Learning to Like the Water...

After the last visit to the Aquatic Center, I have vowed to make it a weekly thing.

I was a lifeguard for years.

I taught just about every kid in my hometown how to swim.

I will not have a kid that is afraid of the water.

{one of those...I will eat those words some day...}

I think not having a fear, but having respect for the water is so, so, so important! 

This is how today's visit started...

 With some help from Aunt Katie and Auntie Leesh...

{have I mentioned how much I we love them...}

Some extra love from Mommy...

Comfort from paci...

Some tickling from Auntie Leesh...

 Lots of clapping and cheering from Mommy {behind the camera} & Aunt Katie {behind the video camera}...

 Munchkin finally relaxed and had fun splashing in the water.

A small victory...but this Water-Loving-Mommy will take it!

YAAY Munchkin!!

...now to get him ready for Great Wolf Lodge this Spring!

He looks like his he freezing. He wasn't.  Mommy was obsessing over keeping him warm...not sure why he looks blue in the pictures.

Also...Remember Cliff? The sweet baby on my side bar?

Have you heard about the $1 Push?

What’s The Great $1 Push?

Check it out here & enter to win a SILHOUETTE die cutting machine too!!

Christmas Pizza

All of my extended family lives out of state.
Which left just my parents, brothers, and I on Christmas.
According to my Mom, we used to have big dinners on Christmas.
Truthfully, I don't remember them.
I do remember the Christmas she had the stomach flu.
I remember her laying on the couch while the boys and I played with our toys next to her.
I don't remember exactly how the story goes...if she made pizza that year, because she didn't have the energy for a big dinner...
Or the next, because she realized how nice it was to not spend the day making a big Turkey dinner.
Either way, I know we didn't have turkey when she had the flu.
And that is how Christmas Pizza came to be.

My Mom realized she got to spend more time playing with us, and less time in the kitchen if she made her homemade pizza, instead of a turkey dinner.
And any kid I know would pick pizza over turkey any day!
One year she told us she was going to make a big dinner.
The boys and I told her absolutely not, we want Christmas Pizza!

I never had to leave my house on Christmas.
I never had to get out of my pjs.
I have had Christmas Pizza for as long as I can remember.
As a Mom, I don't want Karson to have to leave the house on Christmas.
I don't want him to have to get out of his pjs.
And I want to spend the day playing on the floor with him, instead of spending the day in the kitchen.
If I have it my way, we will always have Christmas Pizza for dinner.
And until otherwise noted...if you want to see us on Christmas, you can head to our house.
Because Munchkin is staying put!
The way it should be.
Her homemade pizza is another one of those family recipes that I have no idea where it came from.
But I know it is good.
And super easy.
And really, really, really, good!

Christmas Pizza:
Mix
1C warm water
1pkg dry yeast

Add
3c flour
1tbs crisco
1/2 tsp salt
Let rise for 1-1/2 hours

Brown 1pkg breakfast sausage
Add
1sm clove garlic minced
1 lg can tomatoes
'some' minced onion
 sorry...it is how my Mom cooks and therefor how I cook
1 tbl oregano
Simmer 1 hour

Spread dough on a pan and cover with sauce. Bake 350* until almost done.
again, no time 'It's done when its done'
Top with pizza cheese, and return to oven until done.
Always enjoy on Christmas. :-)

  

Instead of spending my day in the kitchen yesterday, I got to do a whole lot of this...

 This is the only picture I have of Karson and I yesterday.

It was probably around 4:00.

And it is exactly how I want to remember our first Christmas as Mommy & Munchkin.

I am still in my pjs.

Granted, he got dressed, because it is too hard for him to walk in sleepers.

But he is comfy.

We spent the day cuddling on the couch and playing on the floor.

I did not spend my day in the kitchen cooking.

And we ate Christmas Pizza for dinner.

Baby's 1st Christmas

When your a kid, you think nothing is better than being a kid on Christmas morning.

Then you have a kid of your own, and you realize, being a Mommy on Christmas morning tops being a kid.

It tops just about everything.

And your talking to someone who had wonderful, tradition filled Christmases as a kid.

If fact, this is the first year ever Christmas has been different.

While we missed Grandma Nana, we know she needed to spend Christmas with Jaelee and Jax in Colorado.

