The Christmas Post: 2012

Our Christmas was, dare I say, idyllic.  The thing that started it off perfectly was that my mom drove out to see us the weekend before.  While we talk nearly every day and skype often, we haven't seen each other in person in nearly six months, and for a girl that was desperately bummed about missing this year's family Christmas... this was the perfect way to begin a season that is so much about family.

Miss Anni takes a little time to warm up to anyone that isn't Mommy or Daddy, including beloved grandparents.  My mama, being the mama of 6 other kiddos of varying degrees of introvertedness, was patient as can be.  With her, she brought Christmas gifts of lovely, lovely books for Anni.  (If you ever need a good gift for a little one, books are so perfect... you really can't have too many and they take up so much less space than toys).  One of the books became an immediate favorite.  By the time my mom left, she had read Interrupting Chicken at least a dozen times a day and both she and Anni had it nearly memorized. 

I am so grateful that our girls have grandparents that are so willing to sit down, read, snuggle and dance. 

And, I'm ever, ever, every so grateful that my mommy helped me finish my Christmas shopping and food planning.  This year, with my approaching the point that Anni came and not really knowing if my body would decide it was time for this baby to come, we decided to do Christmas at home.  Which meant, I was hosting an important holiday celebration for the first time ever (luckily with only two other -forgiving- adults, but still).  She sat down with me, got my sister's recipe for roast chicken (I only had the vague plan that the chicken went into the oven and hopefully came out yummy) and helped me navigate pre-Christmas store crowds to get everything we needed.

It was hard to see her leave before Christmas, but so fun to be able to send home all of our Christmas love to our family there and be filled up on some mom/grandma time.

 

We spent a little time at the in-laws the day before Christmas Eve, playing piano (Daniel and Anni), taking naps (me, not anyone else) and watching Anni strip her favorite ornaments off their Christmas tree.

Then came Christmas Eve.  We put ribbons on our heads, ate a big breakfast, and spent the day cleaning and prepping for Christmas.  We also ended up going to Mass on Christmas Eve.  It was absolutely packed!  Luckily, we went a little early to see the Christmas pageant (we thought Anni would love seeing all the kids in costumes acting out the story), so we did manage to get an aisle seat where there was a little air.  Anni kept the family next to use amused with her comments.  She was both very worried about where Baby Jesus was and wondering whether King Herod was Santa.  Her only experience with Santa is walking by one with her grandparents in the mall, so it kind of makes sense that she would equate fake white bears with him.  Either way, she did pretty well, considering we were in our seats for two hours (heck, I was hot and a little squirrelly by the time we were done as well).

Oh, and there was random digging into the closet to pull out plastic bags, mommy's stocking cap and "her" new umbrella from Ikea.

After Mass, it was officially Christmas in our house.  Anni reminded us where we had hidden Baby Jesus and brought Him back out into the world.  She told Him He could lie on the couch by her until it was time for Him to "go to bed with His mama."

We also pulled out some last minute gift-crafting as one of our gifts didn't arrive from Amazon on time (it's been relegated to a future birthday gift at this point).

Then, we made a batch of four chocolate chip cookies, because it's Christmas and who doesn't want to wrap up Christmas Eve with a warm chocolate chip cookie as the snow falls gently out the window?

I thought so.

Then, we finished up the night with one of my favorite traditions.   My Dad has read The Night before Christmas to us every Christmas Eve for years (with all our candles lit... though I think that part of the tradition has taken a back seat with all of the grandchildren until they're big enough to leave them alone).  Daniel continued that tradition with Anni, and I love watching her grow and change in each year's picture.  Next year, there will be another little sweetie snuggled up on her Daddy's lap.  I love tradition, and I love having gotten to start them in our own family so that our little ones will always have these sweet memories to look back on.

The next morning, we awoke to full stockings, presents under the tree, fresh cream cheese kolaches, and hot chocolate on the stove.

Anni's stocking stuffer was a set of these little mugs so she could start drinking out of a "real cup" at the dinner table, so she had her very first hot chocolate (and enjoyed it very much).

Then of course, came present opening.  We have a lot of fun picking out her gifts.  We limit ourselves to three (and a stocking stuffer), as it would be way, way, way too easy to go overboard and we don't really want the entire focus of the day to be on presents (I'm not sure our budget could handle it either).  This year we got her a couple of books, a bedding set (with hopes that it would help her keep blankets on at night!), and a doll bed. 

