Oh Christmas Tree...Oh Birthday Cake...Oh Presents...Oh what a week!

When I had Evie on Dec. 27, 2011, I remember thinking that I would always try to separate her birthday and Christmas.  I told myself that It could be worse…she could be born on Dec. 25..or 26; at least there is ONE day between to detox from presents and sugar. 

I woke up at 3 am on Dec. 26 2013  thinking that we were having babies. It turned out only to be shooting pelvic pain caused by an awkward sleeping position…but knowing the way we seem to hit odds, I wouldn’t be surprised if they did come. 

Christmas Train 

Usually we fly to Chicago for Christmas to see my family. We’ve gone every year except the year I had Evie and this year, of course now that I'm 30 weeks pregnant (a full term for triplets). Oh, how I miss them when we don’t get to see them.  Nonetheless, we had a very lovely Christmas here in Portland. It never feels quite like Christmas here though because of the lack of snow, but I really tried to make an effort to embrace the whole season this year, especially because Evie is really aware of everything going on. John and I agree that Christmas now takes on a new sparkle seeing it through the eyes of our daughter. Starting at the beginning of December when people started putting up lights on their houses, nighttime in the car became a magical time. Evie marveled at the lights, the blow up Santas in the front yard and especially the “Frosty snowmen.” We took her to “Peacock Lane”, took night walks around the block, and rode the Christmas train at Bridgeport Village.

 I love the magic of Christmas through the eyes of a child. It’s such a very small window when the world is bright and perfect, and I wanted to present her with all the opportunities to dream. 

We didn’t do many of the the traditional things however; we didn’t put up a large Christmas tree in our home (mainly because we are in the midst of packing and didn’t want the extra work of pulling out boxes) and we didn’t visit Santa (lines were too long with crying, runny-nosed children…). But we listened to Christmas music, opened a chocolate advent calendar that my mom sent, and talked a lot about Santa, reindeer and baby Jesus. 

I do believe that Santa and baby Jesus can work together. Evie recognizes them both. The playful side of Christmas is in the magic of flying reindeer…the joyful, beautiful side is in the birth of Christ. I truly believe that the two can coexist perfectly well. As I’ve said, the world is only a magical place for such a short bit, and John and I have decided we don’t want to prematurely take that away from her.  

Lights at Peacock Lane

Anyhow, we spent time with dear cousins and brother/sis-in-laws from Seattle, John's parents, and an Aunt from Canada. We went to a lovely Christmas Eve service and ate Christmas Eve meal with close friends. Evie’s delighted laughter could be heard as she ran around with her cousins and friends. It warmed my heart to see her so happy. And she quickly got the hang of opening gifts, exclaiming a delighted “ooooo” after every reveal. I tried to emphasize the joy of giving as well, and she seemed to love running around delivering the wrapped packages to different members in the family. 

Loves her cousins

John was officially ordained into true “fatherhood” this year too. My parents sent a very nice kitchen set to Evie, but it landed on our door in a huge box.  On Dec. 24 at 9:30 pm, John decided to dump out the contents of the box in order to make this kitchen set a reality on Christmas morning. Approximently six hours later at 3:30 am, he screwed in the last piece, and behold, we all woke up Christmas morning to a kitchen set. Many of my other girlfriends said that their husbands were up until the early hours of the morning putting together  various apparatuses in order to delight their children. Welcome to the club. ;)

 Despite his lack of sleep, John rolled himself out of bed around 9:00 the next morning and the delight in Evie’s face when she saw the kitchen was worth all the frustrating, exhausting hours of studying instruction manuals and lost screws. John also surprised me with a lovely gift Christmas morning. He had a custom made necklace constructed to represent our growing family and our next chapter together. It has six rings looped together on a chain; each ring has the name of a member of our family etched into it. Yes, if you look closely, you technically could see the names of our boys ;) 

Suddenly Six!

Just like Mommy

All in all, Evie went to bed Christmas night dreaming of presents and cookies. I took many of her gifts and put them away, planning on slowly revealing them to her in the next few weeks. Too many gifts at once is overload, and I want her to appreciate each one, each day. It’s difficult though when her birthday is two days later.

I vowed that Dec. 26 would be our “intermezzo” day…no gifts, no sugar, and definitely no out the ordinary fun adventures. We needed a breather day to simply be at home, enjoy the gifts we’ve received and allow our system to recallibrate to normal mode…before tomorrow, Dec. 27 when she celebrates her 2nd birthday, and once again, has cake, presents and fun.  

Just the 3 of us...next Christmas will look very different

And cake, presents and fun she had.  We decided to take her to Chuckie Cheese. We’d been talking about “the dancing mouse” and “rides” all week to get her excited…and boy was she ready! We got her all dressed in her fancy pink birthday dress and pulled up the palace of lights, noise and screaming children….and the famous mouse we’d been talking about. 

2 today!

And she got this scowl on her face, nuzzled herself into her daddy’s shoulder and stated, “no mouse. Scary.” Oh well. I guess the mouse did look a little intimidating.

Nothing scary about Clifford...

or Barney...

More SUGAR!

 All in all, she had a glorious time running around, pushing lighted buttons and eating greasy pizza and overly frosted cake. Oh, and she got the best gift from her Grammie and Grandpa Patton…a triple baby doll stroller complete with triplet boy dolls. ;) 

As I write she is fast asleep, probably dreaming of Christmas lights, snowmen and wrapping paper... hopefully no dancing mice tonight. I'd say she is a happy 2 year old girl...and John and I are happy, slightly exhausted parents. We have a big job next week as we get back "to reality." Somehow we have to convince her that the activities of the past week are not how  life is going to continue and somehow we must tame the sudden outbursts of disagreement that are sure to follow as we "detox" from it all. But for now we sit on the couch, digesting cake and reliving the moments we saw her laugh or smile. Happy Birthday to my little girl. We are blessed. 

