Happy New Year!

I love New Year's Eve... in theory.  I love the idea of new beginnings.  I love refocusing myself.  I love taking time to celebrate the past and look forward to the future.

However, New Year's Eve rarely lives up to my expectations.  I always imagine us getting all dressed up, going somewhere fancy for dinner, partying with friends, and having an amazing time.  And some years, we've done just that!  But most years, it seems like we are struggling to stay up until midnight and left wondering what was so special about this night compared to any other.

This year, we made plans with Beth and Kenny.  Now that Kenny is no longer working weekends and holidays, we have been trying to find time to hang out with them and New Year's Eve finally provided the perfect opportunity.

We dropped Finley off at Devin's parents' house even though Beth and Kenny were a bit disappointed by this...  Devin and I were excited to have an adult night!  We went to dinner, went back to their house, watched OSU play basketball, made fun of Jessica Simpson, ate peach cobbler, and kissed 2010 goodbye and 2011 hello!

I have to say that this was one of the most fun New Year's Eves that we have had.  The pressure was off and we could just enjoy hanging out.  We were with family and that was the best part.  Beth and I always say that the one time that it matters that we aren't blood related is at holidays because we aren't able to spend them together like regular sisters.  Well, maybe we'll make New Year's Eve "our" holiday!

I'll post pics from our night when I get them from Beth, but it's my hope that this is the start of a wonderful year!

Dear 2010

Dear 2010,
You brought so many unexpected surprises!  We have seen so many answered prayers... some to long-awaited prayers and we could not be more thankful!  Though you have had your own fair share of challenges as well, we know we are blessed beyond measure...

After 4 years of church dating, Devin and I finally found a church home this year.  It has been absolutely amazing to wake up on Sunday mornings knowing exactly where we are going to go to worship.  We have found a Sunday school and Finley has become an absolute favorite among the nursery workers!  They actually fight over her during Parents' Night Out.  We love that they love her as much as we do!  Finding this church has been a blessing in so many ways, but it is our desire that this church simply serve as a means for us to praise, worship, and grow in our Savior!  Though it is difficult not to say that it is nice to find a church that we enjoy, we do want it to be more about Him and less about us!

And how could we forget finding out that we were expecting baby #2!?!  Though we were not quite ready for the news, we couldn't be more thankful to be parents again and can't wait to meet our little guy in 2011!

Of course one of the most exciting events to happen this year is that Devin switched companies.  After spending 8 years with the same company... the only company he had ever worked for, he was offered a position with another company and it has been a HUGE change for our family.  Devin had a great job and was able to work on so many amazing projects with his original company, but hands down, this job change was absoultely the right move for our family.  Devin loves his new company and there is no doubt that this was God's perfect plan in God's perfect timing!

And that's probably what 2010 has been mostly about for me.  God's timing.  It is always perfect.  Even when I have major doubts about what is going on behind the scenes, this year God has shown me that nothing is a mistake and that everything is perfectly orchestrated by Him.  I have always struggled with impatience, perfectionism, and a desire for things to go MY way, but as God has continually answered prayers in His timing, I have seen over and over again just how trustworthy He is.

In 2011, I want to be more trusting... not because I have answered prayers, but because He has never let me down and because He is good all the time whether I am seeing it immediately or not.  He is the King of the Universe and my job is definitely not to question His authority, but simply to submit, be joyful, and serve Him!

Thank you 2010 for a full year of memories.  Thank you for the difficult times for I know that they are teaching me patience and perserverance.  Thank you for the wonderful times that boosted my energy, renewed my soul, and reminded me that everything truly does have a season.

Love,
MLC

Christmas Day 2010

We woke up Christmas morning and immediately headed downstairs to open our last book (we open a Christmas book each day before Christmas)... the Bible!  It was so cute because as soon as Finley tore off just a bit of the paper she exclaimed "BIBLE!"  It cracks me up that she knows the difference between regular books and the Bible.

We opened it up to Luke and read the Christmas story together.  This was probably the reason I most enjoyed having already had our Christmas the day before.  We could spend time just reading about our Savior's birth without the distraction of presents.  I admit I am easily distractable so this was as much for me as it was for anyone else!

Sadly this is our best family picture.

After we read the Bible and grabbed some coffee, we headed back upstairs to get dressed and then packed up the car and headed to Devin's parents' house.  Once everyone had arrived, we began opening presents.

