Holiday Recap

 The holiday season zoomed in and out and we had a great time!  Harrison had lots of Christmas outfits that needed to be documented (thanks for the hand me downs Kelsey!).  So, please note the cute red and green seasonal appropriate baby clothes in each picture! 





Christmas Eve was highly anticipated by the kids.  Brenna has asked over and over what time Santa and 'his goats' were gonna come to our house.  She really wanted Santa's mother with glasses (I'm thinking Mrs Claus) could come too.  It was fun to point out when it was Christmas Eve that it was the night we'd all been waiting for.  We had our Petrick family Christmas party at grandma's.  Harry wanted in on the game too, obviously.  The kids were fast asleep in our house by 9:30pm.  Last year, Dave changed our clocks so he would get an extra hour of sleep Christmas morning.  I told him this was not to be done to my clock this year, but he still did it to the kids!  They couldn't figure out why they were so awake and the clock still said 6:00!  Harrison showed everyone his new trick of standing (propped against the couch).  He looks so fetching in his Christmas jammies!

 

We read our scriptures, opened presents and stayed in jammies pretty much the entire day of Christmas...and it was wonderful!  Grandma and Grandpa and Shannon came over for our traditional quiche breakfast and to see the loot. 

 

 

 

This year was perfect for the ages of our kids.  They all found Christmas to be very magical and both Dave and I made mention of it.  Harrison finds everyday magical, if it consists of eating at all hours and keeping his mommy up. 

 





 

Later in the day, Aunt Amy and Evan came over.  Brandon, Malia and baby Jack came too to have food and play games.  It was a laid back, fabulous day. 

 

 

 The week after Christmas, someone in our family always gets sick.  True to that tradition, Grant contracted strep and croup and Brenna came down with croup too.  So, New Years we were quarantined, no family or friends dared be in our presence!  But, we had the party of a lifetime.  We had a Just Dance dance off- which Dave took very seriously, as can be noted in this pic...

Sorry guys, I'm still the reigning champion.  Maybe next year you can beat me!  Katelee got a new Headbandz game for Christmas where you act out the card on your head, yep, pretty much Charades.  Harry even joined in.  He never guessed any of his cards correctly!  ;)

  We watched Holes-Dave and Brenna fell asleep and the big kids and I frantically woke them for the final countdown.  Our individual Martinelli's were toasted and we welcomed in 2014.  Now the kids are back to school. 

 

 While I love the routine, I miss getting that extra few min of sleep and I really miss how they kept the baby entertained so much throughout the Christmas break.  Katelee even can soothe her baby brother to sleep sometimes.  We enjoyed most of the break and the kids loved having time with their cousins and adorable baby Harrison! 

 

The 100 Hours of Christmas

 

It has always been a tradition on a local radio station to start playing continuous Christmas music with no breaks once we are in the 100 hours of Christmas.  Well, we have officially entered those hours.  Growing up, when this station began its non-stop flow of holiday songs, I was thrilled and full of anticipation.  Now that I am grown up....I feel the same!  But, I also feel a little sad the holiday is this close and there seems to be a lot of seasonal fun we missed this year, or things we didn't do (like Christmas cards-sorry!).  BUT, here are some of the things we have done:

 

Katelee and Brenna had their Christmas dance recital.  Well, the songs they danced to weren't Christmas songs, but it was in December!  In fact, Brenna's song was 'Stupid Cupid.'  She really enjoyed singing STUPID all the time around the house because that's not normally a word we use.  She told me she could, in fact she had to sing it, because it was part of her song!  This girl is a natural dancer.  She knew every move, her facial expressions had us all cracking up.  She was fantastic.

We were so proud of Katelee too.  She had some nerves getting up there, but she did her best and it was awesome!  She has no problem in plays or singing in front of people, but dancing is a little different.  She loved posing and getting in her costume, of course!

 

We had our annual neighborhood garage party to gather donations for the Homeless Shelter's Christmas store, we sang carols at a care center, we decorated sugar cookies (gluten free ones, that tasted delightful, in fact), we had a ward Christmas party and a work Christmas dinner.  The kids had

 

class parties, like this one above, where Brenna perfomed in her jammies!

We met Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus.

 Santa even let Grant tug on his beard.  He is the real deal.  We viewed (and smelled) the gigantic gingerbread house that was down the hall from our Christmas breakfast.

 The kids have spent a lot of time outside playing in the snow.  They have made snow caves and forts.  Katelee worked extra hard on this big guy...

 

                                                           

 Unfortunately, this man made of snow currently sits decapitated on our front lawn, but he still has that smile on his face!!

 

 

Yesterday was the last Sunday before Christmas.  I love the songs we get to sing and listen to as we try to align our thoughts to the true meaning of the season.  Dave watches me through the Christmas program to see when the tears will start, as they always do.  I can't help it because the spirit is so strong and testifies to me of the blessing our Savior is to me, our family and the whole world.  His life, His example, His service is our daily gift and we all feel that as we give to each other this season. 

