We get along now!

I'm in a great mood!  Two days in a row that I've gotten along with both of my kids!  No super mature yelling matches about our hatred of meal times or anything!  It's a happy day indeed! 

Baby girl ate her whole breakfast (she only hadto eat half of the eggs pictured since the rest were for Brady) without prompts or threats from her very loving mother.

I took our collection of kid Christmas books and put them in our collection of Christmas gift bags and arranged them in order on the guest clost shelf. Tonight was our first time trying it out. Christopher snuck the first one behind the tree without Abigail seeing and then we let her open a present by the tree. She was thriiiiiilllllled. All of the books are about Rudolph or Santa or just families celebrating Christmas (like fancy nancy!) but I made the first one a little board book about how Christmas is our celebration of Jesus' birth. That way it will get read the most since we opened it first and have lots of days left to read it. We have 11 books. We are leaving town before Christmas Day and there will be nights that we are gone or will forget, but I'm contemplating getting a few Christmas library books to add in. Who knows. It would be tricky to get those home without Abigail seeing but maybe I could work it. Anyways, if this 2013 trial works out well it could be a continuing Christmas tradition. 

I wrapped Christmas books in bags. I'm a really awesome mom, right?  Ehhh not so much. While i was working on this, i had Abigail watching some Mickey mouse downstairs. I was so worried she would come up and find me that I kept periodically poking my head out to make sure she was still watching her show. Brady was just exploring downstairs except for one time when he was semi fussing at the bottom of the stairs. That kid just neeeeeeds to be with me 24/7. Whatever. He was just barely fussing. But then I thought, "that fussing is getting louder... Like closer."  And sure enough, I poked my head out the guest bedroom door and there was Brady!  He climbed the entire flight of stairs!  Like I said, I'm an awesome mom.  It's been several weeks since he first climbed a few stairs. But then he just didn't pursue it. So I knew he was able but that he wouldn't. Until today. He did it again tonight while my Christopher was watching tv. Brady was already five up when I told my honey to go get him (I was at the top of the stairs with Abigail) so he just followed behind Brady who rapidly made his way to the top. Kid has been holding out on us. 

Baby girl also ate all of her lunch without any fussing or complaining. And went potty and washed her hands by herself (i think shes finally getting the hang of dispensing her own soap!) every time without complaining too. And she kept her undies dry during naptime (shes actually been doing this for a while but its still appreciated!). This may all be normal for some kids, but for us this was amazing!  I didn't even have to listen to "I don't like eating!!!" And "but I already ate yesterday!!!"  Glorious!  And she helped me with cleaning and laundry and had perfect manners all day. It was wonderful. 

Tonight we all ate some delicious grilled cheese sandwiches (French bread, strawberry preserves, pear slices, and Munster... Seriously, you gotta try it) and wrestled on the floor by the Christmas tree and warmed ourselves by the fire in the fireplace. Pure bliss. 

Also, these kids King Kong climbed all over Abigail's dollhouse. Brady started it And then Abigail had to take it to the next level. No pun intended. 

It's a good thing she's still in her 20's. 

Who wants to help me with some cooking advice?!  Our ward Christmas party is on Saturday. They asked for a bunch of volunteers to bring food and stuff. They asked for volunteers to warm up hams. Only two people had signed up and they needed ten. So I signed myself up for two because I have two ovens. But now I'm wondering, what all is this going to involve?!  Do I need to make a glaze or is that provided or not necessary?  How much room do I need to free up in my fridge since we are supposed to pick these up Friday night?  How long do they take?  And are there any tips and tricks I should be aware of for making these the best hams ever?  And one oven is convection and one is not... Just in case you plan to give me helpful details and find that information crucial to your advice. Thanks in advance, friends!