Christmas 2013

This year we went home to Maryland for the Christmas holiday. We spent two weeks with our families there and enjoyed every moment! The kids were spoiled rotten with all the attention from their aunts and uncles and grandparents and even great grandparents. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have because I was too busy reading THREE and a HALF books while other people entertained my children. It was glorious! 

While at home we spent a long weekend up at a ski cabin at Deep Creek Lake with Sam's Dad's side of the family. Sam got to ski for the first time in many years and the kids got to meet Sam's cousin's daughters that are close to their age and were very fast friends. 

Sam and I also snuck away from everyone for a night to a Bed & Breakfast in Annapolis which was a wonderful start to our New Year. We haven't yet found a babysitter in CT so date nights are few and far between these days unfortunately. 

This is the face LK makes when she gets flashed by the camera- haha! 

Pile on Uncle Colin! This went on forever...

Lanie Kate was thrilled that the appetizers at Uncle Colin and Aunt Gianna's Christmas Eve party were just at her level. 

Snacking and Pop Pop Christmas Eve

Colin and Gianna's Christmas Eve dinner party

Our little family on Christmas Eve

Lanie Kate is obsessed with "big-people" cups and Mom Mom is just the softie to indulge her

Quinn is infatuated with Uncle Kirk's long-time girlfriend, Andy ever since she played bubbles with him at the beach this summer. Watch out Uncle Kirk, you've got some competition!

Christmas morning at Mom Mom and Pop Pop's. Santa brought Q a Kindle Fire, a Ravens football helmet, the Planes movie, and a drum set. Santa brought LK a stroller, doll, and diaper bag.

Christmas morning at Nana and Granpop's. Santa's second stop for the Fromille kids! He brought Q a couple educational games, play dough toys, and How To Train Your Dragon. Santa brought LK a PB Anywhere Chair, a purse, two chunky necklaces, The Little Mermaid, and a couple board books by her favorite author. He filled their stockings with Craisins and Dried Mango- some of their favorite treats! 

Granpop set up his electric train display for Quinn and Q got to blow the train whistle. This display totally saved Christmas because when we arrived at Nana and Granpop's we were 45 minutes into the worst tantrum we have ever experienced over getting dressed {which required him to take off the football helmet}. When he showed up and saw the train set, the helmet was quickly forgotten.

LK insisted on wearing both of her new necklaces.

Carving the turkey breast with an audience.

Hoping for some turkey...

Master chef Nana. It was so nice to have someone else doing most of the cooking! 

Zia made Q and LK a hand painted giraffe growth chart. Probably my favorite Christmas present. My sister is so creative and an amazing artist and her gifts are always the best. She made me two sketches, one of each of our dogs. And painted a catamaran sailboat on a navigational map of the Bimini Islands {where Sam use to sail in college} for Sam. 

I am pretty sure we have a picture of my dad in some sort of goofy head gear for as many Christmases as I can remember.

Nana and Granpop totally spoiled the kids with presents and this little stand mixer and cookie cutter set was a favorite for both kids. 

Another favorite from Nana and Granpop was this little purse. LK got 3 purses for Christmas but this was by far her favorite and has barely left the crook of her arm since!

My fur babies snuggling

Q rocking out on his new drum set. Santa may regret this gift... ;)

There is a good chance that this will be our last Maryland Christmas for awhile and it was such a fun one full of family and great memories with the kids at this fun age. It even snowed after Christmas so Quinn could go sledding, which may be his favorite memory of all time- we sure hear about it enough now! We hope your Christmas was as full of wonderful moments and memories as ours was!

miserable but {not so} rewarding, Part 2

Remember this post? The one where my husband said, "Having children is like service selecting submarines. It is miserable, but rewarding." And when I asked him when that rewarding part started he said, "When the kids are like, in their 20's or something."

Yea well, that is how this stay-at-home-mom thing is feeling again. Last week on a particularly bad day when the exhausted, cranky children were refusing to nap, I sent them screaming to their room and locked myself in my bathroom and bawled.  It's official, I have become a cliche.  The mom who locks herself in her bathroom and cries because she cannot believe how much of a failure she is every.single.day.

You see, I have learned a little bit since that last post. For example, I no longer measure my success by my children's behavior which I cannot control, and now I measure it by my own behavior, which theoretically, I should be able to control. The glitch in this system is that my behavior might be worse than my children's when considering the fact that they are 3 and under and I am an adult. An adult who too often forgets that her 3 year old is just a 3 year old and losses her temper.

So that's me lately, the lady in the bathroom crying while her kids scream their lungs out down the hall. And here is what I was saying to God as hot tears dripped on the bathroom counter:

I cannot do this! No matter how hard I try. No matter how good of a mom I am one day, I inevitably lose it eventually. I am so frustrated with myself. Why can't I figure this motherhood thing out? I'm so exhausted and so selfish and I so do not deserve the role You've put me in as a parent to these precious children.  I so desperately want to be good at this and no matter how hard I try, I am just not. 

And here is what God said to me:

"The Lord your God is in your midst,

A victorious warrior.

He will exult over you with joy, 

He will be quiet in His love,

He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy."

~Zephania 3:17 {NASB}

Our Advent study last week focused on LOVE and oh, how I needed that. And oh, how I still need that today. This will come off as vain {because it is}, but I have never found it difficult to believe that God loves me. Never, until becoming a parent and being pushed to my limits and having all my character flaws exposed. Now, I find it difficult to imagine a perfect God, who knows the deepest, darkest parts of me, singing with joy over me and sending His perfect Son to take the punishment for the deepest, darkest parts of me. Mind blowing. The gift of Christmas is mind blowing. 

