December is always a busy month and this year is no exception. I love it, don't get me wrong, but it will definitely keep a person on their toes trying to keep up with all of the events, plus getting ready for the holidays.
December is also a special month because it's Darren's birthday, and this year is his 40th! The guys surprised Darren by taking him to the mountains for a weekend, which might possibly be the best birthday gift ever. I will never forget the look on his face when his friends drove up and told him to grab his bag and let's go. He had NO idea what was going on. Luckily, I had packed his bag for him and the guys had everything else prepared, so all he had to do was grab his wallet and shoes and be on his way. We have always known we have amazing friends; this is just one example of how amazing they are.
With Darren gone, Lilly and I had a great weekend ahead of us! First we had Michelle and the kids over on Friday night for pizza and a play date. It was nice to get to sit down and catch up with Michelle (between checking on and helping the kids) and to see our kids playing together. Both of our families have busy schedules, so I was excited to get to spend a lot of time with them the coming weekend.
Saturday after running some errands, Lilly and I headed to Michelle's house to make a gingerbread house! I have never done this before, at least not that I can remember, so I wasn't 100% sure how it was going to go. We constructed the house ahead of time so it was set and ready to be decorated. I thought Lilly would have the most fun if I covered parts of her house in frosting, so she could just decorate with the candy. I was right. She LOVED putting the candy all over her house! She helped me with the frosting too, but she made sure she used every piece of candy that came in her kit and covered the house as much as possible! The hardest part was convincing her that we don't EAT the gingerbread house, it's a decoration. After we made the houses, we had lunch and the kids played outside for a bit before we went home for rest.
The afternoon was spent at the church. The Kids NPraise musical and performance was that afternoon, so Lilly and I had to be at the church at 3:30. As one of the leaders, I had to stay in the "holding room" with the little ones, so Carissa and Michelle took my stuff to save us a seat and agreed to take some pictures and video of Lilly.
I honestly wasn't sure if Lilly would perform. The first performance with Kids NPraise did not go well (she started to cry and snuggled in my arms as soon as they started singing) and then she didn't even want to go on stage for the second one. I was very excited to she wanted to sing in the final performance.
I love this video of Lilly and the kids playing the bells. If you watch carefully, you can see Lilly looking at Michelle and Carissa and waving to them. I am in the front helping to direct the kids, so she's not looking at me. She is in the middle area of the second row.
The kids played one song on their bells and then sang 5 or 6 other songs! She made it through all of them. There was one point when she told me she needed to go potty (we had just gone right before, so I knew it wasn't true), but she stayed up there and sang the entire time!
After Lilly's performance we stayed and watched the older kids (Ryan, Addie and Allie) perform in the musical. Lilly LOVED watching them. She kept on saying, "There's Allie! There's Addie! There's Ryan!" and she would get a huge smile on her face. The kids all did a fantastic job and it was a true joy to watch. We then had a pancake dinner before heading to Jesus' birthday party!
We started in the room where you could color your own ornaments. Lilly was incredibly diligent in coloring her angel and needed to make sure it was finished before moving on. She has her Daddy's love of art, but her Mommy's perfectionist side.
We went to a few other rooms, though Lilly was mostly interested in going to the celebration room...where the cupcakes were ;-) She did like this room because she was able to use the dotters that she loves to use at school. All of the girls sat around the table and made pictures.
Lilly finally got her wish and we went to the celebration room! She put on her party hat and was so excited to celebrate...or may she was just excited to eat her cupcake ;-)
When we got home, Lilly was pretty wired from her treats, so I cleaned the house while she colored. As I was vacuuming, I heard her talking very loudly and I wasn't sure if she was calling me. So I stopped and went into the playroom. She was singing...loudly and coloring :-) I "caught" her on video so she wouldn't stop.
The next day the kids were all singing in church. Lilly's group did one song. She was a little less excited about performing this day, but she did it and I was proud of her. I love how much she loves to sing! I know it can be a bit intimidating for her to get up in front of people, but I am proud of her for not letting that stop her :-)
December 6th was Darren's official 40th birthday. He was in the mountains still (heading home that day), so Lilly wanted to sing him happy birthday. She insisted that she needed to put on her new Cinderella dress, but when I asked her if she wanted a crown she said, "No, I am not a princess, I am just Lilly singing to Daddy." It was so cute!
