The Christmas Card I Never Sent Out

So....things got a little crazy this month. Between all of us being sick with the "gunk" and my grandfather passing away, I've been a bit pre-occupied. Needless to say, I didn't send out Christmas cards this year. I designed one - just didn't have time to order...so that they got out on time.

So...here's the Christmas card that y'all didn't get. Sorry :(

27 weeks

I can't believe I'm 27 weeks already! Time is flying by so quickly!

I had an appointment with the midwife today, and everything looks good.

* I actually gained about 5 lbs.

* I'm not measuring large anymore...I'm right on track.

* The baby appears to be head-down

Now I start going every 2 weeks for prenatal visits.

I had some discomfort last week because the baby was trying to continue to lie transverse (sideways) but was running out of room! luckily it only lasted for about a day before it decided to change positions :)

And speaking of baby positioning - I checked out a book from the birth center about how to tell what position the baby is in. it's called "The Belly Mapping Workbook: How kicks and wiggles reveal your baby's position" by Gail Tully. I'm excited to get into it.

Now, the biggest thing is getting rid of this stubborn head-cold that I've had for about 3 weeks. I haven't been able to run because of it (running with a cold just makes it worse for me). The midwife suggested I get on some pro-biotics (grapefruit seed extract, etc.) to build up my immune system. Hopefully it works. My go-to stuff (Claritin-D) just isn't cutting it this time. so sad.

15 months

Balian had his 15-month check-up today. Here's the stats:

Height: 31.5 inches (50%)

Weight: 23 lbs. 12 oz. (between 25% & 50%)

Can I just say how much I love my pediatrician? Dr. Simpson is great! I don't feel pressured to get vaccines that scare me right away (she's letting me delay the live ones until he's 2), all the vaccines are preservative free (not just mercury-free; ALL preservatives). She seems totally open to more natural remedies at times... I could go on and on. The more I take my kids to her, the more I like her. Props to my friend Julie for the recommendation :)

The Good:

Balian is doing very well with understanding and following instructions. He's learning where things belong, and wants to help put things away. He wants to help mommy with the laundry, and loves to watch the washer do its thing. He loves closing doors (and opening cabinet doors to get into things). He's doing sign language to say please and thank-you (he has such good manners ;) ). He's doing some animal noises, but mainly animal gestures. He chomps his teeth like an alligator, beats his chest like a gorilla, sticks his tongue out like a giraffe, pants like a dog, attempts to spit like a camel...we've occasionally gotten a "baa baa" for a sheep or a monkey sound here and there. He knows most of his body parts - ears, eyes, hair, tongue, teeth, armpits, fingers, toes, knees. Of course, his favorite is the belly button, and kinda has an obsession with it - but of course, Mommy's belly button is WAY more exciting than his own, and he likes to pull my shirt up and point to it. I'm sure the round belly has something to do with it. ;) He understands so, so much, he just doesn't really have the vocabulary to go with it yet. He does say some things - duck, cat, this, that, book, night night, shoes, socks (LOVES shoes and socks)... but nothing easy like hi (he just waves). He LOVES to play outside, and climb up the big ladder and go down the big slide (on his tummy, feet first) that Neil built (5 ft. high). I just have to catch him at the end.

He also LOVES books. He'll go into his room and just look at books forever! His favorite book to be read right now is "I love you through and through" that he got from Nana and PopPop.

Balian has also made some pretty dramatic improvements with potty training this week. We've long conquered the pooping in the pants (we haven't had a poopy diaper since the last time I posted about it), but he wasn't showing any signs of discomfort with wetness - even with cloth diapers. I couldn't remember when I actually started Bella with training pants (when she was showing any sign that she could be dry...or being dry a lot?), but we decided to try it anyway, and just see what happened. So, we put him in the Gerber training pants with the plastic covers over them (so we didn't get pee all over the house if he wet a lot). Only when he's awake - nap time and bedtime we still use diapers, obviously. Of course, this meant more work for me - the training pants just aren't as absorbent as diapers, so we had to abandon the routine and go full-fledged into potty training. We figured we'd try it for a day and see what happened - and what happened was he did amazing even on that first day! I kept a log of every time we went to the potty - the time - if he was wet or dry - if he told us somehow, etc. The first day, he was dry and went like 8 times. fabulous! so we kept it up the next day...and even with church on Sunday, it was more times that day! Monday, he wasn't feeling well, so I was going to let him "have the day off", but he decided he didn't want to have a day off - he wanted to potty train! He didn't want to wear a diaper - he wanted to wear his "underwear" (training pants) - and that day he started noticing right away when he wet, and started coming to me whining, or patting himself where he wet to let me know. Yesterday, he found me in the kitchen and was whining. I asked him what was wrong, and he took my hand and lead me to the potty. on the way there, I checked and yup, he was wet. He seems to really hate being wet now. yay! Discomfort is the first step...now he just needs to figure out what it feels like BEFORE he goes...so he can tell me rather than just trying to get him to the potty every 20 min. and hope he's dry. I know these things take time..and boys take longer. But my boy is doing so wonderful - especially considering he's been sick! Which leads me to...

The Bad:

Balian has had the sniffles, coughs, etc. this week just like the rest of us. I was glad he had a Dr. appointment today, so that she could check him out just to make sure it wasn't anything else. Well, apparently, he had a slight ear infection in his left ear. so sad. It's the first time he's ever been sick! The boy is so happy all the time, you'd never guess something was wrong other than a cold. Even when his eyes were watering and nose was dripping like crazy, he just played like always, and definitely did not want to neglect any opportunity to play outside :)

The Down-Right Ugly:

Did you know kids could get strep "down there"? I sure didn't. Now I do. And I thought it was just a weird diaper rash or dry skin because of wetting so much at night... apparently not. eek!

