Christmas 2010

A glimpse into our Christmas.....

We saw Santa...and believe it or not, my child did not cry. In fact, it took effort to get Lucy off his lap!

We spent Christmas Eve (day) at home gearing up for the holiday. We headed out in the late afternoon and went to Mass with my family & spent Christmas Eve with them.

Christmas morning Lucy slept in and we all enjoyed some time watching cartoons in Mommy & Daddy's bed. When we finally got up to see what Santa had left it was somewhere around 10am...

Anyways, Lucy was VERY excited about opening gifts this year which made it so much fun! Santa brought her some large legos and a hippo pillow/sleeping bag. We played with toys, ate cinnamon rolls, and spent the day at home relaxing and enjoying the time as a little family.

That afternoon we headed to my cousin's home and spent Christmas night playing games, catching up & eating Christmas dinner.

My in-laws made a trip to see us on New Years & we celebrated Christmas with them. We had the traditional junk food while watching a "Christmas Carol" & we opened presents. The next morning we made a Christmas Dinner & just relaxed!

I'm so thankful for the time we had with family & the time we had at home....a perfect blend!

"Promise me you'll be here in the morning..."

Maybe it's the hormones from pregnancy. Maybe it's the reality that tragedy exists.

Or maybe it's just that I shouldn't watch Lifetime movies...or movies like "Raising Helen" when I'm nearly 7 months pregnant. Regardless, that was the phrase I tearfully said to my husband the other night before drifting off to sleep.

This was the conclusion of what started out as a harmless, almost joking, conversation with my brother-in-law a few hours prior. God forbid something ever happens to both my sister and brother-in-law, my husband and I will step up and try to fill the mighty big shoes of these incredible two people...as guardians to four additional kiddos. My brother-in-law has often joked about this responsibility, and the mortgage that comes along with it.

My husband and I have talked off and on about the reality of needing to have something in writing, God forbid something ever happens to the both of us. We have no monetary possessions that people would fight about, but with so many people that love our daughter--we want our wishes to be clear. It's in these conversations I feel like I see the desires for our child (ren) for the future, and pray that the Lord will make my husband and I a part of them.

Obviously we desire for our children to be exposed to the love of Jesus that has rescued the two of us, but the more I express what I would want to happen, the more I realize the issue goes much further for women than it does for men. (though I will say my husband and I have generally been in agreement about what we want) Practically speaking, our children could have multiple options of people to love them in our absence---but last night it became clear to me what I've been trying to express in all these conversations with my husband.

It's what Helen's sister wanted. (Seriously, I've watched this movie about four times in the past month. :) Helen wasn't necessarily the obvious choice, she was who her sister felt could represent her the best in her absence.

Simply stated: I want our "fill-in" parents to be able to be the best representation of the kind of mom I am and desire to be. I want them to be able to share stories of my husband and I; stories of growth, humor, sadness, change, love, etc. I want them to let my kids get messy, stay up late just because, crawl in bed on the weekends and watch cartoons, take impromptu trips to the park/library/wal-mart, read books to even when there "isn't time," etc.

If my kids can't have me, I want them to have what I feel would be the best representation of me.

...even if it means they have to move into a two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn because that's all the new guardians can afford once they've taken them all on.

(and if you haven't seen this movie, you should watch it...)

Thanksgiving in a nutshell.

My husband and I have traveled to the in-laws the last two years to celebrate Thanksgiving. This year we stayed put and celebrated the day with my family. I like that each year has looked a little different and that we have modified plans to fit our desires and needs of our growing family.

Wednesday night we headed to my Aunt's house and celebrated with my dad's side of the family over a meal of tacos :) It was so nice to get to catch up with the cousins and see all their kiddos. There were 11 kiddos there, 6 of which were 2 and under! My how we have grown over the years!

Thursday we relaxed all morning (I slept in--thanks to my hubby!) We ate pumpking pancakes from the freezer while my husband cooked sweet potatoes. We headed to my sister's home (with a quick trip to CVS on the way). We celebrated with my parents, sister, brother in law, and my niece and nephews. We didn't have much responsibility in terms of the meal---but overall the day was SO relaxing. No schedule, no place to go or people to entertain...just our small family unit. Enjoying food, conversation, and football! My mom, sister, and I began scanning the black friday ads and making our shopping lists.

Friday I decided to start later than our typical 4-5am departure time, with the hopes that we could meet up later. I didn't leave the house to shop until after 8 am, and I still managed to find most of the things I was hoping to--and then some, of course :) I never did meet up with my sister or mom--which turned out ok. I haven't had that much time out by myself since before Lucy was born. :)

The best way to describe our Thanksgiving this year was...restful. I enjoyed the laid-back nature of those days...and now we're just looking forward to Christmas!

5 kiddos and one swimming pool turned ball pit..

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to experience what my life would be like if I was mom to 5 kiddos...age 7 and under. Of course, my experience was only for an afternoon and I had Toy Story 3 and animal crackers in my corner as bargaining tools. :)

My sister is a proud mama to four kiddos--one girl (7), and three boys (5,3,&23 months). She had a few errands to run that day and since I was home with 6 loads of laundry, I volunteered my home and Lucy's toys to entertain her kiddos so she could experience kid-free errands for a day.

Now, my niece and nephews LOVE their cousin Lucy...so they were stoked to be spending the day at Aunt Rachel's (though they were more stoked when Uncle Jon came home from work...) They played all afternoon in the swimming pool turned ball pit, cooked up gourmet plastic meals at Lucy's kitchen, and watched the latest Toy Story while I folded those 6 loads of laundry.

They are an active bunch...but I totally love their energy and imagination. I see a lot of their outgoing personality traits in Lucy...and she becomes quite the daredevil herself when they're around. :)

My sister loved the time out and I enjoyed getting to have play mates for Lucy in which I didn't have to leave my home. Lucy was a fan of the attention (she thrives around other kiddos) & all in all it was a pretty good day.

My favorite part was when my brother in law (their dad) called to see if I had to call the cops/other emergency assistance yet....I knew he was kidding, but you really just never know with that bunch :)

new experiences.

Polar bears, 1st carousel ride, 1st shared ice cream cone with her sweet cousin=Lucy's first trip to the zoo!

My sister has a season pass to the KC Zoo and today Lucy and I joined my sister and her three youngest boys for the afternoon. I don't have a lot of photos--I mean, let's face it....when you're at the zoo with four kiddos under the age of 5 it makes it a bit more difficult!

However, I managed to snap this one on my phone. Gage is about 6 months older than Lucy and he was NOT interested in sharing his ice cream cone. Carter, Lucy's 3 year old cousin, gladly shared his ice cream bar. Anyways, something about that interaction triggered Gage to hold his ice cream cone out for Lucy and the two of them took turns back and forth. By the end they were both a sticky mess, my sister and I were cracking up and I was delighted to get to create such fun memories.