You Sleigh Me

On Christmas Eve, we go to my grandparents' house in Phoenix. While there, we act out the nativity. I got coerced into being Mary since I am pregnant. My nephew Keaton was Baby Jesus. He wasn't really interested in sitting on my lap so Angel Alex decided to take his place. 

Alex was kind of confused on Christmas morning. I don't think he understood why we got out of bed so willingly when he woke us up. He quickly adjusted to the excitement when he saw yogurt covered raisins and we had a hyper little boy after that.

Alex was not as interested in unwrapping the presents as he was in playing with everything that had already been unwrapped. Once it was unwrapped though, he was bouncing from one thing to the next! He had to play with everything at the same time.

He was trying to use his new straw sippy cup just like his old ones which had to be tipped. He gets it sometimes but we are still working on this. The puzzle was one of his favorite toys but he didn't play with it nearly as much as he played with Keaton's new dump truck! Alex practically inhaled my pomegranates. I didn't expect him to like them but I was so happy to see that he did.

Alex (Sam) got me a new handheld mirror to replace the one Alex broke. I got Sam a new 9 iron to replace the one he broke. Michelle gave me a Pack 'n Play. I was so happy. I was incredibly surprised because I didn't think I would actually get it! Alex took his next nap in it and has been sleeping in it since! Sam's family has a tradition where they wrap little cereal boxes and you get to unwrap one and eat it for breakfast. You just don't know which kind of cereal you are going to get; some of them are not as good as others. Sam got Honey Nut Cheerios and he felt gipped. Apparently Honey Nut Cheerios are boring. He was envious of the people who got more exciting cereals but he was still glad he didn't get plain Cheerios (so sorry, Matthew).

After we finished opening presents, we got to call my brother who is on his mission in Ukraine. Alex got to talk to him for a few minutes, too!

Flannel sent home ties for all of the boys. The Neil boys got Ukraine ties and the in-laws got Russia ties with the hammer and sickle on them. There were a lot of questions at church about why the boys were matching and what the ties meant.

A Vegas Wedding

My cousin Chelsey got married in the Las Vegas LDS Temple. It worked out really well that we were already on this side of the country. I had only met Nate a few times but he seems like a nice guy and they are a cute couple. The wedding reception was beautiful. I did not feel like I was in a cultural hall at all. It was the most amazing reception I can ever remember attending. They thought of everything; they had a little corner with games and coloring pages for kids along with kid foods like mac and cheese and jello. Brilliant! I will probably be missing a cousin's wedding soon because we'll have a new baby around the same time as the date, so I was really glad we were able to go to Chelsey and Nate's wedding.

The Drive

We decided to drive to Arizona in order to save money. I think it is interesting that I was 25 weeks pregnant while we made this drive because I was 25 weeks pregnant when we moved to Akron and made the drive from Utah to Ohio. We started the drive from Ithaca on Sunday (12.12.10) around 10:30am and drove the seven hours to Columbus, Ohio to spend the night with Sam's family. Sam drove that whole day. It was nice to start out with a short drive and have a place to stop and rest. We stayed up too late that night but we planned our route for the rest of the trip. The weather in Columbus was the worst out of the entire drive. It was snowing and the roads were not plowed. As soon as we crossed into Kentucky, the roads were clear.

On the second day, I drove the entire day. In Kentucky, we stopped at a grocery store to find Ale-8-One. Sam learned about this product in school and he was excited to try it. He loves it. We looked for a KFC in Kentucky and did not see a single one even though we were in Kentucky for a few hours. So we stopped for dinner in Tennessee. After that, we took a 30 minute detour to Mississippi because Sam had never been there. It was about 14 hours of driving before I pulled over in Texas to take a nap on the side of the road for one hour. Alex slept through the night (and even slept a few extra hours) in his carseat. Sam took over and drove for one hour and then we were back on the side of the road in Texas where we slept for one more hour.

After our two hours of sleeping, I started driving again. I drove from the middle of Texas to our final destination. We got to Mesa around 5:30pm Arizona time. The last hour was pretty miserable and Alex was ready to get out but we weren't going to stop until we got to Mesa!

Alex was the best of all of us on this trip. I was tired, Sam was tired, and Alex was happy and playing in his carseat. When we would let him out of his carseat, he would dance and sprint all over the place but then we would put him back in and he would just deal with it. We did not have any music or movies playing. I forgot to bring him books and I only had one little toy car for him. He was telling us stories the whole time and it was so fun to play with him. He would fall asleep at his normal nap time and bed time. It was incredible. We only bought food twice and the other meals were things I had brought from home. I was so glad we were able to make it without getting a hotel. I am pretty cheap.

You may not be able to tell who is growling, but Alex now makes this hilarious sound. It cracks us up.

Merry Christmas

Recently, I have heard multiple people say that they hate Christmas because of how commercialized it has become. On the other side of the argument, a lady pointed out that she would rather have people talk about Christmas, even if for the wrong reasons, than ignore the holiday altogether. Since I heard that I have been thinking a lot about the focus of this time of year. I definitely get caught up in the commercialized Christmas but I have also found moments to ponder of the birth of my Savior and His incredible life and mission.

