High hopes for the new year

I really enjoyed Christmas this year since the twins had a better understanding of what was going on. My favorite part this year was sharing all our family traditions with the babies. Every morning we would get up and add another ornament to our advent calender, we picked out a tree together, decorated cookies, and saw some lights- all while listening to Christmas music! I love to see someone's eyes light up at the sight of a gift I've chosen just for them. Joe and I had decided early on that we were going to give the girl's one big present from Santa and then one present from mom and one from dad. Knowing that their generous relatives were going to be giving them gifts as well, I wanted to instill in them the true meaning of Christmas rather than an overwhelming amount of gifts. I love any time I get to spend with family, so the fact that the girls were more receptive to everyone on Christmas than they were on Thanksgiving made me really happy! It's so much easier to enjoy myself when I don't have 2 toddlers clinging to me the entire time. 

While doing the last of my Christmas shopping I stopped into a small store so I didn't bother lugging in my double stroller- I tossed one baby on my hip and held the other's hand. After finding what I was looking for, I was in the middle of finding a way to juggle a heavy box under my arm while holding my little girls hands. A man came up to me and took the box and said "didn't realize we had a real life wonder woman in here." Which brought a smile to my face but in reality I'm not trying to be a super hero. I love being a mom, doing crafts, and baking- so when I find the time to do it all, it makes me feel good about myself, not better than you.
For New Years I decided my resolution is to not be so envious of others and to be happy with myself and my life. So what if my things don't have a designer name on it, I'm not size 2, and I make things rather than buying them; right? Right! I fear that my own insecurities will project onto my beautiful little babies and they will waste too much time worrying about if people like them or if they said the right thing, just like me. So that's what I will be working on this year, being happy being me. =)
We had a check up for the girls today: Summer weighed in at 20 pounds and Autumn is 22 pounds, both 30.5 inches! Amazing how far they have come! They can sing and do the moves to The Itsy Bitsy Spider, dance along to music, they've added "what's that" "stop it" "help" and "diaper" to their vocabulary, and enjoy expressing lots of love by blowing kisses, rubbing my back, cradling their dolls, and giving eachother hugs.

Can't wait to update you all again after our trip to Big Bear!