Christmas 2008

Christmas this year was fun and busy. We haven't been in Edmonton for Christmas in a long time. We're so glad that Scott, Erin & kids came up too, we had so much fun with them.
Jayna was so excited this year for everything, which made it a lot of fun. Everything is so magical to a 2 year old, Santa, opening presents, the tree, the lights, the treats! Kepler was in heaven with all the wrapping paper to play with/eat and all the people around to hold him. This year we definitely had a princess theme going on for Jayna and cars, cars, cars for Kepler, they both loved it! Kepler is so much more into toys than Jayna ever was as a baby.

Of course we ate too much and stayed up too late, so now Jayna is sick :(

Too bad we have no plans for New Years as of now. Usually I just forget all about it until a few days after Christmas, and then it's either too late or we're too tired to do anything. Oh well, 2008 was a great year for us, we hope it was for you too!
Maybe something fun will come up last minute... HAPPY NEW YEARS!

half a year

Today, on Christmas Eve day, Kepler turned 6 months old.

My little baby boy is already half way to a year.

Here's to the next 6 months being as exciting and fun as the last 6 have been.

In the last month Kepler...

• barely grew at all, he went from 50th percentile to 5th percentile :(
  
• rolled over from front to back for the first time
• ate his first solid food, rice cereal
• bonded with his sister, thinks she's funny and loves to watch her play
  
• made Gibb and I fall even more in love with him (how is that possible?)

We are sooo excited that Christmas is here.
We hope everyone has a magical and
merry Christmas!!

Mixed Feelings

We have mixed feelings about Santa in our house.

Jayna 2007

Kepler 2008

Early Christmas Gifts

Kepler and I exchanged our gifts early this year...

Kepler's gift to me:
Snuggling in bed with me for half an hour after nursing him this morning.

I was in heaven!

My gift to Kepler:
Feeding him rice cereal for the first time.

He was in heaven!

Isn't Christmas wonderful?

True Christmas Spirit

I wrote that last post a few days ago, but hadn't gotten around to publishing it yet. Then Sunday night our family got to listen to 3 wonderful men talk about Christmas, and I felt inspired and refreshed. And then yesterday my sister wrote this fantastic post, which pretty much answered my question and inspired me to do my own list.

My Holiday NOT to do list:

1. I will NOT go Christmas shopping more than one more time this year. I already have more than enough presents for our family and I've been trying to spend all the free time I have when Gibb is actually home shopping for the "perfect" gifts. Instead I will spend that free time with my family and hopefully not spoil my kids (especially Jayna) rotten, because that is not the meaning of Christmas.

2. I will NOT tell Jayna that she can't turn on the lights on the Christmas tree all day because you can't really see them and it's a waste of electricity. Instead I will let her turn them on as much as her little heart desires because it's so magical for her every time and her face just lights up, it's a special time of year and those lights can remind us of the light of Christ.

3. I will NOT spend all my time at night after the kids are in bed working on my endless list of projects to get done in the next 16 days. Instead I will simplify that list and spend my nights watching Christmas movies and drinking hot chocolate with my husband, who is so awesome and I don't spend enough time with.

4. I will NOT tell Jayna that she can't play with nativity scenes we have up in our house, just because I'm sick of arranging them again perfectly every time she goes to sleep. Instead I will put the ones I really care about up where she can't reach them, and then I will play with the other nativity scenes with her so that I can teach her about the story of Christ's birth and we can both learn about and remember what Christmas is really about. And if one of them breaks then I will buy a new inexpensive and unbreakable one that we can play with again next year!

5. I will (try really, really hard) NOT to complain about how cold it is and how much I wish it would only snow on Christmas Eve and Day. Instead I will snuggle on the couch and enjoy watching the snow from inside my house, or spend the time bundling everyone up and go outside and make snow angels and build snowmen, or go look at all the lights. (If I can actually accomplish this goal it will be a true Christmas miracle!!!).

Thank you, thank you Cassandra for giving me the idea for this post! I think if I can actually check off everything on my
Holiday NOT to do list this year
this just might be the most meaningful Christmas we've had in a while.

Naughty List?

Apparently Santa's "Naughty List" really is just a gimmick to try to get kids to be good, who knew? Jayna can whine, throw tantrums, hit and be purposely naughty and is still getting spoiled rotten by Santa this year, against Gibb and I's wishes... I planned on only getting Jayna one toy, a few books and some pajamas. But now I find out that Santa has much different plans. Now her list includes a box of mega blocks, a treasure chest full of princess dress ups, bath toys, a bathrobe and slippers, and little people!

Yikes, how is it possible to NOT spoil your kids rotten at Christmas? (Actually let me clarify, how is it possible not to spoil your children over 2? Kepler is getting some toy cars and a stuffed animal for Christmas. Oh yeah and a snuggle blankie I'm making, that's it.) The older she gets the worse it gets, and she's not even old enough to know it's Christmas, make a list for Santa or ask for anything yet. If I really wanted to spoil her rotten (and if our living room wasn't half the size of our old master bedroom) I would probably also be getting her a kitchen set and baby care station from Costco, but she seems to be doing a pretty good job of that without any more help from me.

