Oh Sugar!

There have been years that the second Black Friday hits, it's mayhem. We're shopping, baking, crafting, wrapping, seeing Santa and squeezing more things into a weekend than there are hours.

And every year I tell myself that I'm not going to do that to myself again the next year...and then I tell myself the same thing again the next year. Do we see a pattern?

Some things I think are fun, others are no where near the fun meter but off the charts on the beat down meter. One of those things that I absolutely love though and make sure we fit in, is our cookie baking. I remember cooking with my mom growing up and how it was so hard to resist the urge to eat the cookies right from the oven.  The key was waiting until they were iced and the icing is what made them so soft.

Getting dressed for the part is half the fun. Who cares if that hat hasn't fit either one of them since they were 2. We grow ginormous heads in this family, thank you very much.

There were messes made and cookie cutting extremes so much so that you couldn't tell if you were eating a stocking or a tree...but c'mon, does it even really matter?

The attention span needed for cookies is pretty overwhelming for a three year old, but he was an awesome sport. He knew that good things come to those who wait.

Having  my mother-in-love in town to help this year was an extra special treat and quite the lifesaver. It's amazing that it took 5 adults to wrangle three kids, keep the house from burning down and photograph the entire event. It takes a village, right?

My parents came over as well and my mom is the most prepared cookie maker there is and does have the best sugar cookie recipe known to man.

 

The sugar rush was definitely evident when nap times were dismissed. It was so much fun to see them concentrate so intently on each little cookie as if it was a masterpiece. The sprinkles were mountains on top and I had to shake them off as I would glitter but there was some serious love put into those cookies. 

I might regret this baking session in January when we visit the dentist.

But for now, there are absolutely no regrets.

Merry Mail

I can't believe that I didn't put our "official" 2011 card on my last post. Ugh....trying to juggle too much. So how appropriate is this picture to perfectly demonstrate that!

 

 Yes, my daughter is a Christmas firecracker or Christmas vomit (as Justin lovingly calls it). I think Christmas firecracker or the human form of going Griswold sounds much nicer.

And here's the back. I gotta say that I'm pretty darn proud of them. I took the one of Landry in her nursery on a day when she was working that camera like a runway model. 

 

 Of course, none of this is possible without my incredibly talented husband doing all the layout work. 

I think it might be my favorite card we've done so far, but maybe it's just the cute kids. 

Christmas cheer

I dread the family Christmas photo shoot. Normally, it involves meltdowns from both children and adults, snacks, bribery, and exhaustion. But I gotta say, that this year was pretty painless. We went to a park near our house which is more like a hiking trail and were there for 45 minutes...tops. Glorious.

The key? Don't do poses. Just go with it. Go with the silliness, the laughter and try to wrangle them in for a few family shots, but that's it.

I knew that our time was very limited, not only with the boys, but mostly because of Landry. That nursing schedule keeps you on your toes and there's no rest for the weary.

The silliness (and the promise of a beloved lollipop) help make things run smoother. But honestly, just playing around and genuine lovin' instead of posing helped make this one, one of my favorite shoots ever.

 

I've been on this whirlwind to get everything done before the end of my maternity which happened this week. My first official day back as a working mom was Monday. Ugh. So Christmas pictures were done earlier than ever before!

I began to adjust to this fake stay-at-home mom thing very quickly. I gotta say, it was really nice. I felt so refreshed picking up the boys from school even as a sleep-deprived mom with a newborn baby. Because at the end of the day, I had my family...

and had some one-on-one time with Landry that I will forever treasure.

 

The mother's guilt is all-consuming. If I stay home with Landry then I won't be able to see Nolan everyday in the halls and have that special mommy/Nolan time we have after school. 

 

 

And before I know it, Campbell will be right there at school with me too. 

 

 I'm scared about the trouble those two will get in together. 

 

They need to know that mama's just down the hallway to keep them in line. 

 

But if I go back to work, then I'm missing out all my all day snuggles with her and she's my BABY! 

 

So I decided that teaching really is the best of both worlds. It allows me to be a mom and work full time and the perk of the time off helps me sleep better at night. 

 The guilt never seems to go away when it comes to parenting. I seem to second-guess myself all the time.

And they seem to know a thing or two about what faces melt my heart and help them get away with just about anything. These same faces that make me want to quit my job just so I can stare at those adorable eyes all day. 

But as I have this inner war with myself weekly if I'm doing the right thing, I just remind myself that what matters most is that they feel loved, validated, and important to me.

 After that, everything else just falls into place.

Thankful

Tradition.

