Laura's Baby Blessing

We were going to do Laura's baby blessing earlier, but each of the dates we picked ended up not working out for one reason or another. It worked out well though as we were able to have Susie here!

We prefer to do our baby blessings at home. It's sort of a family tradition and it allows us to be surrounded by those closest to us. Laura's blessing was wonderful! The house was filled with people who adore her :) We only had four people in the blessing circle: Rob, Dan (Jojo's husband), Bret, and Cullen (Danyella's husband). Her blessing told her that she would be an example to her family and friends, that our family was very blessed to have her, and how loved she is by those around her :)

After the blessing, Jojo and Dan kidnapped Laura for a few minutes before we started pictures ~

One of my best friends, Allison, was there. She was a huge emotional support to me during my pregnancy and bedrest and was the first one outside of Rob and I to meet Laura as she surprised us and drove up from Houston. She refers to our kids as her nieces and nephew and they all love her :) Thank you so much Allison for always being there to talk when I needed you and for your unfailing support and unwavering belief in me! (The picture of the two of us somehow didn't get taken - we'll have to try again!)

Danyella and I were co-teachers of an activity group at church for about a year. We got close during that time and I am so blessed to have her as a friend! She and her sister-in-law, Shannon (who couldn't make it to the blessing unfortunately), are both nurses and gave me my weekly shots during my pregnancy so I didn't have to drive into the doctor's office each week. Danyella also happened to be working a night shift the night Laura was born and she kept me company via texts throughout my labor :) Thank you, Danyella and Shannon, so much for all your support!

Betsy, Ashley, and Caitlin joined us too, of course :) Betsy or Ashley watched the kids during each of my doctor appointments throughout the pregnancy. Betsy came over in the middle of the night the first time I went into labor with Laura (when they were able to stop it). Ashley came over in the middle of the night and stayed with the other kids when Laura was born. Following Laura's birth, Betsy took the other five kids and kept them the whole time I was in the hospital. Ashley cleaned our downstairs while we were there, and Josh (who couldn't make it to the blessing) and two of his friends did our yard work for us! Betsy also watch Eva and Laura (who was 8 weeks old at the time) when I had surgery so Rob could be with me. I don't know what I would have done without them! On top of that, Betsy is one of my closest friends and Ashley is as well :)

Miss Jojo, Mr Dan, and their son, Brent, also joined us for the blessing :) We were at their house at least once a week all summer to swim in their pool, which really made bedrest easier for me (and the rest of the family)! The kids love them! Jojo is one of my very closest friends and my surrogate mother. She is there any time I need her and even though she knows all about me, she somehow still loves me! She is unfailingly supportive and one of my favorite people :) She was supposed to be there for Laura's birth, but Laura, being one of my and Rob's children, decided to be difficult and show up the one night Jojo was out of town. She loves Jojo though and Jojo is one of the only ones who can get Laura to settle down when she's super fussy :)

We took a break in our photos of Laura and her guests to take a shot of Kiki, with Eva and Beth :) Beth is inseparable from Kiki and Eva seems to be developing a similar attitude :)

Bret, Kora, and their four children (Bret Matthew, Aurora, Jake, and Noelle) were there too. They are the kids' godparents and have made it to each of the kids' important events. Bret has been one of my best friends since high school and is now one of Rob's best friends. Kora is definitely one of my best friends. Our kids love hanging out with each other as well :) We don't get to see each other as often as we'd like as we both have super busy schedules, but they are one of our all time favorite families :)

We made sure to schedule the blessing while Susie was here for Christmas. We've loved having her visit! The kids all adore her, of course :) She has a special bond with Laura and can always get her to settle down when she's tired or fussy. When Susie and I stay up late talking, Susie kidnaps Laura and walks her for hours or sits and cuddles with her. Susie and I have always been close, but it seems we have gotten even closer in the past few months. She has been there for me every time I've needed to talk. We have so much in common and I love hearing her view on things. She has flawlessly made the transition from teenager to adult, somehow combining her ability to have fun as freely as a child with maturity and compassion. I am so proud of her and so glad she is part of my life!

