Poof! Its Over.

My dad is notorious for saying after every Christmas, 'Poof. Its over.' He didn't get that chance this year; we said it first.

It seems that Christmas went as fast as it came but we were able to savor the moment and celebrate with friends and family.

We started our Christmas week with a small gathering with my bookclub girls. I was the host this month so the girls came to my house for dinner, gift exchange and a nice relaxing evening of catching up. We had a wonderful time and it put us all in the Christmas mood.

Thursday I had to work a bit so Cecilia got some lovin' from Momoi, Pap, Uncle Mayo and Aunt Leslie. We also had a doctor's appointment for her 9 month check up that afternoon and after one chest x-ray, one pricked finger and 2 hours of her and I both crying, we came home to make Santa some cookies.

Except I didn't have enough butter for cookies and the dishes I was making for Christmas morning so we got all dressed up nothing. Well not nothing, Cecilia loves playing with the spatulas.

Friday was a much better day for us. We went to my parent's to have Christmas and dinner with them and my two grandmothers.

Cecilia by far had the most gifts and was spoiled rotten!

After about what felt like an hour of opening gifts, there was a knock at the door. To our surprise, Santa's elves made a pit stop at my parent's house to drop off a new pair of jammies for Cecilia to wear Christmas Eve!

You can tell she was super excited!

At the end of the night, we headed home on the SNOW COVERED roads! We had our first white Christmas in I don't know how long making her first Christmas perfect!

We set out the cookies and milk for Santa...

and headed off to bed.

Christmas morning, my family came over for breakfast and to watch Cecilia open all her gifts but not before Pap could get a photo shoot in.

Cecilia must have been a good little girl the past 9 months because she was showered with lots of toys and clothes!

Clearly even we were excited about her toys!

My house was trashed but it was all worth it. She didn't have a clue as to what was going on but it was fun to watch her eat tissue paper and pat the boxes.


That night we headed to my Nanny's for dinner and gifts with them.

We had a little wardrobe change in the middle of gifts to show off C's new Christmas tutu.

Thanks again Aunt Leslie! Too cute for words!

Our last Christmas for my family was Monday at my Granny's. Cecilia walked away with some new books which she of course LOVED! The kid eats up some books and not just literally. She loves to be read to. And a new little, well not so little, bucket decorated with colorful dots and her name. So cute and ready for our next party!

We are worn out and holding our eyelids open with toothpicks but it was wonderful and unforgettable!

Peace out!

9 Months

What a wild and crazy month! You have blossomed so much and done so much that I hope I get it all documented!

I'm not sure of your stats but we will know those when we go to the doctor. What I do know is you are in 12 month clothes and sleepers, size 3 diaper and size 2 shoe. You still are eating a vegetable and fruit at night and oatmeal in the morning. We have started letting you have small tastes of regular food like biscuits, mashed potatoes and ice cream MAY have made it in your mouth. We of course don't go over board, just a tiny taste.

You have learned to move a bit. You will get on all fours and crawl backward and move from side to side but you have no idea how to go forward. If there is something in front of you that you want, you will lay on your belly and stretch as far as you can. If that something is out of that reach, you give up and move on to something a tad closer.

You are trying to pull up and can stand like a champ.

Everyone keeps saying you about to walk but who knows. You always do things on your time not ours.

You are lovin' the holiday season and all the decorations. The plus about you not crawling is my tree can stay intact. You try to get close but have not succeed yet. If I have a lapse in judgement and put you next to the tree you grab the branches and let go making the ornaments fly off. This does not happen very often because when you are mobile I don't want that to be a habit!

You have found a real interest in books lately. Not only do you like to shove them in your mouth but you do like to be read to. You know exactly where the books are at home and at Momoi and Pap's. If we sit in the chair next to the books you are leaning over trying to grab one. You love the pictures and bright colors.

You and Colt have found common ground. He now understands that you are another person that will play ball with him and he loves it! You love grabbing the ball and keeping it away from him. You giggle and squeal when he starts nudging it in your hands and trying to take it back. I'm not sure why you love it but you do.

