handsful

A Christmas tradition that will NEVER end…making Sugar Cookies for Christmas!  And, these aren’t just any cookies.  My mom received a cookie press as a wedding shower gift 40+ years ago, and I grew up making these with her every single Christmas.  She passed the press down to me years ago, and now the cookie making is my job.  The recipe that came with the press is the one we use and they are SO good.  Here are pics from our cookie making day…

Sprinkles galore…

Finished product…all 150 of them!

As you probably noticed, Lainey was absent from cookie baking…naptime. 

signing “night night”

I’ll include her next year, I promise!! 

Really, mama?!?!!  I can’t wait!

 

We went to the mall tonight, to finish our shopping (and we did) and while there, thought we’d attempt a sitting-on-Santa’s-lap picture with Lainey.  She was fine all the way up the line, talking about how she’d sit on Santa’s lap and practicing her “cheese” smile.  She was fine when we walked up to Santa.  Then, I made the dreaded mistake of putting her on Santa’s lap.  She quickly (and loudly) voiced her opinion on the matter, going stick straight and sliding right down off his lap.  She clung to me, no matter how many lollipops we promised her :)  So, we settled for a picture on mom’s lap BESIDE Santa.  The funny thing is, later on we asked her if she wanted to go sit on Santa’s lap and she signed “please”.  Go figure. 

Earlier in the day, us girls made the pretzle candies that we make each year, and Lainey was gung-ho on helping out. 

She had the job of taking the papers off the candies.  And, surprisingly, she always handed the candies to us rather than plopping them in her mouth (like we expected!)

(she had just had a bath, in case you’re wondering about her wet hair!)

Abbey has her serious candy-making face on.

Of course, we did let her try one…her first Hershey kiss.  A monumental moment in any girl’s life. 

Hugging our little Lainey-size tree on our front porch.

And, last night, we snapped a picture as she had her LAST DOSE of meds!  9 months gone!  Tonight, as we sat eating at the mall, the thought occured to me that I forgot her medicine to mix in with her food.  Then, I remembered we were done!  lol…

It feels good to be done with shopping, but now there is the wrapping to finish, the baking to finish, packing for our trip, etc. etc.  Thankfully, we’ve got lots of hands to help. 

Ten months as our daughter today!  Most of the time, it’s hard to remember when she wasn’t here.  She’s loud, stubborn, goofy as all get-out, smarter than we can believe, and all ours :) 

Her speech is improving and her signs are increasing.  She more easily repeats sounds, mostly vowels, and can approximate a lot of words.  She’s also much more “conversational”, relying on approximated words and a lot of signs.  I’ll try and remember her signs:  all done, light, shoes, socks, more, Lainey, all her sibs, mama, dada, Jack, cat, bear, tree, cereal, eat/food, drink, milk, fork, spoon, potty, go/car, wait, book, swim, swing, night-night, sleep, clean, dirty, doll, baby, hot, cold, loud, ball, thank you, balloon, bath, key…there has to be more, but my mind is spent thinking!

Lainey hits a major milestone tomorrow…her LAST dose of INH therapy meds!  Yippee!!  She began this daily medicine, a 1/2 pill ground into powder and mixed in with yogurt, on March 19th – a full 9 months of meds.  She had to take this as a precaution, because of a positive TB test.  Her chest x-ray was clear, but it’s general practice to take the INH anyway.  She’ll likely test positive for TB all her life, but we have a signed letter from the clinic doctor, explaining this to anyone who might need it in the future, to assure them that she is a-okay. 

The kids and I went Christmas shopping today, and I took a few pics with my new birthday Coolpix :)

Have wallet, will shop…

We were too busy power shopping for pictures, so here we are having lunch at Panera. 

The gals…Abbey shows off a Littlest Pet Shop that she bought with some Christmas money

Having a nice lunch, Lainey Q?

The girls get silly!

 

I’m a Christmas baby…born a week before Christmas eve. :)  We had a normal day with schooling and such, and then all went out to Chili’s for dinner to celebrate my I’ll-never-tell-rd birthday.  Between ordering and our food, I opened my gifts.  The kids gave me a beautiful silver necklace with a heart.  On the back, it says “Mom has our hearts”.  LOVE it!!  Randy surprised me with a new point-and-shoot camera, a Nikon CoolPix!  It’s tiny enough to fit in my purse, which I’ve been missing.  My old one is just about dead, and there are times when it’s difficult to lug around the wonderful, but big, D-300. 

Surrounded by my blessings, after arriving home from dinner.  Not such a good shot of me, but the kids are cute :) 

Today, Abbey told me she wanted to make a birthday cake for me.  I didn’t help at all, other than dividing the batter into two pans and helping to make the frosting.  It’s beautiful!  Right after I’m done typing, guess what I’m having a slice of? 

No doubt, I’m a blessed woman. 

 

the tiniest elf around here :)

It’s fun to watch Lainey as she fits into our existing Christmas traditions.  The decorations that our other children have grown up with are all new to her, and she definitely has shown some preferences.  Above, she’s holding Mary and baby Jesus…from two different nativity sets.  She’s convinced that these two go together, and brings them to me at least once a day.  I love how she looks at them so sweetly, holding the mama with her baby.  She’s really shown an interest in baby dolls lately, which I love.  My other daughters have never cared for them!

A squeeze and a kiss for mama Mary. 

The other Christmas decoration she wants to see each day is our porcelain figure of Santa kneeling beside baby Jesus’ manger.  It’s out of her reach (I’m no dummy), so when I pick her up she points to it.  We talk about Santa and how he’s acknowledging the true meaning of Christmas, Jesus. 

I know she’s only 2, and this Christmas is all new to her.  But, I’m so glad that even she knows…somehow… that all these lights, presents, and the strange tree in the house are nice but it’s really all about the baby in the manger.