I Believe

(Jenn) This is probably not one of those stories that's going to be quoted at the Christmas Devotional someday. But I think it's a pretty good story.

So Henry's very favorite birthday present was a little die-cast toy version of Chick Hicks from the movie Cars. He pretty much played with it constantly from the minute he opened it on his birthday. Naturally, Chick Hicks came with us to choir practice the Sunday night two days later. Henry unpacked 10 cars from the diaper bag, Chick Hicks being one of them. He and the other kids drove them all over the chapel until it was time to go home. We gathered the cars together and counted only 9. You guessed it, the beloved Chick Hicks was missing! We searched, along with 4-5 other parents, for about 10 minutes and never found him. It was pretty much the saddest day in Henry history.

Luckily, with Christmas around the corner, he was pretty comforted with the thought that he could just add "Chick Hicks" to his Christmas list and Santa would take care of it! We had it all worked out, and the new Chick was ordered a few weeks ago. Problem solved? Almost. On Saturday night, on the way to the church Christmas party, we were talking about the impending visit with Santa. Henry was getting pretty excited. I asked him what he was going to ask Santa for. We had talked about this several times previously, and the plan was to ask for a car transporter. This time he changed his mind. "I'm going to ask him for TWO Chick Hicks!" Henry announced. Hmmm. I finished my Christmas shopping last Tuesday and already went over Henry's budget to allow for a little Santa magic. I was pretty sure it wasn't going to happen. I spent the rest of the car ride trying to explain that it was silly to ask for two of the same toy, and probably Santa wouldn't be able to do it. However, Henry's grand idea could not be altered.

So the Christmas party came and went. Henry shared his little secret wish with Santa, and I secretly hoped he would forget what he had asked for. Then yesterday the miracle happened. In the middle of church, I was out walking the halls with Ellis, trying to get him to fall asleep. We walked about three laps, and I was starting to get a little bored looking at the same surroundings. I wandered into the media center. As I peeked around the corner into the room, I saw a small basket sitting on a shelf. In the basket: a few stray crayons and none other than Chick Hicks himself. Henry's Chick Hicks! I slipped it into my pocket with a baffled grin.

Don't tell Henry, but he'll be getting his Christmas wish this year -- a silly request whispered to a white-bearded man. And I'm giving Santa all the credit for this one. Let's just say that as for me and Henry, we believe.

Christmas Spirit Found Here

(Jenn) In case you were wondering, our halls are decked! We've been loving our new house and all the great new decorating spots. The best part: a legitimate place to hang stockings! We're all ready for Santa.

I may never have to iron again

Thanks to Downy Wrinkle Releaser! No kidding folks, it works! Just spray on wrinkled fabric and give the fabric a few tugs. Voila; wrinkles are gone. This is life-changing news for me, the girl who gets a pit in her stomach every time the word "iron" is spoken. Ben asks me to iron a shirt, and I say, "Oh, just hang it in the front closet. I'll get to it later." Ben treks to the front closet all forlorn, knowing he will never wear that shirt again (it does not cross his mind that he could iron the shirt himself). These days are over for the Iversons! Now I will just pass Ben the "De-wrinkler" and set him free. Perhaps Henry will get to start wearing that white Sunday shirt that made its way to the bottom of the drawer after we washed it for the first time (I warned him to never get it dirty if he wanted to wear it again)! Thanks to Eliza for the raving recommendation.



While we're on the subject, I would feel very guilty if I didn't also spread the news about my other favorite spray-on product: Zout. Ever thought it would be cool if Spray & Wash actually worked? Then this is the product for you! Seriously, I think I had been devotedly spraying Spray & Wash on my clothes for five years, hoping each time that this would be the one time it actually really removed a stain. You never know, right? Well, let me tell you -- Zout works. I had a stack of baby clothes that had been "permanently" stained by Henry, then left in a box for three years. I brought them out, sprayed them with Zout, and watched the miracles unfold. The stains are gone! I have seen Zout remove blood stains that had already been washed and dried. I now start the laundry fervently, anxious to produce another Zout marvel. So if you're smart, you'll dump that Spray & Wash down the sink today and go buy Zout (I think the prices are comparable). Thanks to Shelly for converting me.

P.S. While on the subject of laundry, I should give Ben some credit. He is just as reluctant as I am about ironing, but he ends up folding with me nearly every week! No matter what I do, I can't seem to get that pile of clothes off of our bed before he gets home. So I really do appreciate him and that he is so willing to be my "equal partner" in laundry!

