Octomom's got nothing on Abby

Merry Christmas!! Hope you had a great time...we sure did! Nothing like spending a couple days with all of our families and watching the magic of Christmas through the eyes of my three-year-olds. Their excitement about all of it big ("We got a kitchen!!") and small, ("Oooooh Ben, you got another box!") made me not care about anything but watching them open all of their presents. We truly are blessed. I couldn't have asked for a better day. Well...I could have done with out the breakfast time excitement...betcha didn't get one of these for Christmas! Not to worry, everything is a-okay. My Grandpa (he's 90 remember) had an "episode" but recovered before the medics got there. Good news. They showed up with the aid car and a fire truck (which they left in the cul-de-sac) and ran the lights and sirens for the kids as they left. I'm pretty sure the neighbors appreciated that at 8 am.


After two straight days of presents, I spent this evening putting all of the new toys away. I made Abby a little area with her kitchen and babies where she can play house. See?

That is when I made a horrific discovery. Abby is giving the Duggars a run for their money. She has seventeen, YES, I SAID SEVENTEEN, kids!!! She takes very good care of them. Tonight as we were driving to a family dinner she said, "Mom, I left the big ones at home to take care of the little ones." And she loves them all very much. And she has a huge heart. She is always willing to take in new children. But 17?!? I think that the part that disturbs me the most as that when they are playing "Mommy & Daddy" (don't get me started on that) they refer to me as "Gwamma" and their father is "Papa Robbie". When I questioned my new title Ben told me matter of factly, "If I'm the daddy you're the Gwamma." The kid's got a point I suppose. Allow me to introduce you to my grandchildren.

This is Aubrey. She was Abby's original baby. She got her from her auntie for her first birthday. As you can see, Aubrey (the name she came with), is well loved and in need of a bath.

The following Christmas, Nana and Papa gave her this baby. Abby (who was not quite two at the time) immediately named her New Baby. (Two kids in 11 months should have been the first clue that things were getting out of hand.)

This is Uncle Jacob. He's Ben's baby. He is a Cabbage Patch Kid and came with the name Jacob Marshall. Ben got him for the same Christmas that Abby got New Baby and at the time, because his uncle is named Jacob, any Jacob that he came across was not just Jacob but Uncle Jacob. (The kid named Jacob in his swimming class was really confused by this). So his baby has been called Uncle Jacob ever since. Because of this we have conversations that go like this. Me: "Ben, time to clean up. Uncle Jacob's coming over." Ben: "Uncle Jacob my baby or Uncle Jacob my uncle?" Me: "Ummmm, your uncle."

The baby on the left is named Little Tiny baby. The baby in the middle doesn't have a name that I know of bet is definitely the fanciest of all the babies. The baby on the right came from Santa yesterday and, to my knowledge, has not been named yet.

This baby is named Abby. She has a twin brother named, you guessed it, Ben and they talk to each other. And sing songs together. It. Is. Crazy.

The one on the left is the twin brother and I think that the one on the right was adopted while we were visiting friends. She just came home with us. Gee, thanks Michelle. The problem with having so many kids is that you run out of places for them to sleep. That's why these two are in the bathtub. Don't judge.

This baby is appropriately named Big Baby. I call it creepy. I have no idea why it looks like a sumo wrestler, but I don't mess with it.

The baby on the left was a Christmas gift this year. She wanted a baby with a paci and she talked to Santa about it on Tuesday. On Wednesday she opened a gift from friends and found this baby with a paci (the paci is connected to her clothes so when Abby changed her into her pajamas, she had to lose the paci) and went into a panic that Santa wouldn't know that she already had one. Luckily we sent our trusty elf, Kelf, to give the message to Santa and that calmed her down. The baby on the right is named Pink Baby.

The little baby is one she bought with her winnings from the coloring contest. Her name is Boo. Or Kaboom. I can't keep them all straight. The other one is Anna. She got her for an early Christmas gift too. Since she is a Cabbage Patch Kid she came with a birth certificate so we know that her birthday is September 1st. Abby has already been busy making her some presents. Some of her presents ended up under the Christmas tree and since Anna was still sleeping (according to her mother) Abby had to open the present for her. She pulled out all of the little strips of paper that she had made and squealed with delight at each one. When she had looked at all of them she smiled a proud smile and said, "Anna will like those. Good job my own self."

This is her newest child. Apparently she is a toddler. She just got her from Nana today and has yet to be named but so far she seems to be fitting in with everyone else.

So there you have it. Oh, I almost forgot. There is another set of twins, Ben & Abby (are you picking up on a pattern?). They were tucked in with their mama tonight. You may have noticed that some of the babies were naked. I know that seems neglectful, but before you go calling CPS you should know that the reason is Abby is doing a load of laundry. See?

She would love to have more than one outfit for each of them but raising all of those kids has not left her with a whole lot of disposable income. That's looking to change soon. Abby is currently in talks with TLC about a new "project."

Christmas is coming and I am getting fat...and other weekend happenings

Remember the other day when I made 4 batches of Chex mix? Well, that's long gone. I told you. I love it and when it is in the house, I eat it all day long. I did not eat ALL of it myself, but I did put a good dent in it (along with the cookies and other Holiday goodies I have (had) around here). So tonight, I made some more. LookHope that's enough to last a while! It's not healthy but it sure is yummy. I promise when that is gone I won't make any more until next December. Probably.

What else did I do today? I thought you would never ask. Here's the lowdown.

This year, we decided that Santa would be bringing the kids one big gift (along with a stocking full of little ones) and they would each get two gifts and a stack of books from Mom & Dad. They are almost 4 and the Christmas magic is in full effect, so we figured that the big man could get the credit for the main presents. We have been planning for over a month, looking for the perfect surprises. This week, they came in the mail so today while the kids were playing at their grandparent's house we put them all together and they are sooooooooooo cute! Take a look at Abby's new kitchen and Ben's train table:

I think that they are going to be so excited when they walk downstairs Christmas morning and I can't wait to hear what they say.

