Only by His Grace

Today was a special day... Kelsie's dedication. It's a long honored Biblical tradition dating back to the days of Abraham. The people would bring their children to the oldest and/or wisest elder in the tribe for a prayer of blessing on their child that would last their life time. So today, after Tyler's Christmas performance at his school's church, we headed to church. This would be our first trip to church together as a family in quite a few weeks. With my mother-in-law here for a visit, it was an extra special day. Pastor Pete held Kelsie up and prayed that her name sake would be shown all her life. That God's grace in her life and grace toward others would show as a child and be what draws people to know Him as a woman, that she would be a leader of compassion and grace showing others the way to Christ. I was so blessed and touched by his prayer and challenged to be that woman as an example to my daughter. I realized that she would be following my footsteps as I follow Christ's. Lord, I am humbled and honored to have this journey to take, to walk as you walk so my children will know which way to go. Help me to be a woman of grace and integrity that you might be pleased as you look upon me and my family.

Family Traditions

It always starts with my hubby dragging in all the red storage boxes and the huge box filled with our boughs and bobbles. While everyone is out, I spend the day transforming our home into a Christmas wonderland. But, this year is different. This year was surprisingly different. It started the same this year with my hubby dragging in all the boxes, but then he and my 5 year old superhero joined me. It was the start of a family tradition. I can't believe he's old enough to climb the ladder and don the tree with all it's bobbles. He was more than excited and all too eager to help decorate the tree. We capped the night of festivities with hot cocoa and marshmallows and gingerbread cookies... What a wonderful start to a new family tradition for many years to come.

Back to life, back to reality...

So it's been 3 weeks now since our little princess came home and life has finally started to look a little normal. Kelsie is such a good baby, it's hard to grasp this concept of such a content and happy little baby. The newest baby news is that Kelsie finally exceeded her birth weight!! Yipee!! She was having a hard time gaining weight, so her doctor put her on a high calorie formula to add into her diet and by golly, it worked! I have to admit I'm a little bummed that she has to be on the bottle, you know me - au natural... Plus that formula is so expensive!! But the bonus is that Daddy gets to help with some feedings - he loves that time with her.

Tyler is such a great big brother!! I'm so impressed by how nurturing and loving he is towards his "beautiful, gorgeous girl" (that's what he calls her). "Sissy" (another nick name) has definately got him wrapped around his fingers! Everyday after school, he runs up stairs, washes his hands (because he knows how mommy feels about germs!) and "softs" (verb: to gently pet) his baby.

Number two is surprisingly a lot easier to add into life than I thought!! I'm not crazy out of my mind like I was the first time and I think the anal-ness has simmered a bit (only a little). Life is great and I'm so grateful for my two kids!!

Yesterday was a big day for me. I actually went out of the house!! Besides doctors appointments and the one time I took Tyler to school, I have been a home body (and anyone who knows me knows that home body isn't one trait that would attribute to me!). So I ventured out in the cold desert air and made a quick trip to Wal-mart. I had to pick up an ornament for an exchange later that evening. I also tried to find a couple little gifts for nieces and newphews, with little luck. I did however find the cutest shabby chic wooden 3-d snowflake ornament that I couldn't stop touching. So home I went with diapers and an ornament in hand. I was actually getting excited about the prospect of leaving the house again that evening for a fun night out with the girls. My friend Kim, aka Miss Creative Entertainer of the year, put on a big ginger bread man cookie decorating party for 20 friends. She baked us all two cookies each, individually bagged icing for us all and stocked each table with candies and confections to decorate. On top of it all, she made a huge spread of appetizers and desserts and had prizes for the winners of the decorating contest. Don't you hate her already - she's too perfect!! I was in creative heaven!! I haven't done anything creative in a while and I was in need of some "Martha inspired" time. So I sat down and started my quest to decorate my men. I had such a fun time creating my "Tyler" and "Kelsie" cookies!! We finished decorating and it was time for the judging. I voted for the hula girl and surfer boy - so very cute!! I was so surprised that I won (it was a close one, I only won by one vote) and impressed by the prize that I received - a huge ginger bread house cookie jar filled with cookies!! Yummy!! After that, we started the ornament exchange. Is it totally lame that I went for the one I bought?! I couldn't help it, I loved it so much and thought it would be perfect for Tyler's tree!

I left the party and headed home and couldn't believe I actually found myself wanting to be that home-body again. Hmmm, have I made the change? Are the days of being out all the time over? I think so, only temporarily, though. I'm sure once spring hits, Kelsie and I will be hitting the mall again. Maybe not for shopping, but definately for a stroll around with a hot latte in tow.