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Monday, December 31, 2012

Momma Love

We have entered a new phase. One where I am the center of Elsa's world. I know this will only last a little while, and then daddy will be her world. But I will enjoy the extra snuggles while I have them.


What A Year!

This year has brought the best gift ever, Elsa Anna. I've always heard people say they can't remember their lives before their little ones, or they couldn't imagine their lives without them. It's so true. She has brought so much joy and happiness into our lives.

Happy New Years to you and yours!



Saturday, December 29, 2012

Salt Dough, DOH!

Pinterest has so many good ideas. I love looking through them, and dream about what projects I will do in my spare time. Ha ha, spare time. Projects are never as easy as they appear. To see tons of "Pintrocities"and get a good chuckle, check out this website.

My big project was to make salt dough hand print ornaments that looked like santa like this:

From the get go, I realized we were not going to get this beautiful ornament. So plan b, just make a circle handprint and paint it with some paint I already had. I had no idea what a pain this was going to be. Every time I tried to put Elsa's hand in the dough she scrunched her fingers, squishing the dough in her hands. Finally I decided to wait until she was asleep and do it.  That worked! But then they would not dry. I tried baking them several times, left them out over night, and they just would not get dry. I also put them on tin foil, bad idea. Always use wax paper! 

I finally gave in and just painted them. And this is what we ended up with:


One got eaten off our tree by a little black dog named Brisco, which infuriated me!! 

In the end, I am so glad I did this because I will have a memory of Elsa's tiny hand for the rest of our lives (as long as a dog doesn't eat it.)

 




Thursday, December 27, 2012

Elsa's First Christmas

Here are a few photos of Elsa's first Christmas. We had a blast, but it was exhausting.








Saturday, December 22, 2012

Guilty Christmas

At Christmastime in 2011 15.5 million children were living in poverty. That is one out of five.

We have been sitting around the last week or so watching Christmas specials. Heart warming stories of children celebrating Christmas, opening gifts in bright colored paper and eating tasty feasts. All these happy images broadcast out to the world to anyone who has a TV (and possibly cable).
Knowing that Elsa is going to have a bountiful holiday, I just got a little sad for the children who will not. So many children in the world who see these images and will not experience the joy of the season like Elsa will. There is a part of me that says we shouldn't show this type of stuff on TV, because it will make an already depressing situation even more heartbreaking for these children. I want to protect them from the disappointment and sadness when santa doesn't come to them. But I can't.

Maybe next year or the following year we will start a tradition with Elsa where she will pick out a gift to give to a needy child. When she is even older it might be nice to set up a piggy bank for charity too.

Article: How to talk to your Children about Poverty

Friday, December 21, 2012

First trip to the ER

I am now ready to report on the very scary first ER trip. On Sunday night Elsa woke up around 11:30 crying.  Normally she just puts herself back to sleep, but this particular night she wasn't. I got up and went to put her pacifier in her mouth and her cry was not normal. It sounded awful. She was also gasping for air. When she would cough it sounded like seal barking, I almost lost it. Steve called the on call pediatrician and he told us to head to the ER. Better safe than sorry. We were there for about 2 hours. She was in good spirits, charmed the nurses and was diagnosed with croup. She took her meds like a champ, and went right to sleep when we got home at 2am.

Monday: She was happy, but sleepy.
  Tuesday: Feeling much better

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Profound Sadness

I've been trying to process the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary. I've always felt a little heartbroken to hear of any person losing a loved one. But for some reason this particular one, was so heinous that a deep sadness welled up inside me. I really do think having a child of my own gives me a new or different perspective on situations like this, than if I had not had a child. My heart is full of love for my precious little girl, and I could not imagine how it would feel to lose her. To lose her in a way such as that.
I cried over the initial news of the incident, and then I thought all day about those parents. ALL of those parents. So many of them who will never see their children alive again. The agony of waiting for their little bodies to be returned to them, so they could begin the process of mourning them.

Today was my birthday, and there was definitely a cloud hanging over it. I can accept having a sad birthday, because I will go on and continue to have many happy birthdays. But those special little children will not.

My heart goes out to all those affected by this tragedy. And I will hug my little Elsa much closer.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Why I hate Christmas Music

A simple answer to a simple question. "Leslie, why do you hate Christmas music?"
Because I have a December birthday. December 15th to be exact. Which means no one gets Christmas until I get my birthday! Got it? Good!

Too bad I'm past 35 now, but this cake was uber yummy!


Sunday, December 9, 2012

No Puppy Love

When I got pregnant I immediately started thinking about how the animals would adjust. The dogs are pretty nuts, so we tried to do some corrective behavior. Tried to get Keegan to stop barking all of the time, and tried to get Brisco to stop being such a spazz. I had dreams of Elsa climbing all over them, and they knowing she was their baby. Dreams that they would never freak out on her.  Well that dream is over. Keegan lost privileges last week. He was sitting next to me and Elsa was pulling his hair, and he was being so good. Then she bowed her head into his side, and he snapped at her. She didn't get hurt, but what little trust I had is gone. Makes it so much harder to control every situation. The dogs are going to get sick of always being behind the baby gate. That's for sure.