Christmas Festivities!

Just a quick update to let you know we're still alive, kicking and enjoy the festive holiday spirit!
Christmas this year was one of the best I've ever had.  Brian and I had a peaceful and beautiful gift exchange on Christmas Eve after the kids had gone to bed.  Wilder slept until 8am (hooray!) and as Waverley still slept, we thoroughly enjoyed Wilder's first Christmas morning where he understood that he had presents waiting for him.  The amount of "Oh Gosss!  Oh Gosss!  WOW!!" (That's "gosh") was priceless.  He enjoyed many gifts, but the winner has been the box his grandparents mailed his presents in and a bag of balloons Brian bought him.  And the chocolate rocks.  Easy young man to please.

Waverley woke up and was all smiles and giggles as usual, which made the morning even sweeter that it started out to be (nearly impossible) then we started making brunch.  We got dressed up and welcomed our Christmas guests, Olga and Erin, for a day of merriment.  Olga went back to visit friends and family in Russia on Tuesday, but we agreed on Christmas Day that a photoshoot was in order so she could bring back some gorgeous pictures to share.  We shot on the 26th and 27th and I edited like crazy to ensure she had the photos in hand before I dropped her off at the airport.  The results are magnificent -mainly shot in my home studio.  Here's the link to the photoblog if you'd care to see (and, trust me, you don't want to miss these pictures!)

I'm shooting an elopement (woo-hoo!) tomorrow afternoon which wraps up my 4 weddings this month.  Now work begins in the editing room (aka kitchen.)  Bridal shows coming up at the end of January and February, and -joy of joys- jury duty on Monday.  I did a voiceover for Dell yesterday and had an HEB commercial audition Tuesday.  I also got hired (thank you, Megan!) for a photoshoot at the University of Texas for a brochure on a new building just completed.  Work will begin on that this week.

Brian continues to amaze me at his new role as primary caretaker for the kids while I shoot, edit, audition, meet with clients, etc.  We still feel a little bad about the role-reversal -meaning we both feel like we're slacking on our duties, me as a wife and mother, he as a provider- but, honestly, we both happier in our new roles!  We keep checking back in every month or so to see if we're still okay with this switch and we always end up surprised and delighted that, YES!, we're both content!  Both of us feel like we're playing all day (well, sometimes it's playing "war" with Wilder, but peace treaties come in the form of chocolate and we just brush his teeth a lot.)  Ha.  Anyway, life here is pretty darn cool and very sweet.  And I'm the luckiest lady I know having such a rockin' family.  *Sigh* I love my peoples.

Happy New Year's Eve Eve!

Annual Houston Holiday Baking!

It happened!  Hooray!  I was in great doubt that we would be able to get together with Grandma Anne, Aunt Carol and cousin Bailey for our 4th annual family holiday baking day -but we pulled it together and made some super sweet memories.  Just wait, it gets deliciously cute...



Bailey and Carol making Grandma's classic fudge recipe.






Wilder kept us entertained and scared stiff at the same time as he leaped from grandpa's arm chair to the couch several hundred dozen times.



Lovely lady.  She has some of the funniest sayings and interesting stories -like when she and her sister ran a diner near the Canadian border when they were super young, serving all kinds of cross-country travelers and a rich Canadian cowboy/rancher swept Great-Aunt Ruth off her feet, then she got stuck in Canada visiting his family when the US wouldn't let her cross back over due to passport issues.



Somehow Wilder thinks that plain white flour is yummy.  He kept hijacking my sugar cookie rolling spot and sweeping his licked hands over the flour dusted surface.  Yeah, you MAY not want to eat this batch.   Wilder seems to have claimed it.



Really claimed it...



Seriously.



You get my point.



Probably my favorite of the gross shots.  Hahahaha!



Red hots.  Mmmmmmm....



Bailey took some great pictures so it could be documented that, yes, I was really there, too.  Thank you, Bailey!!



Carol, by Bailey.



(by Bailey) Check out Wilder's sprinkle action!  THIS was my favorite part as a mommy- getting to make cookies with my baby boy, something I wrote down before he was born on a list of what I wanted to do with him in the future.  My heart overflowed.  And his sugar intake was OUTRAGEOUS.



(Another awesome shot by Bailey) See?  Sugar, sugar, sugar.



