Books

I had to write these two books down before I forgot.

This is Jake's favorite book right now. If you have a boy, try it. He loves it. I picked it up randomly at the library. It combines pirates and dinosaurs. Can't go wrong there.

By Giles Andreae

This is a random pick up from Christmas time. It is funny and clever and had Scott and I cracking up. Jake loved it, too. The author uses these clever rhymes throughout and some adult humor. Read it to yourself before you read it to your kids so you don't lose it half way through.

How Murray Saved Christmas by Mike Reiss

My Sweet Kids

Newborn Alisa

Current Alisa

Alisa at 20 months (almost):

• She sings right along with us for I am a Child of God, I Love to See the Temple, Silent Night, and Away in a Manger. She does really well with first and last words, and vowel sounds in between. The whole time she has a cheesy grin on her face. She's beautiful! Especially without the rash.
• She says "pears" for prayers and folds her arms, sometimes randomly. So we stop what we're doing to have a little prayer. Pray always, right? She repeats when prompted and is so sweet about the Jesus Christ, Amen! part, throwing her arms out all proud-like.
• She LOVES to dance and sing. She is amazingly on key. Her favorites to sing during the day are the Darth Vader theme song (of course), A Happy Family, Old McDonald.
• She gets her feelings hurt. If we speak strongly to her (when she's about to burn herself or is in some danger) she just gets sad. It's sad. She's sensitive. 
• She smiles. All day long. 
• She wants to be exactly like Jake. She copies whatever he does. 
• She loves her blankets, and insists on taking at least one out of the crib every time she wakes up. She's not attached to just one, or to any one stuffed animal or doll. 

Newborn Jake

Recent Jake (what's with the expression?!)

Jake (3 years, 9 months):

• He is starting to play with his sister, mostly. Today he kept referring to her as "the baby" --as in, the baby can't play this game, etc.
• When he wants Alisa to do something, he will talk in a very high, squeaky voice. He loves helping her say the prayer and tries to be a good example for her (with constant reminders from us!)
• He can count to 40, only getting confused after 29 or 39. 
• He knows all his upper case letters and their sounds, and is learning his lower case, too.
• He has started writing his name. As of last week. Before that he had no interest whatsoever.
• He started drawing eyes, nose, mouth. Before, it was just scribbles. He is not very interested in art--coloring, cutting out things, gluing. He likes free play. He's great at puzzles.
• He is good at letting pregnant mommy take a nap. Don't worry, he can't unlock the front door! 
• He comes in every morning around six. Once he goes to the bathroom, we let him crawl into bed and I attempt to go back to sleep. Scott sleeps on. He is a sweet cuddle bug then. A lot of times he goes to the fridge, gets a yogurt, and gets back in our bed to eat it. I just try to keep my eyes closed and hope he doesn't spill. He loves yogurt.
• He loves juice and movies (we don't have tv). He would live off a liquid diet of apple juice. I count the day a success if we have avoided juice and a movie all day long. I'm a bit stingy about it.
• He is musical. He knows a TON of primary songs from church, Christmas songs, preschool songs. He really wants a little violin. 

Tonight we were singing "I Lived in Heaven" which talks about how Heavenly Father's created a Plan for us, and how Jesus came to earth, etc. All of a sudden, Jake asks, "Who wanted all the glory?" So we talked about Satan, how he was the bad guy, how he wanted everyone to worship him and not God. I tried to keep it simple. He kept asking "why" about everything. So curious! It made me so grateful for my faith and for the simple truths Jesus taught. I feel so blessed to know why we are here and where we came from and where we are going after this life. And I'm happy to be able to teach my children!

One of the "whys" was why is Heavenly Father so powerful. I told Jake it's because he knows us and loves us and wants us to be good. Jake's answer: "I can be good! I won't push Alisa! And I won't bite. And I will obey (yesterday we had a lesson on obedience). I will be good!" 

Classic Alisa moment. I was singing, to myself, Christ the Lord Is Risen Today. Suddenly, Alisa looks up from where she is playing and says, "Stop!" I stop. Jake says, "You can sing, mama." So I start again. She looks right at me and yells, "Stop!" Yep, she loves my voice!

Stroller Giveaway!

This stroller is being given away on a fun website called I Never Grew Up! It would be so nice to have this stroller. It's compatible with many baby carseats, has individually reclining seats, has swivel/lock wheels, and an adjustable handle. I'd love to replace the hand-me-down Graco dinosaur (just like you, Jacq!) that our neighbors gave us out of pity 2 years ago! :) Hurry if you want a chance at it. It's ending the 30th.

Update

This is my third post today. Just an update. Alisa woke up and is looking better! Her face almost looks normal, so there is hope! Scroll down for pictures of her rash...

Our Sunbeam

Jake's school visited the fire station. They had a good time. We missed our fire fighter, Josh (that's my bro! We're all so proud of him)! 

The had them "crawl low in smoke."

Practicing covering faces if there is a fire

The Lazy Boy recliners were a big hit with the kids.

Here's our little Sunbeam. The transition hasn't been bad since he's been able to stay with Jonas, Hallie, and Ryan! He is growing up so fast!

