Hope you all have a great weekend and take some time to enjoy the view. :)
Today Addison heard the song “Soul Sister” on the radio and decided it was about her and Ellie.
Today I got a Golden Spoon yogurt. Pomegranate blueberry. It was SO good. Might be my new favorite. I felt guilty though, getting one without Addison. She’s my yogurt girl. She would eat yogurt every day for every meal when if I let her.
Today we ate cereal for lunch. Not yogurt.
Today it was so sunny and warm outside. Felt like summer time.Today I put the last of our Christmas stuff away. I was bummed to take it down this year. Especially the tree. I love the lights so much. I seriously debated leaving it up all year. I thought about making it a Valentines Day tree, and then decorate it for St. Patty’s Day (a personal favorite), and then for Spring, and the 4th of July… but then Kenny took it down. And I let him. Maybe next year.
Today the girls continued to enjoy their new Christmas toys.
Today I attacked my scrapbook room and started cleaning up my Christmas card explosion.
Today I spread them out along with my baby kit (yes, I love Becky Higgins. And her scrapbooking kits) and starting putting everything together. This is the beginning of my “stay on top of kids’ scrapbooks in 2010 plan.”
I love to set goals, but I usually do it in September instead of January. (reasoning behind this I wrote about here) But this January, I do have three simple goals I’m hoping to accomplish in 2010.
Goal #1 – Steer clear of Emergency Rooms. The ER seems to be my new hangout these days and I think I’ve had just about enough of the place.
Goal #2 – My second goal is to stay on top of my kids’ scrapbooks during the year. This is an area I have totally slacked in and I am beyond behind. Oh well. I’m not going to worry about catching up at this point. I’m just going to focus on a realistic way I can stay on top of things next year. I’m writing up a plan that will hopefully set me up for success. More on that plan tomorrow night.
Goal #3 – There’s always a lot of blog buzz about picking your “word” for the year. A word that helps define your goals. My word for last year was “action” because I was hoping to stop just making to-do lists of projects I wanted to someday complete and to actually complete them. Looking back I think I did ok – some things were completed and some weren’t. This year I didn’t have to give much thought to my word. In fact it came to me almost immediately. My word for 2010 is “survive.” I’m hoping to survive the third trimester I’m heading into. Hoping to survive another newborn stage. And hoping to survive the beginning of life with three little ones. I’m especially worried about surviving the newborn stage because looking back that stage was particularly hard on me with both of my girls. Newborns, while adorable and sweet, also bring with them sleepless nights, unpredictability, non-stop care, and all together too much crying. I do MUCH better when my babies are 3-4 months old and are starting to develop a bit of a schedule. I like schedules. That said, I really want to enjoy this third and last baby…even during the newborn stage. If I can survive those three months and come out smiling, I will be one happy mom.
That’s it. 3 goals for the year. No more ER. Stay on top of the kids’ books. Survive baby #3.
Seems simple enough, right?
What are your goals for the New Year?
Admittedly my children have been deprived. Growing up in sunny San Diego with grandparents residing in sunny southern Utah, they haven’t had many opportunities to see snow. Ellie played in the snow once when she was two but she can’t remember it and Addison – never. I knew it was time to do something about this when they started talking about snow after seeing it on an episode of Max & Ruby. They spoke of it like it was such a strange, foreign thing. Ellie said, “and guess what mom…my teacher has SEEN snow and even TASTED it.” Like her teacher was the most unique and privileged person on the planet. So while we were in Utah over Christmas my parents bought the girls “I love Utah” hats and took them to see snow.
They were beyond excited. 
Of course, my girls have no snow clothes or boots so my dad had to improvise by tying Target sacks around their shoes and holding them together with duct tape. Classic.
They had a great time tasting the snow…
touching the snow…
and running and playing in the snow.
And then after a whole 15 minutes of playing in the snow they took off their gloves. They realized that snow is cold. And wet. And not as fun as they thought it might be. 
And they both started to cry and wanted to come home and not play in the snow anymore.
They felt much better after they had warmed up and roasted a few marshmellows by the fire. {Christmas At Home}
Letters, cookies and milk for Santa. Cheese for Santa Mouse.
Letter from Santa
{Christmas At Mom’s}
(25 WEEKS)
(Mom and Dad)
We were going to go to lunch with friends the day after my little accident but since I couldn’t go, they picked up sandwiches and came to me. :)
Aside from my injuries I had a wonderful Christmas. I have the greatest friends. I have the best family. I love my husband and girls. I can’t wait to meet my little boy. I can’t wait to take pictures with my new lens. I can’t wait for my knee and arm to heal. I can’t wait to not be pregnant anymore. I can’t wait for 2010. Bring it on. Happy New Year everyone!December is full of so many fun activities. We’ve loved creating some of our own traditions as well as celebrating traditions that were part of my childhood.
Every December we enjoy the fun holiday art the kids bring home and every December we pull out our Advent calendar. My grandma made this calendar for me and my siblings when we were little and I love seeing my girls use it now. Each day they pull out a little nativity figurine to place on the tree (a wise man, soldier, sheep, etc.) and then baby Jesus and the star on Christmas Eve. They were so excited to finish the tree this morning!
