Happy Christmas Eve (a few days late)

I love these early morning alone time sessions I keep getting. The rest of the family is still sleeping while I get to sit here sipping my coffee reflecting on this Christmas Eve. Today is my favorite day of the year. For most it is Christmas Day but I look forward to Christmas Eve. There is a magical excitement all day as the holiday draws near. Tonight once church is over and Grace is in bed, there will be a quiet calm about the evening. It's a beautiful time to be joyful about how blessed we are. 

This Christmas has been hands down the best Christmas in a long time. We have been able to do so many fun activities and having a white Christmas really is the icing on the cake. We have spoiled little Grace and I can't wait for her to open presents! She is at such a fun age that my heart swells with love every day. 

I am of course looking forward to 2014 as we anticipate the birth of baby #2! 

What a wonderful time that will be! 2014 is shaping up to be the most promising year for us and I am so excited to get it started! 

Happy Christmas to all! 

 

Christmas Cookies

This evening we made Christmas cookies- or rather the first step of cookies. We made the dough, rolled it and made out holiday shapes with cookie cutters. My expectations weren't high but Grace did really well. It was fun watching her try to roll the dough and then ask for help 5 seconds later. She got her first taste of uncooked dough and then it was  a struggle to keep it out of her mouth. She seemed to really enjoy the process. Even though she's a little young I want to make sure she has as many experiences as early as possible. Kids are often under estimated and I don't want to make that mistake with our children. 

Tomorrow evening after dinner we will do the traditional frosting of the cookies which should be an even bigger adventure! 

Christmas snow

The last few years Christmas has been lacking in snow. This is not something I was accustomed to growing up. That giddy-little girl excited Christmas feeling has been hard to come by with the lack of the wintery accessory. So far this year has not disappointed. Wonderful festive Christmas snow has been falling almost daily which has put me in this peaceful happy Christmas mood. 

As a general rule I hate snow but I can't help loving it right now. And to see Grace's face light up when she realizes it is snowing! The beautiful amazement and innocence of a child at Christmas is so wonderful to witness. 

Here's to the wonder of the holiday season in all it's glory! 

Love

I hope that someday she realizes how crazy in love with her I am ❤ 

First Birthday!

It's so hard to believe that a year has already passed since our sweet girl has been with us. What a celebration!
The last year has been filled with joy, sadness, trials, triumphs, learning and a lot of love! I feel like I have grown so much as a person since becoming a mother. My motivations are different, my relationships with people have changed. Some have grown, others have ended. My main goal now is to surround ourselves with positive loving supportive people who enrich our lives. I've realized the most that everything we do reflects onto how Grace will perceive us and how she will grow. That makes it a huge responsibility to help her become the best person she can be.
One of the greatest joys over the last year has been watching her turn into her own little person. As her personality has started to come through. What she thinks is funny and her own likes/dislikes. She is such a mover, never wanting to slow down. Her toys don't get touches much as she would prefer to be walking around and exploring. The few times of calm she can usually be found looking through a book. Hopefully our love of reading will be passes onto her, I hope she realizes that a love of reading is a love of knowledge. Our smart girl seems to already be very sharp and easily learns new things. I am such a proud momma when so many people not only tell us how cute she is but also how smart she is.
While I am sad that this first year has come to a close, I look forward to all the new and exciting adventures we will have over the next 12 months until we celebrate her next birthday. I am also hoping that for her next birthday the weather will be a little more "normal". Last year it was 85 the day she was born. This year it was only around 28! I prefer 85!

As today closes, I can fall asleep with a smile knowing what a healthy happy girl we have.
Happy Birthday to my wonderful baby!!

The night before

I can't help but reflect. A year ago at this time I had gone into labor. I just hadn't realized it was actual labor. After spending the day together, enjoying the beautiful 80 degree day in march we had gone to bed around 11 or so. I quickly moved to the couch because I had felt something I my stomach and thought maybe Grace was on her way. From 12-2:30 my contractions got pretty close together and painful. I finally woke Nate up around 2:30 not wanting to go through the process any more by myself . From 2:30-6:00 it was the long painful labor at home. We both ate some cereal and took showers. We packed up the car and because I was in so much pain I thought I was much further along than I ended up being.
It's funny cause a year later I'm still on the couch but this time I am listening for my sweet baby hoping I can care for her any way possible.
A year goes by too fast. A year ago all I wanted was to meet my sweet baby girl.

