Rachel's Christmas Program

Rachel's preschool had a cute little Christmas program.  It was for all of K3-Kindergarten so there were quite a few parents and video cameras there!  We weren't sure how Rachel was going to do, being in front of everyone, but she surprised us all!  (She told me when I dropped her off with her teacher "But I don't want to sing nicely, Mommy!")  She wasn't the loudest one out there, but she did sing and do all the motions.  

They all walked in with masks, which helped her not have stage fright!

She was making a sad face...

Traditions

I love traditions.  Maybe it's because I like to know what's going on, maybe it's because I like to know what to expect, and what to be excited about... I don't know.  I just remember doing little things growing up and the fact that I remember them means that it was something special.  I want Rachel and Gavin to remember special things as they grow up.  Especially when it comes to holidays.  I remember making cookies (from scratch) with my mom (and her mom) around Christmas, having certain ornaments on the tree, sitting on dads shoulders to put the star on the top of the tree, climbing in bed with mom and dad on Christmas morning and reading the Christmas story from the Bible before running into the living room to open presents, and I could go on and on!

So with all of that being said, this is the year that Rachel will start remembering from year to year what to expect around holidays.  So me and my new best friend Pinterest got together and had some fun!  I made an advent calendar of fun things to do every day in December, I made a special wreath, some blocks that say "Merry Christmas" let Rachel play with a Nativity scene and we are telling the Christmas story with that all the time!  We will be making cookies (maybe not from scratch), going to see lights and decorations, watching movies, and reading books.  Quite possibly my favorite new tradition is the Elf on the Shelf!  Rachel has named our elf Buddy Boy, and she loves coming downstairs in the morning to find where he is hiding each morning.

I can't wait to read the Christmas story from Luke 2 on Christmas morning with the kids, visit family, go to Christmas Eve service, put out cookies and Milk, and so many more things.  I just hope that holidays are special and good memories for Rachel and Gavin, and of course Dustin and me too!

Balance

First of all, I would like to let all of you (however many that may be that keep up with me on this) that we are all alive and doing well!  I am, however, slightly  way behind on blogging and actually life in general!  Which brings me to the point of this post...

I am struggling right now with gaining balance in my life.  I am sitting here at the computer in the living room, making time to write this post, but it's taking me a while because I am distracted by the folded clothes in baskets that need to be put away, and the basket that still needs to be folded sitting beside of me.  All of the dishes are clean and most are put away (do bottles and sippy cups really count as dishes... they're NEVER ALL clean!).  I also see my bag of school stuff that awaits me.  I just don't know where to start.

I have so many things that I want and need to get done, I'm trying to figure out what comes first and what gets left off the list.  I loved having a spotless house in Roanoke this summer before we moved, but let's be honest, it's impossible to keep that up ALL the time (at least for me)!  I love doing crafts and having "cute" things around the house, especially around Christmas.  I love playing with my kids, and I'm working on having Rachel help me as part of our playing together, which sometimes makes the jobs take longer...   Then there's the schoolwork, that has been taking a back seat, and can't anymore.  There are just too many things that require more time this year.  And of course my running shoes look so inviting sitting by the door.  And you know what, the big jetted tub upstairs looks pretty inviting, too.  And of course last, but not least is my wonderful husband.  All he wants some evenings is just to sit on the couch and relax, which usually ends up with me falling asleep and not spending any time actually with him.

So with all of that being said, I am working on balancing all the aspects of my life.  I guess you will be able to tell how well I'm doing by when the blog gets caught up!

Santa!

Well, to be honest, I was dreading going to see Santa this year... for the last two years, we have gone to see the "real" Santa in Roanoke.  He was amazing- the story time, singing, taking time with each child to have a good (or as good as possible) picture.  I did not want to go stand in line at the mall to be rushed through a line.  I have flashes of "A Christmas Story" run through my mind thinking about it.

