Baking Buddies

Have I told you before that I L-O-V-E to bake? Well, I do. I expecially love to make cakes. (and eat the batter, which I KNOW is so bad and I'm sure I'll end up with salmenella one day, but until then....) This past week, I had a little baking buddy, my own little person assistant.

She mostly just watched and banged the measuring spoons. She loved watching the beaters mix the batter. (and NO I did not let her taste the batter...Yet!)
I hope that in years to come, this will be something we can do together every Christmas. Something I can pass on to her. This particular day, I was making a strawberry cake from a box, but I love to use my grandmother's recipes and hope to pass them to Emma one day.

And then, the party ended. Someone got VERY unhappy. You see, Mommy would not let her have any batter, but Mommy (aka ME) was spooning it in as fast as she could go is eating it.... Why can't I?!

** And one more photo, just for fun...Don't you just love the Lindy Lou Who hairdo?

It's beginning to look alot like....

CRazYnEss!!

Our schedule is jamm packed! Something every day. I LOVE being busy, but I hate it too. It's easy to get wrapped up in the holiday parties, christmas lights, present shopping, and all the other things that this season brings and forget about the REAL reason for the season. The amazing love that God showed us when he sent his son in the form of a tiny helpless baby.

I am so excited to show Emma all the things I love about this time of year, but I want her to always know WHY we celebrate. I hope that she will not get wrapped up in the presents and the "give me, give me, give me" attitude that some kids (and adults) have at Christmas.
I hope that she will think of others at Christmas...ones that are not as fortunate as herself.

I hope that she will let Jesus shine in her.

I hope she will continue to help remind Mommy how GOOD we have it. (You see, I sometimes have trouble staying positive.)

Oh, and one more thing....I HAVE THE BEST, MOST GENEROUS, AND AWESOME HUBBY EVER!

(Someone got their Christmas a little early!)

Terrible Mommy Award

If there was such an award...I should be the first recipient. Poor Emma made a terrible trip to the doc on Wednesday. Well, this post should really just start from the beginning...

Emma was born with a hemangioma on her private area. It is rather big. The docs in NC said that as she grows it will eventually go away and that it does not hurt her at all. BOY...were they wrong. Last weekend, we started noticing that Em seemed to be in pain. She cried in the bathtub...which she NEVER does. She would scream during diaper changes. At first we thought this was just another phase...I mean she never really enjoyed diaper changes anyways. It's more like WWF wrestling than sweet, relaxing time with Mommy (or Daddy). Wednesday I had had enough. I was tired or wrastling (country talk :)) with the bear and I was SURE that somthing was wrong with that darn hemangioma.

To make a long story short, poor baby Emma has been suffering. The hemangioma has ulcerized. (or developed an ulcer and then opened up to become an open wound.) There is nothing that can be done until the wound heals. We were given antibiotic cream to apply three times daily and told to come back for more torture a recheck in a week. Hopefully the wound will heal and they will inject some steriods to shrink the thing. Maybe Em will come home from the doc on Tuesday with large muscles and a deep voice. :) J/K

Please pray that we can take care of this without surgery. That is a possibility. But until then, I should be given the bad mommy award of the century b/c after all the pain of the ulcerized hemangioma, I subjected her to not one but two flu shots. Terrible, no good, very bad Mommy indeed.

Tiny Miracle

Saturday we welcomed little Austin into our family. My cousin and his wife brought little baby boy into this world (a little early, 31 weeks) weighing in at 3 lbs. 5 oz. Please pray for his continued stability and health, a speedy recovery for Mommy Stephanie, and for comfort and peace for Daddy Andy. They have such a long road ahead of them.

Hanging the Greens

Back when I was growing up, that's what we called it....hanging the greens, trimming the tree, decorating for Christmas. One of my most favorite things about this time of year. Spending time with the people you love fighting over who gets to put the Angel on this year and where Dad's Pinnochio ornament should go, eating Pizza, enjoying the lighted views from outside, and just "being" together.

It all starts with a tree shopping trip. Growing up, we always went to a tree farm owned by a good family friend. Now a days, we just headed to our local home improvement store. The hunt begins...

Then back home for a little dinner. Em was just a laughing at her Uncle Reese. They always crack each other up.

Then it's into the pajamas and tree decorating time. Don't I look adorable in my new PJ's?

We had a couple of new ornament this year. Emma got to hang her first ornament to celebrate her first Christmas.

After all the ornaments were hung, two little workers got a little tired.

Do you have any Christmas decorating traditions?

Guess it's time to go bowling

This pic should tell you a little of how we felt
after the Tiger loss on Saturday night. Shocked. Spiller couldn't have had a better night, but the defense needed to step it up! So now, we have to look forward to the Music City Bowl in the Country Music Capital City. Watch out Kentucky Kitty-Cats! :)

Is it December already?

Time is literally flying! I can't believe it's time for Christmas trees and ornaments, fudge and eggnog, shopping, caroling, and all the other things that this season brings. As the holiday season quickly approaches, I can't help but look back. This year has been a whirlwind. A baby, a sold house, an out of state move. I sit back and think about how different things were this time last year. I was just beginning my 9th month of pregnancy and patiently awaiting the arrival of baby girl Emma. We were consumed with packing the bags, and "What to Expect", and kick counts. So excited about our soon to be daughter, but clueless as to how much our lives were about to change. We enjoyed a quiet Christmas at home just the two of us, where I attempted to cook Christmas dinner. At the time, I was a little upset that we had to spend Christmas alone, but looking back, that was a blessing. Just what we needed to calm ourselves and get ready for what was to come....our precious baby girl. I can't wait to spend this Christmas with her and watch as she soaks up all the joythat this season brings.