The meaning of the Christmas Tree

Thank goodness Georgia beat Georgia Tech because that meant Justin was in a good mood to go get our Christmas tree on Sunday!  I put up most of the decorations on Friday and then Brice was chomping at the bit to get the tree up.  I put up all the lights and then Brice usually helps with the ornaments.  This year he had to learn that Anna is part of the family and can actually participate with the tree as well!  A few years ago, in preschool, Brice made a craft into a Christmas tree and attached to it was

The meaning of the Christmas Tree

The Christmas Tree is an Evergreen tree

which symbolizes Everlasting Life.

The lights on the tree symbolize the tiny stars 

that lit the sky the night Jesus was born.

The gifts under the tree symbolize

the "Gift" God gave us-eternal life and

forgiveness of our sins.

The ornaments symbolize the 

strength and substance Jesus brought to us.

The Angel and the Star on top of the tree

symbolize the Angel who told the shepherds

of the birth of Jesus.

The Star symbolizes the North Star,

the star of Bethlehem, that led the wisemen

to baby Jesus.

The candles we light represent the light that Jesus brought to earth; Christ is the "Light of the World".  By placing our gifts under the Christmas Tree we represent the wisemen and the gifts they brought to baby Jesus.  We also represent the disciples because we are followers of Jesus Christ as we live our life for Him and we go out and spread The Word to those who don't know the story of Jesus.

This year when you put your tree up and enjoy it's beauty remember the meaning behind the tree and the meaning of Christmas!!

We Give Thanks

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Reynolds family at Justin's parents' house.  My parents headed to Charlotte to see Blaire and Josh and we missed them.  We did however continue with one of our traditions with my parents.  On Thanksgiving they give the kids their annual Christmas ornaments and their outfits for Christmas.  I love this tradition and have decided that you just can't force traditions, they just have to kind of happen.  So, they came up on Wednesday to give them their gifts.

We headed down to the Reynolds' early this year and it was nice being able to spend the majority of the day there.  We Give Thanks every year but Justin and I agreed that this year was special.  Our family is complete and we have so very much to be thankful for.  Robin's meal was delicious and the kids had a great time. 

I think we all use the phrase, "Thank you" everyday, at least I hope we do but do we really mean it?  Do we just use it loosely because we were taught to say it?  I challenge you to really show God your gratitude during this season of Advent and maybe even say "thank you" to someone you wouldn't normally.  Those two little words can mean so much..."Thank You."...and I want to say thank you to all of you who follow this little blog and leave your comments.  I started it in order to keep friends and family update as well as to document all that goes on in this blessed life I am leading but wouldn't continue it if I knew no one was keeping up with us.  So, thank you and HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

 Pa and two of his grandsons

 Anna entertaining us with her blankets

 Aunt Kerry (Robin's sister) and Nanny (Robin's mom)

 Nana and Brice having some one on one time, over a bottle of wine...kidding of course!

 Pa and sweet Anna

Aunt Kelly entertaining Kyle.  She is so animated and had him laughing so hard!  It was so cute!

Precious Boy

Our Precious Boy has found his thumb and isn't afraid to use it!  He also loves all of his fingers when he is awake and always has them in his mouth.  So much so, that he will gag himself!  This is something new for my children as Brice and Anna were pacifier kids.  Kyle will take a pacifier as well but when I go in to get him up in the mornings, he has some combination of fingers in his mouth or his thumb.  This is great because it means I am not getting up in the night to replace his pacifier but it also means trouble down the road.  I was able to take away a pacifier, but you can't take away his thumb off!  I was a thumb sucker for too long!  We will see what Mr. Kyle decides to do.  As for now though, it is super cute and sweet just like he is.

Georgia BEE and Cousin Jack

Addendum to Post:  I realized this the other day when I watched Jack and wanted to post about it but then it slipped my mind when I posted.  Jack could be mine, as in I could have had time to birth a child in between Anna and Kyle.  Anna and Jack are 15 months apart and Jack and Kyle are 17 months apart.  Can you imagine??  This makes me think about my great grandmother who had six children.  The third, fourth and fifth were all born about a year apart.  My Uncle Bud was born in May of 1920, my Aunt Norma was born in July of 1921 and my Grandpa was born in August of 1922!!!  Do that math real quick.  Holy Moly!  No wonder she prayed the Rosary every day, the woman needed an escape!

