Christmas Season in St. Louis.

There are always lots of Christmas festivities leading up to the actual holiday.  Before we left St. Louis we...went to two Christmas breakfasts (the kiddos saw Santa at the Park Forest club house), made spice kits for neighbors and friends as well as some chocolate-drizzled popcorn, watched "Frosty the Snowman" a bajillion times with Brie, went on a horse drawn carriage ride, caroled with Ed & the Hintzes, went over to Alaa and Abdul's for a delicious Middle Eastern dinner, took turns with the stomach bug :0(, celebrated our own Christmas Eve and Christmas morning, had Alaa & Abdul's family over for a special Christmas dinner, shared the story of the nativity and said our last goodbyes to them before they moved home to Saudi Arabia.  Other than getting sick (being pregnant + throw up bug = wanted to die!), it was a fun and special time of year with our little family.

this year's version.

(I didn't design this, just got the layout from a friend and typed in our info.)

Since we're not really great at mailing out Christmas cards, here's ours for the year.   Oh how I love this magical time of year and being reminded of the MANY many blessings we each have.  I'm grateful for our Savior that came humbly to Earth as the greatest gift of all.  I hope that gratitude, peace, joy and the love of Christ blesses your homes this coming year.  We hope you all have a WONDERFUL Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Brie Joyce.

The year Brie was born my Mom affectionately called her "Brie Joyce" (like rejoice)...fitting for the Christmas season and for this joyful little bugaboo of ours :0)

On Sunday Brie will be FOUR.  Where has the time gone?  It's crazy to think that she was Alex's age when we moved here, and now she's learning her ABCs and talking up a storm.  In any case, I want to write a few things about Brie, in honor of her big day.  If I were to sum up Brie, I would say that she...

...has so much personality!
...is our little fashionista, by choice dresses herself first thing in the morning, and often comes up with unusual yet cute ouftits.  When she finds one that she really likes she wears it over and over again.
...carries on a conversation like a grown-up and says the cutest, most creative things.  Like talking about an imaginary snake, Harry Hazard :0)  She says the darndest things and I wish I could just follow her around with a video camera recording every little thing. "Can I watch a special movie so I can fill my spirit up?" (she just asked that as I was sitting here typing.  Prime example of the cute things she says.)
...is my little kitchen assistant.  She loves to help me cook!  She prefers washing her hands with the "yummy smelling soap" in the kitchen then we get to work.  She pours ingredients into the bowl, stirs, washes fruits and veggies, does some minor chopping and so on.  I hope that she'll grow up with the love of cooking.
...is SO helpful!  Usually when I ask her to help me (please grab a diaper and wipe, throw this away, pick that up off the floor, straighten up the pillows) she'll say, "sure thing, Mom."  She truly is a great help.  This frequently comes in handy with her little brother and will be such a blessing when this little guy arrives.
...is fascinated by all things baby--cribs, strollers, car seats, diapers--and usually has a little "baby" that she is carrying around and taking care of.  She really does have a sweet, nurturing spirit and will be a wonderful mother someday.
...so energetic and fun!  She loves to jump, run, dance and play!  I love how she's such a girly girl, but has a bit of her Aunt Rachie's "tom boy" spirit in her too.
...is generally sweet and patient with her little brother.  He is the one that does the teasing, taking toys and hitting, but she often talks to him gently instead of getting upset.
...is a fun and happy girl!  She has her moments (especially if her Mom is having grumpy moments ;0)), but is so often cheerful and brings light and laughter into our lives.
...is so observant and has a great memory.  It amazes me what she picks up on and remembers!
...is learning her ABCs and can be found looking on the box of cereal, at signs, on envelopes...sounding out the letters.  Before we know it she's going to be reading.
...LOVES dressing up and doing tea parties and if she could she'd have me dress up and do a tea party with her every day ;0)
...is our little singer.  She seems to sing wherever she goes, especially when washing her hands in the bathroom, it's cute :0)  She also makes her own medleys, listening to them cracks me up.
...appreciates the simple beauties around her.  She often will stop to smell a flower, touch a tree, point out a sunset, lay down to look up at the sky.
I'm sure there's lots more I could say, but I'll end it here.

We love you Briana Joyce Graden!  Happy Birthday my little Sweetsie...here's to another wonderful year watching you embrace life and the world around you :0)

the stockings were hung...