Christmas Eve will filled with all of our traditional Christmas Munchies. Grandpa came over and munched with us.  Karson got his first bites of Christmas Meatballs and Christmas Chicken Wings.  We had plans to go to church, but lost track of time...oops.  Really, Munchkin has a bad cough, and I hate when people bring sick kids places.  So it is good we kept him home.  I insisted on putting my baby to bed on Christmas Eve.  I told him all about Santa landing on our roof and how tomorrow was Baby Jesus' Birthday.  And when he is older, we will have a big party for Jesus on Christmas. After lots of hugs and kisses, he went to bed.  Out came the fondue pot for the adults.  YUM.  My dad, DJ, and I ate more fried food than we should have.  It was yummy!  DJ and Dad decided they are taking over the fondue pot when Mom is home next year.  No forks.  Free for all. Get ready Mom!  After we had our fill of wonderful fried food, Santa arrived.  He filled our tree with presents, while Munchkin was sleeping.  Mommy did not get sentimental about it being his first Christmas.  ...because who gets all sappy about putting presents under their tree.  right....

DJ went to bed with strict orders: "Don't you dare get my baby out of his crib on Christmas morning without me!"

Munchkin didn't sleep well...probably because he was so excited about Santa coming!  Or because he has a nasty cough.  We had to wake him up this morning.  I couldn't wait to show him what was waiting for him.  We just forgot that he saw it when he was up in the middle of the night.

We ate coffee cake with my Dad.  Who had been sitting in our driveway for 10 minutes before we woke up.  ...oops!  We let Karson open his presents.  He was so excited to open them at first.  But it got old, and he just wanted to play.  So it literally took us all day to open gifts.   

if there are doubles...sorry...enjoy my sweet boy twice...

By 9:00 it was morning nap time, and more coffee for Mommy time!  DJ and I ate breakfast and played the Wii.  Today we learned that I am not very good at Super Mario Brothers.  I die.  A lot.

Munchkin woke up not feeling well.  Really, kids should get an out on Christmas.  They shouldn't have to be sick.  He really just wanted to snuggle with Mommy and Daddy.  Thank goodness for the two new Praise Baby DVDs Santa put in his stocking!

 Mommy and Daddy fought over took turn snuggling Karson on the couch.

 Soon after getting up he went back down for another nap.  Mommy made Christmas Pizza.  In an attempt to make this not the longest post in history, I will post the Christmas Pizza story later.  It is YUMMY!

 Munchkin woke up feeling a little better and we played.  He loves his new table, and his ABC Magnet.  I had planned on putting it on the fridge, but realized when I was putting it up that it would fit on our door.  PERFECT!  

In case you were wondering.  He pulled the base off the door, bent down and picked it up, and stood up on his own.  That is a first!  And doing it with a toy in his hands proves the kid has it all figured out, he just likes to surprise Mommy!

I don't have many pictures of Karson playing, because I was too busy playing with him.

{One of the perks of Christmas Pizza!}

He got an extra long bath with Daddy with his new boats, and bubble octopus. 

 My house is quiet now.

Even the dogs are out cold on the couch.

I have added my third entry into my Christmas Memory Book.

I can not wait for next year, and the next year, and the next...

I can not wait to tell him more about Jesus' Birthday, and how special that is.

I can not wait until he is old enough to have a Birthday party for Jesus.

To leave out cookies for Santa and Reindeer food for Rudolf.

And in case you were wondering what Munchkin got for Christmas.

Here are a few of the toys that were wrapped under our tree.

Merry Christmas

Love, 

DJ, Kelly, Karson

& Molly too

Sledding

In our house, we love snow.

Love it.

We do not like to drive in it.

But we love to play in it.

Karson already has a pair of skis.

I was so excited to take him out on his new sled he got from Grandma Nana and Grandpa.

 He LOVED it!

{So did Molly...we she just liked getting to run around the house, and in the field behind us.}

 He was peeved when we were getting him ready.

Thus the paci.

Don't let it fool you.

There is a smile behind it.

 Am I getting sentimental about taking Munchkin sledding for the first time?

YUP

Love, love, love, sharing one of our loves with him.

Snow and Lake Michigan.

 I will miss the country because of this when, and if, we ever move.

 It is beautiful. 

And Mollers can run around the house, and we don't have to worry about her running off.

 So maybe we are weird.

Because we love the snow so much.

 Or because we bring our almost 10 month old out in the snow.

Because finding boots that would fit an almost 10 month old, that are snow proof, was next to impossible.

 But Karson fits right in.

In our crazy snow loving family.

Because he loved the snow too.

After he was done sledding, he played in the driveway for a while.

The fresh air must have worn him out.

He cuddled up on the couch with Daddy when we came in, and fell asleep.

Way before nap time!

Coffee Cake

If you haven't figured it out already, I'm a tradition girl.
I am a creature of habit.
Really, it is my Mom's fault.
She went out of her way to make any holiday a little more Special.
Especially Christmas.

