Wednesday, December 12, 2012

to Santa or not to Santa?

I'm not the biggest fan of Santa. I'm sure its not difficult to figure out why. We take a holiday that is designed to celebrate the birth of our Savior, who came to Earth so that we may have a chance to be saved and enter the Kingdom of Heaven and push a jolly big fat man as being more important. This strange man sneaks into our houses in the middle of the night and leaves presents. We take a gift (Jesus' birth) and a holiday and turn it around to make it all about receiving and materialism.

So no, I'm not his biggest fan.

I'm not entirely anti-Santa either though because make-believe is fun, imagining is fun, a bullied reindeer that saves the day is everyone's heroic underdog and the idea that we get gifts for being good is great... but, when I think back to my Christmas memories.... it was all about presents and what we GOT. I remember one particular Christmas when my little brother counted everyone's presents and then proceeded to throw the biggest tantrum (at the age of 6 or 7) because he didn't GET as many presents as someone else. Its so easy to lose the thought of giving to others and the fact that this holiday is JESUS!

So my question is, since I still have at least another year to figure all this out, thank goodness, how do you sorta-not really-kinda do Santa, but mostly do Jesus for Christmas? I've seen cute things like service advent calendars that I really like, that every day you open a day and get the fun piece of candy, but also do something for someone else (as simple as praying for someone else, making a card, cookies, or could even be going to visit a nursing home). I like that a lot. I think it would help my children, but also myself. I used to love advent calendars when I was little, but ONLY because there was a piece of candy in it. I didn't really have any idea what it meant. (My grandmother sent it to me, but no one ever explained it.)

Back to the question - if we don't welcome Santa into our home, my children will be the ones going around spoiling it for everyone else in Kindergarten (or pre-school) telling them, they are crazy, there's no Santa! In which case, I don't think that will help them, nor Ben and I, keep friends.

Anyways, thankfully this year, N has no idea who Santa is (besides the strange man his nanny took him to sit on last week) so I don't have to make that decision yet, but I still wonder what the best option is. I don't want to kill imagination, but I don't want to turn a holiday away from our incredible Savior and the amazing gift he gave us.

I'm sure there is a happy wonderful middle road out there, and I have a year to figure it out. How do you celebrate Christmas?

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

20 weeks with baby girl

20 weeks and 2 days

This pregnancy is so different from my first. Number one I am itchy as itchy can be. Everywhere... my arms, chest, back, legs, hands, feet!!!! ITCHY! My doctor said.... "eh, just a pregnancy rash... hang in there." Sheesh! Then Saturday night at 2am I actually drove myself to the ER for what was either the most incredible heartburn I've ever had in my life or a gall bladder attack. Either way pain level was a 9 out of 10 and I needed it to stop! Nothing really came of it other than at 6am the pain finally subsided on its own... (or the half a bottle of tums, mylanta, pepcid, nexium I had tried the day before finally kicked in).

Baby girl is treating me very differently from her brother. Ben felt her kick for the first time last night! Much earlier than with N. She's not kicking constantly yet, or at least I'm not feeling it. I'm sure that will change in the next few weeks. I'm looking forward to her hiccups :)

As of this morning I've gained about 10lbs (on my scale). I can't remember the doctor's update and don't go back for a few weeks. I'm sure its contributed to the past 2 weekends of not being able to eat/keep food in me, but I was sure I'd be at 20lbs by now.

So we need a name... and we have none. Or I could say we have all. Because literally we have a ton on the list, but nothing we LOVE. And nothing that works with the bad habit of adding 'ie' to the end of any one in our house.... think: Logan has become Logie.... no, I don't know why.

Help me out, give me some names! I have no updated bump pictures (its already starting, baby girl has less pictures than N), but I'm big. Maybe you can tell in this picture. Praising the Lord for just small little bumps in the road and that mostly all is well with this little pumpkin and her pregnancy. :)


First day of school

N started a new school today. He has been with Linda since he was 10 weeks old and now at almost 17 months, God showed us that we're ready for pre-school. I cried... he didn't. Until the fire drill. On his first day. The teacher actually explained that he cried a little about the fire drill until he realized he got to go outside. But then, after the fire drill they had to go BACK inside... that's when he really cried. This child wants to pitch a tent and live outside. He doesn't mind if he falls and busts his face as long as he's on the way to a playground... coming back inside however if you look at him funny he'll lose it.

They said he also wanted his sippy a lot throughout the day instead of at their 'snack and lunch' times.... well the child has had a sippy all day every day for 6 months. That may take some getting used to that he can only have it at certain times.

I packed enough stuff for him to stay 2 weeks, and the teacher probably thinks I'm crazy, but we survived and N actually semi-slept on a nap-mat (an adorable one his DD made). He doesn't go back for 2 days, so we'll see how skipping a day goes. We may go straight to 3 days a week next week.

Here are some pictures from today... none of which happened near school. 


 N doesn't like that I pulled his chair away from the china cabinet so when he sits on it, it won't shake all the china and crystal... so he's fixing it.
 Testing it out.... bang!!! bang!!! yep... that's close enough.

