some christmas pinterest

Definitely doing this...

Source: ashleyannphotography.com via Amanda on Pinterest

I love Ashley's blog - it's one of the very few that I stay caught up on pretty regularly.  The other day I thought she was a genius when she posted about taking pictures of all your friends from their Christmas cards to use as their contact picture in your phone.  In no time at all her fabulous idea showed up on Pinterest! 

And tonight, we did this...

Source: confessionsofahomeschooler.com via Amanda on Pinterest


Here's the explanation that goes with it:  All Aboard The Minivan Express! Ready to start a Christmas tradition that the whole family will enjoy? I know you’ve all seen The Polar Express, well, this is our own version of that fun adventure! Each year we hide the “Golden Tickets” in our kids’ beds. My husband starts the bedtime routine as usual, while I prepare little bags of popcorn and hot chocolate drinks and place them in the car, oh and don’t forget to have Christmas music playing in the car too! When the kids go to climb into bed, they will find the ticket hidden under their covers, get ready for lots of giggles and screams as they all find their tickets! The kids are then instructed to grab their slippers and head for the car. Upon entrance to The Minivan Express, we hole punch the ticket (you know for effect and all.) Next, we travel around the city looking at all the beautiful lights. We may even stop somewhere for a fun snack on the way home. Now the kids look forward to this each year and look forward to getting “those special tickets”!

The gold tickets are a free download and the source will explain all the details.  If you don't have a minivan like us, there is another version of the tickets that just say "Christmas Express".

Our kids love Polar Express, it's one movie we watch multiple times at Christmas every year, along with "Buddy the Elf".

So tonight we put the kids to bed a bit earlier, and watched as they crawled into bed and found a gold ticket under their covers.  They ran to Gavin's bassinet to see if he had one too- sure enough he did!!  Dad punched their tickets with a hole punch just like in the movie and I handed them a bag of caramel corn and their very own small bottle of pepsi.  That's how we roll in our house.  Pepsi beats hot chocolate any day!
Daddy quoted lines from the movie...
"All ABOOOOOOAAAAARD!!!"
 Where are we going?
 "Why, to the north pole, of course!"

Their eyes were as big as I've ever seen them before.  "For real?  We're really going somewhere?"   "Is this a real Christmas Express?"  "You guys are the most fun!"  "I think we are the only kids out after bedtime!" The comments and excitement went on and on and on.  They were so talkative and full of life in the car as we drove around to look at lights.  It was so fun for us to see them so full of joy over the simplest thing.
Taylor asked if we can do this EVERY time at Christmas - so I think we found a new tradition.

Hope you're enjoying lots of fun Christmas traditions - new and old!

a few christmas crafts

We're trying to find things to keep our two big kids busy lately.  Dave and I are sneaking in a few more naps than usual (okay, maybe not more than usual for me).  Our energy level this Christmas season is a bit lower than usual.  We haven't done much baking or treat making - yet.  We'll get to the that at the last minute I'm sure.  But we have made a few fun crafts.

I saw this coffee filter christmas tree on I Can Teach My Child.

You just need 2 coffee filters, green markers, a spray bottle with water, scissors, a glue stick, and blue, yellow and white construction paper, plus we added decorations - beads, gems, buttons, whatever you have.

The kids colored the filters green and then sprayed them with water (don't soak them), and let them dry completely.

We got some blue construction paper and added some white for snow.

Fold one filter in half.

Cut the other filter into thirds.

With one of the thirds, fold it in half.

Then layer the filters and glue the tops of them down onto the construction paper.

Use scissors to cut slits into the bottom edge for texture.

Add a star and decorations if you have some.

Our second craft was something I bought supplies for last year and never got to.

You just need sugar cubes, hot glue gun, and gems or those silver candy balls used for cake and cookie decorating.

Glue the cubes into a pyramid shape with either 5 or 6 on the bottom row.

For the base of the tree, center 2 cubes under the bottom row.

A low temperature glue gun is ideal - preschoolers and hot glue aren't the best combination.

Luckily my mom was here and helping us on this craft, so she ran the glue gun and the kids were just ready with their cubes and stuck it each place she put glue.

Then add some bling!  The kids did this easily with bottles of Elmer's glue.

They look adorable on the kitchen window sill.

Happy Christmas crafting!

the first of many programs

The school programs have started.

Taylor had her first ever Christmas program as a preschooler.

(she was dressed as the star)

They actually performed 2 different times.

Once at the "big" school as part of the Christmas program put on by the whole school.

This was just one week after Gavin was born, and unfortuneately Mommy was not doing well, and had to miss this night.  This was a HUGE deal, sooooo not easy for me.

