Addie-isms with a little bit of Sam

Oh boy, my kids have been cracking me up lately. Addie has had a lot on her mind these days. Yesterday she told me, "Mom, I'm just a little bit sad." (I often hear I'm just a little fill in the blank for whatever emotion or feeling she currently has be it hungry, tired, sad, etc.) Upon further inquiry as to why she could be so sad she elaborated "I've just been thinking about my life and all the naughty things I do and sometimes I be naughty to you and that makes me sad." Having a 3 year old with a guilt complex sure makes you realize how bad you must be if she has that much guilt in her short sojourn in mortality. I did my best to alleviate her guilt-ridden conscience and get her to return to her world of dress-ups and pretend play. What a girl.

Recently while dressing up, she told me she was just feeling princess-y. I'm sure many a little girl has felt the same way and was so glad she added this adjective to part of our regular vernacular.

Sam has mastered clapping on demand and added that skill to his repertoire of cuteness. He has cut both of his top teeth this week, has eaten like a bottomless pit making me realize maybe I should be feeding him more, and enjoyed what I like to call his box Christmas- every kid has one where they're more interested in all of the packaging then what it contains.

My kids are really pretty delightful right now. I've really enjoyed the magic of this season seeing everything through their eyes, and I'm really enjoying motherhood. Maybe especially because Sam is just a few weeks away from being done nursing. Hooray!

I've been thinking lots of thoughts for my new year's post, so don't worry, it will be coming not a moment too soon!

Our Christmas Unwrapped

I have to say although this Christmas was packed full, it was great. Christmas Eve was a nice quiet night by ourselves, and I managed to peel myself away from truffle making, present wrapping, and next day prep for some good quality time reading some traditional Luke 2 and the beautiful new Night Before Christmas book we received- a cut-paper edition that is just exquisite. After special baths, new jammies, our fireplace turned on, and our reading by the Christmas tree, the kids went to bed and I stayed up cooking and cooking and cooking and wrapping followed by a little more cooking. I fell into bed totally exhausted, and luckily the kids were tired too and slept in a little. We didn't start presents until around 8:15 the next morning! We received some great gifts this year from our wonderful families. I am so pleased with the gift cards I received- trips to Nordstrom, the movies, the spa, and dinner at Sundance will be enjoyed in the near future! We also received a nice check, I got the oh so soft red robe from bath and body works, the fabric and pattern book I posted about earlier, and other miscellaneous items.

We woke up Christmas morning, did gifts, then worked on brunch preparation for my mom, step dad, and step bro and step sis to come over. I made seriously delicious maple-vanilla french toast, bacon, and some fruit. As soon as they left we were out the door to Pat's parents' house for more presents. We left there and made it back to our house to pick up lots of food, and then headed to my sister-in-law's sister's house for our 26 person Christmas dinner. It was so fun. The food was delicious. I made my guitar hero debut, and loved it! I only wish I would've had more time to rock the house. Finally at 9:30, we returned home, put away a little bit of the Christmas clutter, and called it a night.

The greatest blessings were spending time together and taking time to reflect on the birth of the Savior. As frustrated as the gift-giving aspect can be picking out the perfect things without getting wrapped up in the commercialism, I really tried to focus on the symbolic reasons why we give gifts- in memory of the Savior's birth. He has given us the ultimate gift and shown us the greatest love, but we can give gifts in that same spirit- giving a small portion of our love and a representation of our love for the Savior. Oh, Christmas- what a beautiful holiday you are, full of meaning, tradition, and joy.

The Children are Nestled...

And I should be, too! It's been an action packed day of grocery shopping, truffle making, present wrapping, Christmas story reading, house cleaning, and some good family fun in there, too. I'm exhausted, but excited for tomorrow and the joy I will see in my children's eyes. To all of my sweet bloggin' friends, merry merry. Hope your Christmas is full of blessings.

Trying to Fix my Pics

In an effort to show you all the creation I plan to attempt, here's the link. Sorry the pics weren't working, since I could see them I guess I couldn't tell!

A New Project, or In Too Deep

I think I've bitten off more than I can chew. I ordered my own Christmas gifts this year. Looking at them makes me happy. I've drooled over them for months. I ordered thesein hopes of making this:



So now I have a lot of learning to do. Since I don't even know what a selvage is. All I know is I want that quilt hanging on the wall in my family room. I need to suck up to some nice older ladies in my ward and see if they'll take me under their seasoned-quilter's wings. Or maybe I need to call a local quilt shop to see if I can get step by step lessons in how to make this. I have a mix of excitement and overwhelmed swimming in my head. If you have any quilting wisdom, please pass it on. I surely need it!

