Our Baby is THREE!!!

Pin It

In Wren's own words:

My favorite color is...yellow

On TV, I like to watch...commercial

My favorite book is...The Bunny Book

My favorite movie is...Veggie Tales Christmas

I like to eat...blueberries

I feel happy when...I play

I feel sad when...when I fall off

I like to...shake (dance)

I don't like to...walk up down stairs

I think Daddy is...silly

I think Mommy is...weird

I think Elena is...funny
I think Kate is...happy

I think Sanford (our dog) is...white

I think Gracie (our cat) is...fluffy

I like to play with...the turtle game

My favorite toy is...Buzz Lightyear

I am really good at...spitting

I get excited...when play with daddy

I like to go to...Great Wolf Lodge

My best friend is...Gabbie

I love...Mommy

Our Littlest Love, Carrington Wren

Pin It Looking over my blog, I just realized (now that she's almost 15 months old) I have NEVER posted about our darling baby girl, Carrington Wren! I'm not sure if I've ever even mention her here (though my FB page is flooded with updates about how she blesses our family each day). In a few short words and pictures, here's a wrap up of her first year. This one's for you, our little Wren!

The nursery:

Bookcase/reading nook

Changing table

couch/lounging area for Mommy's late nights

Crib details

Mommy the day before our littlest love was born:

Our third precious gift from God arrived in our lives 

on July 31st, 2012 at 1:13 pm weighing in at 7 pounds 10 ounces:

Her Announcement video:

A little run down on how her first year went:

First Birthday Celebration:

We love you, baby girl, and thank God for blessing our family with your sweet little life!

Creating our own Christmas Traditions...to Santa or not to Santa?

Pin It Long before our girls arrived, Patrick and I would sit and discuss the Christmas traditions that we grew up with and dream about how we would make the season special for our children. Our common wish was that we remember the true reason we celebrate and not get too caught up in all of the glitz and glamour.

Our most current family photo

We both grew up believing in Santa. We remember the excitement of setting out cookies for Santa and waking up to a bunch of presents around the tree and filled stockings. Our relationship with Christ did not suffer as a result but personally, we struggle with the idea of telling "white lies" to our children. Maybe it's a little bit selfish on our part because we don't want to deal with the guilt or maybe it's that we don't want to have to explain why some things we've asked them to believe in are true and other's are not. We even have a sweet little book (A Special Place for Santa) that my mom found for us. The book includes the history of Santa (his Christian roots and origin). In the story, Santa is concerned about taking away from Christ at Christmas: but, when I read it to the girls, I feel as though I could be leading them astray.

Admittedly, we're still on the fence about our "Santa" decision.

We have come to some conclusions:

-we're not telling the girls what they can and can not believe in

-we're going ALL OUT with Christmas decorations

Elena adding her 4th year ornament to the tree

Kate getting a good look at her 2nd year Christmas ornament

-we're hanging stockings as part of our decorations

-presents will still "appear" on Christmas morning
(though we're not telling them they are from Santa)

-traditional movies and "stories" are still O.K.
(as we're finding them very hard to avoid)

Sipping Hot Chocolate while watching the Polar Express

-most importantly, activities that focus on Christ and the Nativity are at the forefront every day

For now these activities are out:

-letters to Santa

-scheduled pictures with Santa

-cookies and milk for Santa

-purchasing an elf

We don't want to be scrooges or have children who are "know-it-alls;" who go telling all the other children in their classes that there is no such thing as Santa. We don't want to take the "magic" out of Christmas for our girls either. For the time being, we are just allowing them to assume that there is a Santa but we are not confirming that it's true. One of my dear college friends told me that is how her parents handled it. They never once told her there was a Santa but always stressed that she was allowed to believe in whatever she felt in her heart to be true. I always admired her strong family ties and most importantly, their family's devotion to Christ.

It is increasingly a challenge to avoid Santa when other children and adults are constantly asking that age-old question, "What is Santa bringing you for Christmas." When Elena says things like, "Santa is going to bring me a train set!" We reply with, "Do you think so?" and "Is that what you believe?" Ultimately our goal is for our children to be excited about CHRIST, always put HIM first, and remember that it was the tiny baby in the manger that gave us all we have.

