It's Officially Christmas at Our House!

I know it's early for some people, but I was thrilled when my husband woke up this morning and suggested that we start our holiday baking!! I LOVE the Christmas season! It's about sooo much more than giving gifts! I wish the joyfulness and generosity of the season would last all year.
We had a lot of fun, Ry and Daddy made mint chocolate chip cookies while L and I made mint brownies. We were Christmas shopping last night and bought some Christmas tree and snowman shaped muffin pans at Target, my favorite store. So we tried them out today, I'll upload some pictures when we've managed to remove our goodies from the pan. For now, they are cooling and the little ones are napping.
I'm really excited about Christmas this year -- there is always something exciting about watching little ones' excitement about Christmas and we have two little ones to enjoy it! But also, this year, we are doing a much simpler, homemade Christmas! Back in September, my in-laws suggested that we all do homemade gifts. (This is so unlike them, they are big spenders at Christmas time and really enjoy blessing others!) My husband and I were both really excited about doing homemade gifts! we decided to extend the homemade gifts to my family and his staff members. We immediately compiled a list of who we wanted to give gifts to and what they might enjoy. Our list of ideas includes: "Baker, Bakers" (aprons), tote bags, scarves, bracelets, necklaces, frames, scrapbooks, movie baskets, recipes and seasoning sets, hot chocolate baskets, survival mugs, cookies, and jerky. I'm feeling pretty good, I've already started several gifts and all the aprons are almost completed! I just need to sew on the straps!

Some Days I Wonder What it Will be Like to...

Go grocery shopping without haven't to telling Ry to leave his sister alone, without a toddler throwing a fit (wow, I still have at least 4 more years of toddler hood), or feeling like I'm falling apart.
To go to the bathroom all by myself...
To clean my house without settling disputes and comforting a baby.
To vacuum and possibly even edge my carpet without holding a one year old.
To run errands without unstrapping and restrapping two car seats at every stop. I can't imagine how much quicker everything will be! I see myself running all my errands, do some shopping and even enjoying some hot spiced chai!
Then I realize that day will come - and all too soon! Because one day, my children will all go off to school. My house will be quiet and lonely. I will be able to do things without interruptions but without calls for Momma, kisses, and little breaks with my precious children. The thought that one day, we won't spend nearly every minute together brings me tears, so I will gladly accept all the challenges that come with today! I love my children and am so blessed by them!

The Dinner Dilema

I'm completely out of ideas. I feel like I spend way too much time in the kitchen and yet am never really happy with the resulting dinner. I've been asking my husband what he wants, but his usual response is "whatever you make." Although, he will eat anything without complaining, he is actually pickier than he realizes. He doesn't like most things that I like, for instance spaghetti, grilled cheese and tomato soup, salads, or almost anything Italian. He also doesn't like soup or casseroles. So much for all those emails I get about quick and easy dinners!
He has recently started the Atkins plans which really limits my options, I can no longer make tacos (his favorite) or stir fry with rice (another favorite). I got to point where it felt like I was making the same dinner every night. So around 4:30 I would start wondering what was for dinner. I seemed to spend the next half hour searching the internet for that recipe I use last week or one that uses ingredients I have on hand.
I've tried in the past to make a dinner menu, but so far, it hasn't worked. Once I made a monthly menu and even did the bulk of my shopping in one trip, making smaller trips to get fresh produce and milk. But our lives got chaotic and I threw a ton of food away. I've made weekly menus with a similar outcome. But I'm ready to try again. I'm tired of feeling like I'm spending too much time in the kitchen and not enough time with my family. I love to bake! It's relaxing, fun, and enjoyable. The same is not true about making dinner, especially not when I have two hunger toddlers in tow.
I knew I would need my husbnad's help so I caught my husband while he was preparing to smoke some salmon. I sat next to him and asked him what meals he wanted, making suggestions, and asking how often he wanted each meal. I also asked what sides he wanted served with each main course, although I had to do most of that part myself.
My plan is to gather all the recipes we use often, whether from cookbooks or online and then write them 3x5 cards and include what to serve with each main dish. At the beginning of the week, I'll make a meal plan based on the list of dinners we came up and then make a grocery list. My goal is to have dinner ready each night at 5:00, which will hopefully reduce the crankiness from the little ones. I'm hoping that with this plan, I'll be able to do some dinner prep the night before or throughout the day. We'll see! I also made a rough lunch plan idea, hopefully this will help clean out the pantry and freezer!
Oh and by the way, my husband is doing awesome on Atkins! In one month, he has lost 30 pounds!!!

