Christmas Is Here

It is Christmas time once again! The older I get, the more I realize just how short a year is. I love this time of year, and even through the stress of what we "need" to get done, there are always special moments to realize and reflect on what is really important.

Like getting out cards and wrapping gifts and figuring out who to visit when and for how long OMG and hating the post office....none of that matters at all.

What matters if focusing on WHY we celebrate. Beyond even Christianity, Saving, and what not, we celebrate because it is a lesson in giving.

To give is far grater than to receive. To be selfless and do for others. Especially in the tradition of St. Nick. He carried on the message of Christ, by picking Jesus' birthday to give HIM the most special gift-all of US giving to others.

Selflessly, anonymously, and without any gratification or recognition. We should give to others the thing they most need. A toy, a Bed, A friend.

We talk to the boys about Santa, and celebrate that tradition, but we call him St. Nick, after the real man that lived in Greece and is the source of all things Santa we see now.

We talk about how St. Nick is giving Jesus the most special gift ever, by getting all of us into the spirit of giving and helping.

This year, the boys are completely stoked to get legos-and Little Dude very much had me stressing because he kept changing his mind about which set he wanted. But. One huge Star Wars plane is picked and will be under the tree. JR has been focused on the same Batman Lego set since before LAST Christmas, so, this year, he will get it. Champ is getting a Thomas train roundhouse. I spent too much on it, but I'm so excited for him to have it.

Princess will be getting a doll from the Disney Store from the "It's a Small World" collection. Of course, the doll is a little Indian Princess that sings in English and Hindi. I love it and hope we can give it to her someday.

And, in the meantime, since we can't give her our gifts, we sent a lot of gifts to the orphanage in general, because otherwise, the children don't get things. We sent clothes and undies and socks-things they needed very much-as well as fun things, as you can see in the video below.

I love how excited all the girls are. Our little Princess is in there too, see if you can spy her in her cute flowered dress.

This is what Christmas is about. Those kids will never know who sent all these toys to them, but they will so much love the fun they have together playing, and knowing that is all the gift and importance I need to focus on this Christmas. The long line at the post office doesn't matter in the least, when at the end this is what you get:



Merry Christmas!

Princess' First Steps

I'm so blessed to know so many wonderful people at our Princess' orphanage! I got this wonderful gift and want to make sure I have it saved, so I'm adding it here.

These are her first steps. On 6-10-2012, she took her first steps. So awesome to see this and have it; I hope beyond hope I can show her someday this special moment.




Also, in big boy news, Little Dude currently says the phrase "Can I Tell You Something?" before he proceeds to tell us something ALL.THE.TIME. It is hilarious and annoying at the same time, because he doesn't before EVERY.THING.HE.SAYS. Though, I love him telling us everything and anything; I hope he always feels he can.

JR is SUCH a big kid now. He loves school so very much and I'm so glad he is doing so well. He is also quite the joker with a vast knowledge of poop jokes. I blame Bill for that, haha. He is also quite the cook and LOVES to help me in the kitchen. He tells us he will open a restaurant someday. I told him I'd eat there every day; and he agreed we could have lunch dates every so often. My sweet little man.

Champ is so funny and cute; it is sooooo super hard to not spoil him like crazy. I see now why the "babies of the family" are always babied! I hate seeing him grow out of being a baby! Right now his phrase is "Wait A Minute". LOVE. I think we are successfully out of diapers, too! We have gone quite a few weeks now without having an accident, so yippie!

Though, I am a little sad to pack the diapers away. Sigh. I'm certain though, if all the adoption stuff falls through, we will have another baby, so I may get them back out again in the future :)

We shall see.

Hey Monday 6 Months

My littlest little man is 6 Months today.

ignore the dirty mirror.....

It seems crazy that he is already that old, I really feel like we just got settled.

• He is rolling all over the place and scooting with a determined efficiency.
• Bouncing is currently his favorite thing to do, and he likes to turn his head sideways or upside down to look at people. We have to be constantly ready to keep a hold of his ever twisting and turning body weight. 
• He LOVES to watch his brothers and they are still every enchanted with him; that makes my heart so happy.
• He gives HUGE toothless smiles all the time and I am cherishing them all, as I know from the amount of drool and chomping he is doing that teeth will probably be emerging soon and that lovely newborn-ness will be all gone then. 

It is funny, but I have a deeper appreciation with my third child. With my first, Little Dude, I was just trying to figure everything out; with  my second, JR, I was SO SAD to see him grow, as it went by much to quickly in a whirlwind of activity. With Champ though, even though I hate to see the stages pass by, I am making sure to take the time to enjoy it and to ENJOY his growing. Through our little blog-o-sphere here, I have met far too many moms and dads who have lost children to illnesses, experienced great loss, or pushed through still births.