Then came the work.  While I didn't manage to actually get a picture of my beautiful roast chicken, I am immensely proud that it tasted delicious and that everything was *mostly* done on time to eat.  Daniel's mom provided the biggest, most gorgeous fruit salad ever as well as a few other sides, so we had quite the spread.
 

Probably the worst idea ever to take a picture right after a huge meal when already feeling self-conscious about pregnancy weight gain... but at least we took a picture together!

We spent the rest of Christmas in relatively inert stages, opening presents from the in-laws, eating Jesus' birthday cake and a double layer pumpkin pie (cream cheese and pumpkin... oh. my) and reveling in two-year-old enjoyment of Christmas.

We're determined to celebrate the entire season of Christmas, so we still have Christmas music playing, lights up in the apartment and a whole lot of treats to work through.  It's easy to feel festive when Daniel has work off all the way through New Year's Day (thank you, working for a great Catholic organization)!

Now that one season of waiting (Advent) is over, we're starting to see the end of our own waiting period!  What a beautiful thing it is to be pregnant while we remember Mary's pregnancy and birth of Christ.  Merry Christmas, my friends!  I hope that no matter what you celebrate, you are having a beautiful end of the year!

Merry Christmas!

When the angels went away from them into heaven, the shepherds said to one
another, “Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.” And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.

-Luke 2:15-16

Blessings and a sweet, sweet Christmas season to you and your families! 

Lil' Bit: 31 weeks!

How far along?  31 weeks
Total weight gain/loss?  I'm going to start telling the nurse not to tell me my weight (which means I'll have to close my eyes... because I can read a scale, darnit).  Caring isn't going to change the fact that I'm pregnant and by golly... probably going to gain quite a bit more weight in the next 6-10 weeks.
Maternity clothes?  Oh, yeah.  I still wear normal comfy pants and t-shirts around the apartment, but the shirts aren't quiiiite covering my belly anymore (moving onto hubby's t-shirts which are a size larger!)  Even some of the maternity shirts aren't going to work much longer.  Grow, baby, grow!
Stretch marks? Well, I have a pretty lovely array of them from my first pregnancy, and while my tummy certainly itches, I seem to be stretching a little more reasonably this time... that being said, stretch marks are probably the least of my worries :).
Sleep? Once I get past the restless legs to fall asleep, I do alright.  Unfortunately, Miss Anni has been waking up a lot at night recently to ask for blankies/water/kleenex, so I have to go through the "attempting to fall asleep" process a few times a night (Daddy is wonderful and is perfectly willing to check on her, but she generally asks for both Mommy and Daddy, and it goes much faster if we both just head in and talk to her for a second.) 
 Best moment last week? Anni lovin' on her baby sister.  I love how she rolls through, "That's Lil' Bit.  She yivs in mommy's tummy.  Her my lil sister.  Is she comin' out soon?"  Sometimes she mixes things up and tells everyone that Lil' Bit is her big sister.
 Movement?  TONS!  This girl throws elbows, wiggles her little shoulders and responds strongly when I eat.  I love it... it helps so much that I'm not nauseous (I was still vomiting at this point with my first pregnancy, so movement was much harder to enjoy when ridiculously nauseous!)
 Food cravings? hmm... pizza just about always sounds good, and chocolate, and nectarines (though those are out of season, so I don't actually get to fulfill that craving) and really any fresh fruit.
 Gender? Still one sweet little girl.
Labor signs? Thank goodness, no!  My short-term goal is to make it past 33 weeks (when Anni was born) and then to full term (37) and then to whenever this sweetie is ready.  She is head down, which is nice not to have to worry about the breech issue.
Belly button in/out?  Still in, but it's definitely pretty shallow!  I'm actually hoping for the belly button pop this time ;-). 
What I miss: I miss... moving easily!  I'm starting to get to where it's harder to get up/ bend down/ walk quickly without some difficulty.   
What I am looking forward to: Holding this little one in my arms!  Also, admittedly, being done with shots!  We had to up them back to two shots twice a week... and I'm a wee bit sore (but also grateful that I have a great doctor making sure we get this baby here as healthy as possible).
Milestones: Passing the 30 week mark felt big to me, but otherwise we're really just truckin' along.  We see the doctor every two weeks and will have another ultrasound both to make sure I'm not headed into early labor and to check on Little Miss' kidneys (she has some small pockets that need to be watched).  

