Christmas part 1: Santa comes early to the Rigg house

Since we would be spending Christmas in Arizona with Taber's family this year, we sent a note to Santa and he kindly agreed to come to our house a few days early to drop off some of the gifts he wouldn't be able to bring to Arizona. 

So on December 23rd, the day before Christmas Eve, we woke up to presents under our tree!

The girls both asked Santa to bring them a bell from his sleigh and he delivered!! They were thrilled!

Cam got a new dinosaur towel

And a new Thomas the train set!

And the girls opened their gifts from Mom and Dad. 

I made Taber a blog book for the last half of 2011, which means now I just need to do 2012 and 2013 and then I'll be all caught up! (someday…)

Taber and the kids love the blog books though, so that's my main motivation to keep blogging. 

The big surprise was an indoor trampoline that Santa had set up in our basement!

With polar vortexes coming through Chicago, this gift has kept us sane while we're cooped up inside.

Brinley also asked Santa for an elf costume. She looked so adorable in it!

After opening presents this little elf helped me make cinnamon rolls.

They were yummy to our tummies!

Daddy got Cam's trains all set up and the two of them had some good father/son train table time.

Then it was time to pack up and head to the airport! Monty wanted to stow away in our suitcases, but sadly we had to leave him behind. 

The airport was busy with holiday travelers, but these 3 were all smiles and good attitudes.

The TSA guys let us cut to the front of the line, probably because we had one of Santa's elves with us ;)

The pilots also let the girls come check out the cock pit. "We've never had an elf in our cock pit!" they said. There are definite perks to traveling with an elf! :) The girls did great on the flight, Cam…well that's another story that I'd rather forget. Either way, we made it safely to Arizona and had an awesome Christmas vacation! (AZ blog posts to follow soon…)

Breakfast with Santa and Christmas Sunday Best

The Saturday before Christmas our ward hosted a Breakfast with Santa. 

The food was amazing and everyone got to wear their pajamas which made it extra awesome.

Mrs. Claus was there with Santa, and she knew the girls names without them even telling her! They were pretty amazed. :)

The Rigg kids with Mrs. Claus.

And all the kids with Santa. 

Brinley was wearing Santa jammies and old St. Nick said they were his favorite.

Teya wore her fox jammies and was excited when she saw one of her favorite friends wearing them too!

After eating and meeting Santa they had children's story time.

And a Christmas sing along, which Cam loved!

Then one more hug from Santa before it was time to go home!

Christmas Sunday Best

On the Sunday before Christmas the kids got to wear their new Christmas Sunday dresses and church clothes. 

I know I'm biased, but I'm pretty sure I have the cutest kids in the world.  :)

Pregnancy and Body Image: This is how I look pregnant, and that's ok.

This morning I had a really good conversation with my sister about being ok with the way I look when I'm pregnant.  I've been packing on the lbs at a rapid pace with this one, and with 9 weeks still to go, I have already reached the weight I delivered Teya and Brinley at! So yeah, I'm kind of on a roll :)

The sensible part of my brain knows that I'm pregnant, and that the changes in my body are all a part of the miracle of growing a human being. I also know that my outward appearance doesn't change who I am or what makes me beautiful, or special, or of worth. I know that no matter what shape or size I am that my husband and children will still love me and think I'm the best! But despite knowing all those things, I still sometimes see my reflection and have to work really hard not to get down on myself.

Part of the problem is that I have been guilty of the ridiculous and pointless exercise of comparing myself to others. It just seems like everywhere I look I see pictures in maternity ads of stylish skinny moms-to-be, or my cute friends on Facebook who are pregnant and still running races and looking fabulous, while I can barely waddle out a mile on the treadmill, (and that's on a good day!)

I look at the maternity magazines and the models with all their adorable little baby bumps, Then I look at my own baby "boulder" accompanied by my swollen face, legs, arms and chins and sometimes, I'm not gonna lie, it's hard not to feel like a big blubbery whale. 

The truth is though, some people look like this when they're pregnant...

And some people look like this. 

And both are totally okay! 

I've honestly been reluctant to post any pictures of myself just because of the way our society and 

the media is so cruel to anyone who, heaven forbid, looks pregnant when they're PREGNANT!

I don't read these magazines but I see them every time I go grocery shopping and watching this woman get ripped apart and ridiculed during her pregnancy I couldn't help but be affected by it. Who wouldn't be afraid of gaining weight, even when pregnant, if the media is going to shred you like that?  

Luckily I don't have paparazzi following me so I can be very selective about the images I post of myself. I posted this picture as my profile pic on FB and Instagram a couple weeks ago because it was a flattering angle and acceptable to society's "standards" of what you should look like when you're pregnant. 

But that's not really what I look like. 

And I realized today after talking to my sister that I don't need to be embarrassed about all the other pictures I take that are a truer reflection of my pregnant self. 

    

 Like this one…

 Or this one…

 Or this one. 

This is how I look when I'm pregnant. 

My cheeks get big and adorably chunky. My arms, neck, legs and backside all seem to want to join the party and get "pregnant"too along with my belly. That's normal (for me) and that's ok! Some people can run when they're pregnant, I cannot, (believe me I've tried!) and that's okay too. Everyone does pregnancy different, and I can't beat myself up because mine doesn't match up to someone else's. My sister reminded me today that I don't need to compare myself to others. She also reminded me that this is just a season of my life, and seasons come and go so enjoy the journey.