Overheard . . .

(Jenn)
I just caught a few snippets of Henry's version of the song "Latter-day Prophets":

James Taylor came third we know,
then Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow . . .

Ezra Taft Benson, Howareyou W. Hunter,
Gordon B. Hinckley . . . etc.

I'm considering writing into the General Primary Presidency to see if they might consider using Henry's revisions when they re-do the song to accomodate for Thomas S. Monson as the new prophet. What do you think?

Not Twins After All

(Jenn) I keep thinking Ellis is starting to look more and more like Henry. The longer I stare at him, the more I am convinced they are practically twins. And then I take these pictures of Ellis in one of Henry's old outfits to prove to everyone how alike they are, and that's when I realize they don't really look very much alike at all! So here you have it folks, the boys who look like brothers, but definitely not twins:

This is Henry on his first St. Patrick's day (3 1/2 months old). Ben converted the "My First Christmas" shirt into a "My First St. Patrick's Day" shirt. He was a pretty devoted stay-home dad.

This is Ellis wearing the "First Christmas" shirt (3 months old). Maybe if I wait two weeks, he'll look like Henry.

You've got to admit they're both pretty cute!

Christmas in Boston

(Jenn) We spent ONE DAY (last Saturday) in Christmassy Boston. We wanted to spend many more, but it's probably not going to happen this year. I love cities Christmassified. I also love inventing my own words. I also love planning excursions. Here's the plan: next year, anniversary overnighter in Boston, after it's been Christmastized. Who wants to babysit? We're taking bids starting now!

Three Years Old

(Jenn) Henry turned 3 last Friday! It was a fun week and a great chance to celebrate this little boy who is the light and joy and laughter in our lives. I have been thinking a lot over the past week about how much I just adore Henry. I have pretty much hung out with him all day every day for the past 2 1/2 years, and after all that it turns out that he's probably my best friend. I don't know what I would do without him here with me every day!

On Monday we celebrated with a birthday playdate with some of Henry's new friends. It was fun to have an excuse to have friends over! The kids just played with toys and rocket balloons, and then we had cake. Here is the cake, which I'm pretty proud of:

The candles were a little scary, but we made it through. (Notice Ellis in his happy place. Thank Heaven for the sling!)

The kids playing together, but not really together:

Here's Henry with his two new girlfriends, Ella and Tess. I really think he is in love with Tess (the shorter one). He gets a VERY big grin on his face every time he mentions her name.

On Friday, the actual birthday, we went and bought our Christmas tree, and then we spent the afternoon and evening with Amy, Emily, and the Daves (carrying on with the Thanksgiving celebration). We sang Christmas carols and then had leftover pie and birthday cake and opened presents. As you all know, Henry is thankful for presents. Here he is posing with some of them!

Who can resist this handsome, hilarious, huggable Henry?

Note: JoDee Yost (our wonderful, talented friend from high school) came a few weeks ago and took some AMAZING pictures of Henry. She is responsible for the great photo at the top of this post. There are so many good ones, and unfortunately I can't post them all here. You should check out her blog here for more Henry pics and/or to see her other great work.

A Happy Thanksgiving

(Jenn)

When our Thanksgiving plans with family didn't work out (a.k.a. Jenn wimped out regarding the 8+ hour drive with screaming baby), we felt so lucky to have good friends that FEEL like family to spend the holiday with! It turned out to be a lovely day. We drove to Amy and Dave's in CT and had dinner with them and Emily and Dave (who drove up from PA). Then JoDee, Brandon, and Olivia joined us for pie! It was a great to be with close friends from the good old school days.

Yesterday somebody asked Henry if he ate turkey for Thanksgiving. When he said no, they got a little uncomfortable wondering if maybe we didn't celebrate Thanksgiving and we were going to be offended. Then he quickly reported that he ate "stuffing and a roll." And the roll was the best part. So it wasn't much of a feast for Henry, but the rest of us ate our hearts out, and it was beautiful. We also stayed up way too late talking and playing before heading home (we arrived just in time for Ellis' 1:30am feeding).

I am proud of Henry for finally learning how to properly express his gratitude in his prayers! This week he said, without prompting, "Please bless that I'm thankful for fireworks and dollars and letters and numbers and presents." What a great kid.