Bits of Christmas (2)

So, Christmas morning. Mila really got Christmas this year. Did I say that last year? I was wrong. This year she got it (although you would never know it by her reaction to mall Santa, did you catch that snub?!). Excited, tearing into the presents, not looking confused or bewildered by everything but instead thrilled and full of joy. It was pretty much the kind of Christmas morning every parent dreams about when they see that happy plus sign on the pee stick. She loved all of it. She loved all the Christmas carols (my favorite is how she called it Angels Hark for Hark the Herald Angels Sing), was crazy about and over-analyzed each Christmas card we got that went up on our card "tree" (pretty lighted and felt ball branches), and could recite snippets of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas by the time it really was the night before Christmas. And the nativity...oh my gosh. Admittedly we had a few. A toy wooden Melissa & Doug one, another beautiful, more heirloom-y wooden one that I've been collecting over the years, and Marm let us borrow her nativity this year with all the villagers, grotto for the manger, etc. Let me tell you, Mila was in her element. Every night before bed she'd lay everyone down, even the trees would go to sleep, and she would spend hours out of her day just playing in front of it all, talking for everyone, acting out scenes. My Wugs. Her imagination was in full tilt and it was enthralling to see, reminded me of myself and how enchanted I was with our nativity and all the magic it held. 

We didn't do elf on the shelf this year, it was a conscious decision for now as I don't really want Mila's good behavior to solely be motivated by the promise of toys. I want her to be kind because she has empathy, period and end of story. I'm probably overthinking it and I do plan on incorporating kindness elves for next year as that concept really resonated with me. As well as a service advent calendar. But Marmee also heard of the idea to reward good behavior with a straw under baby Jesus each time something kind is done...and conversely a straw is taken out if an unkindness happens. Wugs makes good choices and her wonderful baby Jesus has a soft bed of hay beneath him. For the most part she got that. And she was motivated by love (her love of babies? Okay. I'll still take it.).  

For Santa's wish list we kept it to the old something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. Mila's requests were as follows (obvi I found ALL of this super adorable)...Want: a baby. Need: a new placemat. Wear: pom-pom clothes. Read: the books Good Night Brown Bear and Wake Up Little Bear. Let me tell you, Santa done good! Even when it came to the books, he came pretty close to finding some with nearly the exact same titles as Wugs' made-up ones. Mila also made up one more category, Something to Ride On: a bicycle. Ha! That rounded things out nicely.  

Dani, sweet little Dani Lu,was wide-eyed and interested in all of it. She was content being in the middle of it all on this different-than-usual morning--where I wasn't holding her on my hip while trying to make coffee, but rather kept nudging her towards another present to rip open. She was taking it all in too, of course in different ways than Mila but I think she absolutely knew today was special.  

Oh and about those toys...I mentioned before that I kept things simpler this year, more intentional. I didn't go overboard at the last minute and start buying crap just to have the illusion of more under the tree. Pretty sure that's not what it's all about. Right? Well, I have to say I was and still am THRILLED about that decision...Mila was the opposite of disappointed and she was happy for all the right reasons. She was just as much gaga over the candy in her stocking as she was about her balance bike with the shiny red bow 'neath the tree. Maybe even more! Doesn't that innocence and simplicity just speak volumes? And the first thing she mentioned in recounting to my mom wasn't how many presents Santa had brought but rather...how he had put all the baby Jesuses (plural???) in the mangers. Because He had been born. 

early early morning or way too late at night, depending on which way you look at it.

wouldn't it be grand if this linoleum were gone by next Christmas? Here's to hoping.

Santa came!

mistletoe

Best Christmas ever.



















































































Best Christmas ever.

The 52 Project, 1/52

"A portrait of my children, once a week, every week, in 2014." 

2 children, 52 weeks, 104 photos...more about the 52 project here.

Mila: taken New Year's Eve. We told her she could stay up as late as she wanted on this special night, and...she lasted until 1 am. Three years old. We're in so much trouble.

Dani: she's all about exploring every nook and cranny these days. I'm actually surprised she's not attempting to scale this shelf, little climber that she is.