I want Karson's Christmases to look just like mine did.
I never had to leave our house on Christmas.
I stayed in my pjs.
All day.
I played with my new toys.
All day.
I ate my favorite Christmas foods.
All day.
Starting before breakfast.
Because, really, what kid wants to take the time to sit and eat breakfast, when there is a tree filled with presents from Santa waiting for them?

Exactly.
My mom always made us her homemade coffee cake for pre-breakfast, while we opened gifts.
Whenever there is a family get together, we always have her coffee cake.
She made coffee cake for me the morning of my wedding.
We ate coffee cake at the cottage.
I know it is a family recipe, again, I just don't know how.
It is amazing.

I want Karson's Christmas mornings to include coffee cake.
And because I want to start traditions out early with him, I made coffee cake tonight for Saturday morning.

Krantz:
They are called Krantz in my family cook book. We call them coffee cake, but whenever the recipe is written out it is called Krants. I have no idea why.

1/2 lb butter
4 c flour 
Cut together (like pie crust)

Scald 1c milk
When it is warm add 1 pkg dry yeast, mix well.
Let it cool, it will kill the yeast.  But  not too cool, or it won't activate the yeast. Basically, have a few extra packages of yeast just in case.

Add
2T sugar
3 well beaten eggs

Mix yeast mixture with flour.
Refrigerate over night.

Divide into thirds.

Roll out into a rectangle.
Spread with melted butter.
Sprinkle with:
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup baking cocoa
Roll up the long way.
So it is long and skinny.
Cut into thirds, the long way.
Leave about an inch at the top so it stays together.
Braid.
Let rise.
Bake at 350* until light brown.
Mine took 20 minutes, but I have a crazy oven. It either cooks super fast or super slow. Drives me nuts!


Yum. Yum. Yum. Yum.

Frosting:
A few pats of softened butter.
Some powered sugar.
Some milk.

Blame my Mom for the frosting directions. {love you Mom!:-)) It is how she cooks, and therefor how I cook.  Basically, add more milk to make to make it runnier. More powered sugar to make it thicker.  More of both to make more.  Just don't dump in all the powered sugar or milk in the beginning, or you won't have any left to fix with.

Obviously I made mine tonight, a few days before.  You can freeze them, for days or months down the road. Reheat them in the oven, frost them right before you eat them.

Did I say YUM?!

Christmas Party Weekend

This weekend was full of Christmas Parties and Mommy spending Saturday in bed.

DJ and I left Karson with my mom on Friday night and headed to a Christmas Party with friends.

It was so nice to spend time with friends. 

But I hate being away from Karson, even for a few hours.

I had planned to stay at my parent's on Friday night, because you don't wake a sleeping Karson.

He must have known I was home, because as soon as I walked in he woke up.

He wanted to sleep, but couldn't.

Poor baby!

I finally went to the store at 3:00 {AM} to get some Tylenol & Benedryl for Munchkin.

{Not because I was trying to drug my kid back to sleep, but because he was obviously in pain, and had a runny nose.}

And some tums for me, because the large amounts of {yummy, yummy} spinach dip I ate wasn't settling well.

At 3:30 I finally got Karson down.

And ran to the bathroom to throw up.

Felt 100x better, and went back to bed anxious for a day of Christmas prep and get together with my parents an brothers.

NOT!

I threw up every 2 hours for 10 hours.

At my parents house.

I love my Mom!

She got up with Munchkin in the morning.

And played with him so I could sleep until DJ came home from work.

Lamb family Christmas party canceled.

DJ, Munchkin, and I went home.

I stayed in bed all day!

Missed my baby like crazy!

Slept 13 hours that night, woke up feeling much better.

Headed to DJ's family Christmas party.

Munchkin got a new racetrack.

 He understands how to open gifts.

But sometimes forgets not to eat the paper.

All the Smedley cousins.

{Cody, Kenna, Chase, and Karson}

The best we could get with 4 kids under 4.

 Karson got to open his gifts from Grandma Nana and Grandpa on Sunday night.

Since I messed up Saturday's plans, and my mom will be at my brother's on Christmas.

 Munchkin inspecting his new hammer.

{I envision this being used on the dog some day.}

 Opening his truck like Grandpa's!

 

 Opening Chuck.

Who cracks me up...

 "I'm Chuck. Lets kick up some dirt."

{insert Chuck flying through my living room here}

Aside from being sick on Saturday, it was a good weekend.

Thankfully, no one got my stomach flu.

But, if you couldn't tell by the pictures, Munchkin is sick again.

DJ is sick.

It better all be done with by Friday!

Oh how I can not wait for Christmas with Karson!!