I crave it every time this year. It's ain't Thanksgiving without certain foods or without starting our day snuggled in our jammies watching the Macy's Day parade. Our king sized bed is running out of room. And I love that our family is so big... means big family events when they're older. Don't worry I think their spouses will think it's too weird if we carry on this tradition after they're out of the house.

I don't know what it is about kids in jammies, but seriously, footed jammies??? Forget about it. I just want to snuggle them to pieces and apparently my boys have inherited this trait from me because they were given some serious lovin' to their sister.

And after a bunch of Landry lovin' we hit the kitchen to make some lovin' from the oven with some sweet potato casserole. Nolan loved helping.

Could Campbell's hair be any more ridiculous? Project growing hair out = disaster. Don't worry, a haircut followed a few days later.

Nolan's art projects from school made from some super cute photography props. I love these blue-eyed boys so much I can't stand it. Thankful doesn't even come close.

Nolan is my poser if you can't tell. I take out a camera and he works that thing like he's a runway model. Campbell? No way, he's either pouting (see above), eating a snack (see above), laughing (see below), or if I want a good shot I have to get a candid shot. Never fails.

I'm curious to see if Landry will have a love/hate relationship with the camera. So far, she's working that camera pretty darn well.

One last shot that happens every year....our family pic in front of our sweet gum tree that normally is the perfect shade of red but not so much this year. Actually this week, it's beautiful...maybe we can fake Thanksgiving and do a do-over.

Next up, we headed to my parents. It wasn't hard to find, we just used our noses and followed the scent. This year we were all in the kitchen lending a hand.

I leave the turkey to the professionals but can help with any side dish. Man, you know you're really a grown up when you have to cook the turkey. Until then, I'll enjoy being a kid and mooching some turkey.

Justin was a natural at carving and I, of course, am a natural at devouring it. My boys seemed to take after me...

My parents know how to set a table. I love everything about Thanksgiving. The food, the love, the traditions but most of all I'm thankful for who's sitting around the table.

These two special ladies mean so much to me. My sister, Tonya, who is battling for her life with Stage 4 breast cancer. It's been another rough year finding out that her cancer has spread to her brain. Chemo, radiation, chemo again, triple steriods, ER visit after ER visit...it's been one hell of a year.

We found out that Tonya's cancer spread just a week after Landry was born. Talk about emotional rollercoaster. Extreme joy, extreme sorrow were experienced daily with no warning of when each emotion would be felt.

There's nothing that has taught me more life lessons than my sister's cancer or having children. I'm thankful for the gratitude it's given me to be thankful for each and every day.

So this Thanksgiving, I'm more aware than ever of what and who I'm most grateful for. I still hate cancer and everything it's taken from her and our family, but cancer you can't take away love and you can't take away the lessons I've learned.

Dress Up

It's happening.

Without meaning to, we're creating a diva.

Exhibit A:

We don't even ask him to do that but he does it for her. He can't stand her to be unhappy. Some days while I'm cooking dinner, I catch him doing this for her and it just melts my heart.

And to tell you the truth is SOOOO helpful and relieving to know that I have another set of hands to help with her while I'm frantically trying to jump in the shower, cook dinner, or get things ready to go out the door.

And while we're talking about divas....the clothes situation is beyond dangerous. When you open her closet it pretty much glows of pink and all things girly. It is seriously a good thing that I've only had one girl and not three or we might be homeless.

In my defense, I was very spoiled by friends and family buying Landry adorable outfits. I've discovered that people love to buy for little girls. I've even gotten some outfits from people I hardly knew. I think they just look for any excuse to buy for girls. I can't blame them. I remember my days before her and how excited I became when I was invited to a girl baby shower or birthday party. 

You may be wondering why I included two pictures of this outfit. On the left you will see her adorable outfit full scale and on the right I couldn't help but include this because you get a sneak peek at her first two rolls. The other 8 are hidden by her diaper. Gosh those thunder thighs just make me want to MUSH them!

And I've been the worst lately about getting out the good camera and just taking quick ones with my iphone to capture her outfits. Not the best quality but at least you can see we've been having fun with our doll.

I have so many outfits that have either been given or handed down to us that we really look forward to big days out. Church is pretty much prom for us. Heck, even a doctor visit is! We have to get really good use out of these clothes. She's already outgrowing them so quickly!

Embarrassingly enough, this girl almost has enough Christmas outfits for the 12 days of Christmas! Stay tuned! 

I think I might be more excited about decorating her for Christmas than our tree!

Sunshine

You are my sunshine

My only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are grey,

You'll never know dear

 

 how much I love you...

  

 Please don't take my sunshine away...