Lillian Turns 1!!

Our beautiful Lillian celebrated her first birthday last week. She was completely loving all of the attention from family and the cake. Lots and lots of cake.

I had a hard time coming up with a theme for her birthday (yes, I know I put way too much pressure on myself to have a theme for birthdays, I mean shouldn't the birthday itself be a theme? but I really like to have something to work from). Anyway, there is something about Lillian, or just having kids in general that is making me completely cheesy.

See, at first I wanted to do a snowflake theme, but when I finally made it to the store (her birthday completely sneaked up on me, one bad thing about having a birthday so close to the holidays..) there was nothing but Valentine decorations everywhere. I brainstormed for a bit and then had a "light bulb" moment. Lillian loves being surrounded by people who love her, as long as you give her lots of hugs and kisses and act like she is the cutest girl in the world, well then she is as happy as a clam.

So, we surrounded Lillian with love this year. (I told you it was cheesy).

Her heart-shaped cake. (I would like to say that the funky looking sides are due to grabby-two-year-old hands, but I would be lying. Let's just say that I got into a fight with the cake during frosting...).


The decorations - some of which I am leaving up for Valentine's Day.


Lillian made out like a bandit, these pictures are just the beginning. She ended up with two boxes of play food for the new kitchenette (a Christmas present courtesy my parents), a cute outfit, some fun bibs, a tea set, a guitar that plays music, a See and Say, and a red fire-truck from Samuel (which he thinks is his).

And the complementary cake-eating pics:


Happy Birthday beautiful girl!

New Year Thoughts

I must admit, I feel completely motivated for the New Year, which is a complete 180 from this time last year. I have been cleaning, organizing, de-cluttering, and exercising. I'm not letting anything get in the way.

This year I am focusing on my attitude. I want to be more positive, confident, and loving. I want to stop stressing out about things I won't remember a few days/weeks/years from now and enjoy the little moments.

I want to enjoy my children. Samuel and Lillian have such personalities and every day is a new and exciting day with them. Lillian is starting to walk, Samuel is forming sentences, and they are growing-up right before my eyes. They bring such joy to our home and I love them more every day.

I want to feel good about myself. I notice that my attitude towards others depends heavily on how I see myself. I've joined a gym, plan out my menus, will cut back on dining out, and finding ways to enrich my life.

Most importantly I want to show how much I love and appreciate the love of my life. Carlin is the most important person in my life. He is my best friend, my companion. He is so patient and kind to me, always lifting me up. He is never afraid to share the yoke of marriage. He needs to know how much I love him.

Last but not least Carlin and I are implementing Pres. Uchtdorf's philosophies from his October General Conference talk and simplifying. We will look at our life and ask ourselves what "clutters" our day. We don't want to miss a precious moment because we were too busy doing stuff.

My life is so richly blessed. I have a husband who loves me, faults and all. Two beautiful children who remind me to laugh. We live close to family which makes grandparents, aunts and uncles all a part of my children's lives. We aren't doing too bad in temporal matters either.

This year is going to be a great year, I just know it.

Twelve Days of Christmas

My Twelve Days of Christmas kind of failed. Carlin ended up having Strep, and then passed it onto me. So he was sick the first half of the week and I was sick the last half. We did do a few things like watch movies and read books and on Christmas Eve we drove around looking at lights, which Samuel loved.

We finally made it to Chickasha lights last night. It was fun and the kids loved looking at all the bright lights. I took pictures but I'm too lazy to upload them to blogger, so just use your imagination.

I am now taking full advantage of having my husband home for the week (and well) and we have been up to our elbows in projects around the house, trying to have a fresh start on the New Year.

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me...

A Gingerbread House Decorating Party. (Samuel's is the tepee looking one at the front).

We had so much fun decorating gingerbread houses. Everyone was so creative with their gingerbread houses making front lawns and even adding "insulation."

Laura & Tyson's

Sharon & Charlie's

Left: Barry & Dawn's (Barry says it's his man-cave) Right: Hilary and Russ's

Unfortunately, Carlin came home from work sick and stayed the night in bed. His sickness has continued and we might have to reschedule tonight's events. :( However, I did save some gingerbread and everyone left candy behind so Carlin and I can have our own mini-decorating party.

Definitely something that will need to turn into a tradition for future years.

On the Fourth Day of Christmas....

My true love gave to me...

Some fun Christmas-y crafts.

We also made a glittery pine-cone but I sadly left it in the car, so no pics.

On the Third Day of Christmas

My true love gave to me:

Braum's Peppermint Ice Cream - yes, I was in heaven.

On the Second Day of Christmas

My True love gave to me...

a movie night with some good company.


Our homemade pizza! (Sorry the picture is bad, I was in a hurry, we were quite hungry...).


It was such a fun night. We watched "While You Were Sleeping" because it takes place at Christmas time and it's one of my favorite movies, perfect for a date night.