Christmas 2008

I'm finally trying to catch up on my blogging posts. I never wrote about how our Christmas was this past year. It was Lauren's first Christmas too! This year we decided to spend Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at our house and then we went to visit Grandmom, Pop Pop and Nana w/ Paul, Amy, William and Ella in the afternoon. We went to Christmas Eve service at New Providence Presbyterian Church and then we came home for dinner .

The girls were up bright and early and were very excited to open presents. We opened presents from Grammy, Granddaddy, Tita, Uncle Steve and Aunt Jenny on Christmas Eve. We just thought it would be best to space them out. I think the fave toys this year were My Little Pony stuff, Disney Princess stuff and this little ice cream shoppe play tent we got Jess. Lauren would've been just happy as a clam with bows and tissue paper but I do love the little rocker we got her.


Christmas Eve Presents:




Christmas Morning:


Christmas Afternoon:
I've been really trying to think about what Christmas traditions we want to establish for our family. Our family is still young so I'm sure more traditions will naturally be created over time. I like the idea some people have of giving gifts on Christmas Eve before bed. I read about one mom that would give PJs, a book and an ornament. I also like the idea of creating a Christmas card tree where you hang all your Christmas cards as you receive them. I definitely want to do that but that would have to be another house. We just have room for our one tree in the living room. Jess had a tree in her room that she really liked. Jess really enjoyed doing the advent house this year but it does get tough to come up with ideas of things to put behind those little doors. We also did Operation Christmas Child through our church this year. Jess really liked putting together our two boxes to be sent to two little children. We have a special children's nativity set which I loved using this year. Each day you open a box and it's a piece that goes along with a little nativity scene. We read a lot of books to help teach Jessica (and eventually Lauren) the real reason we celebrate Christmas. It's really hard to balance the true meaning of Christmas - celebrating the birth of Jesus - and how that relates (not relates) to Santa and toys etc. I guess it's just one of our parenting challenges.

Jess and I baked our special allergy free Christmas cookies. I tried a new recipe this year and they came out pretty good. I just have to remember not to roll the dough too thin.


We attended the Wesley Center Preschool holiday party. The kids sang songs and had special treats. I love attending stuff at her school. Scott was able to be there too. I think that was one of the most special things about this Christmas. Scott was off for almost 2 weeks! He was able to go to Florida with us for a few days too (that's a separate post).

Overall it was a really special time. I love being a family of four. I love watching the girls interact and play together. I feel so blessed that even though the economy is awful right now we were able to provide a special Christmas for the girls.

Lauren ~ 9 Months

Well Lauren is now 9 months. At her checkup, she weighted 21 lbs 6 oz (about 85%). Jessica was 23 lbs 3 oz at the same age. She is getting around by army crawling but she isn't into everything yet. She has such a beautiful glow about her. She is so lovely to look at and I know I am bias. :-P She is eating mostly table food now - everything from sweet potatoes, avocado, pasta fagioli, pears, bananas etc. We are in that phase where she just makes a big mess. When she wants to get your attention she has this scream that is so high pitched, you can't help but be shocked that that sound came from her. She tries to talk all the time and is constantly pointing at things now.

When we got back from Florida on 1/11/09, we were hanging out in the living room and Lauren pointed at Scott and said da da. We both looked at each other because it was so clear.

I started writing this post awhile back and I'm finishing up right before Lauren turns 10 months. She is crawling like a champ now. She is pretty much just eating table food. Sometimes we try to give her a stage 3 jar because it's easy and it's quick but she really doesn't want to be fed. She's an "I can do it myself kind of girl". In this past month, she's had 4 teeth come in, at the same time! The 4th one has almost come all the way through. Lauren likes to talk all the time and if you ignore her for too long she will scream to get your attention. It usually works! She wears 12-18 months clothes. Hmmmm...what else...she is totally cute!!

Video Test

I just want to see if I can upload video.

Christmas Tree 2008

We got our Christmas Tree the weekend after Thanksgiving weekend this year. I kind of like doing it that way. I thought we would do it Thanksgiving weekend but there just wasn't enough time. We thought we would save a few bucks this year and go to Home Depot for our tree. The only problem was that most of their trees were bound and leaning on each other which made it hard to look at them. It was cold and tree hunting there was a real hassle so we bailed. We went to this landscaping nursery where someone else showed us trees and the first one they guy pulled out was the one we took. I love it...but we had to pay for it. We picked a 6-7 foot frasier. Note to self for next year - choose a tree that is 7-8 foot. We are still decorating so I'll post Christmas decor pics later.

Our Little Ballerina

Jessica loves to dance. She takes a ballet class with her friend Anna. Her teacher (this session) is Miss Connie. Jess also loves her ballet clothes. I think they are pretty cute too. I'm always trying to figure out what activity or class we should expose her to...dance was certainly a good choice.

Lauren ~ Month 8

Lauren is 8 months now. I really can't believe it. I wanted to jot down a few things about her at this age. She can't crawl yet but she is very strong and can hold herself in the crawl position and she really tries to reach for things. She rocks a lot when she sits. It's pretty funny. The other day she rocked so hard she did a face plant into the carpet. She didn't think that was funny. She can rock and get her tushy to slide forward. She can actually hold herself in a standing position, leaning against the sofa, for a few seconds. That is how I was able to take this priceless photo:

We are still nursing. We are talking about giving her a bottle during the day. She's been on solids for awhile now but I am just starting finger foods. I've been giving her those little puff finger foods. She's still coordinating picking them up and putting them in her mouth. She's done it a few times. I started her on the 'meats' baby food this month too. We give her a sippy cup with water and she likes trying to use it but she gets more on her clothes than in her mouth.

She loves to be held and she loves when you dance with her. She loves taking a bath and she loves looking in mirrors. She just started raising her arms above her head and she's working on clapping her hands. She's started to stick her tongue out a lot and she has cutest laugh.

She really is just lovely.

Who's Idea Was This?

Every day I see how different Lauren's 'growing up' environment is different from Jessica's. Jessica only had her mommy and daddy to play with on a day to day basis. Lauren has the great joy of having a big sister - a friend and playmate. The only problem is that at 8 months old she can't really defend herself if big sis wants to play princess with her:

I don't think Lauren really seems to mind. That's what sisters are for, right?