Pretty devestating.  For me and for her.

When Dave told her that I wasn't going to make it, she and I both burst into tears.

But thank goodness for my new phone and the awesome video it takes, and my hubby who was willing to stand up close to the stage to take it.

And to my surprise, we found out her class would be performing the same program again during preschool.

I made it that time.  And it was so so precious.

Our little girl sang her heart out!  It was so fun to even be able to hear her voice above the others and see how confident she was on stage - not what I would have expected. 

meeting gavin

I asked a friend to come take pictures for us at the hospital when Taylor and Mason came in to see their new brother for the first time.  I didn't want to have to think about a camera or worry about Dave having to capture the memories either. I wanted us to be able to just enjoy the moment with our family of 5, knowing someone else was snapping away for us. 

 I know that we don't have to have all of our memories captured in pictures for them to be meaningful, but it's still so nice to be able to look back at these.  Especially after realizing how out of it I really was after surgery - these pictures meant that much more.

This was the first birth that Dave and the baby stayed in the surgery room with me and we all came out together.  With Taylor and Mason, Dave and the baby always left and went next door to the nurse's station where they weighed the baby and did all that other stuff they do.  I laid on the operating table alone while I could hear my sweet baby crying.  And our family was always taking a peak of the baby through the window.

Things have changed over the last almost 4 years, and they told us that Dave and the baby wouldn't leave at all.  I was so happy about that.  Dave was able to stand and hold the baby by me much longer that he ever got to before.

And the best part was coming out of the operating room together and being able to announce to our family who was waiting on the other side that we had a precious baby boy!

It was such a priceless moment, and I tried so hard to hold the tears in so I wouldn't freak my kids out.

 Recovery time took SOOO much longer than I ever remember before.  Dave and I were both so anxious to get the kids in to see their baby brother - but we had to wait till the nurses said it was okay.

I feel like it took forever, knowing all of our family was on the other side of the door.

When we finally got the okay, Dave went out to get the kids.

 They were SO excited they got to be the first ones in the room to meet baby Gavin.

Mason was barely inside the room before he was already opening the gift they brought for Gavin - he was SO proud!

Taylor was a bit more timid at first.

 our first picture as a family of 5

 

We were so blessed to have most of our family there to help welcome Gavin,

and then dear friends who came later in the day.

He is a loved little guy.

 The kids came to the hospital once or twice each day we were there.  It definitely made our stay much easier with them able to come so often.  If only Daddy hadn't had to carry both of them out kicking and screaming each time.  That was tough.

Until we bribed them.  Then they finally left in control of themselves.

Tomorrow our sweet baby is 3 weeks old already.

He's getting bigger, changing in looks and still a VERY VERY good baby!

Can't wait to show you his newborn session!

the name

I'm backing up a bit (it's a little bit crazy how fast 2 weeks can go by, I feel like this news is now ancient, but still want to get the memories recorded).

Boy or Girl...

Dave was convinced we were having a girl.  And I was leaning much more towards feelings of girl too - but still being cautious because I have NEVER been right before - I don't have those feelings that some mom's get I guess. Why did we think girl? 

*Well surely SOMEONE has to have a girl.  After 4 friends having boys in Sept, Oct, and November, we kept thinking that we'd be the ones to have the girl.

*I was quite a bit smaller in the end of my pregnancy than I was with Mason

*I was going for more sweets than salts - which was one of the main things that differed between Taylor and Mason.

So, when Dave caught that first glimpse, and announced we had a boy, I think we were both somewhat surprised.

I laid there thinking - wow, we really just added to this mass of boys being born! 

The name...

Choosing a name for our third child was much harder than ever before.  With Taylor and Mason we found out the sex of the baby at our 18 week sonogram, so picking a name seemed easier I guess.  We always had them picked way in advance and had time to process it, get used to it, hear it being used, etc.  This time we were down to the final days, and even hours, before we would be meeting our little one who was still nameless. 

Our girl name...

We have loved a name for a long time and thought we were set on using it.  Until about a month before.  We were watching TV one night and fell quickly in love with a name that we heard. So we changed our girl name.  And we loved it!  And because we were both convinced we were having a girl - there was a small part of us that wanted to take the chance and just go in with a girl name only - seeing as the boy name was proving to be much harder for us.  But the planner in me just couldn't do that. 

Our boy name...

We had a list with ten or so names on it.  And 3 or 4 that we talked about more consistently.  But none that we were just completely in love with.  Dave kept saying we needed more options and I kept wondering where to get more options from, I thought I had already spent so much time searching around and looking at ideas.  We slowly began to talk about one name over the others and we chose a middle name to go with it. But every time we talked about it more, we both acted like we just still weren't sure.  2 nights before the baby was coming when I asked Dave if we were sure on this name, he responded with "I guess."

