Joy To the World!

A Tale of Four Christmases - #4

Christmas #3 was with my (Cathy's) extended family and I'm waiting on a few photos before sharing that post. So we'll move to the 4th and final Christmas celebration. We left Brandon, MS on Sun 12/23 and used that beloved 2-3 hour naptime to travel to Baton Rouge to see Jeff's parents and brother. Typically we also meet Aunt Evelyn and Uncle Bob (Charlotte, NC) there but due to health reasons, they were unable to travel. We piped them in via Skype though and it was pretty close to having them there. So thankful for many offerings of modern technology, especially in this case! We enjoyed a restful and enjoyable 5 days there. We didn't really pump Santa this year because when Claire saw Santa in person a few weeks ago, she hit the roof in utter fear! We plan to acknowledge him and have fun but try to ensure she's taught about Christ primarily. So we started our Christmas morning with the 3 of us in her room reading the Christmas story from her Bible and down for breakfast. We enjoyed having a relaxed morning of exchanging gifts where there was no short of gifts for Claire. We tried once again to let her know that she was getting gifts because people loved her and she was giving gifts to others because she loved them. She wanted to open and play with each item she got. See the below slideshow for highlights. Grandmommy and Grandaddy gave her a Minnie Mouse battery powered car, of which you'll see in the video she had tons of fun with. It made packing for the trip home a bit tricky though. Thankfully they are coming in about 3 weeks and will bring some things with them we had to leave behind. The rest of the week was fun times together of riding the carousel at the mall, playing with her gifts, and giving mommy and daddy a date night where we enjoyed dessert fondue at Melting Pot and an overnight stay in Baton Rouge. I read in a book for a solid hour, which has not happened in I don't know when! What a treat! It was a fun conversation of reflecting back on all that had happened in 2012 - highlights and lowlights...all build character right?! :)) All I know is that Claire adores all her family, but there is something special when Uncle Bobby is around! We are back home and getting settled from our Tale or Tour of Four Chrismtases, depending on how you look at it! Merry Christmas to all and let's get ready for 2013!

A Tale of Four Christmases - #2

Time to connect with Henderson's and Big Daddy. Best way for us to all connect was to come together at the Embassy Suites in Jackson, MS from our various 3 states that we represent. It was fun! We all converged Saturday afternoon and got unloaded and headed to the Henderson's room where they had a small tree and Christmas music playing. The kids had a ball and enjoyed ripping into all their gifts. We had fun making memories. Jeff picked up pizza and Andrea and I bathed the kids...she did most of it since my pregnant belly was impeding access to these slippery kids in the shower! Not a bad place to do Christmas! Wonder where we'll meet up next year!? Here's some highlights:

Christmas with Mommy and Daddy

With all our travels approaching we had to decide what was the best way to give Claire her gift from us - a new Car! Sure she's not 16 but she can handle it right?! :)) It was a Cozy Coupe! We decided it would be most difficult to transport with upcoming travels and what torture it would be to give it to her, then say, "Time to leave for a trip!" So we planned it for Sunday afternoon 12/16. We'd spend naptime putting it together (along with the sandbox Big Daddy had shipped to us) and give it to her after nap with plenty of play time. After nap, we started talking to her about why we give gifts to each other at Christmas. We discussed that we give gifts because we love each other and want each other to enjoy the gifts and because God gave us the greatest gift in his Son, to enjoy and for our salvation. That was not the total conversation but you get the gist of how it would go with a 2 year old...in stages and in simple terms...the main theme was that we know each other well enough to know what would make someone happy and what they would enjoy, and we bless them with that...like how God knows us and wants us to enjoy His blessings. This actually has been my Christmas ponderance this year. I usually camp out on one thought/theme for the season and this has been it for me and something I hope to instill in Claire - that is that her behavior does not dictate the gifts we give her. Her behavior might dictate a reward or lack there of but never a gift. Big Daddy gets it too as you can see how much fun she had with her sandbox.

A Tale of Four Christmases - #1

It's that time of year again. The shopping is done and it's time to start gathering with family to exchange gifts, enjoy good food, and fun...all while trying to keep focused on the "Reason for the Season." In some shape form or fashion, we will have experienced 4 major gatherings with family by the time this season is over (not counting our little family Christmas). This year it started with Mom and Jim at their house. Here's some photos from that time of gifts, spaghetti meal, and watching Claire entertain Maggie, their dog.

Big Girl Bed!

So we have reached another milestone: The transition to "Big Girl Bed". Claire started showing she had the skills to climb out of her crib about 2 weeks ago so I started moving to get her ready for the twin bed. I dreaded the sound of the "thunk" and subsequent scream when she really did climb out and hit the floor. So I tried to head it off at the pass. So we went shopping and picked out a new comforter and valences and discussed paint colors (which will happen after Christmas). We made the plan to transition last Friday. So while Claire was at school, Jeff and I put together my old twin bed and made it up and got it ready for when she came home. She was so excited! She has been in it a week now and actually stayed in it during nap and night time sleep. I'm sure our day is coming when she'll get out and explore but for now, we are thankful for how smoothe this milestone has gone. I had a "moment" just before we started changing her room up to soak in that my little girl is growing up really fast and how grateful I am for her baby-phase and excited about what each stage holds for her. Here's a video clip of her baby room and a few pictures of her enjoying her big girl bed. We still have more to do in her room to make it "big sister" ready before Brother arrives but thought we'd share.

Big Daddy's bday weekend

It was a nice weekend for Big Daddy to come...mulitfaceted...He got here in time for Claire to take him to her favorite place on the planet - McWane Center!  It is host to the Winter aWonderland Exhibit and the Clifford Exhibit among the always fun staple activities.  Big Daddy kept Claire Fri night so Jeff and I could enjoy a much needed date night to see "West Side Story".  It had been since high school that I was exposed to that story.  Saturday Big Daddy and I embarked upon Toys R Us to complete some shopping for the grandkids...overstimulating but fun.  Fun to watch the faces of people in there trying to figure out what kids would like, if they would play with stuff all wrapped up in how much things cost...is your inbox filled with Toys R Us offers like mine!  Dad and I both unsubscribed :))  We had some fun playtime with the SEC football championship game going and had birthday cake after.  Sunday was a good day of church and lunch before he headed home.  Enjoy some highlights from our time together.