It's hard to believe that we are still playing outside in December, but the weather has been so beautiful! We have even worn t-shirts outside! It's great that we get extra sunshine and outdoor time since it is definitely one of Lilly's favorite activities. One thing she loves is to get Darren or I to climb up into her playground tower with her. She usually asks me to tell her a story (or FIVE!) and we just sit up there together and enjoy being outside. It's very sweet.
We decided to go Christmas caroling with Kids NPraise this year as well! We all met at the church and walked next door to the assisted living facility. Jennifer (the music director) asked me to lead a group through the halls singing carols. Lilly was a little intimidated (plus I think she only knew 2 of the songs) so she just held my hand and walked (she did wave to people to spread some cheer). It was a lot of fun! She was tired on the way back so I gave her a piggy-back ride to the church where we had hot chocolate and cookies. It spoiled our dinner, but it was worth it and a lot of fun!
When we were leaving Kristin and Lilly held hands and walked down the hall. There is just something about toddlers holding hands and walked together that is so incredibly cute!
I have to share a funny story, even though I didn't take a picture. We were cleaning the house thoroughly and I put Lilly's gingerbread house in the oven to keep it off the counter so I didn't accidentally spray it with cleaning stuff. I told myself, "Don't forget the gingerbread house!" Wouldn't you know...I forgot. I preheated the oven to make dinner one night and I noticed the house was smelling kind of sweet. I opened the oven in time to watch the gingerbread house collapse on the pan it was in (thank goodness!!!). I pulled it out and luckily it was completely contained on the pan and nothing was on fire! I apologized to Lilly and she was a little upset, but she told me that she forgave me, but she wasn't very happy with what I had done (lol!) I felt so bad! I may have given in to a treat and watching a show that night ;-)
We took Lilly to see Santa at the local Starbucks like we did last year. We met Chad, Michelle, Ryan and Kristin there. I was hoping that if Lilly saw Ryan talking to Santa and sitting with him that she would have a positive experience. She was still VERY skeptical of Santa, even though he was completely sweet, so I went and sat with her. She talked to him a little but was very nervous. Santa gave her a cookie and a doll, so she was happy :-)
The Smiths came over for a bit after visiting Santa. At one point Lilly and Kristin were both pushing the shopping cart around the living room and it was just too funny not to video (sorry in advance for the camera job. After I stopped recording (of course), every time she came around, Lilly would shout, "Merry Christmas!"
The next morning I had rehearsal at church so Darren took Lilly to Learning Time for the Christmas party. We knew Santa would be there, so we were hoping that Lilly might give Santa a second chance and sit with him. It's funny because last year she wouldn't go near the Starbucks Santa and she was very happy to meet the Learning Time Santa. This year it was the same! She sat with him and told him she wanted a rubber ducky for Christmas, and wouldn't you know it, Santa pulled out a rubber ducky and gave it to her!
We went over to the Stotts for dinner one night and the girls ended up playing so long we just threw Lilly in the bath with Addy and Zoey. They were having so much fun together! Kari and I had a great assembly line going to get all three bathed. It was good for me to see what it's like to have multiple kids to bathe at once!
Lilly gets a report from her teacher each day so we know what they are learning about, what songs they are singing and so we get to know something special about her day. Today's report just made me beam with pride (I even posted it on Facebook). Obviously, I am excited that Lilly seems to love to sing like I do, but what made me just as excited was that the teacher said she was so joyful that her friends wanted to join in! We work so hard on getting Lilly to show kindness and to know that she was spreading joy to her friends at school made us so proud of her!
One of my favorite parts of having a three year old is the unpredictability of everything! Lilly is so creative and imaginative now that she surprises me every day! She loves making up her own songs and stories. Lately she has been taking my books (no pictures) off of our bookshelves and "reading" them by completely making up a story. I don't know what, but this completely fascinates me. She has been doing this for a while with her own books, and actually retelling the story, but with my books, she is creating the story from scratch. I LOVE IT!
Here you can see Lilly making up some of her own words to If You're Happy and You Know It as she dances around the room. This was a 5 minute concert, but here is a small snippet. :-)
Kari and Jason hosted a Christmas party again this year. We decided that instead of the kids exchanging gifts like we did last year, that we would have the kids do a service project. Carissa had her NJHS students help fold over 100 cards and then all of our kids decorated them. We were making the cards for the residents of Windsor Point assisted living facility. We weren't 100% sure how this was going to go, but the kids were very into making the cards and they did a fantastic job!