Yesterday was Brice's play at school that he has been working on in music class.  Not sure if you are familiar with the Frog and Toad series but that is what the play was taken from.  I, myself do not know these books but may have to search them out and read the stories.  It sounds really cute.  Brice one of the BEES, Leader of the Bees in fact.  This didn't mean he did anything extra but I guess the other kids were able to look to him if they forgot the words or the hand motions.  I capitalize BEE because there are no yellow jackets in this household!!  When he was told he had to wear a yellow or black shirt, he made the most disgusted face and said, "I don't wear yellow."  I had bought him a yellow shirt which I promptly returned and let him wear his UGA shirt with black pants!  He did a great job in the play...Brice is not the type to perform in front of a crowd so I was very proud of him for being as demonstrative as he was.

Our Georgia BEE

 Below is a picture of the soldier that Brice made for their Veteran's Day celebrations.  I was quite impressed with the school and all they did to honor our military.  Brice came home from school knowing all four divisions of the military, they had breakfast for parents who were serving or had served and then a parade.  They decorated the front lawn of the school using colored tissue paper made into the American flag.  The kids in 1st grade then made their soldiers with the acronym for Veteran next to them. Brice's words for Veteran were V-very important, E-energetic, T-tidy, E-excellent, R-remember, A-Afghanistan, N-navy.  Although, not all spelled correctly, they were all very close and a great description of our Veterans.

Next week the kids are out of school ALL. WEEK. LONG.  Yes, all week.  When I was a kid, I only got three days off for Thanksgiving.  To me, this is just crazy but I guess it allows families to travel which is nice.  That being said, both Anna and Brice have their school celebrations this week.  Brice's "feast" was today at school and Nana had the honor of being invited.  As many of you know, Nana kept Brice during his first four years of life when I would work and now she has been keeping Cousin Jack for almost two years.  I knew that it would not be easy to keep up with Jack in an elementary school because he is a busy little dude and well, he's 21 months old, tomorrow.  So, I offered to keep Jack, Anna and Kyle here at the house and let Nana and Brice have a little date at the feast.  Anna's feast is tomorrow at her school so I'll post some pictures then.  I am not around Jack as much as I would like to be so today I learned the following about him:  he loves trains, and Mickey Mouse, he is a lover (liked jumping on Anna to hug her!), likes Ritz crackers and mandarin oranges, and has lots of energy!

Checking out the Percy and Thomas the Train DVD's.  He looked at them multiple times!

 Anna wanted a picture of her and Jack on the beanbag chairs.  This was as close as I could get of the two of them while holding Kyle.

So, I now have ideas for Christmas for Jack due to what he liked here!  Yay!

Funny Guy

Please excuse my singing voice!!

Busy-ness of the Season

The house is quiet right now.  All three babies in their beds dreaming of basketball, Cinderella, and his next meal no doubt.  I know these are the days that I will want to remember one day and the days that I won't be able to remember because I was so busy going from one mindless task to the next only to have the first task undone by one of the ones I was cleaning up after.  First and foremost, I am feeling much better which is a must when there are three kids to take care of.  My mom saved the day for me, of course, because that's what moms are for!!!  She came up last Thursday when I was feeling so rotten and helped me to not drown in dishes, picked Anna up from school and then took Brice for a haircut. Thank you Mom from both Justin and I.

