What a difference a year makes!

This morning while watching the children decorate Christmas cookies I was struck with how much difference just one year makes.

Last year I got the brilliant idea to make and decorate cookies with the children (who were 4 years, 2 years, and 11 months old) and it was such a disaster! Michael was mobile and wanted to be into everything and also did not appreciate being left out of the cookie making fun. Rebekah for some unknown reason started throwing one of her massive, uncontrollable fits. Miriam was left alone with the icing and cookies while I tried to deal with Rebekah and Michael. She made a huge mess, licking most of the cookies and all of the icing bowls. I felt so crushed and defeated, trying to make memories and do something fun for Christmas and it turned into that. I couldn't see an end in sight; it seemed everyday was chaos all the time and the cookie making was just a small glimpse into what everyday was like. We were in the midst of buying a home and Rob was not often home due to work and working on fixing up the new house. Rebekah was throwing fits so terrible and so often that I wondered if she'd ever be a pleasant child to be around or if I'd ever be able to relax instead of just trying to anticipate the next fit; I really thought something might be terribly wrong with her. While I loved my children, I was so stressed out and on edge it was hard to actually enjoy them.

This year life is so different- watching the children decorate their Christmas cookies was such a huge display of just how different it is! Miriam has matured so much in the past year; she's a little girl- there is no baby left. She can do so many things independently. Her cookies were decorated so carefully and precisely; white snowmen with a hat, buttons and face, red stockings with white trim and fully decorated Christmas trees. And, Rebekah has turned into a loving, pleasant, and talkative pre-schooler. She's a joy, always smiling and wanting to cuddle; this time last year I would have never believed she'd have become who she is today. She was so happy decorating her cookies this year- she's my sweet-tooth. Each cookie was layered with a coating of every color icing on the table in order to get as much sweetness on each cookie as possible. Both girls were so pleasant this morning- when one needed a new icing color I'd hear, "when you are done with the green will you hand it to me?", or "Mommy, I can't reach the red, will you help?" Michael was content to stand in a chair with two cookies and some white icing. Not much icing got on his cookies, but he was happy. Would you believe I actually go the rest of the kitchen cleaned up while the children were decorating their cookies and really didn't have much to clean up in the cookie decorating area even though I wasn't standing right there with them?

What a difference a year makes!!!!