Bottom line is... (as Jayna likes to say) "I NEED HELP!" I really want Christmas to be meaningful, but I'm pretty sure the only 2 thoughts in Jayna's head December 25 will be presents and toys.

O christmas tree

Hooray, I'm so excited to have it up! And I wasn't the only one. Jayna was in awe of our tree. Her reaction went something like this:

Oh...Oh!
Wow!
Big tree, christmas tree!
I like lights!
I like lights! I like lights!
I like lights!

She was in heaven hanging the ornaments

And then we danced to Jingle Bells, her new favourite song

After she went to bed, Gibb and I did this:

'Tis the Season

5 months

Kepler is 5 months old!

He weighs 15 pounds and 1 ounce and is 2 feet and a quarter inch long.

This month he went on an airplane,

went to Chuck E. Cheese,

and went swimming for the first time.
(his favourite part was snuggling up with Great Grandma)

Kepler loves a really warm bath,

his big sister,
and this new toy.

Kepler's personality is starting to come out and what a sweet little personality it is.

3 things I love about this video:
a. Kepler's expression never changes
b. Jayna making Kepler press the buttons
c. Jayna wearing a "princess skirt"

Kepler has the funniest little laugh, we finally caught it on video!

Jayna thinks her little brother is finally becoming fun.

Over the hill

The last 4 days has been one big long celebration for the day of Gibb's birth 30 years ago.

It started out on Friday night when Brett & Jenny came to watch our kiddos while we went out to this delicious restaurant to eat. Gibb had a steak and I had the lamb, they were both great. Of course we got dessert too, chocolate cake for the birthday boy and I had my usual, creme brulee...the pistachio creme brulee was incredible! We were going to go mini golfing, but dinner went too late.

So Saturday morning we packed up the kids and went as a family. Jayna had pretty much no interest in golfing, but was obsessed with the rocks and the water, she almost fell in a couple times. Kepler actually slept in his car seat for the first 10 or 11 holes (this is so unheard of for him), and so it kind of still felt like we were on a date...in a weird way. Gibb marked this momentous day by beating me at mini golf for the first time ever! Of course it had nothing to do with the fact that I had Kepler in the baby bjorn for the last 8 holes and I was going easy on him (I mean, he's getting pretty old).

Sunday we continued the celebrations over at his parents with the whole family. The night included a yummy home cooked meal by Pat, featuring Japanese Chicken Wings (if you haven't had these you're missing out), Gibb's usual birthday cake (the only kind he ever asks for) and Cake Pops (I got this idea from a friend and was hooked, she found them here)

Gibb was actually excited to get clothes for his birthday for once

This is how we feel about Gibb turning 30

Hooray, a picture with Pat's eyes open!

Just in case you missed it, Gibb's 30 now

Today, for his actual birthday I was worried it might be a little bit anti climactic since we've already been celebrating for 3 days...

So I had this delicious dinner waiting for him when he got home from work. And we're going to pee our pants laughing at this hilarious movie all night (seriously I can't remember the last time I laughed this hard for so long).

Gibb, I just want to tell you that...

I can't believe you're the big 3 0, that is so O L D!!! (but I still love you, in fact you're looking very distinguished these days...)

So sweet

Little things like this just melt my heart.

I love being their mom.

Remember

London

Jayna, Kepler & I flew to London last week to visit my sister and her family. I was a little nervous flying with both kids alone, but they did great, on the way there and back! This week went by so fast, we didn't do a whole lot, considering there were 7 kids, but it was so much fun hanging out all day and seeing Clara, my niece. Jayna was really excited about the trip, she kept saying "go airplane, see cousins!" We didn't take a ton of pictures, except on Halloween.

Jesse, Jayna & Nathan, probably watching Backyardigans

Jayna could not have been any more uncooperative for pictures this week

More Backyardigans!

All the kids wearing their Play On! shirts from Unlce Scott, as pajamas

Clara is the most snuggly baby and loves being held, I was in heaven!

Some highlights of the trip:

• Jayna had one of those animal backpacks on with a leash so she can't run away. Jesse said "Nathan doesn't need a string. He can walk all by himself."
• We got ambitious and went to a playgroup at the library one morning. It was a bit of an ordeal getting ready and out of the house before lunch. By the time we got there the playgroup was full. So we stayed at the library for a while and when we did end up going in to the playgroup, Jayna just wanted to steal everyone's snacks and threw a tantrum, and Nathan was saying "eat, drink" over and over so we didn't stay very long.
• Watching the funniest Seinfeld ever, and crying I was laughing so hard
• Staying up so late every night talking, and being completely exhausted the next morning
• Drinking tons of dessert herbal tea, because we all got sick
  

What a fun week, we miss everyone already!