Traditions

I love Christmas time.  The memories through traditions are something I hold very dear, and knew I wanted to start some of our own in our new little family.  We have a couple we had previously started, but this year we began a few more that I know will only get more fun as the years pass by!
Paul and I both grew up with BIG celebrations full of lots of noise, music, people, and wonderful memories with our dear families.  We love spending Christmas Day with our family, whether here or in France, and hope to always do so as the kids keep coming (Lord willing) and the noise continues to escalate.  Since it is important to us to be with family on the actually Christmas Day, we plan to make our traditions for the Eve and the days leading up to it.  It fills me with so much joy this year to be celebrating as a family of three and beginning to mold our family memories with our sweet little Zaylee Jean.

• Christkindlmarket is something we started doing together the year we were engaged, and is something that I get very excited about.  I love the crowd and commotion that goes along with it.  The warm, spiced wine and delicious German food that warms your body from the inside out.  The delicate ornaments and hand crafted knit clothes.  The colors, smells, crisp winter air, and just being with Paul and taking it all it.  It's magical and wonderful and a MUST on my Christmas to do list!  This year we went with my parents and Aunt Jenny, while Zay girl snuggled close to my chest in her carrier in hopes to keep her warm.  

• Macy's goes hand in hand with the Christkindlmarket in my book.  The windows are so intricately decorated each with their own theme, and always with a bit of a story filled with some history of the great city of Chicago and the Christmas spirit.  Zaylee slept through them this year, and I must say I enjoyed that warm bodied snuggle more than all the windows combined! :)  The Macy's on State (previously and in my mind forever Marshall Fields) has the most beautiful decor and elegant Christmas tree in the great Walnut Room.   There is something special about this department store in the Christmas season.  It just feels like Christmas (whatever that means!).  

• Picking out the perfect tree and decorating it together as a family.  I loved this as a child, and remember it so vividly in my mind as my dad had to look at EVERY single one, from EVERY angle and make sure it fell just right and had no major deformities or holes.  I would get apple cider or hot chocolate and would wander through the trees at Pesche's greenhouse.  We would take it home, set it up, tie up any loose branches, trim where needed, and wait for it to fall a bit to make sure it was perfect.  Oh the habits that get passed down.  Bless Paul's patient heart! :)  I loved stringing the lights and placing the family ornaments in just the right spots making sure they were evenly dispersed while listening to Amy Grant and Twila Paris in the background.  This year the lady that got our tree prepared for us, cut off a piece of the trunk so that we could make Zaylee an ornament from her first tree.  I was so overjoyed by this sweet woman's kind thought for our little family!  Ornaments were always so special in our home, always having a story or memory linked to each one.  

That owl is her first Christmas ornament bought at a friend's barn sale.

•  Advent calendar.  As Zaylee get's older I want to incorporate something more involved with verses and Christmas crafts or activities, but for this year Paul and I just enjoyed the chocolates! :)  
• Today we started a new tradition, that I hope stays around for a very long time.  We went out for a family "brunch" and enjoyed being waited on and just being together.  It was wonderful.  When I was young I remember always going on to a Christmas Brunch, and it was so fun being together celebrating over good food surrounded by so many people all doing the same thing with their loved ones.  And honestly, I just love a good reason to go out to eat!  

• Christmas Pajamas.  I have a new pair of pajamas for Zaylee wrapped and under the tree for her to "open" before bed.  I think it is such a fun idea to have a new pair of festive pajamas to wake up in and open all the special gifts that await under the tree.  

Grandma D and Grandpa D got her a pair too! :) 

• Opening our presents together as a family on Christmas Eve morning or night depending what are plans are for the evening.  This year it will be morning, but Zaylee doesn't know the difference or understand anything that is going on!  Also a good breakfast with Mimosa's for mom and dad :)  

• Stockings were always a big deal for me, and I hope to carry that through to my family! 
  It was always the FIRST thing I raced downstairs for on Christmas morning, but would wake everyone up first before taking all the goodies out.  It was so fun and always filled with so many great gifts! 
• Willow Creek Christmas Service.  Last year we decided to go to the Christmas Eve program at Willow Creek on our way up to my parents house, and we were very pleasantly surprised by how much we truly enjoyed it.  It was such a great message, wonderful time of singing, not too flashy, and just extremely relevant representation of the true Christmas story!  We are excited to see what they have in store for this year, and look forward to spending our Christmas Eve remembering our Savior with thousands of others.  

