One Week Until Christmas!

This week's Christmas activities included making a gingerbread house, putting up the outdoor lights, and watching Christmas specials on TV.  We made a gingerbread house last year and it was one of the kids favorite activities so it has become a tradition.  I outsmarted myself by buying this years kit last December at the after Christmas sales for 75% off.  When we opened it up the icing was the consistency of play doh so it took a lot of work to make it come out right.  Of course, their favorite part is decorating it with the candy.    Kyle and I weren't too smart when we decided to display the finished product within chomping distance of Toby on the kitchen cart.  So, now the house has found a new place on the mantle and it is missing a piece of a wall and a gingerbread tree.  When Kyle picked up the house to move it, Toby went running to hide!  He knew he was in trouble.

Tuesday night we had the annual traditional Mark's Feed Store Christmas party.  I think we've been going to that for 6 years now...I might have to have Kyle verify that.  The past two years Drea and Sydney have joined us.  Kids eat free.  Santa appears and they have children's activities.  This year the kids made paper stockings and colored Christmas trees.  They also had ice cream and milk and cookies!  

Zachary's school Christmas program was also this week.  He looked super cute dressed as a donkey in the nativity scene.  They sang songs and had a short nativity play.  The kids made all the parents adorable sweatshirts with their handprints on them as gifts.

Thursday were Zachary's and Isabella's Christmas parties at school.  Zachary's party was actually a birthday party for Jesus.  The kids brought in baby items for Home of the Innocents.  I was able to go to that and help.  They had cake and cookies and watched a short movie about the birth of Jesus.  Isabella had a party at preschool.  Each kid brought in a gift and they randomly exchanged presents.  The teachers also gave them a nice goody bag full of toys and treats.  

Vincent Update:  Vincent is starting to outgrow all his 0-3 month old clothes, which makes sense because he is almost 3 months old!  Time goes by so quickly!  He is starting to grab toys and pull them to his mouth.  He has been working on bringing both hands together.  You can tell it takes lots of concentration!  He loves bright colors.  He is also starting to get some chunky legs and chubby cheeks.  He is super cute and a great baby!!

This week the Christmas festivities continue through Saturday.  Christmas break starts and we have lots of family to visit.  Kyle will be busy making all of his Christmas cookies/treats.  The kids are already super excited!  We can't wait to see what joy this week brings!!

Is Christmas Coming?

That title is a joke because we have been talking Christmas since October.  I believe there are exactly 16 more days and if the kids keep up this level of excitement they may just explode.  I'm predicting a pre-5 a.m. wake up and a Christmas day crash by 4 o'clock.  I really can't wait.  I'm not being sarcastic though.  Having Vincent just adds another element of fun, because Zachary and Isabella are going to get to help him open his presents.  They will be such cute helpers.  Also this week we put up most of the Christmas decorations and the tree.  The kids discovered that their favorite Christmas song is the 12 days of Christmas/Chipmunk version and they want to listen to that on repeat...which is a delight for everyone! 

This week was a little rough.  Vincent had a terrible cold and struggled to breathe all week.  He was very congested with a wet cough.  Finally he is starting to clear it all out, but he had to sleep in his swing for several nights so we could keep him upright and draining.  He's been taking all his daytime naps in his swing because he just won't nap in his bed for some reason.  However, he has been sleeping pretty well at night.  He usually only wakes up once around 3 am and then again around 5. I took him to the doctor on Monday and he weighed 12 lbs. 13 oz.  He's getting big!  This week he played with his first toy.  He grabbed his toy bear rattle by the arm, shook it, and chewed on its head!  Also yesterday he responded to his name when I called him.   He turned his head 90 degrees and looked at me!  Kyle said he may have just been responding to my voice, but either way he turned to look at Mommy!

Isabella was a bit sick too this week.  She had a cough and a belly ache and had to stay home from school on Friday.  I picked her up on Thursday from school and she was a mess!  She had gotten sick.  She is feeling better now. 

We went to a holiday party on Saturday which was our first night out since Vincent was born.  We didn't stay long but I was very impressed with my mom because she did get all the kids to bed.  However, Isabella was awake when we got home because "the dogs were bothering her"...note that they were sound asleep on the living room floor.

The "No Shouting Today" sign was made by Zachary yesterday.  Kyle and I got a kick out of it.  I don't know how many times we have had to tell him to stop shouting..it's his standard voice level.

I figured he has to talk over all the noise at after school care and when he comes home he doesn't realize he can turn down the volume.  Anyway, we thought it was super cute.  He loves his little brother so much.  The little guy on the right is holding a sign that says "baby sleeping".  Too funny!!!

Toby had a strange week.  The poor guy cut his foot really bad on a piece of broken glass.  I'm pretty sure he tried to eat the glass first because I saw him carrying it around the backyard in his mouth and I stupidly thought it was a chunk of ice.  When he came in the house limping I realized that there was no ice storm outside and he was actually carrying my broken glass oil lamp which I believe Toby had knocked off the patio table probably thinking it was a ball or toy to play with.  He has been limping for 3 days now.  I may make a list of all the weird stuff he has tried to consume.

It has been fun times for everyone!