Can't get enough of that chub

I love my chubby baby soooo much. If it weren't so cold, I would keep her naked all day long.
She's growing so fast. She is very close to rolling over, she can sleep up to 6 hours at night, but unfortunately she doesn't do it every night. She smiles and giggles a lot although I can't seem to get her to do it for the camera. She also coos herself to sleep when she's taking a nap. It's awfully sweet.

'Twas a Merry Christmas

We had a very lovely Christmas day. We slept in until about 8 o'clock. Which I know isn't really sleeping in, but it was nice. Then we went downstairs to watch Franklin open his presents. He was the only one who had presents under the tree. My present was my fancy stroller and Frank got a pull-up bar and some books. Anyhow, we kept it simple since we are in a recession and all.

After we opened presents we went to brunch at our good friends' house. It was a beautiful spread. I should have taken pictures of the food. Instead I took pictures of my chubby girl.

Later that day we ended up at Mugga's house for dinner and more presents. The food was delicious as it always is during the Holidays. If only there was a way to make it less fattening.

Zoo Lights

I've been wanting to take Franklin to see the lights at the zoo for months. He's been wanting to go to the zoo for months, so we bundled him and Beatrice up for the trip, but forgot about us. It was FREEEEEZZZING!! We should have gone early December when the weather was in the 40's at night instead of the 20's. In spite of the cold, it was fun to see all the lights and even some animals. Mostly just the reptiles in the heated buildings.

There were two highlights, first, I got to use my new, fancy double stroller, second, deep fried s'mores. Talke about DELICIOUS! I have found a new favorite dessert. It was so gooey, warm, and chocolatey. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Still not interested

We thought if Franklin had a second chance to chat with Santa, we'd have a better outcome. He saw Santa, sat on his lap for half a minute, and again, didn't say a word. Beatrice was sleeping, again. She was asleep the first time we saw Santa so we just thought we'd leave her out of the picture. This time I gave her to ol' Jolly St. Nick eyes closed and all. She didn't even stir. I guess she was dreaming about sugar plums a.k.a. mommy's milk makers. Tee, hee, hee...

Good lookin' guy and gal

My brother Gabe is really good with kids. He has two of his own that he just loves and adores so much. He was awfully cute doting on Beatrice the other night, so I just had to get the two of them together. For all you single ladies out there, he's available...

Brown Gingerbread boys vs White Gingerbread boys

The other day I thought it would be a fun idea to have Franklin help me do some baking. I came across a blog for some "amazing" gingerbread cookies. I've never made Gingerbread cookies, so I thought I would give them a try. Franklin has been asking to make gingerbread boys for days so I had Franklin help me dump all the ingredients into the bowl. We made the dough and then refrigerated it in order to have hard enough dough to roll and cut into shapes. While Franklin was napping, that is just what I did.
I must say, the gingerbread cookies were not all that amazing. My first batch was ok, but the next two batches were too hard. I guess I cooked them too long. This was my first time cooking with Molasses. I had imagined that Molasses would be sweet like corn syrup, but it was nasty. It smelled like rancid soy sauce and looked like it too. Who knew you could add something that nasty to a cookie or cake and still have it taste delicous.

The next day my good friend Shantell came over and brought her son Michael, one of Franklin's best friends. I enlisted them to help me bake sugar cookies. Hence the white gingerbread boys. They sure did make a great big mess, but it was so fun. They helped dump the ingredients into the mixer and then roll the dough and cut the shapes. It wasn't easy getting two two and a half year olds to listen to me tell them which side to use to cut the cookies.
When all was rolled, cut and cooked, we had over 9 dozen cookies. I need to remember to halve my recipe next time. Luckily Shantell was around. She did all the frosting.

Ho Ho Hmmmm.....Merry Christmas?

We've been talking to Franklin about Santa Claus. He sees the big guy on cartoons and commercials and advertisements we get in the mail. He even saw him in passing at our ward Christmas party. On Monday we cut out a couple of pictures from the Walgreen's ad of toys he could ask Santa for. Then we prepped him all day long for his visit later that evening. Oh the joy in Franklin's voice as he told me all about how he was going to ask Santa for an orange motorcyle and a green helicopter. He couldn't stop talking about Santa Claus all the way to the mall. When we finally arrived at Santa's place in the center of Layton Hill's mall, the joy and elation had faded. Although Franklin didn't freak out and start screaming, like other kids, we had imagined the visit to be a bit more exciting for all involved. We had hoped he would at least tell Santa what he has been begging for all week long. Nope, not a peep or even a half smile. Still sooooooo completely adorable though.

My Big Little Boy

Franklin seems to be growing so fast. At times I forget he is only two and a half. He's so grown up yet still so little. Oh and btw, after I told my mom that Franklin wouldn't wear gloves, she told me to try mittens. Such simple advice and it worked. She's so smart. But of course Frank was able to convince Franklin to wear gloves because "Daddy is wearing gloves". Anything I can do, Frank can do better. :)
Oh and one more thing, Franklin is not wearing a coat because it was actually really warm with the bright sun beating on us and it was daddy's idea (little disclaimer)...I insisted twice, but so far no harm done, but if he does get a cold, it's all daddy's fault.

