Dear Kiddos,
Christmas was no shortage of magic. The anticipation of the season is so exciting to me and I love everything about it. I love the lights on the houses, I love the decorations, (and actually decorating) the baking, the shopping, the music, the process of thinking about gifts and finding good deals, going to church, coordinating adorable outfits, wrapping gifts–everything about it is magic and I hope that you feel the magic and enjoy it as much as I do.
This year, we hosted Thanksgiving so I resisted and didn’t put the Christmas tree up until after Lexi’s birthday party, but the rest of the decorations came out on the evening of Black Friday.
I didn’t haul all the bins out until you were sleeping but then popped my earbuds in and listened to Christmas music (Jim Brinkman’s Piano Instrumental–my fav) and had the house twinkling in delight when you woke up the next morning.
The following Sunday, we headed over to Ivy and Claire’s house to do some cooking baking. We made sugar cookies and some peppermint cookies. You all had a great time, but honestly probably had more fun just playing with your cousins.
The following weekend, the whole family went over to Grammy and Papa’s house for breakfast and Christmas Jammies. Grammy created a scavenger hunt for each of the kids that took them around the house and ultimately led them to their Christmas Jammies.
The following weekend, we set up the Christmas tree. I usually like to do this by myself as it is a process to put the lights on and then the ribbon and then the ornaments, but figured I would give it a go with you awake and let you enjoy some of the fun too. Lexi was into it for about 5 minutes, but William helped the entire time and loved every moment of picking up the ornaments and finding a spot for it on the tree.
In the past our elf, Sparkle Minnie has arrived on December 1st, but this year she was sick and didn’t arrive until about December 10th, and she brought a friend, Sparkle Mickey, to keep an eye out on you guys. She also brought you a book, the Giving Tree and asked for your to do a Good Deed everyday as a reminder that the Christmas season is about more than getting gifts, but being thoughtful and considerate towards other people. Lexi definitely understood the concept and we would talk each night about what good deed she did throughout the day. Some days it was sharing her magenta marker with a friend at school or playing with someone who was feeling sad. Other days it was doing William’s chore of unloading the dishwasher, or throwing away Kate’s diapers for mommy and daddy. It was so encouraging to hear how you were being intentional each day about how you can be thoughtful towards others.
December 8th, we went to Breakfast with Santa at Lexi’s school. Uncle Dustin, Kenzie and Grammy and Papa joined us for some pancakes and crafts. Kate hated Santa, but William asked for a Heat Wave transformer and Lexi asked for a Barbie Dreamhouse.
We also baked cookies a couple of times and decorated a gingerbread house. We made pretzel hugs, spritz and molasses cookies.
Lexi and William both helped pick out gifts to give each other and loved helping wrap them up. Lexi picked up a green lego car kit for William and William picked out a Barbie car for Lexi. We also listened to a lot of Christmas music and would sing Silent Night and Away in a Manger each night before bed.
William had his first Christmas program at Preschool. You looked so handsome and I was proud you actually sang a little bit.
Lexi had her annual Dance program. So fun to watch you dance–this is the first time that I’ve seen you smile while you were dancing. In the past, you have always been very focused on the moves and the teacher, you haven’t been able to smile so it was fun to see you ‘perform’
Then, Lexi had two program’s at school. The first one was just for kindergarteners and you had a little saying you had to memorize and say during the program, ‘B is for Bethlehem, crowded and old, birthplace for Jesus, prophet foretold. Then, there was another one in the afternoon with the entire school where you sang a couple of songs. You also had an advent party in your class and I was able to volunteer for it. There were 4 stations that groups traveled to and I ran a game: pin the nose on the snowman.
Whew! Lot’s of activities, but so much fun! I’ll create another post for Christmas itself.
Love,
Mama
They looked around in several of the stores and Lexi settled on a Minnie Mouse color changing pen and a Minnie Mouse autograph book that she was going to use to color. William picked a plastic Mickey Mouse figure that he could move his arms and legs. They picked out a stuffed Piglet for Kate and some cookie cutter/pancake molds for Grammy. Mommy got a Minnie hat and a christmas ornament. We also admired some of the Character villans that were on main street, that only come out at Halloween time.
