Christmas Time.

The home stretch, leading up to Christmas found me very behind in preparations.
The only decoration I put up was our Christmas Tree.
I barely managed to get all of my shopping done.

And before I knew it, it was Christmas Eve Day.
I had planned to go out to Grantsville that morning to visit with my Cousin Julie, who was in town.
I scrambled to get everyone ready (Nick was at work), and as I started to do Reagan's hair she started crying and told me she was going to throw up. I ushered her to the bathroom, but for some reason she kept backing away from the toilet?
She barfed on the bathroom floor and shower rug.

Needless to say, I didn't make it out to visit my family.
Reagan threw up several more times that day, and only once made it to the potty to do so.

But it did turn out to be a slight blessing in disguise.
Reagan spent the rest of the day lounging around in my bed, watching movies. This allowed me to find time to wrap presents, and clean the house.

Sidenote: looking back, the longest stretch Reagan has ever gone without vomitting (since she started eating grown-up-food) has been three months. Why? Why?! did I get a child that's bodily function problem happens to be the one thing I loathe the most? Anyway... this time it wasn't just her "usual" throw up incident. She actually had a stomach bug. I know this because both Elsa, and Nick ended up with it too.
Reagan didn't throw up on Christmas day. Maybe this was another gift from Santa?
But as soon as 12:30AM hit, on December the 26th, Reagan's tummy troubles resumed. Sigh. Once again, I'm so glad I have the carpet cleaner.

Christmas Eve the girls had a "sleepover". Reagan slept on the trundle in Elsa's bedroom.


Christmas morning. My kids slept until 8AM. Since Reagan wasn't feeling well she was pretty mellow.
Santa left Cohen a wagon, Elsa a Barbie VW Bug power wheels, and Reagan an XBOX Kinect.
Cohen also got some new bottles, and a glow worm.
Elsa received several new baby dolls.
And Reagan got Disney Princess Bath toys. And a Fisher Price Camera, Blue Nail Polish, and a Harmonica (all things she asked for).



It was a great day. Nick made pancakes for breakfast. And we spent most of our time enjoying each other's company.

In the evening we went to Nick's parents house for dinner. Nick made the most amazing mashed potatoes! He boiled the potatoes in chicken stock. When they were done, to make them creamy; he added: cream, marscapone cheese, and Parmesan cheese. While the potatoes were boiling he cooked diced bacon in a pan with minced garlic. He added the bacon to the mashed potatoes, and drizzled the bacon drippings over the mashed potatoes.
You could probably get fat just looking at finished product, but it was Christmas so we all indulged and had several helpings. YUM!

Nick's gifts consisted of: a new XBOX controller, season 7 of The Office, a BYU lunch bag (for work), and some Duke sandals.
Nick bought me lotion from Victoria's Secret, and also arranged for us to have a nice date night.

For our date, we went to the Log Haven restaurant. It was nice to have a night to ourselves, but the food was nothing to write home about.

It was a Grand Christmas! And we get to do it again in a few weeks when my Dad and Mom are in town. It certainly won't be too much of a good thing.

Our Christmas Pictures.

It was time, once again, to get family pictures taken. Nick was being uncooperative and I told him that all I wanted for Christmas were some good family pictures. He told me that next year, all he wants for Christmas is to skip family pictures. Nick almost had that wish fulfilled this year. Almost.

We planned to meet Korie at Trolley Square to shoot the pictures there. It's indoors, and the architecture is great.
I spent all morning getting everyone "photo" ready. And just as we all got in the car Korie called to tell me that Trolley Square wasn't open, and wouldn't be open until noon. I didn't want to attempt to keep the kids in pristine condition for two hours, so we decided to move the session to Korie's house. By the way, what kind of shopping center doesn't open until Noon during the holiday season?!

Luckily, Korie lives near us, and survived the same wind storm that we did a few weeks ago. Korie got a piece of the fence that had fallen down in her backyard and used it as a backdrop. Voila! We had a perfect setting for Christmas card pictures.
Enjoy!




And Merry Christmas from the Scheurer family!

Exciting New Arrival!

My mom took this picture of Heather and me, two days before I had Cohen.


Now, both of us are out of the maternity clothes. And we are both mothers to sweet little boys.

Cohen. And Bradon.

On December 14th Heather called me and told me that she had just been to the doctor, and that she was dilated 2 cm. and 80% effaced. I told her she was going to have the baby the next day. She told me she wasn't.

Well, on December 15th, I noticed I had missed a call around 8:30AM, from Heather while I was in the shower that morning.
I called her back at 9:30AM and she told me that she had delivered her baby!

I was excited at the news. But the details about the birth are what floored me.

Heather said she had been in pain, and tried to call me to see if I'd take her to the hospital to "get checked". When I didn't answer, she called her neighbor. Heather's husband, Jeff, had gone to work that morning.
Her neighbor, Marla, came and picked Heather up to take her to the hospital, in her new Toyota Sequoia.
Said vehicle, made it on the freeway, and to the exit near the hospital; but no further. Because Heather was in VERY active labor.
Heather told Marla to call 911, and Marla pulled over in to an Applebee's parking lot.
Firemen and paramedics arrived just in time to deliver Heather's baby in Marla's car.

Baby Bradon (pronounced: Bray-Den) made his exciting entrance in to the world!

I know Cohen and Bradon are going to be great friends.
Congratulations, Heather and Jeff.
He's in the NICU at the hospital, but we're hoping for a Christmas miracle: that he will be able to come home before the big holiday.