Now I am torn between being anxious for Christmas to get here ASAP and wanting this week to go super slow since I don't have to work. I am going to try to balance fun and relaxing and just enjoy the time I have with my family. I am pretty close to ready for the crowd that is coming for Christmas, just have to do the final cleaning on Thursday. I would have cleaned this weekend but somehow I don't think that my 3 roommates would have kept clean until next weekend.

It is good that I don't have too much more to do around my house because I have much more important things to do...like hold a brand new baby!! The best thing I did today was visit my friend Megan and her new little man, Scott. When I got to the hospital this morning, he was only two hours old. He was so tiny and so sweet. I always forget how tiny newborns are and how quickly they change. The bright red, wrinkly skin that is too big for their body. The way their little tongues curl when they cry. Their little fingers and toes that look as fragile as toothpicks. The way that they never really open their eyes. He was perfect and he is so lucky to have parents who I know will do an amazing job. Can't wait to spend some time snuggling him before I have to head back to work...way more exciting than vacuuming.

WARNING

This is a public service announcement. I feel that it is important for me to caution you about my lack of patience with adults. I am sorry, but I CANNOT HELP IT. Believe me. I have tried. I have just recently (not sure what took me so long) come to the realization that because I am so patient with them...
and them... (who by the way are not actually kids from my class, just kids I found when I googled "pictures of kindergarten kids at school")

I do not have the patience that I have come to realize I need for the adults in my life. So if you say something stupid or don't do something that you say you are going to or can't figure out how to do your own job or can't make it through the day with a stuffy nose I am probably going to be annoyed with you. I apologize, but consider yourself warned.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Did you know? I love Christmas!! I love the music and the decorations and the colors and the food and all of the fun stuff that comes along with it. So in our house we have a lot of traditions and they start the day after Thanksgiving. Here's a look at what has been going on in the Miller household. Brace yourself...we've been busy!!



The Christmas Tree: The day after Thanksgiving we went to the tree farm near our house only to find out that we were an hour early. We didn't have an hour because we were celebrating Thanksgiving at my parents' house that afternoon so we figured we would get one on Saturday. We headed to dinner and at some point the conversations turned to Christmas trees and long story short, we ended up with something similar to the Griswold's tree, cut from my parents' front yard. Here, Clark, I mean Robbie, is on a ladder using a window washer with a hook (that he made from a hanger) to hang our lights. I'm pretty sure that it is not at all safe and I couldn't watch so I left him to his work and went to take a bath.

This is our tree stand. In case you can't tell, it is homemade. But it sure beats the one I found online for $465! I am working on a super size tree skirt in hopes that it will be slightly less distracting.

We weren't going to let them hang anything up high and then the bottom row of branches got so full of ornaments that they were dragging on the ground so we thought, "What the heck. Why not let our 3 year olds climb 18 feet in the air and lean over to hang a fragile heirloom on an unstable branch?"

Gingerbread Jamboree: This is going to be our new tradition! A friend (thanks Jennie!) gave me a gift certificate for my birthday so we tried it out. It is put on by the Children's Museum every year and we had soooo much fun! The kids loved going to pick out their candy from the candy bar and we all enjoyed working on the house together. They even got to go up on the stage and sing songs ("Mom! Jingle Bells! We know this one!!")

Christmas Cookies: Each year, since I was 2, we have made the same cookies. This year the kids were REALLY into decorating. And by that I mean that they buried the cookies in sprinkles.

Wrapping Presents: It is my FAVORITE thing to do! I love to save all of my presents until I am done shopping and then sit down for a marathon wrapping session. I have a little addiction to wrapping paper (especially the stuff they sell at Costco!) and I love to arrange them under the tree when I am done. Today we spent the day finishing up our shopping so tonight was wrapping night!

Decking the Halls: We bought this garland long before the plans for our house were drawn with the idea that we would be able to hang just like we do. It is my favorite decoration in the house. We did it at night while the kids were sleeping and when they woke up Ben said, "Wow! Who decked the halls?"

Advent: Our house is full of Advent calendars. We have one that we used in my family when I was a kid that tells the Christmas story and has a door to open every day. We have magnetic one that hangs on our back door, the kids each have one that they made at school which hangs on the door to their rooms and they pop out of bed each morning to put a sticker on the new day, and we have the house that my dad built for my brother and I as kids. Each day, one of them gets to open the door and find a little present.

Elf on the Shelf: This is new for us this year too. The story goes that the elf watches all day and then at night goes back to the North Pole to report behavior, be it good or bad, to the big man. Then, before we wake up he comes back home but not to the place where we left him before we went to bed. We named our elf "Kelf". (They are really into rhyming and it was better than the first two options which were "Ben" and "Diet Coke".) Hopefully I can remember to move him each night. Check him out...waiting to be found tomorrow morning!

Chex Mix: I love Chex Mix. And I love making it. I have a system. I get ready for the next batch while the current batch is cooking. I can crank out a ton in just a little bit of time. I make it every year. In my old kitchen I had to us the kitchen table, when I lived with my mother in law I had to get out the card table to make sure I had enough room. When I designed the kitchen in this house a big island was a must and it's all because of Chex Mix. It worked perfect! Tonight I made 4 batches and I have enough stuff to make 4 more another night. I only make it at Christmas time but when I have it I eat it for every meal. It is so yummy!

I told ya we've been busy! The rest of this week will be spent getting ready for a big ol' party this weekend. I've said it before and I'll say it again, I LOVE the holidays!!