I've connected with so many, and know there are so many more out there. So while I can't believe 6 months have already flown by, but I am, at this moment, so grateful that I was given these past 6 months and I am hopeful I get to see his next 60 years.




*The post title is from a song that came up on Pandora today called 6 Months by a group called "Hey Monday". You can hear/see it here: http://youtu.be/W3svr_CUhxo

A Little Music Lover

My JR loves music, and I got them gem of him listening to music at Marbles Kid's Museum a few days ago. He danced and pushed the buttons and hogged the space in front of the speakers forever. He LOVED the music around the world exhibit (or whatever it is called, I can't remember-but it had music from all around the world the kids could play, super fun).

Since I'm a huge band geek, you know it makes my heart swell to see a budding love for music in my son:

Little Dude Plays Hockey

He was borderline too small; but he was so adamant that I went ahead and let him try out the Hockey floor at Marbles Kid's Museum.

Boy, it is hard letting your kids grow up. I was so scared he would get hurt, but I think instead I should have been scared of him hurting others-he was quite the scrapper, diving for the puck, swinging his stick, and actually following the rule that the stick couldn't go in the air.



Quite proud, he was, and quite proud, I am.

I'm French at Heart

I'm a band geek, which most of my current friends and blog friends don't realize.

Well, maybe some of my friends realize. I have a nice collection of instruments around my house, and a huge basket of music next to the piano. But I don't know that anyone other than my husband has heard me play.

Anyways, there it is. I'll admit it. I am and was and will always be a band geek. I played in High School, I did marching band, concert band, honors band, competitive local bands, community bands, and at any school play you would find me in a faithful spot under the stage. For summer break I would have DIED to join Carolina Crown, but usually ended up working away the summers (not a bad way to spend it though, my college fund thanked me later).

When I got to college, I fell off a bit. After two years of Marching Band, I'd had enough of the 3 hour class block for one credit. So I quit. Then I quit the Concert Band because, well-they didn't have French Horns. For two years I'd been playing an E Horn and wasn't a huge fan.

Then I didn't play again until we moved to Tennessee, and I stumbled upon a volunteer concert band.

But we moved some more, and finally ended up back here, and I don't know of any local bands that I can join(Please tell me if you happen to know of anything). I wish I could find something like the band I was in at Mars Hill College-we would just get together and site read pieces. It was awesome.

And so, without further ado, a fellow band friend shared this gem with me:



Oh yes, it is JUST French Horns. Oh, I might have died and gone to heaven.

Watching this got me to pick up my French Horn yesterday, and while it sounded atrocious, I am really excited to pick it up again today and see if my chops will last a little longer.

Oh French Horn, how I have missed thee.

Christmas Morning

**Disclaimer: I can't get the video to work and I'm getting annoyed with it. I'll be trying to figure out what is wrong with it after dinner. Or maybe tomorrow. Or maybe tomorrow I'll just post something different and pretend this post didn't happen....**

So I am finally getting some of the videos off my Flip camera (which I love, by the way) and I have this cute one of Christmas morning at our house. I know you guys have been dying to see what the Miche looks like first thing in the morning. This is even after I had some coffee, so prepare to be amazed with the awesome camera skills and rambling amazing commentary:



And just think, if I find some more gems on the camera, I might just share them with you guys. I know you know you're scared lucky.

Straight No Chaser

I heard this song on the radio today and fell in love with it. It was amazing and humorous all at the same time. Straight No Chaser is an a cappella group that I am now dying to see.

And guess what? They are coming to Raleigh Dec. 23. Oh, I am so there. Right, Love? Date night, maybe? I think if I beg enough Bill will cave and take me. You can see why I am in awe:



I had never heard of them before today on the radio (yes, I even called in to find out who the group was), but I am for sure ordering their Christmas CD; listening to the songs had me laughing and wanting to sing along at the same time. Awesome.

I Gotta Feeling

Today is gross. All rainy, kinda cold, and I have no idea how I'm going to entertain the kids; so far this morning I haven't done such a great job of it and the house has turned into a disaster zone.

I can't help but smile when I watch this though:



But really I think the day turns out the way your attitude expects it to.

Today is a good day because I get to meet up with an old high school friend and her daughter for lunch.

I've got a job that allows me to be at home and work on my time.

And best of all?

Today is an awesome day, because my two little nephews made it into the world last night at 33 weeks, and they are doing fantastic.

99 Balloons

So Oprah is a show I love watching and I do actually try to get the kids occupied with activities so I can watch-yes, I love Oprah.

A few weeks ago, I watched the Miracle Children and Celine show and learned about little Elliot.

Elliot's parents were told he would not survive past birth, and so they celebrated the 99 days of his life with letters and photos, which they turned into the video below. Inspiring, amazing, and a true testament to celebrating life.



I hope that no matter what happens in life, I'm always able to find a way to celebrate and find the joys.