I have changed Kyle's evening schedule a little bit in hopes of having a little bit of each evening to myself or to spend with Justin and then of course, I am hoping that he starts sleeping longer each night.  I am not going to lie, I miss nursing him.  I am just pumping during the day in hopes of avoiding another bout of mastitis.  I won't go into detail of how it all came about but I think I had been narrowly avoiding it for about four weeks!  I am still nursing him in the middle of the night because it is much more convenient and am so thankful that he will still do it for his mommy and not just himself.  I was so sad last Friday and Saturday realizing that this was it, it was over and he is my last.  I couldn't believe I was so bummed about it because with Brice and Anna, I just got over it and moved on.  I guess because it went so well with Kyle for so long that I was very proud of myself for not only sustaining him but giving the child some man-boobs!!  He also has a couple rolls on his thighs that I am going to take credit for.  And, for all I know, once I get some actual solid sleep, I may not be emotional about it at all...  I have been trying to remind myself of all the things I can do once nursing is over. 
These include and are not limited to...
-having an adult beverage
-wearing a regular bra
-wearing any shirt/top I want because I don't have to have access
-having my body back, completely
-not worrying about what I'm eating
-not worrying about not eating or drinking enough fluids (that is for me, a full time job!)
Anna and Brice were totally confused last week when I started giving Kyle a bottle.  It was like it was all wrong and they had to look out for him!  Anna has since started "pumping" which is so hilarious because, boy, she has been taking notes!  Last night, her babydoll, Polly, was well taken care of including diaper change, and being fed a bottle of pumped milk!  Anna was truly disappointed when I turned my pump on for her and nothing came out into the bottles, "Where is my milk, Mommy?"!!

And, with the Busy-ness of the Season upon us, I know it will be nice to be able to leave Kyle at home to go do things with the other two.  Both Brice and Anna have feasts, plays, programs coming up.  Not to mention a trip to Disney World with the older two and of course, Anna's birthday and Christmas!  Many of my Facebook friends are posting what they are thankful for each day and I have so much to be thankful for as well.  I am trying to remind myself that even though I am so tired I want to cry most days, I have three beautiful healthy, happy children who love each other.  I have an awesome husband who does so much for me around the house, including getting up for bootcamp every morning and then coming home to get Brice ready for school and dealing with Anna's shenanigans!  I have so very much to be thankful for and just need to remind myself of this.  I am off to make lunch for Brice tomorrow, get myself ready for bed, and feed Kyle one more time in hopes that this meal will sustain him until 6am!!!

Totally random picture unrelated to the post.

3 Months Old

Our little Kyle turned 3 Months Old on Halloween Day.  He has been such an easy baby and my only complaint as of right now is that he is not sleeping through the night.  We had a four night stretch of him going all night and then I guess the hunger pains came back and wake him every night around 3am.  I am still nursing him, however, woke up this morning with what I think is mastitis.  Both the advice nurse and my friend/neighbor, the lactation consultant agree that my symptoms were that of mastitis.  The doctor's office was able to call in something for me so hopefully I can get it under control and start the weaning process as well.  I made it to my original goal of Halloween and then would like for him to receive some breastmilk until four months.  While Kyle has been my most exclusive breastfeeder I also don't want him to get shortchanged.  I also like to keep nursing until they are sleeping through the night, just easier and always ready in the wee hours!  We don't take him for a check-up this month, it will be next month right before we leave for Disney World.  So, here is what he is up to...

-Eats usually 6 times a day
-Goes down extremely easily for naps, compared to other two
-Bedtime is usually around 8:30pm, wakes around 3am and then sleeps til 7 or 8am
-Has started laughing when tickled or finds something amusing
-LOVES to be sung to, especially "Pat-A-Cake" and "I'm a Little Teapot" (I'm sure you can guess who sings that one to him!)
-Still adores Brice and always has a smile for him, as well as Justin
-Has started smiling more at Anna and not just staring at her
-Has adjusted to the car seat and will actually give in and go to sleep now, Praise the Lord!
-If left on his back, he will rotate himself around
-Wears size 2 diapers but is quickly outgrowing them
-Wears mostly 6 month clothes, he is long, just like the other two
-Super sweet and extremely laid back, yet at the same time will let us know when something is up and is usually easily comforted

So, I will leave you with some more pictures from Halloween...

 Anna decided that putting stickers on her pumpkins would be just as fun as carving it.

 A funny skeleton face!

 Sorry for all the Cinderella pictures but she just looked so sweet I couldn't get over it and you could tell she felt so special!

 A little blurry but so sweet that they held hands, even if Brice was dragging her a little bit!

 One of our neighbors gave her the wand and she has slept with it every night since and took it to school today.  We think she likes it.

 Didn't you know, Harry Potter is a Dawgs fan?!