 

Brenna even had a twin at church yesterday.  Her "favorite baby," Lilly.  (Sorry Harrison, brothers sometimes get the shaft.)

 

Today also marks Harrison's fourth month!!  He still has to eat every 3 hours at night, but the last week or two he has gone back to bed after feedings, which is much better than before!  We doubled his meds, stopped supplementing formula and I think he is progressing.  He rolls from tummy to back easily, he is working on back to tummy, and he loves to stand.  In fact, Dave is trying to train him (against my will) to be the earliest walking baby ever.  I am fighting against that.  We all cant get enough of baby Harry. 

So, while the countdown to Christmas is on, some of us are already exhausted.

 

Poor kid, we still have lots of parties this week.  The excitement is thick at our house!  We can't wait!

It's the Small Stuff

 Every single day there are new images like this on my phone.  Brenna (along with her big bro and sister) is a sneaky little thing.  Half of the time, I never even knew she had my phone.  When they are surprise photos, I laugh.  When I am running after her telling her to hand it back to me, it is not so funny.  It is interesting to see what things we find as blessings and what we don't recognize as such.

We had a great month and a great Thanksgiving holiday with my family this year.  Awesome food (sweet potato souffle, caramel pecan pie and pretzel jello were my assignments this year), a fun, fabulous movie (Frozen), and games.  It was a near perfect holiday, we just missed Brad and his family. 

Lots of families have a tradition leading up to Thanksgiving where they list blessings or things they are grateful for.  We did that this year on our kitchen chalkboard and it was the best thing each night for each of us to think of a blessing or somehow we recognized the Lord's hand in our life that day.  Brenna would talk about doing 'our thankful-fors' throughout the day.  Here is our board by the end of the month:

 

There was a wide variety of blessings, color coordinated by each member of our family.  The grateful subjects ranged from the coast guard, to prayer, to food, to the Savior, to friends, to pumpkins and minions.  Yes, minions...that was Brenna's pick one night.  Katelee, while not listed on our board, found she is grateful for high heels.  She got her first pair and she feels like she is walking on cloud nine.  She walks on that cloud somewhat carefully, so as not to fall, but she is in love with them...and herself in them.  Her first day wearing them to church, I saw her writing a note with a picture that said, "I got my first hi hills.  I look gorjis." (gorgeous).  That made may day. 

 She actually gave me something to smile about that same day when she locked herself in my room screaming and sobbing after a fight with Grant and me telling them to stop.   She was in there for a good 30 minutes.  That wasn't what made me smile, that makes me shake my head, but as I was getting ready for bed that night, I found what she had been doing for that half hour.  On my desk was a book she had made.  She is very into making books right now.  This is a very special one.  It is dedicated to our whole family.  Every page highlights every person and Katelee has listed what each member does to bug her and what we all  need to work on.  Apparently, I am the yeller in the family and I need to talk about things and not yell.  Dave's truly says he is 'prfikt of not bugginging' her except for popping her toes.  We both need to work on those.  Brenna needs to stop biting and hitting (agreed) and Harrison needs help from mom and dad in not pulling her hair.  I am feeling a little bit like my page was unfair.  Grant had a page, but he ripped it and drew on it before I could see it.  Oh, I have had a good laugh about that book.  Poor poor Katelee living with us!  But, small things like that make me smile. 

 I love that baby Harrison is getting big enough for his little jumper.  I love the days I can catch Brenna being sweet to him and not saying "Get out of here, Baby!"  like she did yesterday.  It is indeed the small things he does that fill me with so much joy right now.  He has had a few good nights and I am SO grateful for that.  I held him after he ate today and and we just stared at each other.  He would smile, I smiled and he would talk, I would talk.  He just stared at me until he was ready to close his eyes and go to bed for the night.  That seems like such a small thing, but it truly is the greatest.  Well, that and minions...

Flip Side

 

Everything has a flip side, oppostion, a push-pull, positive/negative aspect, right?  Sometimes, those things are equal, sometimes the good outweighs the bad and occasionlly the opposite can be true.  Harrison is 3 months old today.  We tried to have a little photo shoot, smiles were hard to capture, but we got some fun shots, none the less.  It's bitter sweet for me to have him racing through infancy. 

The negative is, I already miss the snuggly newborn.  The positive side is that each day he grows means I am one step closer to getting sleep again.  He is, hands down, the worst sleeper of our babes...which is saying a lot.  It is saying he is an absolute nightmare!!!  This also means that I am a complete basket case. 

 

He is actually, pretty well tempered in the day.  The nights are abysmal.  He thinks 4am is time to wake-up, for the day.  Or sometimes 3am is even better, or maybe 3 am is a good time to go down for the first snooze of the evening.  That is what happened the other night when Dave awoke to my fatigue induced hysteric sobs.  I am tired, I mean dead tired. 

 

Grant was a terrible sleeper too.  I have a few theories...reflux, tummy sleeping preference, low milk supply, its probably all of the above.  So, as he gets bigger, I know those problems will work out, but it is a big of a tug on my heart to see him get big and me not embrace every moment of this tiny baby stage. 