Save the Last Dance For Me

I have a little dancer:


We went to The Shed Barbecue and Blues Joint in Ocean Springs, Mississippi a few weekends ago and it was so fun. I loved the live band and a REALLY loved watching JR groove to the music. He danced the whole time we were there!

Little Dude was content the whole time with his food and playing in the dirt ( I never realized just how dirty little boys can be) and it was fun to listen to his imaginative play.

The Shed was pretty awesome-amazing food-and everything there looked like it had been pulled from the garbage. Seriously, there were chairs with desk tops that looked like they had come out of a school, and there were roles of paper towels to use for clean up. It was the perfect place to take two little boys to eat!

If you happen to be down this way, I would suggest going to The Shed for dinner, but be sure to go later in the day when it is cool so you can sit outside and enjoy the band.

Walk Like A Man

My Little JR is walking! Well, he still needs some help, but every day he stands a little longer unassisted, and walks a little further between the furniture.

Now he is walking fast along the walks, and crawling less and less.

My baby is growing up, making me very happy, and very sad all at the same time.



Also, if you watch to the end, you'll see my elusive Little Dude, hiding in the bathtub, because apparently I am like the paparazzi and he has to hide from my cameras.

Almost Famous

Newbaby.com and Wisk has a couple of internet commercials going about HE washers, and I got to be in one of them! Whoo hoo!
I'm in this one, along with some of my favorite mom bloggers:

And some of my other favorite mom bloggers are in this one:


And I have to say now that I am just drooling for an HE Washer and Dryer. Esp. since mine are dying. The Drying is taking 2 cycles, at least, to dry, and the Washer gets unbalanced all the time, and is starting to make a weird noise.....

Rebirth

Today is so hard on kids, young adults and well, everyone. Beyond the normal bullying and teasing kids can go through, the internet has opened a whole new door to tormenting and judging from peers. It is scary, as parents, to realize we need to do our best to arm our children with the self esteem, attitude and skills to fight back against the ills they will face as they journey through this world. And to follow our own advice and keep our self esteem in tack, as well.

Regardless of faith or not, everyday offers a chance of rebirth, of starting over, and getting on a straight path. Today is a great day to leave whatever demon you are fighting behind; a decision only you can make.

As a Catholic, I believe that Jesus was reborn today, and on Easter in 2004 I was born into the Christian Faith. Though I am not always strong in my faith, I try to be, and I hope I can pass that strength in God on to my children and grandchildren.

Here is a video Nell over at Casual Friday Everyday shared with me. The visual aspects are touching and a great reminder that though there are many demons out there to knock us off our path, God will always be there to pick us up, help us through the dark days, months, years. The greatest gift of faith is knowing that we can get through anything because of Him.
Happy Easter, everyone!

Imagine the Potential

I got into an argument once over the potential of life. The person I argued with actual said that a poor quality of life is not what a child should be brought into and that it was better for the child to be aborted. Well, that enraged me, considering Oprah Winfrey, Geoffrey Canada, Karol Józef Wojtyła aka Pope John Paul II and any number of other successful people, had what some might call "a poor quality of life" growing up; including this guy:


I'm all for people being responsible and trying to plan children, but I am always amazed at how adoption options get overlooked. Why is abortion the answer? Just think of what the world would be missing if your mom had decided that you would have had a poor quality of life full of pain and hardships and decided to spare you from it.



Thank you, Nell at Casual Friday Everyday for sharing this video.

My Boys

While trying to catch JR on video babbling, I ended up getting this great gem. And yes, you will learn my boys' real names; however, you'll just have to pretend you didn't. This video was too cute to not share with out of town family and everyone else....

The Greatest Gift

It is so very easy to be wrapped up in the commercialism of Christmas, or for that matter, any of the winter time celebrated religious holidays. Schools can't celebrate any of them, Christmas cards sometimes don't even have the word Christmas on them, and last year some tree farms tried to call their Christmas tress "holiday trees". So, it is easy to see, how everyone can get quickly swept up in putting emphasis on the wrong things this time of year-getting the great gifts, fighting crowds for those early morning sales, spending money you don't have to get people items they probably don't want.

I want to thank Steph from Adventures in Babywearing for directing me to this video; it really makes you think:

Parents® Critter Conga

My son is in love with the new Parents® drum and so am I! I made a couple of videos for you to enjoy:




and you can read the rest of my review here:

Enjoy!

Happy 6 Months!!

My baby, JR, is half a year old today. I blinked, and 6 months flew by.

Our Thanksgiving Car Ride....

Oh yes, we did almost 15 hours in the car with the kids so we could get back to NC in time for the holidays! Bill had to fly back to Mobile Sunday, but the boys and I will be at home until after Christmas! Boy,even though it wasn't bad am I ever glad I don't have to do this drive again for a little longer.....the last two hours Little Dude screamed. Yes you heard me, SCREAMED. Below you can see some of the happier moments.....