Gingerbread Cookies

I am already seriously enjoying my Christmas sabbatical. Saturday morning we took Baby Bean to Ih.op. I figured since she was already being fed pancake breakfasts at daycare, we would order her her very own pancake. I also figured that since she enjoyed my homemade gingerbread cookies a few days before, she would like a gingerbread pancake.



Ha! The first few bites she took made her shudder. That didn't stop her from stuffing her little baby face and making a huge mess all over the high chair and floor though. Hubs and I totally enjoyed watching her eat her first very own dine-out meal.

I can't believe how fast the past 10.5 months have gone. Last year at this time I was heavily pregnant thinking about how Christmas would be this year, dreaming of what my child would look like and all of the fun things I would buy her.

At times I wish she was just a little older so I could do more with her, but the majority of the time I want everything to slow down. It is all going too fast. This past week the little bean has shown she is now able to stand on her own, completely unassisted. It is amazing to watch her learn and grow every day. I can't believe that in less than 11 month's time she has gone from a squalling infant to a near toddler. It makes me acutely aware of the fact that as she gets older, so do I. As a result, I am doing my best to enjoy each and every precious moment.

Two nights ago, Baby Bean sat in her high chair, watching me add the ingredients for gingerbread cookies into the mixer. She was "helping me make cookies." We had made a previous batch, but she ended up being in bed when the cookies were cut, baked, and frosted. Not this time. Tonight I pulled the dough out of the fridge, rolled it out, and asked Daddy to please come take some pictures of Mommy and Baby cutting out cookies.



If you told me when I was 13 that one day I would be cutting out cookies with my daughter, I might have believed you. If you told me 3 years ago I would, I would have called you a liar. I can't believe how far we have come. Everything we went through to get our daughter was more than worth it. Even just a moment as simple as this.



If I got nothing else for Christmas ever again, she would be present enough. I am so in love with my child I feel like I just can't contain it all within my heart.

I just wish time would slow down.

Baby Bean didn't get to help frost the cookies tonight for obvious reasons, but she sure did enjoy helping mom taste the fruit of our labors.



I plan on taking the majority of the cookies to the office this week to share with my coworkers. My team Christmas party is on Tuesday, to which Baby Bean is invited. After the party, we will head off to see a wonderful Christmas attraction near us. Oh yes, I will take pictures.

But tomorrow is a full-out girls' day. We're going shopping! Not Christmas shopping, but shopping for fun. When it isn't close to nap time, Baby Bean loves to shop with her mama. I love that I get to spend the next two weeks not worrying or thinking about anything else but being with my baby. That alone is all the Christmas present I need.