Our Christmas in Pictures

Christmas Morning...Santa came!!

The rest of the day was spent playing with Lizette's toys...

Saying goodbye to Aunt Abby yesterday. Lizette loves Aunt Abby!

It snowed last night! Finally we get to play in the snow again!

A Pink Pony and a Jump Rope

Lizette has visited with Santa twice now and has been very clear that she wants a pink pony and a jump rope for Christmas. Santa was very pleased to hear that her request was so nice and simple. However, when Santa went shopping for her jump rope, he found out that finding one might be a more difficult task than he originally thought. Shouldn't every Wal-Mart, Target and Fred Meyer on the planet carry jump ropes? You would think so, but this is not the case. Santa was worried. He found some online, but they were pretty plain. Not the caliber of jump rope he would have hoped for...especially for his sweet little Lizette. She needed a spectacular, pink or purple, very girly and fantastic jump rope.

The other night Santa decided to check out the dollar store. Maybe they would have some that would do. To Santa's delight, they had some that would more than just do. Oh yes. He found the most perfect jump ropes on the planet for Lizette. Disney Princess jump ropes! He almost cried tears of joy! Lizette loves the Disney Princesses almost more than she loves her mom and dad. This was going to be perfect! Belle, Cinderella, Ariel and Tinkerbell (another of Lizette's favorites). Lizette will get four jump ropes. And Santa only had to spend $4!

A Christmas miracle indeed.

Moments to Remember

Lizette received the most wonderful gift in the world the other day. A tutu from Aunt Lora! Two tutus in fact. One is for Lexi to use someday. Lizette puts one or both of them on every day and dances. Here she is pictured with her cousin Katelyn. Tutus make awesome dress up clothes!

Survival for me means being able to put Lexi in the baby carrier so that I can vacuum, do laundry, wrap presents...
Right now, I complain about my back hurting at the end of the day.
Someday, I will look at this picture and miss being able to snuggle with my little baby all day.

Jeff loves his girls. He loves to hold them when they are sleeping. They love it too.

So Much to Blog About!

Wow, have I taken a serious sabbatical from blogging or what? Honestly, these past couple of months have been pretty tough for me. Wonderful, but tough. Bringing Lexi home has been a joy, but it has definitely turned my world upside down and sideways for a while. (Upside down and sideways...is that a common saying? Or did I make that up in my head? Knowing me...probably the latter.)

Anyway, I've been feeling like a total wimp for being so overwhelmed with two kids! I'm around women all the time who have 4...5...6 kids and they seem to handle it just fine. I bring home baby #2 and go into a complete tailspin! Things seem to be getting better and I'm hoping that this was just a brief phase of insanity that goes with caring for a newborn. Someone...please tell me that's what it is! :)

Each day with our little Lexi is an adventure. She has been a little more fussy than what I remember of Lizette at this age. However, this may be due to the fact that she has to be left to cry for longer periods than Lizette ever did being our firstborn and having two parents that were available to pick her up at the first sound of a whimper.

Here is a story all of you mothers can relate to:

The other day at about 4:00, just before Jeff was due to get home, Lexi went into an all out screaming fit. Just as this started, Lizette said "I'm going!!", which means get me to the bathroom now. She has been doing great going potty on her own, so I told her to run to the bathroom and to let me know if she needed help. Two seconds later, I was covered in Lexi's spit up and Lizette was standing in a pool of pea in the bathroom. Two seconds after this discovery, all three of us were crying! Thankfully, after we were all cleaned up, calmed down and back to normal, I was able to laugh about it. I guess these are the things that I'll look back on someday and miss, right?

Well, I don't want to take up this entire blog entry whining about the challenges of motherhood. Some really fun things have happened too. We blessed Lexi two Sundays ago and it was a lovely day. Jeff did a beautiful job and Lexi looked like a little angel. She wore the same dress that Lizette wore, which my sister Abby crocheted. Totally sentimental and beautiful. We used the beautiful crocheted white and pink afghan that Hilary made for us this time! I forgot it when Lizette was blessed and I was so happy to have another opportunity to use it. Thanks Hilary...and sorry we missed using it the first time around.

Here are some pictures of that day:

Beautiful.

This is a typical portrayal of life at our house right now.

Happy family

We also had the annual Rigby family Christmas party at our house that weekend and it was a blast! Tons of kids and pure chaos, but still a lot of fun. We bought a bunch of already prepared food from Costco for the event, which made my life much easier. (By the way, the Pumpkin Streussel muffins from Costco are oh so yummy!) All of the little cousins made ornaments for Grandma and Grandpa Rigby who are on a mission in Houston right now. That was fun and they turned out so cute. The sister-in-laws made a craft, and the boys talked everything from politics to Tiger Woods.

We forgot to take very many pictures of the party, but managed to snap a few:

All the little cousins at dinner time.

Watching the family DVD that Jeff puts together every year.

Other things we have been up to:

Lizette and I at the Festival of Trees

Lizette got to meet Santa and she told him that she wants a jump rope and a pink pony for Christmas. She was a little too scared to sit on his lap, but very excited to meet him!

A sweet smile from Lexi

Well, that's it for now. I'll do more blogging and catching up soon...I hope!

Enjoy the Season!

Hi all! Long time since I've blogged...I know. Most days I don't shower before noon. Life with a newborn is busy to say the least! I wish I was prepared with a ton of cute pictures to post, but I'm not. Just wanted to say 'hi' to my handful of followers and let you know that I'm still alive. :)

I also wanted to tell you all to enjoy this beautiful season. Who doesn't love Christmas? I know we all do, but I hope we can all remember the reason we celebrate this wonderful holiday. The Savior who was born and died for us is at the center of our hearts this time of year. We love Him and honor Him and hope each day to be more like Him. He is a comfort when things are tough and our biggest cheerleader when things are great. Our big brother and best friend. His example reminds us of why it is so important to give to others and love them with all of our hearts.

December is going to be awesome! Enjoy it!

I'll post some pictures in the next few days...I hope.

I'm off to shower while I have a chance!

Jackie