Happy 2011

We are still on the east coast. Reveling in our last days here. It's nice to be away from home and my to-do list. It will also be nice to come home to clean eating and my elliptical. I have taken a lot of pictures, so be warned.

Every year I've posted some of my New Year's Resolutions. Here is 2009. And 2010. There are quite a few things that are still on my list for 2011. Audrey and Tyler sharing a room, (sadly this has been on my list for the past two years. We have the bunk beds now. It's time!). Go to the temple, be consistent with my visiting teaching, more inspired with my calling, and read my scriptures more often (lots of spiritual improvement, I suppose - in a good way). Help Tyler stop sucking his thumb and finally get him out of a pull-up over night. Drink more water (always). I've also accomplished a lot. Balancing more me in my week, Adam and I making date nights and romance a priority, saving for our maybe-one-day house/condo, singing again, feeling creative again (outside of kid stuff). All good things.

There is some exciting stuff on the horizon for 2011. I'll keep you posted as they come up, but I feel like we're on the verge of moving forward. Beyond the apartment. That maybe-one-day house/condo is finally looking like someday, somehow it will happen (I think more like 2012, but we'll see). Tyler is turning 5! Audrey will get potty trained and go to preschool. Adam's jobs are great. My jobs are great. Who knows how our family will grow this year? I am optimistic, inspired, and feeling quite grateful. Here's to a happy, healthy, prosperous 2011 - no matter what comes our way.

A Christmas Poem

Little Tree

e. e. cummings

little tree

little silent christmas tree

you are so little

you are more like a flower

who found you in the forest

and were you very sorry to come away?

see i will comfort you

because you smell so sweetly

i will kiss your cool bark

and hug you safe and tight

just as your mother would,

only don’t be afraid

look the spangles

that sleep all the year in a dark box

dreaming of being taken out and allowed to shine,

the balls the chains red and gold and fluffy threads,

put up your little arms

and i’ll give them all to you to hold

every finger shall have its ring

and there won’t be a single place dark or unhappy

then when you’re quite dressed

you’ll stand in the window for everyone to see

and how they’ll stare!

oh but you’ll be very proud

and my little sister and i will take hands

and looking up at our beautiful tree

we’ll dance and sing

“Noel Noel”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Taits.
See you in 2011.

Cookies

We're catching a flight early Christmas Day to visit family, so Santa is coming to our house tonight. So exciting! This is the first year we've left cookies for Santa. We're pretty fancy over here... Pillsbury all the way.Finished product. Perfect for Santa.Christmas is so magical through the eyes of these two this year.

Song of the Season

Is it sad that this is our favorite Christmas song, 2010? Audrey knows every single word. Tyler does an awesome dance to it. It's on repeat on the iPod during car rides. Enjoy!

Rain - Day 6

It has been raining for six straight days! Might not seem like a big deal if you live on the east coast, but it is out here. Finally this afternoon we got some sunshine (through the rain), and looks like it will let up by tomorrow. The weather truly was frightful. It was the LA version of a winter storm. Here's Tyler when the sun came out today:

On Day 6 of rain you start running out of ideas of things to do at home. This morning we had a babysitter over and Adam and I went to the movies and saw this:(It was okay. A rental in my opinion, but nice to have an early morning date with Adam nonetheless).

Then this afternoon since Audrey and Tyler were getting stir crazy in the house, I took them to see this:

I loved it! I think the kids did, too. They were very well-behaved and we had a great time. Two movies in one day makes for a happy mommy. Here's Audrey with her stash of popcorn:

And my little man:

I'm just in love with these two. I love the time I've been able to spend with them so far this holiday season. I have been feeling particularly grateful lately. Not just knowing I'm blessed with so much, but really feeling it. I am one lucky girl, and am feeling it this Christmas more than ever. For the knowledge of that, I am truly grateful. (I'm also hopeful for a sunny day tomorrow).

First Christmas

Ah, ... Today I officially finished the last of my Christmas shopping. Thank goodness because the two hours I spent at the mall this morning were not fun. We are spending the rest of the day playing with friends and recovering from Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa Tait. We opened presents with them yesterday, celebrating a little early since they're heading to Utah this week. Here are a bunch of photos from Christmas at the grandparents' house:

Tyler and Audrey opening their big present.

Inside was this awesome play fire station/doll house, with guys, cars, trucks, and a bunch of furniture. How cool is that?! They've been playing with it non-stop.