This year I decided it was time to have some Graden family stockings.  So after hours of crocheting I came up with these beauties.  J/K!  Don't even know how to crochet.  Actually on Pinterest I saw the idea of taking an old sweater (I got mine from "the Outlet"), cutting out the form of a stocking and sewing around the edges.  So that's what we've got here.  I wanted each one to have a little personality...they definitely do, some even bordering on a little odd ;0)--especially Bry's--but oh well.  Instead of stitching a name into each one (I was tired of sewing after stitching them all up by hand), I decided to print out a picture.  Plus, I can change out the picture with an updated one each year.  A bell (from the Dollar Tree) a few scrap ribbons and voilà, our stockings...

(had to include a baby bump picture of me for this year's stocking)

P.S. Does anyone else LOVE opening their stocking Christmas morning?  It's one of my favorite things ... probably because my Mom always finds the cutest, most thoughtful things.

Third times a charm.

(18-24 November 2012)

I've decided that we need to get Em a "frequent visitor" punch card...she came all the way out to visit us THREE times this year!  This last visit was such a fun one, filled with projects, good food, and celebrating.  Some of the highlights include:

making our pineapple turkey baskets * Brie telling Em how grateful she was for all the cute things (clothes, shoes, belts, nail polish, etc.) that she had bought for her * Em & I eating out at My Daddy's Cheesecake then spending the evening chatting * getting a storage shed ordered, bins bought and LOTS of organizing done * hitting up good ol' Target * Pizza Party from IMO's pizza * making mini pumpkin cheese cakes with Ed & Ruth Anne * having a lovely Thanksgiving dinner together * hearing about the blessings of the year for each person * celebrating Em on her birthday * Hoot the night owl * lots of M & Ms and gummy bears :0) * Em's thoughtfulness and generosity (getting new clothes and shoes for the kiddos, buying lots of groceries, getting me snuggly & cute postpartum jammies and a home-from-the-hospital for this little guy...) * having "leftover" crêpes for breakfast (leftover breakfast burrito, leftover streusel cake, leftover turkey and mashed potatoes...j/k ;0)) * Brie taking Em to Lion's Choice for ice cream cones (paying with her own money, getting her very first receipt) * watching Em guide Brie in learning her ABC's (Bbbrrriiieee--Brie) * Em making play dough creatures with Brie * Bry braving the COLD to assemble the storage shed * Alex & Brie snuggling up to Em and her phone on the couch to watch "Blues Clues" or "Wonder Pets" * just having my big sis around

Not only was she here for Thanksgiving Day (she & Bry prepared the delicious feast that we had), but the following day was her birthday.  Now if you don't know this about Em, she is one thoughtful and generous person.  She is forever using her creativeness and spending her time and money to make other people feel special.  Although our tight little budget didn't allow for much, I was grateful to have her all to ourselves on her big day and to spoil her a bit.  And spoiling, in my book, most often involves food :0)

(pictures from our two "feasts" of the week)

Bry made his traditional streusel cake for breakfast and we made some extra chocolatey cocoa to go with it.  Then for dinner we had mini tart appetizers (sweet & spicy pepper and cranberry nut), a green salad with grapes, pomegranates and walnuts, lasagna, and then German Chocolate Trifle with peppermint ice cream.

Emmie, thanks for spending your Thanksgiving break with us!  

We all loved having you here ;0)

Tender Mercy.

Yesterday I started looking into cameras, and found one that was a {much welcomed} step up from my current camera*.  With a $250 instant rebate that this store is offering, it'd come to just over $500.  I've been saving up with each photo shoot here and there, but was still short $150...wondering where I would come up with that money, especially in time for Christmas.

Well, a sweet tender mercy came in the mail today.  A few months ago I had taken some pictures of my friend's house so that she could put it on the market to sale.  She had mentioned paying me, but I left that ball in her court and then forgot about it.  Today an envelope from that friend arrived a little bit ago.  I opened it to find a sweet note and a check for $150.  I couldn't help but cry.  Little did she know that she was an answer to prayer.  What a sweet testimony that the Lord is aware of us...and as Bry said, "it's important to Him because it's important to you."  God is good and I just had to share!

*side note: with my camera being over 3 years old (an eternity in this day and age, and no doubt having taken tens of thousands of pictures in its little life ;0)) and the repairs probably costing more than its current value, I'm thinking it's time to upgrade.

