1 year ago
I really enjoyed Christmas this year. It is so fun to see how excited Braeden and Brenna get about Christmas. They both enjoy watching all of the Christmas cartoons and movies. They enjoy seeing more and more presents wrapped under the Christmas tree. They love looking at all of the lights around the neighborhood. They both did so well at their Christmas concert and they loved all of their Christmas projects and events at school. All of this being said, they both know the true reason for celebrating Christmas and that is very important to me. Braeden will tell you, "it's about Baby Jesus."
We were fortunate to have Santa make an early appearance at our house again this year. All of the children were so EXCITED to see him walk through the door...except for Brenna. She would have NOTHING to do with him. He couldn't even look at her or there were tears!!
Each year we spend Christmas Eve at my Grandma's house with all of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. We have a large group and always have so much fun. We didn't even let the weather stop us this year. The next two pictures are of Braeden and Brenna opening their stockings. My Grandma made the stockings that were at the beginning of this post.
Of course, the kiddos really enjoyed Christmas morning! Wrapping paper and toys were everywhere! I would just like to tell the manufacturers of toys, that there is no need to make them so IMPOSSIBLE to open. If you need a screwdriver to remove a toy from a cardboard box, something is wrong! Do they know what it is like to have a child waiting IMPATIENTLY, asking you to hurry, and pulling on the box while I have to untwist about 20 wire ties??? Please stop with all of the packaging!!
Santa brought Braeden a Super Optimus Prime, drum set, and Knight Rider car. Braeden was very specific on what he wanted for Christmas and never wavered on it. He wanted the three things Santa brought him plus a Transformer Devastator and a Nerf Blaster gun. I am very thankful to have Ed to go find these boy things, because I can tell you I have no idea what a Transformer Devastator is and to be honest, I don't even know if I spelled it right!
Brenna is much more into things that I can identify with. She loves princesses, Tinker Bell, and Dora. Santa brought Brenna a Disney princess tent, a Tinker Bell table and chairs, a bean bag, a My Little Pony doll, and a set of small Disney princesses. We had to drag her out of bed on Christmas morning, but once she got downstairs and saw that Santa had brought her toys and that SANTA WAS NOT HERE IN PERSON TO SEE HER AGAIN, she was excited!!
Okay, if you remember the post about Brenna spilling the beans about getting me a new ring for Christmas, I have to tell you she didn't really spoil the surprise at all. Ed went way beyond anything that I would have ever dreamt. He let each kid pick out a stone that was their favorite. They both picked out a matching ring and necklace set. Brenna's FAVORITE color is PINK, so of course that is what she picked out and Braeden picked out a light blue sapphire stone. These rings mean so much to me because the kids chose them for me. Ed picked out diamond earrings and a beautiful new jewelry box. There is no way I deserve all of this, but was SO THANKFUL and overwhelmed by everything.
These were the best gifts of all...
Both Braeden and Brenna brought home wrapped gifts that they made at school. I LOVE things with their hand prints because you can see how much they have changed since last year. Braeden made a jarred bean soup and Brenna made a Santa card and the hand prints with a poem and her picture at school.
Christmas 2009 was so special and hopefully will be followed by a great 2010!
Dear God,
I pray that you will help me to have more patience with my children. I pray that you will help me to take a deep breath and try to calm down before I raise my voice to my children. They deserve to have a mom that can take a moment to observe the situation before jumping to conclusions or quickly handing out punishments. Help me to know when my children need to be corrected and when they are "just being children". I pray you will help me to be the best mom to Braeden and Brenna that I can. Amen.
Lately, I have noticed that my temper is getting the best of me. I don't know if it is all of the pressure of Christmas, shopping, wrapping, decorating, school programs, school parties, gift exchanges, work Christmas parties, everyday chores, and a husband that is constantly out-of-town, but I have not been as patient with my children and they deserve more.
For example, Brenna is NOT a morning person and any little thing will set her off. When I say set her off, I mean a complete tantrum of screaming at the top of her lungs and throwing herself onto the floor. One of the mornings last week when we experienced some snow/ice, she had a complete meltdown before we left for school . By the time I loaded the kids in the car, I was at the end of my rope (Ed was out of town). As we pull out of the driveway into the street Brenna starts screaming what I thought was "NO, NO, NO!" I turned around and YELLED, "If I hear the word "NO" one more time..." and then she just looked at me with sad eyes and said, "Snow, Mama." She had been saying, "SNOW, SNOW, SNOW!"
