Jumping Daisy

>I really like this picture, I decided to share it.

>Everyday you remind me of what a little lady you are turning into.  As you grow into your own person and display your sweet, stubborn and determined personality, you continue to amaze me. 
On Friday night we had the pleasure of taking you to a wedding, which has to be one of your favorite places to go.  The look of awe in your eyes at the site of a real life princess is simply unbeatable. 
While we watched the wedding cake being cut you made it very clear that you were not interested in the already cut slices of cake.  You wanted “the” cake, the princess cake, the vanilla one.  I hope that I never forget the sweet look in your big brown eyes and the way that the clear Christmas lights reflected on them while you patiently waited at the end of the cake table for the perfect slice to come off, fit for a little princess. I wish I had a camera that could have caught that moment that I have stored away in my mind, but I will instead rely on my memory and the timelessness of those same beautiful brown eyes that I have been captivated by for the past 3 and a half years.
The cake cutter noticed the little girl who had her heart set on the special cake and she let you know it would be a few minutes before she would get to it.  You replied by asking her what her name was and when the top of the cake was cut, Elizabeth the cake cutter slid the first piece onto a plate and delivered right into your little waiting hands and told you that this piece was especially for you.
In so many ways you are growing up, getting more patient, more independent and more persistent, but as long as you remember that no matter how big you get, or how determined you are about getting things your way, one thing will always be my way. You will always be your momma’s little princess.

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2009 held many other significant events as well.  We had a year of house guests when we hosted Cassie from sometime in January until the end of July, and then Grandma Sandi and Papa Ed from August through September or so while Ed recovered from his stroke.
Leila had her first haircut, and continued to get smarter all the time.  She has been a wonderful big sister to Thea and we are so proud of her.
Thea has grown so much, and gotten so big and strong that we are amazed by  her already.  She is strong as an ox and equally stubborn, much like her sister.

It has been a wonderful year filled with blessings for us, and I have high hopes for 2010 for my family and yours.  Happy New Year!

>A Survey about 2009.  Stay tuned for my year in 10 pictures.  I have to give that one some more thought…

What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
Natural Childbirth

Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I had to look back at my blog to see if I had made any…I try to choose themes, rather than concrete goals, since those never seem to work out right.  It seems I didn’t have anything down for 2009.
For next year my focus will be on establishing a better routine for keeping my house in order, get Thea to sleep through the night, and then to start running again.

Did anyone close to you give birth?
Me.  And my good friend Amanda brought home her son that she adopted from South Korea.

Did anyone close to you die?

Vaike, my message board friend. I was touched by the passing of several people, though they were not close to me, and giving thanks for the mostly healthful year that my family has had.

 What countries did you visit?
Just this one.

 What would you like to have in 2010 that you didn’t have in 2009?
A new house! 🙂

What dates from 2009 will be etched upon your memory, and why?

March 13th – When my Thea was born.  Though that date was already pretty well etched in 1986 when the twinnies were born.

What was your biggest achievement of this year?

Having a baby and managing to survive part time work and part time Stay at home Mom, with very little sleep.

What was your biggest failure?
Every day I go to bed wishing I had been a better mom, and lived in more moments.

Did you suffer illness or injury?

Nothing serious, thankfully.

I can’t really think of anything…I think the best thing I “got” that was free–library card.

Where did most your money go?

Childcare

What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Having a baby

What song will always remind you of 2009?

Hmmm…I would have to say “the Alex and Zuba song” from the Madagascar soundtrack…I have heard that song more times than I could possibly count during 2009, including Cory’s drum rendition that always makes Leila squeal with delight.

Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

a. Happier….my family is complete (I think :))
b. thinner.  I was 7 months pregnant this time last year…plus the nursing diet always does me good!
c. Richer in spirit most definitely.

What do you wish you’d done more of?

hugging my babies

What do you wish you’d done less of?

worrying

How did you spend Christmas?

With family for the most part.  It was a great year for Leila and I loved seeing her excitement.

Did you fall in love with 2009?

