For Stacie

I made a slideshow of Avery's photo shoot with Stacie. It is pretty long, but if you want to see her in all of her red-christmas-dress glory then have at it.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Christmas Morning

Typical of a Christmas morning, the Sauter kids are up a 5 a.m. to look at the tree and speculate about what they got in their stockings. You'd think that we grow out of this, but it is still my favorite thing on Christmas.The sleepy family on Christmas morning. I admit that I gave in to peer pressure. All of the adults were up and chatting and some people (the boys) were anxious to get the party started and so I woke up Avery. Yes, I woke up the BABY so that the big boys could have their presents. I think that this sets a bad precedent. Avery wasn't too sure about opening stockings and presents at first. She was still so tired. Then she opened up a gift from Grandma Texas that changed her mind. It was a book with a button that, when pushed, would laugh like a giddy little kid. Avery was so excited! She just wanted us to push the button over and over and over.

With a face like this I could read books to her ALL DAY LONG!

After our own Christmas festivities we headed over to the Jackson's for Christmas breakfast and more presents. The day was relaxed but filled with fun activities. At the end of the day Avery was supposed to be playing with Grandpa in the front room. When I went in to check on her I found that she had stolen her binky and blanket and found a cozy spot to put herself to sleep. That's when you know it has been a successful holiday; even the babies are happily tucking themselves into bed.

Christmas Eve

We spent Christmas Eve over at the Jackson's this year. The day consisted of games, food, picture taking and stockings. Avery also spent much of the day decorating and undecorating the tree. I dressed Avery up in her adorable Christmas dress (thanks Aunt Elizabeth!) and tried to get some good pictures of her. Taking pictures of a VERY active 1 year-old is way harder than I thought. Almost every picture I have of her in the last 2 months is a blur. Luckily Stacie got a bunch of cute ones, but I couldn't possibly post all of them here. It was great that everyone could come home this year. Stacie made it back from Texas and Stephanie and Lyle drove out from California so that we could all be together for the holiday. Avery had a blast being the center of attention for the whole day. She LOVES being around her aunts and uncles.

I think that Avery tripled her book collection thanks to Aunt Stephanie. Her stocking was full of Dr. Seuss board books that we can now add to our rotation of night-time reading. I think that if she could talk, Avery could quote Goonight Moon.

Opening stockings on Christmas Eve is one of my favorite Jackson traditions. It is kind of like an amuse bouche. It is just a little taste of what is to come the next day when we all gather together again.

After an exremely busy day and only one short nap, Avery was too tuckered out to even make through stockings. She was in her jammies and taking her evening night-cap while half of the group still had gifts to open. Oh, well. And another busy day ahead tomorrow.

Just Breakin' Us In

Children have a lot of milestones in their lives. They get their first tooth, they crawl, walk, talk, wave, and many other things that we feel the need to document. I feel that as parents we also have milestones that are meant to break us in to this life of parenthood. There is the first blow-out, fever, big fall, etc., that a baby goes through, but that we must deal with. Last night, or early this morning, Joe and I had a milestone; we had our first midnight run to the emergency room.

Avery woke up around 11 with this TERRIBLE cough that had Joe thinking a dog had snuck into her room somehow. We put her back to bed and she fell right to sleep, but I could not go back to bed without knowing what was ailing my poor baby. Into the car we went and over to Good Sam's ER. 1 hour, several tears, and $100 later, Avery has croup. Nothing to worry about really. I admit that when I heard "croup" I immediately thought of the movie Anne of Green Gables when Anne rushes over to the Barry's house in the middle of the night to save Minnie May from certain death by croup. I know that it is hardly so devastating now, but come on, how can anyone who has seen that movie NOT skip a beat or two while the mind processes the possibilities.

Avery is doing fine now. She is on a steroid to help with the cough and she is super cuddly. I admit to some extra crankiness. But, like I said, she is just breaking us in.

Success!

