Christmas is a time...

Christmas is a time of late nights spent wrapping presents, filling stockings, plugging in the tree and trying to slow down the adrenaline so you can get a few hours of quality sleep before you are awoken by the excitement of your 3 year old.

Christmas is a time to look around the room and know that you belong exactly where you are.  Surrounded by food, cookies, toys and family.

Christmas is a time for reflection.  Reflection at how far we have come in a year, reflection at how lucky we are, reflection for the joy that is real the reason for the season.

Christmas brings with it all these activities that we feel we must fit in before the calendar states Dec 25th.  It is insane the amount of exhaustion Christmas brings with it and yet I am always sad to take down the tree.  We didn't get in half of what I would have liked this Christmas season but thankfully the family time continues with the Schaber and Hutchinson gatherings to come.  We have so much to be thankful for this year and it doesn't escape me that each day is as special as Christmas morn, the hard part can be finding the joy in everyday afterwards.

Our Christmas started off with a delirious baby girl who caught her brothers cold and was up until 2:30 a.m. Christmas eve eve.  I had to peel myself out of bed to work, a shift I sorely regretted picking up at 5:00 a.m. and I was happy to let the boys attend the annual cousins party alone as our girl was desperately clingy and so beyond tired that she needed a quiet house and some mommy snuggles.
She and I finally got a quality nap in and I was so happy to go to her crib and see life in her eyes again.  We quickly got ready and went to the 3:00 p.m. service which was packed with families old and new.  It was the family service and it was fabulous.  The music was beautiful.  Silent night sung in the dark with lighted candles lining the aisles was enough to make my knees weak with adoration and awe.  That baby in the manger was very real to me that afternoon as I held my own.  We all met up for the annual immediate Hutchies quiet Christmas eve gathering which turns out was everything but quiet with 2 children this year.  Riley was less than gracious about his gifts and tore through them with reckless abandon barely giving them a second glance and asking after each if there was more.  Not our proudest parent moment but it's the age and the seriously insufficient amount of sleep our boy had leading up to the night that didn't help anything.  Eventually Daddy and Lyssa Lu had to get home to bed and we were able to play Bingo which Riley rocked the house on.  That boy could glance at his card and immediately know when the card was called if he had that spot to fill with a decade old M&M.  Thankfully Lyssa Lu went to bed a bit easier Christmas Eve and we were able to stuff, literally stuff the stockings and set up the santa gifts.

It was rather weird being up before the sun and opening presents in the dark but the insane amount of lights on the tree and a high ISO helped with a few pictures of our children.  They were both happy with their Santa gifts and in a matter of minutes Lyssa Lu was pulling herself up to the standing position and beaming wide and proud at her newest accomplishment just a week or so after finally crawling.  Sister is making up some ground and it is cute watching her little butt scoot around, very fast, after whatever her heart desires...which is usually the dog bowls.

Sweet baby wearing the same pj's Riley did 3 years ago

"I know him!"

The rest of the day was the usual blur of Theisen's, an insane amount of gifts and torn wrapping paper and finally dinner before the early exit from G'ma Carols for naps and quiet time.  We napped, hard and then we went our separate ways.  The boys headed up north and the girls headed to my Aunt's for the most cozy Christmas dinner with the fancy china from my Great Grandma Schaber.  It was quaint, fancy, warm and perfect.  My Aunt Sandy is fabulous from head to toe and she and my Uncle were the most gracious hosts of the impromptu dinner and Christmas cozies time.  After all, a big dinner and Christmas cozies (a polite way of saying sweats and comfy shirts) is definitely a sign that it's Christmas.

We finally crashed at home later and awoke to a quiet, peaceful, clean yet new toy messy kind of house and we escaped quickly back to my parents house to bake cookies before naps and because I still hadn't had enough of my family-they made their way back to my house for a pizza party dinner later that night. I went to bed filled up full and happy.

It wasn't a perfect Christmas, there was no family videos, no Clue or Sequence, no late night candlelit service, no clear kids noses or the silence that only comes with kids who don't have coughs.  I think it's a bit unreal with 2 young children to expect perfection or even to strive for it but all in all it was good.

