Mother Dot

My grandmother, Mother Dot, passed away peacefully last night in her sleep. She was 98 years old and her health was failing, so it was not unexpected. However, it's still hard news for us to hear. Fortunately, David, Elizabeth, and I just spent Christmas Eve at her house, and she absolutely loved seeing Elizabeth again, so we feel blessed to have been able to be with her for that time.

She was a remarkable Christian woman and touched so many lives. This morning, I've been drawn to Psalm 116:15:

"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

Heaven is rejoicing with her this morning.

Please pray for safe travels and peace for our family....and lots of sleep for Elizabeth on the trip back to Western Kentucky!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you all enjoyed a wonderful day full of friends and family, and had time to stop and reflect on the blessings of the season.

Our kids must have been extra good this year, because Santa came early to our house! He dropped off most of his presents on Saturday afternoon, which meant Jonathan got to open some of his gifts before he left for his mom's and help Elizabeth open and play with hers. Of course, he has to wait until he comes back to get his SPECIAL present, which is being delivered tomorrow morning - stay tuned for details!

Elizabeth loved all of her presents. She got a new play kitchen:



Plus, Santa delivered a special family baby crib, which Santa had already brought to me AND my Aunt on previous Christmas mornings. She had lots of fun moving all her toys and animals back and forth between the baby crib and her new baby stroller:



After church on Christmas Eve morning, we all loaded in the car to drop Jonathan off at the airport, then head to Mother Dot's to spend the night. We thought Elizabeth had it made - she had both her blankets, Elmo, and Barney sitting with her while she watched DVDs:



However, she seemed to think differently. Although it had been a while since our last roadtrip, she quickly remembered that she does not like riding in the car. And, her vastly increased vocabulary meant she could express her displeasure in more detail. I don't think we ever want to hear the words "out", "down", "no", or whining and crying ever again!

But, it was all worth it to see how much Mother Dot, Granddad, and Granny Pat enjoyed having her there that evening.



She was the center of attention, and she seemed to enjoy it! She even showed off her newfound knowledge of the names of all the basic colors to anyone who would listen. Plus, Mother Dot had some fun toys that made music that she loved watching:





Unfortunately, that's where the fun ended. She didn't sleep very well at all last night...which meant David and I didn't get any sleep either. She seemed to be scared by her new surroundings, and woke up or cried out about every 15 minutes. Yikes! So, this morning, she was a very grumpy bear. We ended up leaving fairly early with hopes that she would sleep in the car on the way back. No doing - she repeated her protests of the car seat most of the way home. We hate to admit defeat, but we've decided we won't be doing much traveling by car until she grows out of this stage once and for all!


She did get to try out her "elf" costume today in preparation for the Waggener festivities later this week. She's ready to take her rightful place away from Aunt Erin!

Presents or packaging?

We've already had a few opportunities to open Christmas presents in our house this week, and Elizabeth is sticking with the traditional stereotype - she's much more interested in the packaging than the presents. Carolyn brought her first presents on Tuesday night and Elizabeth was so excited about the bows on the packages that she almost forgot to look at the toys inside (of course, she's been playing with her new ark animals all week since then - thanks, Aunt Carolyn!).

Then tonight, after much pleading from Jonathan, we opened the LARGE package that arrived from the Watsons.



It was filled with all sorts of wrapped presents from Aunt Beth, Uncle Ben, and Robyn - for us, as well as the Hobbs and Waggener/Tate clans. We thought the presents for Elizabeth were the ones with her name on them. But, she thought differently. Her favorite part of the package was interspersed between the wrapped gifts - packing peanuts! Jonathan put her in the box with the peanuts, and she had a ball kicking the peanuts up with her feet, throwing them on the ground, and getting "snowed" on.





We also really liked the actual presents that came in the box, but I won't spoil the surprise for everyone else! Thanks!

