Behold the Cuteness, part 5

Here's our big boy...14 weeks old!

Laughing at mommy

Grinning at mommy

Finding his hand...

...and then his thumb...

Oh, how he loves the thumb!...

...and his Daddy!

One more thing...

I forgot to tell you that Sweet Baby James turned Three Months Old last Tuesday (he's almost 14 weeks!). I have pictures to post, but I need to upload them first. So may I just say that his hugeness continues...the boy is 14 pounds, 9 ounces and 25 inches long! But he is so snuggly and sweet, every inch, and I am so grateful to have this little joy bubble, especially at Christmas time.

Week in Review

Last time I posted, it was Family Night. That was a fun night! This week was Addie's first week of pre-school and she is loving it. She gets to eat breakfast and lunch at school and gets out at 1pm, so it's a big leap from the 2-hour pre-school she is used to. But like I said, she is enjoying it a lot, and Heidi loves having mommy and daddy to herself a bit, too (mommy while James naps, Daddy at lunchtime). This schedule also allows me to get a lot done, too, since James takes a nap right about when Addie gets home, so Addie and I have about an hour of computer time then we go feed James around 2pm and we lay down and read stories or watch a kid show before starting dinner and afternoon clean-up. So far, so good.

Also, this week I found out that I will have a new niece this spring! My sister, Sara, is having a baby girl (third child, first girl). Of course, it will be ages before I get to see her since Sara lives in Michigan, but I am still excited! So my cousin Lacy, my friend Mary, my sister Sara, and possibly my cousin Kate are all having baby girls pretty soon. Good times!

We also had our Relief Society Christmas Luncheon on Saturday for which Jenn & I decorated a table. The table turned out really cool on a really slim budget (almost everything was made from paper or ribbon, with a tower of beautifully-wrapped and tied gifts as the centerpiece), and the luncheon was so nice. We did a readers' theatre of the Women in Christ's life, and it was really nice. I sang Mary's Lullaby (the Easter Pageant version) and I totally started crying while I was singing! I choked out the words, but I was so embarrassed! I guess the emotion of having a baby son at Christmas time really got to me! But it all turned out alright. I'll have a chance to redeem myself when I sing it in sacrament meeting on Christmas Eve (which will probably be WORSE!).

We are having so much fun with the girls! They are just WIRED for Christmas. They got to see Santa again, this time at the bank during the Livingston Christmas Stroll (it was warm enough to actually stroll this year). After cruising around downtown on Friday night, we picked up Anna, our new favorite babysitter, and Rich and I went to Bozeman to finish Santa shopping. We got everything for the kids except the small Cars character cars that Addie wants. We are so bummed! We have missed three truckloads of them at both Walmart and Target. We wanted to get her Lightning McQueen, Mater, Doc, & Sally as stocking stuffers (they are small and only about $3) so she and Heidi can play Cars together (they already do, but McQueen is an old red Matchbox Corvette and Mater is a GI Joe Jeep with a tow cable on the back from a Happy Meal).

I wanted to keep track of the funny things they do to the nativity set downstairs, but this year all that has happened is Baby Jesus and the shepherd have disappeared. I am hoping to find them in the toy box when I clean it out this week (to donate and make room for new stuff, of course).

Last night we took some fun pictures of Rich's sister, Angie, and her family (they live across the street). They brought over an antique sled that belongs to Davy's mom and the pictures turned out pretty cool.

So that's about all I have to update. I gotta go finish up my Christmas stuff--my deadline is Wednesday, and then it's smooth sailin'--just hanging' out with my kids, baking, etc. Good times, y'all.

Fotos of the Grays

This is my brother-in-law, Davy, my sister-in-law, Angie, and my nephew and niece, Danny and Rosalie. We took these in our living room last night and I think they are PRECIOUS!

Saturday: Holiday Fun

On Saturday we attended both the December Farmer's Market AND the Holiday Bazaar at the fairgrounds. My Crafty Friend, Jen Claar, had a candy booth at the Bazaar. We bought these Smoremen for the girls... They loved them!

Addie with Santa at the fairgrounds...
...She asked him for a Fur Real Chimp.
Heidi with Santa at teh fairgrounds...first she said, "You come my house? You want cookies?"
...then she said, "Santa, are you happy to meet me?" He laughed, and when he asked her what she wanted for Christmas, she said, "Cookies." (which is a total lie because the only thing she does with cookies is crumble them up and eat any chocolate bits she might find, or lick off the icing).

