Christmas Season Thus Far

It's been a busy month so far, but an enjoyable one. I struggle with Christmas now. I've always loved Christmas, and I love watching my children enjoy Christmas, but something about the whole season makes the hurt of losing Levi hurt that much more. Most days, I simply enjoy the season, but sometimes, a little something will remind me of him and my heart aches in wishing he was here.

Like in seeing Santa...

Or decorating the Christmas tree...

 Maybe it's the extra time we spend together as a family and the obvious void he leaves. Maybe it's the remembering of those in need that brings him to mind so much. Maybe it's all the songs on the radio. Whatever it is, aside from his birthday, Christmas is when I miss him the most. I'm learning to live with it though. This is the first Christmas I haven't dreaded since his passing. I absolutely adore the faces of my living children as they count down the days. Aidan wakes up each and every morning asking to add a piece to his advent calendar, and then announces to all who will listen the number of days left until Christmas morning. He's so excited to place baby Jesus on the manger and celebrate the Savior's birthday. That is enough to make my heart happy.



Today was the Christmas program at preschool. Aidan, Luke, and Greyson all were in it and sang four songs - Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Come on Ring Those Bells, Away in a Manger, and Wasn't That a Mighty Day. It was really cute.

Luke and Greyson on the 2nd row

Aidan on the back row

 Afterwards, there was a cake and punch reception in the gym. Megan and I attempted to snap a few photos of our guys.

Quinn is wearing an outfit I made for Aidan's first Christmas. Quinn is a few months older than Aidan was when he wore it, so I need to move the buttons down a bit so it's not quite so snug on him. I'll take a better picture in it later. I always was proud of it because it was the first clothing article I ever sewed mostly on my own.

And now for a series of pictures. These kind of remind me of some my mom has of us as kids with our cousins.

Thanksgiving Feast

Yesterday was Aidan, Luke, and Greyson's Thanksgiving feast at school. Megan and I went up to school to spend time with them during their feast.

 Aidan

 Greyson showing off his turkey cupcake

 Luke

 Megan, Jude, and Luke

 Aidan and Me

Aidan modeling his Indian costume.

First Pinterest Project

I've become addicted to Pinterest. When it first came out, I thought the idea behind it was silly. But now, I'm addicted. I have to force myself to take breaks from it because it is a time suck. One of the other things that I am now forcing myself to do is to actually complete some of the items that I pin. What's the point of the whole thing if I never use any of the ideas I find? So, for my first project, I made shadow boxes to display an item from each of my children's infancy.

I kind of love them.

*Please ignore the blurriness. I took these without flash in order to avoid a glare on the glass, but I couldn't quite hold the camera still enough to get a perfectly clear picture.*

This is Aidan's box. The sweater outfit in his box was my absolute favorite newborn item of his. My sister gave it to me. It is made of wool, and my wonderful husband put it in the dryer while trying to help me with laundry. I was devastated. I have never been able to bring myself to throw it out even though I knew I would never be able to use it again. I am now thankful I never threw it out because now I have a way to display it.

Levi's box. This is probably my favorite simply because I don't have much that belonged to Levi. In his box, you find the hospital hat he wore and a small crocheted blanket given to me by the hospital. Both of these items I have held on to never knowing what to do with them, but not ever considering throwing them out as they are all I have of him, besides his quilt and pictures. Now they are on display rather than sitting in a box in my closet.

And finally, Quinn. This is the outfit he came home from the hospital in. My mom bought it for him and held on to it until he safely arrived in my arms. She then cut off the tags, washed it, and brought it to the hospital. I did not want anyone to buy anything for Quinn until he was born alive. If I was given something, I didn't dare take the tags off.

So, there you have it. My darling, beautiful, baby boys displayed in blue, yellow, and green boxes. One day I hope to add a pink. ;)

Advent Calendar

I have been on the hunt for the perfect advent calendar since Aidan's first Christmas. I didn't worry too much about it that first year considering he was only 11 months old and it wouldn't mean much at the time, but I kept my eyes peeled. Over the years, I've seen super cute ones in stores, but for way more money than I'm willing to spend. A couple years ago, after Christmas, I bought a fabric panel that had little pockets to sew on to make an advent calendar. I sewed those pockets on, and then realized how absolutely teeny tiny they were and knew that I'd never fit items for more than one child in them. This panel is also rather large, so I didn't want to make one for all my kids and try to find a place within the house to hang them, therefore I never finished it beyond sewing those tiny pockets on.
Growing up, my mom managed to find a small, cost effective, and practical advent calendar, so surely, I should be able to find the same. We each had our own calendar. They weren't fancy by any means. They were simple little boxes in rows and columns numbered 1-24. All three of them were lined up on Mom's dresser, and each morning of December we would open up those boxes and find a small surprise. So, why can't I find something similar?

I knew the day would come when I would need an advent calendar for my children. Well, my friends, the time has come. Aidan is already asking when Christmas is going to be here. Currently, the answer is "after Thanksgiving". Once Thanksgiving has come and gone though, I'm in for the daily questions. I am in desperate need of an advent calendar if for no other reason, to have a count down to Christmas morning.

I was about to resort to making a matchbox advent calendar.

Or shelling out some big bucks and buying Aidan the Lego Star Wars advent calenar, and then having this same dilemma again next year.

Then I found it.

I have spent the last several days cutting and sewing felt together in order to have this complete by December 1st. It's the absolute perfect advent calendar. It's a countdown to Christmas, there's no worrying about what small item to place in the pockets, and it focuses the entire Christmas season on the birth of Christ. Each day, he takes a piece of the nativity from a pocket and puts it in place. By Christmas Eve, he has watched and heard the entire Christmas story take place, as I plan to read the Bible story with him each day.

 And the best part...Aidan adores it!

Cutest Cousins

Quinn & Jude

It's Official

We have a walker!

The Dynamic Duo

Happy Halloween from Batman and Robin!!

The First Year

I recently received the proofs from Quinn's 1st Birthday pictures, and I've been reminiscing about how much he's changed since birth. It simply amazes me how much a baby grows and learns in their first year of life. To go from complete helplessness to communicating and almost walking in a mere 12 months is astounding. Babies are truly one of God's greatest miracles.

 9 days

 4 months

 8 months

 12 months

 1st Birthday

Cake Smash!

To Be A Boy

Yummy Babe Clothed in Owls (and other updates)

There is

 nothing yummier

 than a

 baby's bum

 in a cloth diaper.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

All a boy needs

 is his Mommy's iPhone games

 and his cat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We may

 have a

 walker

 soon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Spaghetti night

 is always a favorite at our house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I want to play soccer forever."

 "But I don't want to stay there forever. I want to go play soccer, come home, play soccer again, and come home kind of forever." -Aidan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pancakes & Karaoke - The latest I've stayed out since before kids.

 Watching Josh sing was hilarious.

Surely someone got a video of this!