Toy Story's Jessie takes a helicopter ride.Grandma also picked up this huge stuffed dog... Audrey was in love.

The kids helped Grandma make homemade bread.

Love Audrey's little fingers in this shot.

Audrey's best Buddy had to stay outside because he was so wet from all the rain we're having here. But they still look time to love each other through the window.

Decorating cupcakes with Grandma. She kept the kids busy.

So grateful for a wonderful afternoon celebrating with family. One Christmas down, three to go. We are ready. Woo hoo!

Easy Night-Before Breakfast

I love oatmeal. Like seriously loooove it. I've probably had it for breakfast most mornings for the past five or more years. I consider myself an oatmeal connossieur, (is that sad?). Luckily my kids eat it, too. Here is the easiest recipe for the long cooking, steel cut oats (because who has 45 minutes to wait for oatmeal to cook in the morning). Especially for busy moms with busy mornings:

1 cup steel cut oats (like this).
4 cups water

Put both in a pot. Bring to boil. Cover and remove from heat. Keep covered overnight and when you wake up in the morning you have at least four servings of oatmeal, already prepared waiting for you. It will be room temperature, so you need to reheat it on the stove top, or in the microwave. Add favorite toppings. Mine are cinnamon, real maple syrup (or honey, or agave nectar), bananas, blueberries, or any fruit on hand. Yummy, happy breakfast.

Party Like A Four Year Old

The kids and I have been doing a ton of Christmas things as Adam works hard on set and carols on the weekends. Finishing up our shopping, seeing more "snow" and riding the trolley at the mall, our church Christmas party, starting to wrap presents. I sometimes give up on bringing my camera when wrangling two kids. I plug in with them more when I don't bring it on outings. But... I did bring my camera to the Pre-K Christmas party, and it was awesome. I can't say enough about Tyler's school. His teacher, classmates, and the parents are all incredible. If only I could bottle up this class and they could go to school together every year until they graduate. Sigh. Here's a little (or a lot) of their holiday celebration.

Tyler's teacher doing morning circle time. Audrey got to sit right next to Tyler.

After morning exercises we had a pizza party.

Tyler and one of his buddies, Sean.Even Santa made an appearance.Tyler and Santa.

Audrey and Santa (with her classic I'm-still-kinda-scared-of-Santa-but-I'll-try-to-smile-anyway smile).

Mrs. K does this awesome dance party where the kids stand in a circle. Each child has a turn dancing in the middle while the others cheer them on. It is adorable.

"Go Tyler. Go Tyler. Go Tyler"... Can you just hear the class?

Pretty Audrey taking it all in.

One final dance. Tyler and his buddy David had all the moves down.

Hurrah for the last day of school! Three weeks off!

Modern Family

Do you watch it? We love the show. I particularly love this scene from a couple weeks ago. Maybe because I'm the mom of a biter? Maybe because I sing songs to little kids all day? Maybe because Adam and I have had similar conversations about Audrey? Cam's song makes me laugh out loud. You must at least watch through the end of his song. Enjoy!

Delivered to Your Door

Friday is Free Shipping Day. If you haven't finished your holiday shopping, check here before ordering online. Free shipping deals, guaranteed delivery by Christmas Eve. (Heads up, some stores shipping is completely free, others have spending limits - so read the fine print on the homepage of each site). Happy shopping!

Miles Today

This turned out to be Friends Week. First Adriana, now Miles. Oh, how I missed him. So wonderful to spend an afternoon with him - catching up, laughing a lot. Truly there is no one in the world like Miles - if you know him, you know I'm right. We had lunch at one of my favorite spots, Hugo's (right up Miles's gluten-free alley), and the cold, wet weather kept us inside the rest of the day. Tyler and Audrey just loved playing with him (and abusing him - see photos below), but Miles is a good sport - being a big kid himself.

The abuse started with Audrey...

Then Tyler tied Miles to a lamp and left him there. Poor thing.

More funUncle Miles is loved big time at our house. We're hoping to steal a little more time with him before he heads back to NYC.

