Ice Ice Baby

Paige is the most beautiful baby I have ever known.

Her hairline is not.

I think she is on to a new (old) trend.

I love you Paige with all that I am, please don't hate me for this when you are 16!

Chef Mamma

Having a baby in the house has brought us so much joy...but taken away some things as well. Of these is my abilities to cook like I used to. I know one day I will be able to (for much anticipated family meals at the dinner table, with the TV OFF)...but right now I find myself letting Dinner By Design and the crock pot do most of my meal cooking. 

Monday night I took back my love of cooking and Kellen and I enjoyed a little romantic dinner while Sleeping Beauty took her third nap.

 Table is set! What you don't see is the crazy mess of piles at the other end of the table ;)

I finally cooked my first quinoa dish. It was for sure a keeper. 

I found it here.

 This will be replacing brown rice in our house!

It felt good to fill the house with the smell of a real home cooked meal!

Sunshine on a Rainy Day

Hope this brightens up your day a bit :)

Christmas and Update

Wowza where has the time gone? I feel like everyone is saying this and I agree. I have very much enjoyed reading everyone's posts, thank you...and I realized that I'd better post something or else I would just be a total stalker.

We are recovering from the blur of the holidays. We had 11 (yes, I typed that correct) gatherings to attend in two weeks...I am not sure who is more out of whack in their schedule after this- the parents or the baby. We are so blessed to have all of our families closeby..and sometimes our blessings requires a bit a patience ;) Christmas was a bit overshadowed with the passing of grandfather, my mom's dad. I will post about that later....maybe...once the haze clears a bit and is less painful.

I bit the bullet and went to a studio to get some photos taken of Paige for a surprise Christmas gift...here is the one (scanned version) we gave to our parents.

Paigey in her Christmas Dress

Happy family at Kellen's mom's house!

I worked Christmas Day this year, which was bittersweet. It feels so good to have it over with and to know that I will be off the next two years when Paige will know more. I was totally fine when I got up on Christmas morning, visited with Paige, and left the house...but then half way their Kellen texted me that she was alseep on his chest and he was on the couch looking at the lit Christmas tree thinking about us and to have a good day. That is when I lost it and cried like a baby.

me familia

Paige just loved laying under the tree. I loved seeing her there...because this time last year 'she' was a pretty little wrapped present there!

This sweet little miss was a champ at her 4 month appointment. 

She is hitting all milestones perfectly (though still hates tummy time) and is still breastfeeding great.

She weighed 12lbs 7oz (25th percentile), and 25 1/4 inches.

Get this- that is the 80th percentile!! Who would have guessed we would have a tall, skinny baby!

The pediatrician asked if she 'was social'....

Does this answer your question?

 

What a hambone!

Is this normal? I am molting. I pull this much hair out of my head each time I wash it. I have heard to people losing hair postpartum, but this could be donated to locks of love. GROSS

Perhaps I could give some of my hair to my darling bald baby (who is thrilled to have her photo taken again)

It's that time again....our baking day!

I am still in shock that the holidays are here..not to mention WAY behind. If it wasn't for a coupon I had for our holiday cards that expired before Thanksgiving,  I am pretty sure they still wouldn't be ordered.

I love the holiday season for many reasons, and this year I am trying to remember what matters most: the true meaning of the season. God is good and has touched our lives in many ways. I am trying to use this time to reflect and get grounded back home. This time last year was when our Christmas miracle (AKA: Paige) blossomed and it is has been invigorating to re-live that this year. I find myself saying 'this time last year...' everyday. 

Another thing I love about the Christmas season:

my annual baking day with Gretchen!

I will admit that this year posed some challanges so we didn't get as much done as usual, but it was still so nice to spend the day catching up (working part time now, I never feel like I see her like I did!).

This has become a tradition that I think is cool, because we started it on our own. I look forward to watching this tradition evolve over the next years!

Some of my favorite people in my kitchen :)

Its a good thing she is cute, because she is lousy help with the spatula.

About half of what we normally do, but still worth it!

4th year in a row and going strong!

O Tannenbaum

Last weekend Kel and I went and cut down our Christmas Tree, like we have been doing since before we were married. It is a wonderful tradition that, though it is more work and money, adds a bit more richness to our holiday season. As many of you remember, 4 years ago we had a spider nest hatch in our tree the morning of us hosting a Christmas party with 20 people coming over. I can finally laugh about it NOW. Well yesterday I was holding Paige up to the tree for her to look at the lights, and I found something....something that was spongy and looked like a tiny cotton ball. FOR REAL?!  I immediately lit it on fire on our deck. Though the torching was somewhat therapeutic, I still felt guilty for that momma spider. But anyway, now I am constantly looking in the tree with a flashlight wondering if there are any more in there. Only we would have a spider tree, yet again!