my top 5 recommendations for moving!!

We are moving!

No, we're not moving states. We're not even moving cities. We are moving just down the road to a house that better fits our family's current needs. 

We are almost set to move next month, but we have one final hurdle before doing so: the inspection! It's happening tomorrow, which also happens to be the day before Christmas Eve, which brings me to my top five things you should know before you move. 

5. If at all possible, don't put your house on the market during the holidays. (Instead of a Christmas tree or Christmas decor, we've had a clean house for the holidays. Kinda weird!)

4. Make things easier for you whenever possible. (The kids are getting stocking stuffers and a new house for Christmas.)

3. When you prepare to put your house on the market, do NOT pack everything! (Unless you are selling your house after you have moved, you still need things in your house to make the weeks on the market less stressful... ask me how I know!)

2. Go ahead and get that house project done now so you don't have to worry about it when you actually want to sell the house.

1. DO NOT PACK THE CAN OPENER! (We were SO close on this one. Turns out my mother-in-law had graciously helped us get ready to put the house on the market, and when cleaning the kitchen, she put the can opener away in a different drawer... but there was a moment when the whole "the can opener is packed" feeling was upon us, and it wasn't good!)

Anyway, it's nice to be writing a blog again. Perhaps I'll keep on writing. In the meantime, Christmas is almost here! May yours be very merry!

Merry Christmas!

Just for fun... a few comparisons of Christmas pictures!!!

It all began with Brayden in 2012.... I do love this picture. :-)

He did way better the next year, 2013, although the picture actually isn't in the chair, since he didn't want to sit on Santa's lap!

Drumroll please... the boys in 2014! They had each other, so they did awesome! Super proud... and yes, compare 2012 and 2014... J and B wore the same outfit and I think they look super alike! Fun! 

Anyhoo... fun memories. I am treasuring Christmas this year with two little buddies to enjoy it with. B is learning all about "Bible Jesus, Jofus, Mary, sheepies, shepherds, and wise men." Happy birthday to Jesus and Merry Christmas to all!!! Such a wonderful time of year.

Christmas memories

I have a lot of beautiful Christmas memories (and I'm excited to make more today). A few of my favorites are...

Christmas Eve night... the excitement of being halfway through our celebrations. The best night of sleep ever!

Christmas morning... walking downstairs and seeing the presents under the tree magically tripl from late Christmas Eve night to the morning. Stocking full. My parents always amazed me, even when I was older, because they must have been working late into the morning to make it happen! And if Brian or I had an extra big gift, it was often toward the front and we would get extra excited if we knew what it was.

Throughout December, Brian and I would sit in the back seat of the car when we were younger and have Christmas light sighting competitions. I really love remembering that now. Makes me smile. Every house with lights would be a point. I think if one person counted a house, the other couldn't, but I don't remember exactly. I think he always beat me, but that's okay. I think that was normal. ;-)

I wonder what the Christmas memories were for the shepherds, Mary, Joseph... everyone involved with the first Christmas story of Jesus being born. I wonder if the shepherds and wise men thought, "I wonder what happened to that 'newborn king.'" I wonder if they thought they had dreamed the whole thing or that they misheard because Jesus was a king because he essentially wasn't heard from for 12 and then 18 more years. I mean, people knew about him, but I think he just became a "regular" baby in "regular" life over those years of growing up.

I think remembering the first Christmas had to have been something that each one of them should have--and probably did--regularly... remembering the "magic" of the moment, the thrill of the angels singing, the moment Mary heard she was going to be with child, the moment Jesus was born, his first cry... all those things that made that night extra special can easily be forgotten in the humdrum moments of living, but those are the things that set Jesus apart and made Him so special to us and the world.

The same should be true for us: remember the God-given special moments. The moments in His presence. The moments our lives are changed. The Christmas morning we celebrate year after year... everything that has created us to be who we are today...no matter how normal our lives can get with the day-to-day sleeping, eating, playing, working, God has been at work in our lives. I remember that today and smile.

meeting the reindeer

It's official. Brayden loves animals. Anything large and furry that moves on its own makes Brayden laugh, giggle, and slightly hyperventilate in a cute, Brayden sort of way. (He talks using sounds and they get long and loud and somewhat high when he's excited. Love it!)

He sees dogs a lot since we have a dog and Erik's parents and Erik's sister and bro-in-law have a dog. His favorite is Tucker, of course, but "Killerman" is probably close behind because he is a 12-pound shih tzu and definitely Brayden-sized! "Kitty"--Erik's parents' dog--is the largest he has seen so far and the one he can actually pet for any length of time because she is so old she doesn't move that much! My favorite is when Brayden is in the high chair and Kitty is begging for dinner from someone at the dinner table right next to Brayden. Kitty is so preoccupied begging that she ignores Brayden's petting and laughing! 

Last night, Brayden met a cat and showed that any furry animal is wonderful to him. He started his excited hyperventilating and chased that cat as fast as his crawling and scooting could go. 

Tonight was a wonderful Christmas memory having to do with animals because Brayden got to meet...

...one of Santa's reindeer!