I was not completely okay with settling on a name with "I guess". 

One of my posts before the baby, I asked for name suggestions (just for fun, but also wondering if something new would come to us).  Someone left a comment with the suggestion of Gavin.  Gavin was on our list - just not one of the 3 or 4 we mentioned more than the others.  But for some reason when I was reading the comments to Dave and we came across this suggestion - it all of a sudden stuck with both of us more than it ever had before.  2 days before the baby, we changed the name to Gavin. 

But now our middle name needed to be changed too.

My dad's middle name is Russell, and we liked the way it sounded with Gavin.  On Monday before we left for the hospital we settled for sure on the middle name.

Gavin Russell

Whew! Nothing like the last minute.

It took awhile for the name to really sink in (it kind of still is).  We had no time to process it, to get used to it, or anything.  So needless to say, we drew a blank many times when we looked at him. And when the nurses asked how to spell Russell, we weren't even sure (I had to check with my dad on whether it was 2 l's or not). And multiple times we called him by the names of the other babies that had been born to friends lately and had been coming out of our mouths for the last month or two. 

Regardless of how long it took to find name and how last minute we were - we love it! And are so glad we changed it. It fits him, and us, perfectly!

We had fun little cards for some of our family and friends to fill out before Gavin was born.

                                   (Mason's guesses)                                             (Lily's guesses)

                               (Aunt Stef's guesses)                                      (Aunt Rebekah's guesses)

Aunt Stefanie came the closest by being one of the very few to guess a boy, and then also guessed his middle name (which at the point she guessed it, we hadn't even chosen that as the middle name for sure).

Aunt Rebekah was right on for the weight and a 1/2 inch off for the length.

One person guessed our girl name (she may or may not have had an unfair advantage), and another person guessed our girl's middle name.

It was so fun seeing everyone's guesses - especially the kids' :-)

I have some more pictures from the hospital I'm hoping I can get to soon.

sweet baby

I remember this time of year after Taylor was born.

There's just something about having a newborn around the holidays that is so very special.

He laid here for over 30 minutes, eyes wide open staring at the tree.

He is absolutely precious and perfect in every way.

gavin {one week}

All day today I wanted to remember to take some pictures of Gavin at one week old.

The day got away from me and I almost just decided to skip the pictures.  But rather than worrying about getting the best pictures I can, in the best lighting (which is hard in my house anyway), in the perfect outfit, I am just going to focus on capturing the memories regardless of all the silly details.

I'd rather have pictures in poor lighting (just makes me appreciate my 50mm lens that much more), outfits that are half off, and even pictures from my phone, than none at all.

So today at one week old,

here's how I want to remember our little guy...

And more from his first week...

I found him in his swing with Lightning McQueen.

First bath, it was a family affair and probably could have gone much smoother without so many hands trying to help.

And this little miss is soooo in love and is so loving and motherly to her baby brother.

 She knows when to give him a little jiggle to settle him down, when he needs his paci, and she insists on holding him upright like mom and dad do.

She could sit and hold him for hours.

Sweet Gavin,

You are so loved by your mommy and daddy and big sister and brother already. You have come into our family with such ease.  Kind of like you were the missing piece and now we feel so complete. Your first week of life has been such a joy for all of us.  Taylor and Mason beam when they see you and talk about you, they are so so proud to be your big brother and sister. Mom and Dad have used the words "easy" and "perfect" many, many times to describe you this week.  You have hardly cried.  And you take no effort at all to comfort.  And you have eaten like a rockstar from your very first feeding. Of course you've mostly slept this week, 3 hours at a time during the day, with only an hour here or there awake.  And you are definitely spoiling Mom and Dad at night.  We were expecting a wake up call every 2-3 hours, but instead, when we put you down around 11, you wake up in the 4:00 hour and then again in the 7:00 hour.  THANK YOU SWEET BABY!  (although I know this may not always be, we are thankful for the nights that have been like this so far).  You are our first baby to like a pacifier.  Mom was happy to give you one, it was Dad who was more hesitant.  He says, as long as you don't still have it when you're 2.  I spent lots of time prayer in the past few weeks that God would give us a smooth transition into a family of 5.  And so far, he has answered those prayers more than I could have even imagined!

And even if week 2 gets harder - we will be thankful for week one, and take whatever comes our way, because you are definitely worth it.

We love you Baby Gavin. 

Love, Mommy

and just because baby hiccups are the cutest...