Bits of Our Christmas (1)

There were some rough spots, mainly being sick from weeks 2-4 of advent! Dani had a cold that was getting worse rather than better and lo and behold...double ear infection. Mila held out the longest but once it caught up to her oh boy. My heart broke to see her laying so listless on the floor, not wanting to move from the aches and fever. It troubled me to no end but really brought things into focus. I feel like some of my best mothering happens when my girls are sick...rubbing backs while they're throwing up, snuggling them on a pile of blankets--unconditional, selfless love in which nothing else matters. Back to our Christmas, though, which was perfect. I'll save Christmas day photos for another post because my computer is shuddering under all this uploading.

First things first, I never knew how much we needed a mantel. Maybe not need, I guess a mantle is more of a want. But boy am I ever glad we have one here on out. A whole new decorating surface! And it makes such a statement! I need to hang something in that big empty space, but I think I'm going to like this mantel thing, yes ma'am. My newest obsession took hold in early December (still wild about pom-poms though). Mini bottle-brush trees, bleach them white, then re-dye all sorts of beautiful colors. It's very seussian, no? I saw a pic floating around pinterest and then in a very timely fashion A Beautiful Mess posted a how-to. p.s. I totally googled mantel or mantle for spelling. 

 Other things I made this Christmas season...I finally finished Dani's Christmas stocking. I never did get around to making one last year but at six weeks old...she forgave me. Hers is the embroidered elf-girl one and I love how it turned out. Might be my favorite. Mila's is the sparkly red one with felt flowers--those were made last year for her whilst nursing nursing nursing a newborn. Steve's is the lone knitted one, made by me and there's somewhat of a story there but I'll spare you for now. Mine is the ragtag peach one. It started out as Mila's stocking but I never was satisfied with how the snowflakes turned out. I will say that for once I'm not loving how all our stocking are different...I'm the queen of NON matchy-matchy but I think there's something very traditional about matching stockings hung by the mantel with care. Still trying to figure out how I can marry the concepts of my homemade stockings with some sort of common thread. Maybe Christmas of 2014.

 

But enough about stockings, I made a couple other things. Even though I swore off the homemade dolls and softies after Mila's doll from this Christmas lost an arm and Huckle Cat lost both his eyes...I still ended up making a special doll for Mila and then one for Dani. Dani's ended up looking like Niki Minaj and her pink mop of hair is already coming undone. I may call do-over on that one (sorry Dani!). Mila's turned out perfectly. It was really sweet how the whole thing unfolded, actually; she's always leafing through my making-stuff books and I told her she could pick something out for me to make her. She firmly decided on the little boy from Wee Wonderfuls, "because I don't have any boy babies." Together we went to Joann's and she picked out the green corduroy fabric for his pants, his skin color, his hair, and I used one of her newborn onesies and turned it into a shirt. She loves it. And I do too.

 

 

But much more exciting than me making stuff: MILA made DANI a doll! They had these kits at Hobby Lobby with pre-made fabric dolls and you add the accessories. Mila had picked out a ballerina girl for her sister. And even though the double-sided tape it comes with to attach everything sucks, it's still a good little kit for a toddler (so long as their parent has a glue gun). The perfectionist side of me took a deep breath, stepped back, and let Mila affix the yarn hair all sloppy to her heart's content, with a nonexistent bun, askew tiara, etc. And it was wonderful--for her and for me. I LOVED having a special 'secret' project we worked on together over a couple days, loved seeing how excited Mila was to make something for her sister she adores. She even painted the box she gifted it in and helped write the label. Hands down one of my favorite moments of 2013, Mila giving Dani that little doll she made herself.

Dani got in on the making, too. Like I did with Mila just two years ago, her first painting was done on canvas and gifted to Steve. I have video footage, Dani Lu was NOT afraid to get dirty and all up in that paint and it was glorious. What a turkey she is. Another favorite moment, see the pictures below.

• times I watched Love Actually this Christmas season: 1. My sister and I quoted it the entire time.          

• This was the year Mila got a mini PINK tree in her room. I love it just as much as she does and we decorated it with hairclips and some homemade spin-art ornaments :) 

• Because everyone got so sick and things were suspended for a few days there (all except for tv...oh how the media comes on when we're sick!), there were some things we didn't get to. I had wanted to take Mila shopping to pick out a gift for a needy child, Toys for Tots or something similar since we had missed the giving tree Sunday at church. Salt dough ornaments happened after Christmas and not before (still fun though).  

