merry christmas!

the final countdown

It seems that Christmas has taken an extra long time to get here this year. I was talking with a friend recently and we decided that it's because of our toddlers. We got into full holiday mode right after Thanksgiving, which is much earlier than years past. With school, work and traveling for the holidays the Christmas countdown didn't start til much later.


And now it's finally here. It's a good thing too, because for the past few days both kids have been flirting with the naughty list.

happy birthday, will!

scrub a dub

Hoping to save time, I attempted to simultaneously bathe my children yesterday. Because the baby tub takes up so much space in the regular tub, and that Will, he likes his space, they bathed next to each other.

For the most part, we were successful.


A less successful moment occurred right after this picture was taken. I had already asked Will to not pour water on Lauren, but he went ahead poured a cup of water on her face. We're lucky she is so easygoing because other than a few blinks, it didn't seem to faze her.


Will redeemed himself when he offered to share his letters with her.

Two clean kids, no crying, and a little bit of sharing. Sounds like a success to me.

P.S. Lauren is really starting to remind us of Will at the same age. Minus the under-eye circles. Could it be because she is a much better sleeper?

it's beginning to look a lot like christmas

Christmas is extra magical for our family this year, thank you Thomas William John. Although technically his third Christmas, this is the first Christmas he really gets things. He loves trees and lights and snowmen. His enthusiasm is contagious, and Tony and I have discussed how much more special Christmas feels to us this year too.


"Lights on!" "Wow!" and "Pitty," (pretty) are some of the first things he says each morning.

Not all aspects of Christmas are exciting to Will. He is still learning to love Santa. A few weeks ago we were eating lunch at Chick-fil-A and a giant cow dressed up as Santa appeared and started greeting the child patrons. I don't think I will forget the look of horror that crossed Will's face as he spied the Santa and grabbed Anthony's arm anytime soon. Actually, most of the kids didn't look too excited to see the cow Santa. It was a good 7 feet tall and didn't talk. Maybe a marketing fail?



Here we are visiting Santa at our ward Christmas party. Lauren sat on Santa's lap while Will collected both of their candy canes. He wasn't pleased when I made him come back for a family picture with the jolly old elf.

We're not too worried about Will's Santa aversion. From what I've seen and heard it isn't uncommon for kids his age and it is getting better. Plus, although fun, Santa isn't the most important part of Christmas.

souper tuesday

We have been eating a lot of soup lately. My sister Jill shared this awesome recipe with me last week and I have already made it twice. Luckily for me it is healthier than my usual go-to soup recipes.

It is so good I want everyone to try it.

And really, why is heavy cream required to make things taste good? Why can't something much healthier do the trick?

Chicken, Escarole & Rice Soup

2 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

1 head escarole, trimmed, washed and thinly sliced, approx. 10 cups (can use spinach)

3 14-oz. cans chicken broth

½ cup long-grain rice

¾ lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cut into small cubes

1 16-oz. can diced tomatoes (Jill recommends using Italian seasoned tomatoes and she is right, the basil and oregano make the soup taste extra savory)

black pepper to taste

Parmesan cheese

In a large pot heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic. Sauté’ until just beginning to color, about 3 minutes. Add escarole (or spinach) and 1 can of broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the remaining 2 cans of broth and return to a simmer. Add rice and simmer for 15 minutes. Add chicken and tomatoes, return to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes more or until the rice is tender and the chicken is no longer pink in the center. Season with pepper to taste. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top of each bowl of soup.

Oh, and in case any of you are wondering what escarole is (I had never heard of it before), it is a leafy green vegetable usually found near the Romaine lettuce or spinach.

going to grandma's

After the wedding we drove down to Southern Utah to visit my maternal grandparents. We caravaned down and my parents graciously agreed to let Wilbur ride in their car. It felt a bit strange to not have Will in our car, but it was kind of nice too. He is going through a stage where is he is better behaved for pretty much anybody besides his parents.


We got to Hurricane Sunday evening. We enjoyed visiting with my Grandparents for a few hours and eating some pizza and Klondike bars. Klondikes are a family fave, so if you don't like them, keep your opinion to yourself please. :)

The next morning started by checking out Uncle Steve's new place. Uncle Steve became Will's lifelong friend after giving him some Matchbox cars and a 'copter.

Will has played with them every day since we got home.

We also went out to breakfast and Will thought he'd try to reduce the bill by vacuuming. Didn't work, but the waitress did give him a cookie for his trouble.

After we ate we spent some more time at G & G's visiting and attempting to get some good pictures.

Four generations of mothers and daughters.

The group. We are missing Jill, Emily & Matt, and Andrew.