Not again.

Yesterday at the tail end of a photo shoot for my friend Alaa I went to grab my camera from the coffee table, the strap caught on something, the camera fell on the tile floor and is no longer working.  I called Bry to tell him what had happened and he probably thought that someone had died in the family...I was sobbing on the other end when he answered.   (Now the shutter doesn't work properly, throws an error, and I'm afraid it'd be another $250 to repair it!  Really?  REALLY?!)  Did this have to happen and right before Brie's birthday and Christmas? :0(  I have been needing to update my camera body anyway, so maybe now's the time...just wish that I had $500 lying around.  Santa, want to bring me a new camera?...a few weeks early?!  I wish ;0)

11.22.12

Blogging about Thanksgiving would not be complete if I didn't include the birth of my friend's baby boy!  With her permission, I'm sharing my epistle of an account ;0) At the end of September or so, Laura mentioned that she had decided for her third child's birth she wanted to try going naturally and felt like she should ask me to be her "doula" for the birth.  Several weeks before I had had the same thought and told her that, even though I had no real training and just the experience from Brie and Alex's births, I'd be honored to be there.  So for the last several months we'd been talking, exchanging emails, prepping for the birth, and in October even did a double date "lamaze class" with our hubbies :0) (Bry and I sharing thoughts, tips, breathing techniques, etc. that we thought would be helpful.).

The Wednesday night before Thanksgiving Laura called (around 9:30?) to tell me that her water had broken...two weeks before her due date.  I took a quick shower then she, Jon and I headed over to St. Mary's Hospital.  By the time she'd passed through triage (3cm) and was finally admitted and assigned a labor & delivery room it was just about midnight with no signs of labor.  The staff at that point didn't want her walking around for fear of the cord prelapsing and suffocating the baby.  She tried bouncing on the medicine ball, but that didn't work.  A few hours later her Doctor came in and said that he was OK with her walking the halls.  The nurse on shift, Nikki (who was so friendly and supportive), got her wireless monitor and IV hooked up and we hit the hall.  Within twenty minutes or so contractions had started which was great!  We ended up walking the halls through most of the night.  There were windows at the end of the hall and it was fun to see the sun rise over the city and to chat with Laura & Jon.  As long as she kept walking the contractions kept coming.  Things weren't too intense yet so I kept my camera close and tried to document little moments here and there.  Little by little they got stronger and she'd lean against the wall railing and breathe as Jon did counter pressure (on her hips and lower back), I did effleurage on her upper back and talked her through each one.  It seemed like it worked well for Laura and I was impressed by how well she did with her breathing then would "resurface" and continue walking and talking between the contractions. 

I want to say by 5AM she had progressed, but wasn't yet to a 5cm which was discouraging to her after the hours of walking.  At that point we went back to her room, the contractions slowed way down (may have even stopped?) and the three of us took cat naps.  

A little after 5:30 we decided to walk the hall again and once again the contractions starting coming and picking up fairly quickly.  We were still walking the halls when the nurses switched shifts...through the doors came Tiffany, the nurse who had delivered Laura's other two children!  We were flabbergasted, especially since she typically only works weekends AND that it was a holiday.  She was able to select Laura as her patient, ended up seeing Laura through til the end, and was such a blessing to have with us!  It was definitely a tender mercy that she was on that particular shift.  

Another tender mercy, that Laura reminded me of, is that the doctor that came in for the day (Doctor Martin) was LDS.  He happened to walk in right as Laura was asking Jon for a priesthood blessing and was able to assist in the blessing.  He was great to work with and ended up delivering Jacob.

At this point I can't quite remember the timing of things (probably because I had only had twenty minutes of sleep), but I seem to remember Laura's contractions really starting to pick up by 9 or 10am.   She was still laboring in the hall, but now Tiffany was out there walking with us, helping with counter pressure and adding her words of encouragement.  It definitely felt like a team! 