• My Christmas fail: only buying one giant wreath at Michael's because I was being cheap and wanted to use a coupon for a second one as well, to hang a wreath in each of our dormer windows. Home Alone style. Of course they sold out for the season on my return trip. Hashtag next year.

• My unintentional Christmas gift: Steve getting called off on a day where Dani hadn't slept the night before and getting to bake my heart and stuffings out the next day while Steve drove around so she could sleep. I baked and I baked. Chocolate cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning, gingerbread loaves, gingerbread caramel corn, sugar cookies. The gift of time, every Mama's favorite.

And at the end of every day in December (well from the 4th on), no matter how harried and crazy (and miserable, when they were sick) it got, I always had this: I'd sit in the chair where I nurse Dani to sleep each and every night and from there, through two sets of windows, I could see the white lights twinkling in our tree. And all was well for those wonderful, calm moments. 

Also, huge for my mental state, there's been something about having a home to decorate that has made this place feel more like ours. Whether you do white lights for days the way I do or put lots of evergreen everywhere or glitz and gold...it's hard to not feel the warmth and love in a place all decorated for Christmas. It all came together, just in time. We're finally home.

our nativity

get it girl

very thankful I hadn't cloth diapered her in that moment

made with love by Mila

Santa 2013. The Weibel girls probably weren't his favorites.

Christmas Eve

PLEASE LET'S JUST TRY TO TAKE A PICTURE WHILE WE'RE ALL DRESSED UP FOR ONCE

store-bought wreath for our front door. money well spent...

...because this was my homemade wreath. i consider myself good at a few things...but wreaths just aren't my thang.

how Dani spent the first half of Christmas Eve mass. Steve waited it out in the car. Merry Christmas Eve, Dani Lu :)

Happy New Year!

2014 is here! 2013 in the books. It was incredible--events big like us buying a house and my nephew Robi being born, events small but nonetheless held dear to my heart like Mila's swim lessons and Dani's roly-poly self bobbing for apples on our new front porch. This past year stretched me so much in ways very very far out of my comfort zone, sometimes I handled it gracefully and often I didn't. I tried. I did a lot of apologizing in 2013. Fatty, our beloved huge-hearted crazy (more dog than) cat, was put to sleep in 2013 for medical reasons. That was hard, very very hard. House hunting started out fun and then wore thin. That stretched us. We fell in love with three different houses before the stars aligned and we finally got our house. Our first home. Moving and getting settled in---an ongoing process--stretched me. Dani went from a tiny, sleepy, curled-up baby to practically* a toddler, climbing and falling down and ER visits and everything ;) This past year Mila went to her first movie, learned how to swim, finally became friends with a little thing called a toilet, and transitioned to a twin bed from her crib. A big year all around. There were friendships rekindled that I'm so very grateful for. A whole year spent back in Florida near my family--I haven't been able to say that in awhile. 2013, you were good to us.

I'm not quite ready to share resolutions yet, I'm still mulling and muddling them over (but I promise at least one has to do with squeezing some exercise in--and house projects will probably take up another post entirely). One definitely has to do with blogging more...part of my job as mama is to be the memory keeper and this little space, even though it doesn't cover everything, certainly, is a part of that. I love the idea of grown-up Mila and Dani reading these words and feeling united in the same emotions and experiences of raising their children. Unfortunately when I get busy in real life it usually translates into less time here, obviously; 2014 promises to be no less busy but I'm going to try to prioritize blogging a little more. 

Most especially, I would love to be able to say at the end of 2014 that I found joy every day. Looking at these photos, just a few of my favorites from our Christmas and New Year's...it seems like a no brainer. Just look at those two turkeys. They're mine and they bring me joy on a near-constant basis. Even that last picture? The one where Mila is clearly being none too pleasant, Dani looks half past exhaustion, I have crazy eyes and Steve has his let's soldier on, damnit expression. Even there, taken at the end of a beautifully exhausting Christmas day filled with dear family and some long-overdue reunions. Even there I see it.

Happy new year! I hope it was wonderful and sparkly, surrounded by people you love.