4th day of Christmas . . .

4th day of Christmas . . .

Giving Back

This has been a crazy year. You know that list that they show you in psycholgy class that shows certain life events and how stressful they are supposed to be? Well, I think we went through about 6 of the large events. In the last 15 months we have remodeled our house, moved out of state, sold our house, tried to buy a new house (this one is ongoing, argh!!), I have changed jobs, Gary is doing the same job in a new state, become pregnant and had a baby. Throughout all of these changes the reoccuring theme for me is SERVICE. It seems that this is a really importnt lesson that I need to be taught, learning to care for my friends and neighbors. I thought I was pretty good at it, but this year the service that has been given to me has blown me away!

I've learned that every extra set of willing hands is a huge help, no matter how big or small the project. I've learned that instead of saying, "If you need anything, just call me.", you should say, "I'll be right over!" and give of yourself for an hour or two. Seemingly simple service, like doing the dishes, folding laundry, or vacuuming can mean the world to someone. And lastly, really listening and trying to understand what people really need can go really far in making someone feel welcomed and loved.

It sounds simple, but it is a fine art worth perfecting over a lifetime

Second & Third days of Christmas . . .

Of course I made a big commitment to do a 12 Days of Christmas blog and I forget to follow through on the SECOND day!

Second Day of Christmas Post . . .

Advent

I went to the library last night and found The Encyclopedia of Christmas. It wasn't hard to find since the librarians had a large display of Christmas books set up for everyone to see. In it are all kinds of interesting Christmas facts, like how Christmas is celebrated in Greece to the significance of Greenery to Christmas. There is even an interesting section on the English holiday Boxing Day, which, until now, I had never quite understood. But for my post today I want to concentrate on the first entry in the Encyclopedia, which is Advent.

I don't have many Advent memories from childhood Christmases. Mostly the Advent calendars that I remember belonged to other families. Don't get me wrong, my family has plenty of other fantastic Christmas traditions (look for these in future posts), but the Advent calendar is not among them.

According to the Encyclopedia, the Advent was started by Christian churches as a way to prepare for the spiritual significance of the holiday. Ever since Gary and I got married, and especially since Riley was born I have been thinking about what Christmas traditions I would like to carry on in my own family. I wanted to be able to enjoy the excitement of Santa and gifts, while also emphasizing service and the real reason for the season, Christ's birth. Looking back I think that almost all of the Advent calendars that I remember were more of a count down to Christmas, rather than a preparation or teaching of the day's significance. I think that I would like to find or create an Advent calender that teaches scriptures, presents opportunities to give service within the home or for the community, and endeavors to help you reflect on the true meaning of Christmas in the days leading up to it.

Does anyone have memories of an Advent calendar that they would like to share, or examples of family traditions that could lend themselves to this idea of Advent?

Third day of December post . . .

Neighbor Gifts

I have not settled on an idea for Neighbor Gifts for this year. Two years ago we gave everyone little jars of honey from our beehive and a container of our favorite spice rub that we use on Salmon along with the recipe. The year before that I made 5 or 6 different cookies and combined them into tins. That was pretty fun, but making all those cookies was pretty ridiculous! I have been thinking about doing cookies again this year, but maybe I don't have to go so crazy, just do 2 or 3 different kinds instead. Other ideas (most of which have been inspired by the latest Trader Joe's ad) are Pumpkin bread, a collection of a few of our favorite family recipes, Eggnog cake, or Yule Log cake. Yule Log cake might be fun, since I have never had it before (and the TJ's ad makes it sound SO yummy) and I could include a little note describing the story of this holiday tradition, which I can find in my helpful library book Encyclopedia of Christmas!

What are your good ideas for Neighbor Gifts, and what gifts have you given out or seen in the past?

First day of Christmas . . .

I was inspired by an email newsletter that I get to do a Twelve Days of Christmas post starting today, December 1st. Especially since my last post was on November 4th. Apparently I have been very busy! I don't have any new pictures to post today, but since I am going to be doing 12 posts I guess I will have plenty of time to post them later.