Last year, I stumbled upon a book at Publix, Christmas Stories for Bedtime. I loved the way it took a new verse each night, explained it simply, and included a prayer and a song. It is a wonderful, sequential and Biblical way to share the Christmas Story (I hesitate to even call it a story when it is absolute TRUTH). This year Patrick and I sat down and picked out 25 of the 31 devotionals that we felt would have the most impact on our girls and I made ornaments to go with each one (I got the idea for the ornaments I made here).

Each day of December leading up to Christmas, we read the verse and lesson, pray the prayer (but make it our own) sing the song, and place our ornament on our special little tree. The book is designed for children ages 5-8 and even though Elena is only three, the Biblical truths are explained so simply that even she is able to understand. Elena LOVES putting the ornaments on the tree each night and we all enjoy singing the songs together as a family (and again throughout the next day).

I also found a wonderful FREE pre-school nativity pack. Elena (and eventually Kate) will do some activities during the day that relate to the evening lesson. As the girls get a little older, I would love to incorporate giving to others in need or an outreach activity for every day as well. Another fun tradition that we learned from a former Sunday School teacher of ours is purposely keeping the baby Jesus out of all of our nativity scenes (we have a few around the house) until Christmas morning. The first thing we do on Christmas (even before presents and breakfast) is read My First Story of Christmas which ends with the following powerful statements:

"Each year we remember that first Christmas, when Jesus was born in a stable. We give each other presents, just as the wise men gave presents to Jesus and just as God sent Jesus as the best gift of all."

After reading this and praying together, we place the baby Jesus in the manger scenes as our first "gift" of Christmas. Then we begin the fun of opening presents and playing together as a family.

Here are some other great ideas I have found for keeping Christ the center of Christmas with your kids:
Daily Scriptures and Crafts
Gingerbread Nativity
Similarities between Santa and Jesus
Online Christmas Coloring Book

Some great links my dear friends and family sent my way after I posted this:
FREE Jesse Tree Family Devotional-if I had seen this before making my ornaments, I think I might have gone this route instead. I love how there is an "outreach" included in every day's activities. We will probably be doing this devotion when our kids get a little older!
Who is St. Nicholas?-a great online resource that explains the Christian origin of St. Nicholas.

I would LOVE to hear other believers' Christmas traditions. Please share your ideas, suggestions, etc.

Snowed in with Smores

Pin It

I don't mind admitting that I have never been a big fan of smores. Though I like graham crackers and chocolate, I don't really care for marshmallows. When my daughter saw a camping segment on Sesame Street where they were making smores, she decided we had to do that. She insisted that mommy tried one, too and I begrudgingly agreed. To my surprise, they were great! I had just never had a smore made by my husband before. He knows just how to make them: just enough marshmallow to melt the chocolate and make them gooey (he says it's an art).

Making smores has now become a regular event in our household. Rarely do we build a fire in the fireplace without making them anymore. So, when the threat of snow was reported earlier this week, others went to the grocery store for milk and bread and we went for marshmallows, chocolates and graham crackers.

Today we are snowed in with about 8-10" outside and yummy smores by the fire inside. He even sneaked in a bit of my favorite ingredient of coconut today. I can't imagine a better way to spend my afternoon. Thanks, Honey, for the perfect smore!

25 Days of Thanks Challenge: Day 9

Pin It

Today I am Thankful for...Being A Stay at Home Mom

This is a typical morning scene in our household during the week: both girls sitting on the bed "helping" Mommy fold a load of laundry. When I taught elementary music, I began each year by having each of my students complete a questionnaire so I could get to know them better. I completed the form also and shared my answers with them. One of the questions was, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My answer was always the same, "A great Mommy, one day." I don't know how "great" I am, but I do know one thing: I sure do love it!

When my husband and I went on our first date I remember us kind of grilling each other with big-picture questions. One of them was, "How do you feel about stay-at-home moms?" Both of us were raised in a household where our moms quit working to be with us when we were little. My husband's mom never returned to work and my mom didn't return to work until I was in the 5th grade. Even then, she was a teacher so we had the same schedule. Being educators ourselves, we have seen first hand the difference it can make having that one-on-one instruction at home in the early years.

When we started planning our family, we knew that I would not be returning to work. We never even gave it a second thought. Sure, we had some concern over how we would handle it financially, but honestly, we didn't even give THAT much thought. We just kind of took the plunge and God took care of the rest. He has blessed us with a steady job for my husband and other side jobs that allow us to live comfortably. I can also look back on the early years of our marriage and see His hand on our financial decisions that have allowed us this time. I realize that so many others CAN'T be at home. I am SO THANKFUL that I have this opportunity.