We are a bit shaken by the independence and attitude of Riley since we returned from Vegas.  The old adage that the terrible 2's is actually the terrible 3's is rearing it's ugly face.  The nonchalant behavior from him has been frightening and puzzling to us.  I assumed he was lashing out because we left for a few days, turns out watching Kung Fu Panda was at the root of our problem.  It suddenly dawned on Derrick that his hitting and desire to "fight" may or may not have been stemming from that stupid cartoon.  While we tackle how to weather and better this storm the cartoons are strictly Clifford, Zaboo and WordWorld.  Obviously we cannot blame this sudden shift in character entirely on Po and his dragon warriors, we are just going to have to take each day as they come assessing everything carefully and figuring out what will work to help him see right and wrong.  This by far has been the biggest challenge we have come across in our short 3.5 years of parenting.  He will tell me logically and calmly with his words before bed exactly why he was frustrated and I can clearly see why he lashed out but it's the getting him to understand that in the heat of the moment (which usually is nothing to be heated up about) that he has to act respectfully and lovingly is a whole different story.  He is somewhere between toddlerhood and big boy and trying desperately to find his own way on his own.  This is hard and will be a true test to all of us.  God-willing this is short lived and our sweet, easy boy is back in no time.

Christmas is a time for Christmas music...the real stuff, not the Mariah Carey versions of "All I want."  I am talking about "Christmas makes me cry" by Matthew West and Mandisa, "Christ is come" Big Daddy Weave, "Mary did you now?"  Kathy Mattea and many others that I can't name but belted out in the car.

Christmas is a time to re-group, re-energize, re-strategize and remember what brought us here to start with.

Merry Christmas from our little family to yours! and sorry about the insane amount of pics!

Paper Mama: Favorite

http://thepapermama.blogspot.com/2011/12/paper-mama-fave-photo-challenge.html

How could this one not be a fave of mine!?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Everything is right...

Now that everyone is coming down after inhaling the Christmas crack in the air I can finally sit down and relax.  This week has been crazy and we are currently dealing with some back-lash post vacay issues from our Riley, he is up north with Daddy right now as we need a break from eachother.  He is either possessed, exhausted or 3.5, I guess we will wait and see.  In other news though while we were gone sister has mastered crawling and moved right along to pulling herself up to standing on her brand new Christmas toy this morning.  She is amazing and her $10 Christmas dress fits like a glove.  So happy she can get 2 more days out of it coming up!  

I am not ready to be done with Christmas music (98.5) and I am not ready to take the tree down just yet. Good thing the real reason for the season doesn't ever end!  

Merry Christmas from our family to yours!  

Punch Drunk Love

I am all filled up with the after-effects of a seriously good time away in Vegas.  We had alot of fun and even though we were on the go so much in those 3.5 days I feel well-rested and very zen sitting here back at work this early, early Monday morning.

It felt so good to be back in our bed with both of our children under our roof.  It just about made me dizzy with contenment. 

Seeing our little Lyssi Lu for the first time since Thursday morn did not disappoint.  She just sat there with her mouth wide open as she squealed with joy.  She didn't let me go for a long time and she just kept hugging me and laying her head on my shoulders.  Riley was overtired from his long weekend of activities and he was watching TV so his excitement was a bit overshadowed but I will never forget that he wanted to write me a note on Saturday telling me that "I love my mommy and I miss her."  They both seem really well-adjusted and we fell right back into the routine except that Lyssi Lu was in bed by 6:30 and Riley 7:00 because brother and sister were seriously exhuasted. 

I expected to feel pretty tired Monday after sleeping in a bit for a few days and enjoying power naps when I wanted but I feel good.  Life "as usual" is just intoxicating.  This little break we took has completely awakened my every sense.  Grateful, appreciative, centered, relaxed, excited, rested and in mad love with the littles we came back to.  I know now that leaving behind the kids for a quick trip was so worth it and so empowering.  We just needed a few dinners with no food spilling.  We needed a few mornings with no rushing to get out the door.  We needed a few naps without the door to the bedroom wide open so we can hear the kids.  We needed a few late nights out to make us feel young and vibrant again.  We needed time alone to hold hands and laugh at eachother because he is my best friend and no one makes me laugh and feel like he does.

