Christmas

I LOVE Christmas! It truly is my favorite time of year. Here is Miriam in her Christmas dress. The white fur coat & hat compliments of my sister Rebecca.
We had originally intended to spend Christmas Eve at the Smith's (my sister-in-law Meredith's parent's home), drive home that night, spend a cozy Christmas morning at our house and open gifts, then drive back to Springdale to my dad's house later Christmas Day. However, as a winter storm moved in Christmas Eve evening, we decided it would be smarter to pack up and stay the night at my Dad's house (he only lives a few minutes away from the Smith's). We had to hurry and take a few pictures in front of our own tree before we left.
It's amazing to me how much stuff you pack along with a baby. We already had a lot of stuff with all our gifts and things...we filled the jeep. After our late arrival to the Smith's, we had a wonderful evening with fondue and games. I won't go into too much detail because Meredith already did a great post about the evening. If you want to read more, just click here.
Here is Brother Smith with Miriam. She enjoyed all the attention.
Some fun and games.Later Stacey and Ephraim came with their daughter Cora. Cora and Miriam are 2 days apart in age. Stacey is supermom, holding both of them at the same time. Both babies are in the highest percentiles for their weight. She's a tough mom.
When we left the Smiths and made the mile drive to Dad's house, I was glad we weren't attempting to go back home. The roads were slick and visibility was low. We arrived just in time for Dad to read the Christmas Story and then go off too bed. I think I still have a little bit of kid in me, I could hardly sleep at all.
The next morning we anxiously awaited the gift opening. Jody and Cace had also spent the night and joined the Christmas morning festivities.
One thing I love about Stan is the cheesy expressions he makes.
It was a great morning, I always love to see what everyone gets, and of course open my own gifts. I have to brag a little about a gift that I gave though. About 10 years ago I started a crosstitch with the intention of gifting it to my best friend, my sister Jody, for her wedding. She wasn't getting married any time soon, but I knew it would take me awhile. Well...it took me a lot longer than I planned because I didn't work on it consistently. She got married 4 years ago, and I think she didn't really expect me to finish it. However, this past summer when school was out and I was awaiting Miriam's arrival in the world, I spent hours every day working to finish it. And, here is the finished project:
Here is how Miriam spent Christmas morning. I brought her out where all the action was happening, we even had music playing, but she was still dreaming about sugar plums.
Maybe next year she'll be a little more excited to open her gifts. She gets her cheesy expressions from her dad.
We had a very nice Christmas dinner later that day and many other family members joined us. I slaved away (not really) over my brown sugar bacon green beans.But best of all...it was a WHITE Christmas. For us down here in Arkansas, that only happens about once every 15 years. I LOVE snow!
Well, another Christmas has come and gone. Each year will be so different as Miriam grows and our family continues to change.
Happy Holidays!

Holiday Treats

When I was a kid, every Christmas my mom would make a lot of treats. Things like peanut clusters, turtles, toffee, chocolate covered pretzels and more. She always did great things to make it a special time of year.
Last year my sister Jody and I decided we wanted to make treats like when we were kids, but it was too much work to do alone. This year we continued the tradition of making treats together, and dividing them all up amongst the two of us.

We called each other early in the week, decided on all the recipes we wanted to make, made a shopping list, made trips to a few different grocery stores to gather supplies, and anxiously awaited for Saturday. We got started a little late because I was waiting on a Dish Network technician (that's a LONG story), but finally Stan, Miriam and I made our way over to Jody's house in Pea Ridge.
Jody and I went to work and started mixing, boiling, rolling and dipping sweets. With a few interruptions, and the guys finally leaving (and taking Miriam) to go get a freezer, we were able to buckle down and make....
Oreo truffles, Chocolate Rum Balls, Chocolate truffles, almond toffee bark, caramels, chocolate dipped pretzels, cashew turtles, Sweet Peanut Brittle,white chocolate chex m&M mix, and peanut butter ritz dipped in chocolate! We ran out of time to make the fudge, so Jody was going to do that later. We had a crisis with the caramels and the candy thermometers, but all in all, I think it was a successful treat-making day. Delicious!

*By the way, as a disclaimer, we don't eat ALL of these. We give away gift boxes/baskets to friends and neighbors.


I was exhausted by the end of the day, and so was Miriam.

Three Months and Growing

Miriam is three months old now and just over 14 lbs.

She is growing so fast and is such a joy to be around.

She has a new fascination with pulling up her shirt (or other soft cloths) and chewing on it
She is also very fascinated with her hands, and likes to suck on them as well.

These are some pictures Stan took. I love her face on this one. I am constantly amazed at the adorable things she does and the faces she makes.

Most of all, I melt when she smiles. She can be cranky as ever, and then she'll smile and it's all better for me.

Her belly is so big that pants with a waistband are kinda snug.

She also loves getting a bath. She doesn't squeal or laugh when she bathes, just has a look of utter contentment on her face.

