Trees

I LOVE Christmas time! I have the Christmas music going 24/7, the house is decorated and the lights are almost done. Some of the things I love the most about the holiday season is all the lights and decorations. I especially love Christmas Trees. I was just telling Robin and Kori that I never want to own a fake Christmas tree. Nothing against those of you who have them, but I love a real Christmas Tree.  I love going to pick them out and then bringing them home to decorate. Most of all I love that real Christmas tree smell. The thought of having a fake one makes me sad... like a part of Christmas would die for me if I got one. But thats just me. I love decorating my tree with a modge podge of ornaments that I have been collecting since I was a little girl and add to the collection each year. I know some people like there trees to have a theme and look very put together, but not me. I want my tree to be full of memories! That is why whenever we take a trip, we get an ornament to remind us of our vacation. I love homemade ornaments or the ones with pictures on them. They are so fun to look at as time goes on.

We have not gone to get our tree yet, but we have had some fun going to see a couple that are already up and decorated. These ones are HUGE and REAL. 

Fashion Island Tree

 I love James in this bear outfit. 

The tree at the Grove in LA

Baby it's cold outside

Today was cold and windy... well cold for California. But the weather wasn't going to stop us from taking our Sunday walk. So we bundled up and when I saw that Haws and James were sort of matching I had to take some pictures.

I love this picture. James looks all smiley and cute and Haws looks like he is on drugs.

All ready to go!

Grateful for...

Every year I have so much to be grateful for and this year is no exception. I wanted to write down some of the things I am especially thankful for this year.

• Being a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the knowledge I have of why I am here, who I am and where I am going. I am especially grateful for Temples in which I am able to take part in Sacred Ordinances that allow me to be with my family forever.
• Haws. I married the most wonderful man! He takes such good care of me and our family. I feel very lucky to have married someone who supports me in all I do and loves me for who I am. I didn't think I could admire him more and then he became a father to our sweet baby James.
• James. I am still amazed at how much I love this little guy. I am so grateful that God has entrusted me to be his mother. To protect, care and raise him into the man he will be someday.
• Modern Medicine. With out it, I would not have James.  
• Healthy parents and In-laws. They do so much for us and I love them dearly.
• My siblings and their spouses and Haws' siblings and spouses. These are some of my closest  friends. I am so grateful to have married into a great family and that all of my siblings have married people I love to spend time with.
• Nephews and Nieces. They are all so cute!
• Extended family. I don't know many people who are as close to their extended family as we are. It is something special.
• Friends. Who are so much fun and supportive and love me with all my imperfections.
• Work. I love my job. It allows me to still be with James 90% of the time and while I am there I am spending time with people I care about and have fun with. I am also grateful for Haws' job. He is such a hard worker and I am so happy that he likes what he is doing.

There is so much more, but I wanted narrow it down a bit :)

monkey business

James has started squealing and does this non-stop.  I think he learned it from his cousin Caroline.

Amish Friendship Bread

Brooke has gotten me hooked on Amish Friendship bread! She gave me the starter a few weeks ago and I have made two batches so far. 

The first round I made it into pumpkin chocolate chip bread. I made it low fat by using canned pumpkin to substitute most of the oil. I made this round with apples and applesauce to reduce the oil again and it turned out great! Haws was saying it is the best low-fat bread he has tasted. It is pretty easy too! I can't wait to try out more variations. I think I am going to try to make either zucchini  or carrot next time.

In case you want to jump on the band wagon... here is what you do for the regular bread

Amish Friendship Bread Recipe

Day 1 - receive the starter (the recipe for the starter is below)

Day 2 - stir

Day 3 - stir

Day 4 - stir

Day 5 - Add 1 cup each flour, sugar and milk.

Day 6 - stir

Day 7 - stir

Day 8 - stir

Day 9 - stir

Day 10 - Add 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup milk. Divide into 4 containers, with 1 cup each for three of your friends and 1 cup for your own loaves. Give friends the instructions for Day 1 through Day 10 and the following recipe for baking the bread.

After removing the 3 cups of batter, combine the remaining cup of Amish Friendship Bread starter with the following ingredients in a large bowl:

1 cup oil
3 eggs
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 to 1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 large package vanilla pudding

Grease two loaf pans

Bake at 325 degrees F for 50 minutes to 1 hour (individual oven temperatures vary). Cool 10 minutes, remove from pans. Makes two loaves of Amish Friendship Bread.

If you want to make the starter

Amish Friendship Bread Starter

This is the Amish Friendship Bread Starter Recipe that you’ll need to make the Amish Friendship Bread (above). It is very important to use plastic or wooden utensils and plastic or glass containers when making this. Do not use metal at all!