You have extended you vocabulary this month. You have added Mama (thank you very much! it was about time!) and uh-oh. Daddy is still your favorite word to say and when I ask you to say Mama you either say Daddy or stick your tongue out at me. That's just your way of showing me how much you care!

On the health front we haven't had to go to the doctor in about 7 weeks (high five!) but I will not get too cocky because you developed your usual congestion late last week and who knows where that will lead. We had a rough morning so we called for backup (Nanny) to keep you today. You love staying over there with her and she loves having you there. I'm not sure which one of you giggles the most during the day! She said you did great all day and she had no problems. You left those for me.

I'm looking forward to our week ahead with the various Christmas things we have going on. I'm praying you get better so we can have a sick free 1st Christmas.

Gee, you are growing so fast! Hard to believe we will be celebrating your 1st birthday in 3 short months! Daddy and I love you!

Dr. Mayo

This weekend Brent, Mom, Cecilia and I headed down to Atlanta to celebrate my brother completing his doctorate.

(Cecilia sporting her "That's Dr. Mayo to you" dress)

It has been a long road and he has put in many hours but he stuck with it and now he is officially Dr. Mayo! I am so unbelievable proud of him!

Cecilia did fabulous all weekend considering all the running here, there, and yonder we did.

Not only did we want to celebrate Mayo's HUGE accomplishment but we also wanted to check out the place where he and Leslie will get married. As soon as we walked in the door we were greeted with this life size REAL gingerbread house!

This thing is nuts! All edible, handmade gingerbread house complete with a gingerbread dog house!

It was the cutest thing I have seen and look at the inside...

I'm thinking I might have to do this next Christmas at our house! :)

The whole hotel was decked out for Christmas and along the way we found Santa's chair.

Unfortunately, we found no Santa but that didn't stop us for posing for a picture.

And no trip to Atlanta is complete without a little shopping!

The mall was packed but we all made it and I decided early on that whatever made Cecilia happy she could have. So the shoe pictured in her hand stayed in her hand the entire time and sometimes ended up in her mouth. There was no point in fighting it. She was a jolly little thing and so was her mama for being able to shop in peace!

On our last night, we went over to Leslie's parent's house to have a meet and greet and dinner. To our surprise, Cecilia was showered with some pretty wonderful gifts from Leslie's parents and Leslie also got her the most adorable Christmas tutu that we will definitely be modeling this week!

She loved all the gifts but the thing that got her attention the most of course was the decorative box Leslie had put her gift in. She treated it as a drum and played that thing for 20 minutes!

I'm positive the toys Santa is bring will get triumphed over the tissue, boxes and ribbon at Christmas!

Even though Brent and I are exhausted, we had a great time and we are glad we got to spend one last weekend in Atlanta before the wedding and before they move.

Snow? No thank you!

Since this was Cecilia's first real snow, we decided she should "play" in it. Brent got some clean snow off the deck and put it on her tray. I grazed her hand over the pile and this was her reaction...

Oddly enough, this was the same face I made yesterday when I saw the snow covered roads.

Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

We woke up to snow this morning.

I would have really enjoyed the beautiful sight only I had to be in Franklin early this morning and the weather changed those plans. I got no more than a half mile down the road and turned around. It was a little slick and I didn't want to risk it since I had precious cargo with me. I was really disappointed but I couldn't help the weather. And of course they cleared the roads a little too late.

Even though our day hasn't turned out like we had planned, we have made the best of it. We are in our comfy clothes playing and watching it snow. I have even managed to wrap a few gifts with my little helper.

I see today being the same as the rest of the weekend, low-key and lazy. I did do some Christmas shopping last night after Cecilia went to bed and since it was late I didn't have to fight too many crowds. Brent said I didn't get much accomplished (he thought I went to get done) but I checked off all on my "to do list." I've got more gifts done this year than I have any other year so I feel really good about myself. I have never had gifts under my tree this early! Kind of looks nice!

Oh and to kick off our low-key, lazy weekend, we had another play date with the Konow's. I took a few pictures but the girls were in constant motion so it was hard to get one that wasn't blurry! We spent a lot of the evening saying 'that's not yours', 'no,no' 'you have a paci you don't need hers.' They each wanted what the other had and Cecilia kept trying to pull Sydney's bow off! I think they will both definitely keep us busy in the coming years!

