{ Katy Grace :: 1 Year Old }

Our little Katy Grace is 1 year old!
It is hard to believe, for sure.
I am amazed by the richness of this past year in so many ways,
but largely due to her sweet presence and development.
I can't imagine life without her, without a daughter.

I have never really been into pink,
but in this past year I have found myself rediscovering it
and appreciating it in a whole new way.
There are many days that Katy Grace is dressed head-to-toe in pink!

She loves all things girly.
She is obviously thrilled when she is wearing a party dress
and she is a shoes girl. No mistake!
If you're wearing jewelry, you're her best friend.
She already loves clothes shopping.
Nothing makes her happier than frolicking in a pile of clothes.
I can see we're going to have fun shopping for years to come.

She started walking a couple of weeks before her birthday.
She says a few words, mostly "mama" and "dada",
but she certainly practices her words.
She loves to eat.
She almost always out-eats her brother!
She likes to talk on the phone.
She started sucking her index finger about the same time she learned to walk.

We are beyond blessed that she is a part of our family.

We love you Katy Grace.
Have a wonderful year!

{ The birthday girl getting some help from brother }

{ Gifts!!!!!! }

{ All dressed up for her party }

{ Grandpa reading to Katy Grace before the party }

{ Birthday girl snuggles )

{ Lighting the candle }

{ She was quite dainty with her cake.  This was about the extent of the mess! }

{ Disappointment }

On December 15 we hosted our annual Christmas open house. 

Honestly, I have put off posting about it because I have been hoping I could get to the place 

of giving it a glowing review, but I haven't.  

It was a disappointment for me, for the most part. 

It was a lot of work to prepare for and we didn't end up having very many guests. 

 Thankfully Tim feels like it was a success, at least to a large degree. 

I am grateful for that because I have just not gotten past being disappointed. 

 I have dealt with feeling guilty for that perspective. Somehow it doesn't seem "okay" to feel disappointed. 

I think I should be able to put on my happy face. 

Not sure why I expect that of myself all the time. 

In the grand scheme of things, this holiday season has been extremely rich and fulfilling, 

easily one of my favorite Christmas seasons ever, so one event that didn't come off like I would have wanted is not the end of the world. 

We combined Katy Grace's 1st birthday party with this Christmas party since it was her actual birthday. Because of that, I know I had much higher expectations. 

Obviously she isn't old enough to really care about her party so of course she wasn't disappointed. 

1st birthdays are, however, much more for the mom, in all reality, and all I could think was, 

"This is how it's going to be every year because her birthday falls so close to Christmas." 

We ended up having a good amount of people for her party, 

but the first hour of our party no one had showed up 

and the last three hours before the party was supposed to start, we had five families cancel. 

 I was in tears by the time the party started, 

but after praying with Tim that we would be grateful for however the party went, 

I was able to put my disappointment aside enough to focus on Katy's birthday, 

knowing I didn't want to ruin the memory of it. 

I had a smile on by the time people arrived. 

Our guests all came in the same hour and left together, for the most part, 

so it was a shorter party than we were prepared for, 

but it ended up being nice that we could put the kids to sleep at their usual time 

and have time to just relax in the evening. 

It took me a few days to sort out my emotions about my overall perspective. 

I analyzed and re-analyzed the event until I was driving Tim crazy. 

It is good to finally get this post underway. 

It should help to move on.

 I wish I could always have fond memories of this things I do in my life, but that isn't realistic. 

No one ever can. 

I am grateful that our guests seemed to have a good time. 

 I am glad we went to the effort to throw a party. 

I am thankful for the guests who came and for their joy in celebrating Katy's birthday with us. 

I am thankful for the friends who couldn't come, too and sorry that sickness kept so many away. 

I will post another blog soon with details of Katy Grace's birthday, 

but for now here are a few pictures of the party.

{ Christmastime in the City }

 There is something very festive about being in the city at Christmastime.  The year before last we began an unofficial tradition of going to Spokane for a Christmas day.  We missed last year because we were busy with our brand new baby girl!  We decided to give it another try this year.  It is always a little difficult to plan such a long day, wondering how the kids would do, what our timing of events should be and how missing naps would go.  After the day was over, we were amazed by how well the kids did.  There were plenty of fussy times, but they had a great time for the most part.