Ingredients:

1 pkg. active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water (110°F)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
1 cup warm milk (110°F)

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water for about 10 minutes. Stir well.

2. In a 2 quart glass or plastic container, combine 1 cup sifted flour and 1 cup sugar. Mix thoroughly or the flour will get lumpy when you add the milk.

3. Slowly stir in warm milk and dissolved yeast mixture. Loosely cover the mixture with a lid or plastic wrap. The mixture will get bubbly. Consider this Day 1 of the cycle, or the day you receive the starter.

For the next 10 days handle starter according to the instructions above for Amish Friendship Bread.

Here is what I did for the last two variations:

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip:

substitute oil with 3/4 c pumpkin and 1/4 c oil

use chocolate pudding instead of vanilla

add 1 c chocolate chips **

Apple Cinnamon:

substitute oil with 3/4 c applesauce and 1/4 c oil

increase cinnamon to 2 tsp

add 2 apples finely chopped **

** for both bread I had to cook longer, about 1 hour and 5-10 min.

This is the apple bread. Didn't take a picture of the pumpkin.

Baby Brain

I am losing my mind! I thought my baby brain was bad when I was pregnant, but nothing can compare to what I am experiencing now. I have always been the type of person who is on top of things. I am a planner and Haws calls me his walking calendar. But lately I can't even remember my last thought!

Just a few examples from the last week:

I was helping throw a shower and as I pulled up to the hostesses home, I realized I had everything except for the paper goods! I had to drive back home so people would have something to eat on. Luckily, I had actually gotten there early so it wasn't too much of a problem.

The next day, Halloween, we drove out to John and Brooke's for a little family party. Right when we got to the house I realized I had forgotten James' costume!!! What is it with the realizations right when I get to the destination? I started to cry... another hormonal symptom, and my wonderful husband drove all the way back home to get it for me. 

I have made numerous phone calls only to realize that once I get the person on the phone, I have forgotten why I called. 

I went to run some errands with James and forgot the stroller. Not having the use of both hands makes shopping a lot harder.

And this is just this past week! I am going to have to write little notes to myself everywhere in order to get things straight. So if I have forgotten your birthday or to call you back, please forgive me. I am not quite myself these days.

Halloween Weekend

We had a fun filled Halloween weekend. James was a penguin. Luke was one a few years ago, so we just borrowed it from John and Brooke. It is nice having cousins we can borrow things from so we dont always have to buy them :) He was adorable. We went to our wards trunk or treat on Sat night which was a lot of fun. Grandmama and pops came over before hand to see James all dressed up. 

Sunday we had a Halloween party over at Brooke and John's house. The Bendheims and my mom really went all out with the costumes. I was trying to be an eskimo, but had a hard time finding something that wasn't "sexy". So a snow-coat with fur had to do it. Haws was a hockey player. I am just going to post lots of pics.

4 months

Our baby is 4 months and I feel like he is getting so big!

I knew he had a growth spurt this last month and is now measuring almost 27 inches and weighing in at 14 lbs and 8 oz. He is now in the 90th percentile for height and 50th percentile for weight. He grew and slimmed out a little although he still looks like a chunk in these pics. His body is actually pretty long and lean. He looks like he may have mommy's long torso and shorted legs. He wears a smaller size pants than tops. But he is pretty proportional. In fact... we might just say he is perfect :)

This months highlights:

• SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! This is a big one for all of us! He still sometimes wakes at night, but that is more of a rare thing like when he rolls onto his tummy. He hates being there for too long because he hasn't mastered rolling right back over.
• He laughs all the time
• James is a big talker and now he has learned to squeal. It is loud, but a very happy sound. He probably gets that from me too... loud and happy :)
• We still are not sure about the hair color. There is sometimes a red look to it, but I think he will be a darker strawberry blonde. That is just my guess.
• He is finally taking a pacifier. He still doesn't love it and usually takes it just to sleep. He would much rather have his mouth free to talk and put things in it.
• He grabs my hair now. It could be a combo of me growing it out and him grabbing everything... but this one is kind of a pain.
• Still spits up a ton
• Talks in different tones and is starting to make sounds like ba and ga
• Loves to roll onto his side and sleep that way too
• Brooke got us the best toy that straps across the car seat so he has something to entertain him while we are driving. This has made car rides much more pleasurable.

That's all I can think of right now. Since my baby brain has totally set in, I am impressed I can remember this much! We love our little Baby James.