Highlights of our trip included a comedy show at Cabo Wabo, the boys let me indulge a little while enjoying dinner at Serendipity (they did not care for the decor, I loved it!), clubbin a bit til the wee hours of the morn, me winning over $350 playing Texas Hold Em' bonus poker, an $8.99 prime rib dinner complete with an ice cream chocolate chip desert for only $2.99 downtown, ziplining down at the Fremont St experience (holy nerves up on the rickety scaffolding!), eating Krispy Kreme's, lots of walking and gawking, seeing all the gorgeous hotels all done up for Christmas, and I finished a Water for Elephants!  Great book, I loved it so much it was done in 9.5 days.  She is such a gifted writer!

I just love Vegas.  We were not at all touristy this 3rd trip but I still get all "wow" at the sight of the strip at night all HD and lit up out of control.  It's just so exhilarating being down there and even though everything is so expensive ($19 for a pitcher of beer) we spent money and had fun.  I think we put on like 20 miles!  So really no pictures taken.  A few from D's phone but I was kind of "been there done that" and left all camera's at home.  It was quite liberating!

We were ready for home come Saturday night and now we are gearing up for the Christmas weekend coming.  I might have even taken a sick day to spend the morning with my boy at his Christmas party this week ; )  I am so in the wrong profession!

A $100 plus shopping trip to Target tonight equals stuffing those stockings full and then some Saturday night.  I am so excited for this weekend I could just faint.

Oh and our dishwasher is being hooked up tomorrow!  Shut the front door, after 10 plus years we will have a dishwasher...what will it be like to eat on real plates again?!  Santa is so good to me in the appliance dept every year!

Merry Christmas and Viva Las Vegas!

It's my favorite time of year!

smart snap! : )

Christmas is in full swing over here.  It's so fun with Riley believing in Santa and Lyssi Lu getting so excited over the boxes that hold her gifts.  We may have let her play with her special things prior to wrapping them because Sister isn't going to remember anyways.  Her verdict for them is excitement and we are pretty excited for her to rip them open and actually play with them.  The tree has been up since Thanksgiving weekend and the stockings have been hung with care.  Our elf on the shelf has made another appearance this year and the craze regarding the elf is insane!  Last year our elf was thrown around and manhandled because Riley didn't quite get it.  This year after reading the book and watching the movie he is in awe of that elf.  Ours' is named Skippy and that beats Elfie from last year.  He has caused some trouble buts it's all in good fun and when I asked Riley Friday night what Skippy was going to report to Santa he replied: "that I am a good boy, that I eat good (he must be confused!), I play good and I help my Sister.  I answered back "will he tell Santa that you share?"  Riley: "Addually, I am still working on that one."  Ha!  The boy is certainly honest and that counts for something!

We went to a work party for D's company Saturday and we hired a real babysitter.  The kids were pretty stoked to see her and we enjoyed really good food and lots of laughs as the rest of the sales team has awesome wives.  D was nervous about leaving the kids after Friday night caused bags under our eyes.  Lyssi Lu got a non sleeping bug up her butt that I am guessing from her new found crawling ability and she was wide awake and pissed off about us trying to let her cry it out til 3:00 or later in the morn.  I seriously don't know how I stayed up all those nights with her because it was miserable and thank goodness she is back to sleeping through the night again!  Sister was exhausted Saturday and looking miserable.  She was a handful but after a great nap she was herself again and we are thankful for both kids being healthy before we leave on Thursday.

I cannot for the life of me remember why I thought I could leave the kids for 3 nights.  I was just giving Lyssi Lu a bath and I couldn't stop crying.  She was looking at me all sweet and smiley and I just can't imagine leaving her.  Will she understand that we are coming back?  Will she be good for her Nana's and Auntie Teetee?  Will Riley get all sad over Daddy being gone like he did last time D left for a night?  Good Lord, what were we thinking!?  I am missing out on the Sunday School program Saturday night and listening to the kids sing their 3 songs so proud and loud today made tears spring up.  They sing so sweetly and with all their hearts.  I am so bummed I will be missing it.  There is nothing better than seeing Christ through a child's heart and I am so lucky to be there in the mess of it as they proudly proclaim their faith.

