Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Sunday, December 20, 2009
celebrating at our house
One thing I was so looking forward to in becoming a mom was celebrating holidays with our kids. Holidays are a time to create memories, family bonds, teach values, and have fun with our kids. Not to mention, that I just love holidays - any holiday - because, whether it's Valentine's Day or Christmas, it is something to break the routine, and it only comes once a year!
We've given careful thought into how we celebrate Christmas in our immediate family as we bring traditions of old and new into our home. Not to be a Scrooge, but I get a bit irritated by all the materialism - all the accumulation of stuff - when there are so many people in need. I am keeping this in mind as we teach our kids "how" we celebrate Christmas. And yet, as you have seen in recent posts, we definitely feel our kids should have the magical childhood wonder of believing in Santa.
Reggie was the only one willing to sit on Santa's lap!
It is a work in progress, but we have been intentional in doing the following as we celebrate Christmas as a family: 
We celebrate Jesus' Birthday - The first gifts under the tree, and the first gifts to be opened each year are little gold boxes - one for each family member. Each box contains a portion of the scripture passage of the First Christmas. We take turns opening our greatest gift - the gift of a Savior - and reading the story aloud. Our kids have free access to our nativity, creating an opportunity to tell and retell the story of Jesus' birth all season long. 
We give to people in need - Each kid filled a shoebox through Operation Christmas Child as a gift for a child in need. As a family, we also make special contributions to certain ministries and relief organizations, and the kids will be a part of that as they get older.
We give to people we love - Brett and Lydia have been making gifts to give, because it's not all about "getting"!
We receive - but not too much! - It is hard to show restraint especially when armed with a 30% off coupon for Kohl's Two-Day Sale, but our kids have everything they need and a lot they don't need. So, Santa filled their stockings with treats, and they got one small (homemade) gift to share from us.
We celebrated Christmas as a family this weekend. Because our extended families live out-of-state, we will be celebrating with them the next two weekends. And that is when Grandmas will undo all our hard work of creating an anti-materialistic Christmas. But that's okay, because our Grandmas did the same to us!
All dressed for church, we attempted to participate in the "family" service at our church. We lasted 30 minutes...
We've given careful thought into how we celebrate Christmas in our immediate family as we bring traditions of old and new into our home. Not to be a Scrooge, but I get a bit irritated by all the materialism - all the accumulation of stuff - when there are so many people in need. I am keeping this in mind as we teach our kids "how" we celebrate Christmas. And yet, as you have seen in recent posts, we definitely feel our kids should have the magical childhood wonder of believing in Santa.
Reggie was the only one willing to sit on Santa's lap!It is a work in progress, but we have been intentional in doing the following as we celebrate Christmas as a family: We celebrate Jesus' Birthday - The first gifts under the tree, and the first gifts to be opened each year are little gold boxes - one for each family member. Each box contains a portion of the scripture passage of the First Christmas. We take turns opening our greatest gift - the gift of a Savior - and reading the story aloud. Our kids have free access to our nativity, creating an opportunity to tell and retell the story of Jesus' birth all season long. We give to people in need - Each kid filled a shoebox through Operation Christmas Child as a gift for a child in need. As a family, we also make special contributions to certain ministries and relief organizations, and the kids will be a part of that as they get older.We give to people we love - Brett and Lydia have been making gifts to give, because it's not all about "getting"!
We receive - but not too much! - It is hard to show restraint especially when armed with a 30% off coupon for Kohl's Two-Day Sale, but our kids have everything they need and a lot they don't need. So, Santa filled their stockings with treats, and they got one small (homemade) gift to share from us.
We celebrated Christmas as a family this weekend. Because our extended families live out-of-state, we will be celebrating with them the next two weekends. And that is when Grandmas will undo all our hard work of creating an anti-materialistic Christmas. But that's okay, because our Grandmas did the same to us!All dressed for church, we attempted to participate in the "family" service at our church. We lasted 30 minutes...
Friday, December 18, 2009
Santa is coming!
The kids like to dance with the little dog as he sings "Santa Claus is coming to Town". I didn't expect Brett to run over to the door and knock on it. This is what he does when I tell him "Daddy is coming home soon" or "Lindsay is coming over to play with you today".
Santa had better make an appearance, or we are going to have one disappointed little boy!
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
kid news
I have lots of things to write about and lots of pictures to share - just not finding the time to do it, as I'm scrabbling to get things done for Christmas!