Counting down the days

We have a new Advent calendar this year. It has 24 different people/animal cut-outs, one for each day of December leading up to Christmas. The cut-outs get hung on little nails that are positioned throughout the wooden manger. The first day is the Star of Bethlehem, which hangs on the top nail. Then, each day another "cast member" is added. At the beginning of the month, it starts off slow....a lady carrying water, a stableboy, a woman being chased by a duck, etc...all the little known characters in the nativity scene. Then, it builds up until finally Baby Jesus gets added on December 24. Now that we're less than a week from Christmas, we're getting to the good stuff. The wisemen are in position, the angels have shouted the good news to the shepherds, the camel and the cow are in place, and all we're waiting for is the main event.

Elizabeth is really getting into the Advent calendar. She spent a good hour tonight taking the pieces off and hanging them back up. Of course, the characters didn't always end back up on the right nails, but she still had a lot of fun. And, she definitely knows where the star goes.



I took advantage of the opportunity to teach her about angels tonight while we were playing with the Advent calendar. I showed her the 2 angel pieces, and told her that angels had wings and could fly. (I figured that's about all the theology she was ready for...) Then, we took turns making the angels fly through the air before they landed on their nails. When Daddy returned to the room, I asked Elizabeth to show him what she had learned. I held up the angel piece and asked her what it was, and she said "Angel"...or "aahhhoooo" to those who don't speak Toddlerese...then, I asked her what angels do, thinking she would show him how we were making them fly. Instead, she looked up at him and said, "Airplane." Hmmmm....guess she's right. I guess angels and airplanes do seem pretty similar to her. They both have wings and fly.... You have to wonder what she's thinking....I mean, why did Mary and Joseph come in on a donkey when they could have just flown in the airplane?

Dear Cousin Brooke...

Dear Cousin Brooke,

I love you very much. Everytime I see your picture, I point to you and say "Brooke" (or "Buh" to the non-discerning ear). Of course, that's after I point at the picture of Neal, but Mommy and Aunt Amy are convinced that's only because Neal is wearing an awful bright orange shirt in the picture. Then, I give your picture kisses. Or, if I hear your name, I even kiss the air, because I love you so much. You're getting lots of air kisses lately, because Mommy and Daddy keep telling me you're coming to visit.

But, there's something that's starting to worry me. Mommy and Daddy also keep talking about this thing called "sharing" everytime they mention your name. Sure, they say it with a big grin, and make it sound wonderful, but they also do that when they want me to eat vegetables, and I'm catching on to their tricks. It appears this "sharing" thing has something to do with toys. That sounds pretty good, because I like toys, especially dolls. But, I thought we might need to get a few things straight before you come. I'm really glad you're coming and all, but I seem to remember you like dolls, too, and that has been somewhat of a problem when we've gotten together in the past...



But, we're much older now, and can handle these things like the mature toddlers that we are. I've even got a new addition to my repertoire I'm looking forward to showing you. I've learned a great new word - "mine". And, in fact, that's what all those cool toys normally are at Gran's house - mine! Check out what I do when you're not around - play with all of your favorite toys!



So, can't wait to see you, and I'll definitely "share" my vegetables with you when you come...just not so sure about MY toys!

Love,
Cousin Elizabeth

Not so sure about Santa

When Amy was here over Thanksgiving, we got the brilliant idea to take Elizabeth to see Santa before the lines got long. Have I mentioned how incredibly brilliant this idea was? I particularly gloated over this as we went to the mall this weekend and Elizabeth got to play in the playground while the other kids had to stand chained to their parents in the mile-long Santa line while looking wistfully at Elizabeth's freedom. We've definitely decided to make Santa a new family tradition at Thanksgiving!

There was absolutely nobody else there when we took Elizabeth, so Santa and his camera crew spent a good 20 minutes trying to get Elizabeth to smile for a picture. Of course, the operative word there is "trying." Elizabeth was very hesitant about the crazy man in the red velvet suit with the white beard. She didn't cry outright, but she did keep looking at me, making her sign for "Pick me up" and asking to be put back in her stroller (something she has never ever done before).

