Counting down on Christmas Eve

Here we are on Christmas Eve and it feels like the calm before the storm. John is napping, hopefully dreaming of Santa Claus and all the wonderful gifts he's about to get. Jeff and I have done a little cleaning and are now watching TV relaxing before the festivities start tonight. I sometimes have to pinch myself to realize that yes, it's true, I'm living this wonderful life. While we might not be a Normal Rockwell painting and we certainly have our faults, our family is just the way I want it to be. I'm married to an amazing man who gets me and gets whats important in life. I have an amazing little boy who just recently, for no reason at all, has started running over to me, kissing me on the cheek and saying "I wuv you Mommy!". I'm pregnant with our precious little daughter who I can't wait to meet. I can't imagine life any sweeter or better than it is right now. And to think the best might be yet to come!

This week has been fantastic. I honestly don't know if I've ever had this much time off of work where I really didn't have to check in, read emails, or worry about work at all. It's been amazing and I've been soaking every minute of it up. We set out to do nothing, but of course we've being doing lots and lots and lots.

We've spent some time at the park with friends. Time at the park always reminds me of how far we have come and how big John is. The first times we would go to the park John couldn't even crawl! It was probably more for me than for him. Then he transitioned to the crawling/walking stage where I had to watch him like a hawk and pretty much hold onto him the whole time. And now, he's running and climbing all over the place, but I know he's okay, I can just sit back and watch. Maybe I'm a little sentimental, but it gets me every time!

John and Emma


Spin, spin, spin!


More spin, spin, spinning!




Here's John just hanging out! :-)


Then I saw my shadow! Woah!


Another park on another day, sizing up the wall . . .


Daddy first . . .


Then it was John's turn!




The other night, we made a last minute decision to see sunset. It was beautiful. I guess I forget sometimes how nice it is to live in this part of the world, to be able to drive down the street and see this beautiful sight. I stood there looking at my son and hugging my husband watching a gorgeous sunset and thought . . . this is it. Maybe it's the fact that tomorrows Christmas and I'm feeling all tingly with excitement, but I have this overwhelming sense of thankfulness and gratitude for our little family and the simple joys in life!













We've relaxed at home and put together puzzles . . .





We've received a wonderful amount of Christmas cards, I'm loving the way our fridge looks!


We've even made a special trip to visit real firetrucks! This is actually one of the funniest things that has happened in a while. We have a friend, Aaron, who is a firefighter. I thought it would be awesome if we could visit him at work one day so that he could show John all about firetrucks. John loves "wewoo fires", he points them out all the time and if you remember from the photo at the parade he lights up when he actually sees one up close and personal. So I coordinated with Aaron's wife on what day and what station Aaron would be at, there were a few emails back and forth, we both thought it was all set. So the big day arrives, we show up and ask for Aaron, "he's not here today, his shift is tomorrow" all we could do was laugh! Since we were already there and the other firefighters were so nice and offered to show us around we decided to stay!

John has a tendency to get a little shy in a new situation so he wasn't quite sure about sitting in the cab, but once Mommy climbed up there he felt that it was okay.


The firefighter who drives the truck showed John all of the compartments and was really just so patient with him, I was so grateful that he waited for John to calm down and get excited about all of this!


On the way out they gave John his very own helmet and coloring book. Very exciting!!




Later that night we were so happy to hear that our very own firefighter was in town and make a quick stop to say hi. Uncle Matt loves to play with John and make him laugh!


And finally what's a countdown to Christmas without a visit to Santa. I knew from last year that John was not a fan of the Jolly Old Man, but I did my best to talk him up for the past few weeks. "Santa is Mommy's friend!" "Mommy and Daddy love Santa" "Santa is so nice and happy, Mommy can't wait to hug him" and so on. We decided to head to the Mall and hope for the best. It all started of really well. We got there before Santa, we were second in line and John was excitedly talking about what he wanted to ask for from Santa. It was finally our turn, like slow motion we are walking up to say hi, John's all smiles and then . . . CRASH!!!!!!! The loudest boom you could possibly imagine came out of no where. We all jumped, even Santa and even though I tried to play it off, like "Hey John that was nothing, he he he ha ha ha!!" but the damage was done, John was histerical, screaming that he wanted to go home. Apparently some little kid knocked over a metal grate in his excitement to see Santa. Awesome. So we went to the back of the line hoping to calm John down, but I knew in my heart the moment had passed. We went home defeated, pictureless and dissapointed. Being determined I decided we were going to give it one more try. A few days later, we were back to see Santa. This time we were first in line and I told Jeff and the photo lady, I don't care if he's screaming and crying I want a photo! And they delivered! Honestly I'm happy with the photo, one day it'll be a great story!

First attempt . . . waiting for Santa


Second attempt . . . waiting for Santa


And finally . . . John and Santa!


Santa was so patient and kind! He thought of asking for a high five and it worked. Thank you Santa!


Well, there's only a few hours before all of the fun starts and I can't wait! I hope all of you have a wonderfully Merry Christmas!