A Tornado!... According to Reagan, Anyway.

Two weeks ago we had a severe wind storm. We've experienced our area's infamous "East Wind" before, but nothing compares to what we went through recently.

There was no power at our house for 24 hours, and we were one of the lucky ones! Some people didn't have power for over 4 days.
The news said the wind gusts reached speeds of 125MPH! All I know is that I heard the wind start around 3AM, and it didn't stop blowing until 3PM.

The kids and I spent most of the day in the two bedrooms upstairs in the front of my house. The windows in those bedrooms were big enough to let in a lot of sunlight, and the rooms stayed relatively warm. We read a lot of books that day.

It was depressing and scary to see all of the damage the wind was doing, as the action unfolded. Every time I looked out the window I would see more damage to our house, and our neighbor's houses.
The only comical point in the day was when Reagan and I were looking out the window and saw the port-a-potty that was across the street from our house, where construction is going on, tip over; and roll away.

In the end...

The soffit's on our house were missing in several places.


Reagan's new swingset was smashed to smithereens.

Our roof was toast.
Our backyard fence was destroyed.
Two of the mature trees in our front yard were downed. And our Aspen tree in the backyard may have to come down too.
Rain gutters. What rain gutters? They were missing.


Reagan had a good time playing in the leaves that had accumulated in our stairwell.

Our insurance company had to hire adjusters from other states to come work. And it still took the adjuster assigned to our claim 2 weeks to make it to our house.

Reagan has been upset that we don't have any Christmas lights on our house. Nick keeps explaining to her that we can't put Christmas lights up until our roof gets fixed.
At this rate, it appears that Christmas lights will just have to wait until next year.

Thanksgiving, and More...

Where to begin? I have a lot of ground to cover.

So, my Dad came to town for Thanksgiving.
The night before Thanksgiving, he and my Mom came to my house and played with the kids so that I could cook.
I was proud of the fact that I made my Grandmother's dressing recipe, from scratch. I also made two pies, and cranberry sauce. No mishaps.
Nick made the mashed potatoes. Heather did the turkey, rolls, and two pies too.
The meal was great!


In the evening, we had people over for pies. I can post about the following experience because the person that it involves doesn't read my blog.
Anyway, one of the people we invited over for pies kept OBVIOUSLY looking at my stomach after I opened my front door for her (yes, it was a woman); and as I walked with her from the entry to my dining room. We were chit-chatting for a moment and then she asked me, "have you had your baby yet?".
Ouch. Yes, three weeks ago.
Her comment didn't hurt me enough to send me directly out to buy a gym membership, but I did rummage through my drawers the next day in search of my spanx.

Black Friday was OK. It would have been a total disappointment for me, but shopping at Kmart saved my day. I didn't set foot in a store. Last year I had a lot of luck shopping online. This year, not so much. I didn't get anything from Walmart that I wanted. Even though I tried shopping in the middle of the night (after I had finished feeding Cohen).
I made a trip to 7-11 on Thanksgiving morning, to pick up a newspaper (for the ads). The Clerk at "the sev" told me that Kmart had not put out an ad.
Around 8AM on Black Friday, I thought that I ought to give Kmart's website a look. I was shocked that I was able to get everything I had been unable to get at WalMart, and for a better price!
In one fell swoop I was nearly able to get everything on my Christmas shopping list.

On Saturday, I went with my family to Park City. The outlet stores had nothing in the way of good sales. It was fun to be with my family, but the trip was a total bust.


My parents took the entire family to see The Muppets. Nick stayed at home with Elsa and Cohen, and I took Reagan to the movie. It was, hands down, the best movie that I have seen in a LOOOONG time. Reagan and I were both dancing in our seats, the music was great! I'd go see it again in a heartbeat, and I am definitely going to buy it when it comes out on DVD.

Grant, and Reagan before the movie. Reagan wore her Miss Piggy shirt to the film.

We blessed Cohen in our church on the Sunday after Thanksgiving.


In general, the entire week was filled with family time. We ordered take-out from the Mandarin one night, and celebrated my Mom's birthday.
We all met up at the Festival Of Trees, another night.
I wish my parents came out to visit more often, or better yet... I wish they lived here! Ha Ha.
They'll be back in a month, to help Heather out when she has her baby. It'll be more fun, I'm sure.

To round off the post, I'll share some random pictures.

Elsa shared one of her mini waffles with Cohen.

Elsa, and her new best friend. My 14 year old tickle-me-Elmo doll.

And I've saved the biggest news for last!!!
Elsa is FINALLY walking.
On Black Friday, Elsa stood up and just started walking. As simple as that.
Reagan nearly broke our backs when she was learning to walk, because she wanted us to hold on to her hands and help her walk everywhere.
Elsa, ever my easy child, did it all on her own without any assistance.
And she hasn't looked (or crawled) back.
She still hasn't mastered running, but it sure is funny to watch her attempts. And I am positive she'll figure it out on her own soon.

Cohen's Newborn Pictures

Before we left for Florida, Korie came to my house and took Cohen's newborn pictures. Elsa, in her usual fashion, wanted to be in front of the camera the entire time. And Reagan, did not (typical for her too).
We couldn't get Cohen to sleep.
So, it wasn't the ideal photo shoot. But Korie showed her professional stuff; and managed to get some amazing pictures. I was very pleased.




My Friend Jill (the one with the Etsy shop. Go visit it!) made this hat for Cohen. It was exactly what I wanted!