Our first Christmas traditions

Being a new family of three, I've been thinking about our own family Christmas traditions I want to create. It's difficult to think of them now since Gemma can't get very involved in them.  I figure the traditions will build slowly over the  years, and I'm excited to dream up new ideas every year.  

Jeff and I started our own little tradition of opening our gifts to each other on Christmas Eve day, as we usually have plans with our extended families that evening and on Christmas Day.  I also began making apple dumplings for breakfast that morning and that tradition continued this year.  They looked picture perfect this year, and I was prepared to take a picture and post it here along with the recipe....until Jeff had to do some work quickly (even though he had the day off), and I put them back in the still warm (apparently too warm) oven. They soon were too dark to be called picture perfect anymore, but they, thankfully, were still good enough to eat!

At any rate, you'll have to trust me that these are fantastic and easy, albeit pretty unhealthy.  Hey, its Christmas, right?  The recipe is from my mom, and I'm not sure where she got it from. 

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup orange juice

1 tube of crescent rolls

2 apples, peeled and quartered

Melt the butter, orange juice and brown sugar together on stove top. Let simmer for a few minutes on low.  Wrap each apple piece with a crescent roll and place in a baking dish.  Pour sauce over apples and bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  (I sometimes half the sauce portion of this recipe to make it a little healthier, and its just as good.)

One new tradition we added this year was taking Gemma to see Santa Claus at the mall.  We chose a mid-week lunchtime to try to beat the crowds, and we were pleasantly surprised that no one was there at all!  I expected Gemma to cry immediately upon being placed on Santa's lap because she has become afraid of men the past couple of months.  (Mostly just white men...hehe. Really. She is not afraid of Jeff's dad or brother, but cries at the sight of my dad, brother, her godfather, and my brother-in-law.) Anyway, Gemma lasted a good 5 minutes with Santa before the water works started.  We were really proud of her!

Hey, hey! All is good!

Wait a minute! Who the heck are you?

And, we're done.

Again, I'm so excited to add more traditions as the years go on and our family grows. (And, no, I'm not making an announcement...just that we do plan to have more children in the future.) I can't wait to create these memories with my loved ones.

Next Year I will Make Cheesecake

Today is the day my oldest brother, Matt, was born. My parents were so young---my mom was 20 and my dad was 23. Being the firstborn, there are a lot of stories of Matt's young childhood.  My dad likes to tell a little ditty of the day he was born. Dad told Mom Matt looked like a monkey. Mom cried.

Matt could walk at 8 months and could recite every nursery rhyme under the sun by the time he was a year old. His first word was "cocky." (My dad is a little mischievous.)  Matt was fast. Matt was athletic. Matt was popular. Homecoming king, in fact. I was in first grade and probably 6 years old that year.  All of the high school girls liked me (because of Matt, I'm sure).  They gave me those knotted thread bracelets (only to be worn on your left wrist, mind you).  I sat next to those girls during coronation. One asked me who I wanted to win, and I said I didn't care. (Of course I did!)  When Matt won, I jumped into his arms to hug him in the receiving line.  That embrace made the newspaper.

Matt was always my favorite sibling.  We rarely fought. Probably because we were so far apart in age.  Even when he was mad at me, like the time I told on him for piercing his ear (ha!), he didn't hold a grudge for long.   He was a sweet talker and I begrudgingly did things for him I really didn't want to do.  I just couldn't say no to him.

Matt gave me the most beautiful little niece and goddaughter, Kaitlin. She is one of the lasting reminders we have of him since he died in a car accident the day after my high school graduation.  Kaitlin was just shy of her third birthday.  And, even though she doesn't remember much of him, I try to remind her of how much Matt loved her.  He was one of the most devoted dads I have ever seen.

Sometimes I'm sad about losing my oldest brother. I'm sad he didn't see me graduate from college, get married, have a baby of my own. I wonder what he'd be doing now. What he'd look like. But, mostly I just miss him. Miss confiding in him.  I am, however, grateful. Grateful that I had 18 years with him. Grateful that we still have Kaitlin in our lives. Grateful that we were raised in a Christian family and, therefore, grateful that I will be with Matt again one day.

And, can I just add that I have the strongest mother on earth?  You see, I always only knew how it felt to lose a brother. And, now that I have a child of my own who has only been here five and a half months, I can't even bear to think of losing her.  Gemma and I baked some sweets and brought them to my mom at work today. We were celebrating Matt's life.  Mom was reminiscing a little and reminded me that Matt always requested cheesecake for his birthday. I can't believe I forgot that. It's my favorite dessert, too. Next year and probably every year after that, I will make cheesecake.

P.S. In no way am I trying to paint Matt as an angel on earth.   He had his fair share of faults, as we all do.  One of my favorite memories is of him outrunning the cops on his friend's motorcycle. He ditched the motorcycle and ran into our house.  My parents probably made a poor decision and told the cops they hadn't seen Matt since he had left earlier that night.  Bad kid, bad parenting. ha!  Anyway, I don't want to talk about his bad traits.  I just want to remember the good.  For today, anyway.

My latest addiction

If we're friends in real life, you already know that I'm addicted to Pinterest.  It's a site where you have pin boards to virtually pin your ideas that you find online. I have found so many great ideas for decorating, dressing Gemma, and for baking and cooking among other things.I have pinned so many things that I love but will probably never make or do, but I'm okay with that. Even if it inspires me to do or make a few things, I am happy.

I recently made the yummiest chocolate chip cookies I found on Pinterest (and, subsequently, gave some to the neighbors to make up for my bad doggie, Harper's behavior). I rarely bake. It's not because I don't like sweets. It's quite the opposite. It's that I have no self-control. These cookies definitely proved that point once again. My mom says if I bake more often, it won't seem like such a treat and I won't eat as much. Do you think this is a theory I should test? Hmmmm.

Anyway. Here is the recipe.  You can follow all of my boards on pinterest here.

The BEST Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

(original recipe) 

2 c. plus 2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
12 tbs. butter, melted, then cooled till warm
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. sugar
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla
1 c. - 1 1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Melt butter in a large bowl in the microwave just until it melts, don't scorch it! Add sugars, vanilla, and salt to butter mixture. Add egg and egg yolk, blend. Add flour and baking soda, mix until blended. Stir in chocolate chips. Scoop tablespoon sized cookies onto an ungreased, light colored baking sheet. Cook for 14 minutes, or until edges are lightly golden...do not over bake.