Lilly did the sweetest thing for me today. I have not been feeling well and we were both in her room reading. I finished my book and she was still reading, so I laid down on her bed. I was listening to her read and my eyes got heavy, so I just closed them to rest. Then I felt something on my feet: it was Lilly putting a blanket on me! She climbed up onto the bed to cover me with her blanket and tuck me in. It was so sweet. Then when I put her to bed, we gave our normal hugs and kisses and said our normal I love yous, and then she said, "I hope you feel better, Mommy." Not only did this make me feel a million times better in that moment, but it made me feel a lot of Mommy pride that my 3 year old has such care and empathy for others, including me.
This morning was very special. The Smiths and Segools took all of the cards the kids made at the Christmas party and brought them around to the nursing home residents of Windsor Pointe. It was a little crazy when we got there because a bad accident had knocked out their power, but once the kids got going, they were so excited! They knocked on doors, handed out cards, gave hugs, said Merry Christmas and brightened the day of so many of the elderly members of our community. I was so proud watching them and seeing how excited they were to hand out the cards (sometimes even arguing over whose "turn" it was!) It was very touching to watch the faces of the residents light up and to spread some Christmas joy! We all think it's very important to teach out kids about the true spirit of Christmas and this was something I hope becomes a tradition (or even a monthly activity!)
Yesterday was a tough day. Lilly was really not feeling very well once we got home from the nursing home. She just wanted to curl up on my lap and snuggle. She wasn't eating, she was lethargic and she had a fever of 102.5. I decided I didn't want to wait with Christmas right around the corner, so we took her to the doctor. It turns out to be a virus (the doctor said he has seen many, many kids with the same symptoms). The doctor seemed to feel like he needed to justify not prescribing an antibiotic, but we are all for not over-medicating our child, so we weren't upset. He suggested Benadryl for night time to help her sleep (which worked WONDERS), and to treat her symptoms as needed. We tried to keep Lilly happy so we watched Rudolph and had some hot chocolate, and then we took out one of her Christmas crafts. She looked absolutely exhausted, but she enjoyed coloring. She actually asked me at about 7:15 if she could go to bed :-( I don't think that has EVER happened, so obviously I knew it was time for bed.
Our wonderful neighbors, Janet and Keith, invited the "littles" of the cul de sac over to their house for a little Christmas cheer. We were supposed to go the day Lilly was sick but rescheduled and ended up going the same time that the Priests were there.
It was already a sweet gesture to invite us over, but Janet and Keith also bought the kids presents, had cupcakes and hot chocolate, other treats, drinks for the adults and were so gracious. We had a wonderful time visiting with them and so did the kids!
Lilly had been wanting to make cookies, but we were holding off until she wasn't coughing so much!! On the 23rd, she was feeling great so it was a great night for cookies! I cheated and bought pre-rolled dough, but it worked out great because Lilly was able to do everything and it was so much easier! We all cut cookies out and then sat down and decorated them. We let Lilly have free reign over the frosting (she did request pink and purple) and the sprinkles and it was such a joy!
It's Christmas Eve! We had a great day as a family and did some Christmas crafts (including some painting) before getting ready for church.
It was strange figuring out what to wear! It was 75 degrees, so I didn't want to put Lilly in her Christmas dress since it is long sleeved and velour. We settled on this spring dress...it's green, right??
Our church does a spontaneous Christmas pageant with the kids where they choose a character and are called on stage as the story of Jesus' birth is read. Lilly first told me that she wasn't going to go up this year. I wasn't going to make her, but we picked up an angel halo just in case. As the story started Lilly asked to go sit with Aunt Michelle (who was in front of us), so she started walking to her when the angels were called up. Kristin, Allie, Addie and Lauren were all walking up so Lilly just went with them. :-) She had her little orange cup with her and everything! She was so cute sitting up there!! She waved to a us a few times, drank from her cup, made friends with the girl sitting next to her and was a perfect "angel" :-)
After the angel came back down, Lilly still wanted to sit with Aunt Michelle :-)
We grabbed a family photo outside after the service. I didn't expect to be wearing a sundress on Christmas eve, but I am not complaining! I didn't move to the south for cold weather!
