Welcome to Everything England! My family and friends inspire me to share ideas, recipes, everyday adventures, and even moments with my sweet family of four. Enjoy!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Dear Santa,...my christmas wish

Dear Santa,

I have been pretty nice this year. I definitely haven't been naughty. As for crying and pouting? Well...just a little. I promise. You gotta cut me some slack. I'm a girl remember? and girls are allowed a tiny bit. I mean, we are the ones who are mostly in charge of kick starting the holidays, decorating our home, organizing holiday "get togethers , ..." and of course holiday attire. We also handle Christmas cards and the whole process of getting them stuffed, addressed, stamped, and mailed. It can get to be a bit stressful and with stress....yes, sometimes come tears.
I have done my share of donating food items to the shelters and Yoplait lids for breast cancer awareness/finding a cure. My class even won the canned food drive at school. I think my positive attitude and encouragement had a lot to do with it too. ;-) My family has also donated clothes to the Salvation Army. This month I plan on donating blood to our local blood bank and last night the kids and I adopted a Salvation Army Angel. A sweet 3 month old little baby boy in need of toys, bottles, and books. Although, we have always donated clothes and food we have never adopted an angel before. This year as Chistmas nears, I know not all children are as fortunate as my two. When Nealy was a tiny thing, she would go and visit patients at Scottish Rite's Hospital in Dallas as she participated in Christmas pageants. She would donate toys and learned early on the concept of giving. I want that same type of experience for Brayden.

So as for MY Christmas wish...

I wish to ALWAYS remember these very days to hold dear to my heart:


*Brayden, my seventeen month old's hearty laugh when he thinks something is really funny

* Nealy, my ten year old's ability to understand things very complex regarding human nature, yet is still a little girl, my little girl with many things to learn and understand

*Brayden speaking in phrases; now saying things such as "daddee's shoes gone," "why gone?," "my ball," "my shows," "go out-tide (outside)." He is such the cutest thing. He is very expressive and sometimes includes hand motions for emphasis.

*Nealy's pre-adolescent age, she is learning to have a better attitude, mature, while existing and pushing forward to thrive in this ever so complex world with RULES RULES RULES and boundries, boundries, boundries

*Nealy's little phrases when playing with Brayden, "he's a' tippin'" (she pretends he is tipping over out of her arms...Brayden giggles and squeals, and "I'ma gonna gettcha."

*How Brayden calls up the stairs, "Nee Nee...ball?" meaning Nealy bring down the ball to play or just Nealy come back down. (I'm not really sure) He shakes the baby gate...too cute

*Nealy starting to read Twilight....aah, so much like me, yet so different. She's always been a strong reader, but now she is truly wanting to read for enjoyment. I love it!

*Brayden's unbelievable interest in books, he points to words and pretends he's reading. He points to pictures and tells what they are like; food items, toys, animals...along with the sounds they make (my favorite is the cat..........a very soft, high pitched...."eeeeeoooowww", he leaves off the /m/), body parts (he's favorite...belly button), parts on the face, and we just started working on colors and he's already got 'byue'...(blue)!

*Nealy's little 5th grade crush and how she is entering a fun, yet sometimes emotional time. She is so kind taking him snacks and wearing the bracelet he gave her daily!

*Brayden studying family pictures in the house and naming all of us (dadee, mom, Nee Nee, and Bray) Notice how I went from mommee to just mom? I'm a little sad, but I think he hears Nealy calling me mom so he shortened it. He still calls me mommee sometimes. :-)

*Nealy's eagerness to be around her brother and how she has really become a little momma

*Brayden's "one finger touch"...he knows to touch certain things in the house with only one finger. So we have ABSOLUTELY no problems with him yanking things off the Christmas tree or playing with any of the christmas decor...what a big boy!

*Nealy belting out her favorite tunes when she is listening to her i-pod or the car stereo! She sings like it's nobody's bussiness and there's not a care in the world. It is a 'ton O fun' to watch her. What a little Diva

*Brayden's curiousity playing around with my i-phone. He already knows how to move his finger to change the picture when viewing. He also knows how to push the one and only button to go back to all the icons. He checks the weather and sees the moon or sun (it has the moon phases pic and pic of the weather) and says, "moooooooon."OR "sun?" as in a question. He'll soon be calling his peeps! Watch out world!

*Nealy's vivacious and bubbly personality which brings Brayden's personality out all the more. I love watching them together and love that they are my babies no matter how old or big they get!!


Santa please give me the gift of these ever so meaningful memories. It is such a special time of the year and I want to always remember what was going on...right now. I promise not to pout....as often, and do a better job of fighting back the tears.

Merry Christmas! Hugs, The Mommy of Nealy and Brayden


my precious two

just everyday moments

smile

you smile too!

he made himself a unique little chair
Last night the kids were really into starting off the holidays.
I thought it would be fun for them to go to Build a Bear and make
holiday stuffies to snuggle with this winter.
They both made reindeer with matching pj's and slippers.
Both play Rockin' around the Christmas Tree
and Brayden's reindeer antlers light up.
They had a gand time runnig around the store
and Nealy created while Brayden
explored!

giving it some juice
Poor Brayden as stiff as well,....a 'stiff'!
His coat kept him snug and warm.
He really liked being all cozy in his stroller.
I took off his beanie for the pic...but, he was just too cute!

Dinner at Fish City! Our waiter gave me some
great tips on taking pictures with my camera.
Yesssss!

all the angels to choose from
May God bless them.

4 comments:

Priscilla Andrade said...

It looks like the Englands are really getting into the spirit of the holidays. I can't wait until we are all together. What a wonderful time?!

Ladyornot.com said...

That is a beautiful post!

Amanda said...

such a sweet sweet post!!! love all of those pictures!!

Jesse and Zach said...

I can't believe how big brayden is!!!