By noon or so Laura was checked again and she was only at 6cm.  It was great that she had progressed, but we had all hoped that she'd be farther along, especially after the intensity of her contractions.  Around that time Jon, Laura & I decided that she should try pitocin, and within a half hour the contractions were definitely picking up.  She was leaning against a rocking chair and breathing through each STRONG contraction as it came.  By this time it was especially hard to watch her go through each one....I could tell what pain she was in and remembered the intensity of contractions around that time in my labor.  Tiffany had stepped out of the room so it was just Jon & I trying to encourage her and cheer her on.  I really felt like transition was just around the corner, she had been managing the pain SO well, and wanted to do my part in encouraging a natural birth...I think Jon must have felt similarly because we both told her to keep going, that she was getting so close and that she would make it.  Although I knew how exhausted she must have been and wouldn't have blamed her for getting an epidural at that point.  Tiffany eventually came in to check her, and after laboring that way for over an hour she was still at a 6cm.  Such intense labor with NO progress :0( I think it was around that time that she requested an epidural and I really didn't blame her...she had walked through the night and most of the morning and had been laboring intensely for hours with no progress.

She had to be pumped full of fluids before they could administer the epidural, so she must have labored for at least another 30 minutes or so, the contractions REALLY coming on strong and becoming unbearable.  As soon as the fluids were done Tiffany checked to see where she was at...8cm, 90% effaced (she had been at a 50% since she came in) and the baby was at a +2 station instead of a -3!  She had done an amazing job and had made SO much progress!  The anesthesiologist came in, and I stepped out into the hall.  I'll admit, I kind of had a mini break down at that point and started to cry.  It had been such an emotional journey for me (especially with my own pregnancy hormones going on! ;0)) and I started to pray...why had Laura and I both felt prompted to help her in a natural birth if her labor would be SO long and intense and she'd needed an epidural in the end?  As I sat there, a stream of thoughts came to my mind...it hadn't been a mistake, things hadn't flopped, the Lord was mindful of us and that perhaps if she hadn't attempted to go naturally her body wouldn't have gone into labor like it needed to and could have resulted in a C-section.  (Of course a C-section is not a horrible thing, but it was a wonderful thing that she had avoided it.)  I was so grateful for that gentle reassurance from the Lord.  

Twenty minutes later the anesthesiologist left and I returned to the room.  Within 10 minutes Laura was complete and ready to push!!  Unfortunately her epidural didn't work very well (she could feel LOTS of pressure and some pain, and was to feel and move her legs).  She pushed for about an hour and her sweet little Jacob was born! (as soon as he was born I "changed hats" and grabbed my camera to document the happy occasion :0))  I've given birth to two children, but it was incredible to witness a birth.  And let me tell you that after such a long and rigorous experience it was an especially amazing thing to see him crown, be born...hear his first cry and see him placed on his Mom.  What a sweet finale.  I was so grateful to have been there from start to finish.  (Laura felt so bad that I had been there through the night and into Thanksgiving day, but I really did feel privileged to be present and to help throughout.  Plus, Bry picked me up from the hospital around 3pm, I came home and crashed for an hour on the couch and woke up to a beautiful Thanksgiving feast that Bry & Em had made.  Not too shabby.  Definitely a Thanksgiving never to forget ;0)) 

I need to add is that I felt really blessed to be inspired with ways to aid Laura during the birth...memories from Brie and Alex's births...things that I thought would be helpful to her as well.  Such as pinning her hair back, effleurage, keying her in on her progress at every stage in the game (pushing included), etc. AND it made me SO much more appreciative for the people that assisted me for my kids' births, and reminded me how much their attentiveness and care saw me through both times!

Congrats again, Hintzes!!

Give thanks. Walk.

Two weekends ago (17 November 2012), our family participated in the St. Jude's Give Thanks Walk here in St. Louis.  As Bry knows, I was just eating up the fact that... we were spending time as a family, helping to raise funds for these sick little children, getting out in Nature, getting into the Thanksgiving spirit, taking part in our community and walking 6K :0)  Win-win-win-win.... 

Thankfully we bundled up because it was a nice but pretty chilly morning, the kids were good sports.  Alex napped for most of the way, Brie rode for awhile then walked alongside of the stroller.  Before we'd even walked a mile I could tell my almost-six-month-pregnant-self was going to give me some grief so we walked at a pretty leisurely pace. (It gave me time to take some pictures along the way of beautiful Crêve Coeur Park, the cute signs that dotted the path, the rowing teams on the lake, and all of the cheerful lime green paraphernalia )  The goal was not to win, but to walk :0)  I'm pretty sure that we were last to finish.  Ironically enough, our neighbor Zach was the 1st place male runner!  First and last, gotta love it.  In any case, it was a delightful morning, and fun to think of all of my siblings participating in the same cause in SLC, Utah.  What a great way to kick off Thanksgiving!