Prayers for safe travel and for our kids to feel our love are going to be frequent and desperately repeated throughout the week.

Prayers to you and yours while you prepare for the Christmas celebrations and everything that comes with them.

My favorite new ornaments for this year...I got an A, R, and D...self explanatory and then an M because even I think of myself as just Mommy and not Lindsey anymore! : )

So excited to see the kid's names on the stockings soon!

Old faithful, red, silver, and a spattering of the favorite ornaments from past and present. 

Silly Skippy!

He tried to parachute into the stocking and missed a bit! ; )



I think that 4 strings of white lights on the tree is sufficient! ; ) and yes, I realize it got a little "light" bare towards the top! 

 I guess we will see on the flip side!

Alyssa Marie: 10 months

304.36 days old.

304 days sounds like a lot.  It sounds like a lot and yet it has been a quick tornado of activity giving way to countless snuggles, the sweet smell of a newborn, pink blankies and nuks, flower headbands and barrettes. It has been 304 days of girly bliss.  It still marveled me tonight while I was cooking dinner (funny enough for a friend) and Derrick was frying up pork chops that peering just past our countertop revealed two little smiles.  One running around throwing a baseball up in the air and one awkwardly trying to get her legs in motion to crawl.  It was a Kodak moment.  Daddy and Mommy in the kitchen cooking while the children laughed and giggled in the LR.  It was at that moment that I remembered how much I love this house that allows me to be in the kitchen, doing laundry if need be and still being right there with my kids sneaking glances their way and then smiling to myself at how merry and bright this season is in our house.  I am in awe of time this month.  Last year I was hauling around a swollen belly that yielded blunt kicks and hiccups always in the dead of night.  I was counting down 7, 6, 5 weeks till baby girls arrival.  I remember it like yesterday.  This year I am squeezing chubbers and kissing her soft baby belly amazed that this last 5 lbs is stubbornly staying put on my midsection.

Sweet, sweet baby girl you made us a bonafide family.  One child was heaven, life-changing, easy in comparison, two has felt like a family.  The children playing together, the girls staying back and cleaning while the boys run errands and go to swimming lessons, our laps being full while we enjoy pre-bedtime snuggles in the rocking chair or books in Riley's bed.  This is exactly what I pictured my life to be.  This is exactly where we are supposed to be.

Exciting stuff going on around here where Lyssi Lu is concerned.

*She finally cut another tooth.  Her eye tooth to be exact and shortly following that is now her opposite one swelling up her gums.  You wouldn't even know she was teething.  Girlfriend is tough as nails.
*She is mobile now.  She has started crawling this week in fact.  It's awkward and looks silly but it's progress and she is all the more happier to be able to do more than reach and shout for what she wants.  Sister is determined.
*She is still sleeping like a angel.  Bed by 7:15 and up around 7:00 or later.  Little lady values beauty sleep.
*She is wearing size 3 diapers.
*She is drinking a bottle at 7:30, 12:30, 4 and 7:15 and eating solids twice a day.  Lu lu is loving food.  She eats anything we give her, pumpkin pancakes (her favorite), bananas, crackers, pizza and even broccoli.  Her absolute favorite is cheese though.  She is so my daughter.
*She drinks from a sippy cup now and mastered that the 2nd time we handed it to her.
*She still has blue eyes that sparkle and blonde hair that is thin and wispy.
*She looks so much like her Daddy.
*She claps proudly and dances new moves when the music is turned on.
*She waves bye bye and hello and smiles at everyone she sees.
*She loves to read and especially loves turning the chunky board book pages.

We are so excited to share Christmas with her this year and Mommy is especially excited for her to get some good girly things.  Little Sister loves her the bats and balls but she is ready for more.  : )

Merry early Christmas little girl.  You have made our year.

Love you to the moon and back Alyssa Lu.