Smore Christmas fun!

I'm compiling ideas for an activity advent calendar for next year but for this year we are just sprinkling activities in here and there to celebrate the season.  Saturday night Ava enjoyed making her first smore! She did not like the messy marshmallow part but she would eat some of the melted chocolate on the grahams. 

I was so impressed with Grahams that came in fresh stacks, the perfect amount in each little pack for a smore snack, that way the rest of the box doesn't go stale if you take a long time to eat the box. I also found some Stacker Marsh Mallows, the are flatter and perfect for smore making!

While we are on the subject of Marshmallows,  I am loving this flavor of bath and body works candles this holiday season, Marshmallow Fireside, it smells so good! I better slow down in burning it or it won't last me till Christmas at this rate.

a sweet tradition!

We had our second annual making of homemade cinnamon rolls from scratch, pioneer women style on Friday. It is a sweet holiday tradition we enjoyed with sweet friends. These freeze great so we ate on one batch all weekend and I'm saving my other batch when I have family visiting just before Christmas.

 It was a very empowering day, cooking something from scratch with my own hands and doing a craft that turned out really great, I won't post the craft on here just yet because some of you that read this will get one for Christmas. I am about 60/40 on crafting, 60% of the time they don't turn out like the grand plan I have in my head but I keep going back for the 40% of the time when I am pleased with the results (same on cooking new recipes too!). It was a 40% kinda day Friday.

The girls in their matching winter Jammies:  We couldn't get a good picture of them to save our life, they would be doing something totally cute, like sharing a chair together or giving each other a hug and as soon as one of us grabbed a camera one of them would be done with that. Ava helped a little with stirring this year but we are thinking next year will be lots of fun when they can be more involved in "helping".

Trying to build our holiday traditions around experiences more than material things. So its fun to think of ways to do this.

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

We put up most of our Christmas decorations this week. Making it all work in a new house will take some re-configuring but it sure makes it feel more like our home. Ava's best buddy Izzy has her own tree in her room so we thought that was a fun idea and Ava and I went Monday and picked out a small tree for her room. She loved both our trees and when I turned on the lights she says "ooo pretty". Each morning she sees the trees and says "Tree, don't touch." She's doing well for the most part with just looking. We are excited to start our Christmas celebrations. Tomorrow we make home made cinnamon rolls to freeze and eat this month. I love this time of year! 

Whooo had a great Thanksgiving?

 

*Daicia took this sweet pic of Ava in her Owl hat (Thanks again Shannon!)*

We did!

 Seriously it was great. I loved getting to sleep in each and everyday! It is so enjoyable to just slow down and spend time with those you love. 

 Our friends from college stopped by on their way home from their Thanksgiving to spend the weekend with all of us. Ava had fun playing with their little girl, Quinn. (In the pic above I asked them to make a crazy face and that's what they came up with.) Ava enjoyed being around a real baby, she mostly enjoyed Beck's company but just a few times became upset when she wanted us to hold her instead. (see pic below Daicia took, she was sulking around when Aunt Amy was holding Beck Saturday night.) 

I feel blessed our families live so close we got to see each side throughout the weekend. I even ate two dinner's one night because the food was just too good at both houses. Let the count down to Christmas begin!

19 months

Ava turned 19 months yesterday. This month I feel like her development has exploded, every time I turn around she's doing something new and often hilarious. Here's the run down of milestones this month...

• One of her new favs is opening and closing doors, the handles on the interior doors of the new house are all pull down levers so she can open and close them now. luckily the outdoor ones are still turn nob and she can't do those just yet, but it doesn't stop her from trying when daddy is outside and she wants to get to him.

• She weighs 18 lbs now, her favorite foods include peanut butter toast for breakfast, yogurt and spaghetti.

• My favorite new thing she does is tell us its time to "pray". She bows her head and puts her hands together and then will whisper some things that I can't understand and then say "amen". 
• We've started sporting a pony tail these days with her hair getting long enough to keep it for a little while.
• She still takes two naps a day, one around 9:30 and one around 2:30, she had a bit of an adjustment with the new house but is back to going down easy and sleeping her normal hours again. 
• She throw some fits mostly when she's tired but mostly those are just here and there and usually mostly easily managed.

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• She still loves to take care of her babies, here she is at target giving her baby a paci while we shop. I keep this pint size baby in her diaper bag so we are never anywhere without one. 

• She still does a "crazy face" on command, she opens her eyes wide and smiles huge while gritting her teeth together.
• She can do her first chore with some assistance, I give her fill up Rory's food scoop and she takes it and puts it in her food bowl. She's figured out how to open up Rory's food bin and I have found her several times in the pantry feeding Rory by hand. They are both pretty sneaking about this, so it can take me minute to figure out what's going on.
• She says all sorts of phrases that run all the words together "where'd-it-go" "got-it" "you-okay?" & "Rory Hush".

Something that really gets to me...

I think most would describe me as very laid back, however I do have a few things that REALLY get to me. One of the things on my really gets to me list, especially now raising a daughter myself, is how our culture sexualizes everything, especially young girls. The messages this society starts giving them from an early age is their appearance is of up most importance which is causing an epidemic of low self worth and girl's having no clue who and who's they really are. Being a parent now one of my deepest desires is to nurture her spirit to understand what a whole and wonderful being she is, that she has a divine purpose and plan and she has so much more to offer and be defined by then her appearance. I love a well done documentary, they can be so powerful and so thought provoking. I want to share with everyone this must see documentary 'Miss Representation' as a must see on this topic. I could rave and rave about the importance of this conversation and movement at a time such as this but they conceptualize it far better than I. I will share with you through recent consumption of information on this topic here's some practical idea's I'm trying to attend to:

• Make more comments to girls you know that involve their inner self then comments like aren't you pretty and cute. Try you're so smart, kind, sweet, honest, talented, important...
• Observe the media you voluntarily let into your family's life and home. I until a few months ago watched E news as a guilty pleasure fairly regularly, I have purposely decided not to watch it anymore. This show and others like it promote this continued idea that women are important based on their sex appeal.
• Notice and be connected to successful, strong and confident women. I love that Ava has relationships with all my close friends. I am glad for her to spend time having other role models that will influence her as she grows. 
• Model for her healthy and fit living, but leave it at that, stop fussing over that 10 vanity lbs you want to loose, or that part of your body you don't like (everyone has something), in general stop being critical of your own appearance. (This is the hardest one!)
• Pray for this area specifically.

I'm back!!!

Well I've been on an involuntary tv and internet hiatus since we've been in our new place. But I'm back connected to the world again as we got cable and internet set up today. I haven't found the cord yet to charge the camera so I have no pictures for this post but thought I'd at least say a few words on where we are at right now with this whole moving business. We are on our way to feeling settled but I have to say its taking longer than I thought. I've to really work during this time to be present and not wish I could fast forward to having all the house projects done already. Everyday we make progress in making this house our home and as with everything there's value in embracing the journey rather than just being focused perpetually on the next destination. So more to come soon!