The Perfect Anniversary

Our anniversary this year started off after a nice long peaceful night's sleep. Both girls slept all night and even woke up a little later than usual so we felt very lucky. I got everyone started on breakfast then curled my hair, put on some makeup, and took my time picking out the perfect outfit for the day. We had a romantic lunch together and spent the day enjoying the time off from work and getting ready for Christmas. The girls were both so perfectly behaved all day, we barely even knew they were around. They took nice long naps and ate all of their dinner without making the slightest mess. We were so happy to have an absolutely perfect day!

Actually . . . none of that happened.

On our actual anniversary, Ana woke up around 1 am, ran upstairs, and crawled into bed. Then at 5 am, she decided she was bored and started playing on the mommy and daddy playground. Daddy was the punching bag and I was the seesaw. After about an hour of this, I finally gave up sleeping and let her drag me out of bed. Feeling very sleep deprived, I checked my phone and discovered a message from our boss saying that she needed an 80-page report finished up by the end of the day. "Well, Tom, there goes our plans for celebrating our anniversary today," I said.

We canceled plans for Grandma to watch the kids. Tom went straight downstairs and got started on the project. I persuaded the kids to eat some breakfast. We took Tom to his physical therapy appointment that morning. I lived in sweatpants and messy hair until late that afternoon when I had to go to a presidency meeting. We both worked every waking minute. Finally around 11 pm, I sent off the finished project and we stumbled upstairs and into bed.

After such a rough day, we decided to try and make up for the sad anniversary non-celebration. Grandma and Grandpa took the girls to play at the mall and we went out for lunch.

Tom was very kind and agreed to go to a place where I could eat my fill. Sushi is always a win! We decided to try out a restaurant downtown that we haven't been to before. The 30-minute wait to get a table was ominous but we actually got seated much sooner, which was nice.  

Tom loves getting bento boxes. He said this one was especially good.

The sushi was very yummy. I haven't had rolls with inari one top, so this was an exciting treat. I still like my Tomo sushi, but once we found out all the sushi was 50% off for lunch, we decided that maybe we did need to come back to Fujiyama.

Tom claimed that the mochi ice cream was better here, but I think his critique might have been slightly influenced by the fact they they had vanilla mochi ice cream with chocolate syrup. To me, mochi ice cream is mochi ice cream unless it is Bubbies.

 Finally, before running through the cold to our car, we took a quick picture together to prove that we actually spent our anniversary together. You know, in case there are any doubters . . .

Seeing Santa

This month has been absolutely nuts! It feels like Tom and I have been working nonstop for weeks with all the medical reports due by the end of the year (we rotate between watching kids and working so neither of us is really working anywhere close to 40 hours each, but still . . . ). We worked an entire weekend. And one day I worked 8 hours straight from middle of the afternoon until late at night, which is very unusual for me since Tom is usually the one pulling the long hours while I manage the household.

Right smack dab in the middle of a crazy week, we decided enough was enough, and we took the entire morning off. Our friend Sariah, whom we haven't seen since the BYU days, was in town so we really wanted to meet for lunch. Besides there were some other things we needed to do with the kids, such as investigate a piano teacher in Monument and take the kids to see Santa at Bass Pro. So we threw responsibility out the window and took off.

Before we left on our morning adventures, Constance told us that she wanted an Elsa swimsuit and towel from Santa. But as soon as she got to Santa and sat on his lap, she lost all desire to talk. Santa had to deduce that since she was a girl she must want a doll.

Then both girls stared glumly at the camera while the light flashed. However, in the picture below that Tom took with his phone, they look slightly happy.

This was our first time taking the girls to see Santa. I have to say the drive up north to Bass Pro was worth it. The picture we got was free, and it came with a cute little frame. Also, there were fun activities for the kids to do after they saw Santa.

 But Ana wasn't too interested in those. Just beyond the play area, she saw what she really wanted . . .

 She had to get on each one.

 The bigger and brighter the better.

 I had to help her up on this last one, and she could barely get her little legs over the sides.

 Neither girl was very interested in the north pole. The creepy-looking elf didn't help.

 And then I got this adorable picture of Ana.

I didn't get any pictures of our other activities that day but they were all very enjoyable. It was nice to get out, though the minute I got home I opened up my laptop and was on a call with our boss about a new project that took me into the late hours of the night.

Ana and Sleep

Ana doesn't make a good bed partner.

Sleeping with her means waking up to a baby head directly on top of your nose as she spreads out on your chest like it is recliner.
It means getting your eye poked at some crazy early hour in the morning, and just as you settle back down, your eye will get poked again.
Cover your eyes and attempt to go back asleep and she will kick you in the gut.
Moan and roll over and she will start pummeling your back and pushing your pajama bottoms down with her feet.
Inevitably you will wake up in the morning with a baby bum on top of your face.
Oh, and she also kick off ALL the blankets for some reason.

Most nights, Constance is Ana's first victim. The girls share a room so as soon as Ana's internal alarm clock goes off around midnight, she gets up and crawls on top of Constance's bed and begins her routine there. Constance is a good sleeper now but no one, not even her, can sleep with Ana.

So when Constance starts wailing loudly, Ana ends up in our bed. It is there that she is most happy because then she has not one, but two victims.

Then she wakes up around 6 am and sits on top of my face until I roll over. She grabs my hand, pulls, and says "Uuuuup!!!"

And that is what it is like sleeping around Ana.

We all really agree that Ana needs her own bedroom. Unfortunately, the only other room available right now is the bathroom. I really don't think she'd ever forgive us if she found out that we had forced her to sleep in a bathroom as a one-year-old.