Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Joy to the World!

Christmas is Coming

Christmas is coming, and I am just now getting my shopping done and decorations out! Lily turned 3 in November and had a "pink ballerina" party, Owen turned 6 a couple of weeks ago and had a "space party" at a bouncy place, and Jim has done two long races in the past month (a 30K and a 50 mile trail race) so we have been busy busy. I think we will always be busy busy from now on. I think it's just part of having 4 kids! :)






Our kids LOOOOVE everything Christmas!! We drive around looking at Christmas lights almost every night after dinner. Tonight we actually picked up fast food for dinner and ate in the car as we looked at lights! Our 2 1/2 yr old little man is THE most excited about all things Christmas. He can spot Christmas lights and decorations from a mile away, shouting, "Wook, Mommy!! Der's Cwissmiss over der!! Do you see it? See all dose pwetty wights? See dat Santa Cwaus and dat Snowman? Wow, wook at dat!" He is so excited about Jesus's birthday and that Santa will be bringing presents to our house all on the same day! He loves our Elf on the Shelf and immediately spots him every morning when he crawls out of bed. And oh, the carols! He is determined to memorize every word of every Christmas song. Tonight as I was singing to him at bedtime and couldn't remember all of Frosty the Snowman, he told me I needed to look up the words and learn them so I can sing it to him after breakfast tomorrow. Ha! He will ask me to sing it over and over again and then bust out in song, singing every single word. He loves to sing Joy to the World and Have a Holly Jolly Christmas right now. I love how he will just start singing carols while he's playing throughout the day. He looks up at me and smiles this mischievous little grin as he sings. It's so cute. He is such a comedian!



Lily and Owen are also excited about Christmas but not as much as our Little Man. They keep reminding me we need to go talk to Santa to make sure he knows what they would like to ask for him to bring them for Christmas and really want to decorate our Christmas tree. I am ashamed to say we only have lights on it so far! We're going to pack a lot of Christmas fun into this Christmas week! We made cookies today, and they loved every minute of it. We hope to take them to see Santa tomorrow and decorate our tree Tuesday.






As for what they are wishing for, Owen, being the little "knowledge lover" he is, wants to ask Santa for some new flash cards and games. He is so into math and reading right now, it's precious. He also loves LEGOS, and I think Santa may have an idea for him for a second gift he'd really like for Christmas :)




Lily wants the little dancing baby doll she happened to see on a tv commercial last week. We try to fast forward through commercials in the shows we record for them to watch, but sometimes they see some, and she just happened to lock her eyes onto this little baby doll and keeps telling me about the baby doll that has a pink skirt and dances to music and "is really cute." She is ready to tell Santa all about it. :)




When he sees the sweet look in her eyes as she talks about this special doll, I just know he will want to bring her one. Our LittleMan wants a truck and a teddy bear. He LOVES trucks. He can play cars and trucks for the longest time, telling a story as he plays, acting out elaborate scenes. He has a great imagination. Even though he doesn't need a new truck, I have a feeling Santa will grant his wish. Little Bennett hasn't told us what he wants for Christmas, but I think his brother would love for him to get some cars and trucks of his own so he won't try to play with every truck and car that his brother is playing with. ;) He doesn't know it yet, but there is a puppy dog that dances and sings some of his favorite songs that we may tell Santa would be a good gift for him too. He loves to clap his hands for us to sing If You're Happy & You Know It and shake his hand for us to sing Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed. He loves music... and his Daddy! :)




I'm so excited about having everyone home this year. I love the little matching Christmas pjs I found for the kids to wear. I ordered them months ago, like in July I think (!), and they are so cute. I need to get some ornaments on our tree so I can take a picture of them all together in front of it on Christmas morning!

I love looking at all six stockings hanging on the mantle this year and knowing all 4 kids will wake up at home on Christmas morning. Last year, we'd hoped for Bennett to be home from the NICU for Christmas, but he just wasn't ready. He was still so little, 6-7 lbs I think, still waiting for his g-tube and hernia surgery, and we had no definite date for taking him home. I remember sitting in his room at the hospital singing Christmas carols to him, looking out the window watching the snowflakes fall on our first white Christmas, with tears rolling down my cheeks as I held him. It wasn't how we dreamed our Christmas would be, our family split apart part of the time, but just holding him in my arms those hours, knowing he was so close to being able to come home, that he had survived and WOULD be coming home....I couldn't keep from crying. I remember his two primary nurses making gifts for us with his handprints and footprints, receiving a gift card from a family who had been in the NICU at Christmastime before and how much that meant to me when we received it... so many memories were frozen in time that day.



This year as Bennett is 15 1/2 lbs & 27" long, crawling all over the place, talking, playing, and standing up and cruising furniture, I just keep smiling. Each time he goes toward the Christmas lights and smiles that same mischievous grin his middle brother gives me so often, the way he looks at our fiber optic snowman with such wonder, the way the older children make him laugh and love him to pieces, the way he says "Mama" and reaches out for me to hold him, the way he snuggles into me and smiles as I sing and rock him to sleep, the way he sticks out his lower jaw and shows us his six little teeth as he chews his food, trying not to let it fall out of his mouth as he smiles and chews at the same time.... there are so many new memories being made, new reasons to smile, and so much to be thankful for.



Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to Us

Getting an early Christmas present... Bennett is now down to 0.02L of oxygen and satting 98% asleep!! We are so close to saying farewell to all the oxygen!! This is huge, people!! ;-)

On Our Team

Lily was just singing Holy Holy Holy and said, "Holly, Holy, Holy, Merciful OnMyTeam" I kind of like that version!