Christmas 2012

Christmas this year was amazing. Mostly because our little Norah was celebrating with us. 

We did all of our yearly traditions, 

Grandma Sue's gift exchange pj party, 

Grandma Nora's Christmas story, 

Grandma and Grandpa Esplin's soup dinner, 

Grandpa Hafen's Dinner party

and Grandma and Grandpa Wade's Nativity production 

(yes, Norah was baby Jesus)

(and yes, we have A LOT of grandparents)

One of my very favorite traditions though is the one that follows the nativity. 

Grandma Wade makes everyone an ornament for the tree and one by one we hang the ornament and say what our gift to Christ will be for the year. It can be anything from attending the temple more regularly, saying your morning prayers all year, improving a talent or working on your personal history. Any kind of gift you will give back to our Savior among the many others we should be giving daily. Grandma writes them all down and so everyone can look back years on what they have been setting goals to do. This is something I look forward to every year when really I should be setting these kind of goals much more often. 

This year I promised Christ to establish my new little family in righteousness, 

I hope that I can keep that promise.

Broc promised to do small acts of service and ignore the voice that tries to justify not giving.

Norah promised to continue being the best baby ever 

(okay maybe that was just my little plea to Heavenly Father as I put her mini ornament on)

Here are some of the highlights of Christmas 2012

p.s. Broc, along with both of our parents totally surprised me with a brand new camera!

Isn't he the best?

Daddy's Girl

These two kinda love eachother. 

 

Durangos

So for those who know us, Durangos is like our second dining room.

In high school, we would go there at least 3 times a week, it was a little pathetic. 

But not pathetic enough to stop us because until Norah was born, we still went there about that much. 

(okay a tiny bit exaggerated)

We sit at the same table in the corner and order the same meal.

We have grown so attached that I almost wanted to see if it were
possible to have our wedding dinner there.

So when Norah was about 1.5 weeks old, we thought it was time to introduce her to the place where mommy and daddy fell in love over a tin of rice and beans.
She looks thrilled right?
 

Norah :: one month

I can't believe our baby girl has been around for a month already.

But then again, I can hardly imagine our lives without her.

She has been such a blessing in our home and every day with her is the best day of my life.

Although she has been in our family only a short time,
we have already become very well acquainted. 

Nora in a nutshell :: one month
-She has the best hair in the family.
-She has strawberry blonde eyebrows.
-She lost her umbilical cord after a week! (my mom said mine took 6 weeks to fall off)
-She sleeps 4-5 hours at a time during the night and falls right back to sleep after she fills her belly.
-She loves bath time but hates getting lotioned up.
-She does not like to sleep alone. She is like her mother.
-She loves her dad's voice and he was the first person to get her to smile.
-She is a morning person, not a night owl.
-She loves her tongue, it is the cutest thing.
-She has a dimple on her chin.
-She has great fingernails but she uses them to scratch her face if we aren't careful.
-She has a hard time waking up in the morning and groans and stretches for about 20 minutes.
-She loves being held so she can look over your shoulder.
-She has lots of nicknames. 
-Her dad calls her "Norah pants" or "Squirmy McSquirms"
-Her mom calls her "Munchie" or "Gorgeous"
-Her Grandma B calls her "Angel"
-Her aunt Taylor calls her "Baby Doll"
She is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I think I have learned more about life in the last month than all the years I went to college.
Norah, thank you for coming into our lives and making us the happiest parents alive.
Here's to many more days, months, and years.

a family

In one second we went from being a "couple" to a "family".
I am not going to lie, I miss being able to go on long spontaneous dates with my husband,
but nothing beats sitting at home on a friday night cuddled on the couch with Broc and Norah.
People have asked me what is different about my life now that we have a baby.
Of course there are the obvious answers; lack of sleep, energy, and money.
But actually the biggest change I have noticed there are no words for.
It is hard for me to explain, but the moment that she was born I feel like I saw the whole world through a new pair of eyes.
My whole perspective on life is different. 

The way I think, feel and love is different.
Different in the very best of ways.

I love my new little family.