"A little for me, a little for the cookies."



reMOVING the red hots from the cookies.



Divinity.  Another classic Grandma recipe!






"MMMMMMMmmmmm!  Cookies!!"
"Wilder, get your nose off the cookies."
"MMMMMMM!!!!  COOKIES!!"
"Wilder, I said get your face off the cookies."
"MMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!  COOOOOOKIES!!"
"Yes.  Cookies.  No more, cookies, you've had enough."



Divini-don't.



For a glorious finish, packaging up the goodies!



For years Grandma would make and send big packages of divinity and fudge to her children and grandchildren.  Getting to be part of this holiday tradition of her's with my aunt and cousin is priceless to me.  We still use Grandma's original recipes from the late 1950s/early 1960s clipped from newspapers and magazines and taken from church cookbooks.  Thank you, Grandma, for letting us be part of such a special tradition.  It wouldn't have felt like Christmas without our annual baking day!

Merry Christmas Eve Eve!

Waverley Gets Ready For Christmas

Little Miss does her share of decorating (and UNdecorating, that's for sure.)  Here she's captured one fine morning while playing around the Christmas tree and kitchen.  *Sigh*  I love my little dumpling!






Too cute to comment.



Alluding to three generations of love.



Teddybare feet.



Criming, as Wilder calls it.









Kitchen toy cabinet.  Oh, what joy!



I heart you Wavey Jane.
Love,
Mama

4 days to Go...

So much to catch up on!  I have oodles of pictures I've taken of the kids, plus -hooray, hooray!- Wilder and I got to do our annual Christmas baking fest with the Cameron Clan in Houston yesterday!  Photos galore!

I'm off to the post office to send out a few boxes and hopefully Santa will lend a helping hand to the postal service so that they get to the houses in time.  Fingers crossed!

Stories and pictures to come soon!  I'm 1/2 through my 4 weddings this month, have a tentative voice over job on Wednesday, recorded voice over for a radio spot and a tv spot for church last week, shot a piece (acting) for Reliant Energy's website, auditioned 3 or 4 times in the past two weeks, um... and did a few family shoots. Happy December!

I am so thankful to get to do all of my various jobs, be home often with the family, and have the best husband in the world who also happens to be the best daddy, too!  Who's a lucky girl?  That's right.  Me.

Making The Cut

He's not depressed.  Really!  I just caught him barely waking up from a super long nap, which he took almost immediately after we pulled a Delilah on this tiny Samson.
Little Sir Goldilocks wouldn't let us brush his hair without a holy war starting.  He was being called "she" and confused with being a girl in public.  And he was lookin' kind of scranky.  True, we JUST shot family pictures yesterday -but at least the head of hair that's been growing for nearly 2 years was documented.

With a few snips, his personality seems to have changed instantly.  Perhaps it's just our perception of him that's so quickly evolved, but I'm not sure.  You know how after you get a drastic haircut life seems a bit brighter, a little fresher and you're more vivacious?  Wilder is acting just like that.  Then again, was it just that monumental nap he took?  Hm... Regardless, he looks like a little man-boy now instead of a wild thing being raised by wolves.  My scissor skills have FAR to go, but it'll look better after a few days and a few baths.

For now, ladies and gentleman, introducing the new and improved WILDER SCOTT!

SingSong Writer

Brian has been polishing up on his guitar skills.  It's wonderful getting to hear him strum away, developing his own tunes and working on other favorite numbers.  Lately we've started collaborating -I'll add some lyrics and a vocal part to his strummingizations.  It's something we've always talked about doing, but never acted on.  So at nearly six years of marriage we're still finding new ways of having fun while using our talents together.  It'a a beautiful thing.
Speaking of which....

The Family Tree

We took family pictures today for the first time in, well, forever.  At least since Waverley was born in January.  Let's just say I'm a pretty happy girl now.





Little Miss Blue Eyes.



Yep, that's the way WE roll.






A little colorful variation.






Six years in the making and loving it!  Seriously, where's the babysitter?


Not quite JC Penney's, but that's our shot at family photos and I have to say I'm not disappointed.  Thank heavens we didn't have to go to someone else's studio and have the pressure of behaving for a set amount of time.  Feeling rather brilliant, I set up the  laptop in front of the camera and put in A Muppet's Christmas Carol so the kids would have something forward to focus on while we shot.  It was our saving grace and a tactic I plan to use for future shoots.  Most definitely.

