December in Review

December always gets away from me and there is so much going on but I don't ever blog or tell anyone about it so... here is a quick review.

Christmas decorations with a 10 month old is a challenge but it was one that we whole heartedly accepted.  When we first put up our Christmas decorations and the tree Elizabeth didn't seem to care much but as the month went on she became more aware.  We had the tree behind the couch/chair and she did okay at leaving it alone- there was some ornament snatching! She also was young enough not to know what presents were; I would actually wrap in the living room while she played and she would leave it alone (even the wrapping paper laid on the floor)- believe me this changed after she learned what to DO with the presents.  Throughout the month I got fun naked baby with ornament pictures. 

 Here are some I took at my parents house (12/6/13):

My parents got Elizabeth a push toy for Christmas to help her walk but it was pretty obvious at the beginning of December that she was not going to wait, so they gave it to her early.  She has been walking around furniture and standing on her own for a while now but has not shown an interest in walking alone.  Why walk when you can crawl REALLY FAST? It took her a while to get used to pushing the walk toy around (our house is small so she runs into walls quickly) but she soon learned how to maneuver it around.

We went to the Crocs Christmas Party and this year it was at the Denver Broncos Stadium (the Pepsi Center).  It was a cool location because they gave free tours of the stadium; we got to see the boxes, guest locker rooms and even got to go down to the field. The night was fun with dinner and dancing.  It is always fun to see Ben with his work friends and get to know that HUGE part of his life better! 

We had other activities we did and parties and events we went to; Brea had her annual Book Club White Elephant Exchange that went well (she read 43 books this year and is proud of that accomplishment).  Brea also went to a baby 'sprinkle' (a shower for friends who already had babies) and got to pamper herself and her friends.  Brea did days of baking and we all got to take treats around.  Elizabeth and Brea drove out to the airport one day and got to have a fun lunch with Michael Angelo (at his layover on his way home for Christmas).  We both sang in the Sunday Ward Christmas Program.  We had a fun night of treat giving and Christmas Caroling with the Newson's!

One of the BIGGEST parties, at least in Ben's mind, was the Ward Christmas Party at which Ben was in charge of the program.  He was really nervous about this and stressed but it turned out GREAT! People loved it (he might have done a little TOO good and risks being asked again next year).  The night ended with a big surprise, we learned that our outgoing, personable, social, fun loving baby girl does have a phobia; Santa Clause.  It was a shock to us how scared she got (she will go to strangers all the time) and is it bad to say that I kind of loved the cuteness of her fear!?!

Thanksgiving!

Michael Angelo has been doing his freshman year at Utah State University in Logan Utah.  Instead of going home to Virginia for Thanksgiving he came to Colorado! It was really fun having him here; We taught him to play some games and had fun hanging out with him.  He loves and dotes on Elizabeth and she loved having someone with endless energy play with her and chase her around the house.  I am pretty sure she was soaking in his loving attention!  While he was here Michael had his Board of Review for his Eagle.  He asked Ben to be on his board and Ben said it went good.  I am so proud of Michael for getting his Eagle!! 

As usual, we spent the Wednesday before Thanksgiving making PIES! We made two pumpkin pies, two chocolate peanut butter and an apple.  We left a pumpkin and a chocolate pie at Mom and Dad's house (for Thanksgiving Dessert) and took the other's to the Newson's (as our families contribution to the Pie per Person Count).  We had Thanksgiving dinner at the Newson's house; it was delicious, as always, and Elizabeth was about the size of the Turkey. Then we went to the Stones for dessert (or MORE dessert) and games.  

Elizabeth did not like the idea of both of us cooking in the kitchen without her- so to spare her from getting stepped on or some other cooking catastrophe Ben held her in the baby holder.  Ben learned that cooking with a baby in toe is harder than one might first think.

Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday filled with the joys of food, family and friends.  This year it was especially fun having Elizabeth with us and being so grateful for our growing healthy family!!

Oh and YES... We did go Black Friday Shopping!!!

November in Review

November started with a Brea Blunder; while putting away laundry I kicked the side table in our bedroom and broke my second to baby toe. At first we thought it was a bad bruise/sprain but after inspection from Nurse Mom we decided it was broken.  It hurt for a couple weeks and forced me to wear sandals in the snow (no other shoes would fit) but I finally was able to get a real shoe on and it has healed great!

The weather got warm enough that we were able to spend more time outside (11/9).  Elizabeth loves being outside but when the ground is cold and covered in wet leaves I don't let her crawl around much!  We also got our first snow (11/20) and Elizabeth got to go outside in her snow suit and sit in it.  She didn't really understand why I was so excited and just kept looking at me like, "It's cold and I can't move!" 

On Friday Nov 15, Ben took the afternoon off at work and we went to the temple.  We took Elizabeth with us (so one of us went in and the other stayed out and babysat and vise versa).  It was the first time I was able to go since Elizabeth was born and it was great! I am so glad that we live so close to the temple and hope to be able to go more now that she is getting older. 

The Louisville Ward Elder's Quorum adopted a lake in Louisville to take care of a clean.  On Nov 16 we went with the Elder's Quorum and got to pick up trash around the lake.  It was a little brisk but a good reason to take a nice early morning walk.  

I tried taking Elizabeth swimming at the Louisville Rec Center and it was not fun (the kiddy pool was lame).  So I convinced Ben to go with us for FHE to the Lafayette pool (11/19).  This is the pool where I went growing up and it is so much fun.  Elizabeth LOVED it and she laughed and played in the water.  I think babies come out naturally swimmers because she could kick and move in the water like it was so natural!

Ben and I got CU tickets to the last home football game of the season; CU vs USC.  Rachel and Nedra watched Elizabeth so that we could go.  It was FREEZING but so much fun.  The first 5 minutes of the game were pretty intense and then we got behind and lost pretty bad (as expected this year).  The highlight of the game was during half time when one of the male cheerleaders broke a world record and did 70 back flips in a row across the football field; It made me dizzy just watching him.  After the game we went to a concert at a bar to hear our friends Forsyth and Gee play. It was a fun night!

Here is a video of the Cheerleader- seriously amazing!!

Homemade Applesauce

Mom and Dad went to Logan to pick up Grandma Baker for the holidays and while there they picked some apples from Grandma and Brenda's trees.  I went to Mom's house one afternoon and we made and canned 28 jars of applesauce.  Elizabeth loves the applesauce and I am kind of proud that I was able to make it!!