Delayna's Blessing

Today was Delayna's Blessing Day. The Hermiston crowd plus Nick came for the weekend and filled up the pew for us at church. She's been a little cranky so we were worried that she'd cry through the entire blessing, but she didn't make a peep, at least from the head end. Of course she was the first baby I've ever seen who was blessed face down and holding Grandpa's hand. We did have to wisk her away for a diper change immediately afterward. Here's a few pictures of the cutie on her special day.

The Reading of the Top Eleven

"It's got to be a gift certificate."

Christmas Morning

Excitment is in the air. Santa rocks this year. A talking parrot and a Wii top the list of way cool gifts. Mom and Dad are seriously wondering if Santa was off his rocker. The parrot is fun, but talks and talks and sings. And the Wii, I don't think we'll ever get Braydon to quit playing. Delayna loved Christmas morning and was smiling like crazy, well until we tried to take a picture. Braydon was busy trying to play the Wii while we were shooting, Abby was worried about the parrot, and Cailah was doing what she does every day, just focusing on Delayna. We took about 20 pictures and not one has even three of the four looking at us. I suppose random snapshots would have been much more effective.

It was a very fun Christmas, with thoughtful gifts and fun times being together. I was suprised at the lack of fighting and the fun we had all day. Mike and I even got a nap. Yeahhhh. We had yummy Belgian waffles (thanks Grammy and Gramps) and left over Christmas Eve dinner to complement the sugar laden treats we ate all day. Merry Christmas.

The First Gifts of Christmas

A great Christmas Eve, if not a somewhat quiet one at our house. It was Delayna's very last dose of antibiotic and nebulizer treatment. Whoo Hoo. We're so glad she is getting better, and the rest of us too.

Mike made an excellent dinner for us of pork tenderloin, mashed potatoes, a veggie tray, peas and sauteed mushrooms. It really was good, and I didn't have to do anything except take care of Delayna. He even cleaned up afterward. What a gift!

After much excitement and "is it time yets" it was time to open the first gifts of Christmas. Christmas Eve was made complete by the ripping of wrapping paper and brand new jammies and robes for the kids. Delayna also had new jammies courtesy of Grandma Bell, but she was not available for pictures at the right time. Happily the kids were in bed and asleep at a reasonable hour, and slept until 6:45 am. I think we should have started staying home a few years ago. We all get more sleep and are more fun during the day without those big bad uncles waking us up at ridiculous hours of the morning. :0)

Important Sibling Responsibilites

I love listening to children's converstaions. They are facinating. Yesterday I was giving Delayna a bath, with Braydon and Cailah backseat bathing. They started discussing the important things that they, as older siblings, needed to teach her. After much negotiation, necessitated by the fact that they both thought they should be in charge, the responsibilites were assigned. Braydon will be teaching her the much sought after skill of rock climbing. And Cailah was granted the priviledge of teaching her to go potty on the toilet, with some help from Braydon. Phew. I was hoping for someone else to be incharge of that one. Whoo Hoo. I wonder if they know it means they are also in charge of cleaning up the accidents. :0)

Oh Crap Moment of the Day

Were you aware that dialing 911 at anytime while attempting to make a phone call results in reaching emergency services? I does. We found out today.

This morning, while I was feeding Delayna, Braydon and Cailah got Abby's address book and were attempting to call Gunnar with important Jet Force Gemini business. They were working together to dial when I hear "Cailah, you dialed 9-1-1." In her defence Gunnar's phone number is 1-921. . . So she missed the two and got the one. They hung up before anyone got on the line and I'm sitting there hoping they hung up before the call went through. We were headed out to Costco as soon as Delayna finished eating so I got the kids ready and thought I'd better hang out for a few minutes to make sure the police didn't show up. I could imagine them breaking down the door and news of an abducted family reaching Mike in Twin Falls not to mention all the friends and neighbors. Sure enough, just as I was clicking the buckle on D's carseat there was a knock at the door. A very serious police officer was standing at the door saying, "We had a 9-1-1 call from this number." I explained what had happened and everything was fine but before I knew it he was saying that in Nampa they have protocols that have to be followed and before I had time to move out of the way he was coming in the house.

OK. My house is not normally neat and tidy, but it is beyond messy today. You have to remember that Delyana has been sick for a week, during which time Braydon had the stomach flu and Mike was in bed with the flu for three days. I've been working on about 4 hours of sleep a night and the house was a DISASTER. Every room except Braydon's was a mess. And I mean every room. There were clothes on the floor of the bathrooms. Undone dished in the kitchen. School work cluttering the dining room not to mention the cracker crumbs from the Ritz the kids had eaten. Well I'm not sure the actually eat any I think they mostly just crumble them on the floor. There was folded laundry waiting to be put away in the living room and let's not even discuss the basement which is where the kids have entertained themselves for the past week while I've been taking care of Delayna.

So protocal means they have to go through EVERY room in the house. AHHHHHHH. He says you can come with me if you want and I'm thinking no way am I going to walk around this disaster with you. I just said "I trust you." And finished getting Delayna ready to go out. Halfway through searching the upstairs he says "this is a big house." Yeah, no kidding. It's taking you FOREVER to get out of here and I don't think I've ever been this embarrassed. OK maybe the piano recital was more embarrassing.

Anyway, for our safety I'm happy to know the 9-1-1 system works so well and that if I'm every being held hostage the police will search throughout the house for me. I'm hoping next time someone accidentally dials it the house is looking much better.

Over and Out

Al

Delayna's One Month Old

Here's the one month pictures, and yes I forgot to add the stuffed animal.

Delayna

For those who have difficulty downloading and viewing pictures from e-mail I've posted a few of our favorite Delayna pictures. This is Delayna and I enjoying our first night together. We don't look quite this happy at night anymore :0)

Here's Delayna one day old and just getting home and sporting her very cute coming home outfit.

This is Cailah's favorite thing to do for the last month. She always wants to hold Delayna and it is perfectly ok with her to hold her if she's happy, sleeping or screaming. Whatever as long as she gets to have her all is well.

Welcome

Ashlee and Doug have inspired me to start a blog. It sounds easier than a webpage so maybe I'll keep it up. :0) This week we had a picture taking session for our Christmas cards. Here's some that didn't make the cut. Alyson