At Lydia's 1 yr check-up, she weighed in at 18 lbs, and was 28 inches tall. This was very encouraging growth, since she gained 4 lbs in 3 months, and has never averaged more than a pound a month! Lydia just cut her fourth tooth. She likes to copy things Brett does and says. It is cute to see them play together. Lydia says about half a dozen words and also knows what the dog, elephant, and Santa says! In other news, Lydia had her first happy meal a couple weeks ago, and her first play in the snow last week. She liked the happy meal, but was not crazy about the snow...
At Brett's 2 yr check-up, he weighed in at 31 lbs and 35.5 inches tall. He is wearing mostly 3T, and just grew out of his size 8 shoes. Brett enjoys his new spot at the table with a place mat at mealtime, and apparently-ready or not-is going to be moving into a toddler bed soon, since he's climbing out of his crib. He loves to play music on his CD player, read books, and enjoys activities such as play dough, stickers, and coloring. We are discovering he is quite the clever little problem-solver. When we are getting dinner on the table, we set his milk out of his reach, so he won't drink it before we pray. He figured out how to maneuver his place mat in order to slide his milk over so he can reach it! He has also started refusing to be in the bathtub unless Lydia is already in the tub, and climbs out as soon as I start to get Lydia out...not sure what's going on there yet...Anyway, we're discovering it's a new adventure every day with our toddler!
But just a brief update on the kids (for myself mostly, as the baby books don't get much attention).
At Reggie's 4 month check-up, he weighed in at 18 lbs (95%), and was 26 inches (85%) tall. He is wearing mostly size 9 month clothes. He is usually sleeping through the night and we are working on a nap routine. He hasn't rolled over yet, but if I prop him up on his hands just right, he can sit independently for a few seconds! He is a content baby, enjoying frequent changes in his environment, from the play mat, to the bumbo seat, and has even been checking out the exersaucer. Mostly, he likes being where Mom is, or his brother and sister are playing-so long as they are not climbing on top of him or trying to play catch with him! He babbles and smiles a lot, and likes to kick his chunky legs!
At Lydia's 1 yr check-up, she weighed in at 18 lbs, and was 28 inches tall. This was very encouraging growth, since she gained 4 lbs in 3 months, and has never averaged more than a pound a month! Lydia just cut her fourth tooth. She likes to copy things Brett does and says. It is cute to see them play together. Lydia says about half a dozen words and also knows what the dog, elephant, and Santa says! In other news, Lydia had her first happy meal a couple weeks ago, and her first play in the snow last week. She liked the happy meal, but was not crazy about the snow...At Brett's 2 yr check-up, he weighed in at 31 lbs and 35.5 inches tall. He is wearing mostly 3T, and just grew out of his size 8 shoes. Brett enjoys his new spot at the table with a place mat at mealtime, and apparently-ready or not-is going to be moving into a toddler bed soon, since he's climbing out of his crib. He loves to play music on his CD player, read books, and enjoys activities such as play dough, stickers, and coloring. We are discovering he is quite the clever little problem-solver. When we are getting dinner on the table, we set his milk out of his reach, so he won't drink it before we pray. He figured out how to maneuver his place mat in order to slide his milk over so he can reach it! He has also started refusing to be in the bathtub unless Lydia is already in the tub, and climbs out as soon as I start to get Lydia out...not sure what's going on there yet...Anyway, we're discovering it's a new adventure every day with our toddler!Thursday, December 3, 2009
Santaland
On Brett's birthday, we took a field trip to Santaland at the Downtown Minneapolis Macy's. I'm intending to make this an annual tradition. Last year, my mom and I took Brett a couple days before Lydia made her entrance into the world. This year's display (A Day in the Life of an Elf) was the same as last year, a bit of a disappointment to me, but the kids were delighted!
While visiting the display is free, there are plenty of opportunities to spend money. We skipped pictures with Santa, but bought a huge cookie to share from Mrs. Clause's Bakery and purchased a book in the gift shop.
Brett wrote a letter to Santa...
...and put it in the mail. Hope Santa gets it in time!
While visiting the display is free, there are plenty of opportunities to spend money. We skipped pictures with Santa, but bought a huge cookie to share from Mrs. Clause's Bakery and purchased a book in the gift shop.
Brett wrote a letter to Santa...
...and put it in the mail. Hope Santa gets it in time!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
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