On Christmas Eve, we give Lilly a special present with new pajamas, a new Christmas movie, her ornament for this year and hot chocolate and popcorn to have with the movie. Lilly was very excited for her new Sophia nightgown, "L" ornament (because she learned to write her name this year) and her movie and popcorn. She asked us if we could save the hot chocolate though (lol!) Good idea baby girl; it was too hot for hot chocolate.
Lilly gave us the perfect gift on Christmas morning: she slept until 7 a.m.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We then took a few minutes to brush our teeth and wake up while she watched a few minutes of Sophia on my phone while sitting on our bed. After a few minutes I told her we could go downstairs and she asked to finish her show! Haha! I think she forgot how Christmas works ;-)
Lilly was so excited when she saw her presents under the tree! Santa brought her the rubber duckies and "computer" (tablet) she had asked for, as well as a few surprises. She might have been most excited about the play-doh from Uncle Dan, the baby doll from Aunt Jekkah, but she loved everything. We were so grateful to all those who love Lilly and showered her with gifts, and to "Santa" for being so good to our little girl :-)
How cute are her facial expressions??
Thank you for my Elsa doll, Aunt Mare!
As soon as she opened her new books, she asked me to read them to her, even with several presents still left to open :-) I love my little book worm!
It is clear that Lilly wasn't going anywhere until she got to play with her play doh!
We went to Jared and Carissa's house around 12:30. We brought pajamas for Lilly in her bag and at one point, she put them on by herself. When we started playing outside, I somewhat regretted that she was wearing her PJs, since it was a little wet out, but she was having too much fun for me to care!
We played a game where the kids wanted us to "get them" as they jumped back from the wall. Lilly thought it was absolutely hilarious!
Here are "the girls" :-)
My little angel! It's hard for me to comprehend that I am going to have another baby and love that baby as much as I love Lilly. Carissa and Michelle assured me that your heart just grows, but it still amazes me because I love Lilly SO much it literally hurts sometimes.
The kids were so sweet and patient and waited until after dinner to open gifts. Then they all sat and waited for everyone to have one before diving in and opening! Jared and Chad's parents and sister/brother-in-law are always so sweet and get Lilly a gift as well, which is incredibly thoughtful. Lilly was so excited!
Kristin and Lilly both brought their babies with them and were playing so nicely together. They were having such a great time together!
Ryan jumped in for a little photo bomb!
Lilly and Darren were doing their favorite past time: drawing, while I was in the other room. A few minutes later, Lilly runs into the kitchen and tells me she has a surprise for me. She pulls out a piece of paper (below). I looked at it and told her how great her drawing was. Then she told me, "This is my baby brother!" I was literally a PUDDLE on the floor! SO cute!
Remember the story above where I baked Lilly's gingerbread house in the oven? Well I promised her she could make another one and this time I let Darren have the fun of making it with her. They had a blast together!
Lilly was very excited to get a late Christmas present from Grandma and Grandpa! She has a brand new special reading chair! We are planning to put it in her room, but she wanted it in her playroom at first.
On December 31st we joined both Smiths at Defy Gravity in Durham to celebrate Ryan's birthday! I wasn't sure if we'd make it at first, but I am SO glad we went! Lilly was a little apprehensive when we first got there and being 5 months pregnant, I wasn't too keen on jumping on giant trampolines with her, but eventually she warmed up and had an absolute blast!
I think her favorite part was climbing up the ramp at the end and sliding down. She loved jumping with Daddy, Kristin and Aunt Michelle! I am definitely glad we went with friends because it really helps Lilly to have other kids to
We tried the obstacle course at one point and Lilly needed a lot of help, so I decided it was fine to just just right into the foam pit and help her climb the rope ladder. I have to admit, the foam pit is actually REALLY hard to move around in! I couldn't jump on the trampolines with Lilly, so I was glad I got to help her with this.
Even through the blurry picture, you can clearly see that Lilly had an absolute blast! I definitely want to go back here over track out.
We had a quiet New Year's Eve this year and just hung out with some friends. The kids all played together, the adults played board games and we all made pizza for dinner. The kids even had a chance to make their own! Lilly was very excited. While the adults ate, the kids played with the geo tracks upstairs and then watched a movie.
We used Netflix to give the kids their own New Year's eve countdown complete with bubbly juice (sparkling white grape juice) before putting them to bed. They had a dance party before the countdown (this is the only picture I managed to get of it, but it was adorable).