 Naked Christmas baby... he's still the baby... at least until April.


 We love Baby Jesus
Sweetest boy.
 Telling daddy about all the 'balls' on the tree.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Baby Jesus

I put a very tiny nativity in N's room this weekend. It's high on a shelf, and I'm talking TINY! This morning getting out of his crib I showed it to him and told him it was, "mama Mary, daddy Joseph and baby Jesus."

Tonight while putting him to bed we opened up his baby bible and it flipped open to the page of Jesus' birth. I again started to say, "look N, it's mama Mary, daddy Joseph..." And N jumped up and pointed to his shelf. I thought it was the cutest thing that he remembered they were up there. :) it's precious how big he's getting. Can't wait until he says 'amen' after our prayers.

Saturday, November 24, 2012

Thanksgiving, girls and check ups.



We had a great Thanksgiving! The day before we went to the doctor and saw a healthy little pumpkin on the ultrasound screen. It was such a relief! We closed our eyes and the tech wrote on a sheet of paper what the baby was. We wanted to find out with my whole family. I don't know that it was worth the wait, but my nieces sure enjoyed it. :)  Here they are carrying around the box with the balloons in it. They opened the box really, I just helped them with the tape. N just hung out in my lap, he hasn't caught on yet.






I was shocked it was pink! I cried, but probably would have cried if it was boy or girl because its just a fun exciting thing. Ben is super nervous, and I think N will be a wonderful big brother. He's learned to say 'baby' but only because he knows there is a 'baby' (himself) inside my phone because we show him video clips of himself sometimes and he LOVES it. We also have a nativity with a baby in it as well. So maybe in 4 or 5 months he'll be excited we'll have a real one too!


 We survived the shock by breaking out the guns... Ben clearly got my best side here, just far enough back that you can't see the baby bump and I just look weirdly wide.... lol. It would have been cuter if he wasn't scared I'd accidentally shoot him I'm sure. I shot 3/4 of my shots on target! Ben did too... don't break into our house. And no, I'm not shooting at the swing set.
 N took breaks loving on the stinkiest, sweetest dog in the house (there were only 5 to choose from after all).
 And our favorite word of the week, "ball".
N had his 15 month check up a little late (almost 17 months) and weighed in the 35th percentile at 24lbs. I can't remember his height, but it was the 75th percentile. Doctor was happy with thed amount of words he says and said our current goal is to keep him out of the ER. I think that's a good goal! I'm in :) I just wish he could eat peanut butter, but we were told to keep waiting until he's 18 months...

 Clearly he's getting ready to be a big brother to a baby sister... pink fairy wand... pushing a baby around. (In his defense, my mother has A LOT of pink toys and this has wheels, as do trucks... so he was saying, 'vroooom' while pushing it around. The baby was already in it.)

Our ultrasound went great too! Tech said she got to see a healthy heart, brain, kidneys and stomach, as well as 2 feet and 2 hands. Praise the Lord!

I am so thankful for the Lord and the peace he provides us. There've been a few things going on outside of our family that have been trials lately, but when you get to see healthy children it puts everything else into perspective. The Lord and the family he provides for me is all that matters. All other things will fall into place according to His will and I am so thankful for that.

We've been visiting a new church for about a month now and I think we're starting to feel at home again. We certainly miss our old church, but we couldn't continue to drive the 45 minutes there. We moved so we would have a community for our kids one day and I think that is something that we have to work on and seek out. So we're still in step one of finding that church. Hopefully new friends will come next because I think that is what Ben misses the most. He was close with our neighbors and loved going over to their houses to cook out or work on cars and he doesn't have that here. I pray God will set those relationships up for him soon.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

16 months going on 17 weeks

I just really want to sing: "I am sixteen.... going on seventeen...." I remember singing that and thinking, wow, 16 is so old! HA!

Anyways....
N turned 16 months old this past week. 16 months still seems so young, but he amazes me at how much he can do.

 
Like sit in his toolbox!

We have some changes coming up in terms of day care. For the last 14 months or so, N has been staying with a lady. Its been great, but she recently took a 2nd job and pick up has gotten a little hectic. She usually drops him off to me at school in the afternoon, but since she has to work 4, that means any time I have a meeting and Ben has to work normal hours, we have no child care. Thankfully the secretary (lady who runs our entire school really) has been kind enough to watch N during those times. N LOVES his nanny. She spoils him and loves him like her own. BUT, we knew next year we wanted him in a program with other kids and a curriculum.

We got on a waiting list at the new church we've been going to and were happy. Then we found out the 2-year-old teacher is not someone that we want teaching him since we have a not-so-good relationship with her from a different area of our lives. Well... back to square one.

I began praying like crazy that God would tell us what to do. 

We went and visited a different church program that has been referred to us by many people. We liked it and they explained the waiting list: Now that we are on the waiting list, she'll send us an email about the secret day in January when we get to show up in the middle of the night to hopefully get a spot in their program. N's spot is most likely going to be open, but the spot for the baby is the spot we would be competing for. Literally she said people usually start waiting about midnight.... UGH....

