Christmas In Jeff

It was that time of year again-Christmas at Nanny and Papa's. I have at my desk pictures of last Christmas when I was 7 months pregnant and Lauren had just had Alyssa 2 days prior to Christmas on Saturday. Fast-forward to one year later, and Peanut (Alyssa) is one year old, Harrison is 16 months old and Braden is 10 months old. What a lively Christmas this was! Harrison was afraid of Braden. Alyssa did not care for either of them. When we set them in front of the gifts for their pictures chaos erupted. Harrison cried because Braden touched him, Alyssa looked at Harrison and cried, presumably because Harrison was crying. Braden looked at all the cameras with a bewildered expression on his face, as if to say "why are all these babies crying? I am just sitting here ready for my picture." Braden actually sat on or near the couch with Brad and I most of the time while gifts were being opened. For those of you who know Braden: that was our own personal Christmas miracle. That child never sits still for more than a few moments. Babies had to be taken away to be fed, changed etc. But we made it through with fun gifts courtesy of Nanny, Papa and Aunt Francie. Thanks to all for a lovely time and for once again going above and beyond with the gifts. We loved every minute of it!

Merry Christmas From The Dirheimers!

This is Braden's first Christmas, and Brad and I both feel like we haven't actually had time to enjoy it yet. This is a new parental feeling for me. I remember growing up that Christmas was a magical event, and family was everything. There was a wonderment about the holidays. Not only was Santa coming to visit, but I was going to see my family.

Living so far away from my immediate family meant traveling around Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. I never questioned that Santa was not coming for us on Christmas Day. We always celebrated on a designated day, with the idea put into our heads that Santa made a special stop for us either before or after the actual day. He knew that we would be traveling to see our family, so he made accomidations for us. We never questioned this logic. We accepted it with a spirit only a child could muster. When my brother and I were older and understood the real meaning of Christmas, we learned that a part of the joy of Christmas was being with family. We always made it to Evansville, come snow and bad weather. It was always worth it-no matter the circumstances. Those few Christmases we were not there stand out to me as sad and lonely. They were minus the love and laughter we had been raised with.

With a growing family now, it is not possible to make it back to Evansville and a host of happy childhood memories. Instead, I play my Brenda Lee Christmas CD and listen to "There's No Place LIke Home For The Holiday's" by Perry Como. When I hear those words, I am transported back.

Reflecting on past Christmases has made me optimistic about our present and future Christmases. Giving Braden one tenth of what I had on Christmas would be more than enough to make memories to last a lifetime. To me, that is what Christmas is all about-not the money or the gifts-but the spirit of the season and the love of family. I would take that over anything else in the world.

So Stinkin Cute!

Even though Brad and I both struggle to keep up with Braden these days, we always try to stay positive when it comes to his activity level. That child is EVERYWHERE! Most days it feels like we are constantly saying "No" instead of laughing and playing with him. This past week was a great example of when we wanted to say no but struggled with keeping a straight face. Braden hates sitting in his car seat. However, he loves playing with his car seat. Usually he toddles up to it and plays with the straps. For some reason, he finally put two and two together and realized that instead of sitting on the floor playing with his car seat, he could be sitting in it and playing with his car seat. When I looked over, the car seat was tipped upside down and he was cracking up as it rocked back and forth under his weight (note: he was highly supervised during this activity). I managed to capture his joy in one of these pictures, and I am so glad I did. Now when I go to put him in the seat for a car ride, I put aside the dread I usually experience. I don't focus on the crying/screaming that will (undoubtedly) ensue. I have been trying to remember that face in the picture when he played in his car seat and looked like he was surfing a giant wave. As I drive down the road, I put that image in my mind and count the miles til we reach our destination and my little monkey can finally roam free.. to play with his car seat

Bradens First Halloween Video

Happy Halloween!

Monkey's first Halloween was a little anti-climactic. He didn't sleep much when he was at Sonya (his babysitters) house. He was less than thrilled the first time I put him into the costume several weeks ago. Today was no different. So a costume plus not alot of sleep equals not so happy Monkey. He was furious when I tried to cover up his hands with his "mittens." By mittens I mean the monkey hands that his costume had attached to it. However, Grandma and Grandpa Dirheimer got him a wagon, and he was happy enough to be in that for the entire 15 minutes we Trick or Treated. I would have liked to go longer but lack of sleep and any stopping of the wagon put a dent in that. Every time his daddy would stop, Braden would start yelling directly at him. It was a little funny. He never screamed, he just shouted his annoyance. He did enjoy the wagon, so hopefully next year we can put it to good use! This last picture shows how impressed he was with Halloween. Sound asleep and not cognisant of mommy taking pictures!

Rare Happy Moments In The Car Seat

They are rare, and then fleeting at best. However, when we catch those happy moments in the car seat they must be documented. Monkey was in a good mood for the first 1.5 hours on the way down to Kentucky. Apologies for not posting these earlier. Grandma Anna was slow in sending them. She finally busted out her old 35mm that she hasn't used since my high school cheerleading days. Normally, I am a huge digital fan. However, this camera can take some fantastic pics. It may not translate on to the photo cd from Walmart, but if you see these things in color they are awesome. You know what they say, "If it ain't broke don't fix it." It's funny that despite the circumstances and the changes, we always seem to go back to the things that we love. For Braden,you could buy him all of the toys in the world and his favorite thing is still the strap to his car seat. It is comfortable and real, and on those rare happy moments in his car seat, it is always near.

Punkins'

We took Braden to his first pumpkin patch on Saturday somewhere in Fairfield. You know if I don't have my GPS on I don't know where I'm at ;) He loved the scenery and the hayride to pick your own pumpkins was by far his favorite. He was thrilled with the goats and chickens, but it was dark at that point and he was getting tired so we didn't stay long. I can't believe how cold it is getting at night. He was wearing a sweater and jeans (courtesy of Aunt Francie) and had several blankets and his little hands were still cold! Before we left we paid for our pumpkins. Brad and I each got a pumpkin and some hay to make a display in our front yard. Braden got his own little pumpkin, and by little I mean it was as big as him. I guess you could say we got a pumpkin for our punkin!

Carter County

We made the annual trek up to Carter County, Kentucky for the Fultz Family Reunion. Monkey was in SUCH a good mood the entire time. The weekend of our wedding he caught a stomach virus and was feeling yucky. He made up for it that weekend and had a blast. He enjoyed hanging out with his cousins Alyssa and Harrison. The weather was perfect and the scenery was beautiful. I love this time of year, and had wanted to get a picture of Braden in the leaves but then it rained a little.. too bad! Enjoy the pics