Kiki made sure to deliberately arrange her schedule so that she would be here for Laura's blessing. She travels so much for work now that I know how hard it must be for her to fit us into her schedule, yet she does it often :) We were very close growing up, and although we haven't been as close in the past few years, we are growing closer again, which I'm very happy about! She was super supportive during my pregnancy with Laura and always had time for me, no matter how busy she was :) Thank you so much for how hard you've worked to include us in your life!

Almost everyone was able to stay for dinner after the blessing. We had a baked potato bar as that allowed everyone to sort of pick their own dinner. We followed up with cake ~

Thank you to all of you who were able to attend! We missed those of you that weren't there. Thank you all for your love and support throughout my pregnancy with Laura and for your continued love and support for our family!

Christmas '12

Usually the kids are up at 6:30am on Christmas morning. This year we had thunderstorms that shook the house all night long. It was still dark and drizzly Christmas morning. I think the lack of sunlight messed with the kids internal alarm clocks because they slept in until after 8am!

They came bouncing into our room the moment they woke up. I got downstairs to find them practically incoherent in their excitement :) Santa had written "thank you" to both Jack and Beth and had left footprints on the rug in front of the fireplace!!!

Rob, following the honored tradition started by his father, stalled and stalled and stalled. First he told them he needed to sleep some more, then he came up with a list of chores he had been meaning to do like clean out the minivan. They finally managed to drag him downstairs, but he had to check the backyard first . . . By the way, he is not wearing black leggings; he is in black long johns, which were the pj's he got this year. He didn't want footie pjs for some reason.

They got him into the dining room, where he announced he needed to check his email first . . . The kids were a little antsy by this point.

He finally gave in and let the kids attack their stockings :)

Susie and Laura were still not quite awake.

After stockings and breakfast (donuts, fresh fruit, and individual boxes of cereal brought by Santa), we moved to the playroom to open presents. Kylie and Jack had lots of fun digging them out from under the tree! Jack found his glow sticks from Santa very helpful.

We didn't do tons of presents this year. Each child got three presents from us. Megan, Kylie, Beth, and Jack got presents for each family member at a special holiday store at school. They weren't able to get Susie presents as they didn't know she was coming; she wanted to surprise them :)

Megan got a babysitting starter kit, an LED booklight and recipe cards, and a year long membership to an online game called Animal Jam. Kylie got copies of her favorite book (Zita, the Space Girl) and it's sequel, along with her own membership to Animal Jam. Beth got Dora wall decals for her bedroom, and real doctor stuff like a real stethoscope, ear light thingy, blood pressure cuff, etc., split up into two presents. Jack got a tool kit, a transforming car/dinosaur toy, and Star Wars figures. Eva got toy food, a toy pot and pan set, and new rainboots. Laura didn't get anything. 

The adults didn't have many presents to open. Susie's big present was the shopping trip we did on Christmas Eve. Mine were earrings from Rob and a keyboard from Susie (which I have been wanting for forever!). Rob got a book of edible/medicinal plants I made from information we got online and I am remaking an old quilt of his that is falling apart. 

I was worried that the kids wouldn't have enough presents, but by the time they had opened just a few of them, each child was happily engrossed in the gifts they had gotten and we had to remind them when it was their turn to open another present :) 

The kids get ornaments every year from my aunt and uncle. Usually the ornaments match, but this year, they got very individual ones :) Megan got a pickle ornament, which was not only green and a food, relating to her love of cooking, but also had a story attached about how in Germany the pickle ornament is considered good luck and is hidden in the tree. Kylie got a soccer ornament. Beth loved her Dora ornament. Jack got a cool transformer ornament. Eva got a beautiful bell, and Laura got a delicate "baby's 1st Christmas ball :)

Susie and Laura napped while I got the ham in the oven and cut up the sweet potatoes. 

The kids played with their presents while the ham cooked. Susie napped and Rob and I rested.

It was super easy to get lunch ready. I made the sweet and sour mustard and the crescent rolls while the potatoes were boiling. The peas and carrots were steamed in the microwave, and all that was left was to mash the sweet potatoes, slice the ham (which was already spiral cut), and take the jello out of the fridge.

