Deck the Halls!

I LOVE decorating for the holidays! I love to put on the Christmas music and just spend the day decorating the house. I always hate to see the holidays end because once you take down all the decorations our house seems so bare and it is kind of depressing.

Mike picked out our tree this year all by himself because mom and Sadie weren't cooperating too well in the cold. He did a fabulous job!
I haven't been able to put out my village for the last two years, but thanks to some generous Christmas elves last year I now have the perfect spot. It was fun having it out again and Sadie loved looking at it!

Tag...Christmas

1. Egg Nog or Hot Chocolate? Hot Chocolate; although I like Egg Nog too

2. Does Santa wrap the presents or just sit them under the tree? When I was a child Santa always just set them out for us. So far, in my home, he has wrapped them.

3. Red or white lights? I have white lights on our tree. We don't have lights on the outside of our house yet but I'm sure they will be colored.

4. Do you hang mistletoe? No

5. When do you put your decorations up? Usually the weekend after Thanksgiving unless I get antsy.

6. What is your favorite holiday dish? Wow, that is hard. I like Christmas dinner better than Thanksgiving. I like it all…the ham, the potatoes, my mom’s ROLLS, the cheeseball and above all the Shrimp Dip! (Recipe below)

1/4 Cup milk
1 T. Mayonnaise
2 T. Lemon Juice
-Beat the above ingredients into 8 ounces of soft cream cheese
Add:
2 T. Finely Minced Onion
2 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Dill Weed
1/2 tsp. Soy Sauce
1 Cup Chopped Shrimp

7. Favorite Holiday memory as a child? I have so many. My mom always went out of her way to make Christmas special for us. Now that I’m an adult with my own family I am in awe at how she made Christmas so special each year. She is amazing! We had/have the tradition of having a Christmas Eve party at our house and Grandma and Grandpa from both sides would come over. We would eat and open presents and I just remember LOVING that night! I remember my Grandma Zobell would make us pajamas every year.
Unfortunately my favorite childhood memories revolve around “stuff” because as a kid that is what it’s all about. I fondly remember the Christmas I got my Cabbage Patch Kid. I remember being told MANY times that Santa was having a hard time finding Cabbage Patch Kids for everyone that wanted them and I could very well not end up with one on Christmas morning. Imagine my surprise when I woke up to one! I was elated!

BY far my favorite Christmas morning was when Jenny and I got the Barbie Dream House. I don’t remember asking for it so it was a shock that “Santa” got it for us. I can honestly say that it provided hours and hours if not years and years of play for me and my friends. I can remember spending from sun up until sun down in the basement playing Barbies! I loved it.

I could go on and on but I will conclude with this one. It is kind of corny. Normally I HATED chores but around Christmas I didn’t mind them so much. I remember usually the day of Christmas Eve we would get up early, put on the Christmas music and start cleaning the house. I can still smell cinnamon and cloves on the stove and hear Andy Williams singing in the background while we dusted, mopped and vacuumed. I can still feel the anticipation of having family over that night while we got the house looking spotless!

8. Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve? When I was a child we could open our Grandma and Grandpa’s gifts.

9. How do you decorate your Christmas tree? I had the MOST fun decorating our tree our first year of marriage. I remember seeing the idea at Robert’s craft around October and starting to think of ideas to make it my own. I took Mike there and showed him what I was thinking and he was immediately ANTI! He did not trust me at all. I ended up making some old fashioned felt ornaments that look like gingerbread and the rest are bulbs and fake old fashioned candy. Colors are red, green and white. When it all came together Mike admitted to me that he thought I was crazy and that we would have the ugliest tree – but he liked it and was very impressed with my vision coming together. He apparently lacked the vision. Last year I made some real gingerbread men to hang on the tree and I intend to do that each year as a tradition.

10. Snow: Love it or hate it? LOVE it until after New Year’s Day. Then it can go away.

11. Can you ice skate? Not very well. Don’t like it too much.

12. Do you remember your favorite gift? Well, you can probably look above and figure out that as a child it was probably my Cabbage Patch Kid and the Barbie Dream House. As an adult….probably my digital piano that Mike got me, it got me playing the piano again which was nice.

13. What's the most important thing about the holidays for you? Although from all the above statements it doesn’t seem like it – the most important part of the holidays for me is trying to remember and instill around me the reason for the season. I like the focus to be on Christ and family.

14. What is your favorite holiday dessert? Tassies! (Recipe below)

6 ounces of Cream Cheese
2 sticks of Butter
2 Cups Sifted Flour
Cream butter and cheese until light and fluffy. Add flour and mix by hand. Press dough into small tea bisquit pan. Put 1/2 piece of pecan in bottom of shells you have pressed out.
Filling:
3 eggs
1 1/2 C. Brown Sugar
Pinch of Salt
1 1/2 T. melted Butter
3/4 tsp. Vanilla
Beat eggs, add brown sugar, butter and salt. Add vanilla. Pour into pressed out shells over pecan half and sprinkle with chopped pecans. Bake 350 degreees for 17-20 minutes.

15. What is your favorite holiday tradition? Christmas Eve Party with the family.

16. What is on top of your tree? Star

17. Which do you like best giving or receiving? Giving of course; especially if I feel like I found the “perfect” thing.

18. Christmas Song? I have a ton so I’ll just list some of my favorites.
“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day” – I cry whenever this one is sung at church!
“Sleigh Ride”
“O Come All Ye Faithful”
“Joy to the World”
“Let it Be Christmas” – Alan Jackson
“Some Children See Him”

19. Do you like candy canes? Not Really.

I tag anyone who feels like doing it!

