A Blessed Christmas

We had an amazing Christmas.  My attempt to take a family picture was less than successful.  I ended up just getting random shots of us in our "Christmas gear." 

Random shot #1:  Reese asleep on Big E.  This was so absolutely precious that I couldn't resist.  Eli doesn't get a lot of time with Reese because of his work schedule, so having him home this last week has been a great joy for all of us.  

 Random shot #2:  Me and the babes

Random shot #3:  Reese going crazy!

Random shot (s) #4:  Emmanuel and Reese not paying attention to the camera.

We had a wonderful pre-Christmas and Christmas Eve Service.  We love our church...and there are not enough wonderful things that I can say about our Pastor and his family.  Emmanuel adores Pastor Jordan, and Pastor Jordan is so loving to him.  It is so important to me to have Godly male role models in both Emmanuel and Reese's life, so I am filled to the brim when I think of the great love that my son has for our Pastor.

Our First Lady is pretty amazing, too! 

We had two trees:  My Christmas tree, which has a theme and was color-coordinated and Emmanuel's personal tree...with ornaments that he decorated or made.  (We had a 1st Annual "Cousin's Ornament and Cookie-Making Party" last week...look for a blogpost on that when I can get the pics from someone!)

I know that most moms have a tree that is lovingly decorated with each of their kid's homemade ornaments...but honestly, I am not quite ready to give up my color-coordinated themed tree just yet..  Maybe next year we will have two big trees!

After Christmas Eve Service, we came home and I told Emmanuel that tomorrow we would celebrate Christmas and say "Happy Birthday" to Jesus.  He then replied, "Happy Birthday, Jesus.  I love you, Jesus."  My heart almost melted.

We had some special guests at our Christmas morning celebration:

Chef Bobby Flay came dressed in a blue apron and blue chef's hat.

He even whipped up a chicken drumstick that Reese immediately put in his mouth. 

An expert fireman came to put together Emmanuel's brand new wooden firetruck.

And, Woody, the cowboy from Toy Story, made an extra-special appearance that made a curly-haired little boy ecstatic. 

We could not have asked for a better, more peaceful Christmas.  Even the food at Christmas Dinner (at my sister-in-laws house) was some of the best I've tasted (and there was no turkey or ham on the menu, thank God!)

Eli also blessed me more than I could have asked for by creating for me an amazing gift in memory of my dad.  It is a gift that I will forever cherish.  I will write more about this in a later blogspot if my heart can handle it.

We are so thankful for Jesus and his gift to us.  We do not deserve His mercy, but He continually pours it out upon us.  Oh, Lord...it is my heart's desire that both Emmanuel and Reese would crave you...that they would hunger and thirst for Your righteousness...that they would rejoice in the true meaning of Christmas both now and forevermore.

Rejoice! Rejoice!  Emmanuel has come to thee, O Israel!

Winter Wonderland!

Snow...in Nashville...in early December?  Seriously?

It was perplexing to me to see snow on the ground in December in Middle Tennessee.  I mean, really?  Snow came before the first day of Winter, and it actually was cold enough to stick the ground.  I had to pinch myself because I thought just maybe I had been transported back to Baltimore.  My confusion was met with Emmanuel's joy as we watched the snow falling, read books about the snow, indulged in hot chocolate, and of course, played in our little 2.6 inches of snow.

And, I always imagined that I would be the type of mom that would stay inside close to the fire while my children had fun throwing snow balls and rolling down hills.  I mean, I really don't like to be cold.  But, I was so excited to take E out into the snow and play and play and play (okay, we only stayed out for about 20 minutes, but that was about as much cold as I could take...), and although it took some creativity to try to play, take pictures with gloves on, and get some footage on the video camera...I managed it, and we had a blast.

He did not respond well when I said it was time to go in....

But, eventually he came back in (with hot chocolate as a bribe, of course!) 

We had a lot of fun, and I am thankful that we survived the first snow of the season!  We weren't able to build a snowman like we had hoped...we tried, but my child jumped on the first big ball because he was having so much fun!  We will have to try again when he is older and more patient...and when there is more than 2 inches of snow on the ground.

There is snow in the forecast for Christmas...

Happy Birthday, Jesus!

It's that time of year where I feel like I have to creatively explain to my oldest child that Christmas is not about presents...it's about Jesus...His birth...and the hope that He brings to all of us.  Those of you who know me best know that I don't do Santa or go into debt to buy Christmas presents...it's just not my style.  I do, however, love decorating and playing Christmas music and really preparing my heart for the season that we celebrate Christ's entry into the world to save us...to save me.  I mean, seriously, when I stop to think about the birth of our Savior...and all that it means not just for me, but for my children...my sons...I have to stop and catch my breath.  Thank you, sweet Jesus, for loving us so much that you would take on flesh...that you would become like us...so that we could be like you.

Now, how does one explain this to a 2 year old?

In my house...a couple of our conversations went like this:

Discussion #1:  "Emmanuel, let's put up our nativity scenes (we have two).  Here is Baby Jesus, his mama, his dada, etc..."  I turn my head (well, actually, I went into the kitchen to grab some water), and I came back to my sweet Emmanuel, who had grouped both nativity scenes together, and was pretending to be a fireman (he was pretending to hose down the nativity scenes with his firehose.)  I said, "Emmanuel, babe, what are you doing?"  He replied, "There was a fire and I'm a 'woo-woo man' (aka fireman)...they called me to put it out.  I said, "Um...I don't think there was a fire the night that Jesus was born."  Emmanuel, "Un-huh, mama, I just put it out."


