Flight Suits and Fairytales

Dinner Impossible

Maybe "impossible" is too strong...but it's definitely becoming more and more difficult! So, dear blog-y friends, I need some tips on how to deal with a toddler while fixing the evening meal :)

Let me just start by saying that my child is great at playing by herself. She likes listen to music & dance while I'm doing chores here and there in the morning. She can sit and "read" herself books if I'm folding laundry. She loves to push her baby around in her stroller if I'm trying to dust in the living room. But as soon as I start dinner...all bets are off!

We have a cabinet that houses all of our tupperware that she can play with. She has free reign over all of the pots, pans & spoons. We have a farm animal toy on the fridge that makes cute noises and sings songs. And she even got her very own cooking set for Christmas! But do you know where she wants to be when I start for the recipe cards? Just guess :) Under my legs, like a cute little monkey. She doesn't necessarily want to be held, though she'll start whining if I don't acknowledge her presence. It makes it very difficult to move from the stove to the sink, and don't even get me started on what it takes to get her untangled for long enough for me to open the oven! It's crazy! And I'm not a gourmet cook or anything, the meals I make usually only take 15-20 from fridge to stove/oven. Maybe that's too much to ask of a 16 month old?! Poor Chris, we're going to have to start eating cereal every night :)

Any of you mommies out there have the same issue? I'd love to hear your tips & tricks to alleviate some of the mealtime stress. You guys always have the best ideas :)

Christmas Picture Overload!

The whole family in Colorado for Christmas! Such a fun time :)

I just love this girl!!

Feeding Daddy some snow :)

Our Snow Bunny!

The Colorado Cabin Christmas Tree!!

Sledding is so fun!

Loving her new Barbie ATV from PaPa :)

Do a little dance...

Telling PaPa a story :)

Cousin Kisses

Playing the big girl piano...she's going to be a pro!

About to ride the train w/ Nana

And Elli sandwich with Aunt Stephie & Uncle Trav

Ohhh, I LOVE my new "Elli"Chair!!

One of E's all-time favorite activities...riding in her wagon!

She liked her presents, but she liked this box even more!

Yay for Christmas!!!

Here's to a New Year!!

I'm not a big resolutions girl. I mean, I try (like I did here) but my intentions usually fall flat. I can't ever keep up with what I resolved to do, which causes me to stress about not keeping promises to myself, and then I feel guilty about my choices. Boo! That's no way to start the year!

I think the key is accountability. And let's be honest...I'm not great at holding myself accountable. Take, for instance, giving up Dr. Peppers (which was cleverly disguised last year as "not drinking my calories"). Well, if you know me at all you know that my resolution lasted a week (at most!). I thought it sounded great at the time, but ummm, no personal accountability. And let's just not even talk about asking Chris to help me on this one! That's just a recipe for disaster :)

This year, instead of just making a list of things that I'd like to change about myself & pinpointing January 1 to be the start of my life change, I'm going to think about things a little bit more deeply. I know I'm not where I want to be...spiritually, financially, personally...but just saying that I need to change really hasn't worked in the past so I'm pretty sure it's not going to work now either. It will take prayer, lots of it! And hard work. And fellowship & accountability. And instead of these changes lasting for just 365 days, I intend to make them a life-long passion. To grow & to learn, and to embrace & use the gifts that the Lord blessed me with.

So here's to a new year, one full of change & opportunity! Let's make it the best one yet!

December, for us, seemed to fly by! We left for Texas around the middle of the month, so we tried to fit as much Christmas-y stuff into the first 2 weeks at home as we could. We took Elli to see Santa, but the line was too long (and none of us are very patient!) so we just went shopping instead :) Honestly, I wasn't too disappointed and I don't think Elli was either b/c when I took her back with her Nana she was NOT a big Santa fan!

We also went to a "White Christmas" program at our church. Funny story about that...we thought we were pretty connected, so when we heard about the "White Christmas" tradition we were all for it. We got all dressed up, and were super excited to participate in such a great cause. (After an evening of carols, everyone has a quick dinner together and helps pack up sacks of groceries filled with holiday goodies for the less fortunate families in our community). So we show up, listen to the carols & thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship. Then our pastor says a prayer and ends it with asking everyone to bring their "gifts" to the front. Ummm, what gifts?! We had somehow missed a key part of the "White Christmas" tradition! Each family was supposed to bring a canned good wrapped in white tissue paper, or an offering in a white envelope, to place at the alter. Oops! We were, literally, the ONLY people sitting down without a gift. Needless to say, we were pretty embarrassed! But, it was still a great evening and felt truly blessed to be a part of a such a loving church family.

