Holiday Pounds

Are you always hungry, and want to eat everything in sight?

Do you lack energy, and spend most of your free time napping on the couch?

Are you tired of trying to hide your rolls under bulky, unflattering clothes?

Then the SNOW DIET is for you!

More affordable than other meals plans, the SNOW DIET is totally free,
totally tasteless, and has no calories or fat!

Magsy now has the confidence to wear stretch pants.

Bronwyn has more energy to climb indoor windows!

Thanks to the new SNOW DIET, we are ready for a night on the town!

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

We have had SO much fun the past few days! Wednesday Todd took the girls sledding, and Ty and I watched from the warm van. :) There was barely enough snow, but the girls loved it! And let's be honest, so did Todd. Such a great dad!

CHRISTMAS EVE:
Quite possibly the best night of the year!

Can you believe how big my girls' mouths are?! They were quite the performers, singing many of their songs from their preschool program. Bronwyn did such a great job. She has come so far this last year, it's hard to believe she used to have stage fright!

For the first time, the family did a nativity program.
It was a lot of fun, and a great way to spend the evening.
Magdalen was an angel, and she was oh so beautiful in her wings from "Auntie Emily".

Bronwyn wanted to be the star, like she was at school.

She loved holding her little tea light, so that she could sparkle like a real star.

My Wise Man.

Looks pretty great, huh?

Carrots and cookies for Santa and Rudolph.

CHRISTMAS MORNING
Playing with our new bug puppets.

Just what she wanted!

The girls did a great job waiting their turn, and loved all their gifts!

Look who can stand up all by himself! I'm in trouble!

The oldest and youngest members of our family.
Grandma Gigi: 103 years. Ty: 9 1/2 months.

We had a wonderful Christmas season this year!

Just what I wanted....

There have been a few Christmases in my life when I have gotten exactly what I wanted. When I was 5 I got a stuffed parrot that recorded what I said, and repeated it back to me. A real dream come true. Several years later, Santa brought me a glow in the dark poster of all the constellations that I am certain would still be on my ceiling if my parents still lived in the house I grew up in. The last few years have sadly been filled with disappointment. As a new mom, I have dreamed of giving my children the greatest Christmas imaginable. But for some reason my kids always end up crying and throwing fits during most of the day. Now, I don't know how my kids will be this year, but here we are, several days before Christmas, and I have already gotten everything single thing I wanted this year.

Hand made ornaments and gifts from my girls.

Time with wonderful friends.

ROCKBAND!
This year Todd and I decided to forgo giving eachother gifts, and got ourselves Rockband. It has been SO much fun! Todd is really good about finding the perfect gift for me, and I usually end up with something sparkly underneath the tree. But for this year, it really worked out wonderfully.

A sweet school program.

Both of the girls did great in their Christmas program at preschool. I was nervous because Bronwyn typically does not enjoy performing, but she really exceeded my expectations, and totally made me cry. (videos at the bottom of the post)

Magsy typically loves to perform, and she did a great job too.
Both girls also sang in Sacrament meeting with Todd and I. I seriously am in shock that Bronwyn has been doing so much performing!

Two wonderful Grandmas!

Fun pictures will all 5 of us.

Homemade cookies!

A day at the ice rink.

And a night at the lights.

An evening of service.
We dressed up as Snow Princesses, and delivered gifts to needy families.
The girls had a blast, and it was just all around awesome.

Puzzles!

Time with family.
Sure, it sounds cheesy, but time with the ones you love really is the best present.

5 years, and counting...

I was on my music therapy internship, in Orem, when I found out I was pregnant with Bronwyn. Todd and I were only together on weekends, so I sent him this picture on our cell phones to show him the positive pregnancy test. I was supposed to wait until Friday to take a test (the next time we would be together.) But I only made it until Tuesday!

Bronwyn was due on Dec. 19th, but surprised us when my water broke right after I had gone to bed on December 7th. Here I am holding her a few hours after she was born, on Dec. 8th. When I had her, I really had NO IDEA what I had gotten myself into! Looking back over the past 5 years I see that we have really had quite the journey together. I have found myself getting quite nostalgic today, and even holding back a few tears here and there. How can my baby already be 5 years old?

Named after my dad, Bron; Bronwyn is the only grandchild my dad ever met. She was only 10 months old when he died, and taking care of her really helped through it all. I will always treasure the few months I got to see my dad be a grandpa.

Being the oldest, Bronwyn surely experiences the worst parenting out of all of our kids. By the time Magdalen hits the phase Bronwyn has just grown out of, we are much more capable of handling the situation. But so far, I don't think we have done too much emotional damage. :) Also being the oldest makes me feel like she is my bud, too. I can talk to and reason with her the most. I can also count on her to help me out. She loves helping me take care of Ty, and is pretty good about helping me around the house. She is old enough that she and I can have secrets too. Our favorite is telling Magsy that Bronwyn is going to nap (which she hasn't done in MONTHS), just so Magsy will take a nap. Once Magsy is asleep Bronwyn comes out of the office and hangs with me while the other two kids nap. She will spend hours at the kitchen counter coloring or painting, talking to me all the while. I love it!

Uma took her to Build a Bear tonight, and she made a TinkerBell Unicorn. Too cute! Bronwyn loves ALL things TinkerBell. Tonight she even told me that she thinks TinkerBell is bringing her more presents tomorrow. Hmm... Hope she isn't too disappointed!

We ended the day with a trip to the Cheesecake Factory. The girls really liked going there. They were looking all around saying, "WOW, this is a cool restaurant!". We slipped the waitor a TinkerBell ornament to bring out with Bronwyn's dessert, and she was THRILLED! The look on her face was priceless. She says she is going to keep it on her dresser forever.

We have certainly had our ups and downs, but being Bronwyn's mom is awesome. I have loved watching her grow up and develop into who she is today over the past 5 years. I look forward to the see what the next 5 years have in store for us. And to finish the post, I am going to list the top 5 words that I think describe my little bug.

1- Musical: Not so much for public performing, but in the privacy of our own home Bronwyn can almost always be found singing and dancing. She makes up her own songs all the time, sings to her babies, and is memorizing Christmas songs like crazy.

2- Crafty: Scissors, glue, tape, paint, stickers you name it-she loves it all! Bronwyn loves creating. Sidenote, she totally drew a picture of me and drew "bumps" on it. Bumps is the word my girls use for boobs. Hmmm.. wonder what they'll say when I'm done nursing and the bumps disappear.... :) LOL!

3- Loving: Bronwyn is constantly telling us that she loves us, and I makes my day. She also shows concern and compassion towards Magsy and Ty when they are upset. She likes pretending with her dolls, and seems to have a true desire to take care of people.

4- Crazy: The world is her jungle gym. Bronwyn can be found on any countertop, behind any couch, under any table.... She loves to scream and run and be out of control!

Expressive: Hopefully she will learn not to let her emotions rule her when she is older, but for now, you never have to wonder what she is feeling. It's not always bad though. Her facial expressions and storytelling eyes bring lots of animation and entertainment to our home.

Love you Bronny!