Hmm... too tired to think of a title!

Merry Christmas!!! (This is the back of our tree, oops!) P.S. Yes, this is the same photo twice-- one for the tree, one for the faces!

We had an interesting Christmas tree hunt. I'm not going to lie! We picked up the first one we looked at. We were so cold and it was a nice tree. I tried so hard to prep us for the hunt... getting us in the holiday spirit, playing Christmas music and singing about Rudolph in the car, and drinking Caramel Apple Cider (AKA: Liquid Apple Pie). I actually straightened my hair & put on makeup for all the fun family photos we would take. But it turns out I expected too much- I do that sometimes! (Dreamer, idealist!)

When I was little, every single Christmas, my family would make thermoses of Hot Cocoa, dress warm in scarves & mittens, go to the cut-your-own Christmas tree lot, and scour the "forest" while singing Christmas Carols (YES, we sang Christmas Carols). It was perfect, sentimental, lovely. My dad did all the work being it was just us girls with him, but he never complained.

So this time, even though we can't cut our own & the boys don't sing yet, I still wanted something lovely. But Kevin and I kept having tiny moments of misunderstanding. I think I was pretty irritated because Kevin put Baileys in his coffee (after already having some beer & wine). I'm not ragging on him. He is wonderful and I love that man whole-heartedly. But I was just so irritated that I ended up letting it taint my sentimental experience, and I let it change the way I treated him.

Don't get me wrong, we still did enjoy our time. But it was sprinkled with my bad-mood when I was hit with those "this is not wholesome!" or "this is not what I wanted" thoughts. Those were the moments when I would snap something like, "That's the garden center, not the cashier!" and he would defensively reply, "Okaaaay!" Up & down. Up & down! That's how today has been! We're just not meshing 100%! And of course I want to blame him! But I am responsible for my own behavior.

Anyways it ended well. Sorta. I'm still irritated & disappointed about the forementioned behaviour, but I'm also happy that we have our tree and I'm confident that I've learned from this experience. I can't have perfect, but I must draw the line on my sentimental family traditions! This is my family. These traditions are going to be forever in my children's memories (as they grow up). Maybe they'll never know what was in Daddy's cup, but I want a peaceful family and it's not going to be easy as long as that cup is spiked. I pray he doesn't fall back into his "drink-too-much" days! And I also pray that I can be a good wife to him and respond with love.

Aaaaand, here's a picture of my thirteen month old climbing. I'm sorry for making a big deal out of it... my sister says this is normal... but after Jake (my cautious little one), this is so foreign to me! Jake just now started climbing on things, at two!

It's shocking how balanced Austin is. He's been walking all over the place, it's absolutely darling! But you wouldn't think that a toddler who is BARELY toddling would be climbing, standing and balancing on ride-on-CARS! Crazy kid, it's sooo much fun!!! I love seeing how different he is from Jake. I love how spirited he is. Aww, I love them!

A few of you asked what kind of camera I got. Since I can't take a picture of it, here's the brochure. (Evidently, I'm still taking photos of anything and everything!!) It's the Nikon D40. That's all I know! I haven't had much time to read about it. I like that you can manually focus or auto focus, and it is digital which is definitely important. I also like that you can change lenses if you want. This will come in handy when the boys are in sports & I want to zoom-in. Oh please let this camera last that long! We have such bad luck with technology. Sometimes we're careless (oh, great regret! my favorite laptop, dropped one-too-many times!), but sometimes we're just plain unlucky (ahem, disappearing CD-ROM on brand new computer, discovered too late!)

Anyways, on a completely different note, Jake has said so many cute things lately-- but I will be selective in my sharing. (You're welcome!) heehee

So I got Jake a little Bible which has a picture of Noah & the Ark on the front. When I gave it to him, he pointed to Noah and excitedly exclaimed, "Danta!!! Ho! Ho! Ho!" ("Danta" = Santa).

It's been a month & he still thinks that it's Santa, even though we've read the story of Noah many times since. He calls it his "Danta Bible".

He also thinks that John the Baptist & Jesus fell off a boat (during the Baptism) and they're swimming with Bruce the Shark (from Finding Nemo).

Adam & Eve aren't really Adam & Eve... they are my nephews: Adam & Nico. They are "nated" (naked) and catching a "BEEEED NATE" (big snake). (Didn't you KNOW!?!?!?) Every time I say Adam & Eve, he corrects me: "No, Mama. Dat Adam & Nito!"

He makes me laugh so much!