Embracing My Uniqueness

I think in order to fully embrace my uniqueness, I need to know what is unique about me. That's a hard one, I think I am really ordinary but boring. Yet I feel so different from others, I have never met anyone just like me and often feel a little bit like an outsider in groups. When I do see something different about myself, I often see it as something negative. I'm going to start by making a list, I'm sure that at least someone will fit in each category if not several, but I'm not if anyone else will fall under each category.

I married really young.

I'm fairly petite, okay I am just now two pregnancies later fitting adult clothes!

I know we make enough money (I didn't say I was content with it, I often wish we made more, but we have enough to pay our bills each month.)

My relationship with Christ, especially as a teenager.

I love being a mom! I love it! I have a 2 year old son and have worked with teenagers for 9 years, so I understand first hand how challenging and hard parenting can be. I have to do a lot of it by myself because my husband often puts in really long weeks. He is an amazing father! Our children are him and he adores them! He seeks opportunities to spend time with them, even if it's playing for only a few minutes or watching cartoons on a Saturday morning. He is really great at taking our son and doing "guy stuff" and just adoring our little girl and telling her how beautiful she is! I am so grateful for the man he is and the father he is! I'm grateful for the example he is to our children. Our son wants to be just like him and is so much like him, I'm so thankful that he is a man I can be proud of and proud of our son following in his footsteps.
Anyways, I love being a mom despite the challenges, I tell my friends that being a Momma is what brings me before the Throne on a daily basis. It's what reminds me of my need for grace, my own short comings, and my inability to do this on my own.
My son will be 3 really soon -- too soon! Where did the time go? It feels like I just brought him home from the hospital. Now he is almost 3 and we are about to welcome baby #3! He is only "all mine" for a couple more very short years and then he will go off to school. I really desire to make the most of our time together!

I love to bake, especially cookies! I'm kind of known as the cookie lady around here.

I am closer with my mother-in-law than my own mother.

Really for my short life (comparatively speaking) I think I have had a lot of life experiences -- good and bad. I've written my own newsletter, coordinated concerts, met famous people, been on stage in front of 23,000 people, been disowned by my parents and rejected by my family, I've also seen those relationships restored, I've felt like a complete failure, and I've grown so much, I've come to accept myself and the many shortcomings (failures) I see in myself, our marriage has been amazing and really rocky in the past, we've had too much money and no where near enough, I've been alone and surrounded by loved ones, I've seen friends die and watched other friends loose children.

I don't mind cleaning. I use to clean for a surgery tech. Both her husband and daughter told me no one could clean to her standards (she was after all, a former house cleaner herself). I take pride in that she only pointed out one spot I missed -ever!

I am an organizer. I always have been, when I was a little girl, I seriously use to organize my socks!

I like both math and English. I really, really enjoy math especially algebra and would take class just for fun if I had time.

I am a perfectionist to a fault. I think it is the biggest obstacle in my life.

I am kind of old-fashion.

I don't like coffee at all! I enjoy really mild tea, hot chai and hot chocolate.

A perfect date in my opinion is a trip to a book store with a coffee shop and then maybe some games.

I am really competitive.

I love being home with my children. I wasn't a homebody before my daughter came along. I don't know if it was the challenge of getting two little ones ready and out the door or if it was that she was colicky.

I married the cool guy. We are complete opposites. I don't know if I should write being his opposite up as good or bad. He is the cool guy everywhere we have ever gone! People love him and remember him. He is funny and everyone is comfortable around him. He knows a little about everything and always has something insightful or encouraging to say. And I am his opposite, meaning none of that is true about me. I always wonder if I was cool enough to marry the cool guy or uncool enough to not be a competitive threat to his coolness.

I love chocolate, I don't think my life could on without it!

My choice drink is water.

Random fact, since I was old enough to legally consume alcohol, I've either been pregnant or nursing.

Where is the line between who I am and what makes me unique?