Cookie Exchange

Laura and Lola Caroline

Laura, Ellen, Kristen, and Amy

Lilly and Lola - only 4 months apart in age - having fun in the play room!

Such a sweet little girl!

As I mentioned in my previous blog, I hosted my dinner club for a little Christmas cookie exchange, and believe it or not, these are all the pictures we took!  By "we," I, of course, mean Jeremy.  Only half the girls were able to make it because of an incoming bought of snow (another 2-4 inches!) but we had a great time catching up.  The cookies were good and the waissal tasty.  Lola, Laura's daughter, and Olivia had fun making the gingerbread house and Lola and Lilly especially enjoyed playing together in the playroom.  It is hard to believe those girls are so close in age - Lola is an August baby and Lilly a December baby.  They are so cute together!  Hopefully our girls will grow up to be good friends!

Christmas Treats

Here we go a'waissaling...

Yum!

So proud of her homemade Chex Mix!

Christmas isn't complete without our annual Gingerbread house...

I am 3 years old!

In addition to our raspberry gingerbread trifle, Olivia and I have been busy baking other goodies for Christmas.  I hosted my dinner club for a cookie exchange and Olivia and I decided to get into the spirit by trying to make waissal.  I think it turned out well - it looked beautiful and it tasted great!  I am actually making it again Christmas Eve because I liked it so well!  We also made a HUGE batch of homemade Chex Mix, which Olivia LOVED!  The recipe is so easy and it is perfect for little hands to help since it is primarily pouring various items in a bowl and mixing.  We gave away a large batch to our neighbors and Olivia was so very proud.  Finally, Christmas would not be complete without our annual gingerbread house.  I started this tradition when Olivia was about 18 months old - and she cannot wait to do it every year.  I spent about 2 weeks listening to her ask when we were going to make our "gingerbread."  She actually was very confused about the gingerbread trifle that we made and thought we were going to make our gingerbread house, so I had to endure a lot of pouting when she realized her mistake.  I can't wait until Lilly is old enough to join in the fun - I am going to buy each of them a gingerbread house kit and create a small village - those kits are worth the $9 that I pay for them - every penny!

Christmas Crafting

Our Christmas mitten magnets courtesy of Ashley and Olivia!

Olivia's Christmas tree she received from Uncle Bob and Aunt Windy her first Christmas...

The owl ornament made by Olivia...

Olivia's picture frames for me, Daddy, and herself (not one for Lilly yet - 

still working on this sharing thing...)

I never thought I would say this, but Olivia has been pretty crafty this Christmas!  I have absolutely no artistic ability, so you know this isn't my doing, but Ashley, Olivia and Lilly's nanny, is very talented when it comes to crafting and she has really encouraged Olivia to be the same.  For most of the month she, Olivia and Lilly (who tags along at this point since she really can't do anything yet) have made crafts on a daily basis.  This is just a sampling of the things that Olivia and Ashley have made - there is so much more, but I don't have pictures of them all!  I know Olivia has really enjoyed making all these items - she is always asking me if we can "make something" when Ashley isn't around (to which I turn to her with a blank look and say, "what?").  Since I am not a crafty person, she usually just gives me a look of consternation and a sigh, then pulls out her coloring book and starts coloring.  It has been fun for me to see her artistic ability shine through and I LOVE that Ashley takes the time to teach her to make these things!

Gingerbread Raspberry Trifle

I like to cook and I am determined I am going to cook more.  Christmas is a perfect time to hone my baking skills, so I found this recipe for a raspberry gingerbread trifle and had to try it out.  Everything was made from scratch, so it took Olivia and I several days to make it (the gingerbread has to cool, the custard sit, etc.), but we are really proud of the end result.  Anyone want to try it?

Stirring the homemade custard... (just like my Daddy and I used to do!)

Adding the homemade whip cream...

Garnishing with raspberries...

The final product!

So I am really proud of this - Liv and I worked really hard and it turned out so well!

Yum!