Shower Power!

I walked into a very beautiful, special baby shower on Saturday planned and prepared by three dear friends, Linsey, Erin and Jess. I knew it was a very busy time of year, so I didn’t expect so many people to show up; but more people came than I expected, and it was a lovely afternoon in so many ways. Gathering with a community of women in order to bless and encourage one another is a very  powerful thing. Not only do showers equip us physically with clothing and materials that we will need for the job at hand, but just having the ones you care about all in one room has a way to lift the spirit and encourage. I have to say, it was a very very special shower. I not only walked out of there with a car full of diapers, clothing and baby boy essential, but my heart soared with confidence that only the support of loving friends can bring. 

As a society I think we’ve lost the blessing of community. We tend to live very isolated lives; that is not how we are supposed to live.  It is difficult to live “side by side” all over the city; but “life” events”, which bring people together are a good reminder that we really do have people all around who care. And we need each other. I couldn’t imagine doing this alone. 

As always, the girls who did this shower went all out. Bacon wrapped dates, “gourmet” mini hotdogs with a variety of specialty mustards, dark chocolate almonds, veggies, dip and fudge covered the kitchen table. Choice of hot cider, hot chocolate, wine and blueberry mojitos were the drink selections of the afternoon (yes, my kind of shower…!) Chit chat, gifts, and a special time of sharing, blessing and prayer filled the afternoon, and by the time everything was dropped off in my kitchen, I felt thoroughly overwhelmed by the abundance of love. 

Later in the evening, John and I sorted all the little clothes, shoes and hats we received. We commented on the little monkeys, trucks and dinosaurs that decorated so many of the onesies; it was very different from the last shower when everything was decorated with pink flowers, hearts and kitty cats. We dreamed about our little boys who will soon fill we them. Because we are in this (seemingly endless) transition into another house, we really have no place to organize or put everything right now, so  it all fills the rooms upstairs. Yes, the boys will spend their first month or so living amongst boxes and diapers…but they are literally surrounded by representations of those who love them. 

I truly embraced the day.  It will be (According to MY plans) my very last baby shower ever, but I hope that I can always make blessing others a priority in my life as well. 

All 28 weeks! Boy; boy, boy, boy; Girl

My blessings

Bacon wrapped dates!

What a spread!

Drinks anyone?!

chit chat

One...Two...Three!

Boy Clothes...so strange!

Wow! Where to put it all?!!!

Friends, Festivities and Family

            We had our annual Christmas party this past weekend, and it’s always a much anticipated, fun event to kick off the Christmas season with dear friends. This was our 7th party, and each year it’s neat to talk and reflect about how life has changed for everyone during the year. There are always new women pregnant, new babies born, job transitions, house transitions…We can always count on  a really special evening of visiting, good food and festive drinks. 

           It’s fun to look back over the pictures of the years gone by, the smiles, the dresses, the decorations…We’ve all aged physically, but what is even better is that many of the relationships in the room have aged too…and that only makes them better. 
           During the year, we see many of these people quite often at church, or book club, at baby showers and birthdays, BBQs, and playdates. However, I realized that what separates this particular night now from every other gathering throughout the year is the fact that we are all together WITHOUT our kids! We can actually have adult conversations, make eye contact, have open flamed candles and delicate glassware out on the tables. This is only a recent development however; there was a time not too too long ago when we were all young and  married or single without kids. The party would start at 8:00 and people would stay until the wee hours in the morning. The house would be a disaster, but it didn’t matter because we could sleep in until 10:00 and clean leisurely the whole next day. 
Now people come earlier and leave within a few hours because there are babysitters, and nursing schedules, and early mornings with toddlers tugging at your leg…it’s a different season of life, an exhausting one, but it makes nights like these more special. 

           My mother in law watched Evie on Saturday night. She came to pick her up at 3:30, and once she pulled out of the driveway, John and I sat on the couch in the half decorated room and just looked at each other. We were both thinking the same thing: it’s so quiet. It was strange to be in our house with just each other again, and once the toys were picked up and removed from the main living area, we were surprised at how “cool” our house looked. ;) “Was it really like this, not so long ago…?” Was it really this easy to get ready for a party? Why did we used to stress so much.?!” We both joked that we wish we could go back in time a few years ago and tell ourselves how EASY everything was! ;) 

              As we moved a couch, we found one of Evie’s little plastic “hippo” toys. We started to say “hippo” the way she says it and smiled. Then we found one of her little bows from her hair. 
              We both looked at each other then and John said, “But really, I would never go back to how it was.” 

             Yes, it is true. As much work, and exhaustion and complication Evie makes in life, there is also so much joy! She is truly part of our family, and although we definitely can remember how it “used to be”, we smile at the past, but embrace the present and look forward to the future.
             It’s a good lesson to keep in mind when the babies do come. I think about the future, and I have a mix of emotions: fear, excitement and uncertainty. 

But a few years from now, I'm sure John and I will look at each other amongst the chaos of toys and diapers and say, “This is family. I couldn’t imagine it another way.”
I’m realistic; I know that day to day there will be many moments of exhaustion, frustration and a longing for the simplicity of having ONE child ;), but all in all, the more mess just means more blessings.

Nights like Christmas parties, or book clubs, or late night coffee dates (once the kids are in bed!) remind me also of the incredible community of friends I have surrounding me.

 Life is tough. Family is challenging. But it is so SO so worth it too. 

***(And I'm sure someone will need to remind me of this blog post  in about two months from now….;) 

Christmas Party 2013

Decorating for Christmas

Pregos

This is family