Christmas Day

Christmas was wonderful! A great feature of having a young clueless child is that we were able to sleep in. Since church was at 9:00 am, we decided to just wait to do the present thing after. Each year my wonderful Aunt Harriet sends us home from the Christmas Eve party with cinnamon rolls ready to go in the oven. They are the kind my grandma used to make. They make me homesick for her. I do miss her a lot. So we started the day off with some delicious cinnamon rolls and a little nostalgia. Then it was off to church. The messages were wonderful. I loved the sweet reminder of why we celebrate the season. How blessed we are to have a Savior.

All dressed up and ready for church. When taking pictures with a timer one should do a few test tries to see how the shadows are working in the background. Oh well, you get the idea.

The glorious scene left behind by Santa.

Uncle D and Aunt Bird (my sister and her hubby) made Cormac an official member of the family by initiating him into the "crab tradition." It's a long story, maybe for another time.

I look a bit beached in most of these pictures. Get over it. This little girl has to fit in there somehow. 

I got a Kindle Fire!

Cormac could model for Little People. At least he could if we could get him to smile for the camera.

Cormac got a baby to practice with before the real deal gets here. Here he is giving her a kiss and a hug (this was before he ripped all her clothes off and left her naked and cold on the ground).

At first our present opening was rather slow going. Cormac wanted to get out everything and play with it a while. We weren't in a hurry, so it was no big deal to take our time. But eventually Cormac realized that all those boxes under the tree were going to be opened. And that all of those boxes had fun things in them. Then it got exciting. He'd go grab a box and really rip at the paper until it was off. Then we'd open the box and he'd pull whatever it was out. If it wasn't a toy he'd throw it on the ground and run for the next present. If it was a toy he'd linger just a few seconds longer before moving on. It was pretty funny. He was in Heaven all day with his ramp. I've never seen him so occupied for so long. It was really a wonderful day.

Christmas Eve

Since Ammon and I have started staying home for the Christmas holiday rather than going to our parent's homes we have spent Christmas Eve out at my Aunt Julie's home. It's always a good group of aunts, uncles, and cousins to enjoy and laugh with. Each year we eat delicious homemade pizza, frappe, shrimp, cheese balls, fudge, and toffee. So yummy.

After a spiritual message we do a white elephant gift exchange (aka the crass potty humor exchange). It's always a riot. Lots of laughs and lots of fun.

Cormac did sit for about 3.5 seconds of the spiritual message.

The rest of the message he tried to get a better look at the camera. It is requisite that he makes faces such as these when doing the closer inspection.

Hunter wanted to give Cormac a loving hug. Cormac wasn't sure what was going on. We need to work on that.

Shea opened the first gift. It was a lovely neck pillow.

Jesse opened the singing Santa hat. The top flipped back and forth. It was rather entertaining.

Then the potty humor began.

There were others, but these were the ones I got pictures of. Lots of entertaining gifts.

I gave away this stylish basket. To make it better I added some toffee to the inside.

Along with my toilet paper and reach extender that I scored I got these pants. I think my weight loss plan is looking pretty good even for being 8 months pregnant.

Ammon joined me in the other pant leg. I think this is a great maternity picture of us.

We had a wonderful time. We really don't spend enough time with our family that lives close. That's my fault. But I'm glad that we are able to join in on this tradition each year. It has been a highlight of our Christmas season.

Thanksgiving

In case you haven't noticed I'm a bit behind these days. Not just with my blogging to be honest. My house cleaning is always a bit behind. Dinner is often behind. The only thing I seem to be keeping up on is sleep. And I only do that through making sure I get a nap in when Cormac does. So, we sleep a lot. Anyway, I have a few pictures from Thanksgiving that I wanted to share.

These first few are from the talent show. Cormac is a great marksman, but he actually showed off his skills at rooting on the Cougars. I didn't take pictures of all of the talents, but let me just say that we have a very talented group of nieces and nephews.

This is the first trip we've taken out to see the family when I felt that Cormac actually enjoyed all the attention he usually gets. The cousins all get along great and love each other. Cormac really loved playing with them. He did a lot of time on his own as well. 