I have always heard the saying "it's different when they're your own" when people would refer to kids. It is so true. I love Miriam so much and love watching her grow and develop. Somehow I am willing to give up sleep, listen to some crying and develop great arm muscles carrying her around...all because I love and cherish this little girl. It is so true that the more you serve someone, the more you love them. She is so precious, and this year I am so thankful for her bright addition to our family.

Thanksgiving

This year we had Thanksgiving dinner at my sister Jody's house. However, a friend gave Stan and I a free turkey that was already defrosted, so we cooked it up at our house on Monday. Here is Stan injecting a cajun marinade. It was the first time either of us actually cooked a turkey and in turned out pretty good.

Here are Anna and Sara puttting the final touches on their mashed potatoes and Cranberry Jello.

Here are Janet and her mother LaVon.

And the hostess...Jody (with Anna & Sara)

Here is what the guys did...

Install Jody & Cace's new surround sound system

Miriam napped all through Thanksgiving dinner. Here is us later with the girls, looking online for Black Friday sales.

After lunch, the girls went into town to see the movie "New Moon" while the guys stayed with Miriam and worked on the surround sound. Overall, an enjoyable day. I am so thankful for a wonderful family and the time we are able to spend together. I am so thankful for my beautiful little girl and my wonderful husband, and for the Gospel in our lives.

Dress Up Fun

One of the most fun things about having a girl is getting to dress her up in pretty outfits and bows.

However, the bows and bands are getting costly, so the other day I bought some supplies at Hobby Lobby and am going to attempt to make some on my own. We'll see later how that works out, I haven't tried it yet.

Miriam is a week shy of 3 months old and is becoming more social and fun to interact with.
My favorite thing is when she smiles.

My next favorite thing is when she talks to me. Of course her talking is all gibberish, but it is SO adorable!

She loves the changing table--or rather, getting her diaper changed. Here is where we usually have the most fun.
Miriam's hair is turning more blonde and her eyes are most definitely blue.

She is sitting up and standing with help, but hasn't rolled over yet. She hates being left on her tummy, which may be why.
She was sleeping in her bassinet for the first 2 months, and then she decided she didn't like that and would wake up after only sleeping a little while. Now she sleeps in her car seat at night and she lasts a lot longer. Although, the last few nights she's decided to wake earlier, so we'll see what works next...

Sunset

Sunday evening, my brother Jared called on his way over to our house and said we needed to go outside and see the sight before it was gone. Stan captured a few good pictures of this awesome sunset.
We had a small family dinner that night, only 9 out of of the normal 22 were able to come. We missed all those absent, but it was nice in a few ways. First, we were all able to squeeze around the kitchen table to eat instead of spreading out all over the house. And second, everyone talked to each other, instead of several small side conversations. Meredith and Jeremy were in charge of the meal and we had yummy breakfast for dinner. Creme Brulee French toast, German pancakes and sausages. And the best part...they left all of the leftovers at our house--yum!

3rd Semi-annual Hornberger Run/Ride

Saturday at the Pea Ridge Military Park the weather was sunny and a warm 75 degrees. The members of the Hornberger family (and Spicer) stretched and prepared their ipods for the upcoming race.

My sister, Jody, started this twice-a-year race last November as a fun family event to get us all motivated to exercise and enjoy a little friendly competition. There is a 6 mile run, 12 mile bike ride and 1 mile kids' ride. However, the kids' race was canceled this year since they were quarantined with the chicken pox. Since I had been "training" for this run the past several weeks and Stan had not, he got to push Miriam around in her stroller and take pictures of the event. But before you feel too sorry for him, last time we had this race I was pregnant and did the picture-taking while Stan rode the bike race (and won most-improved, by the way).

Here is Jared, Cace, Meredith and Steven coming around on their bikes.

Jared only made it around one lap because of a flat tire and hurt leg (I think it was his leg, or ankle, or something...)

Then the runners came to the finish. The fierce competition each race is between Jody and my brother-in-law Tony. Last time Tony beat Jody, so we were sure she was going to pull ahead this time. And the winner is...

Tony!

And Jody not too far behind :-)

And a few minutes behind Jody was...

Me!

2 1/2 months after major surgery and a baby, I finished the race! Who-hoo!

And pulling up the rear was a close call between Anna & Sara...who will pull ahead?

Sara!

But the real excitement of the day was the end of the biker's race. My very determined sister-in-law Meredith had an asthma attack at the very end, but was determined to finish. Apparently she and her bike toppled over at the finish line. Stan helped her breathe through it and Jeremy doctored her up.
All in all, it was a fun day, ending with a Barbecue back at Jody & Cace's house. Here's how the stats came out...

Run:
1st Place-Tony (absent from the picture to go home to his sick family)
Most improved-Jenny

Bike Ride:
1st Place-Jeremy
Most improved-Meredith

We're all looking forward to another fun race next April--friends are welcome to compete with us!

p.s. As an honest aside, none of the runners improved their time from the last race, so I got the award as a sympathy vote for running this soon after surgery & Miriam :-)