Disney World

We've been back for over a month and I keep meaning to get my thoughts down about our trip. It is still fresh is my mind and the memories bring a smile to my face everyday.
Ten days is a long time to be at WDW and it would be impossible to write about everything. Yet there are few high points I hope I never forget! We had three scheduled days at Epcot, two at Magic Kingdom, one each of Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom and two down days. We started out with our first two days at Epcot. I love walking around all the different countries and seeing the sights. There is something neat in every corner. Epcot is a definitely a place that needs exploring. The only part about our trip I was bummed about was that we missed our third day there because Grace ended up getting sick. But there is always next time!
Animal Kingdom was a short day for us. The park was pretty crowded and as much as there are lots of neat animals to see it didn't take long to do everything we wanted. I especially enjoyed the Safari ride and our character breakfast at the Tusker House.
Hollywood Studios has grown on me over the years. There are a lot of fun rides including Tower of Terror and rockin roller coaster. We only spent one day at HS but we could have done two. There is a lot to experience there. Hopefully when Grace is older we can do more as a lot of their attractions aren't baby friendly. That is fine though, there is a lot to see just walking around. We attended Fantasmic for the first time and it was very impressive. The crowd was pretty intense but the show was worth it. Disney definitely knows how to put on a show! The music, fireworks and effects were amazing. I especially loved the part that they incorporated Fantasia and sorcerer Mickey- he's my favorite!
During our down days we went over to downtown Disney and spent some time at the hotel. Downtown Disney is fun with tons of specialty shops. I'd like to look around there some more next time. Nate and I got to have dinner just the two of us at House of Blues and then stick around for a few drinks afterward. It was fun to be able to go off by ourselves for a bit.
Grace really enjoyed the pool and we had fun taking her swimming! There are so many things to do at the resort even just walking around taking in all the beautiful scenery. Port Orleans Riverside is a great place to stay.
All in all our trip was fantastic. I'm saving our Magic Kingdom experience for its own post as it deserves.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

Time has flown this year! It seems like it was only yesterday it was this time last year and we were anticipating the arrival of our little Grace. Now she's nine months old and counting!
Christmas was a blast. Of course she didn't understand any of it but it was still magical. While Opening presents she started to eat the wrapping paper! Hahahaha. She was a wiggle worm at church Christmas Eve but that was to be expected. It was a beautiful service that I enjoyed immensely. The Christmas season was truly amazing for a baby's first.
She is crawling all over the place, always wanting to be on the move. We have all these fabulous new toys from Christmas and all she wants to do is explore. I hope she never loses that desire. And what a happy girl we have. She is always smiling for us or laughing as she entertains. It has been a rough couple of months leading up to now. She would wake up multiple times a night crying or just wanting to be awake. In the last couple of weeks she is doing so much better. It seems if she gets one really good nap a day she sleeps so much better at night. I feel like we can get a grip on life now that she is sleeping better, most of the time.
Working has been tough even though its only part time. Juggling mom, wife, friend and employee is no small feat. But we are adjusting and I'm sure it'll get easier as time goes on.
2012 was a trying year. Even with the birth of Grace, we have faced many trials and heart ache. I am looking forward to 2013 with new beginnings and some sunnier days ahead. Despite the tough times I love my family and the people who are close to us. It reminds me to be grateful for the little things in life because you never know what tomorrow brings.
I feel blessed beyond belief to have a wonderful husband and beautiful daughter. Without them my life is not complete. I am looking forward to this new year and all the exciting adventures that await us.
Grace has grown so much already I have to wonder how long before she walks! Right now she has three bottom teeth and I can only imagine she must be working on another (more drool than one person should produce). She is becoming so animated and likes to say dada :) I keep trying to get her to say mama, but I'm sure she's reserving it for a special occasion! It's hard to believe in less than three months she will have her first birthday.
2013 is looking pretty amazing so far ⭐