This was my fourth year going up to Addison’s pre-school to help with Christmas cookies. It has become a fun little tradition for me regardless of which child is attending at the time.
One of my cute neighbors throws a neighborhood holiday party every December that we all really look forward to. We used to do a playgroup once a week but as the kids have gotten older it has been harder to get together and we miss it! It’s always so fun to catch up with friends while the kids do crafts and play.
This month was also full of lots of school parties and performances (above is Addison with her favorite teacher during her holiday performance) and LOTS of lights. We’ve enjoyed the lights in our own yard and driving around looking at other lights at night. We always take a trip to “Christmas Card Lane” – a neighborhood of houses that are decked in lights with Disney paintings and themes. The girls love getting out of their seat belts and standing in the car with windows down and the heat on full blast. They run back and forth from one window to another… “Add, look! It’s Ariel!” “Over here Ellie! It’s Peter Pan!” People are out walking the streets with hot chocolate and everyone is waving and yelling “Merry Christmas!” Such a fun holiday atmosphere and one of my favorite San Diego traditions. We also always make a trip to the temple to see the nativity and lights. The girls get to be in pajamas with hair not done – as was the tradition when I was a little girl. :)
Kenny and I have started a little date night tradition of going to the Poinsettia Bowl together every December if we’re still in town. We went last night and had a great time together. Utah was playing and won which made it even more fun. GO UTES! 
This year we started a new tradition with “The Elf on the Shelf.” I’m sure most of you reading this have done it with your family or have heard of it, but for those who haven’t, it’s a little elf that comes to visit every December to watch the kiddos and make sure they are being nice and not naughty. Every morning he is sitting in a different spot to watch over things and the kids can’t touch him or his magic will disappear. Each night he heads back to the North Pole to report to Santa about what he has seen. My girls have LOVED this. They can’t wait to wake up and run downstairs to see where he is hiding. I have LOVED this because it has been a major help in the behavior department. All I have to mention is that “the elf is watching” and any fighting quickly ceases. Brilliant.
If you have little ones at home this is such a fun tradition to start! This morning my girls woke up and ran downstairs. I called them to see what they were up to and Ellie yelled, “We found the elf! And we put the star on the tree! And there are presents under our Christmas tree! We’re having our own little party!” :) They are so giddy and excited.
We just made cookies and are anxiously awaiting this guy to visit! I don’t know how my girls will sleep tonight. I don’t know how I’ll sleep tonight. What’s better than being a 3 or 5 year old on Christmas Eve? Being a mom of a 3 and 5 year old on Christmas Eve.
Then place them in the oven at 200 degrees for about 7 minutes. Just watch for the Hugs to barely melt.
Olivia the pig loves Pretzel Hugs too.
Then wrap them up on cute plates or in cookie jars and deliver! And don’t forget to make a tray for your own family. They really are such a tasty treat. I should know.
I’ve eaten about a hundred of them in the last week.
Oh…one last thing –
Keep a close eye on your “helpers.”
**Update: Here is a fun way to give your pretzel hugs as a gift!
I have so many pictures to post and catch up on but I spent the last hour making my to-do list for the next few days and now I’m burned out. So tonight I’d just like to wish everyone in blog land a 
Anyone else feeling like this? Glad this fun but oh so crazy week is over!
We are pretty happy around our house. The girls are counting the days until Santa comes and are having so much fun with all of the holiday festivities. Kenny is still flying high after seeing the Chargers play in Texas. Not only did the Chargers win and not only did he get to see the coolest stadium in the US, but he also got to sit in the owners box during the game and meet Jerry Jones (the owner of the Dallas Cowboys) because one of the guys he was with is related to him. Yes, Christmas came early for my husband. He should be on a high until at least February. As for me, I’m happiest when I’m home. Listening to Christmas music surrounded by my decorations and lights puts me in the best mood.
A week or so ago Ellie yelled from the family room “mom! there’s a sock for the baby!” I had taken the Charger sock down that she put up (I know, I said I was mellowing, but apparently not…it was bugging me so bad!) I went in the living room thinking she had put the Charger sock back up and saw a matching sock with “Kole” on it. So far Kole is the ONLY name Kenny and I have agreed on for our little guy. We don’t know if we’re using it or not, but Kenny ordered a matching sock with the name on it to make me and Ellie happy. He set it up and waited to see how long until one of us noticed. Didn’t take Ellie long. :) I said to Kenny “but what if we don’t use that name?” and he smiled and said “then we’ll order another sock next year.” I was already feeling emotional because it was such a sweet thing for Kenny to do and then I looked up and saw all five socks hanging there. Before I knew it I had tears running down my cheeks. It just hit me. There was my family. All five of us. I always knew there would be five. It felt so right and so…complete. Kenny didn’t even tease me for crying like he usually does. I think he liked the look of five socks too. (that or he’s finally learned not to mess with me when I’m crying during a pregnancy)
Hope you’re enjoying the coziness of your home this holiday season!
Guess we weren’t too excited about meeting Santa!The best way for us to stay in touch! Sign up for my newsletter so you’ll never miss a post! You’ll also gain access to all of my home and organization printables.