The elders came by caroling as we were getting lunch on the table. They snuck a bit of ham and mustard :) We invited them to stay, but they had several other appointments that day. After lunch, we all rested and napped for a bit. Rob got up with the kids after an hour or so to let me nap without interruption. The rain turned to snow and we ended up with a white Christmas after all!

The kids bundled up and headed out to play in the snow. We only got about an inch, but it was plenty for a snowball fight! :)

Eva was a bit hesitant at first. We only got flurries once last year and they didn't stick, so this was the first snow she'd seen! She wasn't quite sure how to get off the back patio. Kylie came over and helped her down. She was fine once she had taken her first few steps :)

Simon loves the snow as much as the kids do!

Beth and Eva came in first. After stripping off their snow gear (and in Eva's case, all her clothes too), they camped out in front of the stove where the razzleberry pie was baking.

Once all the kids were inside and back in their pj's, we had flavored hot cocoa, courtesy of day 7 of Kate's packages, and pie :) The kids all wanted chocolate pie, Susie had chocolate pie and cheesecake, and Rob and I had cheesecake and coconut chess pie. The razzleberry pie wasn't done yet, so we had that later with vanilla ice cream :)

By the way, the rest of Kate's presents were as follows:
7 hot cocoas (we saved this for a cold day as the day we opened it, it was in the 70's)
6 chocolate santas
5 Christmas presents (each child got an individual gift!)
4 Christmas puppets
3 cookie cutters
2 packages of cookie mix
and 1 Christmas cookie tray!

It was a super relaxing day and we all had a wonderful Christmas! :)

Christmas Eve

We started off Christmas Eve with Susie and I sleeping in as we stayed up until 3am the night before talking :) Rob had to work, so I left out bowls of cereal for the kids along with their measuring cup for milk (if we don't use one, they go through about a gallon of milk and most of it gets wasted). Sus and I got up mid morning and Megan and Susie made monkey bread. It was delicious!

Rob got home around 1:30pm. Susie and I took off around 2pm. Instead of buying her something we could wrap and put under the tree, Rob and I decided to have me take her out to lunch and to give her a budget for a Kohl's shopping spree. It turned out to be the perfect gift as she was able to get several things she needed for her planned trip to Italy this coming spring :) We had a wonderful lunch at Mimi's Cafe and made a killing at Kohl's afterwards! I love that Kohl's shows how much you save off the original prices on the sales receipt! We spent $151 and saved $389!!! Plus we got some super cute stuff for Sus to wear in Italy and got a large handbag for her to use on day trips while she was there!

When we got home, the kids were just getting done with their baths, so we opened our traditional Christmas Eve gifts - pajamas. We usually have the kids all match, but this year we decided to just get everyone fuzzy footie pj's. Considering the weather report, we picked a good year for that choice! Susie was thrilled to discover that she got footie pj's too!!!

Last year we started a new tradition; we have seafood for dinner on Christmas Eve. In Sicily, where some of my ancestors are from, they have the feast of the seven fishes on Christmas Eve and serve seven types of seafood. We tried that last year, including a seafood soup that included five kinds of seafood. It was good, but we decided to adjust this year and just get our favorite seafood. We had lobster tail, smoked salmon, and sushi, along with a fresh fruit salad, veggie tray, and cream cheese and a baguette to go with the salmon. We've decided next year, the only seafood we're having is lobster as that was everyone's favorite :) Maybe crab or coconut shrimp to go with it . . .

After dinner, I read "The Night Before Christmas". Everyone read along with me, including Susie, who recited it from memory while holding Laura :)

Rob then read the Christmas story from Luke.

All the kids bounced up the stairs to have a camp out in the living room when we were done. Susie and Eva helped Laura go for a walk while the older kids were settling down. 

I made Eva's stocking, finally. It only took three Christmases. I'm still one behind, but I don't think Laura minds at the moment :) I snapped a photo of the empty stockings before Santa showed up.

Santa visited, filled the stockings, ate the chocolate chips Beth left out for him, writing "thank you" on the note she left with them, and wrote "thank you" on the picture Jack drew for him.

As he was leaving, he left his footprints on the carpet in front of the fireplace!