Reese -- 7 Months

Well, my little one is now 7 months old.   That kind of slipped by me.  Then around the first week of January, I realized that she turned 7 months.   Some will find this cheezy, but I am realizing how fast she is growing.  There are so many "LAST" moments.   Like the fact that she is about to move into #3 diapers and we will say goodbye to the #2.  It was sad to see the little newborn diapers go away, and now I am saying bye to the #2s?!?!?!?   When you have a baby and you know it will be your last one, there are many little events that happen and little items you'll never have in the house again.   For instance, it was sad to see the little infant bathtub be used for the last time.  We no longer use any bouncy seats.  By the time that my Spring consignment sale comes along, there will be many baby items I will have to part with.  Part with for the last time.   Many say that there will be more and exciting stages of childhood and "tween" stuff to look forward to as my other kids grow.   Maybe that should keep me looking forward and for now, just sit back and kiss and hug and love on my little Reese as long as I can......

OK, how cute is that????

 

Don't you just love those these cheeks??

 

  Trying out some Cheerios.....not quite ready, but enjoyed playing with them

 

Christmas 2009

What a blessed Christmas we had.   I just love being with my kids and watching their excitement as the special day approaches.   They are always trying to guess what they got under the tree.  They count down the days on our Nativity calendar and eagerly await the arrival of Jesus to the manger on Christmas morning.  Shocking to many of you, but we do not do Santa in our home.  Some say that our kids are missing out.  I could not disagree more.  This time is not less magical to them.  They are in no way lacking any excitement or magic or "specialness" because Santa is not bringing them gifts on Christmas morning.  We have read all about St. Nick and who he was and we have discussed who Santa symbolizes in the mall and on TV shows.  We are a rarity in this area, as mostly all my awesome Christian friends do celebrate this event with Santa.  I don't think less of them or think them strange or look down on them.  Everyone does what they want for their family.  But just like we don't celebrate Halloween either, it seems like we are the "strange ones"--the ones who get looked at in a "funny" way, and I don't often understand that.  We just really focus on CHRIST during the Christmas season.   So I watched my kids a little closer this year, to see if they were "missing" anything.  Nope.  We truly had a magical time.   They were extremely excited about the next morning as we came home from Christmas Eve service.   Reagan said she woke up at 3:00am, ready to start the day, but then fell back asleep.  The joy was abounding in our home, as I did everything I could to make it a special time for them.  Jesus is the Reason for this season, and the kids loved celebrating His birth.......

My four beautiful blessings from the LORD

 

The "special" gift to the kids the weekend before Christmas.....

 

 

Meet Captain Jack Sparrow

 

Reagan just loved him, partly crying and laughing, due to shock....

 

Christmas Eve

 

Christmas Eve with their Grandmothers

 

The night before the big day...

 

Riley got a new big-girl bike

 

All three kids got sleds

 

Daddy is preparing to read the Christmas story to the kids as they wait patiently...

 

Reese loved playing with the trash

 

Reese attempting to open her first Christmas present

 

The aftermath of the morning.....quite a mess.   And we only buy the kids three gifts each, just like Jesus got for his birthday.  But they get more things from their grandparents, their great-grandparents, etc...

 

The kids getting ready to eat some of Jesus' Birthday Cake

A Little Snow Before Christmas.....

Yes, we got our first couple of inches of snow the weekend before Christmas.   It was just enough for the kids to have fun.  Mostly I was so proud of the fact that they went in the backyard, with NO HELP from Mommy or Daddy, and made their very first snowman of the season.  Daddy just had to lift the snowballs on top of each other, but they rolled it all themselves.   As you can see, it took almost all the snow in the yard.

 

 

 

Time To Make the Christmas Goodies.....

It is that time of year.  Our favorite time of the year to make lots of yummy goodies.  We love making sugar cookies from scratch, cutting them out, baking them, and then, the most fun part....decorating.  Nothing like seeing hundreds of tiny, colored sprinkles, and tiny balls, fall across your kitchen floor.  I really tried to be more relaxed about things this year, I really did.  And sometimes, I failed.  Hopefully, the kids will still have wonderful memories of cooking in the kitchen, with Christmas music playing in the background, eating lots of dough, and licking yummy frosting.  We also did our annual Gingerbread house.    I think it was the best one yet!

 

 

 

 

 

Christmas School Activities

The Christmas season is always filled with many activities at school.   In Ryan's Kindergarten class, they have a special day where the kids make Gingerbread houses.  I got to go and help him with it and we had alot of fun.  

Great job sweetie!!

Then Riley's 3 year old class put on a Christmas program for the parents.   They sang songs and recited a Bible verse.  It was quite cute, and with the exception of Riley putting her finger up her nose, she did a great job!   I could even hear her singing.  Quite beautiful to hear these little, tiny voices singing songs!