So thankful for  the birth of our Savior and a day set aside to celebrate that most precious gift!  I pray Zaylee will know the importance of this gift and will always remember the reason for the season! :)

Babbles and Giggles

Two of my favorite sounds are Zaylee's babbles and giggles.  Here are two little treats for your ears!  Don't mind the crazy mess of laundry and toys, we like to live life sometimes :)

Dancing and Clapping

Last week our Zaylee girl started clapping!  We have been working on this mile stone for quite some time, but I knew it would happen sooner or later.  Well for this little lady it took giving her some blocks to pound together to understand that she could make noise with her hands too!  She got an early Christmas present from her Aunt Michelle that included a wooden rainbow stacker and she has been obsessed ever since!  The round ball at the top of the stack is her favorite, and is caught frequently holding it high as she talks very loudly to it as if proclaiming something of great importance.  She makes us laugh so much these days with her sweet babbles.  Anyway back to clapping...I had been trying to get it on camera all week, but this girl is camera shy and is well aware of when it is on no matter how sly I try to be! :)  This morning as we were listening to some Christmas music, she walked up to Paul and "asked" him to dance.  There is a lot of dancing that goes on between the three of us in this little home of ours, and I hope there always will be.  It is one of my favorite things!  Here is a little clip of her walking, dancing, and clapping those flapping birdie hands of hers:

As the song goes in the wonderful White Christmas, "The best things happen while your dancing!"

Breakfast Chocolate with Daddy

This morning Zaylee was sitting with Paul while we were sitting around the table after breakfast, and reached for a chocolate that was sitting on the table.  Paul of course couldn't resist her cute, gleeful babble as she held it high and proclaimed in her own little baby language that it was hers and she was going to enjoy it to the full!  He smiled at me and said, "It's Christmas!"  We watched her as she enjoyed ever nibble and lick of that Porsche shaped, bitter dark chocolate, and when she ate just about half, we pried it from her little fingers and witnessed her proud smile fade into a whimpered frown. 

There's that whimper and her two little teeth! :)

Paul truly loves feeding this girl anything and everything.  He finds great joy in watching her different faces with each new taste and texture!  He is a great dad to our little lady, and I just love watching the two of them together.

Monthly Weigh In

Zaylee girl's Stats: 
15 lb 8 oz.
27 inches

Yesterday we had Zaylee's 9 month check-up, and our little girl is finally back on the charts at a 5 percent!  We are so proud of our growing girl.  She loves the doctor's office.  As the nurse listens to her heart, she stares so intently, studying ever bit of her face as she gently strokes the nurses hand ever so slightly trying to pull the stethoscope away from her little chest.  She just lays there and takes it all in.  It's so fun to watch her as she experiences things and truly takes in all the details and thinks so carefully about each one.  Lately, there has been a lot more babbling going on when she is studying things and feeling the different textures, and it is the very best sound we have ever heard.  We often just look at each other and laugh and say, "Who is this kid?" 

She has this funny little thing that we found when she was still an itty bitty; she loves when you touch, rub, bite, or clean her ears!  She just lays there limp with this silly grin on her face.  It is the funniest thing!  Yesterday when the doctor was checking her ears, he couldn't get over her calm reaction.  He kept commenting on how odd it was that she didn't move or turn her head away, and then laughed in disbelief when she actually stopped moving and began smiling as he looked deeper for the ear drum!  Oh this girl just melts me :)

Eating her Christmas present from Aunt Michelle and the girls!

 And just a couple pictures because they are cute! :)

My view as I get dinner ready.  This picture led to this one....

Love when my little helper joins me in the kitchen!

 

9 Months!

Oh how fast time is moving these days sweet Zaylee girl!  You have had quite the growth spurt this past month, and I am anxious for your doctor's appointment next week to see just how much you have really grown.  You finally grew out of the size two diapers and our comfortably in a three, which proves you have put on a pound or two!  When people see you, they always remark on how petite you are, and your Dad and I love your tiny little self.  It makes carrying you around much easier on our backs, and you love hanging out in our arms!  We are taking full advantage of you being our first baby, and the ability to give you all of our attention.  You go everywhere with us, and are always up for a good party or social event.  People comment on how they can't believe we never leave you, but we don't mind and truly just enjoy having you with us.  We have "dates" at home every night after you are in bed.  We love our evenings just lounging around with each other while we hear the static of the monitor coming from your quiet room.  Our birthday's are coming up, and we plan to go out on a real date and enjoy just being the two of us.  I get excited thinking about it! :)

Christmas fun and tree shopping!

Nine months!  You are so active these days, and in to EVERYTHING.  It's so fun to watch you discover new things around the house, but also tiring chasing after you.  Your favorite things to get into lately are the cupboards, pulling all the books off the bookshelf, kissing the mirror on the stairs, and playing with the basket next to the couch.  You don't have many toys, but you don't mind and seem to stay plenty entertained and are extremely gifted in the ability to self entertain.  It is quite entertaining to listen to you talk and babble as you play and explore.  Obedience is something that comes pretty easily for you (for now!), and when we tell you "no, no Zaylee" or "touche pas Zaylee" you look us straight in the eyes, give a little mischievous smile, and more times than not stop touching and crawl straight to my lap!  It's sweet and endearing and I love it!