I really am happy to be pregnant and I'm going to enjoy these last 9 weeks, and smile at my reflection, and not be afraid to post pictures, and not feel like I need to make excuses for my size or weight. This is how I look when I'm pregnant, and that is okay!

December Traditions

It's February, and I still haven't blogged about December. UGH!! Someday, Someday I WILL catch up on this blog… One post at a time…

Starting with December Traditions:

Putting up the Christmas Tree

At the beginning of December one of our favorite traditions is decorating the Christmas tree. 

The girls LOVE being a part of this and are getting much better at distributing the ornaments evenly.

They also insist on wearing their Santa hats during the whole process.

Brinley had the honor of placing the star on top this year. She did a great job!

Gingerbread Houses

Another yearly tradition is decorating gingerbread houses.

This year instead of doing one big house, the girls each got to decorate two little houses.

Daddy was the artistic director through the process and a big help with spreading the sticky frosting. 

The finished product! 

(Cam couldn't handle the sensory overload of this particular tradition but hopefully next year he'll be making a house too :)

Graham's Chocolate

If you haven't noticed, one of our favorite places in Geneva is Graham's chocolate. They have amazing homemade candies and chocolates and the best homemade ice cream around! Last year we went there to see how they made candy canes and decided to make Graham's part of our yearly Christmas traditions. 

Even when it's freezing outside, Graham's homemade ice cream hits the spot! (Seriously if we ever move, it would be worth the plane ticket to fly back here for their toasted coconut ice cream. AMAZING!)

Taber's Homemade Peppermint Bark

And this year we are adding a new tradition, Taber's homemade peppermint bark. He bought the stuff to make it at Graham's, and when you're using world class ingredients, you know the end result is going to be the bomb. 

And it was! This is definitely happening every year from now on!

Brookfield Zoo Christmas Lights and the mother of all meltdowns.

On the last Day of November we took the kids to the Brookfield Zoo to see the Christmas lights. 

They were all bundled up and we were looking forward to a fun evening as a family.

It started out great, everyone was smiling and excited to see the lights.

The zoo went all out with huge trees and Christmas lights and decorations everywhere.

They even had animal characters dressed up to greet and take pics with the kids. 

Things were going good, but shortly after we arrived we decided to let the kids ride the carousel while we waited for the giant tree lighting ceremony. 

They all had a great time, especially Cam who was enamored with the kangaroo he had chosen to ride. 

The trouble started when the ride ended. 

Cam was distraught that he had to get off. 

He just couldn't understand why he must part with his beloved kangaroo. 

The poor boy cried and cried. 

I tried taking him away from the carousel to get his mind off it. He kept crying, 

"Kangaroo! Kangaroo!" 

I tried buying him treats and popcorn, he didn't want them. 

"Kangaroo! Kangaroo!

I tried taking him to see the actual kangaroos in the zoo, but when he realized they weren't the carousel kangaroo, he really started wailing!

"KANGAROO! KANGAROO!"

So I had no other choice, I took him back to the carousel, to wait in the long line again so he could ride that dang kangaroo. 

And this is where having a kid on the autism spectrum can escalate a situation like this into a pretty epic meltdown... As is very common for spectrum kids, when Cam gets his mind set on something, he can't be deterred, he has very rigid expectations and doesn't cope well with variations to those expectations. Cam's mind was set on riding the kangaroo. Waiting in line was excruciating for him and he cried the whole time. Finally they opened the gate and dozens of kids rushed in to pick their animal. 

There were 2 kangaroos. 

We ran to the first but it got snatched right before we got there. 

I saw the other one across the way. 

No one was on it.

I hightailed it over there as fast as my pregnant booty could hustle. 

Cam saw the kangaroo. 

It was his! 

But then a second before we got there another mom plopped her 2 year old on top of it. 

Cam was hysterical. 

Oh how he screamed and screamed!

"KANGAROO! *loud wailing scream* KANGAROO!!

I politely asked the mom if there was any way her son would be willing to ride a different animal. 

Seeing Cam's hysteria, she tried to coax her 2 year old off but he stubbornly said, "no, my kangaroo."

The mom felt horrible but it wasn't her fault and we were making a scene, so after all that waiting in line, I hauled Cam off the ride to wait in line again. I explained to the operator what had happened and she kindly let us stay at the front of the line to wait for the next kangaroo. 

Having to wait again made Cam crazy. 

As he kicked and screamed on the ground, a small herd of kids pushed past us to the front. 

I was too busy dealing with Cam to say anything and just hoped they wanted to ride different animals.

Then as the ride slowed down, I heard one of the boys claim the kangaroo. 

Oh no he didn't.

Mama bear picked screaming Cam up off the ground and walked over to the boy, 

"Sorry, that is MY son's kangaroo."

The boy's sister said, "well my brother wants it."

I looked at her at the edge of insanity and dared her with my crazy eyes to try and take it from me. 

She wisely backed down and Mama bear and Cam pushed our way back to the front. 

The gate opened again. 

We claimed our kangaroo.

And all was right again in Cam's little world. 

After that we got as far away from the carousel as we could. 

We took him to the monkey house, and with carousels and kangaroos far from his mind, he was finally able to relax and enjoy the zoo. 

Daddys are more fun to ride than kangaroos anyway :)