I actually really like the picture they got. I'm not sure who looks more terrified in it - Elizabeth or Santa. And, if you look at her hands, you can see her signing, "PICK ME UP!"



Don't worry - no permanent harm was done to her psyche. She immediately forgot the ordeal as soon as she got back to the stroller and got her rewards: a little snowman and a candy cane.

Taking pictures of a toddler

It's very hard to get a good photograph of an active 19-month-old. Correct that - it's downright impossible. We had planned to take the kids to a professional studio to let them work their magic for Christmas pictures this year. However, Elizabeth's fall in the driveway and resultant Rudolph scab made us put that idea off until it was too late. Plus the vivid horrific memories of trying to take Elizabeth and Brooke to get their pictures made this summer were somewhat disheartening. So, we decided to take our own pictures this year. We figured Elizabeth might do better in a more comfortable environment. Well....that idea didn't really work that well. We coaxed, pleaded and cajoled....we tried to distract, force, or surprise....but for some reason, Elizabeth is convinced life is meant to be experienced in constant motion, and sitting down for a picture is not part of her plan. Finally, David managed to get this one:



Given the circumstances, we didn't think it was half bad. If I ever get around to writing a Christmas letter, you guys might actually get a copy in the mail.

After this ordeal, I started brainstorming for ideas to get Elizabeth to sit still for pictures. I decided to teach her to say "Cheese" whenever she sees the camera. She picked it up very quickly. It's pretty cute to watch, and actually seems to work a little better:



However, we now have to learn not to show her the camera when her mouth is full:



"CHEESE!"

Christmas lights

As promised, here's a picture of our exterior Christmas lights at night. The only things not shown are the pretty candle swags that David just put up in the upstairs windows.

Merry Christmas!

"Don't eat Baby Jesus!"

When you have children, you expect to say lots of things. Like "Eat your vegetables," or "Hold my hand while we cross the street," or "Stop touching your brother," or maybe even "Don't put peas in your nose." And, of course, "I love you." But, there's one thing I never ever dreamed I'd have to say, "Don't eat Baby Jesus!"

Elizabeth has her own little wooden Nativity set, which she absolutely loves to play with. It only has 5 characters: Mary, Joseph, Baby Jesus, a donkey, and a sheep.



The characters sometimes do things you wouldn't expect - like jumping in the trunk of Elizabeth's car to ride around or going for a ride in Noah's Ark. And, for some reason, Elizabeth is convinced that Joseph rode the donkey into Bethlehem while a 9-month-pregnant Mary had to walk. And, since she's obsessed with babies, she of course loves to give Baby Jesus lots of kisses.



However, sometimes she succumbs to toddler tendencies, leaving me to exclaim: "Elizabeth, don't eat Baby Jesus!"

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Central Kentucky had absolutely beautiful, unseasonal weather through the Thanksgiving weekend (~65 degrees and sunny) We took advantage of it by getting a big head start at putting up our Christmas decorations. David, Jonathan, and I had a lot of fun putting lights and decorations all over our front yard. Sure, maybe we went overboard, but it looks pretty festive! Or, as Amy (aka Scrooge) put it, "It looks like Christmas vomited all over your front yard." Bah, Humbug to you, too! :)

Over Thanksgiving weekend, Jonathan and David worked on decorating our big tree out front:





And Elizabeth supervised the festivities while playing in the front yard and on her swing.



Jonathan and I even went up on the roof to throw decorations off onto one of our trees:



This continued David's and my little-known Christmas tradition of hanging off roofs - the first Christmas we spent together, I convinced him to hold onto a rope from the peak of my very steep roof and lower me down so I could complete my Christmas light display!

It was a pleasant change to put out the decorations in short sleeves - instead of heavy winter coats and gloves! The warm weather lasted about 5 days, then we had a day of heavy winds. Fortunately, the decorations only required minor repairs after that. We've also finished putting up all our interior decorations - including both Christmas trees. Time to start the Christmas carols!