I thought he'd like to pet the reindeer, and I was right. Well, he would have petted him if his hands had made it out of the end of his down coat. :-) (He's still growing into it!) As soon as he saw the reindeer, he started his happy noises and smiled. I loved watching it! He wasn't too sure about Santa, but he loved the reindeer.

Of course we took some pics...

Love! This was at a party Grandma and Grandpa were going to, so Brayden had to take pictures with them. 

I'm loving Christmas this year more than ever. Looking at it through the eyes of a child. :-) 

Christmas with Brayden

I wish I could fully encapsulate watching Brayden grow up everyday into a succinct set of words that would describe everything about parenting. I don't think I can! It's amazing to watch him learn and literally grow overnight in so many ways. His curiosity and appetite is huge right now. I love watching him learn about everything in life.  

I feel like a true parent now because I got my first art project and Christmas gift from Brayden when he came out of the church nursery the other day: 

So special!

Erik and I are seeing Christmas in a whole new light this year watching it through Brayden's eyes and trying to give him all the beautiful Christmas experiences we can -- and pictures, since he won't remember the experiences!

For example, I was very excited when I realized that we could get a picture of Brayden on Santa's lap this year. What fun! We had a special night set aside to go... but with the way circumstances went, we couldn't get there as early as we had planned. In fact, we got there 5-10 minutes before Santa "closed" for the night. Ahhhh! I thought about giving up and doing it a different day or forgetting about the picture, but I couldn't do it. At that point, though, it was a little later in the evening and Brayden had fallen asleep on the way over to see Santa. I was so intent and excited about seeing Santa that I rushed him out of his car seat, barely gave him a chance to wake up, and rushed in to see Santa.

Now Brayden can be a pretty sensitive kiddo anyway, so for him to be rushed onto the lap of a man in a red suit with a red beard didn't sit with him well.

You probably know where this is going...

:-) 

:-( 

Okay I love this picture dearly because in the back of my head I kinda wondered if I'd get a crying picture. I feel bad, though, that I put Brayden through the sadness, especially knowing if I had given him a little more time to warm up to Santa, we might have coaxed out a smile.

Santa was kind enough to take one where he was a little more calm... and Brayden had a buffer between him and the man in the red suit. 

Well, we're still chalking up the Christmas memories. I'm excited to see him with presents and see if he'll tear the wrapping paper, play with the boxes, enjoy the toys... whatever he will do, it will be fabulously fun to watch it happen. :-) 

He's one month away from one year old. It's been a wonderful year. Love him so much!

Merry Christmas!

One of my favorite parts of the Christmas season is hearing the good news of Jesus being born proclaimed by Christians and non-Christians alike through Christmas carols. People of all ages know the story of Jesus coming to earth as a baby, even if only because they are singing about it 

Perhaps God knew that Jesus coming as a baby would make a longer lasting impression than a king coming to earth, like the Jews expected to see Him. If Jesus had come as a king, the people of that day would have treated him differently. The world's attention would be captivated by this "king" and every move He made, but would that wonder have remained through the decades and centuries to follow? If He had come as a king, my guess is that people would have looked back at Him as just another ruler who wanted to bring His way to the earth. Many men have made a resounding impact on history as a ruler. No one, except Jesus, has made a resounding impact because they were born.

Let me put it this way: If God has come in a big, grandiose way, perhaps the wonder of His coming that leaves people singing songs about it today wouldn't have mesmerized the world for years to come.

God knows how we as humans think. He knows that the unassuming birth of a baby in a stable - with miraculous happenings surrounding the birth - would captivate the attention of the world throughout all time.

Speaking of attention and fascination, last night Erik and I were reading Luke chapter 2, probably the most common telling of the Christmas story. After the shepherds were visited by the angels, this is what happens (verses 15-18):


And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another, Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.

And when they had seen it, they made known abroad the saying which was told them concerning this child.

And all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds.

I noticed that after the shepherds spread the news of baby Jesus, "all they that heard it wondered at those things which were told them by the shepherds." 

They wondered and marveled at the news - but they didn't rush to see Jesus. I don't know if that happened or the Bible didn't include that part or it wasn't the culture of the day to visit new babies, but I got stuck on that last night. In my head, that "wonder" the Bible records could have been, "Wow, that's a great story!" or "Really? That's crazy!" and as soon as the shepherds left, "Wonder if that really happened!"

Did they chalk up the story to drunkeness or craziness on the shepherd's part? Shepherds were low on the totem pole of life in those days. Did they truly believe what had just happened? Maybe they did and they were truly fascinated, but I wonder if the news changed any of their lives. 

So I ask myself this: do the wonder and miracles of the Christmas story mesmerize me? If so, do I let that wonder transform my belief in God and remind me of His miracle-working power? Or do I just chalk it up to a crazy tale?

All that to say, may the glory of Christmas and the wonder of God's story truly fill your hearts and lives this Christmas season. 

Merry Christmas! 

Love, Erik, Laura, and Baby Brayden...

....and Tucker!

P.S. Last year, I wrote another post about Christmas that also explores the wonder of the Christmas story. If you're up for another read, you can read the full post here.