Christmas In Dixie II

We went to Atlanta for Christmas. It was great to be with family. Everyone is in their Christmas PJ's here - a tradition that both Lars and I grew up with.

A funny holiday story that I want to remember: Another tradition that we and most people have is to open Christmas clothes the night before Christmas Sunday. I warned Toby that it wasn't going to be a toy. But as soon as he opened the present and found a sweater inside he started to cry, threw the sweater on the floor and yelled "No, No, Never!" So much for gracious children. I'll have to work on that....

Christmas In Dixie

The boys school put on a Christmas program this year. Trey was a wise man and Toby was an angel. Toby cried the whole way through the performance - the more he saw our encouraging faces, the harder he cried. Trey was quite the star and had fun carrying his camel with the other wise men. Baby girl was a star in her Santa dress. We also put on a Christmas program at our church the next night, but those pictures didn't turn out. Toby must have warmed up to the stage because on that night he was more than happy to stay on the stage and pretend to sing songs (perhaps because I was on the side of the stage helping...)

The next day we had a Christmas dinner with our good friends and opened some gifts from Grandma and Grandpa!

For my sister

I told Natalie I would post a picture of Julia Karen's room (yes this is the same room as seen in a previous post, we just cleaned out all the junk and made it safe for a baby - we really are responsible parents - just don't ask my kids what they ate for breakfast!)

Natalie spent the summer in this room and by the way Nat, I doubt your digs in the Netherlands will be quite this cozy.... I'm just sayin....

Happy Birthday

Julia Karen turned one month today - we had a great Dr's appointment where we found out she is up to 9 lbs and 14 ozs. That is music to a breast feeding moms ears. She is the sweetest baby and she showed off that sweetness at Lars' work, where she was held and cuddled for quite some time.

We are working on sleep around here but it is a guessing game each night as to how crowded our bed is going to be and which bed Lars will wake up in.... Oh the joys of three!

Gratitude

So I mentioned in a previous post that I have had a rough time after the birth of Julia Karen, while I am not ready to reflect on the last three weeks and the struggles that I have had, I am ready to put in writing some of the things that have helped me through this trying time. These are things that I am eternally grateful for:

Christ's Atonement. Through these last weeks I have leaned on the knowledge that He not only suffered for our sins but for our pain also.

Prayers. There have been hard days when I literally ran to my knees and I have felt his comfort immediately

A Prophet and his Apostles. I know that God has given us a prophet and apostles on the earth today - and their words have strengthened and comforted me.

The Scriptures. They have brought me peace.

Lars and my Mom. I hate that they have to go through this with me, but they really do save me. Hour by hour they have held me and loved me. They have cried with me and helped me to believe that this will pass. I could never put into words how much I need and love them.

Family and Friends. I am very blessed to have my family and Lars' as well as the love of fantastic friends. I know that I am blessed. I hope that I can be half the daughter/sister and friend that others have been to me.

A closeness to my Dad. Most people know that my 'real' dad passed a couple days before Trey was born. I grew up with two dad's and my relationship with my real dad was at times strained. I didn't understand the choices he made in his life. Through these weeks of struggling I have felt a knowledge of the pain that my Dad struggled with here on Earth and I have grown closer to him.

So those are some of the things that I am grateful for through this 'time of trial'. And just in case anyone is wondering if I have missed the thing I should be most grateful for I posted the above picture so that all will know that Julia Karen is worth all of it. She and my boys are my joy. For whatever reason I have gone through this post-partum period, but I am learning and growing through it and I can almost (ALMOST) say that I am better for it....

Christmas Time

It's Christmas time, or so I have been told.... Life is crazy with our new little one and so my Christmas cheer seems to be lacking this year. Good thing my mom came and decorated our house and has set up 25 days of Christmas suprises for my boys. The other day Trey said that December is the best month ever! Every morning the boys look in their Christmas bags, then run to get into the avent calendar for a morning sugar dose followed by a search for the "Elf on the Shelf". Lars has been taking care of all of these things and for that I am convinced he is Super Dad!

Here are a few pictures, our church did a fantastic Interfaith nativity display that I helped a tiny bit with - It is one of my favorite things about living here in Montgomery. We have also been to see Santa a couple of times at the 'Boat Shop' as Toby calls it. It's the Bass Pro-Shop and it is great! I hate to say it but it is kind of a Red-Neck Christmas paradise with BB guns and bow and arrow dart guns for the kids to shoot and the Christmas Story playing non stop - the kids love it there, the other day I asked Toby where Santa lives and he said "at the boat shop".

Oh so sweet

Here are a few more shots of Julia Karen. Trey has stopped calling her a catapillar and both the boys have adjusted pretty well. I on the other hand have had a butt kickin dose of post-partum crap - more on that another time! She is a fantastic baby and I can't imagine life without her.
My mom is leaving this weekend so say a prayer for our sanity around here!