The highlight for Cormac was definitely the buggy rides. Grandpa got out his team Anne and Andy and even let Cormac ride up front. He loved it.

Ammon and I loved the chance to visit and play games with his parents, siblings, and siblings-in-law. It was a wonderful time. Dinner was amazing (as usual). I discovered how uncomfortable overeating can be when you are very pregnant. It about killed me. But as usual, the food was wonderful and plentiful, and the conversation was lively and entertaining.

Ammon's parents were recently called to the Nauvoo, Illinois mission. They will be leaving at the beginning of March. We are certainly going to miss them, but are excited that they will be able to serve.

The Random Happenings of Late (AKA our Christmas Card)

I have been meaning to write an update for a while. I truly have. But it's been busy around these parts. Our weeknights are constantly being taken up by something or other. My days are filled with the various ins and outs of taking care of a toddler and a house. Life is busy. But so very wonderful. We are very blessed.

Since life has been busy we decided not to send out a Christmas card this year, but to count this instead. So here you have it. Ammon said I should tell you all "hi" from him. We will probably send out birth announcements as our "Christmas" cards this year, so you can look out for those later.

Ammon is still serving as our ward's Elders Quorum President which keeps him on his toes. A few months ago I was released from cub scouts and called to be one of three advisors in the Mia Maids. So that has definitely made our lives busy. Ammon's job is going well. He is working part time on the big freeway core project that is going on here in Utah County. He works on the schedule and enjoys it. The other part of the time he is up in Draper working at the main office for Wadsworth Brothers. He's a busy man in high demand.

Our pregnancy is going well. I'm tired. Very tired. And I'm getting uncomfortable. Other than that it has been a very easy pregnancy. Much better than the first time around. When Cormac was still residing inside of me he would move away any time we would try to touch him. But this little girl is the total opposite. She likes to play. It's fun to push back when she pushes (although she is really strong and it can really hurt) and to have her interact. We are really looking forward to meeting her in about 2 months give or take a few days.

Cormac is as crazy as ever. He cracks me up so much. He is starting to become a bit more snugly, which I love. He gives great kisses and hugs. He is saying a few more words, but very few. He is more concerned that we understand him when he is communicating, but he still mostly speaks his own language. He does understand us. So I guess he'll come around in his own due time. Maybe when the new baby starts learning to speak he'll join in. Cormac is getting so tall. I really can't call him a baby anymore. He doesn't even look as much like a toddler as he used to. He's really starting to look like a little person. He's a little boy, and I miss the days when he was tiny, but I am really loving this stage.

And for your viewing pleasure, here are some pictures. The first was at a recent work party for Ammon (which Cormac was not in attendance). The second is a few months back of our darling boy, but what can I say it's one of my favorites.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you. We hope your holiday is filled with love, happiness, working furnaces, and lots of chocolate. We are thankful for this time of year and the reminder of our Savior. May we all remember the true meaning of the holiday.

Love to all,
The Dahls

New Guest Bedroom

It's been a long time since I've posted any new pictures of our home. It's still a work in progress, but something you may or may not know about us is that we are excellent at starting projects but not so great at finishing them. So there hasn't been much to post. Well, with the birth of this new little one getting closer I have been wanting to create a nursery. I never really got a chance to do that with Cormac, so I thought I'd take advantage this time around. I decided that the first bedroom downstairs would make the perfect spot, but I had already turned that into our guest bedroom. This is what that room looked like if you recall.

In order to make this room the nursery I decided to move the guest bedroom into the other bedroom downstairs. That bedroom originally looked like this:

But I had painted it purple and turned it into a craft room. However, I never really finished that project, and so I never took or posted pictures. I decided that lavender wasn't a great color for a guest room, so I painted this room to be the same green as the old guest bedroom (I adore that color). This is the finished product:

It's still set up so I can craft in this room when we aren't entertaining folks. I think it turned out really nice. I'm happy with our thrown together project. Next I need to finish up the nursery. But first we have to get through Christmas.

