December 2018

Ever since we told family and friends that I was pregnant I feel like I have suddenly become huge! There is no hiding this large baby bump, so it's a good thing our secret is out. Since I know it's my last pregnancy I am kind of indulging myself and eating whatever I want, whenever I want (exercise is minimal these days, couch sitting optimal, lol). I am sure the weight will burn off after the baby comes cause ill be chasing around 4 little kids, at least that's what I am telling myself. 4 little kids, yikes, just saying that makes me a little anxious and nervous. I am already swamped with 3, how is life going to be with 4?

December started out with a bang as Kyle and I got to go out to the F-35 Christmas party at Luke AFB. It was nice to get away form the kids and get all dressed up. I actually really enjoy these formal events through the Air Force, it is Kyle that hates them. I swear every time it's like pulling teeth to get him to go. He is just so used to wearing a flight suit around all day (or adult onsie pajama as I like to call them) that anything requiring a tie is just the end of the world and so uncomfortable to him. 

It's that time of year again, time for sugar cookie making and ginger bread decorating. The kids loved helping me out this year. I am trying to be more patient and allowing them to participate more in things even if it means it will take twice as long to accomplish and create twice as big of a mess to clean up. I hope one day these are the memories and traditions that stick with them to help make this time of year so magical.

I finally got all of our Christmas cards out in the mail! Every year our list gets longer and longer to the point where we are now sending out 200 Christmas cards! That's definitely a perk and a curse to big in the Air Force... you move around and get to meet new people and make new friends, but that also means more people to stay in touch with. It's not that big of an ordeal though, I actually really enjoy sending out and receiving Christmas cards, its one of my favorite holiday traditions, even if kyle gives me a hard time about it.

Connor is becoming more and more interested in everything Kyle does. From being a pilot to sports, Connor wants to know about it all. It's so cute to see him look up to his dad... I just don't know how I feel about having ANOTHER pilot in the family. One is plenty enough in my opinion.

We got to go have lunch with Abby at school. The nice thing about living in Arizona is that we can eat lunch outside in the middle of December. Abby loved showing off Brayden to her classmates, and we enjoyed seeing her in the middle of the day. Abby sure loves Kindergarten, she is growing up so fast.

Abby had her first Nutcracker experience. She was a soldier and an angel. I got to help out since I am a teacher at Southwest Ballet Theatre, so it was fun to help her and all the other students get dressed, lined up backstage, and assisting with their stage entrances and exits. Abby loved it and did such a great job. I remember when my holidays were consumed with Nutcracker performances while growing up. From the age of 8 through my professional career with Oregon Ballet Theatre not a Christmas season would pass by without several Nutcracker performances. I have always loved the Nutcracker (except when I had to perform 30 plus shows when dancing with OBT each year) and the magical tradition it brings to families during this special time of year. Now as a mom I enjoy living through my daughter and her experiences. Seeing her perform on stage and loving every minute of it makes my heart soar! Heres to hoping we have many, many, more years of Nutcracker performances in the future. 

I can't believe how big Brayden is getting. Maybe it's my pregnancy hormones, or the thought of welcoming yet another baby into our family, but I can't help but look at him these days and see a big boy. He is at that point where he probably should start transitioning out of a crib, but I just don't have the heart to do it yet. The other night I went in to check on him and he had completely taken off his jammies and was curled up in a ball in the corner of his bead. He still looked so little, so I am justifying that as my excuse to keep him in his crib a little longer and hold on to my baby boy while I can.

Abby and Connor both had little Christmas shows at their Arizona Gakuen school. Seeing the kids sing Christmas songs in Japanese was just about the cutest thing I ever saw. They are both doing so great at this new Japanese school, and I am so proud of them for making new friends, embracing a new program, and continuing to study this language even back in America where everyone speaks English.

Brayden got to have his first flight with grandma and grandpa by himself. Dropping him off at the airport to catch his flight with grandma and grandpa was the cutest thing in the world. He was so excited and felt like such a big boy to get to do this without Abby and Connor. I am grateful for my in-laws that are wonderful grandparent to my kids that give them each special attention and opportunities. He is flying up to St. George and spending a week with grandma and grandpa before Abby, Connor, and myself drive up the next week to spend time all together for the holidays.

