Emmanuel's First Christmas...and other things

This was a Christmas of many "firsts" for Eli and me!  

It was our first Christmas in Baltimore in our first home.  Since we were here for Christmas, we we were able to go to Baltimore's "famous" Miracle on 34th street to see the lights.  (For those of you who are from the South--this light display is nothing to write home about...but it is a very special Baltimore tradition and something that I have wanted to experience for years.) 
It was our dear friends, Davin and Won-Jung's first time meeting Emmanuel and our first time meeting their 9 month old son, Daniel.  Won-Jung and her daughter, Zoe (age 2 1/2), are below with Emmanuel. Davin and Won-Jung came over for brunch the Sunday after Christmas as they passed through Maryland on their way to see family. 
This was so sweet...Emmanuel and Daniel holding hands.  It doesn't get much better than this.  I do pray that they will be friends even though there is distance between them...and I do hope that Emmanuel and Zoe will get married--I keep telling him that it's ok that she's a little older!

This was Emmanuel's first time using a sippy cup!  For weeks now he has been grabbing at our cups and reaching for our food.  We experimented with this sippy cup for him.  We start solids on Friday (he will be 6 months then).  My mom and I were busy making homemade baby food for Emmanuel (I got a book from my sister-in-law, Heather, about the best baby purees).  This leads me to our next "first...."
My mom flew up to Baltimore to spend her first Christmas with us in Baltimore!  This was a pleasant surprise.  I guess she was a little worried that we would be up here all by ourselves. Below is a pic of mom and Emmanuel.  He really loves people and wasn't upset to be left with Granny when Eli an I left on our first date without him.

A pic of me and mama.

Another "first"--Emmanuel is beginning to open his mouth and blow on my cheeks because that is what I often do to him.  

Here is a picture of his "first two teeth" (I hope that you can see them!)  Yes, not one, but two teeth, folks!  How many teeth will he get in all...someone should have warned me about this! We had a great Christmas of "firsts" with our Little E.  I will post a hilarious video of Zoe and Emmanuel as soon as I get it downloaded later this week.  Zoe is a genius, by the way....you will see in the video!  

Good News of Great Joy!

"But the angel said to them,  'Do not be afraid.  I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord." --Luke 2: 10-11

As we embark upon Christmas Eve, may you ponder what it meant for Jesus to come and be among us...what great love...what great sacrifice...just for you.  We live in uncertain times, but we are told not to fear because on THAT day more than 2,000 years ago when Christ was born....he was the fulfilled promise of "good news of great joy."  The birth of Christ brings us a hope and eternal joy that cannot be matched by anything here on earth.  

We hope that you embrace this "good news of great joy."  Merry Christmas.

Jesus Lullabies

I sing to Emmanuel...a lot.  Probably too much!  I was one of those girls who would hold a hairbrush and belt out Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey tunes when I was younger.  Now, one of my greatest joys as a mom is holding Emmanuel at bedtime and singing my "Jesus lullabies" to him.  Regular lullabies are great, too...but there is nothing like singing to your baby about the sweet love of Jesus and praying that he would hunger and thirst after the righteousness of Christ. 

This week's lullaby:  I love you, Lord 

I love you, Lord 

And I lift my voice 

To worship You 

Oh my soul, rejoice 

Take joy, my King, 

In what You hear! 

May it be a sweet, sweet sound in Your ear. 

O Christmas Tree, O Christmas Tree

We headed to the Christmas Tree Farm to choose our first Christmas Tree as a family. Emmanuel was all bundled up for our family outing! 

I didn't remember where the farm was.  I knew it was off Exit 27, but after that...my memory was a little bit cloudy.  So, we followed signs to "Doyle's Christmas Tree Farm" even though we were looking for Mt. Carmel Christmas Tree Farm.  Thank God that Doyle had some advertising.  We found the farm--here's a picture of a piece of it below.

We ended up with this Douglas Fir!  We call him "Fat Daddy."  This tree is HUGE!  I think it is the biggest one we've ever had.  Here's Fat Daddy all decked out!  (You can't really see the lights in this photo.)  There is an assortment of blue, gold, and purple ornaments.  I had some gold beaded garland...but Fat Daddy is too big...I didn't have enough to fit.  I used almost 90 ornaments, and didn't decorate the back side.  This is a serious tree! It will just be us for Christmas Dinner.  We're planning the menu now.  We might also do a Christmas brunch.  We are having fun thinking of all of these traditions to implement with Emmanuel.  

Fast from...Information?

After people tell you how cute your baby is...the next, inevitable question is:  "How does he sleep at night?"  I have learned that this question is the standard by which all new moms are measured.  If your baby IS sleeping "through the night," then you are congratulated and told what a "good child" you have.  If your baby isn't, then you are given "the look of pity," and then people proceed to tell you how to "correct" the problem.  