Blissful Sunday

Happiness is spending the morning with my love, Adriana. I picked her up from the ship, took her to run errands at Target, then we found the most charming Hungarian bakery and cafe called Mishi's. It's our San Pedro version of Alice's. We talked and talked over crepes, and the most incredible pumpkin strudel ever. Delish! We only had a few hours, but filled it as full as possible. It completely made my day to catch up with this lovely lady. Here we are... ladies who lunch:

Newest Additions

These three books are the newest in our collection. I guess this year is all about characters we love (although Audrey was very sad Ladybug Girl doesn't have a holiday book yet):

I love our tradition of packing away the holiday books and getting them out each year. It really makes reading them special, and the kids are always excited to rediscover Mortimer (our favorite), Olive, or the other dozen or more Christmas books we have. We have quite the collection now. What are some of your favorites?

Christmas Program

Tyler had his Pre-K Christmas Program this morning. I couldn't be there since I was teaching at Ladybug, but Adam went to work late so he could cheer Tyler on, and in his words it was "awesome". All the grades sang a song. The am. and pm. Pre-K classes sang "December is a Time for Love" (even though Tyler told me this song is called "December is a Time for Ho, Ho, Ho"), and "Hanukkah Latkes". I love the pictures of these kids. Of course Tyler is the only one not wearing a Santa hat.

These Are A Few of Mine

I've done my fair share of holiday shopping this season, which usually ends in me finding a lot of things I want for Christmas. I'm no Oprah, but here are some of my favorite things:

The best yes-I-get-tons-of-sleep-every-night eye powder.
A Coach Tote. It's the perfect size, although I prefer picking mine up from the outlet.
The best tea.
Body scrub, and other yummy smelling things.
My favorite protein bars.
Love my new jacket.
And these boots in brown.
The Kind Diet.
iPod nano and unlimited iTunes downloads. (I've been enjoying some Beatles, making a Christmas playlist, even a little Keith Urban).
Awesome comfy pants in heather graphite ivory.
The best panini press, and a recipe for apple, brie, and carmelized onion paninis.
Have you ever used a foam roller? They are amazing for getting kinks out of anywhere in your body.
The softest bath towels, in ivory. (We desperately need new ones).
Cookware! (Something else we desperately need). In red.
Eyelash booster.
A big ol' gift certificate here. I might treat myself to an Immunity Massage with aromatherapy stress relief. How amazing does that sound?
And if I could giveaway big? It would be a trip to New York City, or any island in Hawaii. And it ain't no luxury vehicle, but I sure do love my car. I'd giveaway one of those, too.

What are some of your favorite things this season?

Food Stuff

Do you make homemade food gifts for Christmas? In the past I've made the Tait toffee, but that's when I'm feeling really domestic. Not sure if we'll make anything this year, but if so here is an awesome list of ideas. How amazing does that Peppermint Fudge Sauce look?

Or you could try Candy Cane Joe-Joe Truffles.

I'm also enjoying this food site I found on GOOP. I want to try the crock pot oatmeal, and Maple Pumpkin Pie.

And run to your nearest Trader Joe's and pick up a bag of Peppermint Pretzel Slims. I heard they were fantastic, so Audrey and I shared some in the car today after our grocery trip - worth every bite and every calorie. These would be a fantastic gift paired with a Trader Joe's gift card. Soooo delish!

What are you making, or baking, or eating this holiday season?

The Season So Far

Tonight we went to the Los Angeles Temple to see the Christmas lights:Just like last year, we met up with our great friends. Then it started raining. Despite the rain it was still a wonderful way to spend a Sunday evening. We spent most of our time in the Visitors Center.

Christmas is in full swing at our house. We start celebrating right after Thanksgiving because I love this season, it makes me happy, so why not start early? Our tree is up and looks exactly like last year's kid friendly tree. The one new addition? The electric train set my dad got Tyler last year. Ever since we put it up, Tyler pretty much lives under the tree.

And Audrey can't stop playing with the manger. We've lost the Baby Jesus about three times, and each time she is heart broken. (Thankfully he's always been found).

Tonight when we came in from the cold, we busted out some warm holiday pjs. I'm not big on Disney all over clothes, but I knew Tyler and Audrey would love these. (Their favorites: Cars and Tinkerbell). They were so excited. From now on I'm only buying Audrey nightgowns. Love her in this, and she couldn't stop staring at herself in the mirror.

Blurry shot, but proof that my kids really do love each other. And a good reminder to me, since these days I feel like I play referee all day long.

I feel very grateful tonight. That I've been blessed with this wonderful family - Adam, Tyler, Audrey. That we are all healthy and strong, thriving even. Feeling like life is fragile and fast moving. Just trying to slow down a bit, breathe, and enjoy every moment of this holiday season.