Christmas 2012

Finally I'm posting some pictures from Christmas. As I've said, the boys were sick for much of the holiday but we still managed to have fun (and unfortunately, unknowingly expose our loved ones to the flu!). Sorry! We thought it was just a cough....

After this lovely morning, we headed to the Millers. The boys got to spend time with their cousins from Canada which they're always so excited about! Here are the Miller cousins by the tree.... although I had a pretty hard time getting any of them to look at me :)

Colin, Adrian, Gabe, Carter, Finn, Everett

My guys! You can tell that Colin is starting to not feel well.....

 Opening gifts on Christmas Eve.

On Christmas day, thinking that Colin was getting better, we heading up to my parents house. Probably not the best move since all the boys started throwing up after only a day there. But during that short window of time where everyone seemed pretty healthy, we had fun. Taking a cousin's picture at my parent's house proved just as hard. haha

Macy, Colin, Everett, Carter, Finn. We were bribing them to sit with Pirate Booty, which is why they all have their mouths full!



The boys got water bottles, just like big brother Colin uses... and thought they were hot stuff. Oh my goodness, they were so excited about these "big boy" water bottles!

Carter, still clutching his water bottle, with my Dad.

If you have to be sick in bed, nice to have a lovely Christmas tree by your side. My mom always put a Christmas tree by each of our beds growing up.... a tradition that continues to this day.

The true spirit of Christmas

Remember this post?

I was feeling overwhelmed, tired, bogged down by the every day demands of motherhood. 

I had these beautiful Christmas cards laying in a box, by the door, unaddressed.... and I wasn't sure how I was going to get them addressed and mailed. 

Then a little elf called me and essentially said, "I'm coming by to pick up your box of Christmas cards. E-mail me your address book and I'll address them all."

"Are you SURE???" I asked.

She wouldn't take "no" for an answer.

The next day the elf returned with this:

A stack of stuffed, addressed, even stamped Christmas cards, ready to go and wrapped up in a red bow.

She handed them to me, along with a Starbucks coffee, and went on her way. 

This act of kindness might just be the thing I remember most about Christmas 2012. This elf is busy too and has a lot going in her own life and yet she took time to ease my burden. I felt humbled, appreciative and a deep desire to pay it forward by keeping my eye out for an opportunity to ease someone else's burden. 

This Christmas spirit thing is contagious, in the very best of ways.

***** I'll post a picture of our Christmas card in the next couple days. I love how it turned out, thanks to Momento Design!

Pure magic on the Huckleberry Railroad

This could become a very long story so I'll try and keep it short. The shorter, bulleted version:

• We decided to take all the babies to Crossroads village (about a half hours drive) to ride the Huckleberry Christmas train which travels through the woods passing by Christmas light displays. Never been before but it sounded really nice.

• Did we not learn anything from Zoo Lights?

• We got there, unloaded the kids and all their gear- two were in a double stroller, one was in the moby wrap against me, one in the ergo against Chris. We ran to the ticket booth and got there just in time (we thought) to catch the 5:50 train. 

• The 5:50 train and the 7:30 train were sold out. Only the 8:30 train, the last of the night, was available. Side note: WHY DIDN'T WE CALL AHEAD OR ORDER TICKETS ONLINE?! 

• By this point Colin was beyond excited about this train so I personally was NOT going home without riding the train.

• I suggested that we just "hang out" with all four kids, while we wait (almost 2 1/2 hours). 

• Chris suggested I was crazy. He was right. It was cold, starting to drizzle (why does it always rain whenever we attempt to take the babies out lately?) and our double stroller wasn't fitting through the door frames in the late 19th century quaint village.

• Chris drove the babies home (just to re-cap, so they basically got ready, were driven 30 minutes, were unloaded from the mini-van, were carried/ pushed around briefly in the cold and rain for a few minutes, and were then loaded backup and driven home!) The babies were actually great sports about it. They are such good babies. Life with these boys keeps reminding me to go with the flow. You gotta be able to adapt a plan that isn't working on the fly and not harbor any disappointment.

• Colin, my mom and I stayed and passed the time by walking around the small town in the cold rain and riding the merry go round (the fastest I've EVER seen, seriously) 

The fastest merry go round EVER

Watching and waiting for our turn

Gramma and Colin, passing the time

• When Chris got home, he stayed with the babies and my Dad drove back to join us for the train ride and drive us home after.

•  As we stood on the platform and waited for the train to approach, under my breath I said, "This better be good."

• IT WAS!!!!!!!!!

On the train, waiting to go

• Colin LOVED it! I've never seen him let loose like this. Singing along to the carols, dancing, hugging, smiling, telling us "Merry Christmas", and pointing out the window to the lights. It brought us such joy to watch him.

• My personal favorite memory is when he slung his arm around my shoulder and pulled me into a back and forth sway to the music. Then he turned my face to his and gave me a big kiss. I mean seriously, does it get any better?

• For me, one of the best things about being a parent is getting to experience these sorts of things all over again, through the eyes of your child. Pure magic.