WHAT THE HECK?!?

Poor Alivia.  She is teething but where are those stinking teeth?  I had been putting Oragel on her gums the past few night and it would help but I was only rubbing them on the bottom front part of her gums.  She had a rough night last night and I have tried to get her to nap this morning and I went to use the Oragel again and decided to feel around her mouth to see if those little stinkers finally cut through... NOPE... A BIG one did!  She cut a freaking molar!!!  That explains the tough times :)

Christmas Morning

Trying to get a picture of them on Christmas Eve. What a daunting task it is to get a decent picture of our girls.

fail...

fail.

All ready for bed.

Christmas morning, look at ALL of those presents!

Brooklynn had her priorities in check Christmas morning. At first she ran right past the tree and present and headed right over to the fireplace where she left the plate of cookies and carrots for Santa and his Reindeer, She was soo excited that he came to her house during the night and the food she left out had been eaten.  Isn't that the greatest idea to prove to children that Santa does indeed visit?  I love it :)

We were pretty rushed Christmas day.  It landed on a Sunday so we had to squeeze in family presents and Santa presents really early to make enough time to get out of the house and pick up Grandma Lee and then take her with us to Nana and Grandpa's house to do more presents, breakfast and head off to church together.  It was a little too rushed for me but hey, Christmas is just BUSY :D

Oh, and to explain the absence of Liv.... She is still sleeping.  She doesn't exactly handle late nights that well and we let her sleep while Brooklynn started some gift opening.

This is my HUGE gift from Jason.  It was a new camera :)

Here comes a cranky, sleep-deprived Alivia.

Jason eating some of his stocking goodies

The most decent of pictures I got with my girls that morning.  Yuck!

The girls were so spoiled by their many grandparents, aunties and of course mom, dad and Santa.  I don't think we will need to buy them any toys for a couple years and Liv will probably have to start having half birthdays.

On a side note, and without the focus on material gifts we tried very hard to focus and make a big deal that this is when we celebrate Jesus's birthday.  We talked a lot about the nativity and even went to see it as a family. Brooklynn is catching on that we want to be a family forever and make it back to heaven to be with Heavenly Father and Jesus again some day and the presents at Christmas are only because we celebrate at Christmas and give presents out of love and gratitude.  I love answering her questions about Heavenly Father and Jesus.  It strengthens our faith as she starts to grow her own.

We hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas.

She's 1!

Presents and love came early in the day for our little Alivia because we had a surprise visit from Megan and Lee!  Thanks again for the visit and cute gift :)

Alivia will always have a big helper at her side when it involves opening presents.  Why does Brooklynn always have that same face in pictures?

Cousin buddies.

We evened things up with a new bruise on the opposite cheek.  Poor thing.

We shared her special day with lots of friends and family.  I am so grateful for the people who took time out of their day to celebrate her birthday with us, it really meant a lot to me.

I made a zebra cake. Which is quite easy to do.  If you want to know just tell me, I would be happy to post about it!

I have now have two kids over the age of 1.  I love it.  And while I love new babies... there is a time and place in each person's life to have and enjoy their own.  I REALLY love the age of my girl's right now.  And while it was tough to have them close I am so happy it turned out the way it did because I feel like ( for the first time in a LONG time) I have energy, freedom and a life again.  I guess I am enjoying a much needed break from the lack of sleep, nursing and all that other fun stuff that comes with younger babies.  I was SO HUGE this time last year and if I could choose I think I much rather and prefer to not be 40 weeks prego @ Christmas.  

So happy birthday Alivia!  You have brought so much fun, spunk and love into our lives.  I love your cheeky, feisty and sweet personality.  You are a precious little girl and I don't know what I would do without you.  I hope you know how much you've blessed and enriched our world.  Love you xox!

December Randoms

My cute baby.

Liv checking out my homemade chocolates

I learned how to make chocolates this year, thanks to Gma Bennion.  I also learned that it is really easy if someone has pre-made the fondants (thanks Gma)  and I feel that it is a lot less intimidating than I thought it would be.  I EVENTUALLY learned that home made chocolates need to be given away immediately, otherwise one can risk eating WAY too many!

She's reaching for my chocolates!

Liv got quite the little shiner in December and it took weeks for it to go away.  Brooklynn accidentally squished her cheek in a drawer.

Brooklynn hanging out with two of her favorite buddies :)

Busy months call for simple dinners.  Minnie mouse pancakes are a hit around here.

My littlest helper as of lately.  Please note the old backsplash and counter top because I'll be posting updated kitchen pics soon!

Jason has recruited two newbies to give him 1massages.  Check out that elbow kneading!

What a great team they are :)

This is random...  Liv's fav activity on the old fridge was playing with magnets.  She can't do it on the new fridge because it's stainless and the magnets scratch.  This picture was also taken during another one of Brooklynn's tutu phases.

Bye- Bye magnets!

We were invited to Amanda's work Christmas party but it snowed that morning so she brought Santa's gifts to out place.

And last but not least, The Ginger Bread House!

Not a great picture of me but I think Brooklynn is hilarious and I love how Liv is totally caught up in her big sister as of lately.  They are so fun!

Anyways it goes without saying that December is busy but I love how much fun we have had and we are really enjoying the holiday season in a bigger place.