Our Personal Pavilions.

The first Sunday of November I taught the Young Women in our ward.  I shared with them some lessons that I've been learning as of late.  The main point I wanted to get across was that although it may not be obvious to us, we sometimes unintentionally build walls around our hearts that keep us from God.  Then suddenly we'll find ourselves feeling alone and hopeless and wonder where God is.  President Eyring (in the First Presidency in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) sheds light on this predicament...

Last month I thought things were fine...I was at least keeping busy.  It wasn't until one day when something happened that I fell to my knees and sobbed to my Heavenly Father...muttering that I couldn't do it anymore and that my best efforts had failed me.  I felt like my little world had come crashing down.  Although I tend to overreact and get emotional about things (especially during pregnancy), in a way things had fallen apart, and that was OK because it brought me to my knees...and brought me finally to the Lord.  As I prayed my humiliation turned to humility.  I felt the Lord's love for me.  I felt that with His help, IF I continued to turn to Him, I could pick up the pieces and make something better than was before.  For honestly the first time in my life I really felt a connection with the phrase "a broken heart and contrite spirit."

Sometimes when we're busy or hurting or feeling hopeless we turn to things of the world to numb us and to help us forget reality.  We all turn to different things.  For me it's often Pinterest and Facebook, or food.  But I'm starting to recognize that these things are just bandaids that can never fill the holes or heal our hearts. Instead they create walls, a pavilion of sorts, and cause our hearts to harden.

Like it says in the scriptures (Alma 32:16, James 4:10), we can either humble ourselves or BE humbled.      In any case, the Lord can help us break down those walls.   He can give us a "new" heart (Ezekial 36:26).  The wonderful thing is that it's a soft heart, that stays close to the Lord, that is blessed by the fruits of His spirit...

In the end we may fool our families, our friends, or even ourselves if we just go through the motions of life, but we can't fool the Lord.  He sees our heart (1 Samuel 16:7).  If He were to look at our hearts today what would He see?  No matter what the Lord sees, He LOVES us and desires to help make us whole...to heal us...and to help us find happiness.  No matter what pavilions we have built, we can choose to turn to Him instead!

Doctrine & Covenants 6: 36 ^aLook unto me [the Lord] in every ^bthought; ^cdoubt not, fear not.

(a Personal Progress challenge I left with the young women and leaders.)

Tucked in with Food Storage.

Ever since we moved here to St. Louis we've been talking a lot about being frugal, self-sufficient and prepared.  For years wise prophets have asked us to build up a food storage so that we're prepared and  needn't fear when hard times come our way.  Finally this year we made a game plan to make this happen.  For the last six months or so we've budgeted $25 towards food storage.  As I make my weekly rounds at Aldi I try to get 2 of all the non-perishable items, especially if they're on sale.  So if I'm getting bran flakes, brown sugar, peanut butter, tuna and fruit cocktail that week...I throw in another of each for my food storage.  I do this each week until I've hit my budget.  When I do, I start again the next month.  When I get home I take a permanent marker and in large print write the expiration month and year on the front.  Then I enter each item into an excel spreadsheet.  I really feel like in this case knowledge is power, and order helps things to run smoothly.  With a few clicks I can know exactly what food items need to be rotated, how many canned veggies we have, what kinds of protein we've got on hand, etc.

Our latest project, thanks to Mom & Dad, was getting shelves to put next to our bed to store all the food.  (We couldn't think of a good place to put it where it'd be out of the kids reach and my Mom had this idea!)  It's a little funny to walk in a see us surrounded by food, but at least we're seeking to follow the prophet and to be prepared.  And hey, maybe it'll come in handy sometime for an easy midnight snack ;0)

Our next goal is to order the "non-persihable" items in a dehydrated form---powdered milk, cheese, butter, etc.--and to bulk up our grains supply (rice, wheat, corn, etc.).  Little by little it's coming together.  After all, "by small and simple things are great things brought to pass (Alma 37:6)".

Pumpkin Pie Spice.