We had a fun time in Hurricane. It makes me happy that at least two of my kids get to meet some of their great-grandparents. All of my great-grandparents passed away before I was born.

mr. and mrs. wilson

I have referenced our trip to Utah a few times on the blog without going into real detail. I think I needed a little time to recover. :)

When Lauren was 3 weeks old we packed up our little family and headed to Utah so we could participate in my sister, Emily's wedding festivities. In the airport people would look at how small Lauren was and tell us we were brave for traveling. She isn't the reason we were brave. This was Lauren for most of our trip:

A (sleepy) delight.

This guy gave us (much) more grief:

I'm pretty sure the four of us influenced the family planning decisions of a few of the couples seated around us during our layover in the Denver airport.

In his defense, our daily itineraries did not take his sleep schedules into account. Lesson learned. Respect the toddler's sleep schedule.

Emily and Matt were married on a blustery Saturday afternoon. It turned out to be much more snowy and wet and cold than any other day that week. Oh well. Their happiness brightened things up. When we got to the temple everything was warm and comfortable. It was great seeing so many friends and family members we don't get to see often. Emily made a beautiful bride, and Matt was beaming the whole time. I loved seeing them so happy. The ceremony was nice and it reminded me how blessed I am to connected to so many wonderful people.

Despite the less-than-ideal weather conditions Emily and Matt chose to brave the elements and they were rewarded with some great photos.

The above photos were taken by my cousin-in-law, Becky Reed of Ravenberg Photography. She is awesome!

The Crane fam posing for some pictures.

Lauren stayed inside with some of my kind cousins while we took the group shots, but we had to document that she was there and that she was looking awfully cute.


Will was exhausted from all the picture taking and the fact that he didn't get a nap.

After the temple we headed to the church where they held their reception. It was in a cool old church in the Sugarhouse area. It was built back when individual ward's built their own buildings and it reminded us of a European Chateau. I am annoyed that we didn't get a picture of the outside.

On the way over Will passed out. The poor little guy was so tired.

We carried him in asleep and he ended up falling off one of the pews that lined the cultural hall. He was already in a bad mood, but that pretty much did him in. We turned on our portable DVD player and let him watch Caillou. At first I thought we would just let him watch for a few minutes. He ended up watching Caillou during the entire set-up, reception, and clean up. It's safe to say he's obsessed and I have to admit, it was nice to not have him so grumpy.

Emily and Matt's song is "The Luckiest," by Ben Folds. They asked Anthony to sing it during the reception.

Here he is serenading the bride and groom.


Will was willing to take a brief break from watching Caillou to listen to his dad. About half way through the song he said to me "all done daddy" and that he was ready for "more Caillou." Oh the love-hate relationship I have with that show.

He also briefly consented to a photo with his aunties. He didn't say anything about smiling.

Emily and Matt had a hot chocolate bar, which coordinated perfectly with the cold weather. Mmmmm, what I wouldn't give for a cup with andes mints mixed in right now.

The reception was bumpin'. I hardly had time to visit the photo booth.

Here the Crane ladies are hamming it up.

Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson! We were honored to take part in your wedding day!

Matthew & Emily :: 11.12.11 :: Salt Lake Temple

lauren :: one month

One month stats:

Length: 21 3/4 inches 75%tile
Weight: 10 lbs. 9 oz. 90th %tile

We love our little Lauren. Sometimes I call her Lo-jo. Or Loey Joey. Or Lady. Or Ladybug. When Will says her name it sounds like Warren.

It is hard for me to describe her without comparing her to Will. When people ask if she is a good sleeper I think, she is compared to him. She's a better eater too. She's more content than he was/is. Do other parents of two or more have this problem?


Lauren is a very agreeable baby. She is very tolerant of Will as he is learning to be gentle. She likes to be held, but is content to sit in a swing or bouncer. She likes to lay on the ground too, but don't face her away from the action. She likes to see what is going on. And once she checks out what the rest of us are up to, she's back to sleep again. She seems to sleep a fair amount (at least...compared to Will).

Lauren is a loud sleeper. Poor girl inherited her mom's small nasal passages. She kicks and grunts a lot in her sleep too. So many times I have woken up in the night and thought she was awake, only to find her sound asleep in the pack and play.


Lauren has a small birthmark (strawberry hemangioma) on her back. She had some craddle cap in her eyebrows, but that seems to have resolved itself. Her dark blonde hair is thinning out. I've been wondering if her hair seems so much thinner because her head has grown so much, or if it is just due to falling out. She has big beautiful eyes that seem to get bluer by the day. I love it when I "catch" her gaze. She smiles occasionally and it makes me excited to see what kind of a kid she is going to be.

Maybe it's the pregnancy hormones or the holiday spirit getting to me, but I just cannot get over how blessed I am to have Lauren in my life.

Special thanks to my friend, Lauren for taking these awesome pictures of baby Lauren.

photo dump--november

I am way behind on all the posts I want to blog so here are some recent and somewhat random pictures from the past month along with some of my thoughts.

Leaves. Lots of leaves. It's funny, the trees were so beautiful this summer when we bought the house.

