Concordia Christmas Pageant

Christmas Eve at Concordia is a special time and place. We have 5 services on Christmas Eve and this year my family had the honor of playing the Holy Family at the 5pm and 7pm pageants. I'm usually in the pageant singing the narrator's part but since I had this sweet little baby, I got to play the part of Mary.

We put Amelia in a soft yellow diaper so it looked like it could have been swaddling clothes. She didn't make a peep at the 5pm service but she was all smiles and fully awake and alert. Now, the 7 o'clock service is a little different. She did make a peep. LOTS OF PEEPS and cries and fusses and squeals. She was not a happy Jesus but we made it. She cried the whole time the Shepherds came to the stable and through the visit by the Wisemen. It's ok, though. Baby Jesus probably really did cry- it just made it all the more real.

People said it was so neat to see a real, live baby up there with arms and legs moving and also to see (her) baby Jesus with all that exposed skin. That may sound weird but I knew exactly what the person meant. To see the arms, back, legs, hands, feet and torso of the baby just made it so real and allowed viewers to pause and remember what this season is really all about. About a baby born in Bethlehem to save us all from our sin.

Before the clock strikes 12 tonight, make sure you read Luke 12 to your kids. Make it a tradition that they hear the real Christmas Story from the original source.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Merry Christmas, Everyone! We had a wonderful day with loved ones. Amelia's first Christmas was a busy one. We started out our day with opening presents at home. Amelia wasn't really sure what all the fuss was about but she did open a few presents. Well, we would start the un-wrapping and then she'd grab the edge of the paper and we'd pull the present away from her. That's un-wrapping to these proud parents!

She got a charm bracelet from James Avery (from mommy and daddy) and her 2 baptism charms were on it. Her bracelet will be a special keepsake for her that she will grow into over the years. Mommy's holding on to it and keeping it safe for when she's a little older.

Santa brought her the Fisher Price Little People Christmas play set.
He had a hard time finding it. He said he went from store to store in search of it since it was a Fisher Price toy and not a Santa's origninal. Finally, he ordered it from ToysRUs.com.
She also got a sock monkey and she's PURPLE. You know how Amelia loves purple! The sock monkey is so soft and cuddly. She's already been kissing and loving on it.

Then we went to Grandma and Grandpa Fosters house to wish them a merry Christmas. Daniel met us there and then we headed over to see Granny at Morningside. She and Amelia have so much fun together! After that we went to Mom's house and had lunch with her and Kelly and Clint and the girls. We opened presents there and then all packed up and headed over to Tommy's and Chrissy's. What for, you ask? Well, for more eating! Finally it was about 7:30 but we couldn't go home without seeing Grand-dad out in Bergheim. We had a great visit with him and Joan even though Amelia didn't get out of her car seat. She was so tired.

Amelia got some really special gifts and here's a little list of a few...
a cabbage patch baby from Boopah, a Star Wars blanket from Daddy, some cute clothes from Aunt Kelly & Uncle Clint and Uncle Tommy & Aunt Chrissy, an awesome 2009 American Eagle silver coin from Uncle Daniel plus some cute clothes, an Amelia Earhart coin from Grandma and Grandpa Foster and some money from Grand-dad and Grandpa.

Her grammy D (from my work) gave her some money too along with a precious Hallmark Christmas ready made scrap book. I love it! You just slide in your pictures and voila- you have a cute scrapbook.

Here's another Christmas picture of Amelia. Poor little girl...her little retina's are sure being pushed to the limit.

Random December Stuff

This month I've been so busy! I've done a horrible job at posting so here's a lump post of all the Nicole happenings....

Amelia and I had fun baking cookies.

We got out all the ornaments and decorated the tree.

We found some time to snuggle and cuddle...

