Baking Day

OK so what would christmas be without TREATS? 

Both our family's have instituted a baking day where we get together 

all day and bake fun treats to share with our Visiting Teaching and 

Home Teaching family's as well as friends from the ward and 

work and of course Shanes Boss/Bosses depending on the year!!  

This year I forgot my camera when I went to my mom's but 

I learned my lesson and remembered to take it to Shane's mom's!! 

 

The girls had a fantastic time!!

Baking in pj's who wouldn't enjoy that?

 

  

 Ms. A teasing Daddy dressing up in his stuff!

 

Eating Gingerbread dough!!

  

  

 

  

It just so happened that Baking Day also coincided with a visit from 

Uncle Darryl 

who the girls love secretly 

(aka take a bit of time to warm up to).  

 

 

They loved making all kinds of bugs with him!!

Poor relatives from far away they love the girls so much and 

my girls are just a bit cautious.  

 Thank goodness not quite as cautious as me!!

 Mr. T even enjoyed himself!!

 

  

Cranky face needed some nutrition to combat all the treats!!

 

 

Must have been an awesome day when we pulled into the 

drive and the girls look like this!!

 

  

Our Christmas Tree! aka chilling out!

So the first Monday night in December Shane took the girls down the street 

to the local store to get a tree (which we had been preparing for all day)

 vacuuming floors, digging out ornaments and moving furniture!! 

We had a fantastic time getting it up and ready. 

(dad spoiled us with eggnog and oranges as well)

 

We let the girls stay up late and watch dad finish lighting the tree. 

 

Then for a couple of days after we put on a few ornaments every morning 

ending with Ms. A's request for candy canes (for the tree).

I decided after the first day of decorating the tree with 

the girls that I must have just relaxed or maybe 

just enjoying my reality a bit more. 

The first year we were married I enjoyed my themed tree and 

all the trimmings that went together.  

We had Ms. A shortly after the next Christmas and again 

I enjoyed my themed tree.  

The next couple of Christmases I simply decorated about 1/2 the tree 

themed and other fun kid friendly stuff on the bottom.  

(kind of a split personality tree)

Now this year Ms. A was so impatient to get decorating the tree 

that she was already decorating by the time I found the 

appropriate decorations - she had draped the tree with her own 

necklaces, bead, toys, crafts, and fabric scraps.  

I began formulating a conversation in my head with my toddler,

 hoping to think of a compromise (without getting her too sad.)  

Needless to say my brain was either not functioning 

that well that morning or the solution was simply,

UM LET IT GO! Its just a tree after all.  

So I have. 

I continued to let her decorate the tree however she wants, 

and she still randomly decides to put her toys on the tree.  

But I love how it's growing!!

 

Who am I to squash her creativity because I like the thought of 

a perfectly decorated tree.  

Besides in 5 years I'll be happy I let her do it because 

she'll be happy to help me decorate my perfect tree then!!  

I have so many memories of doing this same thing 

with my siblings at our house growing up.  

Mom would sit in an easy chair handing out ornaments 

and my sister and I would decorate the tree 

with mom giving us some pointers.  

So I guess I've chilled out a bit or realized this is a tiny thing 

I can do without controlling in order to grow 

a lasting relationship with my girls!  

Ms. A is finally getting old enough that holidays are super fun 

for her and she is very excited to learn about and 

participate in each one.  

I'm definitely not going to let my over-controlling 

attitude squash that enthusiasm!!  

After all most holidays are way more fun with kids!

Pictures of Mr. T

OK So I have an awesome Husband!

Who gave me a family photo shoot with a 

professional photographer for Christmas pictures!

The Shoot was super fun and a brand new experience for me, 

because we walked away and now we wait.  

SOOOOO odd for me, to wait to have a picture ready, 

not to be the one fixing and choosing and 

staring at the computer for hours.  

Shane says that this is why I had the urge to take a 

bunch of pictures myself of Mr.T.

I'm going to post many more of these on 

my photography blog here.  

Mostly because this space I want to use to talk about 

something else, connected with this.

Since Mr.T was born I have been experiencing a bit of anxiety,

mostly because I am so in love with this little boy!!

I just love to hold and cuddle and kiss 

and snuggle this precious little boy, 

and It has been that way from the get go. 

My anxiety comes from lack of memory, 

especially surrounding Ms. E I don't have a lot of memories 

of loving this fun little girl when she was super little.  

I don't remember marveling at her presence or feeling like 

I was so blessed to have her.  

That is not to say that I didn't appreciate this perfect little girl.  

My anxiety comes because I have no memory of it.  

I am not sure if it is pregnancy brain, or just blocking out

sections to make room for all the new memories!

 

 

This last week I took solace from a talk I listened to by Julie B. Beck 

when she was the general president of the Relief Society.

She talked about the blessing that comes to some mothers 

that should not be ignored.  That some women are born to be mothers 

and it is the highlight of their life to have little children and babies all 

around them that need them and are completely dependent upon them.  

There are an equal number of women who need time and experience 

to grow into being a mother.  for them being a mother is the hardest 

experience of their life.  harder than any career path that they could 

have taken. I think this is the category that I fit in to.  I definitely feel 

like being a mom challenges me every moment of every day 

(that the children are awake).  I don't always feel like I'm doing my 

best and winning blue ribbons every day.  

The point I think is that I am TRYING!!  

 

I do love this little boy, and more than anything else right now maybe 

I'm taking solace in the fact that whatever this new land of little boys 

brings my way, I have the help of a loving heavenly father who knows 

how grateful I am for this little boy and how badly and deeply I desire 

to be a strong loving mother.  I know I can not do this without a loving 

and forgiving father in heaven who helps me move past my mistakes 

and do better every day.

That is also one of my favorite blessings I have been given - that at the 

end of each night I can have the knowledge that tomorrow starts new, 

new chances to do better, to be more loving, more kind, take more time, 

and listen a bit closer to my babies (and my husband too).  All this while 

the dishes pile up by the sink and the kitchen floor gets crummier and crummier!!

In the end I am still a mom who is simply trying to do my best!!

Gingerbread Houses

Posting about the dresses reminded me about a 

similar tradition from Shane's Dad!

Gingerbread Houses

Here's pics of the fun night we had creating 

silly gingerbread creations!!

Christmas Dresses!!

Ok so this is a super tradition from my mother's family,

probably passed down from her mother!!

Christmas Dresses!!

I confess I was so engrossed in PJ's that I almost 

didn't make it for the first Sunday in December . . . 

but in the end they were really excited to wear them 

for the first Sunday in December!

Here They Are!!