This Christmas has been a beautiful time for me to get to know Sam better. Through our trials (which seem hard now but I am sure I will scoff at the ridiculousness of them one day) we have become a stronger couple. I am learning to trust other people and rely on them. Sometimes I feel like I missed out on some major life lessons. Usually I am okay and I can depend on Sam's expertise. There are other times when Sam missed out on the same life lessons. It sure is miserable to learn them simultaneously. But we are learning and hopefully will be better for it.

We enjoyed the tree, lights, and gifts this season; but I am especially grateful for the time with family. The little graduate school bubble can become intoxicating. The perspective readjustment has been a great gift. My mindset has changed immensely since I have become a mother. During this Christmas season, I am grateful for the faith of Mary, the birth of her sweet boy, and the love, example, and forgiveness of Jesus Christ.

Mary, did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Mary did you know that your baby boy will one day rule the nations?

Did you know that your baby boy is heaven's perfect Lamb?

This sleeping child you're holding is the Great I Am.

Skaneateles

We visited Skaneateles for the annual Charles Dickens Festival again this year. The weather was much better this time. It was so beautiful and I considered taking off my coat, except I didn't want to have to carry it around. We got to sing with characters from Dickens' A Christmas Carol, talk with Father Christmas, go on a hayride around the city, listen to Mama Goose tell us her tales, and watch a very cheesy magic show. It was a fun day and I am glad we found time to go before leaving for Arizona. It really helped us get into the Christmas season and we always like spending time together.

December in Ithaca

Before we left Ithaca, we had a few celebrations with friends. The Graduate Student Association (GSA) had a few activities. We went to a Christmas party late one night. Our friends who live in our building listened to a baby monitor that was in Alex's room. Is that legal? It worked really well and we were so glad we were able to go and visit with Sam's school friends.

Sheranians and Merkleys

I had to be to our ward Christmas party an hour early to set up so Sam and Alex went to the GSA bowling night. I sent the camera with Sam and put him in charge of taking pictures. This is the one picture he came back with.

Our ward Christmas party was really fun. The food was delicious. It was nice to see everyone one last time before everyone took off for Christmas.

We have two good friends (whose husbands are also in Sam's program) who graduated and moved away from Ithaca. We were so sad to see them go so some girls went out to ice cream a few nights before they moved away. We went and kidnapped Melissa and then went over to visit Amy later. Amy wasn't able to come out to ice cream because her husband was out of town so she had to stay home with her kids. These girls are such good friends and I am going to miss them so much next semester.

Melissa, Emily, & Amy; Rachel, Trina, Melissa, & Emily

Alex, Sam, and Dave; Amy and Piper

Cornucopia Week

We spent Thanksgiving in Columbus with Sam's sisters and their families. It was amazing to have a few days with Sam. Although he had lots of homework to do, it was still really nice that he was around instead of being off working somewhere else. We drove to Columbus on Tuesday (November 23rd) and drove back to Ithaca on Sunday (November 28th).

Ohio State has a tradition where students jump into Mirror Lake on campus before the Ohio State vs. Michigan game. Sam and Spencer (brother-in-law) went to watch the insanity. There were thousands of people there and it was freezing cold. There are some crazy people out there!

We found some pomegranates on sale for cheaper than they were in Ithaca so we bought two. They were delicious and I practically inhaled mine (and part of Sam's).

There were some problems with the kitchen sink as we were preparing Thanksgiving dinner. I thought it was a little funny since the same thing happened to our sink when the Warnicks came to visit us in Allentown.

Sam got to carve part of the turkey. He had never done that before so it was a big moment for him. Ellie, Anna, and I were very matchy on Thanksgiving.

After dinner we decorated some gingerbread houses. Alex really liked eating all of the candy. The next night, the adults decorated their own gingerbread houses after the kids went to bed.

The day after Thanksgiving we went to the US Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. It was really cool. Alex loves pointing and chasing airplanes in the sky but we do not think he realized that they were also the planes he loves so much.

On Saturday (November 27th) we went to a play area in the mall and the kids got to run around for a little bit. It was perfect to play inside since it was too cold outside. Alex loved playing on this skunk.

Something better

The past few days I have been losing my phone very frequently. Yesterday, I went until dinner time without even noticing that my phone had been on silent all day.

There is a good reason for this. Sam is usually the only person who calls or texts me. And we have been in the same room as each other all day every day for the last five days.

I love Christmas vacation. Arizona is beautiful. I am so happy to spend time together with my little family and my big family.

I just became infinitely cooler.

Last night, as I was drifting off to sleep, I had an epiphany. I can't believe I didn't realize it sooner. I had to wake up Sam so I could tell him how awesome I am. It might be a little confusing to explain. So if you use my nickname for the first part and then my initials of my middle and last name, it is...

Em-N-M.

Wow. I think that just made me so cool. I might need to change my signature to incorporate the awesomeness that is my name.