Smilebox: Our First Christmas

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Chameleon Christmas Theater

A short video of my brother's chameleon. :o)

Our Christmas So Far

It was a wonderful, tear-free weekend. I don't really have time to write a decent post right now, but I wanted to share a slideshow of our Christmas so far.

Feels like Christmas came early!

It has been a WONDERFUL day!

My husband started his new job this morning. It's part time, but it's work!

We got a new Christmas tree! I haven't put up a tree in about eight years, maybe more. Since it's our first Christmas together, and my first Christmas having a child in the house, we decided we should have a tree. So Larry got my old tree down from the attic yesterday, and last night we were going to assemble it so it would be ready to decorate with Lucas on Saturday. Opened the box - no stand. Missing. Now what? I was completely bummed.

So this evening I happened to stop in Linens 'n Things to see if they had any griddles left, since the store is closing soon. Well... just inside the door they had 7.5' pre-lit trees. They were originally $200, marked down 80% to $40. Had to get it. HAD TO. Never did go look for that griddle...

No tears at bedtime tonight!! Larry and I had a class at church tonight, so his mom babysat Lucas for us. We got home about 9:30 and he was still awake, of course, waiting for Daddy. So Larry went up and gave him a hug and a kiss, turned on his music for him, and got out of there before tears could start. And they never did. Nanny's babysitting again tomorrow night while we're at my office Christmas party. Wouldn't it be nice to have a repeat performance??

Just after 10:00 tonight I received an email from T's younger daughter. T is being moved to a rehabilitation center tomorrow, and T's older daughter may be having her baby by Christmas. What a fabulous couple of Christmas gifts for all of them!

I'd like to leave you with one final thought. With our current financial/job situation, we haven't been able to buy gifts for many people this year. In fact, I think Lucas is the only one we shopped for, and that includes not getting gifts for each other even though this is our first Christmas as a married couple. At first, this really bothered me - I love giving gifts at Christmas. But in a way it's been sort of liberating, and has allowed us to focus more on what the season is really about: Jesus. It's allowed us to take a step back and focus on how blessed we truly are. A friend of mine showed me this video a week or two ago, and I was really moved by it. It just fits so well with how I've been feeling, and so I wanted to share it here too.

In case I don't write again before... Merry Christmas, and may God bless you and your families!

Priceless

Bag I wish I could buy at Fossil in NYC: $128.00



















Lunch for three at Cafe Metro: $47.00















The look on my face when Mom says we need a wide-angle lens: Priceless

Counting My Blessings

1. My husband amazes me. He loves me just as I am, makes me laugh every day, and is incredibly helpful around the house. If it weren't for the financial aspect, I could totally get used to him being at home. He does all the cleaning I hate to do!
2. Speaking of my husband... he found a job yesterday! It's only part time, but lots of people are having to take part time work right now because there's such a shortage of full time jobs. It's not enough to solve all our problems, but it'll do for now, and we're grateful for it.
3. Fall semester is almost over and I'm soooo ready for Winter break. Finals tomorrow and Friday, then I'm off til mid-January!
4. I have a job that pays well. I've been here for almost 11 years and I'm ready to move on (graduation can't get here fast enough), but in these hard economic times, when so many are out of work, I'm grateful to be employed.
5. I have great parents, stepparents, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins, all of whom I love very much, even if I don't call or visit often enough.
6. I have wonderful friends who have been there for me over so many years, and through so much junk, and love me even through my little quirks and scattered nature.
   
7. I am thankful that T is still with us. She is still in the ICU, had a trach tube inserted today to continue helping her breathe, and unfortunately had her right leg amputated a few inches below the knee today as well. But she is alive and we all love her and miss her and will continue to pray for her recovery.
8. I am thankful that my stepson is happy and healthy, and that we're making progress with the bedtime battles, even if it is just baby steps.
9. I am thankful for Facebook. Sound weird? I've reconnected with so many people through there and found an additional support system of other women - other moms - who can share their experiences and advice.
10. I am thankful that we have a home... a warm place and a roof over our heads. Not everyone has a place to sleep tonight.
11. I am thankful for my church and the wonderful people in it.
12. I am thankful for God, who loves me, forgives me, and amazes me more every day.

LCBC Worship - King of Heaven from Matt Goss on Vimeo.

Miscellaneous Musings

11:19 A.M. Something I'm really looking forward to over Winter break: reading for pleasure.

11:22 A.M. Still thinking about this post on Jason Mitchell's blog: Give the Gift that Sucks

11:28 A.M. Totally excited about the CD release at LCBC this weekend! (Watch your volume on that CD link!)

11:32 A.M. I'm not sure my ADHD meds are working (LOL).

11:35 A.M. I wonder if it would be possible to get that new CD this weekend & take one to T in the hospital, w/ a little CD player?

12:10 P.M. Gotta head out to school... long way to go (24 mi round trip) and a lot of extra lunch time to make up (1 1/2 hrs) for 5 points of extra credit in Math. But I really, REALLY need every point I can get. I've GOT to be more focused next semester.

6:45 P.M. I'm up to three people from the nursery at church who want to go together and get the CD and player as a gift for T while she's in the hospital. I love my church!

6:47 P.M. I don't think my MIL likes me very much.

Following day, 1:37 P.M. Cranium clutter strikes again... never finished up this post. Got some new things on my mind today, so I'm gonna post this as-is and start fresh. Take that, ADD!

Kids & Attention-Getters

A friend of mine is having some behavioral issues with her son, and for some reason this is stuck in my head. It's not all that relevant to the issues she's having, but it's in my head anyway, so I'll share it.

Before we got married, Larry would bring Lucas over to my place when he had him, and we'd all sit down to have dinner together. Every time we sat down at the table, Lucas, who was three years old at the time, would start to cry. It was puzzling, but even if Larry took him into the other room to talk to him about it, he wouldn't talk, just cry. The most we could figure was that he didn't want to eat what we were having. He wanted chicken nuggets & french fries, he didn't like what we were having, etc, etc. Most of the time he hadn't even tried the food yet. We weren't going to force-feed the boy something he honestly didn't like, but he had to at least try it.

One night I made chicken nuggets and french fries for dinner, for all of us. We sat down at the table, thinking all should be wonderful since this was his favorite thing, but just like before, Lucas started to cry.

I'd read about "extinction" and "planned ignoring" - completely ignoring undesired behaviors... and we'd tried talking to him, tried to comfort him in some way, but that certainly hadn't worked. We had tried before to ignore the behavior, but it worked on our nerves so much we couldn't do it. Still, we couldn't have him crying through dinner every night. We had to try this again. I said to Larry, "I-G-N-O-R-E him."

So while Lucas sat in his chair and cried, Larry and I began to eat and forced cheerful small talk between ourselves. Miracle of miracles, within a few minutes, Lucas stopped crying, played with his cup a little, and started to join in the conversation. Once his behavior wasn't getting attention anymore, he stopped it.

Has this worked with every other unacceptable behavior? I wish! But at least now we can sit down to dinner as a family without random tears.

As for the bedtime battles... we're still working on that one!