Tonight we are going to the library. Gary, Riley and I love the library! I just went onto the library's website and put 18 books on hold. 18! I guess everything I looked at today just seemed really interesting. What was I thinking? How much time do I think I am going to have in the few weeks before Christmas to sit and peruse all those books anyway? We shall see. I guess I could always renew them to enjoy in January.

Last night we slept on our new 800 thread count sheets, bought from Kohl's during the last hour of their Black Friday sale. I usually don't participate in Black Friday, but we needed new sheets and these were $50 off! I am starting to see why people get so excited about it.

Well this post had nothing to do with Christmas, but better to have something than no post at all. Until tomorrow . . .

Cute outfit . . .

I loved the outfit that I dressed Riley in today and thought I would share it . . .

So cute!!

I can't get enough of that little boy!

I am pretty convinced that he is teething now because this morning he had a little stuffy nose. That is a sign of teething, right?

Riley update . . .

It has been a long time between posts, and babies change so quickly so here is a big long update on our sweet Riley. (Sorry that some of the pictures are fuzzy, my camera isn't quite quick enough to grab lightening fast baby movements without a little blur)

He is almost 4 months old already! I will try to remember to have Gary help me weigh him tonight, but he is getting so big! He and I walk to the grocery store almost every day (me walking, him along for the ride in the Baby Bjorn) and I can definitely tell that he is getting bigger. By the time we get home my shoulders and back are starting to complain.

He is getting so strong too! He likes to stand up, with a little assistance of course. He also spends a lot of time on his tummy, just hanging out.

He loves to play in his Exersaucer. He discovers new things to play with on it all the time.

His daddy makes him giggle a lot. It is so cute!

He has started to talk in his loud voice. It sounds like he is yelling, but he is just talking really loud.

When he is laying on his back he loves to stick his little chunky legs in the air. Doing that all the time has made his little abs a lot stronger, maybe I should do it with him!

He likes to sit up straight, but he is still working on being able to do it on his own. Sometimes he just falls forward or backward, but he is getting better.

We help him out by propping him up with the Boppy.

I think he might be teething. However, my opinion on this changes almost everyday. He drools all the time, he likes to gum my fingers, and he has been a bit cranky as of late.

He has kind of rolled over a couple of times. Usually it is more of an accident than anything, but it sort of counts. Here is a little video for you to see.

He used to say "oh" all the time and it was so cute because he would make his little mouth into a perfect tiny circle and his face would have a very serious concentrated expression on it. Unfortunately he doesn't do it much anymore, but here is a little video clip of it. (The video isn't really awesome, but you can still see him do it. Every time I would put the camera in front of his face to film he would stop doing it and just stare at the camera. What a stinker!)

He is also working on grabbing things and putting them in his mouth. It is cute! What usually ends up in his mouth is the back of his hand and not the toy, but you can tell that he is trying to work it out.

So that is my Riley update. Can't wait to bring him to Salt Lake for Thanksgiving so everyone can see him, but until then this will have to do.

1st Halloween . . .

Riley was a frog for his first Halloween. We didn't do a lot of trick or treating, but we did go to our wards Truck or Treat. Here are a few pictures

Yes, Gary and I are lame and we didn't have costumes this year. I'm not sure why, but we will try harder next year.

Our cute munchkin! He currently holds the title of the "King of Drool".

Some photos . . .

Hanging out (or napping) with Auntie Sunnie and Uncle Sam

Hanging out (napping again) with Uncle Matt

At the luncheon after Riley's blessing

Showing off Riley's tux tails

Cutie Riley in his white blessing tux that we borrowed from Vicki. It fit him perfectly!

Chatting with his cousin Anya. She is so cute!

Sitting up like a big boy in the Bumbo!

Hanging out with Daddy!

On the plane with Daddy. Riley was wonderful, made hardly a peep. What a relief!