But, since we're not in Roanoke and I couldn't really see driving all the way just to see Santa, we went to MacArthur Center, where we heard the experience was really good.  So we headed out, not really knowing what to expect since Rachel was pretty terrified last year.  When we walked passed, Santa looked at Rachel and waved since he didn't have any kids with him right then.  She got really excited and decided she did want to talk to him.  The line didn't seem too long so we got in.  Then we heard someone say it was an hour and a half wait... geez, it was pushing lunch time and we hadn't eaten yet (which was a bigger issue for me than anyone else!).  We talked about coming back later in the week since we get off of work so early and the line probably wouldn't be as long.  But of course Rachel was excited by this point, so we couldn't tell her no!  I mean really, how horrible would that be to take a child out of line crying because we didn't want to stand in line...

Although it was an hour and a half, it didn't seem like that long.  And you know what, it was a really good experience.  There was an Ice Age set up right before we got to Santa, so the kids got to play a little and do some activities.  Gavin was fine, of course, and Rachel was a little unsure, but she ended up sitting on his lap!  Not a huge smile, but she was pleasant.  (And sometimes, that's what you aim for!)  She didn't say anything to him, but sure has talked about him since!

"Why are we just standing here?"

Standing!

At least Gavin got to eat while in line!

They had Ice Age playing... Rachel loves those movies!

There was a block of "ice" for the kids to touch

There was a giant snow globe for the kids to stand in... I was fine with Rachel standing in the white stuff, however, the mom of the girl behind us with black hair wearing a black velvet dress was not as excited!

The best picture of the day!

9 Month Checkup

I can't believe how big my baby boy is getting!  He did great at his appointment, and didn't cry at all for his flu shot!  I'm so glad he didn't have to have any more this trip, I just hate it when they have to get poked so much.  

I felt like a horrible Mommy though because when the doctor checked his ear, he said it didn't look too good, and he needed to see it a little better.  It ended up he had a horrible ear infection.  He hasn't been messing with it any more than usual, hasn't been fussy and has been sleeping fine, so we had no clue!  Poor little guy!  

Gavin is a pretty chill little man

- he sleeps through the night and has for months!

- he takes 2 2 hour naps during the day

- we usually have to go in to see if he's awake, he doesn't cry to be gotten up

- he likes his schedule, but is okay if we switch it up a little

- he may not smile all the time, but is rarely fussy

- he LOVES meal time... that is really the only time that he is really 

angry- when he's not fed fast enough!

- he army crawls everywhere, not on his hands and knees yet

- he's loves his sissy... they love to laugh at each other!

- he eats some table foods, but baby food is still what works best for him right now  

This is as much as he played with his ear... and look how happy he is when he's doing it!

"Hi Mommy!"

Bye-Bye!

Family pictures

We took our Christmas pictures a little differently this year.  Dustin is so creative and I loved his idea!  He was able to take the kids' pictures then we had dad take ours the next day.  

Christmas Parades!

Rachel was a little super excited about parades this year... she is her momma's daughter!  I have no idea why watching people walk down the street is so entertaining, but I absolutely love it.  I was even more excited to have other adults to sit with this year.  We missed seeing Daddy and his band, but loved having him with us watching- I'm pretty sure he liked seeing how excited Rachel was over everything, too!

The Grand Illumination parade in Norfolk was just Dustin, me, Rachel and Mimi.  Poppy stayed home with Gavin and stayed warm!  The traffic was rough getting in, but we grabbed food at the mall, ate it on the street and stood on raised flower beds to see the parade above the crowds.  It was really a pretty good place.  Rachel had to be held the whole time to see above everyone, so Dustin did most of that.  Between floats and bands he would put her down but she would say, "I'm missing it, Daddy, I can hear them!" and of course he would have to pick her right back up again!  He's such a good daddy.  (And again, I'm so glad he was there!)

The Great Bridge Parade was a little easier to get to.  After parking a few blocks away, the four of us met up with Brent and family, and Mom and Dad.  Again, pizza on the side of the road was dinner for that night!  It got pretty packed during the parade, but Great Bridge is a pretty friendly place, so it was fun.  Rachel and Gavin loved watching everyone almost as much as all the adults did.  Actually all four of the kids were pretty excited over everything that they saw!

I have to be honest though, I was a little disappointed that Great Bridge High School didn't march in either of the parades... maybe next year.