Family Snow Day

My hard working husband realized if he was ever going to go sledding with Franklin, like he has been promising, he was going to have to take some time off work. So that is what he did. He stopped at the store, bought an awesome sled, came home, got Franklin all bundled up and off they went in search of the perfect hill. We didn't quite find the perfect hill, but we found a suitable pile of dirt about a quarter of a mile from our house. It was just the right size for Franklin's first sledding exursion.

I got in the action too. At first Beatrice and I were the photographers. She was fast asleep in her little carrier. She had been sleeping for some time, so I figured if she woke up while sledding down the hill, it wouldn't be a big deal. Well, I loaded both Franklin and Beatrice onto the sled with me and went down the slope and carefully as possible. We hit a few bumps but Beatrice didn't even stir. She was too cozy in her little pink snowsuit.

Let it Snow

It was our first big snow in our new house. Supposedly the Housing Association is supposed to shovel our driveway for us, but from what we've heard they don't get to it in time. So my dear husband went outside in his church clothes and got to shoveling with the rest of the neighbors. Franklin didn't want to miss out on all the fun. It took me a while to convince him to wear his coat and there was just no way he was letting me put on a hat and mittens for him. When we lived in our apartment, we rarely ever went out in the snow and when we did, we certainly didn't play in it. So it's going to take a few snow days before I'll be able to convince Franklin he needs to wear gloves. He came in after 10 minutes in the snow just bawling because his hands were so frozen. Poor, cute, adorable little, frozen thing.

Chubby Cheeks

Frank and I are always commenting on Beatrice's chubby cheeks. We just love them and find them so adorable on little babies.
In a recent post, I blogged about how smart Franklin is. Well, not too long ago I was bending over my bathroom counter applying mascara, when little Franklin walks in, pinches my butt and says, a little too enthusiastically, "Chubby Cheeks." What a silly little guy. It made me laugh so hard.
Speaking of laughing, Beatrice is starting to laugh. I thought she was laughing a few weeks ago. I could have sworn on it. She really did it for sure when my mom was here last week. Since then she has laughed a handful of times and smiles more often than not. Happy days.

Holiday Cheer

I absolutely love Christmas time. I LOVE the music, especially the songs about Christ's birth. I love the lights and the smells and the parties. Our church party was last weekend and I was sooooooo disappointed. It was just a bunch of people I don't know crammed into a small gym and not enough food for everyone. Luckily there was a party this past Wednesday that made up for the Christmas Spirit that was lacking at the other party.

I hosted a party at my house for those that belonged to the mommy's group at the Brigham apartments. I'm not saying it was awesome because it was at my house, I'm saying it was awesome because I was with those I love so dearly and who love me back (I think). I must apologize to those who still live at the Brigham that I love but were unable to make it due to work or other obligations.

It was great being with my girlfriends again. Most of them have babies Franklin's age and many of them have babies Beatrice's age. There were 11 kids all together in my house along with their moms and my mom came as well. Thanks mom for the breadsticks.

We had lunch and I just couldn't figure out why I wasn't loving the white chile that I made. After everyone left, I realized I had forgotten to put the green chiles in my chile. How silly. :)

Thanks girls for sharing your love with me this Holiday season. I wish I had some fun pictures like Sara Dunn has of her party. (BTW Sara, I miss you and you too Sara M. oh and I can't forget you Erin S. and Angela W. and Andrea P and Adri S...I hope I didn't leave any mom's out).

I will be sad when Christmas day comes and goes. January is awfully hard on my spirit as the weather is dreary and there aren't any more lights on houses and no more parties to attend and no more carols to sing of Christ's birth. So this year I'm leaving the tree up until February. It's a real tree, so I don't think that will really happen as doing so will create quite the fire hazard.

Merry Christmas everyone.

Too smart Too soon

I woke up this morning when Franklin came into my bedroom. He stood right next to my bed and with his softest, sweetest voice he asked "Did Santa bring me a helicopter?" WHAT IN THE WORLD?!?! The night before Frank and I were explaining Santa Clause to him and how we would go visit him and Franklin could ask him for one toy. He said he wanted a green helicopter. We told him if he was good Santa would bring it to him. He wouldn't drop the subject for the rest of the night. I had no idea it would carry through the night and in to the next day. I think he has asked for Santa Clause to bring him a green helicopter about 96 times. And I'm not exaggerating.
Other funny Franklinisms...when we're eating and he doesn't want to eat, he says he's tired. When he's in bed and he doesn't want to sleep, he says he's hungry. Isn't he too young to know manipulation? I thought it didn't start until a kid was 4. Some how Franklin has learned if he flashes his big, brown eyes at you and says "Peeeese" he can get whatever he wants. He has a room full of toys to prove it.