Piano Recital

My students had their first Christmas Piano Recital on Sunday. I even played a song this time! I played "Carol of the Bells". I think I was more nervous than my students were! I did mess up during it too. Hopefully it wasn't too bad. This was our 2nd recital. We did a Halloween one too. It was fun because I had my students dress up and they played some spooky songs. We won't have another one until May. Next year I will probably skip the Halloween recital since it is so close to Christmas.

I teach 7 students. Its fun because I teach my niece Lauren, my nephew Zeke, my sister-in-law Nicole, one of my old students from Freedom Elementary, and then 3 other great kids too. I have really enjoyed it! The time goes by fast and I usually have Lily with me close by so I can give her a hug and a kiss between students. I teach at my mom's house since I don't have a piano. It works out great because my mom usually hangs out with Lily for me so Michael can work on his articles for his second job at Orange Soda. Its been nice that we can both make a little extra money since I quit teaching but still be able to be home a lot and have flexible schedules.

Lily Update: Lily now shakes her head yes! It is so funny because you can tell its hard for her since her head is like half her body weight. She has been shaking her head no for a few months now. She saw a picture of Jesus and said "Cheezus" in her little whisper voice and pointed at Him. She says "Wassat" all the time and sometimes changes it to "What is it?"  She also says "bye!" "wuv you" (sort of), "muma" "dada" and "nononononono!" :)

Lily's Kisses: She has been giving us kisses for awhile. She has 4 kinds of kisses. To people she likes she brings her head in close and slow and makes her eyes all dreamy while she touches noses and foreheads with them. She gives me normal kisses with her lips on my lips. With Michael, she likes to lick his face. She also blows kisses and waves bye bye. It is so cute. She has turned extra cuddly again and gives us lots of hugs. I think she is the most affectionate with her big pink bear however. I think they might be an item :)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas!

We are starting to feel the Christmas Spirit at our house! We put up our Christmas tree and at first Lily was afraid of it. She does this thing when she's scared where she tries to crawl up your body as fast as she can, kicking her little legs and burying her face into your shoulder. But she has gotten used to the tree and likes it a lot now! The other night Lily and I got to ride the Polar Express with Amber, Brad and their family! Unfortunately Michael was sick so he didn't get to experience the magic. We rode this little train that took us to the North Pole! On the way there we saw lots of cute pictures, lights, blow up creations, and listened to music as we weaved through peoples yards in Lindon on the train. When we got to the North Pole we got to meet Santa! Lily sat on his lap. She was mesmerized by his beard. She wouldn't smile, but she didn't cry! After all the kids took pictures with Santa they got a candy cane and a bell. Then Santa gave a little talk about the true meaning of the candy cane and about Jesus and then we sang Silent Night as we boarded the train again. The train took us back to the station, but on the way we saw lots of beautiful nativities and pictures of Christ's life while we listened to some spiritual Christmas music. It was so neat! Lily enjoyed herself. She was wide-eyed and smiling and kept whispering "what's that!" and pointing as much as she could in her huge coat. She does this all the time now! Its so cute. It sounds more like "wassat" :). I was worried she would get cold so I had thick tights under her jeans and socks and a thermal shirt, then a fur lined jacket underneath her huge poofy winter coat! I think she was toasty enough! Amber even brought us some treats! Some candy cane kiss cookies. I'm going to make them for my piano recital tomorrow since they were so delicious!!!

Mommy and Lily waiting to board the Polar Express!

We are on the train ready to go to the North Pole!

Lily with Santa Claus!

Who is this guy?

Me, Lily, Amber, and Sophie at the train station :)

She is trying to hang the stocking ornament back on the tree!

Lily is our best present under the tree!

Lily loves to look at the lights!

Baby Claus!

Our Christmas Card!

Lily's play area! It used to work well. Now she just crawls right over those pillows!

We are turning Lily into a T.V. Addict! She loves Yo Gabba Gabba, The Backyardigans, and The Baby Songs Videos (Thanks Alison)

Today Lily and I went to lunch for Nicole's birthday! Nicole is my sweet sister-in-law. We went to Zupas. I love that place!

My little brother Tyler and Lily

Lily chilling in her highchair at Zupas!

Lily won't leave my mom's hair alone!

Jana, Nicole, Judy, Mom, Tyler, Anna, Me, and Lily

Her shirt says "My First Christmas Is Going to Be Awesome!"

Then after lunch I went and got pedicures with my bestie Amber! We have been working out for 6 weeks. We did the Shaun T. Dr. Oz 15 minute workout 30 day challenge. We decided if we could do it every day (except Sundays) then we would earn ourselves a pedicure! We finally got our reward today! We decided to be festive so we both got red sparkly toes. I have my second toes painted sparkly green to be even more festive and Amber has hers with some silver over it. We are now switching off doing a 15 minute ab workout video and Zumba. We do it in our own homes and just check in with each other every day to see if we both did it. It has been really motivating! Now I just need to get a better diet. I am just easing into it until after the holidays and then I plan to really try to finally lose all my pregnancy weight! Thanks for encouraging me Amber, my workout buddy!

My Festive Christmas Toes! 

Amber and My Toes. We worked hard for these!