We always open youngest to oldest and we have found it works best to go youngest to oldest with just the kids presents and then while they are playing go youngest to oldest with the adult presents.  This year we opened our stockings and then everyone said "Finley, it's your turn!" and I broke in "Wait!  LbC has some presents so technically he is the youngest!"  We all laughed that he was getting to go first when he isn't even here yet!

Finley wasn't into opening presents AT ALL.  She preferred to play in Grandma and PaPa's play room. I think she was a bit overwhelmed and we didn't see any reason to force it so we opened her presents for her.  We did ask her to open the very last present and seeing some of her other presents, she fully cooperated! =)  Her big gift was a dollhouse with what could have only been every accessory that went with it!  She immediately started playing with it and I think it will be a fun toy for her.  She also got a darling jewelry box from Pottery Barn Kids that I had been eyeing and an apron set and cookbook from Aunt Amy.  The apron set is pink and red so it will be perfect with her red kitchen!  In fact, I put a little hook on the side of the kitchen so we could hang it up.

After presents, we ate lunch.  Devin and I were excited about traditional holiday food.  I happen to love that my family eats steak because I'm not a huge turkey fan, but I do love the typical starches-- mashed potatoes, dressing, and bread!

Once we finished lunch, we packed back up and headed to my family's celebration.  Since it is a two hour drive, we were anxious to get there so that we could spend time with them and not feel like we had to immediately get back in the car for the two hour drive back.  Finley was asleep in the car before we even hit the interstate.  She slept all the way there which was a relief.  We weren't sure how her nap schedule would be since we were on the go so much and she hasn't been sleeping that well in the car lately.

Devin and I both said a silent prayer for Finley before getting to my dad's house.  We really just had no idea how she would do.  It had been an exhausting two days for all of us.  Fortunately, Finley had a BLAST while we were with my family.  She could not have been better!  When we first got there, she ate so I was really nervous about what she would do while we were eating, but she literally sat on the living room floor playing with the Mr. Potato Head that my aunt and uncle had gotten her for her birthday.  We hadn't seen them so they were just now able to give her her birthday gift so it just worked out great for her to have a new toy to occupy her while we were eating!  Mr. Potato Head is one of her favorite toys at school so she had no problems putting him together and taking him apart.

Finley loves my dad and though she had a GREAT time with him, she equally gave her attention to her Uncle West and Aunt Tracey this time.  I think they were exhausted by the time we all left!  I love seeing Finley with my family because I always worry that since we don't see them as often that she won't be as close to them, but God is so gracious because she always seems to jump right into Grandpa Bill's lap and play peek-a-boo with Uncle West and Aunt Tracey!

Uncle West and Aunt Tracey bought her some of her favorite toys... a vacuum, a cash register, and a 4 wheeler!!!!!!!!!!!  Seeing her on the 4 wheeler has to be one of the funniest things I have EVER seen.  I was laughing so hard that my cheeks hurt.  She has no idea how to steer so we had to help her cruise around Grandpa Bill's living room.  She had so much fun.  It was hysterical!

Unfortunately, it was time to go too soon and we headed back home.  Finley stayed awake for a little bit, but crashed before we made it back home.  I was thankful that she had such an amazing Christmas!

We are so blessed and made so many great memories this year!  It's hard to imagine how our family will look like next year... I couldn't help but think how much has changed this past year and how we have no idea what the next year will hold.  Being pregnant at this time of year also has me relating to Mary in new ways.  I've been thinking about her a lot and find comfort in knowing that regardless of what was in store for her, she chose to "treasure all these things in her heart." (Luke 2:51)  This is my goal as a mother and I have so much to treasure this holiday season!

Christmas Eve Eve & Christmas Eve 2010

Christmas Eve Eve:
Devin got off work early so we were able to enjoy some time with him.  It was nice not to be rushing around... I enjoyed having everything done and just being able to finally focus on my family.  Even though I feel like this has been one of the least stressful Christmases, there were still times where it seemed that I was far too busy to really concentrate on what I should be.

We ran some errands and then as soon as it was dark enough, Finley and I changed into our pajamas and we all loaded in the car to go look at Christmas lights.

I love looking at lights and it seems that every year we just "fit" it in so I really loved doing it on a week night when we could spend more time looking at our favorite light displays.  Finley is just old enough that she can somewhat appreciate the lights so that made it more fun as well.