ER

Last night I was laying in bed around 10:30 and heard what I thought to be our neighbor's dog. He sounded like he was choking on a bone or something and I was getting annoyed because I was trying to get to sleep. Well, after a couple of minutes of hacking I heard crying and realized that this sound was not coming from the neighbor's dog it was my poor Sadie! I ran into her room and she was crying, laboring to breath and burning up! I was in a panic. She had been perfectly fine all day and it came on so quickly. I called the after hours nurse and she told Mike and I to take her to the Emergency Room. Once we were there and after waiting for what seemed like forever they diagnosed her with Croup. Poor thing. They gave her some anti-inflammatory medicine and sent us on her way. We put a humidifier in her room and she slept soundly once we got home. She seemed better today but was still not her old self. The funniest part of the whole thing is that she was fascinated by her raspy voice and pretty much sang all day so she could hear it. Although it was funny, it did about drive me bonkers by the end of the day!

Changes!

As many of you may or may not know, I have changed my work schedule recently. Our devoted babysitter Malissa got offered a job she could not refuse but unfortunately that left us without a babysitter for Sadie. After much stress and prayer we were able to work it out. I am still working at Nu Skin but I went back to my old job at the warehouse and now work nights. I was also able to cut back 10 hours so now I only have to put in 20 a week which has been nice. I work Monday and Wednesday 4-midnight and then I choose either Tuesday, Thursday or Friday to put in my other 4 hours which is normally 6-10. It has been great being home with Sadie during the day and I'm sure once my body adjusts to late nights I will really like this new schedule.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving was quite an adventure this year. We went to Arkansas to spend the holiday with Mike's brother Alan. We had the whole King tribe there with Grandma and Grandpa, Alan and Dianne and their daughters Katherine, Stephanie and Kelly. This was the first time Alan and his family had seen Sadie in person. I think the girls had fun with her and I know that Sadie enjoyed all the attention. Despite Sadie not sleeping, getting into everything, getting the stomach flu, and being the worlds worst traveler...I think we had a pretty nice time. Aunt Dianne made a delicious Thanksgiving feast and we appreciated them letting us come and stay with them although I'm pretty sure they were happy to see us leave. We will not be doing this again any time soon, or at least until the kids are older! Here are some of the pictures from the trip.

Sadie playing in the leaves!

Sadie with Katherine, Kelly, and Stephanie

Aunt Dianne is nicer than mom....she let Sadie play in her pantry and mess it all up. She was in heaven!

Playing with Grandma King

Thanksgiving Day playing with Grandma

12 Month Stats!

Sadie had her 12 month well baby check up today. She is a very healthy and happy little girl! Here are her stats.....

Weight - 23.3 lbs (83 %tile)

Height - 30.5 inches (90 %tile)

Head Circumference - 19.1 inches (99 %tile)

She is above average on all...especially head! I don't think she has an abnormally big head but I guess 99% of babies have smaller ones than her. We like to think it's because she's so smart. In the picture she is wearing the cute dress that her Grandma Brereton gave her for her birthday....no smiles for this picture.

First Steps!

Sadie took her first steps on November 8, 2008. She was standing up next to mom and next thing we knew she took off....about 3 steps. She has been pretty proud of herself ever since but only does it on her terms. She is getting better and better with practice and we are looking forward to the new experiences that walking brings!

Happy Birthday Sadie!

Sadie turned ONE on November 6, 2008! She had such a fun day...or should I say Mom and Dad had such a fun day. Family and friends came over to help celebrate and have cake and ice cream. Sadie loved all the attention and has been enjoying her new toys that were given to her as gifts. She is one spoiled little girl!

Sadie's 1st Birthday Cake!

Opening one of her presents from Mom and Dad.

Opening Aunt Rachelle's gift

Her reaction to everyone singing "Happy Birthday" to her was priceless. She was loving every minute of it and even clapped when we were all done singing.

She had NO problem diving right into the cake!

This is Malissa and her little family. She watches Sadie during the day while mom is at work. From left to right is Devon, Cody, Malissa and her youngest Karson is down in the left hand corner helping Sadie open presents. Malissa was an answer to our prayers when we were looking for someone to watch Sadie. She has taken such good care of her and Sadie loves her and her boys so much! They are so cute with her and are the best kids ever! It makes it easier to go to work when you know your daughter is in good hands. We are so glad they came to the party to celebrate! Thank you Malissa for everything you have done....we LOVE you!

Halloween!

Sadie was a lady bug for Halloween. Her Aunt Jenny often refers to her as Sadie Lady Bug so we thought it was very fitting. She had a very eventful day starting with accompanying mom to work for awhile after which she went to visit Grandma and Aunt Rachelle at work and then on to Dad's work. We made it home just in time for a much needed nap and then it was off to the ward trunk or treat. Of course she had no idea what was going on but she was a good sport and had a lot of fun getting attention just for being so darn cute!

Have you ever seen a cuter lady bug?

She's a mischievious little lady bug! Look at that grin.

Sadie and our neighbor Scott became fast friends at the trunk or treat after he fed her a Pixie Stick!

Reading

I have found Sadie like this numerous times in the last month. She has found the joy of reading I guess. She will turn the pages, point to things, babble to herself and even crack herself up at times. Once she is done, she tosses the book aside and it's onto another one. It's been fun watching her entertain herself and enjoy her books so much.