Henry got some new bath toys for Christmas, and he LOVES them! He is the happiest little guy when he's in the tub. He always gets fussy around 6:30, at the end of dinner - just over tired and cranky. Then I plop him in the tub and he's just as content as he can be. The girls were the same way at this age.
Sophia is crazy creative. She made a banner for Amelia out of a piece of cardboard, a piece of wood, and hangers. She paraded all over the house with it - she drew a big picture of Amelia on the front, and Amelia was SO happy!
Both of my kids think tights are the same thing as pants. We're working on it.
Sophia also made a car for Amelia's Little People, using a puzzle box, screws from Amelia's toy tool set, some tape, and the chairs from Amelia's Little People house.
I love this picture Amelia took of Henry. What is he doing??
Sophia took this picture of Henry and me
For Family Night this week, since no one had to go to school the next morning, we had a movie night - we piled every blanket and pillow we have on the floor, turned off all the lights, had popcorn, and watched a movie.
It was great, except Henry got super mad as he crawled around asking everyone for popcorn and then screaming when we said no (he fell asleep about 10 minutes into the movie though).
That reminds me, on Christmas Day, Henry found a lollipop one of the girls had left out - we found him sucking on it like there was no tomorrow. When I took it away from him... oh my gosh! I have NEVER heard a baby scream like that. He was SO mad! And it was SO cute!
Whether they're happy, mad, or in between, I think my kids are pretty cool.
Yes, I'm blogging at 2 a.m., because it's the only time I've had this week. Now I'm off to bed!
Christmas Eve we went to church, then had a yummy pot roast and opened Grandma's Christmas pajamas. Dress code: extremely red!
Then we called grandma to say thanks and merry Christmas, like we always do.
(if anyone out there knows how to keep my old point and shoot camera from totally washing out faces when I use the flash at night, I would be eternally grateful if you shared!)
We know that Santa's real favorite isn't cookies, but red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.
We left him some on the plate we made - Henry made the wreath with his hand prints, Amelia painted the ornaments, Sophia painted the bow. We've made one every year for five years.
Santa loved the cupcakes so much, he left us some rock candy.
The girls had a REALLY hard time going to sleep - the Santa anticipation was just more than they could bear, especially Amelia. That's why once they were asleep, Santa took no chances!
I went back to church at 11 p.m., because I LOVE church on Christmas Eve. It's just about my favorite thing in the whole world. And honestly, I can't handle it with my kids. I take them to church almost every Sunday and it's great; but Christmas Eve I want to be alone at church. And so I went back, and it was sooooooo what I needed! I heard the same sermon a second time, and this time I got it - the reminder. My best Christmas gift this year, The Gift, the one that made me bawl with thanksgiving during every hymn, is the hope that we will get to see Violet again some day. I needed a little help opening my heart to Christ this Christmas, and that second hour in church helped me get there.
And so we celebrated! I guess everyone here's been pretty good, because Santa delivered - everything on everyone's list.
Henry's first peek. I LOVE this!!!! I will never forget carrying each of my kids into the living room their first Christmas. LOVE. Even at 6 a.m.
I made a really good breakfast casserole. I wish I could cook and pay attention to amounts of ingredients so I could share and re-create recipes. I sauteed some onion and mushrooms and then tore up some Italian bread and poured eggs and milk and a bunch of different cheeses and butter over it, then let it sit overnight and baked in the morning - we ate it for breakfast and again at lunch with a salad.
Our day...
Everyone's house looks like this at 10 a.m. on Christmas morning, right?
Every year there is one gift that is a total hit. Last year it was that school house thing (which they still play with often). This year, both girls asked for makeup, and Santa got them some Luna Organics play make up, and it was THE hit. They loved it, and it is awesome in so many ways - aside from feel-good ingredients, it's easy to remove (something you would think would be the case for all kids' make up, but is not!), it's sweet and subtle but still bright and fun enough for them, the way it's packaged it will last a long time. Just great stuff all around!! (this is my own personal review, Luna has no idea I exist)
A close second would be several packages of Calico Critters for Sophia - those things are sooo cute and the girls have been playing with them all day. I'm kind of secretly in love with those things, and really excited now that Sophia is old enough to play with them.
