advent calendar

Yikes! I know it has been a while - there are lots of pictures to post, stories to tell... but that will have to wait until after finals! I couldn't pass up the opportunity to break from my massive paper writing and post some PDFs for you that I made for H this year. It started in October when we did our annual shoebox trip to fill up a box for Operation Christmas Child. This year H got very excited about it! He wanted to pick out every item and for weeks afterward would continually ask about the 'little boy'. He wanted to know if he was awake or asleep, did he get his toys yet, does he go to school, how is his mommy, etc. We began praying for this box and our 'little boy' at night as well as praying for some friends of ours who are in the process of an international adoption and were just placed. I was really surprised how much he seemed to understand about these children on the other side of the world and what a joy it is to pray for them. That gave me an idea! I recently bought a sweet advent calendar on etsy and wanted to add something else to it to make it a little more 'reason for the season.' So, I went to the Operation Christmas Child website and looked up where they distributed the most boxes and then started searching for pictures and maps and prayer requests. I assembled this all into documents for one side to be the pictures and name of the country and the other side to be the prayer requests. I'm going to put these slips in his advent calendar everyday and we will take one out talk about the country, pray for the country, and then use little mini clothespins to pin them on our tree. I might buy him his own little tree for his room, we'll see. I'm excited to start the tradition though of celebrating Christmas through praying for the children of the world. Hope you can use this with your families this Christmas season!

Christmas Pictures!

We had a wonderful Christmas, first celebrating in Houston with my Dad and Mary Jo and then with my mom on Christmas.  We are still looking forward to another Christmas when Jeff's parents return from Dallas next week.  Here are some pics of H's first Christmas

Here we are before the Christmas pageant.  Jesus did a great job, it wasn't until the Christmas eve service when he cried so loud and long that we had to leave the service.

 

 

Here's H with his Papa Bill and Jo Jo.  He had a great time with them, even if he did spit up on his Papa more than once....twice.... I can't remember anymore.

 

This is his first Christmas outfit, it says "Dear Santa, I've been good all year (ask my mommy)"

Here's H and his friend Reindeer Barney on Christmas Eve.  H is wearing his Baby's First Christmas outfit

Mommy & H on Christmas.  Look at those chubby baby thighs!

We had a great time with Agi, Uncle Stephen & Aunt Elyse.  Haydn pretty much slept through all the present excitement, but he sure got some nice gifts.  Thanks family!

Preparing for Christmas

On the road to Houston yesterday I got to listen to one of my favorite Christmas CDs. Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God. If you don't have this CD yet, buy it, download it, borrow it! I don't feel ready for Christmas until I have listened to this album. It is basically a storytelling through song about the coming of Jesus and birth of Jesus.
These songs have meant even more to me in light of the recent birth of our first son. Yesterday, we played Jesus, Mary and Joseph at our church's Christmas pageant. It was really emotional for me to think about what it must have been like for Mary to have gone through pregnancy and labor. One of the songs on this album is called 'Labor of Love' and is about Mary's giving birth to Jesus. I can't imagine how hard it must have been, how isolated and ostracized she must have felt, how scared Joseph must have been. I think I've seen the manger scenes for so long that the crudeness of the conditions didn't really sink in to me. It is really remarkable to think about Jesus' entry into the world, no wonder no one knew he was the King.
I hope you all enjoy this Christmas week and are able to take some time to ready your heart for the coming of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the World!