Christmas 2013

This has been the best December that I can ever remember.  I'm sure it was this good or better when I was a kid, but my memory is too poor to recall.  The magic and excitement were always present this year.  Having Clara around, seeing Santa, reading a new Christmas book every night, singing Christmas songs multiple times a day, the holiday parties, Baby Jesus... it all amplified the Christmas Spirit and helped me see things from her sweet perspective.

We spent Christmas Eve Eve (not a typo) through Christmas Day with Anson's family.  It was my first White Christmas and I loved it!  I really liked being trapped in the cabin with carloads of kids and most of my inlaws, believe it or not.  (Really!)  Everything was simple, just the way I like it.  Unfortunately, my kids (and a few others) were sick the entire time.  Steven woke up multiple times the first night, refusing to nurse, and only agreeing to fall asleep if I was sitting upright with his head on my chest.  I was tired, but thanks to Clara, I can now run on very little sleep.  ;)  My sweet Clara is a trooper and didn't throw any fits or act like a brat, but she had puffy eyes and had to lay down every time her ibuprofen wore off.  It made me sad to see her like that, especially on Christmas, the day she has been so excited for all month!!  :(

Without further ado, here are the photos from the first part of Christmas:

^^First, we cut down the Christmas tree^^

^^Clara and I built a snowman.  She has been so obsessed with snowmans lately, that we even heard her singing Frost the Snowman in her sleep!^^

^^Clara insisted on being an angel in the live nativity.  She sang Joy to the World at the top of her lungs, even though she didn't know any of the words.^^

^^Christmas morning was wonderful.  The gift giving was short and simple, which encouraged a lot of excitement about what everyone was getting, and also provided lots of time to express gratitude.^^

Part of me wishes that Christmas could last all year, but deep down I know that waiting for each year makes it that much more special.  Still, I'm trying to leave my Christmas tree up as long as possible, even though it's dead!

People and Places

Here are a few pictures that make me smile...

Daddy

Cousin

Cousins

Grandma (and another cousin!)

Sink

Chair

Bed

Airplane

Happy Things Lately

I've had a sick and teething baby, which means there has been a lot of nursing and cuddling going on around here.  Husband also started a new job.  (Go Husband!)  Needless to say, things have been a little bit crazy around here.  That hasn't stopped me from taking gobs of pictures, though!  Here are a few things that are making me smile lately:

Whipping up delicious pumpkin bars with cream cheese frosting (recipe here), over-the-top Valentine's decorations, juicing lemons with my father-in-law, getting February 1st flowers from Husband, homemade blueberry muffins (recipe here), and trying, without success, to take a picture of a soon-to-be tooth.

Wild Christmas

The wind whipping through your hair, your face against a horse's mane, a cousin's arms wrapped around your waist.  Leaning backwards, holding on a little tighter, feeling weightless.  Breaking away from the group, gipping the reins a little tighter.

I really dislike horses.  Let's revisit:

The wind whipping through your hair, your face against a horse's mane, a cousin's arms wrapped around your waist.  

Riding on the back of a runaway horse at age ten with my younger cousin.  To make matters worse, we dropped the reins.  The only thing you can do at that point is scream, close your eyes, and hope for a handsome cowboy.  Great fun.

Leaning backwards, holding on a little tighter, feeling weightless.  

Falling off the back of a horse and down a mountain.  Thank you for rearing up, horse.  I love gravel embedded all over my body, as well as my 150 pound father landing on top of me.

  

Breaking away from the group, gipping the reins a little tighter.  

Being assigned the only rotten horse at Girl's Camp.  While the rest of the horsies moseyed along single-file, my horse stayed behind to run through bushes and up the sides of mountains, totally unaware of my agressive rein-pulling.

Three strikes and you are out, my friends.  

Three high school boyfriends and three heartless horses.

Do you see a pattern here?

Needless to say, there is no way I'm getting on any more horses.  (Okay, maybe if there's some kind of catastrophe and I'm fleeing those scary people on Mad Max.)

Horses are beautiful, strong, majestic, and they can kill you.

That's why the following is such a mystery unto myself:

Thanks for a special Christmas treat, Grandpa Steve!

Birthday Celebration

On Friday night, we turned the in-laws date night into a birthday celebration for Husband, complete with screaming baby.  We went all out with miso soup, sushi rolls (Las Vegas!), gyoza, tempura, and some pork-rice thing.  Our sweet hostess wrapped up the night with some tempura ice cream and a polaroid photo.

Baby Love



and much more!

A big thank you to Becca for taking the lead on my baby shower and making sure that everything turned out perfectly, to Amy for delicious cupcakes that I am still snacking on, to the other sisters for delicious food and drinks, to my other mother for letting us use her beautiful home, and to all of my other family and friends that are already spoiling my baby rotten.

Thank you for making me (and the baby) feel so special.