So here is why I'm telling you my embarrassing lock-myself-in-my-bathroom-crying story. Maybe you have felt like a failure. Maybe you feel like a failure today.  Maybe you are in your bathroom crying right now. Here is what I want you to know, what God wants you to know... He is singing over you with joy right now. He is the Mighty One who saves and He loves you and He delights in you, even when you fail. I hope that is as encouraging to some of you as it is to me. 

Christmas 2012

Christmas morning is so so so much fun with a toddler! We spent weeks educating Quinn about Santa Claus; watched Santa movies, read Santa books, went to see Santa, talked constantly about Santa. In fact I think we went a little too far with the Santa education because on Christmas Eve when we asked him what Christmas was about {despite the Little People Nativity set we've been playing with since Thanksgiving} his answer was "Santa Claus!" oops. And on the way home from Christmas Eve church service after singing "Joy to the World" at church Q was singing "joy joy joy joy Santa Claus!" in the car on the way home.  We were probably even more excited than him though to see his face when he came down the stairs Christmas morning to the pile of goodies left by Santa. 

At first coming down the stairs he was overwhelmed and didn't even know what to say or do.  It didn't take long for him to start playing with his new play kitchen though. It did take some time for us to get him to leave the play kitchen to open other presents, but by sometime in the early afternoon he had made his way through all of his goodies. He particularly enjoyed Skyping with both our families and showing them all his new toys.  Technology sure makes being away from family for holidays much easier.

 Q's Nana and Granpop gave him his very own real guitar which he has hardly put down since he opened it. He loves to sing and play and his current original song goes something like this, "one, two, santa baby, yea!"

 Daddy is thrilled that Q has his own guitar now because now daddy gets to play his own guitar without help from little hands. Q's new favorite thing to do is have jam sessions with dad. It is adorable watching them because Q copies Sam's every move. Sam pushes his sleeves up and Q pushes his sleeves up, Sam stops playing for a second and Q stops playing and looks up at Sam.

Q getting a guitar lesson from daddy the day after Christmas

 Q absolutely loves his big present from Santa, his play kitchen. {And it's a good thing because this play kitchen took Santa's elves over 3 hours to assemble!}

It is fun watching him cook because it is clear that he has been paying attention when we cook based on how he mimics every little thing like when to turn on the stove and using an oven mitt when putting things in and out of the oven.

 His godparents gave him his Melissa & Doug pots and pans and his Melissa & Doug fruit cutting set. He loves cutting apart his velcro fruit pieces and cooking with them!

Rockin out 

 Both kids got new stuffed puppies for Christmas. Q's has a microwavable packet to make it warm with a lavender scent for sleeping with. {mommy might be stealing that...}

 Another big present from Santa was his Radio Flyer tricycle. He barely can reach the pedals but I predict he will be zooming around here in no time once he gets an extra inch or so.  His Mom-mom and Pop-pop also gave him a balance bike which he loooves but we had to put away because he can only reach the floor with his tippy toes and gets frustrated that he can't operate it on his own.  I know he'll be loving that as well once he gets a couple more inches.

 LK's big gift from her Mom-mom and Pop-pop, which Q seems to think was intend for him, was a Radio Flyer red wagon. It is a pretty neat wagon with flip up seat backs. As much as LK loves her big brother I think it makes her love her gift even more with him riding in it with her!

LK passed out with her new paci and new kitty rattle after a busy morning playing with new toys

 We are having so much fun enjoying all the fun new presents the kids received {and the new camera lens I received that took all these pictures :-)} but are most grateful for God's gift to mankind, Jesus. I hope as our kids grow they will also love and appreciate the true reason for the season! 

Christmas Eve Fun

For the first time ever we spent Christmas without any family. In the past, when we haven't been able to get home for the holiday, my family has come to us.  This year they came out for Thanksgiving instead and we were on our own for Christmas. So we invited some friends over for our traditional Christmas Eve dinner after church.  It was so nice to get to go to our own church for Christmas Eve service! 

 Our friends brought a gingerbread house kit over for the kids to build while dinner cooked. 

 Once they realized candy was involved in the decorating, they really got into it. We learned that Q has a real affinity for gum drops which I didn't know anyone actually liked.

 "Is this sufficiently decorated yet? Can we start eating it?"

I'm pretty sure Quinn's dinner consisted of sugar with a side of sugar... but it's only Christmas Eve once a year so I guess it's okay! We had such a nice evening with our friends and their daughter who Q just loooves. 

A Christmas Tradition {ornaments}

 Every year my husband's family all go to Valley View Farms and everyone picks out a Christmas ornament and then we go out to eat for a family dinner.  It is one of our favorite traditions during the Christmas season and it makes decorating our tree each year a lot of fun because our ornaments bring back memories of Christmases past.

 This year we didn't travel back to Maryland for Christmas but didn't want to miss out on the ornament fun so we took the kids to a local store with lots of ornaments to select from {and steered Q away from the $60+ ornaments...}.

 One of Q's favorite things are fish. Especially "nemo fish" so it was no surprise when he picked out a clown fish as his ornament for this year.

 It took him an excessively long time to find an appropriate place on the tree to hang his ornament but he finally decided on a spot in the front and center.