The Baskins Family: December 2011

I've found that this time of year is very difficult for me to remember to write in this blog. I absolutely love sharing our life with all of you, but time just slips away from me and I'm always on the go with this busy girl I'm chasing. :)

Since my last post, Kate has turned a year old, we had her first birthday party, we celebrated Thanksgiving in Georgia with family and had another first birthday party for Kate with family, and we are now preparing for Christmas in Georgia! It's definitely my most favorite part of the year! This year is especially exciting because I just love seeing Kate's reactions to seeing family we haven't seen in a while. She may not remember exactly who they are, but she does know she likes them and the fact that they give her so much love and attention. One day she'll remember all the faces AND NAMES and it'll be precious! :) Until then, I'll just soak this time up.

Kate is doing so much these days. She signs "more" and "all done." She shakes her head "no." She waves "bye-bye" and "hi." She blows kisses. She does this little bounce when she hears music and is standing (we call it her dance). When we say "arms up" she immediately puts her arms straight up and then back down again when we say "arms down." She makes this adorable noise by putting the back of her hand over her mouth and twists her fist forward and backward (like an indian call that most people do by just putting the front of the hand over the mouth). She has a walker that she pushes EVERYWHERE and has attempted a few wobbly steps on her own. The most she has done is 6 steps towards her daddy! She needs to gain a little more confidence and then she'll be RUNNING everywhere! She can point to her mouth when I ask "Where's your mouth?" She's just recently held her plastic phone up to her ear. I have to keep reminding myself that she is a sponge and is soaking up and learning sooo much so fast! It's really important for us to always have a Godly attitude towards her and towards each other so that she will learn that honoring Christ with our words and actions is crucial.

We had 2 birthday parties for Kate. One was here in our home with some of our close friends and the other was in Georgia with our family and a few close friends. They were both a lot of fun! I made her tutu and her hairbow. A friend helped me (with her machine and sewing skills) make her shirt too. She looked precious and got to wear the outfit for both birthday parties! I also made her cake and cupcakes (with the help of a friend). I will have more pictures from the birthday party in Georgia after Christmas.

I am back at MOPS (mother's of preschoolers) at our church every other week. I'm with the age group 12-18 months and I love them! It's always busy. There's always laughing, tears, or poopy diapers, but I love it! I look forward to one day (hopefully, next year) going back to the preschool (The Creator's Kids) and taking Kate with me! I'm still planning on keeping our friends baby Eden starting next month a few days a week! That will be challenging for sure, but I'm really looking forward to it!

Now, hopefully, ya'll have been praying for a way for Hank to go back to school and start his Master's and for something to work out with his job situation. I'm grateful to say that the Lord has worked that all out! In September (shortly after my last post), Hank had an interview with and accepted a full time job offer for the State Employee's Credit Union Operations Department being a Loan Servicing Tech. He worked a short 2-3 week's notice with UPS. When I say short, I really mean long because he worked both jobs SECU 7:30AM-5:30 and then UPS 6-10:30pm for that amount of time. It was difficult, but we are so grateful to have this change and to have Hank home FINALLY at night! I absolutely LOVE cooking dinner and having it ready when he gets home and all of us having dinner together, AND doing Kate's bedtime routine with him rather than by myself. I will NEVER take this evening time for granted. It is such a precious time for our family! As far as Hank going back to school, we are still working out the details for that, but hopefully in the next year he will be starting back at Southeastern. Thank you so much for your prayers for our family. Please continue to pray and PRAISE the Lord with us for the wonderful things he has and will continue to do in our lives!