Gingerbread house

I've never had good luck building gingerbread houses... This year I bought a kit that had slots for the base so I was thinking the added stability and less stress building would mean more time decorating.

It started off well:







With the walls in place, we decorated the roof:









Assembly from there did not go well:



As I was trying to reconstruct the dilapidated gingerbread house I realized my daughter was eating the building materials (frosting) right from the package.












We got back on track and just decorated the pieces and gave up on assembly after I discovered a bite out of the roof.



I had visions of an award winning gingerbread house, and really would have been fine with one that at least stood in its own, but instead we had good memories- and a sweet snack.

-Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

An attitude of gratitude

We used the tree of giving thanks that my mom and I made for the first time as a family this year.






Each day in November we took turns writing what we were thankful for. My daughter loved this activity and as a new writer, contributed more than Daddy or me. She is also a pro at writing her name so that made up a good portion of her contributions:) It appears we were more thankful for her than anyone/anything else.






I saved all of our thankful cards and we can read through them in years to come, just as we did at the end of the month. My daughter didn't choose to be thankful for things like toys, but people (such as herself), including her little brother- proud parenting moment here.













Our thanks included some light hearted and some serious, but topping the list is our health and our family. If you have these two things, you have everything. It's amazing how when we take the time to be thankful for what we have, we worry less, complain less and love deeper.

Then I saw this in a book I was reading:


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Laughter is the best gift

We celebrated our anniversary earlier this week, sticking with some favorite traditions (see here and here). 8 years into the marriage and how things have changed. First of all we went to dinner with both kids; a family date instead of just the two of us. And it was still very fun. Eight years and two kids later, life is beautifully different and fulfilling. And seeing my husband as a father never gets old.

Then there was the matter of trying on my wedding dress- a tradition I quite love. I decided to skip it this year (insert gasp here) as I am not a tradition breaker usually, but I know my three-weeks-post-baby body would not fit into it so I just spared myself the effort.

We watched our wedding video this year and looked at photos from our honeymoon. We laughed at ourselves...we were having such random adventures together. We took terrible pictures. We remember the back stories to the photos- random inside jokes shared by just us: guy in red underwear, my new husband doing high kicks, adventures with the rental car.

Then there were the gifts we exchanged. I painted this for my husband.









I love to make gifts and usually they turn out better than this, but I still gave it to him. I knew we'd both get a good chuckle out of it- first of all my husband does not have a bowl cut or love handles as it appears, nor are my legs that skinny (I wish!) Our faces are also not molded together. In any case it was a good attempt and it's proudly displayed in our basement storage room behind other artwork not deemed worthy of our walls:)

And then there was the gift I got from him.



Made of driftwood (I do love driftwood), I wasn't actually sure what it was... And I'm not good at faking it so my husband knew I wasn't really in love with my new light fixture??? Well once I realized it was not a light fixture and indeed a pumpkin (as a reminder of Halloween and putting our little guy in a pumpkin).


I really do love it. But we had some laughs over my initial reaction, nonetheless.

We still have random adventures and lots of laughs... Happy times make for a happy marriage.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Parenting is like riding a roller coaster

Parenting is like riding a roller coaster: Sometimes it's thrilling and other times terrifying. Often times it's both. There are highs and lows. Sometimes you want to scream and sometimes you want to laugh. And the ride is most certainly affected by the mood I am in (which is also directly affected by the amount of sleep I have gotten - or lately, lack thereof).

I realized long ago I'm happiest when things go as planned. I'm a planner. I'm highly organized. I also realized more recently (after I had children) that things will not go as planned. Often. And I need to be prepared for that, meaning I need to adjust my mindset and expectations accordingly. Life happens. My three year old will decide to put my eyelash curler in her cosmetic travel bag and I will not be able to find it, causing me to be late to work. My newborn will decide to sleep all day and be up all night. My husband will fall asleep with my our daughter during bedtime stories because he's exhausted too.






My house will be messy and I will have the unavoidable urge to clean it even though everything says I need I sleep when the baby sleeps.








I can spend an entire day with a sleeping baby on my chest and not feel guilty because I did not shower.



My daughter will get sick in the middle of her dance recital. And life will go on. And we will laugh about most of these things later.

And of course all the high points are worth reliving again and again. These moments that make me realize how much love is in our home, how blessed we are as I look at the family we've created and I know these moments won't last forever either, so I must soak up every single one while I can. Seeing my daughter as a big sister and knowing how special the bond between siblings is.











Watching my husband bond with his little man.






Experiencing all these moments with our son all over again- the peace of watching him sleep and his facial expressions, noting similarities in personality and physical appearance to other family members and appreciating differences too.














I'm loving this ride we're on...

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Our little guy

On October 17th we finally had our little guy! I'm still adjusting to the fact that we have two kids!!
After carrying this baby for almost 41 weeks, you'd think I'd be adjusted to the idea. It's still surreal. It's amazing, but surreal.
Although we chose not to find out the gender of our baby, my little girl and I thought for sure it was a girl. I already bookmarked the matching Christmas dresses I was going to order for my two daughters:) Gotta rethink that plan. Our little man won't be rocking a dress... When he was born and the doctor said it was a boy, I did ask "are you sure?" He is indeed a boy and I can't believe how much I love him.
My little girl and I are both guilty of referring to him as a 'her' on occasion. Oops.


I can't believe how much our little guy looks like his sister. They both arrived into the world 5 days past their due date and were the exact same size (weighing 7 lbs 13.2 oz and 20.5 inches long). He was born at 8:48 am and her at 8:49 pm. It's hard to believe our daughter was ever that small, but she was- exactly.
Our little girl, shortly after birth:



Our little guy, shortly after birth:




Seeing daddy with his son makes my heart happy:












And watching my little girl as a big sister makes my heart swell. She already learned how to write and spell his name.




















A friend of mine said it perfectly: "you wonder through your whole pregnancy how you will love another child like your first. Then they enter the world and you wonder why you ever wondered."





We named him after his grandpa (my husband's father) and uncle (my brother). Two people who are a very important part of our family life.




Our little guy in the family cradle:




My mom is here to help for a few more days and we are adjusting to life at home as a family of four. And big sister, who wasn't sure what to think of this brother (since she was expecting a sister) is such an affectionate little helper and it makes my heart burst to watch her with him and hear her prayers: "Dear Jesus, thank you for our meal and my brother and our family all together." Bless her heart. We've been blessed with two little miracles.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone