last Friday Ben went in to have tubes put in his ears. We had a super early appointment and were able to get home right before the snow started. He did a great job! He handled everything without one complaint or cry. The doctors and nurses were very impressed. He was a little wobbly and sore at home after the surgery but otherwise he has been doing great. Hopefully we will see good results for him in the future. He already seems to be picking up on more words, but maybe I am just looking for changes.

After we got home on Friday the snow started and it didn't let up the entire day. We got at least 5 or 6 inches. It was beautiful and Ben loved seeing it. It is the first real snowfall he has ever seen and could enjoy.  Since Matt had taken off work for Ben's surgery we were all at home and could enjoy just watching it fall and staying warm inside.

While we are on our trip to Alabama the heat in our car stopped working. It was a major problem due to the fact that it is cold and the windshield kept freezing over while we were driving. It made it almost impossible to drive. We worried about it and checked into how much it would be if we needed to replace the radiator fan as someone suggested might be the problem. The mechanic said it would be around $500.00. That would really have been a major set back for us due to Christmas and everything else we are working on paying. So we thought about getting a portable defroster but couldn't find any in our area on short notice. Finally we started googling the problem and came across a few suggestions to check the blower resistor and the radiator fluid. It turns out that the blower resistor is a super easy fix. We called the mechanic and they wanted to charge $179. We decided to do it ourselves. You basically pull down the glove box and it is right there in front.It took less then 10 minutes to change it out and cost only $20.00 for the part. We were skeptical it would work, but low and behold the heat is now running better than ever!! Thank you Lord!! We were so happy we decided to do it ourselves!

After we fixed the heat and could drive safely we headed up to the Christmas tree farm to get our tree. It was fun to go in the snow! We pulled Ben around in the sled and he loved it! The babies got their picture with Santa too. Ben was completely freaked out but Felicity couldn't have looked more comfortable sitting on his lap. We are not going to be telling our kids the whole " Santa is real" thing but we still think it is fun to get the yearly picture. To them it will be a make believe story very loosely based on the real St.Nicholas.

Ben eating his cookie while waiting in line for Santa.

Ben was horrified and Felicity had no fear.

Looking for a tree.

Cutting down the tree.

Pulling the tree to  the drop-off

He had fun in the sled.

 

Thanksgiving and more

So our internet is finally fixed and I can get back on here to add pictures!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving in Alabama this past weekend. I have more pictures but here are a few for now!

My sister started the tradition of decorating Ginger Bread houses after dinner. Ben was tired but he enjoyed it I think.

Ben's first Ginger bread house

 

Menkhaus Family ( with Maggie) enjoying an after dinner bonfire.

It was cold but the fire got really hot.

 

                                     



Felicity and PePaw

 

 

Right before we went to Alabama Ben got his first heircut. I was a little worried he wouldn't sit still but he did great!

 

Playing on the slide after his haircut.

Lol, Felicity loves food and I had to share this random pic of her eating squash.

The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies Ever!

Okay, I have been in search of the best Chocolate Chip cookie recipe out there and I finally found one I really like alot! They are big ,soft and chewy in the middle, and just perfect. I have made them twice and both times they came out perfect! I wanted to share it here.  I wish I had taken a picture but I was running around trying to take care of the babies in between making them.

Giant Chewy Chocolate Chip cookies

 

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg yolk

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

 

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets or line with parchment paper.
2. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.
3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and white sugar until well blended. Beat in the vanilla, egg, and egg yolk until light and creamy. Mix in the sifted ingredients until just blended. Stir in the chocolate chips by hand using a wooden spoon. Drop cookie dough 1/4 cup at a time onto the prepared cookie sheets. Cookies should be about 3 inches apart.
4. Bake for 15 to 17 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the edges are lightly toasted. Cool on baking sheets for a few minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

I have found the secret to cookies it taking them out of the oven right before they look done and letting them cool on the sheet. It makes a world of difference! Enjoy!

How Do You Eat Your Oreo?

Ben had his first Oreo cookie yesterday as a reward for eating all his dinner. I gave it to him joking with Matt about how is he going to eat his Oreo.  Like the commercials... some people eat it whole, some people twist and lick out the filling, etc. I fully expected Ben to just bite into it or shove it all in whole and eat it like he eats everything else.

Well...

 

 

He is a twist a lick kind of guy! Who would have thought! I was surprised!

 

 

 There isn't a lot going on here these days. We are excited about Thanksgiving next week! We are headed down to Alabama for the long weekend. It has been awhile since we have been down so we are really looking forward to it. I just hope the babies will do alright on the long car ride.

 

 

 Benedict is currently having a conniption fit because he can't get the little board books back in the box they came and it has been driving him crazy all morning. He gets so frustrated! He has very little patience with things. He has also gotten very loud . I have been trying to teach him to take it down a notch but how do you make a one year old be quieter? If anyone has ideas let me know!

 

 Ben loves the evening time after dinner when daddy is home to play with him. His favorite games right now are looking at the little people animals and learning what noise they make. He seems to know quite a few because I find him holding an animal and making it's noise when he thinks I am not listening.

 



He loves this time with daddy!
 

 

Felicity is growing through a growth spurt ! She is learning to be more content and not cry all the time. She now enjoy baths ( which she used to hate) and I have found they help her be more calm in the evening. She is still extremely attached to me, but she spends a lot more time watching her brother and jumping in the Jumperoo on her own now . I look forward to that day when she can play with Ben too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It is Friday Again

This week has slipped by so quickly and I have not had a chance to write a post. We have been doing a lot of nothing it seems.  The days fly by so quickly! Anyway, here are some pictures from our week and I promise to try and get back to posting at least a few times a week!

Nope he isn't trick or treating. He has to collect leaves every time we go for a walk so we grabbed the "pumpkin" bucket. Otherwise I have to wait while he tries to carry them all in his hands.

Ben playing storytime with the babies

Yep

Yesterday we went to the Children's Museum. Ben had a GREAT time playing with all the exhibits.

Snap Shot Friday Again

Alright it is Friday again! Here is a few shots from the week.

She rolled herself up and it was a perfect photo.

Jumping into his ball pit

She loved it!

 

Have a great weekend!