It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Christmas is such a wonderful time of year. I think it is my favorite time. We moved away from the ice and snow that could typically accompany this winter season--but since that is my least favorite part, it's okay with me. :)

Christmas was always my mom's favorite time of year, too. Her house would be decorated to the nines--she had 5 trees of various sizes around the house, plus garland around all the doorways and handrails through the house.  She loved nativity sets, as well. She had a nativity set that she would put out, one piece every day--with baby Jesus arriving on Christmas morning.  Her Christmas dishes were a beautiful highlight, too. Every time we went on a vacation, we would look for a Christmas ornament for our trip, and mom would find a shop that sold dishes to look for a Christmas place setting. I think she has about 20 settings overall, all different, all beautiful.

It was hard for me to get into the holiday spirit in the Christmas after mom passed away. It took me several days to put the tree up, because it would make me sad to think of the tree being up and getting into that celebratory spirit without her.  But as the years have passed, it has slowly gotten easier. This year, the joy returned, as I thought about decorating the tree and sharing the beauty of the season with Avonlea.

It was so fun seeing this time of year through her eyes. She's not old enough to "get" any of it yet, but watching her eyes light up when she saw the tree and the ornaments was so heartwarming.

We spent the week before Christmas in Ohio, celebrating with Nick's family and my family two subsequent weekends. Avonlea did such a great job. She figured out how to unwrap presents, and she especially loved playing with the tissue paper. Most especially I enjoyed "sharing" her with all of her aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmas and grandpas.  She won't get to grow up with them close by, so I was so glad we were able to go back to see them while she is still young.  There will come a time when she might think that gifts are the most important thing, but I hope that Avonlea truly values the time that we get to spend with family, and celebrating the birth of Jesus.

Mom had a tradition that she got from my Aunt Barb: she would give us a new Christmas book each year.  I loved getting the books out of the box and sharing them with Avonlea. She's still too young for most of them, but I look forward to sharing them with her in the future:

I started that tradition this year with Avonlea. I got her the book "The Smallest Gift of Christmas", and inside I wrote her first note:

(I also got her a Christmas "touch and feel" book that she could actually "read" this year.)

I also got out a little bit of mom: I used her Christmas dishes for breakfast at the Hume family get-together. The table wasn't as pretty as Mom would have made it, but it was a little bit of her, and I think she would have appreciated that her dishes were still being used.

To prove that I am not Debbie, take a look at the strawberry/banana "candy canes". Saw them in a Taste of Home magazine, but they proved an epic fail in the execution. Oh, well. Makes for a silly story.

I am so glad Avonlea was able to spend time with her great-grandma and her great-Papaw, as well as her Grandpa (PawPaw, as we call him), Grampy and Grammy, and Aunt Ashley.

Short Update on Life

I haven't written in a while. The holidays are here, which means busy, busy, busy. Every year, I seem to tell myself that I'll slow down and enjoy myself more the next year, but the next year comes around, and I seem to be behind the 8-ball again.  It doesn't help that we shorten the season by 10 days by traveling to Ohio and Indiana. My determination to not decorate until Thanksgiving might have to come to an end if we travel again next Christmas. I don't get enough time to enjoy the decorations!

Avonlea is 8 months now, and changing every day. It is amazing the new things she is learning to do. She is currently cutting her first tooth. She is using her index finger to explore every new thing she sees, and she's already at the point where her toys are not as interesting as electrical cords.  She's not really interested in crawling yet--mostly because she likes to be lazy and just lay on her back. Hopefully she'll start to move soon!

What a sweet girl she is turning out to be. She is smiles all the time. We go to the grocery store, or the mall, or Target, and everyone just oohs and aahs over her. I always tell her to say hi and be friendly, and she flashes her cute grin. She is good about going to people, too. Her initial separation anxiety has pretty much gone away, and she will now go to anyone. She always looks back at me as if to ask, "is this okay?" but then enjoys her time visiting with others.

I recently turned down a job offer. It was an amazing opportunity, one I would like to have come back to me again sometime in the future, but I am just not quite ready to leave Avonlea full-time yet. I understand how many families depend on a 2-income household, and believe me, we are a family that could certainly use it. But both Nick and I just didn't feel like it was time yet, so we are willing to make the sacrifices we need to make in order for me to be able to stay home.

I am still enjoying my "Baby Mamas" group that meets once a week. We recently added a new mom to the group, and we also added a new baby, too!  Sweet Dianna had her baby girl, Evie, taking our girl total up to 3--Evie, Ava, and Avonlea.  They are still sorely outnumbered by the boys, though, with Samuel, Levi, Noah, Wyatt, Quinn, Fletcher, Joshua, and two incubating boys keeping the testosterone levels high.  At least our girls will learn to be rough-and-tumble--Avonlea is already used to being poked in the eyes and climbed over. :)

Avonlea had her first major sickness. She had a fever of 102 for a couple of days, though with no other real symptoms. We took her to the doctor because of the impending airline flight, to rule out an ear infection. They had to do a urinalysis. Have you ever thought about how a baby gives a urine sample?  They basically taped a pee bag to her private parts, then I had to wait around until she peed, and then peel off the bag and put it into a pee cup. It was one of the weirdest things I have ever done. Thankfully, the sample came back negative for an infection. She just had a weird virus--the doctor thinks it was probably roseola.

I did a body-after-baby bootcamp, and was doing really well before Thanksgiving. I've kind of "fallen off the wagon" a bit, which is going to be rough, considering I have a half-marathon coming up. With traveling and the baby being sick, I just haven't had the time. I hope to get back into the swing of things when I get back to California.

I have a few other things to post about, so I will have to do so again soon. Right now, I'm headed to bed--I have a lively 8-month old to chase after tomorrow!