As I've mentioned, Alex LOVES to get into EVERYTHING!  Well the other day I was sitting at the computer (my first mistake) sending an email.  Alex ran into the kitchen, but I thought to myself "everything is out of his reach" (second mistake).  I proceed to hear an odd metal sound coming from his direction, but figured it wasn't a big deal (third mistake).  Suddenly it dawns on me that he's in the spice drawer and that the metal sound is him squeezing one of the spice tins and emptying out its' contents.  I RAN in and sure enough...there was Alex at the spice drawer, with the Pumpkin Pie Spice in hand.  Not only was the drawer COVERED in the brownish-red powder, but so was Alex.  I cleaned him up a bit (to make sure the spice wouldn't get in his eyes...and so his jammies wouldn't get stained) and grabbed the camera.

 Here's our guilty little man saying, "cheese!"

 I grabbed the vacuum to clean up the mess...and Alex grabbed his.  How responsible ;0) Here's a zoomed in shot so you can see the residue.  Oh Alex.  You sure keep me on my toes!

Our little Peter Pan & Tinkerbell.

 Before Thanksgiving is here I wanted to finishing documenting Halloween this year.  The Monday before Laura & her kiddos came over to do a "Halloween" dinner together (since Jon was interviewing out of town and Bry had a late class).  Halloween night, Alaa and her girls came over for our traditional Halloween dinner (Mummy Dogs, Witch Chips & Ghastly Guacamole, Frightening Fingers, Sorcière Sweets and Boo Juice) then Layan came trick-or-treating around the complex with us (and Azhar & her boys).  It was fun to see the kids having fun, even in the COLD.  We pushed Alex around in our green umbrella stroller and set his Peter Pan hat on his head at each door...otherwise he looked like a blue marshmallow (thanks to his winter coat) wearing a green dress ;0).  At each door we'd ask him to say "boo."  As we rounded the complex to finish the night off he was slumped in the stroller, tiredly dragging his plastic pumpkin along.

I love this picture because of the distinct shadow in the back...

apparently Peter Pan's shadow was attached at this point ;0)

 our Peter Pan.

 The kids were good sports to suck their lollipops and pose for these few shots.  It was FREEZING the morning we took these...hence Tink cuddling up to her little Peter Pan :0)

Our Tinkerbell.

Disneyland Vacationers.

Back in August when we were at Disneyland, my Mom bought each of us a pair of "mouse ears" and said that they would make for easy Halloween costumes.  So tonight for the church's Trunk or Treat we pulled out our ears, some Disney paraphernalia, a suitcase (with "Disneyland or BUST!") and headed over to the parking lot.  Easy costumes, check!  I'm sure we won't have family coordinated costumes forever (see previous years  here, here and here), but I'm enjoying them while the kiddos are young and don't care.

handing out candy before we left our candy bowl 

for the takers and took the kiddos around the parking lot.

 Just too cute not to get another picture.  And yes,
Alex is wearing a doggy "backpack" leash.  True to Disneyland vacationing form ;0)

 Alex has gotten to be a little bit clingy these days, so for the half hour we were there I ended up toting my little man around.  No complaints.  He'll be wanting to run free soon enough!

Thanks for the costume idea, Mom :0)

Hi Tea for Two.

Today (Saturday 27 October 2012), Brie & Me and Laura & Hannah ventured over to Sisters Tea House in Fenton for Hi Tea.  Back in May I saw a Livingsocials Deal and hinted to Bry that it'd make a fun Mother's Day gift--for a little Mother-Daughter outing--and it was.  Other than a few hiccups ahead of time trying to figure out logistics, we had a delightful morning.

Before heading out, Brie picked out a "fancy" outfit, we did our hair and nails, and she packed her little purse for the occasion.  I LOVE all the girly stuff that comes with having a girl, and I love that Brie just eats it all up with me...pink, sparkly nails, lip gloss :0)

Brie & Hannah

We looked through all the tea options and narrowed it down to 2 herbal tea packets.  Brie of course picked the pink one, Raspberry Hibiscus.  Aside from herbal tea (and Brie's own little tea pot of cold water that she requested like such a big girl) we had...

a delicious tomato soup and mini quiche

chicken salad sandwich croissant

cucumber sandwich

bowl of fresh fruit

scone with a sweet butter

mini pumpkin pie

raspberry lemon bar

red velvet cake

The food was all delicious and a perfect amount for me & my little Brie.

 Hannah & Laura, Me & Brie.