 

We all sure love him lots.  We have all been sick for the past few weeks-tummy bug, croup, even the baby got it.  Mostly having a baby with croup is nothing but sad, but on the flip side, I got a good night sleep the night he lost his voice!  I guess looking back, pregnancy even had a good side- I got to feel a baby inside me and my hair became thick and voluminous.  Right now, I am in the shedding stage.  I am fairly certain I will have 10 hairs left by Christmas.  I think that often about Brenna...she has been referred to by her teachers and nursery leaders as a 'spitfire', 'spunky', 'can hold her own' etc.  I hope this plays out on the positive side as making her adventurous and strong willed.

 

Rarely do I find the positive side of the constant fighting of the older kids.  However, recently, we have made a rule that if they are arguing, I make them 'hug it out.'  Grant and Katelee do not love it, to say the least, but they typically end up giggling and then they have to spend 20 min playing together.  So, perhaps their arguing will help them bond, right?! 

 

 Here is Grant with his best buddy Matthew.  They had a pinewood derby for scouts.  Neither boy won, but when Grant noticed someone having a hard time with their races, he encouraged them by saying "hard works means great fun, right?"  I loved hearing him try to build up a friend.  Grant is a constant teaser, but he is so so sweet and helpful with his baby brother. 

Also, who knew he was a star?!  He was a lead in his 3rd grade play.  Dave and I had no clue what a big deal it was til we showed up for the performance and the entire gym was full.  He said some lines, grabbed the mic and sang a bit of a solo and I was like, what is up!?!  Loved seeing him do that!  Of course every situation in life has a flip side...I'm struggling to see the positive of the no sleep issue.  Maybe I will have some good stories to laugh out later...many, many, many, many years down the road!

 

Halloween Happenings

Halloween day always seems to be hectic...getting the kids up and ready, fully costumed for school.  Then there is the school parade, the preschool program, the class parties, neighborhood dinner and off to trick-or-treating.  Phew!  But, it's always a fun time! 

 

Earlier that week, we had our annual Halloween dinner.  This year, we dined on mummies, a veggie skeleton, clementine pumpkins, with the witches hats and Spiderweb cake for dessert.  The cake was gluten free, but like all gluten free things I slave over, Katelee maybe takes one bite.  At least she knows she is worth the work!!

 

Brenna chose to be Cinderella this year.  Her demure princess choice is ever so deceiving, but adorable.  Yesterday while changing Harrison's diaper, I was on the phone.  I believe that little Brenna thought I couldn't hear what she was saying as I talked to her dad through the receiver, but I clearly heard her say (cue demonic voice, for real) "I am going to hurt you!"  This expression was directed at the baby and said while she squeezed his little fist as tightly as she could.  I stopped her and told her I heard what she said.  At that moment, the princess voice came on and said, "I just said I was going to hurt him!"  Princess sound sweet, but they don't lie apparently. 

 

Princess Cinderella was delightful in her preschool program. 

 

 

Costumes were super-low maintenance this year.  Katelee has been under the impression that she just goes through the dress-ups and picks something.  This notion has been passed to Brenna, as well.  I wasn't going to correct that, so she opted for her little mouse costume she was when she was in Theatre School over the summer.  Love it!  She was an adorable squeaker!  Yes, Brenna is showing off her chest here, at least she is wearing a shirt underneath, I suppose!

 

 

Grant wanted to pick something scary, of course.  I sent Dave and Grant to the store to pick something out and he came back with this terrifying outfit/staff and mask.  I made him throw the mask away because I almost starting crying it was so disturbing to me.  It even had blood to smear all over.  Dave claims innocence, I ask, where was your common sense?!  Grant, however, was happy with the spooky make-up I painted on him.  He did find time to frighten me, though.  Early one morning before school, I was sitting in my bed nursing the baby.  No lights were on, and I wasn't wearing my glasses, so everything is foggy or blurry.  I kept thinking the door was slightly moving, but sometimes I freak myself out like that when I can't see.  After deciding, yes in fact, the door was moving, I notice a black shadow slinking along my floor.  I kept calling Grant's name, but he didn't answer.  He abruptly stood up, costume on, with his hands raised high and fearsome and started laughing.  He is SO lucky I was already awake because if I woke up to that, I would have attacked him ninja-style.

 

Baby Harrison's costume was the hit of the night.  Shannon whipped up a Gryffindor scarf and let us borrow a black cardigan, a little face paint, and VOILA!

 Our Harry was the most adorable Harry Potter that ever graced the earth.  Doesn't get better than that!  I had tried to talk Grant into being Ron Weasley, but he obviously wasn't on board.  My friend pointed out that Ron Weasley doesn't even want to be Ron Weasley, so it was a long shot.  We dubbed Grant's character to be a Death Eater, so we still had a bit of a Harry Potter theme.  Costume discussions for next year have already began, but I doubt we can ever find one like I more than the boy who lived right there!