And yes someday we'll invest in a bedspread. For now we are living with the one from my freshman year of college! Stylish!

The Well-Documented Rash

Well, this week we found out that Alisa is allergic to Amoxicillin. She was taking some for an ear infection and had this reaction:

2nd day, poor thing!

Then it got worse...

The doctor said you can tell it's an allergic reaction because the rash has grouped together instead of being separate little dots.

She is still as happy as can be after Benadryl. She just looks scary!

More Funnies from Jake

I found this notebook with two quotes from Jake. I must've written them down around 2 months ago--I'm not sure. Here they are.

When I was five I was hunting in the woods and I gived Grandma a special movie and... renember that? It has a spiderman and a black spider and a red spiderman and transformers. The little transformer and the green transformer and the spiders come in and kill grandma and grandma shoots all the spiders that are coming in!

Pointing to a little Christmas tree we have made out of lights, he said: It's a tiny Christmas tree and it destroys the whole world!

Yippee!

Jake just cracks me up! My parents are coming this weekend and he keeps asking, "Um... who is coming to our house this weekend?" and "Who is coming over today?"

Today he said, "My Grandma is coming! It's MY Grandma! I LOVE my Grandma Crane! Yippeeee!" He's cracking me up.

In other news, he keeps asking things like, "Is I four yet?" "Is I cold?" I love the incorrect grammar of a three-year-old. Hilarious.

The Baby

So some of you fans of the floating fetus may be wondering why I don't have one. I don't mind the fetus. It's kinda fun. What I don't want to know is how many HUNDREDS of days I have left! I hate the countdown! It makes it go by so much slower! So if you're wondering why no floating fetus, there you have it.

And here is a floating fetus, for those who have been kept in the dark as to what it was (mom and grandma!). And yes, I do have one in me, just not on my blog!

Black Eye(s) and Dancing

Jake has gotten really good with the bow and arrow my bro. and sis.-in-law gave him this summer. He shot Alisa point blank and I am just grateful he missed poking her eye out. So here's a record of her first black eye (Jan. 6, 2009). A few days later, he pushed her into or down a slide at the park and gave her a black eye in the other eye. Poor beat up girl! 

I don't know what's gotten into him. He was without bow and arrows, light sabers and swords of any kind, Buzz Lightyear, skateboards, bike, movies... you name it, it was gone!

Here's Jake enjoying the new Leapfrog computer from Grandma and Grandpa Seaman (Thank you!) and Alisa being a true girl. He let her sit behind him and style his hair for probably 15 minutes. 

Jake and Alisa are really into dancing on their table while Scott plays the piano. Alisa will even dance when I attempt to play! She grabs our hands and drags us toward the piano, saying either " 'mon, 'mon" which means "come on" or "dance." They got a little camera shy, of course, but were really rockin' out before I turned on the video.

For Jacqui and Jeff

Why are we posting these lovely pictures? They remind us of the night you two spent two HOURS at our computer horsing around. Wish you were here.

(This may not look funny, but in Honduras and Brazil it's a pretty typical look in family portraits.)

Scary how easy it is to entertain yourself on a Thursday night with the Mac. We heart our Mac. go Mac. We love you, Mac. 

Correction and some classic Jake

Well, I said that there were six crazy kids at Christmas. I wasn't counting Alisa. She is never crazy! Ha, ha.

I just didn't count this adorable boy. Just look at those eyes and tell me how you could count him in with the crazies? :) What a sweetie... although he did love banging the Christmas tree balls together...

and yes I stole this picture off of your blog, Manda...

So, some unforgettable funnies from the kids at Christmas. Wish I could remember more. 

*Jake and the "spicy drink" (soda). He was in heaven anytime he had a can in hand, which was multiple times a day. It was diet, but still... bad for the bones. By the end, his cousins were calling it spicy drink instead of soda, too.

*Jake AND Alisa singing the chorus to Hark the Herald (I KNEW that other spelling looked weird, Jacqui!) Angels Sing--Glo-ooooo-ooooo-ooooo-ria (Alisa is right on pitch, it's amazing!) and Jake finishing it off with "Jesus, Kelsi, Spirit, all." (Kelsi is his aunt, although now that we've sung it to them a few times, he is saying "Jesus, Chelsea, Spirit, All").

*Scott, Jeff, and Dad taking all the kids sledding and Jake insisting on hitting the big jumps by himself and impressing everyone around him. Is the kid really only three?! Seriously. I guess it's good he no longer has front teeth to knock out.

*Jake pointing constantly with his middle finger. His older cousins (9 and 6 years old) were freaking out every time. They tried to teach him it was bad, and he came to us and explained, "This finger (pointer) is bad, but this finger (middle) is good." I finally told the girls he was just doing "Where is tall man?" and not to worry about it. Now we tell him that the middle finger always needs a friend up, too. Anyone else's kid do this?

*We got to go skiing (Thanks again, Les and Linda) and rented Jake some AWESOME mini skis. They were about to his chest or smaller and he was so proud of them! He rode the chairlift with Grandpa most of the time and was very concerned: Is the chair going to break? Are we going to fall down?

