Monday, December 27, 2010

Growing Girl

Here are the latest photos of our little one. Sorry for the frequent picture posts but these are for the family living out of state. :) She's a beauty.

Sleepy Traveler

Stretched Out In Sleep

Sock Booties, The Cutest Thing Ever



Sleeping On Daddy's Chest

A Moment of Frustration


Sunday, December 26, 2010

Merry Christmas 2010

We had a wonderful Christmas this year. We celebrated with the Petterson family on the 22nd in Nyssa at Mike & Carrie's house. Once again we were wowed by Carrie's beautiful decorations. :) We went early to hang out and help out with the cooking and then enjoyed dinner and presents. Jayden started out in jammies but then changed into the cutest christmas leotard/tutu with red tights and festive bootie socks. I made her a headband because I couldn't find one I like at the stores and she looked like a Christmas ferry princess.

Spence had a blast playing with cousins and Steen got to chat it up with family. I made my new stuffing creation (I made an experimental recipe last Christmas for cranberry orange sausage stuffing, yum!) and sweet mashed potatoes. The boys enjoyed it but it wasn't a huge hit with the rest of the crew (understatement), oh well. Dirk came over with us and hung out until his dad arrived to take him home. It was great to get to visit with him. We miss him like crazy.


The rest of the crew enjoyed chilling on the new furniture at Steen's parents house while I was cooking... what a life. :)


Jayden and some of her cousins.


Great Grandpa Neil & Great Grandma Ruth
got to meet Jayden.

Opening presents by the tree.


Check out her adorable getup.






Steen had to work on Christmas Eve and on Christmas day so Spencer and I celebrated on our own on the 24th with games, crafts, and goodies and then Steen and I put up the tree that evening when he got off work, actually I guess it was super early on Christmas morning. We didn't run into Santa though; he waited to visit our house until we went to bed. :) We opened presents super early on Christmas morning and then had a yummy dinner when Steen got off work. It was an awesome time for us as we all lounged around in our jammies (yep, we didn't even get dressed on Christmas day) and enjoyed the time spent together.

Our tree had a total of four ornaments on it on Christmas morning.
Yikes, no award for mother of the year for 2010. :)

This was the extent of the christmas decorations at our house, besides the Christmas tree, this year. That's right, I just put out a vase and a bowl and filled them with candy. Don't judge me, I just had a baby in November. :)

OMG, I have two kiddos this Christmas. Yikes, and I'm 30.
How did that happen?




Lots of fun presents.




One tuckered out little girl, presents are hard work.

Yes, she actually enjoyed her first Christmas presents.

We also discovered that she's just a little bit vain.
She must get that from Steen *wink*. Heehee!

"I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and gay."
West Side Story... watch the movie if you don't get it.

After a frantic call to my dad about the tri-tip steak, we finished up cooking it and sat down to an amazing Christmas dinner: mulled apple cider, red wine marinated tri-tip steaks, vegetable medley, red wine gravy and sweet mashed potatoes, & lemon oreo cheesecake. It was delightful.

The picture doesn't do it justice, but the meat was moist, flavorful, and perfectly medium rare.


The day after Christmas Steen had to work at 6 am. Ugh. Spencer, Jayden, and I joined the Gismondi family for the twins' dedication at Calvary Chapel. It was lovely to get to be there for this moment. After the service we headed to Cracker Barrel for a yummy meal and some visiting time. The outing was a double delight because I got to put Jayden in her Christmas outfit I didn't dress her in on Christmas day. She was just adorable.

Mark said a prayer for the twins upbringing and future while Pierce tried to eat the microphone.

Anna hammed it up for the congregation.

Jayden rocked her Christmas outfit: a red and white striped Santa onesie, red and green hair bow, ruffled red corduroy pants, and festive bootie socks.









Today I am cleaning house, baking muffins, and planning on taking a nap after Spencer does a reading assessment. We had a wonderful Christmas and I hope you did too. Enjoy your New Year celebration!

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Big 3-0





I confess that I pictured myself looking more like this on my thirtieth birthday (above). Decked out in a killer black dress in New York city with an amazing Louise Green hat to top off a posh evening. Instead, I was sporting the trademark sagging tummy of a new mommy and recent recipient of a cholecystectomy as well as grubby cloths and sleep deprived eyes (below). My life isn't what I imagined it would be and that is actually a wonderful thing. In place of the superficial joys I imagined for myself, I have some true blessings: a gorgeous husband who loves me, a sweet little boy with an amazing imagination and artistic sense, the world's cutest dog, and a beautiful baby girl that greets me every morning with a goofy smile and a snuggle. I have a job that I love and wonderful friends and family. Sometimes I think back on the dreams of my childhood and realize that many of them have come true, just not quite in the way I had originally imagined them. It's cliche, but I can't help but thinking about the saying that talks about getting what you want versus getting what you need. :) I love my life and hope to enjoy the next thirty as much as the last.


Friday, December 17, 2010

Happy Birthday Spencer!

On December 15th, my little boy turned 9. Yikes. I can't believe how fast the time has gone by. It doesn't seem that long ago that he was the adorable little toddler with blond curls, a diaper, and a cowboy hat & boots strutting around the apartment on Colorado. He has been the greatest blessing to Steen and I and I know he will be a brilliant big brother to Jayden. :)

He enjoyed a three part celebration for his birthday this year. The first celebration was for friends and family at Pizza Hut on Saturday the 11th. He had a blast and it was a fun time for everyone in attendance with visiting and lots of laughter. The second celebration was on his actual birthday. We got up early for some peanut butter Captain Crunch (his birthday cereal choice for the last 5 years) and opened presents before school so that Steen could see it. Spencer chose to have hamburgers for dinner and lemon frosted strawberry cake. It was a fun evening which we capped off by watching Ben 10. The third celebration was today at school. I made cupcakes (rainbow chip cake and rainbow chip frosting) this morning and Steen dropped it off at school. Spencer said it was super fun and his teacher gave him a book for his birthday. I was glad that we were able to celebrate his birth in a way that showed him how special he is.

Spencer, Chris (and his little brother next to him), and Brian

Spence picked out a peanut butter cup ice cream cake from Dairy Queen.

An unfortunate reality when a nine year old boy blows out candles:
"spit happens"

The Cramer Family

Brady was charmed by Jayden

Piper was showing off her gorilla

The Kiddos

Asher & Tammy

We got Spence the NFL robot done up in BSU gear

Grammy & Gramdad got him a Mickey Mouse watch that, I am sad to say,
made him look less like a little boy and more like a young man. Gasp... sniffle.
My baby is all grown up.

The cake was too hot when I frosted it so it was more like a
strawberry lemonade sponge cake.

Spencer: "I wish I could control water."
Me: "You know wishes don't come true if you say them out loud."
Spencer: "Oh, um, I didn't really wish for that... it will come true now, right?"

What an awesome birthday.