Baby Girl

How did we get from this to this? How did you produce emotions in me I never knew existed? How did you teach me so much about the nature of God? Happy 3rd birthday, sweet Adelynn Anne. You make my heart leap out of my chest. You make me laugh and cry all at once. You make me so proud to be a mother. I love you.

Good, Bad, and Indifferent

Let me explain my blogging absence with some very brief recaps about our latest happenings.

1. Friday night was our outing with Pat's family to the MoTab/King's Singers Christmas concert. I had a lovely time in our fantastic seats. Lessons learned: Don't mess with the door guards. The altercation I witnessed between an 80-something door guard and a 40-something concert attendee was just wrong on so many levels. The other lesson of the night was letting your child skip a nap in hopes they'll fall asleep for the baby sitter doesn't always work out.

2. Saturday one of my old roommates came over with her boyfriend who I met for the first time. Note to self: start shopping for a wedding gift. They're totally happy, and I wouldn't be surprised if this relationship goes the distance.

3. Sunday we were up early to trek to Salt Lake for my step-brother's farewell. I met my step-dad's ex and her family- very cordial, but always a little awkward. The joys of divorce. We made it back down to the last hour of our church, only to have Addie not want to go to nursery, so Pat ended up staying with her the whole time.

4. I got a new calling! Now in addition to being the VT coordinator, I'm the 3rd Sunday Relief Society Teacher. I am so so so excited. I need to make it to the distribution center stat so I can pick up a manual. I can't wait for them to get handed out at the start of the year- I have lessons to prepare!

5. I won Hannah's pay it forward! Now it's up to me to be awesome and creative. More details to come about that- in fact an entire post will be devoted to it I'm sure.

6. Sam is sick sick sick. Fever of 103. Runny nose, cough, vomiting. Vomiting applesauce all over me and him as we were supposed to walk out the door to a Christmas party last night. Needless to say, we didn't make it. I did take Sam to the dr. after hours last night. Double ear infections. Still barfing today. Poor boy.

7. Addie popped her elbow out yesterday during our struggle for her to take a nap. I think I fixed it when I was getting her out of the car at the dr.'s office. Oh so fun, the days when you make it to the doctor twice, once for each kid.

8. Our neighbors who didn't make it to the Christmas party came over with a neighbor gift Sunday. I hope they won't think we're all jerks when they're not getting any neighbor gifts in return.

Eight is going to have to be enough for now. Sam's fussing is escalating. Hope to return to the bloggin' world soon.

I Promise...

To catch up on recent happenings by blogging about them this week. I feel like life is racing at top speeds, and the mad dash to the Christmas finish line is fully upon us. Oh yes, with Addie's birthday sandwiched in between. I promise I'll blog. Soon. Be patient, friends. Good things come to those who wait.

I Have to Share

If you're going to a party and have to wear Bethlehem attire, definitely dress your baby as a sheep. He'll be the hit of the party.

Heck with the goose...

Christmas is coming and *I* am getting fat. No goose necessary in this version of the song. My mom manages an LA weight loss center. She informed me that 70% of America gains an average of 12 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Years. Blah. But the way I've been going, it's not hard to believe. My jeans are going to be muffin toppin' pretty soon, and we all know there's nothing attractive about that. I have to say between my BIL's birthday bbq (his favorite thing is hamburgers, and who can resist delicious summer food they haven't eaten for months?) and scrumptious desserts shared with our neighbors last night, I already have some work to do.

I have to say, I think our neighborhood party was a success. I have boxes of canned food on my kitchen counters that we collected last night. Some neighbors didn't come, but out of the 2 no shows, one sent some canned food along with their regrets and a valid excuse, so I was happy with the turn out. We talked and laughed, shared traditions, and one neighbor already volunteered to host next year- so I'm off the hook, hopefully for a few years to come! I think one thing enjoyed by all the neighbors was my hot chocolate "station". I had cups next to a crock pot full of hot chocolate, and then a bunch of fixings in little bowls- candy canes, caramel sauce, marshmallows, sprinkles, and whipped cream, so you could create your own flavor of hot chocolate. Who doesn't love hot chocolate?

I still have some Christmas shopping to finish, but I'm feeling pretty good about what I have done so far. The packages have started arriving, which is one of my favorite parts of internet shopping. Today I dragged some boxes in the house, and Addie looked at them and matter of fact-ly stated, "oh, Santa came?". No dear, his suit is red, not brown, and his packaging is a little more exciting than a cardboard box. I thought it was pretty funny, though.

Sam is growing up so fast! Last week I looked over to see him walking across the floor holding on to Addie's rocking chair. Um, that's not supposed to happen yet! So I pulled out a little walker toy, but he's not totally interested which is fine by me. Today I found him with one leg up ready to hoist himself to standing position on previously mentioned rocking chair. He's becoming quite the climber. He is still the happiest kid. His naps are all over the place lately, I think because he's trying to cut back to one nap a day, so hopefully we'll get his schedule back on track soon.

Tomorrow is our ward Christmas party and I'm really excited. We're doing "A Night in Bethlehem", so tomorrow's task is to fashion some costumes for the fam. I'd love for Sam to go as a sheep, but I'm not sure that's going to happen when I'm doing costumes the day of which will mostly consist of sheets and towels. Hopefully I'll get around to taking Christmas pictures of my house before the season is over. I'm happy to find blogging time at all, right now! Two weeks 'til the big day, friends.

Friday Already?

You'll have to forgive my lack of posting. The week feels like a blur. It's not like I could even nail down the things that have kept me busy, nevertheless, it's been busy. Let me see if I can recap.

The kids have definitely contributed to my busyness this week. Addie and I have had some rough days together. I think she's having a hard time adjusting to Pat contracting and not being home everyday like he has been for the past few months. The earlier part of the week was much worse, but we've started to smooth things out some. She's just sooooo emotional and then has gotten so feisty when she hasn't gotten her way. She reduced me to tears on Tuesday (or was it Wednesday?) just feeling like I don't now how to meet her needs when she's breaking down so much and being so frustrated to wake up everyday to get beat up by my toddler. Don't worry, things are improving, but I've been reminded at how hard parenting really is. Babies are a piece of cake, it's these toddlers that are the struggle! But who knows, I'll probably be ready to trade my teens for toddlers by the time I get to that stage. ;)

Last night we had our Relief Society Christmas party. It was nice to get out of the house and into the Christmas spirit. After it was done, I did a Target trip and started chipping away at some more Christmas shopping. I still have a lot to do, but it's coming along. Today I'm hoping to knock out an Amazon.com order and an LL Bean order- ah how I love internet shopping!

One of my friends from college called Wednesday to let me know she'd be in town this weekend for a wedding, so she's staying with us. She arrived last night and will leave Saturday, but it's fun to have a chance to see her. Addie keeps calling her Amy instead of her real name, Heather, because she just can't shake her love for my high school friend that we stayed with on our trip to Idaho.

Next week is going to be a blur. We have BIL's birthday Sunday, our neighborhood party Monday, ward party Wednesday, MoTab concert Friday, friends over for dinner on Saturday, step-brother's farewell Sunday...it's a whirlwind! I'm hoping I'll find more time to blog though, I still need to take pics of my Christmas decor! I've got to get serious about finishing some shopping this weekend. I must admit, the inclement weather here is less than inspiring. Hope you're keeping up with everything and still finding time to enjoy the season!

Picking Up Pace

I'm sure it's true at your house too, the holidays are in full swing around here. We have two parties this week, three parties next week (one of which is my BIL's birthday party), Addie's birthday the following week, and then Christmas! I'm trying to keep the balance of getting things done but still slowing down to enjoy the season. Last night I watched the Christmas devotional, and it was followed by old episodes of Music and the Spoken Word Christmas mini-concerts. It was such a nice treat to enjoy the music of the season as sung by the MoTab while I loaded the dishwasher, picked up toys, and did my other rituals in putting the house to bed. My MIL got us tickets to the Christmas concert in a couple of weeks, and I'm so excited to go. It's something I always enjoy- who can resist good Christmas tunes?

My favorite activity to slow down is to sit by the tree. Our tree is in our living room, so I don't have a lot of cozying around it time because the bulk of our time is spent in the family room. Sometimes I bring someone to enjoy the Christmas tree splendor with- last night it was Addie, some nights it's Pat, and Sam needs his first Christmas cuddles too before all is said and done, but I also enjoy the nights after everyone is in bed and I'm by myself with the tree. I don't take a lot of time to be alone and ponder and meditate, but for some reason the Christmas tree helps me accomplish this. I'll have to post a picture of the tree soon and attach it to this post. If you're not already enjoying some time to be cozy around your tree, I highly recommend it.