6 posts from December 2008

Busy, Busy, Busy. That pretty much sums up our Christmas. Thomas and I counted, and we realized that we participated in seven Christmases. Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn have nothing on us! We had fun at them all, of course, and they are all very different gatherings, but it is hard to imagine how we are going to keep this same pace next year when we have our 2nd kiddo offically in the family picture.

One of the many Christmases was our own, just our little family of 3.

My Mother-in-law requested a Christmas picture of her Grandkids. Sounds reasonable, right? She even found cute matching shirts for the boys to wear. We went over to Thomas's sister and bother-in-law's home to try and get the job done.

So, what happens when you try to grab a picture of three kids (ages 1, 2, and almost 4) in a picture?

You guessed it----a whole lot of bad pictures! Not to mention frustrated photographers.

Below is the best one I was able to get out of a plethora of shots and 3 various location attempts (and it is still a very lacking photo). And those matching shirts? Well, you can't even tell the boys match because Daniel's shirt is pretty much covered by an unsmiling Jennna. Thomas's sister took some pictures too, but she was pretty much coming up just as empty as I was on quality.

Good thing it is the thought that counts.

Earlier this week the family went to see the Christmas lights at The Opryland Hotel. This hotel is known for its extravagant lights and fancy decorations, and there is much to see when walking through the conservatory portion of the building. Thomas and I have been to view the lights before, but we have not taken Daniel yet, hence, we decided to bring him along for the trek, letting him soak up all the twinkling, elaborate decorations. In all, he really enjoyed himself. We kept telling him that we were going to look at the lights, and when we got out of the car, he looked up and saw a street light. He quickly pointed at it and said "Oh wow!" So we played along. "Yeah, isn't that neat Daniel? Aren't you glad we came to see the lights?" So as we traveled in, the little man pretty much flipped out about every street light that we passed. It was really funny......for us at least. Since he was having a blast pointing to the street lights, we knew he was going to be excited when we got inside. This is an example of what greets you upon entering the conservatory:

One of my favorite parts was seeing Daniel get excited about things, of course, but I also enjoyed seeing Thomas hold Daniel up so that he could see certain portions better. There is also a fountain that is synchronized to music which is pretty neat. I took a little video of its performance, but it does the actual fountain little justice. <-------------------In this picture, although he looks something like a little dictator, Daniel is actually pointing at the fountain as each stream of water would burst out in sync with a Christmas song. We had already walked away the the big finale came (all water sent to the one middle stream with the water pushing out as quickly as it can so that it is as high as it can possibly be). It was probably a good thing because it is pretty loud and forceful, and I think Daniel might have gotten scared of it.

Walking so much was a little tiring, especially for Thomas because he had worked all day long, but we were glad that we took the time to go when we did, for certainly the crowds are going to increase as each day brings us closer to Christmas.

We had great intentions and meant for this “big boy room” conversion to be a

birthday present for Daniel, but well----we just now got around to taking care of it (we’re just under a month late; that’s not too bad, right?) In order to get this task done with the least complications, Daniel was sent to Grandma’s for a Friday night and Saturday. Daddy went quickly to work, making sure the room was prepped and ready to paint. Being that 1) I do not paint very well and 2) I am pregnant, I pretty much stayed out of the room and out of Thomas’s way. I did help him take out all the things from the room, so I participated a little. A hand-me-down bed and dresser were put to good use, helping to transform Daniel’s little boy room into one suited for a big boy. Not wanting him to outgrow anything we spent money on too quickly, I opted to buy him a classic boy colored comforter and sham so that things would last longer for his tastes. TJMaxx had lots of sheet sets for cheap, so I did purchase him a Thomas the Train set, which he thoroughly enjoys seeing when he goes into his room.  To top it off, there are a few yard sale pics (compliments of my mom) and a consignment sale bed rail to help him stay safe.

The first night for Daniel in his room was a huge success in our eyes, and the remaining nights and naps of this transition have gone well too. A few times he has gotten out, went to his door, and proceeded to knock on it. He wouldn’t cry or yell, just knock. “Knock, Knock, Knock.” “Knock, Knock.” And when we did not go to his rescue, he went back to bed and went to sleep, which is good too because I’ve seen and heard of several kiddos who play until they are utterly exhausted and asleep on the bedroom floor. Daniel at least goes for the comfort of his bed. When he is ready to get out in the mornings, he knocks again. If we do not come right away, he meanders over to his bookshelf and beings to read. Again, no crying or yelling. Upon the second morning, Daniel found some wipes that I left out on the floor of his room, and he pulled all of those out before we went up to get him.

