Weekend Fun

I emphasize weekend because, for the second time this month, the stomach flu has hit the Killion House. Yesterday was Cate, this morning was Chris, and Lizzie just threw up. Tomorrow...well, I have a feeling I will be tomorrow's victim.

On Friday we had Reed and Blake over our house.
I love this picture of Blake! I realize he's on a pink blanket...ours is a house of girls after all! ;)

The older ones requested a silly picture!

But the young ones were serious, of course.


Later that night we joined forces with the Heit's again. This time we drove down to the National Harbor for their Christmas tree lighting and fireworks. SO MUCH FUN!

I had never heard of this place before (thank you Lois for discovering it!) but I know we will go back. It looks like it would be an awesome place to visit in the summer. The best store, besides Charming Charlie's for us ladies, was The Peep Store. We were in heaven!

I didn't know the company that makes Peeps also makes Hot Tamales and Mike 'N' Ikes. There was a lot to see and to taste!



On Saturday night we had our ward Christmas party, Polar Express-themed. The kids came in pajamas and everything was decorated so beautifully.
Lizzie and Cate were not afraid of Santa but as soon as Cate got her candy cane, she was ready to go (as evidenced in the picture).

There was a kid-sized train to ride, so naturally Cate stayed here nearly the entire evening!


All the children received a gingerbread house and Lizzie had a lot of fun decorating (aka eating) it.



Here is Lizzie with her card from Granny and Opa, and the gift she purchased with her $5. She felt very grown up carrying her money in her Dora wallet!



This is for Uncle John: Lizzie's newest favorite place to read books! haha

The Lizzie Birthday Post

"When are you due?"

It was a fairly common question once I hit my third trimester during Fall 2008. Towards the last weeks of the semester, it became a daily question. And when I would reply, "December 12th," eyes would get large as brains realized that particular day was the last day of finals.

"Do you think you'll finish your exams first?!"

I thought so. Well, I knew so. Every night I would tell my belly that patience is the key--let Mom finish her finals, please. And what do you know--that is exactly what Miss Elizabeth did.

Lizzie was born on December 13th, the day after my finals were completed (besides a Span 445 take-home exam). I am writing this and I feel like I could be back at school, taking fifteen credits all while reading and writing my way through the English department.

But THREE years have passed. My BYU experience is over and I received two important things during that time in my life: my degree and most especially, my first daughter!

Lizzie is very much like me. She has my brown hair, my brown eyes, my skin tone. She loves to read books, to play at the beach, and to be friends with everyone. Lizzie is my friend, always wanting to help me cook dinner or to work on a craft. She teaches me to enjoy the moment. I love her so much! Happy Birthday to my Liz!

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On Saturday, Lizzie had her first birthday party with four friends! (We missed you, McKelle!) She had a marvelous time and she was so happy to have friends over to celebrate her special day.
Everything was PINK PINK and more PINK, of course!

Belle had to be part of the cake.

Uncle John had a princess-themed Edible Arrangement sent over--it was a big hit.

Blow out those candles!

Opening her muffin bake set, from friends Sophie and Chloe.

Lizzie and Mia

Chloe loved the balloons!

Kate found a ton of fun things in the toy box.

Cate pinning the crown on the princess (our version of pin the tail on the donkey).

All the girls: Chloe, Sophie, Mia, Lizzie, Kate. Thanks for smiling, Sophie :)


On Sunday we headed over to the Heit's to celebrate Blake's birthday! He's now one year old. Such a cutie :)
Lizzie is still talking about how awesome the car cakes were!

Here's Blake with one of his birthday books

"How much cake can I fit in my mouth at one time?" :)


On Tuesday (Lizzie's actual birthday), we went to IHOP for a birthday breakfast. Lizzie got a Happy Face pancake for the occasion!

If there are pancakes involved, Cate's happy.

After we finished our breakfast, a birthday sundae arrived for Lizzie, complete with singing from the staff of IHOP. It was great!

We had the missionaries over for lunch later that afternoon. Elder Gibb will be heading home to AZ next week and we wanted to have him and his companion over one last time. We will definitely miss him!


Later that night, we had the Heit's and Turman's come over for some more cake and ice cream! (When it's your birthday, you can never have too much cake or ice cream.)

Lizzie got a new Ken from Reed and Blake,

and a Disney Princess art set from Andrew,

and a Jake and the Never Land Pirates DVD from us.

Lizzie now owns a Rapunzel ATV, thanks to her gracious Uncle John. You should've seen her face--she started screaming and jumping up and down with happiness!


Chris is finished with this semester! Onto celebrating Christmas and enjoying the season without school...until January 9th, that is ;)

Good luck with your Christmas shopping--

See you next week!

Finally!

Chris has been on the laptop quite a bit these last few days, in preparation for his final exams. I'm fine with that because I want him to do his best. But I DO miss being able to go to the computer at any time (hehe)! I realized that I better get a move-on and write an update of our week while he is on his way home from exam #1 (Property Law).

Well. Our week was...interesting. We got hit with the stomach flu. Then Lizzie developed the beginnings of strep throat, so she's been on antibiotics for the past four days. Cate began today with a stuffy nose and emitted a few coughs throughout the afternoon so I can only imagine how much worse she'll sound in the morning. Tis the season of sickness! (I wish I were kidding.) Despite our sick selves, we've had a good time decorating the house for Christmas!

Lizzie helped me decorate the tree.

She loved unwrapping the ornaments and hanging them on the branches.

Cate wasn't really interested in helping us until she discovered these little football snowmen (Eagles and Broncos, respectively).

We put all the kid-friendly ornaments towards the bottom of the tree. And yes, they are taken down at least once a day.

Christmas decorations took the place of the autumn ones.

The girls love Baby Jesus!


Granny and Opa sent us a package with Christmas ornaments and color-yourself Grinch plates. Lizzie loved coloring it!




A current favorite: HOOK 'EM HORNS! Lizzie does this all the time!


It wouldn't be a winter week without our trip to the library. I love watching the kids pour over books!



I left my hair dryer/diffuser in NJ and I've been a bit lost without it. I decided to try something new that I saw on pinterest: bantu knots.
Twist wet hair and allow to dry. (We slept in ours.)

Untwist and enjoy!

Lizzie's hair doesn't hold curls very well at all, but these bantu knot curls stayed curly all day. I will for sure do it for Lizzie again!

For me though...not ever again.
I think my issue is my thin hair. I've always had thin hair compared to my sisters, but it's even more thin after two pregnancies. I also made more bantu knots on my hair than on Lizzie's--another mistake. The more knots you make, the tighter the curl.
I had to put a bandana on my hair to flaten it out a bit.

I could not bring myself to take a picture of my hair without a bandana on it. It was honestly that bad.

We made some snowflakes this week too. Lizzie loves all sorts of crafts!



When you have girls, you dress up!

Mom is the horse. "Move faster, Mom!"

No matter how sick they were, these girls couldn't resist a good jump on the bed!


Have a great week :)