Making muffins with my little muffin.

We had one half dozen over-ripe bananas to use up so Benjamin and I took the kitchen by storm and made some Banana Chip Muffins (see link for recipe below). Since Ellie has come along it's gotten a bit harder to carve out time for just Benjamin and me, so when I saw there was baking to be done and Jeff was home to spend some quality time with our baby girl I seized the moment. The prep time for these muffins is 15 minutes. Of course with a 2-year-old assistant chef the prep time doubled, but so did the fun. I love having time with both kids, but it's always special when I can devote all of my attention to one of them every so often.

So helpful.

My little chef.

Sugar.

Enjoying the fruits of his labor.

Here's the link to the Taste of Home recipe for these Banana Chip Muffins. Pretty tasty as you can tell by the looks of that face the the empty plate.

We had ourselves a Merry Little Christmas.

I had a wonderful Christmas. I love, love, love Christmastime. I get caught up in the trees and the lights, giving gifts, listening to Christmas music and baking of course. Celebrating Jesus and spending time with family are two of my favorite things and during this time of year they are wrapped up into one beautifully fun holiday.

Jeff had several days off from work which was such a treat. We were all glad to have him home with us for a few days. Benjamin was a hoot with his excitement over the stockings and decorations. He fell in love with the lights on a house down the street. They were flashing stars so I named them Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Every day, several times a day, Ben would ask about "Ginkle Ginkle Yittle Star". He was totally captivated by them. If we went to get the mail he had to go with us so he could see them. If we were driving home we had to go by slowly. Once we got out of the car he had to say night night to them. It was pretty darn cute.  Watching Ben open presents this year was a real hoot too. He was tickled by the process and enjoyed every last thing he received from his train tracks to his individual size box of Goldfish crackers. And of course this was Ellie's first Christmas. I'm not sure why that makes the day seem so special, but it does. Maybe it's the cute little outfits and the first gifts, or maybe it's just that I remember that I have been blessed by a sweet little baby during the past year.

This year we had a visit from Jeff's folks as well as my brother-in-law and sister-in-law. It was really fun to have a full house and to watch Benjamin entertain them all.

Here are a few pictures from the Christmas season.

Christmas 2012

Benjamin

Ellie

Ellie's Christmas outfit from Grandma Kitty (and her Uncle Ryan)

Cuddles with Papa Kitty

All clean!....for now.

Snow bunny.

Jeff reads Ben The Story of Christmas

Ben opens a box of vehicles that came with his train set.

New train set = happy boy.

Digging in his stalking.

Photo collage for Jeff's folks.

Thanks for the new car, Uncle Cam and Auntie Jess.

Ellie "opens' her blocks. I got them for $2 with clearance and a coupon. Love me a good deal.

My new cake pan for Ellie's birthday cakes! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Kitty.

Ben gives Ellie a present (It's her Where's Ellie? book....yes, it finally arrived!)

Skyping with Cam and Jess.

Ellie naps with Grandma Kitty and her new purple kitty.

My loves enjoying Christmas morning.

Ellie and Auntie Kim. Love this picture of the pretty girls in stripes :)

Benjamin and Grandma Kitty coloring. This could go on for hours.

Story time.

A new ornament....one of our traditions.

Ben takes a rest on the mat he got from Uncle Ryan and Auntie Kim.

Christmas baby.

Waiting for Christmas Eve service to start.

My girl.

The business of coloring.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas and wishing you a Happy New Year.

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Luke 2:14

All aboard the potty train

Jeff and I are trying to get this potty train moving. "Chugga Chugga Poo Poo." There have been about a half dozen times when Benjamin has asked to go potty and has been successful in the past 2 months. Of course there have been dozens of other times he has asked to go and nothing has happened. But he likes to sit on the potty and one of his favorite books is a potty book. We figure he's at that age and has shown some interest, so "All Aboard". Let's get this thing rolling.

Last summer we bought a seat to place on the toilet when Ben started asking to go. As I said, he has had some success in the recent past. While the seat works fine it's a bit of a nuisance with a child who isn't actually trained. We decided to buy a potty chair to make the process easier and hopefully more successful. And here is where the events of the afternoon began to unfold.

Went to Target.
Found potty chair. Sesame Street. On clearance for $12. Bonus.
Ben asks to hold potty chair.
I tell him it's too heavy.
Pull into garage.
Ben asks where potty chair is.
I respond "the trunk".
Get inside house.
"Where is potty chair?"
"In the trunk. I'll go get it."
Remove potty chair from packaging.
Place potty on kitchen floor where we are coloring.
Ben wants to try. Good.
No potty. Okay. We'll try later.
"Do you want to wear a diaper or underwear?"
"Underwear."
Put underwear on.
Color.
Make lunch.
Eat lunch.
One hour goes by.
Underwear still dry!
"Do you have to go potty?"
"No. I just color."
Text husband with excitement over one hour of dry undies.
2 minutes pass.
"Oh I go pee pee."
Clean the floor.
Change undies.
Ellie starts to cry. (She's was napping)
Pick Ellie up for feeding.
Discover Ellie has had a blowout all the way up her back (2nd blowout of the day).
Wash Ellie off.
Change clothes.
Go back to kitchen to check on Ben.
"It's naptime, buddy. Go pick out your books."
"I go poopy."
Ellie's hungry and crying.
Change Ben.
Wrangle Ben into his room for books, songs, and a nap.
Feed Ellie while wrangling.
Tuck Ben in.
Put Ellie in jumper.
Clean poo off of clothes. Thank you Spray & Wash.
Get Ellie.
Lay her down for nap.
Start laundry.
Blog about it.

There you have it. Two hours of my day....in a nutshell.

P.S. This is not a very good potty seat for boys if you know what I mean.