When we got home from looking at lights, we had our Happy Birthday, Jesus party.  Finley and I had been talking about baby Jesus quite a bit and I love that she is starting to understand the whole purpose of our Christmas celebration.  I know she doesn't completely get it, but she loves kissing baby Jesus and saying Happy Birthday to Him so we are definitely moving in the right direction.

Afterwards, we put Finley to bed and then Devin put together Finley's big gift.  This year we started a new tradition.  We bought each other four gifts each....

Something we want
Something we need
Something to wear and
Something to read

I admit I broke the rules a bit and bought both Devin and Finley more than one item to wear!  They both needed new clothes and I couldn't resist buying more than one outfit.  I don't know if we'll make this an annual tradition or not, but it did help focus the attention less on gifts and more on the Giver!  I really want to focus of gifts to be a reminder of the perfect Gift we've been given.  It's so easy to go overboard especially for me and Devin who love buying gifts and who rarely spend money on each other or on Finley (as far as toys go) except on holidays so this was a great way to help us remember what this time of year is REALLY about.

Christmas Eve:
We decided to have our family Christmas on Christmas Eve morning.  My favorite part of Christmas is the time we spend as just the 3 (almost 4) of us and we wanted to enjoy it fully and not feel rushed.  Plus since we aren't a Santa family, we had no need to wait until Christmas Day morning.  In fact, I think we might permanently move our Christmas morning to Christmas Eve morning, but we'll see how everything plays out from year-to-year.

Finley woke up around 7:30 and we came down to open presents.  It was fun having her big gift out waiting for her.  Her eyes lit up and she immediately went to her new kitchen.  I think every parent waits for a Christmas like this when there is a big gift that brings such joy! =)  We let her open her stocking and helped her open her other presents then opened LbC's presents.

Finley's Gifts:

Something she wants: toy kitchen

Something she needs: twin sheets and twin bed skirt for her big girl bed

Something to wear: several outfits including a new coat picked out by Daddy and new shoes

Something to read: a Gigi book and A Little Girl After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George

Finley was super excited about LbC's binkies.... Ugh-oh!

LbC's Gifts:

Something he wants: A Monkey Wubbanub

Something he needs: diapers

Something to wear: baby Gap outfit picked out by Daddy and a swaddle blanket

Something to read: A Little Boy After God's Own Heart by Elizabeth George

Devin and I then let Finley play with her new stuff while we exchanged gifts.

My Gifts from Devin:

Something she wants: A serger!!!!!!!!  I'm so excited!

Something she needs:  Bringing Up Boys by Dobson (I've already started reading it!)

Something to wear: Tom's shoes!!!!

Something to read: The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook

My Gifts for Devin:

Something he wants: A stereo for his office

Something he needs: A new showerhead

Something to wear: A dress shirt, a sweater, a pair of khakis, a pair of cords, and Cowboy boots

Something to read: A subscription to Oklahoma Today

After we opened gifts, Devin got to work on our traditional Ebelskiver breakfast.  This is one of my favorite Christmas traditions and they were delicious as always!!!!!

After breakfast, we put Finley down for a nap and just hung out.

By the time I realized we hadn't taken a family picture, Finley was in no mood for one so these will have to work!

That night, we drove to Hennessey to celebrate with Devin's extended family.  We have communion at church and then go back to his grandma's house and let the little kids open gifts and then adults all do a Dirty Santa type gift exchange.

Finley had several meltdown moments so between chasing her and trying to keep her occupied way past her bedtime, this wasn't the most fun we've had at this yearly event! =)  We still enjoyed seeing everyone, but we just didn't get to socialize as much as we usually do and I felt bad trying to keep Finley constantly out of everything when she just wanted to have fun and when she really just needed to go to bed.  Still we know that we won't always be able to all get together like this every year so I'm very thankful that we were able to go.  It is fun seeing how the extended family has grown and changed over the past 5 years that I've been a part of it!  It'll be sad when/if this tradition doesn't continue in future years.

We drove home that night and got organized for Christmas Day!

Speaking of Joy...

There is only one thing I want to remember from this Christmas...

The sweet sound of my little girl praying.

On the way home from our family festivities on Christmas Eve as well as Christmas Day, Devin and I turned the music down and listened as Finley in the backseat prayed "Dear God..... baby Jesus.... thank you... Amen."  We also heard her name off a million family members.

This is what I want Christmas to be about each year.  Praising God for His greatest gift given through His Magnificient Son.