1.  You should make him scream for several days and then he will sleep through the night.  

2.  You should give him formula because your breast milk is watery at the end of the day.  

3.  You should let him stay up really late and exhaust him so that he sleeps longer.  

4.  You should establish an early bedtime so that he sleeps longer.  And, then, they proceed to tell you what they are doing with their child or what they did with their children to get them to sleep through the night.  

I have been an "A" student my whole life, but if I am measured by how well my child sleeps at night, then I receive an "F" as a mom.  Yes, I am one of the few moms in the universe whose 5 1/2 month old is not "sleeping through the night."  I've read all the books...I know the philosophies by heart...I've gotten "the look of pity" so many times from so many moms...but we are doing just fine.  Emmanuel is a happy and content baby.  No, he's not sleeping through the night, but he's rolling and almost sitting by himself and he's cutting his first tooth.  He's looking at me with those big, brown eyes and smiling and drooling when I go to get him in the morning. He's talking constantly (he is a Foster...). He's doing great, and we are so thankful to be on this journey with him. 

No, I'm not sleeping through the night (and haven't since, like before college), but I still do laundry and cook and clean and have perfected the art of walking, typing, and pushing a grocery cart while nursing.   

So, this week, I am going to take a fast from any information about babies...especially babies and sleep!  No internet articles...no picking up Babywise or the No Cry Sleep Solution or Healthy Sleep Habits Happy Baby.  No asking my "mom friends" how their baby is sleeping...I'm taking a fast from all that people say is "the right way" to do sleep. 

And now, I am going to catch some zzz's before my beloved son wakes up.

I'll post picture of Emmanuel's little tooth later! 

James' 40th Birthday

So, I love my big brother.  I've always thought he was the coolest guy in town.  He's handsome, athletic, intelligent, domestic (the man cleans and does laundry!), and loves Jesus!  I am so blessed to be his little sister.  As a part of his 40th birthday present, I made this video for him of his kids.  Enjoy.

Catching up!

Hi, friends.  It has been a few weeks since I've written.  We had a Thanksgiving celebration at the MacIver's house, Mia turned 4 years old, I turned the big 27, my brother turned the (really) big 40, and I started decorating for Christmas!  Below is a picture of Emmanuel in Bella's jumperoo.  

A huge thank you to the MacIver's (Martha is below with Lil' E) for inviting us into their home for Thanksgiving.  Martha and Doug's teenage boys, Peter and Daniel, are involved in our Youth Ministry at church (Peter was in an earlier post--he went with us to Miami).  Mia's birthday was on Thanksgiving Day and when I talked to her, she said, "I'm having a party today (meaning:  the family dinner).  I wish that you could be here."  My heart broke.  My mom said that Joshua comes into the house and takes Emmanuel's picture down from the refrigerator.  He does that so that he can "hold" Emmanuel.  Precious!

The day after Thanksgiving was my birthday.  Eli was so sweet to let me "sleep in" (I'm still getting up through the night with Emmanuel), he cooked me breakfast in bed, I went shopping (for the first time in forever)....and he did all of these other "present-like" things for me.  The BEST PRESENT that he could give to me:  Tickets to the Chris Tomlin and Israel concert in January.  So, I LOVE to worship God through song and dance...I mean...when I hear a Chris Tomlin song (Indescribable, Holy is the Lord, How Great is our God) or an Israel song (He Knows My Name, Friend of God, I Know Who I AM)...I really feel bathed in the presence of the Lord...I get so excited about heaven when I worship.  So, Eli found out that they are coming in concert TOGETHER...and we are going to go!  Hooray! 

Below is a picture of the flowers that Emily got for me!  They are so fragrant.  Thanks, Em.  Thanks to everybody for the cards and emails and phone calls and text messages and presents.  (Sweet Julia even sent beautiful earrings all the way from Germany!)  It was a fantastic birthday! 

Our little man is getting big!  He weighed in a 15 pounds 3 ounces when he went for some shots last week. (He's still in the 25th percentile for kids his age).  We also think he had his first small cold...just congestion, really.  We are so thankful that he's pretty flexible and likes people because we continue to take him everywhere.  Today (if weather permits) we hope to go to a Christmas Tree Farm and cut down a live tree!  We're a little late this year (I like to start right after Thanksgiving), but better late than never.  Emmanuel will get to experience his dad using a saw to cut the tree down.  These first memories are the best.  

Thanks to cousins, Morganne and Daphne for the blanket that Emmanuel is lying on in this picture.  They handmade it! 

Have a great week.  Check back soon for a new post!