Cloud 9...Times Two: Christmas

(Written from 12/19/10-1/10/11)

The week leading up to Christmas was such a joyous time at our house and Mark and I feel so blessed to have this time with the kids. Mark had two weeks off and we got lots of time as a family. Now that both kids are getting older, we wanted to start some family traditions of our own.

We have taken several drives around the city to see various Christmas light displays and the kids have just loved each time we go. Our favorite is probably the sea of LED-wrapped trees on the Chesapeake campus.

The kids and I have been making chocolate treats to share at Christmas and we've had so much fun. Now it makes me smile when Ian quickly asks, "Can we bake something today?" upon waking in the morning. Even Anna got into being a little chef and wanted to wear one of my aprons. We made a variety of treats - chocolate truffles, Chinese new year candy, Peanut crunch treats, chocolate covered pretzels, and a treat I now call Grandma J cookies because I remember my Grandma making them when I was young. Mark and Ian made the cookies for Santa and Ian got to decorate them (or, in Ian's case, just pour about a tablespoon of sprinkles on each one...or until the sprinkles spilled over the sides of the cookie.)

On Tuesday night, the kids and I took a plate of our homemade chocolate treats to various neighbors with a Christmas card from our family. I am embarrassed to say that although we exchange smiles and waves to our across-the-street neighbor multiple times per week, we have never met her in the six years we've lived here. So I was determined to meet her at the holidays this year. God blessed our venture into the neighborhood because each neighbor we intended to visit was home. I was so touched when several of the neighbors took the time to not only talk to the kids about what they wanted from Santa, but one neighbor invited us in to sit and talk - so unexpected and so nice. And then the neighbor sent us home with the movie The Polar Express to borrow so the kids could watch it.

The kids were so excited they wanted to watch the movie as soon as we got home. So I got dinner out of the oven and we crowded around the coffee table to eat, enjoy a warm fire in the fireplace that Mark had made for us, and a great movie as a family. Anna danced around the living room and sang along with some of the music. And Ian almost made me cry when he got concerned about the little boy in the movie who goes out into the snow all alone to board the train for the North Pole. Ian got so upset and asked if the boy was going to come back home. We reassured him that he was going to meet Santa and would return home safely. Then he says, "Won't he miss his Mama?" And then he ran to jump into my lap for comfort as he fought back tears. It touched me so because Ian often says that he saves the kisses that Mark and I give him - he 'puts them in his heart to save forever'. And he sometimes says, "Mama, I'll never let you go." He's so genuine and soft-hearted.

This was as good as it got
for a "family photo" this year. :)

We were quite blessed at Christmas. We celebrated with Mark's family on Christmas Eve after attending the family service at church, celebrated again on Christmas morning - just the four of us, and then saw my mom and step dad late Christmas day for another celebration. Then a few days after Christmas, my Dad drove up from Houston for a few days where we celebrated with him. Santa brought Anna a baby doll, a baby stroller, and lots of clothes (for Anna). And Gram made her doll some doll bedding/blankets and clothes. While he brought Ian a Star Wars AT-AT, a space shuttle toy, a kick scooter, a toy shotgun, Lincoln Logs, and Legos. We ended up putting several of the kids' toys at the top of their closets to "save" for a few months from now. Four Christmas celebrations, as wonderful as it is that we are so blessed, can be truly overwhelming for little ones...and their parents.

The first full day of my Dad's visit, Mark and I had to take Ian to the emergency room while Papa Rod watched Anna. We all sat down to breakfast and Ian leaned his chair back just enough for the back legs to slide out from under the chair. He fell backwards and as he did, he leaned forward and grabbed the seat of the chair where he then hit his chin on the wood part of the chair. We thought he'd just bruised it until we got him into the bathroom to tend to him and realized it had split wide open. A few hours later he had six stitches and was playing at home like nothing had happened. He was amazingly brave through the whole ordeal. He cooperated fully with Nurse Serena and his doctor. He was happy, joking and didn't appear to be in pain at all. They did two rounds of numbing cream on his chin before the stitches. He sat through it all without a tear. I had to take a seat as they stitched him up because it was just too much to see the inside of my little boy's chin - yuck. He came through like a trooper. And now that it is January 10th, the stitches were removed a week ago and his scar is continuing to heal well.

Anna has taken to music even more here lately. She sings (in gibberish) and loves dancing to the radio. The other evening she was singing "Jesus Loves Me" in the tub and tonight she was singing "This Little Light Of Mine". She doesn't have many words yet but she makes up "words" and sings as best she can - so much so that we can identify the song by the tune most times. She loves playing the piano at Gram's and Nana's house, too.