and to all a good night!
Knowing that tomorrow night (Xmas Eve) will be crazy and the chance of getting these two all nice and clean before bed is slim to none, I am posting this great pic now...plus, it is guaranteed there will be NO time in the next two days to do so.
Here at the Mantle home we would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2011! Sending love and warm wishes to our family and friends near and far...
Baking day 2010 was missing a few people (Grandma, Amanda, and Katelyn) but my mom, Ella, and I still managed to get a lot done - peppermint bark, puppy chow, sugar cookies and an entire Gingerbread house village - as well as a break to catch the movie "Tangled", which was wonderful. With the "Glee" Christmas Album blaring in the background we were hard at work from noon-8pm (including movie break). Always a fun day!
14 kiddos in their jammies watching The Polar Express, decorating homemade gingerbread men/women, eating lots and lots of yummy treats, and playing to their little hearts content = one very successful playdate at the Mantle's.
We (Ella and I) love having big playdate "parties" at our house and our latest was this last Wednesday to celebrate the holidays "pajama party" style. The kids had a blast and I am pretty sure the moms did too. It is alway nice to see my beloved girlfriends and our every-growing families. Thanks for coming!
Ella is so intrigued by everything Christmas...she loves the decorating, the baking, the gift giving (and receiving), the music, and the shows...just about everything except Jolly Ole St. Nick...she is petrified of that man. So we make sure Christmas is much more than that (well, duh, of course it is) and have many other traditions going on. She is really taking her own role as the baker, decorator, singer and gift giver this year and it is so fun to watch. We are haivng a "Polar Express Pajama Playdate" this week and she is so anxious to prepare for it....she will make gifts for her friends and help me bake all the goodies.
Ella has already gotten a headstart on the baking and gift-giving this past week...
A family tradition of mine growing up was to take all the ladies of the family out for a Christmas show each year. It was usually just a few of us and I remember each event fondly. The Nutcracker Ballet was one show that we saw more than once and was always my favorite...oh how I longed to be one of those beautiful ballerinas.
This year I decided it was time for Ella to experience the magic of this holiday tradition and I invited a few friends and family members to come along (23 others to be exact). Yes, I ordered 25 tickets to see the Nutcracker on Sat. Dec. 11th 2010. Some of us went out to dinner before hand and then all met up at the Mesa Arts Center just in time for the show. Each little girl was dressed in her Christmas best and they all looked precious. It was such a joy to see all of the little girls' faces light up as they watched the ballerinas. Although Ella doesn't seem to have any desire to be a prima ballerina, she still was entranced by the lovely dancers and the story of The Nutcracker. Can't wait for what each year holds for us as far as this tradition goes.
All ready to go.....this is a tradition that I am determined to continue each and every year for this little girl of mine. She is just such a bright light in our lives. So funny, smart and caring. I just can't believe she is so big and becoming such a kid.
Taylor, Lauren, Ella and Ava (missing a few other little ones)
My mom and I ran in the 12K's of Christmas race on Dec. 11th over at Freestone park. It was a fun race (a little over 7 miles) that was a fundraiser for animal rescue groups. People dressed up in all their Christmas attire i.e. Santa hats, bells, crazy socks...but with it being sooooo dang hot outside, we stuck with the normal tank and shorts (although I did wear green and had a red ribbon in my hair). I just can't get over how warm it has been....makes me a little nervous about running in the summer again - just dreadful.
Although it has been gorgeous outside for months Ella and Jonah's lazy parents have slacked on getting the playgym cleaned up and refreshed. It need to be hosed off (get rid of those webs) and needed new swings. We FINALLY got to it and the kids were too excited. I just have to try to keep Jonah from climbing up the slide and jumping off the edge...oh dear, the things I NEVER had to think about with Ella.
Finding things to do that are creative, fun and cheap sometimes get exhausting for me so luckily I have two kiddos that love to hang at home and make do playing with their mounds and mounds of toys and whatever else they can find.
I am still amazed by the fact that my baby boy is now one year old. Last year on November 25th, the day before Thanksgiving, at 1:13pm, our beautiful Jonah Monroe was born. He was delivered by a planned c-section and all went smoothly. Jonah weighed in at 7lbs. 12oz and was 20 inches long. The first thing I heard the dr. and nurses say was "What a little man. Look at those eye brows" which then made me freak out a little but I giggled at his smushed up face and fell in love.
We continue to fall in love more and more each day as we watch him grow and become such a typical boy. He is into EVERYTHING he is not supposed to be and thinks it is funny to be mischevious. If he were at a daycare, I would probably be worried about him all day...luckily, I get to watch over his every move all day long. We have his 1 year Dr. appt on Monday so I will post his stats then....
***Updated Stats: At Jonah's one year appt. he weighed 22lbs. 13oz. (50%) and was 31 inches long (75-90%)....so my big boy is tall but not so fat...even his head was only 50% - all that hair makes it deceivingly huge :) He is right on track developmentally...she was even ok with his limited vocabulary of "mama", "dada", and "uh-oh". He is ahead physically, as he has been walking for almost two months now. I have got to get him on whole milk and OFF of the bottle. I also have to get him sleeeping better at night again...who is up for a couple days of crying it out???? Not me, but I guess I need to. I just don't mind cuddling with him in the middle of the night...but I think I would like a whole night worth of straight sleep even better.
Here are some moments from his big day. This year it was on Thanksgiving. We celebrated by having my family over for breakfast and opening presents and then heading over to the Mantle's (my whole family included) for a delicious turkey dinner and bday cake to boot. What a fun day for Jonah!
Ok so I know this might sound crazy to some of you but on Sunday, November 7, 2010....I RAN A HALF MARATHON! I have taken up running and LOVE it. Thanks to an amazing trainer, my mom, I went from not being able to run a full mile in March to running 13.1 with ease! It is becoming addicting...I wish I could run everyday. We run 5-6 miles on Tuesday and Thursday mornings before both my mom and travis have to go to work and then do a long run (9-12 miles) on Sat. or Sun. There is no way I could have managed to do this while working and am so thankful to have the time and energy now. My goal is to beat my time every race and just improve my 13.1....not looking at 26.2 anytime soon. Anyways, I am pretty proud of myself for doing something I never imagined I would do and super thankful for my very own "Jillian Michaels", my mom :)