Christmas 4 Christ

Every year, the church I grew up in hosts a program called Christmas 4 Christ. It's where we take kids in the community who are in need shopping at Wal-Mart. They raise money all year long so that we can provide Christmas to those kids who may not otherwise have one.

In the 20 years I have been doing this, I have only missed 3. It's what Christmas is all about.

This was our little girl for the day. Her name is Amy and she's 9. She is the oldest of 3 to a single mother who tries hard to provide for her children. She is well mannered, well behaved, and fun to shop with even after the confusion of what size she wore.

Today she walked away with a new pair of tennis shoes, some tops and art supplies (she is a lover of arts and crafts. Clearly we hit it off!).

She was so excited over her new things and couldn't wait to be able to go to school to show her friends.

These days are always emotional for me. I am reminded of my selfishness and things I take for granted. I heard two girls today say their moms had just told them they wouldn't be able to have Christmas. As a mother I couldn't imagine having to tell my child that but the girls acted as if it was normal. My heart broke. I was so glad they got to come today because today was their Christmas.

I always learn a lot when I shop with a child. They tell you all kinds of things. Some are funny and some are things you wished you never had to hear. They never seemed phased by what they're saying because its normal for them. Its their everyday life.

Today was especially heavy for Brent and I. After it was all over and the kids were sent home with their new clothes, bibles and food baskets, we were told about a family that would leave us sick for the rest of the afternoon.

They were a family of 4; kids ages 5 and 5 months. The mother's mother had always taken care of them and when she passed a while back it left them with no direction. The parents are in the early 30's and have idea how to manage the simple things. I'm positive the mother was only trying to take care of her daughter and her younger family but it left them not knowing how to care for themselves or their children.

They apparently live in a converted garage with the bare minimums. They wash their clothes in a bucket because their washing machine leaks and they have no money to fix it. Their only heat source are the kerosene heaters someone from the church bought them. The dad works when he can but was told by a doctor that with his spine condition if he does too much can end up paralyzed. They have some government assistance but not enough to cover certain things.

I have thought about them all day. You would think they would be standing there with their hands held out but that wasn't the case. They were very quiet, nice, and appreciated all the church gave.

Brent and I have talked several times today about this couple. Our hearts go out to them and we feel so stupid for complaining about our minor problems.

I'm not sure what God is doing to me this weekend but he has my number and dialing it often.

Unexpected Gift

Tonight I was all prepared to chat about my Christmas decorations and how exciting it was to go Christmas shopping for Cecilia.

But things changed.

Tonight we went to Wal-Mart for our weekly groceries. Most of the time our trips are uneventful (if you count navigating around people in the middle of the aisles, getting on all fours to grab the last 12 pack of cokes, or being elbow deep in lettuce to find a decent looking one uneventful) but tonight was different.

I was standing at the meat counter trying to find what meat I needed for the week when Brent walked up with Cecilia. He had a semi shocked look on his face.

"Some lady just gave Cecilia a dollar."

I stared back at him.

"She just walked up and put a dollar in her coat pocket. Said her and her husband don't have kids and they like to spoil other people's kids. They already handed one little girl a dollar and she said Cecilia was her pick. The thing is...she didn't look like she had much herself."

"Wow! That was really sweet."

"Yeah I thought so too."

As we were heading to the checkout, Brent pointed the lady out to me. He was right. She didn't look like she had much. We stopped to thank her again and chatted for a moment. She was really nice and very friendly.

I walked away with mixed emotions. The mother in me was grateful someone was kind to my child. The adult in me questioned myself on why I have never done anything that simple. It was just a dollar. To me a dollar isn't a big deal but to some, especially a child, a dollar is a very big deal.

It was such a simple gesture and yet I can't stop thinking about it. She showed kindness to a complete stranger and it made her day just as much as it did ours.

Brent and I both looked at each other as we walked away thinking we need to be more like that lady and less selfish like we have been lately. We need to work on being the Christians we claim to be and show God's love just a little more.

Do you all have any stories of complete stranger showing kindness to you or you showing kindness to someone you've never meet?