Loving Lucy....

 When I had Lucy, the first thing I noticed was how much she looked like her "Bubby" and the second thing I noticed was that she had dimples. 

 I now know that the Lord blessed her with dimples because she doesn't smile near as often as her brother, but when she does, it's the delight of our hearts. The dimples also possess magical powers. The powers are used exclusively on her daddy and it's working. She and her dimples have him wrapped around her itsiest bitsiest finger. She can do no wrong in his eyes and I'm fairly certain she knows it. I've actually never seen anything like it.

Lucy knows what she wants and she goes to get it. While my son is under my foot ALL.THE.TIME, she prefers to venture out on her own. I have to "find" her daily, and when I do, she is usually playing quietly in a mess that she has created. 

 She's driven and opinionated and eats more in one meal than her brother eats in an entire day. Her mouth is always open for food and I have yet to see her refuse anything. 

  But she loves animals more than food. Animal Planet while enjoying a bottle? Well that's just heaven. 

 And she loves her "Bubby" above all of that. He's the only person she will willingly kiss and she goes out of her way to "hang" in his room. I'm so thankful they have each other. A sibling is such a sweet, sweet gift.

She's quiet as a mouse when she wants to be...

 ...and then when she has something to say, well watch out. She is Judy Moody, Crabby Patty, Rudith Judith, Sassy Sally...but she's the apple of our eye and she's funny to boot. 

 Our home would not be the same with out her giggles and girlish squeals.

These last 12 months have been so wonderfully exciting and challenging all at the same time. When you have your first child, you learn how much you can love. When you have a second child, you learn how much more you can. 

 Our hearts have grown in love and patience and we can't imagine our world with out Lucy. As her birthday approaches, I'm growing increasingly aware of the close of a chapter. The Newborn Baby chapter is exhausting and physically draining, but oh-so-wonderful. 

 At times I think that I didn't enjoy it as much as I should have, but then I realize that I could do the Newborn Chapter a million times and still be sad when it's over. I am so very thankful that I have been doubly blessed to have the gracious privilege of being a mom. I am so excited for the coming chapters of manicures, American Girls, and cookie baking, but for the next couple of days, I'm going to rock and enjoy my baby as much as I can. It goes by way too quick. 

A Look Into Our Christmas Window.

By January 1st I am SO over Christmas. I go from zero to North Pole Headquarters in the 24 hours after Halloween and carry on the yule tide cheer through Thanksgiving going right on through Christmas, so when that big old ball drops at midnight, so does my zest for the holidays. But I LOVE Christmas and every single little drop of holiday magic that goes along with it. Christmas memories of my childhood are nothing less than magical and I can only hope that my kids have the same feelings about the season when they are grown. But I'm not gonna lie, it's hard-stinkin-work and unless you have kids that are counting on you, I can see just how easy it is to let it go right on past you. 

This year was a little different than years past, I didn't have quite as much on my plate as I have had the past few years. I wrapped up the bulk of my photography at Thanksgiving, I wasn't 9 months pregnant, and I wasn't hosting any rehearsal dinners 4 days before Christmas, I thought I had all the time in the world. As it turns out, times seems to fly away no matter how much is on the plate. I had a list a mile long of all of the things I wanted to do this year. I had high hopes of doing a lot of random acts of kindness to teach Kidd-o about giving, but before I knew it, I had one week left until Christmas, not one present bought and around 60 people that would be coming in and out of my house for Christmas. So I had to settle for just dropping all my change into Salvation Army buckets whenever we saw one and buying coffee for the person behind me in the drive thru, not exactly what I had in mind, but it'll have to do until next year. 

We did manage to watch all of the obligatory movies and specials, bake cookies,

  we checked out some Christmas lights, rode a pink pig, visited the Mrs. and the ol' guy himself, and I tried to point every moment towards The King. 

 When I think back to this Christmas, I think I will remember how sweet it was. My boy takes after his momma and loved everything about the season...

 ...and for my girl, she loved the lights, the music and making silly faces....

 This was our first Christmas in our new home and it welcomed us quite nicely. I made sure my halls were fully decked and that it oozed Christmas cheer, so that everyone who entered felt the warmth...I hope they did.

  I worked my butt off the days leading up to The Big Day, so that when it finally came, I could take it all in without running around like a mad woman. I hope I remember this "recipe" for next year, because all the hard work paid off and I was stress free for the most part!

 Now, my home is back to it's non holiday state, all that's left are a couple of gingerbread men, and that means it's time to make preparations for a certain little girl's very first birthday. Not sure of all the details just yet, but I do know that "I Love Lucy."