Discussion #2:  "Emmanuel, Baby Jesus was born in a manger.  He didn't have a crib or anything."  Emmanuel replied, "Baby Jesus don't like cribs.  I don't like cribs, too!"

I pray that God would use these conversations to prepare the hearts and minds of my boys as they grow and understand what Christmas truly means...that they would be able to declare, "Happy Birthday, Jesus" and truly understand the meaning of "God with us."

Happy Birthday, Jesus.  Thank you so much for loving us.

Under the weather...again!

Sorry it's been a little while since my last post, but we've been under the weather yet again!  We celebrated two birthdays, Eli (35) and Carmen (29), Thanksgiving, and had some crawling action from Baby Reese.  That's right...5 months old and he's rocking and moving away!  He is desperately trying to keep up with Emmanuel and his cousins.

Below are some pictures from our outings over the last couple of weeks.

Reese looks more and more mature to me everyday. He is no longer a tiny little newborn that I brought home from the hospital...he is growing into a chunky, mobile infant. 

It's hard to believe that just two weeks ago, we had weather in the 70s.  We enjoyed a family stroll in Centennial Park.

Emmanuel, oh, I mean "Bob the Builder" needed a quick snack before building another house!

My husband and the boys all dressed up in their blue sweaters!  (Emmanuel is wearing a bow tie--he has become quite fond of bow ties these days!)

Emmanuel and his blue bow tie (you can't really see it with this shirt.)

As a rule, we started decorating for Christmas on the weekend after Thanksgiving!  Emmanuel chose blue as the featured color for the ornaments this year.  Blue is his favorite color.  Also, in honor of our Emmanuel tree, we have candy canes because he is obsessed with peppermints!

I have no Carolina outfits for my boys (I keep telling myself that we will make a trip to Chapel Hill and buy them there...but that road trip would be disastrous right now with Reese), but they do have these brightly colored orange clothes (which I like to hide...just joking)!   So, when it was announced that Carolina would play UT in the Music City Bowl, I ran to find my Carolina hat so that I could put it on Reese.  Eli, of course, had already taught Emmanuel how to cheer, "Go Vols!"  It might get ugly on Dec. 30th in the Foster household when our teams go head to head.

These boys are so silly.

Reese looked at me as if to say, "Please, no more pictures, I don't like the red light."

"But, just because you begged me, I will smile for you!"

He's such a sweet baby...fiesty...but sweet most of the time!  

We are trying to get better...humidifiers...flu shots...hot tea with honey....hopefully our sickness will pass soon. 

Cheers! 

My dearest Emmanuel

E,

Your smile could light up any room.  Your laughter could bring joy to any day.  Your energy is both infectious and draining, especially when mama has not gotten any sleep the night before.  You are my firstborn, my cuddlebug, my mama's boy...I love you so much.

(Emmanuel took the baguette out of the grocery bag and started eating it when we got home)

I love how funny you are.  I love how you'll just bust out singing "Can't Nobody Do Me Like Jesus" (thank you, Smokie Norful).  I love how when you hear me say, "Praise the Lord," you will respond with "Hallelujah!"  I love when you know you're about to do something wrong and you'll look at me or your dad and shake your head and hands and start talking real low.  I love that you respond well to discipline most of the time.  I love that you wake up ready to go, smiling, laughing and making jokes.

(Emmanuel playing with "his babies" in the jumperoo--these are my baby dolls that my mom made for me forever ago...he found them at her house and brought them home.)

I love that you like to be in control (except, of course, when I have to remind you that I am the mama).  I love that you are little and scrappy.  I love that you are a social monster.  I love that you run so fast and that you even like to exercise with me in the neighborhood and on the trails.  I love that you have such a vivid imagination.  I love that you are my little Bobby Flay.  I love that you love being creative.  I love that you love reading books and solving puzzles.  I love that you like singing songs at the top of your lungs.  I love that you like going to church and hearing the choir sing.  I love it when you make up new songs on your guitar.

I love that you are falling in love with Baby Reese.  I like seeing you teach him about construction and sharing your trucks with him.  I like that you read books to him.  I like that you are so protective of him and you don't want anyone else touching him, especially other big kids (unless they are your cousins).

(They are building a house behind us--and next to us--the workers came on a Saturday morning with their big trucks, so E went outside with his big trucks.)

I love how you have such a strong work ethic.  I love that you like to work outside in the yard and inside in the kitchen.  I love how country you are!

(Washing turnip greens) 

(Cracking open a fresh walnut from Granny Myrt's walnut tree)

I like that you are starting to use your manners and saying "please, thank you, and yes/no ma'am."  I am trying to like when you say "no ma'am" when I ask you to pick up your toys or go upstairs to bed.

I love how crazy you are around your cousins!  You totally light up when you see them.  When I question why we are in Nashville, I remember how much you love them.

I love how detail-oriented you are.  I love when I go to the cemetery to visit my daddy's grave that you will say "Mama's dada" when we pull in and you will pretend to cry (because I start to cry when we pull into the gate).  I love how you are just a little taller than his tombstone and you pat the top of it and hug it each time we go (I did not prompt you to do this, but you do it instinctively).

You challenge me in so many ways and keep me before the cross.  There are days that I stop to pray when you are working my last nerve, and you will stop what you are doing and kneel next to me.

I am excited about God's plans for you.  It is my belief that God will use you to turn hearts and minds to Christ and to greatly impact His kingdom.

Lead me to Jesus, son.

Love, mama.