It's an Esther-FEST!

This little girl is about as darling as they come... she's all smiles and cooing and squishable cheekness.










She likes it when you sing to her...













And probably doesn't particularly care for being dressed up and photographed, but Mom loves that. Mom has decided that bows do look cute on her head, so there's been a lot more of that (thanks for the supplies Shera)









She's a great little eater and so much fun to snuggle. She likes to snuggle and be held as much as possible.











Calling all grandmas out there -- don't you want to come visit this little sweetie-pie?

It's a wonderful life!

So, again our game of "guess which girl".













About Esther: she is starting to giggle, and smile a lot. She pretty much charms the socks off anyone who looks at her. I'm barefoot most of the time. :)















I have some adorable photos that I haven't uploaded yet, but here's one of Esther chillin' in her carseat before we went to the store. There was a video that went with it of her smiling and cooing, but I've been having trouble getting my videos to load, so here you are. Don't those cheeks just look so kissable?
















Here's my funny/lovable/hilarious Amy girl! She is talking in sentences!! I can't believe how fast she's growing up. She now goes to nursery every week and it very happy about it. She loves to play with the toys and her friends. I just love these two girls more than I can say! They brighten every day! I truly feel that it is a wonderful life! And to top it all off, I have a wooley-baa lamb of a husband who makes me laugh daily!

Amy's been better this past week about not getting up in the middle of the night and jabbering, which means I've gotten a full nights sleep and I'm feeling quite energized this morning. I've been up since 5:30 when I fed Esther and have got all sorts of things done: read my scriptures, wrote in my journal, wrote a letter in German to a friend , got dressed, braided my hair, and planned our family home evening lesson for the night.

(I've decided to stick with one theme for a month with a fun song, and then just switch up the activity -- we had a lesson about the wise man and the foolish man last week and built a gingerbread house... tonight, we're making houses out of edible play dough, thanks to my brilliant sister in law Steph and her awesome blog.) Amy's still not up, and it's almost 8am! Wow! I could really get used to this whole night's rest thing.

Can you guess who is who?

Two are of Amy...

and two are of Esther...

I think our girls look much alike at this age.

Merry Christmas to all!

This year has been another wonderful one in the Weight household with lots of exciting happenings:

Amy turned 1, took her first steps, then started running everywhere; spoke her first words, and then started jabbering non-stop. She keeps us very busy and makes us laugh every day – even her tantrums are funny, for which I'm grateful. She loves going every week to the library to pick out new books, and I love the library for being our 'storage' space.

We welcomed Esther Constance Weight into our home, the day after my birthday. She's been so adorable. She's a snuggler and looks so much like Amy at that age, but has blonde (almost invisible) hair – I'm constantly pointing out that she does have hair, AND eye-brows and eye-lashes. She has the most darling kissable cheeks, squishable thighs and big smiles. Amy loves her baby sister, and calls her “Etters”. She is so willing to run grab diapers for her, and I have to watch her like a hawk so she doesn't just try to hug her to bits. I am very grateful to have had two great pregnancies, do-able deliveries and healthy kids.

Ryan was promoted at work to a leadership position, which brought extra cash and extra stress. For several months he worked three separate jobs for the company while they sorted things out, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we're hoping that the New Year will bring a resolution and less stress. He completed his first two semesters at Western Governors University and is doing very very well there. He keeps chipping away at his education and I am so proud of him! Proud of him as a husband, father, provider, priesthood holder and student!

Thanks to our good friends the Fiedlers and Grandma Jan we enjoyed a delectable December with all of my favorite German treats and knoedel and rotkohl. Thanks to my sister Jenny, I am enjoying vegetable yumminess from using the new cook book she gave me. I tend to get really excited when healthier things taste good – I made brownies the other day with spinach and yams... sounds gross, right? It was DELICIOUS!!

I love December... not for all the shopping (I don't like spending money actually... I think I have a miser gene somewhere) but for the snow, which makes things so white and clean, for the contrast of cold which makes coming inside so homey and warm, for being allowed to sing Christmas hymns and for all the decorations that remind us of the Savior. My favorite Christmas hymn is “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”. One phrase in the German version is “Uns zur freud ist er geboren, denn sonnst waeren wir verloren. Er vertreibet alles Weh – born to make us joyful, because otherwise we'd be lost. He casts out all pain.” I have thought about this a lot this year – I am so grateful for the 'good news' of Christ. Without Him we would be lost – no chance of repentance, no chance of resurrection, no eternal families... in short, no hope. There are still trials in life, even with the gospel, but without it we walk a much more lonely road. I am grateful to know Christ lives, loves us and understands EVERYthing we go through. Some things may not make sense or get alleviated in this life, but because of Him, we have hope that all will eventually be made right, and God will wipe away all our tears (Revelations 21:4). He truly is the Prince of Peace, and an anchor for our souls. He is God's greatest gift to us! May your celebration of His life be happy, hopeful & MERRY! LOVE Ryan, Christina, Amy and Esther Weight

The Cost of Birth

So, you all know that we had some billing complications -- well, it turns out (though the lady was nice) we are now informed that this would be the price we'd be charged for every time (2,500+ for 4 hours in labor and delivery hospital charge (the OB already gets their own 2,700). Despite all my efforts for a cheaper birth this time... she informed me that the only way I could've had a cheaper birth would've been to arrive at the hospital at a 9 and deliver 5 minutes later... or not get checked into the hospital upstairs for recovery. Every woman who delivers is apparently a 'labor level 3' and it was a fluke in my favor that I was a 'labor level 1' with Amy.

Do you ever feel like you have no options? Logan only has one hospital. There are no birthing centers I can find, except in Roy which I'm not sure I'd make it down there fast enough. There is a good certified and licensed midwife, but she's not allowed any hospital privileges, so it'd have to be a home birth. You either look at paying upwards of 4,000 (with the help of insurance -- we have a 2,000 deductible per person) any time you have a baby... or you find something else. Everyone seems to believe that the hospital is the only place to have a baby. I have a dad who's an E.R. doctor and that's what I've been raised to believe, but from someone who has had non-complicated deliveries both times, and has not had much care from the nurses except to force me to stay on the External Fetal Monitor for longer, there comes a point where you are desperate for something different.

Unless the hospital agrees to let me labor how I want, or I can find a family doctor to deliver me there and then discharge me right away, I must say (and I hope my Dad at some point can understand) I am looking into another option and praying that I continue to have no complications.

Delectable Lentil Stew

We've made this 3 times in the last week... it's that good:

4 carrots, chopped
3 celery stalks, chopped
1 onion, diced (I used 2 T. dehydrated onion)
1/2 c. bell peppers, chopped (I used 1 T. dehydrated bell pepper)
5 1/2 c. water
4 tsp chicken boulion
1 c. lentils
dash garlic pepper
sprinkle red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar
1 c. cubed ham, cut up ham lunch meat or maple link sausage
1 c. yellow squash, cubed
1 tomato, cubed

Put everything but the squash and tomato in a pot, and bring to a boil. Let simmer in a covered pot for 20 minutes. Add the squash and tomato and cook for 5-10 more minutes. It's so delicious!!

Don't you think our girls look remarkably similar?