We started out at the downtown mall.  There is a HUGE Christmas tree in there, which is in the background of the above picture.  We, very wisely, I think, didin't go to the mall with the intention of actually shopping for anything.  We just had fun browsing.  One of our favorite stores is Williams Sonoma.  Katy Grace seemed impressed, too :)

 We had arranged to meet up with one of Tim's friends from college days and enjoyed visiting her as we made our way through the mall.  The kids loved her!  We had lunch together there and then went our separate ways.  Here are my guys being silly as always while we waited for our food!

 At noon the huge train display started up so of course we spent a lot time watching it.  Oliver was pretty intrigued by so many trains. 

 By then the kids really starting losing patience with the whole experience and our parking meter was running out so headed back to the car.  We decided to drive for a while and let the kids sleep.  On our drive, Tim and I spied a very amazing looking antique store so we decided to park and take turns going in while the kids slept.  We loved it.  I'm sure we'll be going back there many times in the future.  Tim bought my Christmas present in there.  I have no idea what it is, but I'm very anxious for Christmas to come, for sure!

When the kids woke up, we made our way back downtown to visit the Davenport Hotel.  We honeymooned there, so it has special significance for us, but it is also just worth going to as often as possible.  That day they had a huge display of Christmas trees that were going to be auctioned off that evening.   There were SO MANY people there.  It was crazy!  We walked around and saw the trees, but it was very stressful trying to carry kids, coats and diaper bags through an elbow-to-elbow crowd so we didn't stay long.  We did find this corner to take this picture in.  As you can see, shooting with a very slow shutter speed, resulted in fuzzy children, but it's still cute, right?  It illustrates how hard it is to get them to sit still!  We both wished we'd had the opportunity to photograph the lobby.  It was breathtaking! 

We had dinner at Frank's Diner, which is inside a train dining car.  I had been wanting to take Oliver there for a really long time so I'm glad we finally were able to.  He seemed to really enjoy it, though he was so tired by then it was hard to tell.

 Tim entertaining the Little Miss while we waited for dinner.

It was a very fun, long day.  We haven't decided if we're going to keep this tradition up, or if we'll transition to making it a day that Tim and I steal away just the two of us.  We'll see, but for this year it was a great family day and great memories were made.

{ Decking the Halls }

We welcomed December by going out to harvest our Christmas tree. This is our fourth year going to this tree farm, so I guess we're committed!  This year we invited a newly married couple from our church/small group to join us.  It was very fun to have more people along and very helpful to have extra muscle power, since we NEVER get a small or light tree!  It was special to be a part of their first Christmas, as well as George's first experience ever getting a tree.  This was also Miss Katy Grace's first tree cutting.  She seemed pretty pleased with the experience.

The Gang.... and Tim after he slayed the tree!

To illustrate the largeness of the tree.  It pretty much took up the entire trailer!
  And yes, that is a wreath on our vehicle.  Our hillbilly Christmas-mobile!

Me and my kiddos walking through the trees

Back at home we had lots of help,  including Oliver picking up fir needles one-by-one!

Katy Grace loved the red bead garland!

We left the actual decorating until the next day and Tim and I went off to a Christmas party that evening, leaving the kids with our friends and later my parents.  My parents stayed through the next day and entertained the kids while we decorated.  Not sure how we would do it without their help!

Putting on the finishing touches.  It was a very fun and full weekend.

It is nice to have this all done as this week we are busy with preparations for our annual Christmas Open House this weekend, which will include a birthday party for our little miss.

Merry Christmas!

{ Mama's Little Helper }

Yesterday Oliver and I made cookies together for the first time.  Let me preface this by saying that it came about because his nap routine had gotten disrupted by errand running in the morning. He fell asleep in the car, then we needed to have lunch and by then he was too awake to sleep. I was NOT a happy camper, to be honest. In an attempt to make the most of "my plans" being rearranged, I took a deep breath and dove in.  I wish I could say it was magical from start to finish. In his opinion I think it was, but I have to confess by the end of the project, I was getting frustrated and overwhelmed. But on his face was sheer joy and I wish now I could have just soaked that in and appreciated this time together fully.

It is easy to paint these experiences in their rosiest light. Just show the pictures and tell the parts of the story that evoke Christmas warm and fuzzy feelings, but I am realizing that being real, letting my true mama moments be what they really are here in this spot is better. These memories we made together are precious and I grew from the experience.  I don't want ME to get in the way of US and that is a lesson I am learning every day I'm a mom.