Elli liked to peek at all of the presents under the tree!

And she LOVED to help hang the ornaments!

She might have liked taking the ornaments off the tree even more :)

She loved the trains at the mall...too bad she was too little to ride :(

And she loved giving my Santa towels kisses...so cute!

Still Around!!

Hey friends!! I hope you are all having a wonderful start of December, and really getting into the holiday spirit!! We've been under the weather lately, which is why I've been on hiatus from blogging. First is was E, then me, then E again...or maybe she never really got over it! Her lowest point came when we landed in the ER due to dehydration. Let me just tell you, it was the hardest day of my life. Yes, I'm serious! We had to hold her down to get an IV started, it took 3 tries (one of which made her arm/hand swell due to not getting a vein), and she ended up just crying herself to sleep once the tourniquet was in place. Awful, I tell you! But, it was but an instant in the grand scheme (that's what I'm telling myself, at least!), and she's doing much better now...and hopefully hasn't been scarred by our horrific experience. She's back to her happy, fast-paced self, and loving all of the Christmas-y things that we've been doing lately.

I have tons of pics from the past few weeks, but I thought I'd share some of the ones that make me laugh! Elli loves to "talk" on my phone. She holds it to her ear and carries on a complete conversation with "someone" while walking around the house. Last week she got so caught up in her conversation that she ran into a wall! Don't worry, she didn't hurt herself :)

Christmas Cards

I'm a huge Christmas card fan. I mean, HUGE! I love getting them in the mail, and have been known to hoard them all on the counter until after dinner so that I can have a moment to really savor opening each one. Okay, maybe I shouldn't have just admitted that :) But I do love a good Christmas card. And Christmas letters are even better. Some people think they're cheesy, but I adore getting them...it's like I get to share a little piece of your year with you even though I'm far away. I keep thinking, "this is the year we'll finally write one", but I've yet to follow through. Next year. Well, maybe :)

I don't know about you guys, but I have a time-line for my Christmas cards. I try to have the pictures taken by late October so that I can plenty of time to choose just the right card, and have it delivered by mid November. It only takes me one night to address them b/c once I get started, I get so excited that I just can't make myself stop. (Does that sentence have "dork" written all over it?!) And then I mail them out on the 1st of December. Not the 2nd. The 1st. Why, you may ask? I have no idea...it's just what I do. Maybe I can blame my mom for that little piece of neurosis? Yeah, I think I'll blame her!

So this year, everything was going according to my completely ridiculous, way-too-thought-out plan, and I was happy. We had to move past some minor hiccups (like me changing the design a bazillion times) but I finally decided on a card from Tiny Prints (super cute stuff!) where I could fit a maximum number of pictures on it b/c I couldn't just choose 1 (or 3) of Elli. Now that I think of it, I may have a small decision making problem! Anyway, said cards arrived and I got started with the addresses. Ummm, note to self: make your Christmas card list BEFORE you start addressing the envelopes!! I got through about 1/2 of them and realized that 1) I hadn't ordered NEAR enough cards, and 2) there was also a shortage of envelopes. In the end, I had 6 cards left over w/ no envelopes to match, and about 20 people who I still wanted to send card to. Hmmmm. So, just FYI, if you usually get a Christmas card from me you very well may get a super cute (in my opinion, anyway!) card in a very large, non-matching, red envelope that I got from Office Depot today in hopes of still making my December 1st mail-out deadline :) OR, if you're lucky (and at the end of the alphabet), you may receive a cute little generic card from Hallmark! Tee Hee! Merry Christmas friends!!

Where do y'all get your Christmas cards from? Any funny stories that go along with yours this year? And please tell me that I'm not the only one out there with a crazy card routine :)

All I Want For Christmas...

Have y'all made your Christmas lists yet?? Now that I'm a mom, I've found that I don't buy near as much stuff for myself as I used to (unless you count shampoo & face soap!)...E is now the happy recipient of my shopping shenanigans :) But there are definitely things that I still want, and Christmas is the perfect time to dream big...and *dreams* they are unless we win the lottery between now and the 25th! Nevertheless, here are some of the things that I'll be passing along to Santa on my wish list:

How cute are these boots?? I'm currently all about them!

This tote is from Penny Bennett on Etsy. I LOVE it! Her bags are designed to hold your "bible, books, & journals". I can't think of anything more perfect :)