Have you ever thought of a cool project or craft that you would like to do but weren't sure you could do it? Have you ever taken on a project that just did not turn out the way you pictured it in your head? Any woman who has been through Young Women's or an Enrichment activity has had a craft put in front of her with a perfect example to follow, and then had her own craft fall very short of the example displayed.
I feel like this happens to me with every craft, sewing project, or artsy activity I have ever done. The reality NEVER matches what I saw in my brain. The edging is all wrong, the fabrics weren't the ones I was hoping for, my hand wasn't steady enough on the lines, etc.
I have had a stocking in mind for Avery since last Christmas. I have thought about it on and off for a whole year. What materials I would use, what colors, what details I would like. I admit that I almost didn't even want to try because what I had in my mind was so cute and I was just sure I could not replicate it. Especially since there was no pattern for what I wanted, I was going to have to do it all on my own. But the desire to create something for Avery was too overwhelming. I NEEDED to try and make her this stocking that was haunting my brain.
So, I headed to Joann's (all Christmas stuff is already 60% off) to see if I could find the fabrics and little details I wanted. And then a miracle happened; I did. I had such specific fabrics that I wanted and they were there! How often does that happen? My problem is that my ideas are usually so specific that I can't ever find what I'm looking for. My happiness overflowed.
I admit that the most daunting task was the actual cutting. I had to make the patterns for everything myself and I was worried that they would come out all wrong. And then another miracle happened; they didn't. They came out perfect. What was going on?
So it was time to put all of the pieces together and see if they really would work together, or if I could put it together the way that I envisioned. And the final miracle; they did and I could.
My finished project, Avery's Christmas Stocking, looks exactly like I wanted it too. For once, my project turned out perfectly. I am so proud of myself right now. I will cry the day she decides she wants a new one!

CONGRATULATIONS!

To Jon and Val on their new baby, Zoe!

Been Gone So Long

I was doing so well this year. I was blogging 1-2 times a week. I would catch up if I missed a week or two. Now it has been 5 weeks. 5 WEEKS! And as I sit to finally blog I find that I have very little to blog about. Thanksgiving came and went and I have no pictures to show for it. My house is all Christmas-y and I don't feel enthusiastic about sharing. Avery has gotten bigger, more developed, shoot, she is walking! and I can't get excited about blogging again. I am in a funk. An end-of-the-year funk and I can't seem to get out of it. The thought of backtracking the last 5 weeks to find something to share with you just makes me want to take a nap. But I will persevere. If you check back through the last month you will find posts that were not there yesterday. Hooray.

The Botanical Gardens

We were invited to go the the Botanical Gardens this last weekend to see the Luminarios that they do every year. Essentially it is those little bags with candles in them that people put on the ground at Christmas to light their pathways. It was cool. There were a LOT of them and it was interesting to think about the process of lighting all of those candles. But it was not really flashy or exciting, and we had all taken our kids and this was not really a kids venue.

The real entertainment was all of the bands that were there to perform all over the garden.

Had it just been couples we would have had the time to sit and listen to a flamenco band, brass band, bell (yes

, bells) band, and, best of all, a jazz band. While we got to spend a few

minutes listening to each one, the real party was when the kids were let loose at the jazz performance. Dancing and hijinks ensued. I think that Avery had a crush on the drummer. She couldn't keep her eyes off of him. Should I be worried already?

In the end, I would NOT reccommend this as a family outing. At $20 a person you really should stick to making it a night out with your honey. The luminarios were fine, but the bands are why you go.

Mystery Music

I love Christmas music. I have had it playing in the house since Thanksgiving. I was beginning to think that someone in the house liked it even more than myself because it kept getting louder and louder. I would turn it on and start chores and then it would suddenly be louder. Or, I would turn it on after it had been off for a while, and it would be blaring at full volume. What the heck? Who was messing with my music? Then Joe caught this on camera:

Up the stairs and through the gaps! Sneaky girl! What can I

say? She loves her Christmas tunes. I guess putting stuff up on the bookshelf doesn't ensure their safety.