I can honestly say I fall more in love with my husband nearly every day.
 
What was your favorite TV program?

The Office – Even though Micheal’s stupidity makes me mildly uncomfortable…I still love it.  I still have the wedding episode saved on my DVR, if only I had the time to watch it again!

Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

I don’t hate anyone, and I didn’t last year, and I hope I don’t this year either!

What was the best book you read?

Three Cups of Tea probably had the most lasting impact, but I most enjoyed the Birth Day Book that I posted about. 

What was your greatest musical discovery?

Tough one…I like music, I mostly listen to country but I don’t think I discovered anything outstanding this year.

What did you want and get?

A healthy child
 

What did you want and not get?

A DSLR Camera – not that I could really expect someone to want to spend that kind of money on me…including myself 🙂

What was your favorite film of 2009?
I can only think of a few that I saw all year and nothing really sticks out for me. I guess I would say The Princess and the Frog.

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 29 and I worked that day.  I went to lunch with two good friends from work.

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

The only thing that this year lacked for me was sleep and relaxation.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2009?
Personal fashion concept? HA! I had to buy some new pants for work. Some black, some gray.
I don’t “get” fashion.

What kept you sane?
Undoubtedly, my husband, my mom and my sister Cassie.  They are always there for me when I need them.

What political issue stirred you the most?
2009 was a very political year I would say, but what stirred me the most was my realization that national politics are not worth the heartburn.  I am happy with my life, and I am trying to help others around me to ensure that they have what they need for their families as well.  I am making a effort to feel less partisan, and more human.

Who did you miss?
My Grandma.  It has been just over 2 years since she passed away, and not a single day has gone by that I haven’t thought of her.  I miss her presence in my life, and it breaks my heart that she has never been able to hold my Thea Dalene.  I try hard to remember that she is with me in spirit and in the meantime, she is gabbing away at the family reunion in the sky and patiently waiting for us to join her.

Who was the best new person you met?
I can’t think of anyone new that I have met in 2009…

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.
I have a hard time pinpointing something new.  I feel like I am reminded of important life lessons all the time, through my marriage, my job and my role as a parent.  I try to live my life every year with a few basic ideals in mind:
1. Family always comes first.
2. Whatever happens in my life, my faith will bring me through it.
3. Count your blessings, you never know what tomorrow may bring.

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Today we pulled up to our house just as we were beginning to lose the very last bit of sunlight that today had to offer.  I jumped out of the car at the end of the driveway to get the mail from the mailbox.  The cold wind greeted me and offered a reminder of the bitter winter that I try to block out of my mind.  Empty.  Not even a bill to make my early exit into the cold worth the walk to the only slightly warmer garage.
As I walked past the poor Alero, whose spot in the garage has been taken over by miscellaneous boxes of junk and summer’s left over yard toys, I inspected the long snaky looking lines of ice running down the length of the windows and doors. Signs of a warmer day, when the weekend’s snow began to disappear, only to be caught by the cold darkness that always comes too soon and leaves behind, instead of piles of light soft snow, the cold hard ice of a failed attempt at melting.
Tomorrow will be another race with the sun to melt away the burden of winters cold and snow before the premature darkness of the season arrives.  It feels like a never ending un-winnable race.

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> I have a general routine that I follow on my at home days.  We tend to have breakfast and watch cartoons in the morning, and then when Thea goes down for her first nap Leila and I will work on a craft, or we will bake something. Then lunch and cartoons (yes, I realize we watch too much TV)  During Thea’s afternoon nap I usually set up Leila to color or do play doh so I can have some quiet time.  Since it is pretty cold these days, we don’t get out much to the library and park like during the warmer months, so I try to put some thought into our crafting activities.  I want Leila to look forward to our days at home.

I have been planning to share some of the things that I did with Leila over the last few weeks, but I wanted to wait until after Christmas, since some of the “projects” were gifts.  Here are some of the things we have been up to.

