this character

Truth be told, when I woke up this morning from only 6 hours of interrupted sleep (no he's not sick and no I'm not still nursing him) I had fully intended to be in a fight with Chase all day long.

But then he did this:




and I ask you, how can I resist the charm of this little character?

I watched him:

intently choose a hat of his choice from the dress up bin, put it on by himself all the while letting out little giggles, and then he walks directly over to me and proceeds to play peekaboo.

I'm putty in his hands I tell you, putty.

Yes, we made up. And yes, he promised we'd have a better night tonight.

He told me so with those beautiful eyes of his.

Christmas

I didn't get many pictures of Christmas this year because I was fighting a cold and feeling pretty miserable that morning. Of course now I regret that I didn't just suck it up and snap more shots, but oh well, here are the ones I got. We had a lovely day...as always when you are spending it with family at my folks house. It was fun to have my brothers girlfriend Blythe here with us this year. She's so great!


The way our Christmases work is: Santa delivers stockings to our home, but presents get delivered to Grandma and Grandpas house. We love that they enjoy having us (and the mess/chaos we bring) each year to their home on Christmas day and smother our kids with love so we get a break.





Thanks Uncle Rocky for spending so much time reading Leda her new Princess book (and not pictured: building so many Legos with Spencer), you are so very cool.


And last but not least, here is Spencer so excited to give his gift to Grandpa (a homemade key chain)


and I kid you not, only minutes later...Grandpa is asleep and missed the last half hour of present opening. It cracks us that he can nod off during such an exciting time!

But in his defense, he's an organist and for the last 35 years has played at a midnight service on Christmas Eve for The Church of the Angels in Pasadena...so we get why he's tired, but it's still funny to us all that we always seem to find him dozing off in this exact position (not matter the noise) each and every year.

I hope your Christmas was as exciting and lovely as ours! We missed the family we didn't get to see this year and look forward to Aarons folks coming in for a visit next week. Christmas round 2. We can't wait!

Love it!

I received these two soaps (Vanilla Bean Noel and Twisted Peppermint) as a gift from a friend this Christmas, and can I just say that I am in LOVE with them?



I know, I know, a bit dramatic for foam soaps, but I honestly have found a new soap love.

My kids too.

They actually now want to wash their hands because of how good these soaps smell. So thank you Julie for an awesome gift that make my kids want to be clean, and introducing me to such yumminess.

This week I'm on my way back to Bath and Body Works to stock up on some more for next year. They are 50% off now, and you just can't beat yummy foam soaps for $2.50 now, can you?

Early Christmas present from Chase...

...he's learned how to climb out of his crib.

How thoughtful of him to give us this gift on Christmas Eve morning, huh? I think tomorrow our day will start much earlier than expected.




Not only did he climb out of his crib, but he went downstairs by himself, drug a chair over to the cupboard and proceeded to fill up a plastic cup full to the brim with chocolate chips. Don't be fooled by his cuteness, he is awfully mischievous this one!

Merry Christmas to you too Chase.

And yes, I know some of you have had kids climb out much sooner than 26 months old, But in our family our kids don't climb out until just shy of 3 (Spencer) or never even attempt it (Leda). Ya, I suppose we've had a good long run and I should stop sulking.

Merry Christmas!

In an effort to save some change this year, I cut waaay back on Christmas cards. I only sent out a handful of cards to family and friends (out of state mostly) who may not have known about our family blog.

So you aren't forgotten at all, please know that we love you and wish you a Merry Christmas!

xo

Do you sing in the shower?

As good as our little girl?

Question: Can you tell what Leda's favorite Christmas carol is?

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing


Answer: Little Drummer Boy (if you couldn't tell)

She wanted to stay in the shower this morning a bit longer than usual (getting warm) and when we heard her bust into her favorite carol we knew we had to record this on film.

We had a good giggle!

Three year olds can be mighty cute...when they aren't being naughty ;)

Thank you.

One of the many perks for marrying Aaron 9.5 years ago was the family I was marrying into. They are all great...but as my friend tells me, "Marcy, you hit the mother-in-law jackpot!"

And she's so right.

I am blessed to have an incredible mother-in-law. I just love her.



She flew down this last week to support my efforts (I was on the production team this year) in the Savior of the World musical production put on by our Stake (she saw it five times, helped us back stage) and was a hostess each night at the Reflections of Christ exhibit by Mark Mabry (click on link for more info) that was set up for the community in the foyer of our Stake center:





Whose mother-in-law leaves what she has going on back home and flies to California from Montana for a week to help their daughter-in-law? Yup, MINE! And I love her for it...and for many other reasons too of course, but THANK YOU Shirley for all you are and all you do. I love you!

See you in 2 weeks when you come back for round 2 of playing. We ALL can't wait!





xo

What happens when...

you tell your five year old he can pour himself a second helping of cereal.



And let the record show that my kids were totally unaffected by the mess. They went right back to the task (eating) at hand.



Note to self: (1) Don't be on the phone with your sister-in-law when your kids need a second helping of cereal and (2) Always make sure to dump your cereal in your plastic storage container (with lid) before serving. Always.

Kids. Gotta love 'em!

It's beginning...

to look a lot like Christmas!


I love how warm and cozy my home feels from this view on my family room couch:


I also love that tomorrow the high is supposed to be 62 degrees. It finally feels like Christmas here in California. I get to wear a jacket tomorrow...yahoo!

a love note

Dear Babe,

I'm so sorry that while away on your business trip you got sick with the stomach flu, couldn't make your scheduled flight to come home because you were too sick, spent an extra day in a strange hotel room with only 11 channels of TV to watch, no Tivo, and no one to take care of you. I'm so glad you are feeling better today and are going to give coming home another try. We miss you. No one more than Leda. She's had me sing the song, "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home" to her every night these last three nights during her high-maitenance-tuck-in-bed ritual she always makes us do. Truth be told, it's kinda getting old. I'm ready for you to perform the song (and tuck) for her in person.

Love you,

Marcy