A Letter to Santa

Liv refused to sit in Santa's lap this year.  We tried to get in line twice at the mall and the second we stepped into the line, she immediately hit me with a death grip around the neck and started screaming.  Santa wasn't even in sight.  She really wanted to see him, but absolutely could not get past her fear.  We are actually having a lot of problems right now with fear - Liv's imagination has really kicked in and she is having a lot of nightmares about cartoons that she has watched.  So anyway, rather than fight it, I gave up sitting in Santa's lap.  I figured Lilly would hate it as well since she has stranger anxiety, so we decided to skip it all together this year.

But Liv was very concerned that if she didn't get to talk to Santa that he wouldn't know what to bring her.  So I decided we would follow a tradition that we enjoyed as kids growing up - we would write Santa a letter.  Now when I was a kid, we wrote Santa a letter and Dad would burn it - the ashes would then float up to the North Pole and the letter would magically re-attach for Santa to read it.  So I suggested this to Liv and she was SO excited.  Someone was kind enough to give us special stationery last year for letters to Santa so we let Liv sit down and write a letter (caveat - the only word Liv can write is her name - so it was actually just scribbles, but I figured since Santa is magic, he could decipher a 3-year-old's handwriting).  She was so funny - not only did she ask for a bicycle, helmet, and Pillow Pet for herself, but she also wanted to write Santa about gifts for everyone else.  I think Grammie and Grandpa somehow ended up with baby dolls and toy soldiers, amongst the many other presents that everyone "needed."  It was cute that she thought of others - she definitely didn't want anyone to be left out.

I, of course, could not bring myself to burn the letter yet.  I think I will just pass the info on to Santa and keep the letter - I tend to hoard personal items for the girls baby books and keepsake box!

Deep contemplation about what we want for Christmas...

So excited to be writing Santa...

Lilly was part of the fun too...

She was really excited that Liv asked for some presents for her too!

My Girls' First Birthdays

I love these pictures.  The first is obviously Jeremy trying to put Lilly's birthday hat on (and as you can tell from the previous pictures, he was not successful in convincing her to wear it!).  The second is a picture of me trying to put the same hat on Olivia at her first birthday party.  We didn't mean to take such a similar picture at Lilly's first birthday party - it just happened.  But I love how they mirror each other!  

Happy First Birthday Lilly!

After playing in the snow all morning, we celebrated Lilly's first birthday!  I cannot believe my baby girl is already one year old - it makes me so sad.  The year has flown by.  I regret that I can remember little of the first half of the year as those first months were very traumatic for us, but the past year, while difficult, has been a blessing for us as well.  I cannot imagine our life without Lilly - her smiles, laughs, and hugs.  She is such a beautiful child and is one of the happiest babies that I know.  She is also incredibly easy-going.  I guess she has to be with a sister as demanding as Olivia :)  Another word that would describe Lilly is determined - if she wants something, she will literally climb over you to get to it - nothing stands in her way.  I like that about her personality - while it can be frustrating (and I am sure will be VERY frustrating when she is a teenager), it is an important trait to have and a trait that I think will serve her well.

We have been lucky that despite her diagnosis, Lilly has been healthy this first year.  I took her in for her well-child visit and she weighs 18 lbs. and 2 ounces, which puts her in the 8th percentile in weight.  Lilly is 29 inches long, which puts her in the 30-40th percentile in length.  She is definitely not a bruiser, but she is growing and for that I am thankful.  Lilly can crawl, "cruise" across furniture, and stand on her own.  She is trying to take her first steps, but hasn't decided it is worth it since she can get anywhere she wants in a flash by crawling.  She says "mama" and "dada" and jabbers up a storm, but I can understand very little of Lilly's small talk at this point.  I have a feeling that will change soon and watch out - I am afraid once she starts talking she will never shut up!  She loves to play peek-a-boo and clap her hands (although she would rather clap yours!).  She is starting to point at what she wants and I am trying to teach her some sign language, although she looks at me like I am crazy :)

Lilly is also very sociable.  Unlike Liv, who hated the groups at her birthday parties (and still does), Lilly loved the excitement.  She was a joy to watch at her birthday party and as far as I am concerned, it was perfect!  Enjoy the pictures!