Merry Christmas To All...

Dialouge from Christmas morning~

4:48 AM- I hear the baby crying... (thinking to myself)- UGH! Hurry, I have to get to him before Luke and Owen wake up. I reach Jude before they hear him, or so I thought. Jude is soaked- UGH! again! Maybe I can get him changed, fed and back to sleep before Luke and Owen wake up this early. No such luck. Jude starts bucking on the changing table- he's WIDE awake, it's Christmas morning, of course- he's ready for presents... still no big boys... yet. All of a sudden, in the pitch of darkness.... in the loudest voice EVER!!!! "MERRY CHRISTMAS, MOM"!!!! I nearly jumped out of my skin, it scared me so much. And so the day began...

And a day it has been so far- I LOVE watching my boys with the wonderment, excitement and love all at once. Santa is so huge to them. Now, of course they do know the true meaning of CHRISTmas and briefly pause to remember that we're celebrating because of the birth of our savior- but come on, Santa to a 7 and 4 year old takes over their entire being for a few short hours on Christmas morning. And so it should....

Merry Christmas to all of our loved ones... And Merry Christmas to you, my boys. I am so blessed to be loved by the four of you. My cup runneth over....

'O Christmas Tree....

Okay, so I said I was only going to put up 1 tree this year... I lied, fibbed, joked... I guess the Christmas spirit came over me. I couldn't stand just having 1... so I put up 5. I know, I know, I will be cursing myself when it comes time to take them down. But in the meantime I LOVE those really early mornings (4:30 AM) when it's quiet in the house, I sneak downstairs, start some yummy hazelnut coffee and sit next to a lit tree in complete darkness. It's "my" time. I look forward to it every December. Then slowly the kids awake- I hear cooing from a crib, a little Owen scampering downstairs, a bigger brother searching for the elf.... and Jeremiah still snoring :) 'Tis the season...

SNOW DAY!!!

I think Jeremiah was more excited than anyone because he got to get on his "tractor" to play in the snow. Although we didn't get a ton of the white stuff we did get a lot of ice! Santa is frozen to our front door! Luke and Owen are camped out on the couch where they'll most likely remain all day. I'm okay with that- for today, and tomorrow they'll be shipped outside to sled or make a snow fort. CHRISTmas break has begun- 1 day early. I've got a million things to do before the big day and our trip. I've had to remind myself many times to slow down and enjoy this time of year. I'm reminded of something our pastor recently wrote and said "I pray your experience of Christmas is not so much of a baby in a manger, but of a risen Christ who calms the wind and waves. Not so much of a present colorfully wrapped under a green tree, but of a sense of belonging and hopeful anticipation for God's reign on earth to reclaim all that is born of darkness. After all, God is in the details".

Random December Photos

WHEW! It's been a wild December so far! We celebrated Jeremiah's 34th birthday on December 8th, we've had christmas parties galore and more to come! Here are just a few random moments in time-

Moses in the Bulrushes and 'Juder' Soup???

Okay, so this isn't really a moses basket, nor is it Moses- but there's something about putting your sweet little infant in a basket and ooohhhing and awwwwing because it's just too darn cute. Jude is crawling all over the place now- including in and out of baskets- he's even cruising along the furniture. It won't be long before he figures out the stairs- time to call grandpa Steve to put the gates back up! As for the 'Juder' Soup- no Jere and I don't really plan on cooking him. For some reason we've taken a picture of all 3 boys in a pot on top of the stove- again there's something about putting your kid in a pot like he's so yummy you just want to eat him up. Okay, that didn't sound right but for all you parents out there maybe you understand what I'm saying.

We've had a busy week so far- Jere and his dad are working on finishing our basement. At least getting studs up and insulation in place! Yahoo... now I can ship the kids down there and not worry about all the toys everywhere! We're all back into routine from Thanksgiving break and counting down the days till Christmas and Disney World!

Before I close, I want to send out best baby wishes to a couple of people. My best friend Alecia is expecting her 3rd (her 2nd is Jude's age- sorry Alecia, I just 'outed' you) and to Whitney- I hope all is going well- can't wait to meet baby Docken!