Christmas Magic

I am getting so excited for Christmas!  I am very appreciative to my parents who always made every holiday, but especially Christmas, such a special event.  I think they did a great job of keeping Christ at the center of Christmas but also letting it be a magical time of childhood.  For, second only to the greatest gift of God's son Jesus, is the gift of our own children.  One of my favorite traditions was hiding our manger scene baby Jesus until Christmas morning.  Which ever sister would wake up first would then go wake up the other 2 girls.  All three of us would race to our parents bedroom, careful not to peek down the hallway at the living room ahead, because seeing if Santa had come was something we all did together.  We would go into the living room as a family and marvel at the mound of presents under the tree that had not been there the night before.  Santa always used his own special wrapping paper and wonderfully simple packages.  No bows or ribbons, just our names on the paper in all capital letters.  The first thing we would do is get baby Jesus from his hiding spot and place him in his rightful spot in the manger scene.  We then got to open stockings and get ready for Mass.  Most years we went to church on Christmas morning, another tradition I love.  We won't have the time for that this year since we have a lot to do before we load up the car and head north to be with family.  But we are looking forward to dressing up for a special Mass on Christmas Eve. 

I absolutely love that no matter how old I got, Christmas was always just as magical.  Through out the years and even into adulthood, my parents would put Santa presents out when we were sleeping.  It didn't matter that we knew, it was just still so special.  We picked out trees together as a family well into our teenage years.  I look forward to making Christmas just as special for our kids.  I remember the joy it brought to my parents, they loved doing it and we never heard about all the stress and work it was (well, almost never:-)).  I definitely understand their excitement, as I have been counting down the days for weeks now!  All my shopping and most of my wrapping is done.  Katya helped me make our favorite chocolate peanut butter balls yesterday and we will do a bit more baking this week.  I could not resist buying a gingerbread house kit at the store which we will make with the kids on Friday.  Fun stuff! 

I hope everyone out there has a wonderful, peace filled, Christ filled  holiday!  Merry Christmas! Love, Brenda

Things our kids say

Reagan: "Bum bump -rosty go!  -rosty! -now-man!"  That was R singing Frosty the Snowman in case you couldn't figure it out:-)

Katya: "Reagan is going to open her presents and she will hear Santa on the roof say, "Who is being naughty?  Who is opening presents?  Ho ho!  Merry Christmas!"  This is what Katya told me today.  It is in response to me telling her that Santa would not like it if she opened the presents under the tree before Christmas.  Too funny. 

Katya's sleep

Katya has slept in undi's the past 3 nights without an accident!  I am so proud of my big girl!  She did wake up early this morning to pee, 5:45, but got herself back to bed without bothering us.  She then started hollering at 6:45 which is a bit early for me but I was so happy that she didn't get up for good the first time! 
She can get her undi's back on herself as long as they are not inside out.  During the day she often needs us to get them set up and then she can do it.  But I told her if she can't do it when she is up at bedtime she should just get back into bed naky and this afternoon at nap time she did that.  Good girl! 

She has not been napping, consistently for quite some time now.  Occasionally she will fall asleep, usually if I put her down late (2pm) but will then sleep until 4 or 5 which interferes with her bedtime.  I am temped to give up her naps all together but I think the quite time is a reasonable thing for her to do, which of course gives me a break and some time to get some housework done (or a nap:0).  She is only 3 after all.  But the bonus is that when she doesn't nap she goes down easily, or I should say she falls asleep easily at 7pm.  You will remember that when she was napping consistently she was having a really hard time falling asleep and would often lay there for an hour or more.  I guess this proves that she really doesn't need her nap, especially since she doesn't often get up before 7am (kids who wake up 'too' early are usually not getting enough/quality sleep; sleep begets sleep).   

Our Katya sure is a lot of fun.  She is constantly cracking us up and loves to ask, "What's funny about?"  She is very in tune with emotions and loves it when Reagan and I are laughing.  She asks, "Are you happy now?"  or "That makes Reagan happy!"  She is also constantly asking, "What are they sad about?" concerning characters in movies.  And she always knows when I am upset about something.  She still talks about how I was sad, "When Laney left.  You didn't want her to go."  Referring to when I teared up saying goodbye to my sister a few weeks back.  [It  has been really hard on me to not have my family around these last few years.  With pregnancies and postpartum hormones, not to mention the challenges of parenthood.  I miss them so much].  Craig and I find it amusing that Katya's favorite movies on the Christmas Classics we got her are not the main ones (Frosty, Rudolph, Santa Coming to Town), but the Dickson rendition, "Mister Magoo's Christmas Carol"  and " Cricket on the Hearth."  That Katya is a person all her own! 

Goings on

My thoughts are with the Kirkland family who are in Arizona today for funeral services.  My parents drove out last night to join them.  I pray they will find comfort in each other and that they all have save travels back home. 

We are definitely in count down to Christmas mode around here.  Our 'count down Santa' mysteriously keeps changing in the days til Christmas:0)  Katya is not real good with her numbers and likes to change the blocks.  The other day I found it said 80 days til Christmas!  I am struggling on getting Christmas cards out but have pictures ordered so I will be getting them out, though they might be late.  I am really glad most my shopping is done.  I have wrapped most of the gifts for the kids on our list and hope to hit the Post Office today to mail some packages. 

Katya slept her first night in underwear last night!  Such a big girl!  She has been keeping her diapers dry consistently (as long as we make her go right before bed) lately, and getting up herself and going to the bathroom in the morning (7-7:30).  So I asked her if she wanted to try underwear to bed.  She was very excited and proud this morning when she did it. 