Merry Christmas!!

Thankfulness

It's time to stop and take account of some of the things I am thankful for; remind myself of where I am in my life, what I have been blessed with and to look forward to where we are going.

-Brian.  I mean, what a knock out!  I got the total package here:  intelligence, sense of humor, excellent father, patient husband, swoonfully handsome, super talented -what more could a girl ask for?  Approaching six years of marriage, I am still struck by how perfect he is for me and how happy he makes me and our family.

-Wilder & Waverley.  Such beautiful little beings, each with bounds of personality and fun.  It's challenging, but definitely worth it being their mama.  When those precious moments of warmth and cuteness come, they slay me with love.  Oh, my darlings, how I am thankful for you!

-Being self employed doing things that I LOVE!  I still feel like I'm off playing when I do photoshoots and acting gigs.  Having always wanted a job where I can use my talents, I didn't realize it would be so fun!  There may be deadlines and stress like any other kind of employment, but capturing love through the camera and getting do what I love ON camera- it's a very splendid thing.

And now to get to some simple little things:

-That the house is decorated for Christmas.

-Hearing Wilder play pretend with his stuffed blue dog, Ba.

-Seeing Waverley captivated with and overjoyed by being with Wilder and Brian.

-My friend, Erin, who shares weekly play dates with our boys and is always my go-to girl when I am in desperate need of a babysitter.  And that our kids have learned so much from each other over the past few months of playdates.

-The support from my family and especially Brian as I have branched out as an entrepreneur.  If Brian, my sister Crystal and my mother weren't there to be my sounding boards and cheerleaders, I wouldn't be where I am now -and it's a very good place.

-Working from home.

-Long, hot showers.

-Brian letting me sleep in.

-Wilder asking me to color with him.

-Chocolate covered pretzels.

-And that today -oh, hopefully today- we will be taking some family pictures!

All I Want For Christmas Is...

Waverley will be getting her two front teeth; that's a given.
Wilder will be happy stacking empty boxes and knocking them down for hours.
Brian will be glad not to go shopping.
Me?  I want time.  That's all I want for Christmas.

I am blessed to be busy with photography and acting this month.  Four weddings, three book/print projects for clients, two other shoots to edit this week, one acting gig (and two auditions) this week... wait a minute, this is looking like the 12 days of Christmas.  Thank heavens I don't have 12 of anything to do, but with all the hustle and bustle of work this month I'm afraid that I'm going to miss Christmas.

Baking won't happen unless it's on a whim, but quite honestly I don't want a million treats and goodies laying around the kitchen.  I'll miss the tradition of making them, but my waistline won't be sad they aren't around.  Brian and I talked last night about being intentional in celebrating this year and I'm hoping we come up with a game plan for family fun, even if it's just for the night of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

So for Christmas, I think I'll ask for a gift certificate for January to take a week off (or at least 3 days) and do some sewing, baking bread, being cozy, going to bed early and doing photography for myself and our family.  That's what I really, really want for Christmas.

What's on your list?

Knee High To A Tree

This morning a cold-ridden Wilder (and cold-ridden Mama) added some more ornaments to our Christmas tree.



Our first year that Wilder was able to "help" decorate.  As I pulled out each special ornament -hand selected before we did our major purge this summer- sharing this tradition with my first born was magical.  Several ornaments were ones given to my parents before I was born, others throughout the early years of my life, and a couple given to us after Wilder arrived.  I love how our tree is a collage of memories.






Wilder's idea of decorating was to stick to one spot and fill it with every ornament he could get his hands on.  He is a big fan of the sparkly snowflakes Grandmama sent us several Christmases ago.



VERY excited about some decorations out of reach.  "Kissmass-a-tree!  Kissmass-a-tree!"
He has a tendency to add an "a" between words -such as "blankie-a-blue" and "milk-a-chocate."



We'll be lighting yummy scented candles and staying cozy today, drinking OJ and hot tea trying to get over our sniffles and hoarse throats.  It's chilly out, so bring on the Christmas movies and let's enjoy our festive holiday house!