The two words sound so similar, but I was clearly wrong. That was when I realized that I needed to ask for God to help me with my patience. Brenna is only 2 years old. She needs a mom that can deal with a little tantrum, but keep calm in the midst of it. Braeden deserves the same. I think it is important to always strive to be better, especially when it comes to our children.
Braeden lost his first tooth last Friday while we were at my parent's house. Why is this so sad for me? I am sure part of it is because I deal with teeth all day long at work, but it is also one of those constant signs that he is growing up. What happened to my 4 lbs little baby boy that I brought home from the hospital? It really seems like that was yesterday. I enjoy watching my children grow up, but why does it happen so fast? Oh, and the best part of all of this...he came home from school today and showed me that a second tooth fell out!!
Let me start by saying that I know that there are a lot of you who really enjoy and take "Black Friday" very seriously...I read about it on your blogs!! Well, late Thursday night my cousin Miranda's boyfriend had to stop by Walmart to get some items for his hunting trip. We saw people sitting in the isles in lawn chairs waiting for the specials to begin and we just found it funny. So not to make fun of any of you, but Miranda and I decided to kind of spoof the whole "Black Friday" thing. I see images of people on TV acting crazy and fighting over items and I just find it so humorous.
Our shopping adventure took place at Walmart. I think it was technically Black Friday because it was after 12am, but as you can see by the parking lot, not many people were there yet. The deals were probably not offered for a few more hours, but these are some pictures from our shopping adventure!
Here I am with my shopping cart ready to take off to fight for the deals!! Where is everyone else??
I can't believe this crazy person was trying to take this baby stroller from me!! Notice how empty the store is behind us. :)
Okay, I will have to admit we had a few cocktails before our shopping adventure and before any of you start judging and ask ...where were her children?...they were at sleepover at my parent's house! We just had a fun evening!!
Last night we were riding in the car and this was part of our conversation:
Brenna: "Mama, new ring!"
Me: "What?" (I understood what she said, but was confused as to what she meant.)
Braeden: "Brenna, shhhhh...that was to be a surprise...for Christmas!!"
This same thing happened for Mother's Day. Braeden couldn't wait to run home to tell me that him and Daddy bought me a "shiny, black purse!" One of these days Ed will learn to go shopping by himself!!! Love you, Ed!
Braeden: "Is it tomorrow yet?"
Ed and I have tried to explain (sooooo many times) that it is never really "tomorrow". How do you explain this to a 4 year old? :)
I have noticed that as the kids get older, the more they enjoy holidays, which makes me more excited about them as well. The kids loved sticking their hands into the pumpkins to pull out all of the seeds and mushy insides!!
This year the kids dressed up at their school for Halloween. Braeden has been at Tots and Tales for 3 years now and they have never been allowed to dress up, but instead had "Pajama Day" for Halloween. That was what I was expecting they would do this year.
When I got a note home from Brenna's class saying they were doing a "Disney" theme for dressing up, I decided I better check with Braeden's teacher too. I found out the day before their party that his class was dressing up as The Wizard of Oz characters. I panicked. How was I going to come up with a Wizard of Oz costume in one evening?
Well, Braeden was a scarecrow for his first Halloween. He was only 9 months old. I decided to dig out the costume and see what I could do with it, if anything. Well...here it is and I must say not too shabby. I stripped out the elastic and cut slits under the arms. The hat still fit!!
Presenting my KU football player and cheerleader!!!
I LOVE, LOVE this picture!!
For my birthday we celebrated with friends and family at Tasso's Greek restaurant. SO MUCH FUN!! I really recommend this place if you haven't been there. The food and entertainment is fabulous!
This is Tiffany, my Mom, and I getting ready to break our plates...a Greek tradition.
This is what the floor looked like when we were done!!
Ed's boss knew we were going to Tasso's for my birthday, so he called and paid for a round of their house specialty Blue Ouzo shots! How nice was that? We all had such a fun time!
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