Christmas 2013

This holiday season passed by so quickly.

Decorating the gingerbread house

I baked chocolate cookies for a cookie exchange party. Elena was very excited. She's a great little helper.

For the third year in a row we went to Wakefield Court to see the lights and decorations. (Luckily, it was not very cold this night.) All of the houses decorate. This house, with the gingerbread house and carousel, was my favorite; it's a new owner in the area.

I did the handprint Christmas tree craft with Elena and I love it. I wish we could've done one with Samuel's little hands, but it would just be a huge mess. Maybe next year . . .

 Samuel smelling Nana's Christmas tree

Here Elena is opening her Christmas Eve gift, a Doc Mcstuffins book. She was very happy with it.

Their Santa gifts, an Ariel for Elena and a car for Samuel.

 Elena was all about playing with her mermaids Christmas day.

At my mother-in-law's. My two handsome boys.

It was a nice day, so Jorge played with the kids outside.  

Yes, that's Samuel being swung around. He's hanging on to his teddy bear pretty tight.

 

In the evening, Amy stopped by on her way home. We're kind of in the middle of her drive from Santa Maria to Joshua Tree, so we were able to have a short visit.

 Elena was so excited to see her.

Christmas seems to get more exciting every year, as Elena's anticipation grows. I'm so thankful for my kids and love to see the excitement in their eyes.

December Already?

It's almost the end of the year! I can't believe that Christmas is next week. It's crazy how fast time flies.

I feel like we've been super busy over here, even though I haven't done much outside of taking care of the kids and our home. And we've all been sick, so it makes it a lot harder to get normal things done.

Anyway, even in the mundane moments of everyday tasks, we've been able to have some special times with the kids. Samuel discovered that he likes ice cream . . . really likes it.

Elena's usually playing something imaginative. Usually she wants me to play with her, which can be difficult with Samuel going from one room to another. Here, Elena's some kind of dressed-up pirate.

And here she's building with her big blocks.

Then she put her "Jesus toys" on top. They're part of a Little People nativity set that I bought after last Christmas. She plays with them pretty much daily, checking the figures with her doctor kit, putting them to sleep on a tiny pillow, putting them on her blocks, etc. She loves them. And yes, she's dressed as Doc McStuffins here; that costume has gotten a lot of use since Halloween!

Most days she doesn't nap, she just plays quietly in her room during her "rest time." This day, though, I think she got bored and just passed out. Some days I'll find her in her bed asleep with a book open on her tummy. She usually reads her books or plays with her dolls during rest time.

 She's my sweetheart.

And this little guy . . . I'm chasing him around all the time. He's a really good walker, and even if he falls he knows just what to do with his body so he won't get hurt. He's starting to play in Elena's kitchen, he likes to jump on bouncy toys, he likes building with megablocks, and he loves toy cars. And he has the most amazing eyelashes!

We get them all bundled up to look at Christmas decorations outside.

They have fun in the bath together.

And as hectic as my days seem trying to keep up with both of them, I miss them when they're sleeping (even though I really enjoy resting during those times).

I'm hoping that next year will have a lot of good moments with them. I'm going to try my best to slow down and just enjoy them as much as I can.

Bathtime

Both Samuel and Elena love their bathtime. 

Elena pretends that she's Ariel.

Samuel likes the fish washcloth.

I love when he loves on me.

And Elena's hair's so long now that she can use my hair towel.

 And then bedtime.

Thankful

We went to my mom's for Thanksgiving this year. So much has been going on recently that I wasn't sure if we were going to be able to go. I've had back/leg pain and numbness that was a little scary, but it's improving and further tests will determine the cause. Anyway, we needed help with the kids while I was laid out and in and out of the hospital, and we had friends come and help us out. Despite the stressful situation, I feel so blessed that we have people in our lives that are willing to help. And I'm especially thankful to Francine, who took me to a doctor appointment and went to the ER with me from there, and stayed with me. We're very blessed. And I'm thankful to have two precious children who bring joy to me every day, no matter how much is going on. And I'm thankful that I got to see my parents, sisters, and niece for Thanksgiving this year.

I could go on and on about all the things in my life that I'm thankful for, but one person I am especially and eternally grateful for is my husband. Here are some reasons I am thankful for Jorge:

He always tells me he loves me
He gases up my car for me
He encourages me to get massages so that I can relax
He takes the kids outside to play when he gets home from work (when it's not too cold) so that I can have some time for myself
He's an awesome father and knows how to play with kids
When I'm sick he takes over with the kids so I can rest
He cleans a lot
He always wants to spend time with me
He can always tell when something's on my mind and he knows just what to say to help me feel better
He listens to me, even when I'm talking about something he doesn't normally have an interest in
He gives me beautiful babies
He still likes to "date" me
He works a lot so that I can stay home and focus on our kids
He does everything he can to take care of our family

I could say a lot more about the things Jorge does for me and our family, and I could add  subcategories for most of the things on the list. He's a great guy, and I love him.

Anyway, here are some pictures from our Thanksgiving stay in Santa Maria.

Here's my mom showing Elena some of my grandma's old Christmas ornaments.

Elena had a blast with Auntie Amy.

And then she danced and danced.

My mom started knitting and she made the most adorable beanies. Samuel loved wearing them; well, he loved putting them on and taking them off, over and over and over.

Got to see my dad and my nieces, too. It was a good day.

We all had plenty to be thankful for, including yummy food. I made the pumpkin pies. Last year Samuel was really young at Thanksgiving time so I didn't make pumpkin pie, which is my absolute favorite, and I waited a whole year to make it. It was good.

 I was so exhausted after the drive home, but it was worth the trip.