Henry is so smart (and a stinker)!! He got this walking thing, and the very first thing he did was push it up to the tree and use it to stand up so he could reach all the ornaments we hung above his reach!
At the end of the day, Sophia announced, like she does every year, "this was the best Christmas ever!"
Well, despite my not totally "feeling it" this year, Christmas has arrived. And you know what... that's just exactly how it is. No matter what, Jesus is born. There's no sorrow or grinchy-ness in this world that can't be overcome by the hope and love encompassed by the most awesome gift ever given.
How silently, how silently The wondrous gift is given! So God imparts to human hearts The blessings of His heaven. No ear may his His coming, But in this world of sin, Where meek souls will receive him still, The dear Christ enters in.
Henry is ready for his first visit from Santa. He doesn't know it yet, but he is. He's been practicing unwrapping any presents he might stumble upon and he's got a wish list that includes lots of things with wheels.
And I felt bad, because I haven't taken any pictures of the girls lately. But then I looked, and they had gotten a hold of my camera and took some themselves.
(what will I ever do when they outgrow footie Christmas pajamas?? Is there anything cuter?)
Wednesday night, I got to go out with my bestie Melissa. We had pomegranate martinis and fancy cheese and talked about totally NON lady-like things. My camera died before the waiter could figure out how to use the flash, so this is the only picture we have.
Then yesterday, we went to Walmart - all five of us. We never do this, and for a good reason. But we survived, and then we headed to Conway to visit some other long-time friends and had the best time. The girls played with their girls (who are older and sooo cool) and Henry terrorized their cats while the grown ups drank yummy coffee and ate homemade caramel sauce with apple slices and talked about how much life has changed in ten years.
And speaking of yummy coffee, here's what I'm drinking this morning
Cinnamon Coffee
3 cups water 1.5 Tablespoons coffee 1.5 Tablespoons brown sugar 1 cinnamon stick
Bring water to a boil, add coffee, sugar, and cinnamon stick. Boil for 30 seconds, then strain and enjoy!
My (wonderful) doctor called me tonight and gave us some news we've been edgy about receiving and anxious to know... the genetic testing on our baby came back. She was a girl. She had Trisomy 13. We are reassured by this news, because it means probably my other three losses (and Henry's scary start) were caused by my low progesterone, which can be fixed. We're no more likely to lose another baby than we were before, because this is not something that is more likely to happen again. We are blessed with the knowledge that our baby was a girl (which also means Daddy has a 100% accuracy track record on guessing baby's sex from the first ultrasound!) And it is healing for us to give her a name.
Her name is Violet Emmaline. We can't wait to meet her some day, and call her by her name.
1. Driving through a Christmas lights display for Family Night last night
2. Precious and dear new ornaments for our tree - the kids and I made salt dough ornaments over the weekend. Henry made a hand print, Sophia made a candy cane, Amelia made a horse (of course), I made a doodle
in Kindergarten, Sophia made a Christmas tree
And two dear friends gave us ornaments to honor our baby
3. This super cool glass Santa cookie jar that I got at Savers for 99 cents
4. The giant box of cookies, some of which will go in the Santa jar (and some of which will be hidden in a very, very secret spot only Mommy knows). My great aunt in Austria is 90 years old and has been baking these cookies for years and years and shipping them all over creation to us. She and my great uncle owned a bakery (which has been a bakery since the 1500s - complete with a tunnel in the basement that used to go to the castle in town). I have so many great memories as a child of helping serve at their cafe, driving into the countryside to deliver bread with my uncle, watching the huge mixers... Probably my #2 favorite thing about Christmas every ear (after Christmas Eve services at church) is getting that box of cookies. My great uncle died this year, and it is a really sad time for my great aunt - her first year making all of these cookies alone. Times like these make me so sad that my family is so far away. But I know it makes her happy that the cookies make us happy, and boy do they ever!!
5. Christmas cards! LOVE.
6. My BFF Melissa is in town!!! She moved away for dental school ten years ago and never came back, so now I only get to see her once or twice a year. We're going OUT tomorrow night, and I can't wait!
Not so happy things... everyone in our house has a cold and today I had to get a root canal. Blech! Luckily it was Melissa's daddy who did it while humming Christmas carols, so I wasn't trembling in my boots like I usually do at the dentist.
