A Sweet Christmas Eve

While Norrin still has a case of the sniffles and Da was starting to feel pretty yucky, I was in heaven. I spent most of my day in our kitchen. The day started with eggs, cheese and faux sausage. Then, there was quinoa stew, anadama bread, a chocolate layered pie, tortellini in a creamy pesto sauce and cookies for Santa. I went through almost every bowl, pot and pan at least once and it was all very much worth it to smell all the delicious foods as they were made. Despite the many things coming out of my kitchen, it was the sugary moments I needed to document :). So, here's all the sweetest moments of our day.


Norrin "tasting" the pie filling...
A lot of tasting...

As the cookies were made and finally cooled, Norrin needed to decorate just one for yet another taste test.

Once the official taste test was over, we all sat down to decorate our cookies.

There was a little bit of icing sampling, of course.

Mommy's cookies...

Da's cookies...

Norrin's cookies...which kind of look like someone stabbed them...repeatedly.

Despite how yucky Da was feeling, he was bullied into a game of froggy.

And after Norrin had looked out the window at least ten times to see if the sun had gone away, we were able to open our Christmas Eve gifts.

Now that both my guys are snug in their beds, its time for Santa to work his magic. And maybe an hour of quiet knitting :). Happy Christmas Eve.

Norrin Caroling at School

Norrin, his classmates and all the other kids from the Y had caroling in the gym today. Todd was able to get out of work for a little bit and we both got to see our big boy sing. They made super cute hats to look like Rudolph and Norrin was really happy to see us both. He sang the words he did know very loud and sort of looked around when he wasn't quite sure what to sing next :). I got a little sentimental in the beginning because my baby is just such a big boy now. He did cry at the end because he wanted us to stay, but the teachers said that only lasted about 5 minutes after we left. It was a nice, short performance that Todd and I were very happy to see.

Norrin Singing

Norrin's Christmas Vest

Everyone overslept this morning. Perhaps it was because we needed to make cards and decorate a shoebox for Norrin's Christmas party. Maybe it was because Norrin really, really wanted to watch The Grinch Who Stole Christmas...again. Some might say it was because we had to build a pillow house in the middle of our king-sized bed before teeth could be brushed or stories be read. I think we all just decided to embrace the shortest day of the year and caught up on some much needed rest before the holiday madness truly begins. However, it set off a chain of crazy events this morning that resulted in an oreo cookie for breakfast, how quickly can we get a three year old in his "nice clothes", where are your stinkin' shoes, Norrin and a second trip to the Y after I forgot Norrin's sippy cup and swim clothes. In all this chaos, I did manage to snap some pictures of my "little angel" in the vest I finished last night. The vest was actually done on Monday, but then Norrin wanted a Christmas tree on it, so that just had to be done. As he posed away, I got a glimpse of the wacky teenager this child is going to be. He loves to laugh and make other people laugh. His best friend at school is Owen and when you ask him why, he says because he laughs at everything. Nothing wrong with that.

At 11:30, I'm going back to the Y to see Norrin and his classmates do some caroling in the gym. Even when he doesn't know all the words, he sings loud. It should be very entertaining.

Where Did The Time Go?

Well, we've been MIA for quite some time, but I swear we've been awfully busy around here.

There's been decorating for Christmas...

The watching of many Christmas specials...Norrin seems to like The Grinch Who Stole Christmas the most. When I asked him what his favorite part is, he says when the Grinch steals all their stuff...hmmm...

Lots of belly snuggles...(23 weeks and all belly. I don't really know how I manage to keep myself from falling forward).

There was snow...

But only a dusting...

And a haircut for our lil man...

There was the collecting of firewood...

For a really big bonfire...

At a party...

With lots of friends (Nor liked the redheads the best...just like his Da).

Of course, there's been baking...

And a whole lotta knitting...

Yes, we've been awfully busy. Norrin goes to school 5 days a week and he loves it. Da is working extra hard at his new job and even though I'm part time now, I'm still at work 4 days a week. The midwife scheduled the rest of my appointments and despite how large my tummy has become, I can't seem to believe how soon this baby will bless our family. I have a refresher childbirth class to take, an ultrasound to schedule, more blood tests (yuck) and a house that I'm constantly tweaking in the hopes that it will miraculously organize itself to suit a rambunctious 3 year old and a newborn babe. Norrin's schedule is quite busy, too. He has a caroling performance at school on Wednesday, as well as a party. Since he's just like his mama, he didn't want to buy cards for his classmates, he wanted to make them. We also need to decorate a shoe box for him to collect cards from his classmates and thank goodness the only thing I need to send in for the party is string cheese. Of course, I got it in my head last week that I don't have a Christmas outfit for his performance and wouldn't it be nice if I could knit him a little sweater vest. Yeah...not really sure what I'm thinking most of the time. However, his red vest is almost done and it looks big enough to fit my growing boy. The gifts are bought and most of them are wrapped and now all that's left is the planning of the Christmas Eve dinner and the baking and decorating of cookies for Santa. Every day Norrin asks if its Christmas yet and he stomps his feet and says "Humph" every time the answer is no. He told me one day last week that if we baked some cookies then went upstairs and took a really, really long nap that Santa would come. Trust me, kid...if all it took was a really long nap, I'd be all for it :). So, that's where we are. Hope everyone is making great progress on all their holiday plans, staying warm and enjoying every moment...even the crazy, chaotic ones.