Christmas Come and Gone...

Can you believe it's already over? I always get a little sad when Christmas has passed, wishing I had more time to enjoy the season. And then poof, it is onto the new year!

And with the new year comes the nearing of the end of my maternity leave....man, I am not looking forward to going back. I do enjoy my job and the people I work with and the paycheck, but I sure have been enjoying my boys too. It will definitely be an adjustment getting back into the swing of things. Matt is still looking for a job, and we hope some of the leads/interviews he had may pan out in the next couple of weeks, but either way, it will be quite a transition for all of us. Praying it goes smoothly and we can get into our new groove. My first day back will be the beginning of February.

Speaking of February...my biggest boy will be turning TWO! Can you believe it? Cause I cannot. I swear, even with a new baby in the house, I still think of him as a baby. I made his 2 year Well Visit appointment today and it was just odd even making it! He is doing so well with his talking and I am just very proud of him. Granted, there is a lot we still don't understand, but he is jabbering constantly and I think that's an important part. A lot of times, if I will just stop and take 2 seconds to pay attention and listen, it will make total sense. He is still quite the monkey and tonight as he was leaping over his PBK chair into a pile of pillows, I had a vision of he and Mark in the coming years and figure we will surely be in the hospital for these antics one day! BOYS!!

Mark is still proving to be my chill boy. He has the occasional "why are you crying??" moments, but mostly, he only cries when he is hungry, which seems to be often. I call him a snacker. He often wont finish a bottle and then will be hungry again in 2 hours. This isn't too big of a deal unless its in the middle of the night. The last few nights, we have been making it from about midnight to 4-5 which is an improvement but still rough. I bought some of this Night Time formula to see if it could help, fingers crossed! Momma is tired and the thought of going back to work on our current sleeping schedule, make me a little nervous. Hoping we will turn a corner before then. But thankfully, we are graced with MANY toothy grins without even working for it and it makes every sleepless night and poopy diaper worth it!

I need to finish up my December Daily book soon so I can start my Project365 book for 2010 next! I can't wait and hope that I can keep up with it through the year!

Merry Christmas and here comes 2010!!

Wow, I cannot believe Christmas is already over! I think I feel this way every year...so much anticipation and then blink, its gone! We had a wonderful time though. Matt's dad and step mom came into town on Christmas Eve and stayed with us through Christmas and my brother and Sister-in-law came over on Christmas Eve too, which was really nice. I made my first foray into enchilada making and it was a big success! They were quite tasty and definitely will be made again.

Christmas day was a whirlwind and looked like Santa's Wonderland exploded in the house. I swear we didn't buy that much but between 3 sets of grandparents, aunts, uncles, etc...it adds up! The sad thing is it was all for Zachary pretty much, I think Mark got a handful of things! ;-) Zach definitely got the concept and had a great time opening up presents and wanting MORE!! Sitting back and reflecting, it was so weird to think that we just celebrated Zachary's 1st Christmas last year and now here we are, celebrating another 1st Christmas with Mark. Definitely was not ever what I would have imagined but I cannot imagine our life without him. Zach is so loving and sweet with him, it melts me every time. And Mark, well he is just the sweetest, laid back, smiling little fella, how could you not love him? Even though the last 5 months have been stressful with Matt losing his job and all...we are infinitely blessed

This isn't a very exciting post so I think so I will just leave you with some cute pics of my boys over the last couple weeks. Hope you all had a very merry and blessed Christmas and on to 2010!! May it be filled with joy and peace and health and happiness!

December 21st

I know, I know...I am about a week behind, life gets hectic! ;-)

In the meantime, we had a great Christmas book club on the 18th at Amy's house. I got a baby free night out with the girls and it was fun! Ginny gave us a surprise visit too which was great! We just had such a fun evening and I am so thankful as always for my wonderful girlfriends and for my hubby who was willing to watch both boys.

