Merry Christmas!

We had such a nice Christmas! All of my brothers and sisters were home so it was a full house and great to hang out. We all wore red that evening. We were really in the Christmas spirit!

I just love my little girl. Her kisses melt my heart and her voice is so sweet. Of course she is not always that way but I love being her mom!

She loves her dad. She has his personality because she always thinks she's funny and makes herself laugh :)

This was very memorable, since all the kids were there we decided to to do a "Nativity Play." My sisters sang "This is the Season" and I was a shepherd and Jocelynn was a lamb. DOesn't she look cute? James was one of the three wise men. The kids were so good and looked so cute. My grandma cried throughout the whole thing and it was a great way to remember the real reason we celebrate Christmas!

Christmas 2008!!

This was such a wonderful Christmas!! My sister moved away to Wyoming in 2005. It was so hard for me because I would see her family almost every week. We miss them so much. They were coming for Christmas and we had a blast. Christmas Eve we all spent the night at my parents. That night we went out looking at lights. They were so beautiful. It took me back to being a child again. We stayed up till 1230am (the boys till 2am playing XBox). 

Jocelynn enjoyed opening presents and my mom got her pajamas that she opened Christmas Eve. They look so cute on her.

She loved her toys. All moms out there, I recommend Craigslist! I got a wonderful deal for these toys and they work wonderful and Jocelynn just loves them! This is a singing station and lights up and plays songs and she got a laugh and learn chair.  

Here are some of the cousins on Christmas Eve in their Christmas pajamas!

My baby is back!

Well, two weeks ago was pretty rough. I mean all week long!! Jocelynn woke up all through out the night, wanted to be held for each nap and would whine all day if she wasn't held. She had a bad cold and her left molar was coming in. She didn't want to eat much because her tooth hurt so bad but then she was cranky because she was hungry. Sunday her tooth broke through and I was so happy because it all happened before my sister and her family got here. 

Uh oh is something she likes to say often. If she drops anything on the floor that's the first thing out of her mouth. Well, you know what she said when she dropped corn starch everywhere. It was mom's fault though for leaving it in a low place. I couldn't help but smile and grab my camera, this was of course before the hands got into it :)

Jocelynn has always been a talker. She loves to sing and she sings her favorite song "Baby signing time." Well, she has been able to sing the baby part for awhile now but not the "signing time." This week she thinks she can say it but "signing time" doesn't come out, instead she says "sucka!" This is her singing "Baby, Baby, . . .sucka!" It's funny to all who hears her so it encourages her to keep saying "sucka!" Sucka does not sound like signing time so I don't know how that is coming out? Today, my dad spoke at church and we sat in the second row, over and over again she kept saying "sucka!" 

One year Pictures!

It took me two months to get them done but better late then never, right? How does one child bring so much happiness? James and I were married almost 5 years before she was born and I really forget what it was like before her. 

Jocelynn has 7 boy cousins! Here's an older cousin giving her love. They love her so much and she is so lucky to have such great cousins to protect her.

Tyler loves to hug and kiss Jocelynn. At times Jocelynn doesn't always like it but it's so sweet.

Family Pictures!

A couple weeks ago we got family pictures done by my sister in law. Here are some of my favorites. 

These pictures really describe how our relationship is! I'm usually the one laughing and James is saying something silly! That was one of the first things I loved about James. He could always put a smile on my face. 

Catering Christmas Party!

Melinda and I (MJs Culinary Creations) were asked to cater a business party.  We served white lasagna, garlic breadsticks, enchiladas, pulled pork sandwiches, chips and salsa, macaroni and cheese, pear and pomegranate salad, cesear salad, fruit, and baked burritos. We also served apple pie, reeses cheesecake and buttercotch topped ginger cake for dessert. It was all so good. 

We were pleased with how everything turned out!

Family in need of our help!

My sister in law put this posting on her blog and I thought I would put it on mine to get the word out! It's very sad. I can't imagine . . .

Family in need of our help!

Some friends of mine (The Rameson Family) have recently lost there home in the Yorba Linda fires. They are all safe but have lost everything. I was so sad to hear the news. They are such great people. They have three little girls and are currently living in an RV. They need as much help as possible. I can't even image being told to evacuate your family and to come home to nothing. As the season of giving is upon us i am determined to help out as much as i can. This family and many others need our help. The big concern at the moment is clothes for the kids and giftcards for the families. Below these pictures is the sizes of each of their kids. Please let me know if you can help in any way possible. I am taking donations, clothes, giftcards, toys, christmas gifts, and anything else you might have. Please contact me if you have anything to help with.  

Rachel Kirk   951.201.9037  or 

email me at rachelkirkphotos@sbcglobal.net

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feel free to send your friends to this blog to get the word out!

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The girls sizes are:

  Sydney- 2/3t, 6.5-7 shoe size

Molly- 5 and 11 shoe size

Maddie- 6x slim and 11.5 shoe size

If anything, please keep them in your prayers!

Happy Thanksgiving!

This post is a little out of order but that's okay. We had a nice Thanksgiving. All of my brothers and sisters were gone this year so it was just my parents, aunt and uncle, and grandma. James has had the past 5 days off, which has been wonderful! It was desperately needed. The month of October and November have been pretty tough with James going to school every Saturday. We both needed a break and to be together. We were able to just hangout, go to the movies, go out to lunch, and just be together. It was wonderful and went by too fast, it always does!