Lauren is a sassy little lady. It is surprisingly difficult to find fancy clothes in newborn size.

Will is really into helping these days and firmly believes that throwing cheese on to whatever food we are having is his job. He gets really disappointed when I don't pull out a bag of shredded cheese at dinnertime.

On our Utah trip (post forthcoming) Lauren got to meet most of her aunts and uncles. Here she is hanging out with (future) Uncle Andrew. And today just happens to be his birthday. Happy Birthday!

At the end of our trip we got to hang out with the Nielsons, Gessells and Salazars for a few hours. Will was a bit of a grump, luckily Sadie was patient with him.

This picture of a picture is from the photobooth at Emily 's wedding reception. It sure was fun to hang out with my mom and sistas.

Just Will, drumming on his drum, wearing the hat he got from his cousin "Deedee."

little drummer boy

On Thanksgiving morning Will and Anthony got up and watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (and graciously let me sleep in!). We thought Will would love the floats, but he loved the marching bands best. He kept saying he wanted more music and would start drumming on his drum whenever bands came on. It must be in his genes.


We have this old formula canister that he uses as a drum and he got it out during the parade so he could drum along. He got really into the drumming. My favorite is when he is all hunched over giving it his all. Occasionally he stops to roll up his shirt sleeves. He was very serious about all of it and wasn't excited about me wanting to take his picture.

warming up

Considering they live in the same house, Will and Lauren lead fairly separate lives. She goes back to sleep around the time he wakes up. He gets into mischief and has unreasonable demands when she wakes up and I'm feeding her. Oh wait, the mischief and unreasonable demands happen when she's asleep too.

They respect each other's space, but are content doing their own thing.

However, the past few days Will has shown a serious increase in interest in his baby sis. When he gets up in the morning he likes to check on Lauren in her pack and play. The other morning while I was drying my hair I look over and see this:

Contact not initiated by mom!

And today their interactions really escalated. Will, an avid lover of the pacifier, helps a sister out when she has trouble keeping hers in. Then he takes it, but gives it back again.

Hopefully this is the start of a beautiful friendship/siblinghood.

Lauren Jean

We've been getting to know Miss Lauren Jean for almost 3 weeks, so I figure it's about time to blog about her.


Lauren is pretty awesome. So far she is proving to be an "easier" baby than her big bro. And by that I mostly mean she is less fussy. (Hopefully I didn't jinx things by writing that.) She's generally content. Most of her demands are reasonable, she likes to eat regularly and hates sitting in a messy diaper for too long. She is patient with her big bro when he is a bit too aggressive with her, and she's patient with her mom when she is a bit too slow to meet her needs.


Now don't let me give you the idea that she a quiet pushover. She has a very powerful set of lungs and she knows how to use them. Once she decides she is ready to eat, she is ready. Especially in the middle of the night.

We really love having this little lady in our family. We knew she had officially "arrived" as member of our little crew when we heard Will include her name in his morning ramblings over the baby monitor.

Public Service Announcement

In order to meet the needs of the people, this post needed to be written:

Apparently I am not a clear written communicator, especially when I rush my writing. Often times my head is moving too fast and my typing hands cannot keep up. My lack of skill has led to some confusion about the name of our daughter. Her name is Lauren Jean John. My previous post has confused many about the pronunciation of her name, and re-reading the post I guess I can see why. You pronounce the first syllable of her name with a long o sound, like in the word "ore".

The previous post has confused others and led them to think we are pronouncing her name differently, with the first syllable using the vowel sound from the word "loose". This could not be farther from the truth, but it is a mistake due to my own poor writing.

Sorry.

Happy Halloween

When I first found out I was going to have a baby in late October I told myself that I was going to get costumes ready for my kids nice and early. But then I didn't and I told myself that we could take a year off because I just had a baby. But then I started to feel guilty that I was depriving my children some of their childhood memories. Except it would be one of those "memories" they don't really remember because they actually remember it, but they know about because we take pictures. Enough rambling.


Luckily for me (and my kids future scrapbooks) my mom found some cute pumpkin costumes for the kiddos. An added bonus is that Will is fascinated with pumpkins, or munyucks as he calls them (the kid really struggles with the "p" sound), and so he would actually wear it.

He means business.

Will loved pretty much everything about Halloween. The costume. The candy. The attention. Oh the attention. Just what the doctor ordered for a boy struggling to come to terms with sharing his parents attention. Will doesn't care that our friends and neighbors probably found most of the kids cute. All he knows is that when he went up to their door they were really nice and gave him candy. In fact, he was on such a candy/attention high tonight that he even gave Baby Lauren two kisses.

She was looking awfully cute in her pumpkin headband.

I'm also told that our ward's trunk or treat would probably rank quite high on his list of the most awesome nights of his life (so far). I wasn't there (Lauren and I decided to stay in), but the reports were positive. He had as much fun giving out candy and he had receiving it.

Happy Halloween!