The Only Picture from Christmas Day

Am I a bad mother? It just makes things frustrating to stop everyone every couple minutes and take a picture... so I just didn't do it. Oh well. Here's the one that Kaylon took on his cell.

Merry Christmas!

Greetings this Christmas morning from the McInelly family! Our Christmas season has been wonderful to say the least. I feel so blessed with the knowledge that our Savior was born 2000 years ago and that we can celebrate his birth with a holiday that brings families and communities closer together.

The girls woke up this morning at a quarter till 5 to find that Santa had left their stockings in their room. They opened everything and played for two hours- well the older two did. I brought Moira into our room and she fell back asleep before I did (smartest thing mommy did today!). The girls knew that 7am was the magic hour and came in to wake us up on the dot. They helped us open our stockings (I got my 1st MP3 player!), and we headed downstairs.

Highlights of gifts:

Grace: jewelry making kit, Fashion Barbie, Jasmine doll, robe, Zoobles playset, robot building set, baby doll, clothes, and jewelry.

Liliana: from Toy Story: Rex and Jessie, remote control car, FurReal puppy, ColorWonder Paints, clothes, jewelry, Zoobles playset, and Toy Story 3.

Moira: pig pillow pet, FurReal kitty, drum, spiderman punching bag, books, a zooble, baby doll, and a rocking keyboard.

Moira had to be the cutest this morning- this is only her 2nd Christmas, but she's almost two, so she "got" it. She tore bows off (even if it wasn't her present), ripped off paper, and jumped for joy (literally) for each gift. She was so happy! She played with each toy as she waited for her next turn to open. She was so fun to watch!

Grace and Liliana were great too of course- they were gracious with their thank you's, and other than a few gripes from Liliana about jewelry, were happy with their gifts.

And one of the best moments was after we were done and Grandma looked out the window to see snow falling- big fluffy flakes that stuck to the ground and bushes. It made the morning so pretty- even if it didn't amount to much in the end. They are calling for a measurable amount tomorrow, which will be nice.

We hope that you all were able to feel the Spirit of the season today. Merry Christmas to all!

Book Reading with Grandma Elyse

The girls got a great gift today from Grandma Elyse- the new Hallmark books that have the recorded voice of a loved one on them. The girls haven't put it down in the last half hour! What a great way to hear Grandma's voice whenever they want to even when she's in Arizona!

Christmas Dresses

First Snow!

We got our first 1-2 inches of snow last Thursday. It was just enough to play in. Moira got her first (real) experience with the white stuff, and you can tell from her face what she thought of it. They played outside long enough for me to do the shoveling.

We're excited because the 5-day forecast is calling for snow on Christmas Eve! Even just another dusting would be lovely!

Potty Training Continues...

Actually, she won't use this potty unless someone else is on the big one- I guess she thinks she's too big for that now! She continues to tell us she needs to go potty- and holds it until we get there. The only time I ask her if she needs to go is right before she goes to sleep, and only because I know that if I don't ask, she'll be knocking on the door in a few minutes, naked, asking to go. She's not potty trained- she's still in diapers- but if it gets me out of changing a poopy diaper, I'll take it.

Bah Humbug!

If you are an old grumpy man who doesn't like kids, let me give you some advice- don't sit in the booth next to two kids when you have your choice of booths. And if you're an old grumpy man who likes making toddlers cry, I hope you enjoy your hereafter in hades!

And on a side note, sometimes I wish I were braver so that I could have told this man off, but I console myself with the thought that he could have been on the edge and gone postal on us had we confronted him- because seriously- who makes a 1-year old cry and doesn't apologize for it?

Happy News!!!

We are excited to share our exciting news with our friends and family: McInelly baby number 4 should arrive sometime in the beginning of June! (due date of June 9th) I am finally starting to feel better, happily a few weeks before I felt better with any of the other ones. And my belly has started to pop out- I guess with #4 there's no holding it back!

The older sisters are all very anxious for the arrival that is still six whole months away... I was surprised especially by Liliana's reaction. She frequently talks to the baby (and the baby 'talks back'), and discusses all the things she and the baby will do when it comes. Grace insists that it will be another girl, but we're trying to prepare her for the possibility of blue in our house (not that we care either way, but it's good to be prepared). Moira kisses my belly sometimes, usually after seeing her sisters do it (it's still sweet).

We plan on not finding out the sex again, although I say that with the knowledge that it being my fourth baby I can read ultrasounds pretty well, and if I see some parts, I'll know what they are. Now that the name fight is over (Eve is Moira's middle name and so no longer an issue) I'm not as adamant as Kaylon. But if that's how he wants it, I can support him. :)

Anyways, we're are so excited to welcome another child into our home! We are so blessed!