This month has brought on a new side of our sweet girl, the mini temper tantrums have begun.  We are not fan's of this, and do not give in or show you any sort of acceptance to this behavior.  Something your dad and I discussed when you were still an itty, bitty was the importance to teach you good table manners and that screaming will not get you anywhere in this family!  A couple weeks ago, you started getting extremely vocal when you were done eating and wanted out of your high chair.  We had been teaching you the sign language sign for "all done" and been repeating it every time you are in your chair and we are finished eating.  You decided it was a good idea to through your hands up and scream, thinking that would get you out.  Well it didn't, sorry sweetie, and it never will.  The past week and a half you have become quite good at looking at us as we ask you, "all done Zaylee?"  You raise your little hand in the air and turn it and sometimes even mimic the sound of the words all done.  If you get moody and loud, we wait for you to calm down and try it again, and as soon as you show us the sign or quiet down and raise your hands up to me, we take you out and tell you how proud of you we are.  I'm not naive and know this will only get more intense and much harder the older you get, but for now you are being extremely responsive to the "discipline" we are teaching you and I can only pray that it continues on in the months to come.

Morning snuggles on Saturday mornings are our favorite!

You have also started showing bits of frustration when we take things away from you or stop you from playing to change your diaper.  Your little fists become tightly clenched and you raise them high above your head and let out a little grunt.  It's cute in its own special way, but worries me for the future :)  Sometimes when you get mad, you throw your arms behind you and flap them like wings.  That one makes me chuckle!  It is such a wonderful, exciting time seeing you develop into this little person that has ideas and opinions in your own little baby language way of things.  You are developing into such a "big girl" attitude, and as much fun as it is, it's sad to see you growing so fast!  You are still our little sweetheart though and have the most loving, content, kind demeanor about you.  Everyone comments on the soft, warm, happy little girl you are and love snuggling you!  It's funny to see how shy and serious you get when there are large groups of people around, but you are such a trooper as you get passed from person to person.  You love staring into people's eyes and are so observant and intrigued by each new person.  You are very much a people person, and are so great at making them feel special with your smiles and snuggles and just the way you study them as they talk and play with you.  The best part is when we get you home and it's just the three of us again, you talk so much and for so long.  It is our favorite thing to hear all the things you have to say about all the people and things you saw! :) 

2 hours wandering Target with this on your head.  You made many people smile!!

A few other little things about you lately:

• You still thoroughly enjoy bath time, and have figured out how to pull the stopper up and let the water slowly drain.  You smile and splash with excitement each time.  
• "Walking" around the furniture is becoming much more graceful and easy for you to maneuver.  
• You are QUICK! 
• Talking is something that has become quite fun to listen to and it lasts for much longer periods of time.  You even occasionally talk into my old phone that is now your play phone. 
• You said Mama last week for the first time, and really said it TO me!  So sweet :) 
• You wave now, but not all the time.  When you do, it is the cutest.  
• We are still working on clapping, but most of the time you just slap your hands against your legs! 
• You love your touch and feel Christmas with Marley book and enjoy feeling each page as I read it to you.  It's so sweet to see your mind at work, you really are a smart little lady!
• You learned how to make the clicking sound with your mouth and think you are pretty cool for doing so.
• Sleep is still something you truly enjoy and are still taking 2 long naps a day and sleeping 12 hours at night.  
• Daddy's shoulders are your favorite place to be.  You hold tightly to his ears and jump up and down with glee.  It's adorable. 
• You love eating, and eat three big meals a day, sometimes four.  

Zaylee Jean you are such a joy to us, and we love you more and more each day.  You are our biggest blessing and we thank the Lord for you every morning as you wake us with your joyful chatter.  Thank you for being so sweet.  We love you so! 

Christmas Time and Joyful Tears

I have always loved Christmas time.  The music, the lights, the smell of pine filling the house, the garland, the process of putting up and taking down decorations, and most of all the comfort of family surrounding me.  My parents have always made it a priority to remind us that it is not about the presents and all the fuss the world has made it to be, but instead always directed us towards the true meaning.  The birth of our precious Savior.  During our morning tradition of eating Monkey Bread fresh from the oven, Dad would usually read from the Bible and we would pray together.  It was a moment of peace amongst the bickering we siblings often started, much to my mother's disdain.  Looking back now, I love that moment most (and the stockings and presents of course!).  The peace.  Jesus came to bring us peace where there once was fear, and hope where we once felt lost.

