Christmas Eve

 

In keeping with German tradition, we open our gifts on Christmas Eve each year. Here are some pictures of the things the boys received. 

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Pajamas.  Also tradition.  Except this year, I made the pajama bottoms myself!  Monsters for Nolan and constellation dinosaurs for Keyan.  My niece Ciara helped me out tons, seeing as how this was my first sewing project.  And it looks like I still have lots to learn, because the seams are already tearing. 

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Over the summer, the boys took care to water and take care of the pumpkins in our patch.  Come Halloween, they sold them to people in the neighborhood.  They then used the money to purchase Christmas gifts.  They both wanted a plush animal... so that's what they gifted each other :)

 

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At one point, Keyan said, "Clothes again? I see a pattern here." But hey, he desperately needed some "regular" clothes to wear when he is not in school, since he wears a uniform (thank you, Oma & Opa for these clothes!)  We buy athletic-type clothes because he hates the feel of denim on his eczema-prone skin. I have thought this kind of a pain up until this point (outfits always seem cuter when matched with a pair of jeans)... but when I think about it, who doesn't like to just wear comfy, athletic-style clothing anyway? For lounging around in my free time, I'd take a pair of yoga pants over jeans any day. Sometimes I need to do a better job as a mom of seeing things from my kiddo's perspective.

 

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Little People Castle. Our neighborhood started a "flea market" facebook page. I got this set with the LP knights, princess, horses, and even crocodiles for the mote... for $5. Merry Christmas to our tiny budget! 

 

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Speaking of tiny... I hate legos.  I do not like tiny toy pieces scattered all over my house.  But I finally caved.  I may rethink this decision when I step on a misplaced piece... but for now, it's great to see Keyan be so excited about building new things.  Thanks, Omi & Pop Pop!

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Here is Nolan with his beloved tool set (the only thing he asked for over and over again).  The storage container is a backpack, and he totes those babies everywhere!  Thank you, Omi & Pop Pop :)

 

(Nolan seriously does not know how to make normal facial expressions in photos; have you noticed?) 

Resurfaced Wii games so we can actually play again! (see post below!)

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Jono & I got some fun things, too... we just didn't put them under the tree.  Our first gifts were new cell phones-- we both got the Samsung Galaxy SIII. 
 

 

I'm sure we never would have purchased these except that Sprint was running a Black Friday deal-- the phones were only $50.  And we received $25 towards their purchase by trading in our Blackberries... making the grand total of these phones a whopping twenty-five dollars.  We used our Christmas money from my grandparents... thank you, Oma & Opa!

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Jonathan's parents just purchased a new, totally fabulous, digital baby grand, so they sold us their old piano.  It has lots of character (read:  lots of love and use evident in the knicks and dings)... but I just love it.  I love the sound of music throughout our house as Jonathan plays.  We really had no sheet music, though, so I downloaded some classical pieces and also got Jonathan a book of Simon & Garfunkel songs and also Mumford and Sons songs. 

 

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Last, but not least, new bedding.  Jonathan had installed a desk for me in our bedroom, and in the process, a hammer got left out.  One day while lying down for a nap, Nolan discovered it.  The mind of a 3-year-old must work something like this:  "I found a hammer.  I am supposed to be lying down in bed for a nap.  So it makes perfect sense that I would bring the hammer to bed with me and use the nail remover portion to tear a hole in my mommy and daddy's sheet."  Eventually, that quarter-sized tear became this: 
 

 

Awesome, right?  So, after months of putting it off, we replaced it (thanks, Mom & Dad!) I have no new bedding to show for it yet because its replacement was backordered.. soon, though :)

 

Merry Christmas 2012!!!

Hey Ya...

For about the last year, our Wii games have been damaged and unplayable, so for Christmas we got them all resurfaced. Nolan lost no time getting his groove on while playing Just Dance.

We also gifted our children new clothing for Christmas, which you would never guess watching Captain Underpants dance around in this video. Nolan had his new outfit on for about 5 minutes before it was covered in play doh and chocolate and had to be thrown into the wash. Sometimes I wonder why we bother giving our children things that are sure to be destroyed sometime in the near future :)

... And the Blessings Keep Comin'

Last Tuesday, some crazy stuff was happening with my body, so I went in for my 5th?  6th? ultrasound.  I've had so many I've lost track.  My placenta was low-lying, pushing against my cervix, but more significantly, an abnormality showed up on my ultrasound.  It's a condition that can result in brain damage to the baby or even fetal loss.  My doctor was out of town, so they told me they'd discuss it with me more at my next appointment (today).  It's been an emotional week, even as I've tried not to worry prematurely.  Last night, Jonathan gave me a blessing.  Normally, I try to jot down some of the promises immediately after the blessing, but it was late and I was feeling pain on my left side, so I just stayed put in bed.  But one particular phrase stood out in my mind:  to trust that God has greater power and understanding than any scientist or doctor and to put my trust in Him.  Then this morning I was reading in various places in the scriptures, when I reverted to my flip-open method (I'm telling you, that must be my personal avenue of revelation; the words are pertinent and meaningful every time).  I opened to Phillipians 4: 6-7

and then of course, further down is my all-time favorite verse 13

"I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

So, together Jonathan & I went to the ultrasound appointment, fully prepared to hear what could potentially be some devastating news.  Instead, the issue had completely resolved itself and my placenta had moved back to its proper place.  Everything about baby was completely healthy and normal and as it should be.  It was an amazing blessing.  We feel overwhelmed with relief and gratitude and pure joy.

I truly believe in a God of miracles.... and I hope we can pick a name for this little guy that is suited to the perfect miracle that he is to us. 



It's A ______________!!!

Did you guess right?? 

We had a party last Saturday evening after my ultrasound to reveal the gender of this little babe. 

Saturday morning, just before the ultrasound

Here we are playing a Pregnancy/Kids version of Quip It.  You simply create captions for the images that show up on the screen... in the wittiest possible way, of course! Jonathan & I selected the pictures beforehand.

 

This is the image on the screen in the shot above.  Entries included, "My mullet is this tall," and "Jiminy Cricket in his awkward leotard phase." 

I almost forgot to take a picture of the cake balls!  We had already handed out most of them.

 

It's a boy!  Only one cake ball held the gender secret... Jonathan's brother, Josh, was the lucky recipient. 

The best ultrasound picture ever.  Our little guy encouraging me that three boys will be a great & marvelous adventure.  Thumb's up for boy #3! 

 

What Will It Be?

Will it be the thrill of a first little girl?  Or will we find joy in a third boy? 

At my last diagnostic ultrasound a few weeks ago, they checked for the gender, but the little one was being a wee bit... okay, a lot a bit (the tech said she can't remember the last time she'd had such a difficult time trying to get a peek)... modest. 

So Saturday is the big day, and we're hoping for some temporary immodesty. 

So what do you think?  Team pink or team blue?