I am very proud of Thomas’s hard work to make sure this was all taken care of in a short period of time. Disassembling and assembling beds, painting with very few mistakes, hanging pictures and shelves flawlessly---it is obvious why he is so awesome!

Daniel has even begun to teach some of his animals how to take a rest in big boy beds rather than cribs. I hope they take to the change as well as our son has!

Now, "I know there's more snow up in Colorado than our roof will ever see...," but you have to admit looking out the front windows at our home and seeing this is not a bad thing!

What a lovely sight!

Last night as the snow was falling, we took the time to put up our Christmas tree. Typically we buy a real tree, but there was not much success in that department this year. We went to Lowe's on Wednesday to buy one, and there were only Charlie Brown trees left.....and those were expensive! Lowe's was having a sale on all their Christmas decor (50% off!) so we thought that we might just get a fake one for the first time. Evidently we were slow to the game this

year, and everyone had already raided those as well. We tried one more place to get a real one, and that place "chose not to sell real ones this year."   Their selection of fake trees were gaudy and again too expensive for our tastes. We went home a little sad, for we were looking forward to securing our tree. On Thursday it rained virtually all day long, thus making the purchase of a real tree a rather sloppy experience. Fortunately for us, Target was having a big sale on their trees as well, and Thomas and I found one that we thought A) looked good  B) was affordable and C) was one of those pre-lit trees! To be honest, the purchase of the fake tree had me a little sad, for we've always had a real tree, and my family always had a real tree growing up.  My grandmother was the only one that had a fake tree, and that did not come until late life. Hers was a beast to put up--you had to put all the right pieces in all the right holes and fluff all the branches, and if any of the color markers on the ends happened to rub off, you just had to guess where the stupid thing went. In the end, it was not even that pretty. Obviously, fake trees have come a long way, for this one was in 3 major pieces that took Thomas about 5 minutes to assemble, including the base. At that point, in all honesty, it already looked nice, but I took some time to "fluff" the branches and spread things out a bit. In short, we are both very pleased with our selection, and now that we actually own our own home, we have a nice place to store the tree, which had always been a reason behind buying a real one before. In fact, if we truly wanted, we could just take the tree up to our storage room and place it in there until next year!

I've been talking to and reading the blogs of some other friends, and it appears that all their children just love decorating the tree. It was not that Daniel didn't like it, per say, it is just that he totally didn't get it. He sat this one ornament on the tree (see left), and after that, he proceeded to take off each ornament that I put on. He ended up breaking one of them, but it is repairable. The horse ornament just really appealed to him, for he would take it around the house, neighing and clapping. At some point while doing this,

he dropped it and part of it broke off. No biggie. I really have no clue where it came from, so it is not like he broke a special one or anything.

As we decorated, everything was picturesque. It was snowing, everyone was happy, the lights were twinkling.......almost perfect. I think if we had created a fire in the fireplace it would have been right on target, just like a scene in the movies. That is one reason why I really liked being able to have

decorations on the mantle, right above the fireplace. That always seems to be a pretty focal point in the movies, and I have never had one to decorate. The Holy Family is on the right in the picture, and on the left is a snowman photo sequence that Thomas took in college (our friends Jason and Jacob actually made them, and let's just say that if you look closely, you can tell these snowmen are not exactly nice). I think after Christmas I will try to buy some stocking hangers on sale so that I can have them for next year; after all, the stockings are suppose to be "hung by the chimney with care."

Now I just need to round out the Christmas shopping by buying a few more gifts----and I need to wrap them all! I am not a very good present wrapper, for I do not have the ability to cut straight or make good edges when folding. Thomas is actually the patient one, so I think he will be recruited this year to wrap some gifts other than mine.

I hope your heart is filled with cheer as mine is today. I know that we are blessed beyond anything we deserve. Having a child that I love so much, I have a better grasp on the gift of God's son, Jesus, yet I know I am no where near comprehending what he truly gave us this holiday season. I pray that all our friends and family feel the love we have for them this Christmas and always. And, if I do not know you and you've come across my words via the world wide web, I hope you have someone in your life to show you love.

Merry Christmas!
 

There has to be something wrong with you if you do not think this is cute! Seriously, this little boy of ours looked so adorable going into church a few Sundays ago. He simply insisted that he wear his hat to church, and we have been trying to let him carry his own backpack, when it is not too heavy. I happened to have the camera in my purse, so I was able to snap a few pictures on our way into the building. These give my heart such joy! He definitely looks like a man on a mission.