Last year at this time of year, I was in my third trimester and overwhelmed with the joy my bulging belly brought to my life.  Every Christmas song I heard about baby Jesus brought forth a flood of tears as I sat thinking of all the possible emotions Mary must have felt as she was preparing to bring the Son of God into the world.  What a scary, emotional, joyous, overwhelming, honoring place to be in.  Oh, the tears I shed!  I would automatically place my hands on my belly and press firmly on my precious child's body and feel her move beneath my hands.  My heart would feel heavy with emotion and begin to beat a bit faster in those moments of admiration for that young girl Mary and the gift she was given and gave to the world.  To me.  How unworthy, but forever grateful I am!  I didn't know my sweet girl yet, or even that she was in fact a baby girl, but my love for her was something I had never experienced in my short 26 years.  Something so surreal.  So big.  So full.

As I sit here writing this, my little girl is sleeping soundly in her yellow room, atop her polka dot sheets, with her pink lovey.  Peace.  She brings me more joy than I thought humanly possible.  What did Mary think as she watch baby Jesus sleep, wrapped in swaddling clothes snuggled close to her body?  I imagine she shed many joyous tears.  A love so large, so pure.  My heart is filled with gratitude for the gift of God's Son, born to a young couple, to walk among us and show us the way to life eternal.

This morning I read a snippet from a woman's blog posted by my cousin, and I want to share part of what she had to say.  It is beautiful, and a great truth.

"Amanda and I sat on the kitchen floor last Friday and listened to The Little Drummer Boy again and again and I cried and cried. Amanda snuggled deep into my lap and she kept turning around, cupping my chin in her hands, tilting her little head and saying, “Are okay?” Are okay?” I nodded, held her tight, inhaled her neck and used all of my senses to take her in. I marveled at how she could offer me so little, how she could, in truth, be such an incredible drain, and how I could still adore her so completely. How I could cry just thinking of her. How I’ve memorized every roll on her thighs, every red streak in her hair, the feel of her velvety cheek, and every expression her face has ever made. How there is nothing she could ever do to make me love her any more or any less. How she is already everything she needs to be for me. How she is a reflection of all that is true and good in me, because I made her.
When she started rubbing her eyes, I put her inside her crib and watched her fall asleep. I love her most at the moment she decides to trust me to keep her safe, and so her eyelids close and she falls away and just breathes. And when she awakens and I walk into her room, she turns her face toward me, throws her arms in the air and says Mama, and it’s enough to drive me to my knees in gratitude and awe and never get back up.

Maybe God gave me my little girl so that I might understand how he feels about His little girl.

I know, with my whole body, mind, and soul, that the way I love my baby girl is the same way God loves me. He has memorized every hair on my head and he watches me sleep and wake and when I cry He pets my hair and says “Are okay?” He has never, ever let go of my hand. When I run, He follows, and He never grows tired or weary. His plans for me are more beautiful than I can dream and He wants me to come to him like a child because that’s the way He loves me most. Empty handed. Utterly dependent, with no gifts to bring. He looks at my face and my outstretched, empty hands and He sees his little baby girl. The little girl He created. I don’t have to be a grown up with Him. I don’t have to be a wife or a mother or a friend or a teacher or a writer or a woman in his presence. He created me solely because He wanted someone to love. So that’s all I have to be, someone to love. He wants me to rest in the truth that there is nothing I can do to make Him love me any more or any less. He already knows about the choices I made yesterday – no need to be ashamed, and he already knows what will happen tomorrow – no need to be afraid. He doesn’t want me or need me to be anything more than the needy bundle of tears and love that I was the day I was born and that I am today, on the kitchen floor. He just wants me to sit still and accept His gift, which today is the sensation that my heart might explode as His love and adoration flow from Him through me, His baby girl, and into my baby girl."

Thankful.  Loved.

Movie Monday!

Here are a few recent snippets of Zaylee over the past few weeks.  She is a hoot!

For being the youngest of 11 grandkids, she certainly can hold her own and just goes with the flow.  The flow being chaos, carried around like a doll, hit over the head by the other babies, and just hanging out around the table chatting!

These days, Zaylee has become fearless and thinks she can do just about anything.  This is an example of her thinking she can go hands free and just magically stand on her own two feet!  Soon enough she will, but for now it's fun to watch her try and fail.  Does that make me a bad mom?  I just love the snuggles afterwards! 

We haven't introduced any form of cartoons to the little lady just yet, and plan to put it off as long as we can, but she loves music and today I showed her a little video.  She loved it and actually danced a little to the music.  Too sweet!! 

 

My two water lovers having fun in the hotel pool! 

                                   

These two are starting to have fun together, and it's the cutest thing to watch them crawl around the house with one another! 

On a side note, I LOVE this time of year and can't wait to decorate our house (we are behind!) and just fill it with all the Christmas cheer that I have been feeling for weeks now!!  I get all giddy like a little kid when I see the houses all decorated and festive...even the crazy, over the top, borderline out of control Clark Griswold style ones!  Currently listening to Amy Grant's christmas albums on repeat and loving every minute.