Thanks to Laura's husband and Bry for watching the boys so that we could go.  Here's to future Mother-Daughter dates!

18 mos. today!

 Look how handsome he's getting :0)
Note the freshly spilled milk on the chair.  Oh the messes that he makes.  He definitely helps to keep me in a job ;0)

He LOVES glasses, mine in particular.  Since it's not good for his eyes I'll only very occasionally let him put them on, and recently bought him his own pair of sun glasses so that he could play with those instead.

Wow, how can it be that this little man is already a year and a half?  The time has flown! He's as busy and as cute as ever---glad that those two go together, how can I get upset with such a cute little face? ;0)  

If I were to sum Alex up in a nut shell, I'd have to include that he...

-is talking SO much.  It seems like he has at least a new word a day that he's learned.  I love to hear his version of each word.

-is one busy little man.  Other than in the kids' room, I really can't leave him unsupervised for more than about 5 seconds.  He conveniently climbs his way up and into what he wants, whether it's food on the table, paper in the printer, decorations on the piano, soap at the sink, toys on a dresser, etc.  If he's not climbing, he's opening drawers and doors and getting into more things.  We have to keep the downstairs bathroom door shut or he runs for the plunger.  Until Bry installed a baby lock, he loved getting into the lowest kitchen drawer to find his vitamix lid "hat."  Aside from that he is constantly getting onto the computer.  I try to lock the screen as often as I remember, but he still gets a hold of the keyboard and mouse.

-loves animals, particular doggies and our neighbor's cat, Toppy!  He gets SO excited when he seems them and often "roofs" at the dogs on our morning walks.

-is playful, a little tease and fun!  Aside from normal sibling squabbles, he and Brie have a fun time playing together.  My favorite is to hear the two of them laughing in their room :0)

-is a master at throwing tantrums.  If he has something taken away from him, or isn't getting his way he tends to flop himself on the ground and let out a good cry.  Thankfully the storm passes quickly!

-gets scared of St. Louis' crazy thunderstorms and usually wants to be held or right next to me.  We've spent several a storm sitting by each other eating popcorn...that seems to make the storm not quite as scary ;0)

-still does NOT like getting his diaper changed or getting dressed.  However when we are getting ready to walk out the door he often goes to the shoe basket, brings me his shoes and is good about sitting on the stairs while I put them on him.

-loves his little friend Adam.  

He shrieks in delight whenever he sees him!

-is now taking one nap a day and frequently nods off while eating lunch, and I get to snuggle his sweet sleeping self as I walk him upstairs.  But even if he doesn't fall asleep before nap time, he's typically really easy to put down and will often say "night night" as I turn out the light or set him in his pea pod.

-has recently graduated to the booster chair at the table.  He is pro at spilling and spreading his food, but is getting better (and insists on) feeding himself with his own baby utensils.

-has the cutest little smile and the most kissable, sweet face.

-loves to bring me the dust pan while I'm sweeping and "help" me sweep and mop ;0)

We love you Alagazander...

can't imagine life without your sweet little self in our family.

Oktoberfest 2012.

Last Saturday we got together with some friends (the Baileys and Freemans) to put on an Oktoberfest.  We all bought/prepared some German food, gathered at the Baileys, turned on some great folk music and enjoyed eating and chatting the evening away.  (The kiddos ate the more "normal" things then ran off and all played together.  win-win.)  I loved the Italian soda bar that Christina manned and other than the red cabbage (still trying to get used to the intense flavor of that one), all the food was SO tasty.  Bry and I brought a German cake that we had made together...a chocolate mousse like filling sandwiched between a ground hazelnut and almond cake.  Very European, not super sweet, and a great way to finish off the evening.

our little Snow White.

For our ward's "Fall Festival" (Halloween party in the park) I asked Brie what she wanted to dress up as.... Snow White.  Perfect, slip on the dress that Mémé got for her, stick the matching red bow in her hair, put on a little makeup*, hand her a red apple and voilà...

*I remember as a little girl getting SO excited when my Mom would put makeup on me for Halloween. I felt so special and grown up...it was fun to relive those moments as I dolled up little Miss Brie. 

That sweet girl.  I'm so glad I snapped these before we hurried off to the festival.  As I looked at her I couldn't help but think of me and my sisters dressing up for Halloween as little girls...