All Worth It

Vacation can be hard. A 20 hour car ride. Amelia throwing up the day we got there. Maya spending 3 full days terribly grumpy before adjusting. Naps are impossible. Schedules are thrown out the window. And still, there are those moments that make it all worth it.

1) Napping with grandpa.

2) A very serious and attentive Mary played by Amelia.

3) Christmas party with most of the family. Most memorable when we all sang Jingle Bells together to help 3 year old Benjamin who hilariously forgot how to sing it. The joy in Amelia's face as we all sang together. And again when my dad sang Chestnuts and we all joined in to sing it a 2nd time. All worth it.

4) Christmas Eve filled with caroling, new pajamas, and an exhausted Juan who must be devastated that he missed out on our annual viewing of White Christmas.

 5) Christmas morning. Amelia loved it. And so did Maya, she was delighted with each gift and would point point point until we took toys out of the packaging. They've both been playing with all their toys nonstop ever since. Juan and I were pretty spoiled as well.

One day they will appreciate my family shots and not consider it torture.

6) Temple Square. The nativity and feeling the Spirit so strongly and knowing that Amelia knew how special it was also. And the temple, it was breath-taking. A very special experience there.

7) The view from our car at any given time and Amelia yelling, Mountains mommy, mountains!

8) A visit to the temple, our first time to the beautiful Draper temple. And brunch with our dear friends Andrea and Matt and Addy (in which we were too lame and didn't take pictures).

9) Cousins in matching pajamas. We bought these while Ginger was still pregnant and finally got our photo shoot.

Both folding their little hands.

 10) Sledding. There was a moment while I was laying down with Amelia for a nap. She looked at me with such a glow of happiness and said, I went sledding mom. She just loved it. Again, all worth it.

After a tiny spill.

 11) East Canyon. Playing games. Talking. Eating. Walking to the store. Watching the girls with their cousins.  The scavenger hunt my mom does for the grandkids. It was lovely.

12) And the road trip. It goes into good and bad. Bad because it got L O N G. Good because I love my road trip memories from growing up. And quite enjoy being in that tiny space, spending time together. The girls were extremely good. A bit of whining here and there, but we really had fun with it.

I took a lot of sleeping pictures of Amelia. She is the most gorgeous sleeper.

Playing peek-a-boo. And giggling ensued. No better sounds

More silliness.

 13) And being home. Playing with their new hut and tunnel from grandma. Lots of laundry. Lots of lounging. Going on 3 days of laziness and recovery from vacation. All worth it.

Family Pictures!

Our friend Kasee did a little photo shoot for us and we are thrilled with all the good pictures we got! She was so good at bringing out natural smiles in the girls and capturing cute moments they had. 

 I love this one, with her giggly smile.

 Maya really makes some funny faces.

 Maya is so funny, the first dozen pictures she looked exactly like this.

 Another favorite.

 I love this one with Maya's annoyed face.

 Isn't this so cute, the girls smiling at each other.

I'm excited to get some printed for the girls' room and a new family picture up with Maya actually in it! Thanks Kasee, you're the best.

Life

Both girls are struggling with naps these days. I feel like I spend more time and energy and sanity listening to them cry/kick the door than if I'd just let them stay up and cry of tiredness. I guess it is payback, I have a clear memory of trying to get my lips under the crack of my mom and dad's door, thinking they'd hear me just a little louder. I just breathe and remind myself it is a phase. But is it some kind of joke that they both go through a "phase" at the same time? I guess so.

Besides the protested napping, they both are in such fun stages right now. Amelia is saying the funniest things and just loving to talk nonstop. She loves to say, "I can't mom." At this very moment she is talking to me through her door, I can't go to bed mom-mom (what she is calling me lately, I love it), I can't. And she has recently started saying, "I made it!" kind of like I did it, but on more exhaustive tasks as if she almost did make it. And she says "All right" instead of yes. Which I guess I must say? There is a wall along our sidewalk that she calls "my wall", and she walks along the top of it. Every time we have the same conversations about the yucky dirt, and the white bird poop-white is definitely her favorite color, and the garage across that street that is halfway open. It is so fun to talk with her and she is just starting to ask me questions like, "You ok mom?" if I trip or say ouch about something. I love her.

And Maya. She is so sweet. She is more stubborn than Amelia. She can "cry it out" for a LONG time, where Amelia never cried more than 10 minutes. She watches Juan pack up and leave in the morning, but it isn't until after the door shuts behind him that she'll lift her little hand and wave. She understands everything we say lately. I can tell her to go get her milk and she will crawl over to the fridge and wait patiently until I catch up with her. I tell her to stop screaming and she will mimic my soft voice when I ask her to. But then she'll go back to screaming 5 seconds later. She is starting to get it. She signs Eat and we are working on More, Please, and Thank You. She says Mamamama but it mostly means she wants to eat. I like to think it means Mom, but no, it is definitely said in reference to food. She lights up when she sees Juan. She is such a happy girl.

We are visiting family for Christmas this year and I am getting more and more excited every day! I can't wait to see family and experience some of my family traditions with the girls. Scones at Winder Dairy, the lights at Temple Square, snow. In no way do I miss having snow where I live. Not in the least. But I'm excited to visit snow. Less than 3 weeks away.