Thanksgiving Craft

A few weeks ago I saw a cute little art project that my friend had posted on her blog. She and her toddler had made these cute signs:

Well, after I put away my Halloween decorations I broke out the Thanksgiving decor. Let's just say the collection was dismal. We needed something else. So I thought we'd get crafty. Jenny had made hers on cardboard using art paint. Well, I didn't have cardboard, and I didn't want to buy paint. But if there is something we have around here it's lots and lots of random pieces of wood and board and more paint than we know what to do with. I used paint samples on a piece of plywood type stuff that I found outside. Worked pretty well. But next time we'll wait until it's nice outside and we can do it in the grass. My floor was a mess!

I tried to cut out the shape of a leaf in potatoes. Yeah, that was horrible. But Cormac just wanted to swirl the paint anyway, so my failed artistic ability didn't really matter too much in the end.

I dipped the first potato in paint and handed it to Cormac. What did he do? Put it in his mouth of course. Then dropped it on his foot while spitting everywhere. It drives me crazy. At dinner I'll try to give him something new to try and he won't let it close to his mouth. He acts like I'm trying to poison him. Then I hand him something like a raw potato with paint and without even thinking he shoves it in his mouth. Crazy little boy.

If you've ever seen my paint clothes, or seen me after a paint project you know that I can't do anything (even just a touch up job) that involves paint without getting it all over myself. I'm so proud of my son. He has learned well as you can clearly see.

And the finished product. I think it adds a nice festive flare. It was a lot of fun. Cormac loved every minute of it. Even the bath and shower afterward.

Just a Couple Pictures

This post does not have a story line. I just felt the need to share a couple pictures. Cormac loves his new boots, pictured above. He even wears them with his pajamas. It's very fashionable.

He also loves to be a big helper around the house. Especially if he gets to help his dad. Lately when I put on my apron to begin my culinary arts he needs an apron as well. He loves to watch the mixer go. He also enjoys seeing water boil. But he hates to get his hands dirty. I thought he'd enjoy helping me gut a pumpkin the other day. He did not. If it's not dirt I guess it shouldn't be in his hands. Funny boy.

And because I don't write about anything other than Cormac these days I have a story that does not involve him for you. Lately when I go shopping I catch myself not unloading the car all the way when we get home. If the large package of whatever it is isn't perishable why get it out right away? So the other day I bought toilet paper and left it in the trunk for later. Well, later came and the toilet paper was needed. It was very late one night and extremely dark. Ammon was sweet enough to go out in the cold to retrieve the package. When he reached the trunk of the car he saw the package of toilet paper and at first glance thought the the package read "Adventure Pack." Unfortunately it isn't nearly as awesome as that, it's just an "Advantage Pack," but it begs the question, why don't they make "Adventure Packs" for toilet paper. I mean, why not right?

Hee Haw Farms

Because we are typically lame and cheap, we don't go places very often. But since we didn't have much of a birthday for Cormac and weren't planning to trick-or-treat much we decided to hit up the Hee Haw Farms here close-by when we found a coupon for it. To be honest it is over priced, even with a coupon. The place is a dump. But they had animals and hay rides and things. Cormac had a good time, so it was worth it.

Cormac loved this slide. It was enormous. I went down with him once. It was a little intense for my pregnant belly because we hit a big bump on the way down. But Cormac was in heaven.

Another favorite was the various tractor type things he could climb on. He had a great time just sitting on this thing. He was very offended when we decided to move on.

I think he enjoyed the hayrides and this little tractor pull ride the most. I know you can't tell by the expression on his face, but he really did love it.

This was the best we could do for a family picture. It's hard to get a toddler to sit still long enough to snap a picture when there are so many things to look at. And sitting like this is not flattering to my pregnant body, but for the sake of allowing the world to see that we are a complete family here we are.

I know, my shadow is in the way, but I had to snap this picture fast before he moved on. Anyway, it was a fun time for the most part. At least through the eyes of our toddler it was fun. We picked out a couple pumpkins for Halloween and played in the box full of corn. Then we watched the BYU football game (actually Cormac and I napped and Ammon watched the game). Not a bad day all said and done.