On Sunday, I was very proud of myself for making it to church by myself with both boys. Matt wasn't feeling good but I still I wanted to attend the Advent services and I also had my Angel Tree gifts to turn in. It was a little hectic getting us all ready and then the actually transporting to and from church, but all and all, it wasn't to bad. Go me! :)

And today, the 21st....finished Christmas shopping. I only had a couple things left to get thankfully because the traffic was horrid as well as some of the lines. But I finished, woohoo! The line to see Santa was INSANE. Seriously, it was at LEAST 100 people long and people continued to get in line still!! Very glad we did that a couple weeks ago!

And then tonight, grandma and grandpa came over and we all headed over to Prestonwood to see the lights. There were some houses that were very cool but I think my memories were of much grander displays. It did remind me of high school though as there were lots of kiddos piled up in trucks, cars, etc crusin the neighborhood!! Z enjoyed it though and that's the important part!

All my shopping is finished and wrapping too. I volunteered to do my mom's too since she has to work all week. Tomorrow will be grocery day and Wednesday will be cleaning. I cannot believe it's almost Christmas!!

December 15th

Christmas is getting closer. I am almost finished with my "homework" from church by having everything completed by the time we go to church on Sunday so that we can focus fully on the coming birth of our Saviour! I am really enjoying this sermon series and keeping Christmas simple.

Today I met Allison and Evan for lunch at La Madeline. It was so nice to just get out and visit for awhile. Sweet Evan snoozed the whole time but I snapped a couple of pics of him that I will post and Mark woke up for his bottle and then checked out the place. We visited for almost 2 hours and just caught up on life and new mommyhood!

After that I headed over to Target. I needed to buy my presents for the Angel Tree at church and finish Z and M. Z is definitely done. He is too easy and fun to buy for but I have to stop. I really haven't bought all that much but it feels like it adds up! Especially when I know the grandparents will have stuff too! Poor Mark, he is pretty much getting the shaft this year but he wont remember so its all good ;-)

As usual, target sucks you into a "money vortex" as one of my friends called it and I ended up with more stuff than was on my list. But, I am also complete for Christmas for the kids and close for Matt. woohoo! I need to make him an actual list, I know he hasn't gotten me anything. My list is shrinking since the 2 things I really want are pricey and we just don't need to be spending that right now. Perhaps another time. Its more fun buying for the kiddos any way! :) And then get my one package in the mail and we should be good to go!

December 14th

Quiet day today...it has been rainy/drizzly for the last few days. UGH! I did take the time during Z's 3 hour nap to start wrapping presents and also have placed all the cards in the mail. I was surprised Zach was not more interested in the presents under the tree when he woke up because yesterday at the birthday party he wanted to open all the presents! Maybe the fact that these are wrapped and not in gift bags makes a difference?

Not too much left to do before Christmas. I need to finish my list this week and get one package in the mail. Our church has been having a sermon series on Keeping Christmas Simple and there have been goals to accomplish every week of Advent (week 1-put up christmas decor. week 2-send cards, week 3-wrap all presents) so that by the 4th Sunday, you have everything finished and can relax and really enjoy the meaning of Christmas. I am close to being on track and I look forward to not being totally stressed those last few days before Christmas. I will definitely need to make use of Tues-Thurs when Z is in school to finish things up but I can do it!

How are you doing on all of your Christmas To-Dos?

December 13th

Sunday we went to celebrate the early 1st birthday of Kari and Steve's sweet twins...my Godson Dylan and his sister Lilly. The cutie pies were adorable as always and I was so happy to share in their very special day. Dylan went to town on his cake and was quite a hoot while Lilly barely got messy! I was also spoiled with Kathi and Claudia giving lots of love to Mark so I just had to keep an eye on one boy! :)

It is so funny to go to these important celebrations as the group just keeps getting bigger and bigger and I love to witness it all. We are up to 16 kids amongst us now! Seems like just yesterday we were hitting the town on the weekends and bringing our dogs to all of our house parties. Now its pack n plays and toys and booster seats! How times have changed!