I had no idea when I told my students all those years ago that I wanted to be a mommy, how true that would be today. Though if you have read my profile you know that I was TERRIFIED of staying at home, I can't imagine being anywhere else right now.

No my house is not always clean (actually it rarely is)

No I don't always have home-cooked meals (I do enjoy making them)

No I don't always keep up with the laundry (we do have something clean to wear)

Yes the TV is watched more often than I would like to admit (usually educational)

Yes mommy and the girls often spend their entire day in their PJ's.

Yes mommy spends a lot of time working on her projects.

BUT, Household work will always be there and this time with my girls will be gone oh so fast.

I love being the one to feed my girls in the morning, to hold their little hands each day, to hear and see all their firsts, and to guide their little footsteps. Though I am still learning (and will continue to every day) I can't imagine any profession with a greater reward.

What are YOU thankful for today? Check out the "25 Days of Thanks" tab at the top and link up below!

25 Days of Thanks Challenge: Day 6

Pin It

Today I am Thankful for...Friday Night Family Time

At one point in my married life, Friday night Family time was pretty much non-existent during the Fall. My husband was one of the band directors and required to go to all of the football games. Luckily, when we started planning our family, he decided to look for another teaching job that would allow him a bit more time. That has enabled us to have some wonderful times together. Though we don't officially plan anything, it just always seems to work out that Friday nights we do something special. Usually the activity stems from something my two year old has seen on Sesame Street or Word World that week. Last week it was popcorn and a movie night with Toy Story III. This week it was camping out and roasting marshmallows in our PJ's (all in the comfort of our living room because Mommy and Daddy are wimps). We put up our little two-person tent, piled it full of blankets and pillows and daddy served the girls smores from our wood burning fireplace. There was no T.V. and only the light from the fire, one lamp, and my occasional camera flash. I can't imagine a better way to spend the first cold fall night of the season. Thank you, Lord for these sweet, precious memories that I am sure I will cherish for a lifetime!

What are YOU thankful for today? Check out the "25 Days of Thanks" tab at the top and link up below!

A Day of Rest

Pin It Last week was hard: Patrick had symphony which meant I got to see him for about 2 hours in the afternoon and was alone with the girls the rest of the time. Thursday I noticed I had a scratchy throat and by Saturday morning, I had almost no voice at all. Patrick also had to judge his last band competition of the season Saturday which meant yet another day alone with the girls. That has become our routine for the past month. Elena likes her "normal" routine with Daddy and Mommy putting her to bed at night so bedtime has been difficult to say the least. Most nights I just ended up closing her in her room and letting her cry herself to sleep so I could watch after the other crying little one. Poor Patrick didn't get home until close to ten sometimes eleven and then we started the night watch since neither girl has been sleeping through the night lately.

Saturday night, I knew we needed a break. I had NO voice, Patrick was exhausted from working non-stop for weeks on end and the girls weren't much better. I called our dear preschool coordinator and told her (as best I could with no voice) that we wouldn't be able to make it to teach our 2-year old Sunday School class the next morning. I made a mad dash at cleaning the house after I got the girls down, and left my husband a sweet note telling him we would have the day off Sunday.

It was just what my family needed. We started the day off with home-made vanilla Belgian waffles for breakfast followed by a family devotion time on Paul telling the Thessalonians about Jesus. We had a GREAT afternoon nap time (where the girls actually napped at the same time, which rarely happens). I fixed up a yummy and quiet fattening meal of shrimp and grits with Cajun gravy for supper and we followed that with family movie night.

We cuddled up together in the living room floor to watch Toy Story 3. Armed with popcorn and raisinets, we had the BEST time. It was so nice to sit back in my chair for a brief moment and look across the room at my three favorite people, all engrossed in the movie. God certainly knew what he was doing when he set aside the seventh day for rest. It was just what we all needed.

F is for...

Pin It

Fog

This is the Beautiful picture I get to wake up to each morning

Feet

Me and the Girls

Fingers

My Grandmother & my baby Kate

Fly

Proud of my un-edited fly capture

"Let's have a Picnic"

Pin It

 That's what my daughter said to me this afternoon before lunch. Where she got the idea, I couldn't tell you because we have never had one before. It was a beautiful day so I willingly agreed. We took a blanket down by the pond and had a wonderful meal made more wonderful by the weather and the company. Thank you, Elena for your great idea!

Hosted by Cecily and Lolli