I usually don't put Jocelynn down for bed at my mom's house. When it is time for bed, we leave. It's just such a hassle because she fights it so much. I know this isn't a good thing and she should probably get used to sleeping elsewhere. Thanksgiving evening it became 7pm and I was ready to put her down and was prepared to face the battle. I gave her a bath, read her a couple of books and did the same thing I do with her at home, surprisingly, she put her head right on me and fell asleep! I was so happy! My mom said "why don't you leave her here for the night!" I was not prepared for that! I kept going over in my mind. Should I? If I'm comfortable with Jocelynn being with anyone, it's definitely my mom because she knows her so well. I agreed, especially because if she had a hard time we could just drive over. So we went home and I have to admit, it was hard for the both of us. I slept well at home but it was sad turning off the lights and knowing your little one wasn't in the room next to you. I was hoping she slept well. The next day I talked with my mom and she said she woke up at 10pm crying. My mom got her back to sleep and to my surprise she didn't wake up till 5:30am. My mom held her in the room for an hour and then she didn't want to go back down so she was up for the day. She actually did a lot better then I expected and I am looking forward to doing this more! :) Next time, I will be sleeping in.

Here's my little sweetness in her cute dress!

Here's my handsome husband! 

Thanksgiving morning the guys had a Turkey Bowl. It was fun for Jocelynn and I to watch James play football. He did so well. He scored 4 touchdowns. 

Black Friday!

I had to write of my experience with Black Friday. In 2003, I decided to shop early with my sister. We went to Toys R Us and I could not believe the line. When we got in the store I remember seeing these two women, that were not very nice to each other. I thought "are these women serious?" We walked out of the store and I told myself "I will never do that again." 

It's amazing how time changes. My neighbor and friend told me she was going and invited me to come along with her. This time we didn't go at 6am we went at 3am. I set my alarm for 2:40am and we got to Toys R Us at 3am. There were already about 40 people in front of us. We dressed warm and had our list of what we wanted at the store. By the time it was 5am there were hundreds of people behind us! We decided to not take a cart so we could get around easier. The doors opened and I could feel my adrenaline pumping. :) I thought to myself, "what am I doing?" I got in the store and it was hilarious! I see Jeanette start running and I had no idea where I was going. I ended up getting a Digital picture frame, Fur Real Friends Puppy, Nintendo DS games, DVDs, backpack. It was all 50% to 65% off. We made it out of the store at 5:25am. Here's my critque of the experience I had.

Would I do it again? Definitely, I had a blast and it may become a new tradition!

Why was it different from 2003? I was there and out of the store before the crowd came. I got what I wanted and left.

Do you recommend going with a friend? Yes! Made the time go by fast and it was funny when we were so tired we couldn't even think.

Any regrets? I didn't want the check out line to get long so we left pretty early. Next time, I will spend more time shopping and then check out because I missed a couple things I wanted.

Do you feel like you were a crazy mom? No because nothing was for me or my child :) 

When I got home Jocelynn was going down for a nap so I was able to sleep and then went to bed 8pm Friday!

It was a fun memory! Thanks Jeanette for going with me! 

One Fun week!

Jocelynn loves to play with kids and loves to be outside! She loves dirt.  When we walk outside, that is the first thing she finds and loves to pick it up and put her hands through it. As you can see in the first picture, she found some dirt and couldn't get away from it.

This is Jocelynn's friend Hailee. We met them at the park on Tuesday. They were both so excited. Hailee was walking behind Jocelynn and Jocelynn was laughing because she thought she was chasing her. It's so cute to see them play together.

This playground was perfect for Jocelynn and Hailee. It was small enough so they could climb.

Yesterday our friends and neighbors came over. Gunnar is Jocelynn's age and Lily is 4.

Jocelynn loves Lily and thinks she is so cool. She always follows her and you can see in the picture, she had a great time!

Miss DIVA!

I realized since Halloween that Jocelynn enjoys dressing up! She wanted to wear her Halloween bee outfit all the time, including the wings. The other day I was in my closet figuring out what I was going to wear and Jocelynn joins me and points to her tutu and pink boa hanging in the closet. I put it on her and she walks away confidently with a little smirk. A couple minutes later she comes back and points to the purses I have in my closet. I started laughing and handed her a purse. These glasses were on my dresser so I added them and she was pleased. I had to snap a shot before another precious moment like this past!

Hailee's 1st Birthday!

Jocelynn's friend turned one and we went to her princess themed party! She really enjoyed the cake!

Jocelynn thought the bouncer was very relaxing . . .I think she almost fell asleep :)

Here are the kids from the party!

Here is Princess Hailee with the princesses in front of the castle!

Here's Jocelynn in her dress. I changed her once we got there so she could play.  We can't believe you are one! Happy Birthday Hailee!

What we've been up to. . .

Today I had to wake Jocelynn up from her nap because she went down later and I wanted her to go to bed early. She was still tired so she was relaxing on the couch with the puffs for a long time. I thought it was pretty funny because sitting still doesn't happen often!

This past week we were busy cooking. Rachel got this apron for Jocelynn last Christmas. Jocelynn loves it, notice the pocket is full! She loves helping mom cook! What a big girl!

Jocelynn's cousin, Christian, turned 3 last week! Happy Birthday Christian. There were 10 boys and 2 girls, Jocelynn had a blast! She didn't want to leave so I left her there with Katrina, thanks Katrina!

A couple more pictures . . .

Mellissa and Shelley also came (cowgirl, and superwoman)! Thanks for coming!