Melin Family 2006

Monday: Family Night

After a ham & potato dinner, we enjoyed a replay of the First Presidency Devotional and decorated our tree with Gram & Gramp Melin.Addie
Heidi
The girls with Grandma
Me handing out ornaments
Grandpa & James (Pete & Repeat) watch the devotional...Grandpa kept asking James is he's excited to drive the ranch truck...so cute!

Christmas at Our House

M wanted to see what we do around here for Christmas... Our Tree
The top of the Living Room entertainment center

I love this Holy Family (the set was a gift from my in-laws on our first Christmas--very thoughtful!)
We try to read a Christmas Story each day in December
We have several advent calendars going, but this vintage Santa is probably my favorite.

Gentle Geniuses & NY Dolls

Back in October, I mentioned that I had bought the DVD of New York Doll. I hadn't seen it, but had heard some rave rviews (like THIS one), and I enjoyed it. It kind of made me sad, though. Although the story is much like a fairytale with a combination joyful-and-tragic ending, the thing I kept wondering throughout is why genius of any sort is so often accompanied by mental illness (to at least some degree, whether it's manic-depression or schizophrenia or some other affliction).

When I was a little girl, I learned about Vincent Van Gogh and his art, letters, and biography were etched into my heart. Maybe I was always a little bit over-empathetic, but I just felt so sad that he felt so alone and so unloved. And he made beautiful, captivating pictures I loved (and still love). When I figured out that the Don McLean song was about my beloved Vincent, it was one of the first cassette tapes I bought with my own money when I was about eleven.

I grew up and was still drawn to gentle geniuses. Or troubled geniuses, as I called them in a recent journal. I was terribly attracted to intelligence and talent, which was often accompanied by the drama of chemical imbalances. Almost all of the boys I loved before Rich (and many girl friends) fall into this category. One of them, my dear friend Kevin, even took his life after a long, long struggle and after making a long, long string of beautiful things like music, drawings, poetry, prose, and lots of good friends who could never reach his heart.

I am sure this has been studied and there is some medical explanation, but I can't wait to talk to God and figure out how that fits into the Big Picture. Like, why?--is it just a matter of fairness? If you're going to be excellent at this and this, you will also get this "Achilles' heel" of depression (or what ever). Or you're blessed with accute sensitivity, which will allow you to create amazing things, but will also allow you to be irreversibly stung by the meanness of The World. Is that how it all went down? I'm just curious.

Anyway, I enjoyed the movie (and I loved the extra clip of David Johansen singing "Come, Come Ye Saints," probably the most beloved Mormon hymn ever. Classic). And I liked being reminded of all the gentle geniuses that have graced my life, and remembering Kevin for a moment.

Now I understand

What you tried to say to me

How you suffered for your sanity

How you tried to set them free

They would not listen they did not know how

Perhaps they'll listen now

For they could not love you

But still your love was true

And when no hope was left inside

On that starry, starry night

You took your life as lovers often do

But I could have told you, Vincent,

This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you.

-Don McLean (full lyrics here)

And yet another batch...

On Friday, 11/24, we went in to Minot and visited the Scandinavian Heritage Village. This beautiful church is only 6 years old--the woodowork is stunning!
Here are the kids with the giant Dala Horse
This little house was built in Norway, then shipped over to North Dakota and re-assembled. It looks like a house from a fairytale!
Addie, TJay, Heidi, & Summer (I forgot Heidi's coat and the temperature dropped about 50 degrees while we were in ND, so she borrowed TJay's--bad mommy!)

The Last of the Thanksgiving Pictures

We arrived in Minot on Wednesday night and didn't even have to wear coats--I would guess it was in the high 40's, but windy. ON thanksgiving morning, the temperatures had dropped to the teens. It was then I realized that I had not packed the girls' winter coats--just fleece jackets. So by noon, they were stir-crazy, so Kelli suggested we walk down to the playground with the kids, and my kids had to borrow coats.Addie, TJay, & Heidi
Heidi running away, faceless TJay, and Addie leaving the playground after a brisk 10-minute romp.
James in his Indian hat
Matthew in his Indian hat
Kelli's fabulous TG feast.