*After little persuasion, I decided that skiing was like riding a bike and that I would remember how (even though it'd been 7 years and I am pregnant). It was great--minus the burning quads. Jake only had ONE meltdown when he wanted to ski "all by myself" and point his skis straight down the mountain. I guess I was too wimpy going back and forth in the good ol' plow. He fell right down on his back and through tears said, "I broke my leg!" There were a couple of times we sat down to take a break and even then he would say, "I just broke my arm! I broke my knuckles!" I think there's some false idea here... Besides that, he had a blast and declared that he wanted to go again and again and never go home!

*Jake's prayer at the end of the ski day: "Thank you I could go skiing and bring my own little skis, and that I got the skis from the store and they are mine, and that I could do tricks, like this (doing a trick on the bed), and like this (another trick), and like this..." Yep, we emphasize reverence in our prayers. Ha!

*Alisa LOVED Abby the dog (as opposed to Abby the girl--Jake's friend). She followed her around saying "Abby dog, Abby dog" and Abby would high tail it to the doggie door. That didn't stop Alisa. We found her stuck multiple times in that darned door. 

*Alisa would drag Abby's bed to her instead of waiting for her to come to bed.

*Every time Alisa sat in the high chair to eat, she's take a bite and drop a bite for Abby, or just feed Abby instead. They shared drinks and snacks, too. Yum.

*Alisa and Jake persuaded Abby to let them pet and play with her by the end of the week by feeding her doggie treat after doggie treat while no one was looking. Abby took the abuse quite well.

Crane Christmas

As always, totally out of order pictures... and lots of them! It was so fun and crazy to have all five of my siblings, four spouses, one returned missionary (viva Chile!), and six crazy kids in my parents' house. We survived! I hope they did, too. Thanks, mom and dad, for being such great hosts, as always! 

Trip highlights:

*Christmas shopping with ALL of my sisters WITHOUT the kids for FIVE hours (thanks, mom and dad!)

*Caroling at the fire station where my brother works. I have a greater appreciation for firefighters/police officers/etc. that keep us safe YEAR ROUND. Thanks. And thanks for the ride in the truck. The kids were thrilled!

*Swimming at the new aquaplex in Flag. The water slides were fun and the kids area is a blast!

*Sledding and playing in the fresh snow. I love a white Christmas!

*Seeing Michelle's missionary pics (some of them) and hearing her stories. I was taken way back almost 7 years ago when I got home from Honduras. Awesome. Amazing. 

*Lisa cutting my hair. Love you, Flea.

*Seeing Twilight (finally!) and the adventure that we went through to get there! Brrrr!

*Christmas morning with crazy, excited kids and a HUGE breakfast around noon. YUM!

Okay. So here is my firefighter bro, Josh, being sweet with Alisa. He's going to be a daddy in just a few months! Ignore the amazing photography skills. Nice thumb.

The four youngest in the bath. They were hilarious. I claim the bald one and the toothless one.

Trying to take a family picture before my bro. went back to San Diego. Did someone else get a better shot? Sheesh.

My skinny-minnie mom who's lost 30 lbs. this year! Yikes, mamacita!

My VERY skinny dad who's lost 150? I can't remember. It's a lot. We bought him MEDIUM shirts. He used to be 3XL. Ow, ow!

Sorry, flea. Here's Scott and I on Christmas morning in all our morning glory, with my sis mid-sentence and my sis-in-law Tarah.

Alisa, ever domestic. Thanks, mom and dad!

Babies. And just look out the window. Isn't that snow breathtaking? Yes this IS Arizona!

Guess who? Duh-duh-duh, du-du du, duh-du-duh... Jake got this sweet Darth Vador mask from his cousin in a cousin gift exchange. He slept with it that night. Here's a direct quote: "I am so happy! I had a dream that it wasn't Christmas and I got a Darth Vador mask and Santa didn't come but I got a Darth Vador mask and I was so happy!"  Light saber (very specifically had to be a Darth Maul light saber) courtesy of Santa after a very rainy, windy, cold day at Disneyland just for the purchase!

This is what we woke up to Christmas morning. All the kids piled on these two mattresses (with my sister), pacified by a diet Sierra Mist. It's easier to wait to go down and see the loot if you are enjoying a soda at 7 am! Good planning, Jacqui!

First time helping Santa this year. We didn't finish until 2 am. How exhausting! What a lot of loot!

Alisa helping reprogram my parent's computer--cousin Corban trying to help.

Alisa and Eliza playing with Grammy's doilies after we put away the glass trees on top of them.

Gingerbread houses. The boys ate the candy. The girls (Alisa included) decorated. Fun!

Rocking out to some awesome Christmas tunes!

Grammy and Alisa on the homemade sledding hill.

Alisa loved the snow. She kept taking off her hat and gloves so she could touch it. Brrr!

Jake in action on the hill.

Scott was so good to take the kids outside to play--mostly while I napped. So glad I'm getting my energy back! 

Sledding with cousins after a fresh snowfall. It was beautiful!