What About Christmas?

So I've gotten a lot of questions this year about Christmas and what we do in our family to celebrate. Considering it's our first year to be in Texas and around our new friends, it makes sense. Of course, most don't really expect the answers that I give them...
2 years ago I posted a poem that I wrote about Christmas (you can read my poem here.)
This year, we've been more focused on making other new Christmas traditions. How do we really teach our kids about giving - Giving to the Lord as He gave to us - giving to those in need the things that they need - and that giving is sometimes a sacrifice? How do we replace what we have always known with something new that transforms not only ourselves and our family, but also the world around us?
My friend, Skylar, posted this video on her blog last year that kinda puts things into perspective:

Here's kind of a Q&A, based on the questions I've gotten. It's just meant to explain what we do and why. That doesn't mean we're perfect or we've got it all together - that's totally not the case. We're a work in progress, and we're just trying to do our best.
Do you do Santa? no. We will teach our kids about St. Nicholas - the man that snuck around and put alms in people's shoes and stockings as they were hanging to dry - because they desperately needed the money. He didn't want to take any credit, he just wanted to give as Christ gave. He saw a need, had the means to meet that need, and met it. We want to teach that we give to those who need because that's what Christ wants us to do - not just during Christmas but all year long. How what this man did got turned into what "Santa" is now... I have no clue...
So do you give gifts at all? Our immediate family (Neil, Bella, Balian, and I) don't exchange gifts at all at this point.
why? First off, Neil and I both realized that even though our parents tried their hardest to teach us that Chirstmas was all about Jesus, all we really cared about on Christmas morning was what we were getting. the gifts. not Christ. I know that a lot of people say that we give gifts because the wise men brought Jesus gifts. But to me, that's just the point. They came to give gifts to Jesus - the Christ, the long-expected Messiah - because of who He was. He is worthy of everything we have to give him. But do you notice how nothing was given by the wise men to Mary and Joseph? Although their faith and lives were a pivitol part of the story, they weren't the main event. Jesus was. It seems to me that all of the gifts we give each other just take away from that. What do we really give to Christ on Christmas? Is He really our focus? These are questions that we had to ask ourselves and answer truthfully, without justification...and sadly, our answers were pathetic.
So what do you do instead? We do the Jesse Tree during Advent (see here for info - scroll down to #1), we go to church, we worship together as a family, make a birthday cake for Jesus and sing to him on Christmas day, and we find ways to serve and to give. These traditions are still in the making as well. We're kinda starting from scratch here, so these things take some time. A friend of mine gave me an idea of doing a Christamas scavenger hunt with the kids on Christmas morning that revolves around Scripture. I really like this idea. we may try it out. I also just read about a really neat family tradition: Putting a big box (open and wrapped) by the tree labeled "For the children who have nothing." During the month of December the kids were to carefully think about what toys, etc.they had that they didn't need anymore. They gather them up, clean them up, and put them in the box. Then the toys are given away. You can read more about this and other ideas here.
what about extended family (grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)? yeah...we're still in the process of trying to figure all of that out. It's hard to do things differently without making others feel like they have to change things as well. We don't want to interfere with the way others want to celebrate Christmas. We don't want to push what we do onto others. We just want to spend time with friends and family, while also being consistent in what we are teaching our kids and experiencing ourselves. We're trying to figure out the best solution for that, but haven't really come up with it yet.
The hard part is helping others realize that it isn't that we're scrooges. we aren't stingy. It's not that we just don't want to spend money or give gifts. (but seriously - do we really need them?) We love our families and want to give to them because we love them...we just feel like that should happen on a different day. In our family, we do birthdays big, because that is the day we can celebrate that one person. Christmas is Jesus' day. We want to give to Him. Give him the Glory, the Honor, and Praise. But we also want to literally give to him. How do we do that? Look up Matthew 25 (starting in verse 31) "Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of Mine, you did for Me." Christmas shouldn't be the only time that we give to those in need or serve God's people. But shouldn't we at least give him that on his day?

Diapers

I recently finished a diaper project for a friend of mine (Allie). Now that she's seen them, I can post pictures of what I did :)

It consisted of fitted diapers and covers.

The fitted diapers were made out of VERY good quality prefold diapers - and I used every bit of those prefold diapers! The part that was cut off on the sides was used to make the soaker in the middle (that is sewn in on the top only, so that it washes and dries more efficiently). They snap closed (but no snaps touch baby's tummy), and the tabs can be overlapped for a better fit (sometimes needed when going up to the next size). Elastic around legs and in the back, to keep potential "blow-outs" contained in the diaper. Sewed and surged on the edges for double fraying protection.

The covers consist of one layer of PUL (waterproof) fabric. The binding is done out of the same fabric, so moisture wicking isn't a problem. Some were done with velcro, and some were done with snaps.

Both have an extra layer of fabric behind the front closure part of the cover. So, no snaps rub on baby's tummy, and there is no possibility of leakage due to sewing the velcro onto the cover.

The velcro covers have tabs that can be overlapped for a better fit, and they also have wash tabs to secure the velcro during washes, so that it lasts longer and doesn't get "hooked" onto anything else in the wash :)

The snap covers have 2 full rows of snaps to keep them securely closed, and an extra layer of fabric to secure the snaps and ensure no ripping of the fabric (and therefore no leaking...). I have come to love snaps lately. They don't wear out like velcro does after a while...so you don't have to worry about replacing covers after multiple kiddos have used them (a problem we have run into even the 2nd time around on the size that is used for the longest amount of time.)

Now if I can just get the motivation to do some of this for our stash...