December 12th

LIGHTS! Zach LOVES them!! We had some lights hung lining the house today and Zach was MESMERIZED watching them go up. He sat in the front window and the upstairs window just watching. And then tonight, before we went to pick up our pizza, we drove through the neighborhood for almost an hour...Z was chattering the whole time. "More, More, More! Santa, lights, pretty, car" etc etc etc. So sweet. He didnt even want to come home. I think we are going to go to Prestonwood one of these nights. He is going to LOVE that! :)

Oh, and I got all the Christmas cards addressed and stuffed! You should see them in the mail soon! :)

December 8th

Today Mark and I went and had lunch with my good friend, kerri and then went by the office to meet all of mommy's co-workers! It was great to catch up with Kerri during lunch and we got to eat at one of my fav spots...CHUY'S! Creamy Jalepeno...YUM-O! Mark was such a good baby and all smiles at the office. It was nice to see everyone but also nice to go back home and be with my boys! :)

Zach and I decided to make some Christmas sugar cookies tonight. Nothing fancy, we didn't do cookie cutters or anything, just had fun and iced and sprinkled them! Zach was a great sous chef!

December 7th

Christmas 2008.........

And Christmas 2009!!!

Today was Santa pic day.......let's just say the pic wasn't the best! ;-) And in Zach's defense, it was not his fault. We got to the mall at 1:01 and Santa was on his break till 2pm. We decided to wait it out and visited the pet store and had some Chickfila. We got back just as he was returning and only had 3 people in front of us. WOOHOO! All was going well and both boys were in good moods! Unfortunately, there was some film issue and they were not ready to take pics. Z did so well standing in line for about 20 min but about 5 min before we finally got to see Santa...the melting began. I will have to scan the pic to share in the hilarity. And of course as soon as the boys were off Santa's lap, he was fine! Ah well, I cant fault the poor boy and it made for a funny family memory which is proudly displayed on the mantle!

December 6th

We made it back to church for the first time since Mark was born. It was a little hectic trying to get us all ready but we made it! Z went to the nursery of course and Mark was a delight to all those around him. He got lots of oohs and ahhs! Since it was Communion Sunday, Mark went up to the front with me to receive communion. On the way out, a nice older lady patted me on the shoulder to say how cute Mark was and that seeing him made all the grandmas and would-be grandmas hearts go pitter patter! So sweet!

For dinner we headed over to Grandma and Popsie's house for dinner. It was actually Mark's first visit over there too. We have been so spoiled with them always coming to us! Z enjoyed the drive over and seeing all the Christmas lights. One weekend we will have to go for a drive. Anyone up for a trip through PrestonWood?

We had a great evening and grandma and popsie spoiled Z with a ton of sugar and M with lots of cuddles!! Their house is always fun with different toys to play with and the big bathtub! Zach ended up not going to bed until we got home at 10:30 but treated us by sleeping in til almost 9! What a great Sunday!

December 5th

Annual Book Club Kids Gift Exchange!

We played with our friends...

We welcomed the newest members to the group...

We opened presents...

We ate...

We did a craft...

And we even managed to take a group picture with 10 mommas and 16 kiddos, even if not everyone is looking at the camera! ! :)

Love you guys, you are all my family and I am so thankful to call you my friends!

December 4th

Well of course today was all about SNOW! yes, it snowed in Houston and was the TOP news on tv, radio, facebook, etc! Apparently we did not get near as much as other areas of town but it was neat to see it coming down!

December 3rd

Dressed for an outing to the hair salon with Mommy (he was such a good boy and after his feeding, he just slept!)

Big brother giving him a smooch good-bye!

And Christmas card OUT TAKES! :)

December 2nd

Finally finished my project I meant to complete in JANUARY!

Hate to throw your Christmas cards away, especially the picture ones? I started a scrap book, beginning with Christmas 2008, that I will put my cards in every year and then have a book of my friends and family and how they have changed through the years! :)

December 1st

First fire of the year....

First Smile Captured on Camera!

NOT the first pic of Z being goofy!

First Day of Advent Calendar