I picked up some cardboard ornaments from Hobby Lobby for Leila to paint.  We got three of them, and the plan was, one for our tree, one for Grandma Lori and Papa Carey, and one for Grandma Sandi and Papa Ed.  I forgot to give them though, so I packed them up with my tree…expect them next year Grandmas! 🙂

The week before Christmas I picked up a foam floral supply cone, and we used some felt from our craft supply arsenal to put this tree together.  The decorations are simple push pins so aside from hot gluing the star on toy, Leila was able to do most of this project herself!

The last project I am going to share was a biggie.  For the daycare providers I always try to come up with a gift that they will enjoy, that doesn’t cost too much, since we have lots of people who care for our daughters in a daycare center.  This year we had 13 people that we wanted to gift.   I also like to give gifts that Leila can help with.  This year I got an idea from a message board friend to make layered jar gifts.  We made each one of the daycare providers a cookie mix and a soup mix.  It ended up costing a bit more than I had hoped, as the soup had a couple of more expensive ingredients, but it was still a manageable cost, and Leila enjoyed helping, and delivering the gifts that we had made.

 

 

 

>I have lots of things that I have planned on putting up on my blog lately, but I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.  I am tired, exhausted really, but enjoying this day, and reflecting on memories of Thea’s first Christmas, and Leila’s first Christmas of really “getting” everything and being excited for Santa. 
Christmas Eve is a really really long day for us, but once again we went through our routine of prepping the house and making food for Cory’s side of the family celebration. After dinner with the Coobs’ we all ventured out in the cold rain to Christmas Eve church services.  This year was the first year that I can remember that I had the pleasure of looking down my pew at church and seeing the faces of every one of my siblings along with my parents and Cory’s family, and it really brought me a lot of pleasure to be there with all of these people that I love so much, sharing my favorite church service of the year. 
After the readings and discussion of Luke 2, our church has a candlelit singing of Silent Night to end the evening.  This year sweet Leila even held her own candle and stared at it intensely, during a rare calm Leila moment.
I woke up not feeling well on Christmas Morning, really not well.  I don’t know what it was, maybe the combination of too much food and not enough sleep, but I had to take a break and rest before we could move on to Christmas at the Howard house.  Thankfully we made it out and had a great day.  I will post some pictures, but right now I am recovering from clearing our driveway and the neighbors of this mornings snow, and reflecting on my lovely family while Cory and Leila build a castle with leila’s new blocks and I can’t bring myself to get up and go find the camera!
Our girls are both so excited for their presents.  Leila got everything she asked for aside for the real horse (no surprise there) and the dominoes! I was so sure that she would get lots of them since she told EVERYONE that she wanted them…I guess everyone else had the same idea but Leila hasn’t mentioned them and I am thinking she forgot she asked for them to begin with. 
Thea got some really cute toys that make all kinds of noise, and she seems to really like watching them in action. 
My girls looked so beautiful in their Christmas dresses and seeing their happy faces has brought me so much joy this holiday season.  But of course, today is the day after Christmas and if you drive by my house, you will see that Christmas tree sitting out by the curb! 🙂

Merry Christmas Everyone!

>came to visit, and we all got to enjoy some Clay-time which always includes grocery discussions and lots of non-sense.  Do you think these girls like Uncle Clay?

 

>We took Leila and Thea to see Santa the other night with the Smith family.  Leila wasn’t scared of him at all and walked right up to him and told him that she wanted a music box.  I guess her mind has changed since we first started asking her. 
One thing that surprises me is that even though Leila watches TV.  And I mean way too much TV, she hasn’t asked for any specific toys, I don’t think she even knows what a Zhu Zhu pet is.
Aunt Donna is taking care of the music box, so Santa is bringing the bean bag chair that I hope she still wants.  Of course, there is more than that, but I am not sure what all we give Santa credit for. 
Here is Thea with Daddy while we waited our turn for Santa:

Here are the babies with Santa!

 

 

We went to South Slope to see the big guy, and it was nice!  They had cartoons on a big screen and coloring pages while we waited.  Each kid got a bag with fruit and candy, it reminded me of my own Santa meetings at the fire station in Tabor.