Reagan is 20 months old now.  It is hard to imagine that in a few weeks Reagan will be the age that Katya was when R was born.  Reagan is such an easy going kid.  It amazes me how well she entertains herself.  We have been staying inside a lot lately with the bad weather we have been having (tons of rain).  Though she loves going outside, she never puts up a fuss about having to stay in and contents herself with one thing or another.  She is really enjoying singing lately which is so cute.  She does get upset occasionally when something doesn't go her way and she lays on her belly and cries.  But it doesn't last long.  Katya and her have a blast playing together and chasing each other around the house.  There are always moments of tears, like when Katya knocks Reagan over accidentally, but they still have fun.  It is so fun to watch them interact and I love that they are so close in age.   

This month brings a lot of banquets at the Gausthus (being it the holidays).  It sucks to have Craig working more than usual though it is nice to help pay for Christmas.  He continues to be optimistic about future raises/promotions at Dow.  He has more and more responsibilities there and they are keeping him very busy, which is great.  He is looking forward to the 3 day weekend at Christmas and again for New Years.  Though it is hard to think about the Exilixis days when he got the whole week off! 

I hope everyones Christmas preparations are going well, stress free and fun!  I just love the magic of this time of year!

Another loss

We have had another unexpected, devastating loss in the family this week. My Uncle John Nuzzo, beloved husband of dad's sister Kathleen, died Sunday of an apparent massive heart attack. Kathleen found him on the living room floor when she returned home from being out and he was already gone. John was just 65 years old. I can't imagine the pain that Kathleen is experiencing. 

I wish I could say that I knew my Uncle John better but it has been many, many years since I spent any time with him. I have wonderful memories of visiting Aunt Kathleen and Uncle John when I was a kid at their lovely Mill Valley home. He was an amazing cook and made a mean blackberry pie. He also did some magic tricks which thrilled us kids. He did one trick, a disappearing cigarette that I remember discussing at length with my parents and sisters. We asked him to do it several times in a row, watching so close for the trick, but of course we never saw when the lite cigarette disappeared. We thought that he might eat them since he would only do it for us a few times and we never saw a trace of the cigarette again.

John was also a talented blues musician, something he definitely had a passion for. He played the harmonica and sang in a band and I was lucky enough to watch him preform once at a club in San Fransisco. It was an unforgettable experience; I being an underage teenager used my sisters ID to get into the club with my family. The show was fantastic! John was also a talented painter, though I am not sure if it is something he continued to practice. I remember seeing some of his watercolors, I don't think he like to show them off, but they were really great. I will also never forget when Grandma Thompson let it slip to my sisters and I that Uncle John made his living in the adult film industry, something my parents had kept from us. When we were older we got to hear the funny and memorable story of when Grandpa Lester Thompson learned this fact about his daughters boyfriend! Kathleen and John were truely a perfect match and were married for 23 years.  I remember him fondly and he will be missed dearly. 

Christmas is coming!

I got out and hit the stores for some Christmas shopping today. I had so much fun picking things out for all the kids! I am pretty much done, just need to pick up a few more things. It feels so good to have the shopping done, especially for those who need to be mailed. I wrapped the Kirkland boy's gifts and just need to find a big enough box to ship them in:0) I am waiting for one thing through the mail for Laney and then I can get the Smith's package in the mail too. I bought some premi size onsie's for the Ross twins. It is funny to know that you are going to need premi sizes! Shannan hit 28 weeks today, woo-hoo! They are really hoping for another 2 weeks.

Here are a few pictures from Christmas tree shopping.

Another perfect tree from Harrison Farms this year!

Cutting it down.

Hot coco and candy canes! Reagan is saying, "Cheese!"

I have yet to download pictures of our decorated tree. It is so pretty, all decked out with new LED lights. We had fun putting up decorations despite Reagan's glass eating episode.

Today Craig and I are celebrating our 6th wedding anniversary! I am so thankful for such a wonderful life partner. Every single day Craig makes me feel loved and apprichiated. I hope I do the same. The little things are the things that count in a marriage. Saying please and thank you, remembering to tell your partner everyday that not only do you love them, but you are so thankful for all they do; these are the things that build a strong relationship. I think it is strange (and sad) how often I see people forget to be polite to their significant other. Craig and I rarely celebrate with extravagent gifts or trips but we relish in each others company. We pray for and look forward to many, many more years together! Love, Brenda

Sad day

Sorry that I have been so bad about blogging lately.  I was going to post pictures of our Christmas tree but it doesn't seem right when today is a day of sadness for my family.  My sister's father-in-law passed unexpectedly this morning.  He was a very joyful person who has overcome so much.  He has struggled with MS for many, many years but always kept himself in top physical condition.  In fact, he had a physical just 3 weeks ago and besides suffering from MS, the doc said he was in great physical health.  Cause of death is unclear at this time. 

A.K. always had a smile on his face and a joke on his lips.  He was so pleasant to be around, his mood was infectious.  I will remember him fondly.  My thoughts and prayers are with my brother-in-law and the whole family as they deal with the devastating loss. 

My heart is also with our good friends who are experiencing a complicated twin pregnancy.  The news from them has been up and down and as of this afternoon my friend is back in the hospital.  They are monitoring baby A (the twin in trouble) very carefully and will deliver both babies via c-section at any sign of distress.  Just 27 weeks gestation, I am praying hard for the health and survival of both baby boys. 

Love to all, Brenda