Ben asked if there was a chance we could get in before that wonderful day. She said.... hmm.... maybe....  Turns out, someone was possibly moving. There was one other person on the waiting list though so we'd just have to wait and see.

Thursday we got the call that N can start on Dec. 4!!!! WAY sooner than we expected, but we get in and are guaranteed a spot for baby!! Hooray! N's nanny is going to work with us transitioning him to day care by starting him off 2 days a week then 3 then eventually 5. I'm being a crazy person about it. I am SOOO nervous for N. He's going from one-on-one doing whatever he wants to a room full of other one-year-olds and a new teacher. He has to sleep on a nap-mat.... not in pack'n'play. That may be the part I'm the most anxious about. The child loves his sleep, but I'm pretty sure he needs those bars to contain him to sleep. We'll seeee!!!

Wow, that turned out to be a lot longer than I intended.

What we've been up to?


I'm 17 weeks pregnant! I can feel baby 2 moving around in there now. We find out in a week and a half what the little munchkin is! I painted N's new room this weekend. From a way-too-bright minty green to a calming 'Hush' by Benjamin Moore. What a great name for a baby's room :)

MUCH BETTER!


For some reason his grandmothers feel the need to keep him up way past his bedtime when he spends the night with them which leads to him doing this most of the next day. 



Such a boy. Riding his 4-wheeler shirtless and backwards.


 I felt the need to document his bedtime while I was taking pictures tonight because he will be our only little one for just a few more months and I'd hate to forget how much fun we have. This kid LOVES his bath.
 Here he is 'reading' his favorite book before bed. He actually is just fascinated with staring at the kids in this book. Even upside down apparently.

He will do ANYTHING to get that paci when he's had enough and is ready to lay down. He knows he only gets that paci if he's in the bed (or in my arms on the way to the bed).



Paci in. We sing a song, say our prayers and he's so ready for bed.


 These are from this week. He was given some hand-me-down tools including this cute little toolbelt that he LOVES to wear. Then Ben brought home his old childhood tractor. It needed a little work getting the peddles working again, but for something that is probably 25 years old, its pretty cute. N thinks its fabulous.



 N is as fun as can be. He can say: Ball, Uh-Oh, Moo, Ruff-Ruff, Shoe, Juice, Bye-Bye. Granted some of those only come out when you catch him off guard because he does NOT like to do anything on command. Stubborn little pumpkin. He's a ham though as you can see below:


See you soon....when we know what our little pumpkin 2 will be. I currently think its a girl. ONLY because my skin is so terribly broken out, which is the complete opposite of N's pregnancy. I decided with all my medical knowledge,  it must be extra estrogen. Makes sense right? I'm excited either way though, I really would love for N to have a brother and N's been so easy I'm thinking it must be a boy thing :) But if its a girl, it will be an all new adventure. We'll see very soon.  I just can't wait to see it as a baby instead of that teeny little bean. I pray it is healthy and doing great in there.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Happy Halloween!


 I may have added this photo already, but its just so cute. This is from our pumpkin patch visit a few weeks ago.

We have put off our Halloween events, but tried to cram it all in tonight before he went to bed. 

 Helping daddy carve our pumpkin.
 He stuck his hand in for half a second and did NOT like it.
 I love those blue eyes.
 Maybe the pumpkin seeds aren't as slimy?

 This is my favorite. He just LOVES his daddy. 

We didn't go trick-or-treating or any fall festival because N goes to bed so early, but we put our costume on and had a photo shoot running up and down the hallway :)

Here are N's little feet while he's eating dinner. I just think its so funny that he crosses them like this at only 15 months old. Just cute. 

We are a PUPPY DOG!!!
 But we prefer to be a puppy dog without the head.
 He thinks Sierra is chasing him. She is most definitely not.
 Showing off to his new friend in the mirror.



 And finally mama, N and baby bunp.
 What cracks me up about this picture is how it does NOT do the way I feel justice. I think I'm bigger than this picture appears.

I am 15.5 weeks. Just had another doctor appt and all went well. 150 heartbeat, only gained 1/2 a pound!
My conversation with Ben after my appointment:

Me: Hey guess what, I only gained half a pound!! 
Him: Are you sure?
Me: Uh... yeah. Why?
Him: Nothing, I guess your body just..... moved. 
Me: ...... moved?


HA! Honestly I thought it was the funniest thing I'd ever heard. And really that means I've just gotten skinnier in other places.... right?? right? Men are so tactful. We get to find out in 3 weeks what new baby P will be. I'm nervous and excited. With N I really didn't have any idea and was TRULY just thankful the baby was okay when we found out what he was at a scary 12 week appointment. With this one, I will have to be patient and wait the whole 18 weeks!! I didn't want to find out what this baby was, but Ben insisted. Now that we have the appointment so close I'm very ready to know too :)

Here's my latest cell phone picture of the belly. With a little N head in the bath tub. Happy Halloween!
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