Next up, we took some magic photos in front of the castle and then rode the Astro Orbiter Ride and made our way through Pixie Hollow to meet Tinkerbell.
After that, we waited in line for 20 minutes for the swinging Farris Wheel. William and I popped out quick and went to meet Woody, which was a big highlight.
The magic of Disney came through once again, and they allowed us to pop back in line with Daddy and Lexi so we could all ride together. I was not a huge fan of the ride. I didn’t like how the car slide and swung back and forth, but William was laughing and thought it was very fun.
Next up, we grabbed a Mickey pretzel for dinner, ate a couple of snacks and went to go on the Cars ride again. This time the wait was 60 minutes long for the FastPass, but the non-FastPass line was over 3 hours. William did better this time, but was still pretty scared.
By this time it was starting to get dark so we went to find a spot to watch Paint the Parade. Both kiddies feel asleep before we even found a spot to watch.
Again, it was out of this world. So good. I wish the kids could have seen it. After this, Daddy and I each took a turn riding the Incredicoaster again and Daddy wanted to try and beat his score on the Toy Story ride again. The park closed around 10 and Daddy and I walked back to the hotel. We were both exhausted. A full day of walking and adventure.
We also saw Goofy’s house and met Goofy too.
After that, we went to go ride Roger Rabbits Toon Spin. It broke about 3/4 of the way through the ride, and we were escorted out, which was probably a good thing as William wasn’t a huge fan.
After that, we headed over to Big Thunder Railroad mountain where Mommy and Lexi rode it. Lexi said she liked it, but didn’t want to ride again with Daddy.
Just as Kate was about to be born, we started to notice some cracking and flaking near the head rest and the ‘leather’ quickly started to peel away. The spots grew bigger and bigger over the year, but for the most part we were able to cover it with a blanket. Around her first birthday, the seat cushion started to do the same thing. Little pieces of brown fabric were everywhere and it was driving me insane.
I vividly remember holding Lexi’s warm 10-day-old little body against my chest feeling her short little breaths tickle my skin while we rocked. And I thought, how could I possibly ever let her go to school? She was a mere 10 days old, when 20 six and seven year old kids were shot to death at school. The innocence of those children, the fear they must have had and lack of knowledge they had to know what to do. And don’t even get me started on their parents. I couldn’t. How could I ever let my heart walk out of my body and know there was a chance that something so horrific could possibly happen. So, I held your sweet, innocent little body next to mine and we rocked. And I prayed, a lot. And I still do today.
Every single night, for 5 years, i sat in that chair and nursed my babies, read stories and sang twinkle twinkle and snuggled for sometime hours on end while they fell asleep in my arms. I can still feel our two little bodies smushed between the arms, wiggling around to get comfortable. There were many nights that I slept the entire night in the chair with the kids to ensure they got some sleep while they were under the weather.
Lexi is your best friend, and you refer to her as sister. You two play so amazingly well together. You love to play legos together, Tsum Tsum or at the doll house/barbie dream house or Elsa palace. However, you always play with the ‘boy’ version of the toy. So you may have the dad, the brother, the dog, or will often just have spiderman interact with whatever doll/toy Lexi is playing with. You’ll often put all the stuffed animals together and blankets and set up things on the stairs or in the middle of the living room together.
As good of a little brother you are, you are also an awesome big brother to baby Kate. When she is sad and crying, you randomly start singing songs to her. You love to make her laugh and would often ask to hold her when she was first born. I love to put on your baby voice and talk to her calling her Baby Tate or Tatelyn.
We eventually got the decorations out and Lexi and William LOVED helping set everything out and put ornaments up on the tree. Eventually, I replaced most of them so they were more dispersed throughout the tree (I’m OCD like that) but it was so fun to listen to Christmas music and see how you get into the spirit of the season.
Opening presents was SO much fun. Kate was not having any of it and ended up back in bed around 8:00 and missed it all, but Lexi and William each took turns and were so excited for the gifts that each other received. William wanted to open and play with each toy as he opened it, which really extended the gift opening time while Lexi wanted to open as many presents as fast as she could
Peanut Smiles 