We found out that Benham baby #4 is a... GIRL! As soon as the ultrasound technician told me I was so excited and immediately felt like our family was complete. Kyle couldn't come with me to my appointment due to work, so when I called him to tell him the news he too was like "welp, I guess we are finally done growing our family." 2 boys, 2 girls, 2 parents, Benham party of 6. I cannot wait to meet this little girl that will complete our crazy bunch and am so ready to pull out all the pink, purple, sparkle, and frills again. 

Connor had the cutest Preschool Christmas concert at Litchfield Elementary school. He did such a great job and loved singing and dancing up on the stage. He has really blossomed this year in preschool, I love seeing his little personality evolve and develop.

Christmas break is finally here, so I loaded up Abby and Connor to head to grandma and grandpas for some fun with the Benham side cousins. We were lucky enough to stop in Las Vegas to see some of our friends form Misawa. Lisa Walters and her kids were in town visiting her husband that is at Weapons school, and Emily Hone now lives in Vegas as her husband is stationed at Nellies AFB. We even got to see Abbie Hafen and her kids in Mesquite who was visiting her mom for the holidays while Lee is deployed. Seeing all these familiar faces from Misawa was just what I needed. Our time in Misawa truly was magical now looking back on it. We had the greatest experiences, and made the greatest of friends while there. To this day our closest friends are from Misawa, and keeping in touch with them is always a delight.

We finally made it to St. George and I was so excited to see my little Brayden again. He had such  great time with grandma and grandpa, but I was ready to snuggle my baby boy again. Of course a trip to grandma's wouldn't be complete without a day at the dinosaur park, children museum, and playing around in the driveway with all of grandma's fun bikes and electric cars. There is definitely something "magical" about grandma's house that has my kids begging to go for a visit all the time.

Even the "big kids" got some quality bonding in with some old school video games like Mario racing. It doesn't happen often, but when ALL 8 Benham kids are together, plus all the spouses, and the grand kids, it sure becomes quite the party!

The girls snuck away to see the Beauty and the Beast musical. Abby loved being with all the girls and loved the show even more. I am so excited that I have a girl that enjoys the same "girly" activities as me. I hope this next baby girl is the same way. I feel so lucky to have 2 girls to doll up, paint nails with, go shopping with, and jab with till the cows come home.

It always feels like our time together goes by too quickly. Before we knew it it was already December 23rd, and we had made plans to drive back home so we could celebrate Christmas and Santa's arrival in our own home, just our small little family. Despite all the tears from the kids of saying goodbye to cousins, aunts, uncles, grandma and grandpa, we had a great time with family and look forward to our next gathering.

We made sure to stop in Vegas on the way back home as well to see our other friends, the Lefflers. Kyle and "Face" both flew together in Misawa in the 13th squadron, and their boy Pierce is just a few months older than Brayden. His wife, Ashley, is one of my good friends, so we were happy to see them again and catch up.

Christmas Eve finally came and we did our best to uphold our annual tradition of going out to eat Pizza for Christmas Eve dinner. Unfortunately everywhere we went was closed, so we ended up at Peter Piper's Pizza. Not the tastiest by any means, but the kids absolutely LOVED it! In fact I think we might be making that our new and improved Christmas Eve tradition... Pizza Dinner at  Peter Piper's. Kyle and I had to just laugh it off cause while we were eating there with kids running around playing arcade games, the smell of sweaty kids with loud noise and bright lights, we just thought well how fitting is this for our current life's situation. Nothing about our life with three (almost four) little kids is quiet, clean, calm, and peaceful. Seeing the kid's faces light up was worth the crusty stale pizza and blaring music.

I think Christmas is even more magical now that I am a parent. I love seeing the excitement on my kid's faces as they go to bed hoping and praying that Santa will come. And then to see their eyes light up on Christmas morning, it makes the late night of setting up gifts so worth it. These moments with my little family are so precious to me. I absolutely love my little crew and feel so lucky to have them in my life.

The very next day after Christmas we boarded a flight to Portland, Oregon to attend my sister Katie's wedding and temple sealing to Dallin Hagman. I can't believe my baby sister is married. She is the last one out of all 5 Macdonald kids to be married off. It was a beautiful ceremony and despite the rain and cold weather, the pictures were perfect. I was just so excited to get to see all my siblings, their spouses, and their kids again. We have not all been together in over 5 years. Someone has always been on a mission, or living abroad (hello Japan), or caught up in some kind of schooling or training. We did our best to cram pack as much family time in as we could in the 3 short days we were all there. It's my hope that we can start doing more regular family reunions with both the Macdonald and Benham sides to keep our relationships strong, and to get all the cousins together.