Love.

We are holding each other even closer tonight.  I don't have words, because no words can take away the grief of those parents, siblings and friends who don't get to cuddle their little ones today.  All I can do is pray and hope for peace for their hearts and love.  Love for this country and most importantly the people in it.

St. Lucy's Day Tea Party

With Miss Anni old enough to really partake in and enjoy fun holiday festivities, I decided this was the year to start carrying out some St. Lucy's Day traditions (Dec. 13th), in our own little family. My eldest sister introduced us to this several years ago. She would bake braided bread and bring it to my parent's house, dressed in a white dress (her wedding dress in fact) and red sash. It's been a bummer to miss it as we now live over eight hours of driving away, so it was definitely time to celebrate on our own.

Traditionally, the eldest daughter in the family dresses in white (to represent St. Lucy's purity), with a red sash (to represent her martyrdom) and a crown of candles (to represent St. Lucy's crown of candles that lit her way through the dark forest when she brought bread to the poor).

We included many of these things, but did decide to turn our celebration into a little tea party for Anni and some of her other friends (it just so happens that she has several little friends who are the eldest daughters in their families).

We did make the traditional braided bread; but, in recognizing that I was busy, tired and pregnant, I cheated a little.  I found took some refrigerated cinnamon rolls from the store (the Immaculate brand... yum!), unrolled the rolls, and braided the strands together.  This was much messier than I expected, but the resulted smelled and tasted good, so I'm not complaining in the least.



Another traditional bread for St. Lucy's day are saffron buns (the saffron gives them a golden color as Lucy does, in fact, mean light).  They are supposed to be shaped into an "s" shape, though my digging into why brought me me only that they are supposed to look like rays of light or it was originally the shapes are 12-century fertility symbols associated with a viking goblin queen, whose feast was celebrated with evergreen boughs in midwinter.  We're kind of sticking with the rays of light (again with Lucy meaning light), but I was mostly glad to find any explanation.  Again, I went the easy route (have you seen how expensive saffron is?!) and found some cranberry orange rolls that baked into the perfect color and were relatively easy to unroll and reshape into s shapes.  

The other mamas supplemented our baked goods with all kinds of toddler friendly treats (fruit, cheese, crackers, and quiche) and we had quite a shindig.  While I did make the girls some paper candle wreaths to wear, I also put a few candles in our bread so we could have some real light.  We sang "Happy St. Lucy's Day to you" (to the tune of Happy Birthday, yep) and blew out the candles (it took a little mama help both to make sure no one tried to grab a candle and to get enough power to blow them out).  The toddlers henceforth referred to the bread as cake (well, it is sweet, had frosting, and had candles that we blew out on top) and requested multiple helpings.   

There were two sweet, sweet, baby brothers there as well, though I didn't go so far as to make them star boy hats... four months is a little young to worry about being a part of the festivities.  (I'm sure they mostly hoped that the crazy girls wouldn't include them in their partying.)

We got one quick picture of our wild ones in their crowns (they were mostly destroyed five minutes after this picture... except for Anni, she was adamant that she keep wearing hers).  I think that's the beauty of a quick n' easy craft, I wasn't too worried about the crown's destruction since they took me about 20 minutes to make.

We even had our very own Lucy celebrating her name day!  She mostly just liked watching the two oldest girls get into trouble. 

Four little girls running wild around our little apartment was pretty crazy, but completely worth it to make a fun little memory celebrating our Catholic heritage.  I also printed a few coloring pages for the girls, but completely forget them in the insanity of their running through the apartment.

When Daddy got home and asked Anni how her tea party went, she told him, "All my friends came!" and proceeded to list off who was there.  I think that's a pretty good conclusion for a two-year old.

Prayer to Saint Lucy

Saint Lucy, your beautiful name signifies light. By the light of faith which God bestowed upon you, increase and preserve this light in my soul so that I may avoid evil, be zealous in the performance of good works, and abhor nothing so much as the blindness and the darkness of evil and of sin.  By your intercession with God, obtain for me perfect vision for my bodily eyes and the grace to use them for God's greater honor and glory and the salvation of all men.  Saint Lucy, virgin and martyr, hear my prayers and obtain my petitions. Amen.

Visit the 2012 Santa Lucia Day Link-up at Catholic Cuisine 

to see more Saint Lucy Day Celebrations!