Finished our tree decorating and took our family Christmas picture at home thanks to Brian Sprayberry Photography ...
Went to Portrait Innovations for Amelia's Christmas photo shoot and got another family picture but we didn't use this for our Christmas card. It's part of their $9.95 special so we got 6 free cards that are collecting dust. Sorry, portrait innovations, you don't hold a candle to Sprayberry Photography!
Here's the reason we went to portrait innovations....
More Christmas posting to come! Hope everyone had a wonderful and blessed Christmas. Happy Birthday, Jesus!

USAA Christmas Party

Last Saturday was Nathan's company Christmas party and we had a great time with our friends, Tim and Amy

REO Speedwagon was the band and they rocked the Alamodome

More Hallmark for Amelia

I already showed you the ornament that my my mom got for her....the fisher price phone. Well, Nathan and I went and picked out a couple from Mom and Dad. Here are the ones they have for "Baby's First Christmas" 2009. I love them!
The poem on the back of her special ornament reads:

"B" is for bouncy and babbly and bubbly.
(Because babies are soooooo busy.)
"B" is for blankies and binkies and beddy-byes.
(And they get very sleepy.)
"B" is for bottles and burps and bibs.
(And a little bit hungry...)
"B" is for babies sweet breath, soft bottoms, and tiny toes tucked into bitsy booties.
(Beautiful. Simply beautiful.)

I want time to go by as slowly as possible because I'm loving every day with her but I must admit that I can't wait to see her ornaments on her very own tree one day along with some passed down from my Mamo, my mom and me.

Look, I'm on my elbows

Amelia has been getting more and more tummy time especially since it doesn't tick her off as much. She's growing and getting stronger so she is able to prop herself up on her elbows.

Pink and Puffy

It's been pretty cold lately and I'm so glad! Time to bust out Amelia's new (to us) pink faux fur. She looks so cute in it. She barely fits in her car seat with it on but she stays warm and toasty.

Thankful

This is what they made at day care for Amelia's first Thanksgiving....

There are so many things to be thankful for I thought I'd make a little list.

*For my health. It's something that so many of us take for granted until we don't have it.
*For my loved ones. This includes my husband, my daughter, our family, my friends and even little Zeta. Remember her? Our dog. Poor Zeta. She's still loved. Just not blogged about as much. *I'm thankful for working where I do. I know there are lots of moms who work and have to drop kids off at day care and leave for the day and I know if I had to do it, I would. It doesn't mean that I would have to like it, though. Having Amelia at Concordia with me is the best of both worlds. I'm lucky to still see her for every feeding and spend time with her during my work day. It just means that I work a little at home in the evening after she goes to bed.
*I'm thankful that Amy is doing better. Here she is holding Amelia just before her stem cell transplant week. That was a ROUGH week. In and out of ICU but she quickly was stabilized and is now home getting better. What a miracle this woman is!

*Hallmark ornaments. It's a big tradition in my family. My Mamo, my Mom, my Aunt, my sister and I collect them. They just make me happy. I get that from my mom. She says they are her little toys that she gets to play with every year. My mom got Amelia her first Hallmark ornament so she can start her own collection.

Below are pictures from Thanksgiving. Amelia and I started our day with a walk at McAllister Park with Joy and Jayla. It was so crowded because of the Turkey Trot. The girls were bundled up and had a fun time.

After our walk, Kelsey and Daniel came over for a quick visit before he had to take her back to Seguin.

Then we went to Mom's for Thanksgiving dinner. Nathan's parents came, too so it was nice to be at one place and not hop around all over. Amelia had fun playing with Ashley and Lacey.

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Umbilical Granuloma

Amelia has an umbilical granuloma and basically what it is, according to an internet definition is a small piece of bright red, moist flesh that remains in the umbilicus after cord separation when normal healing should have occurred. It is a small piece of scar tissue, usually on a stalk, that did not become normally covered with skin cells. It contains no nerves and has no feeling. Depending upon when they are more flat or berry-like, these things are either cauterized with silver nitrate, tied off with a suture and allowed to wither and drop off, or just plucked off with a clamp and cauterized.

Her DR tried treating it at her 2 month well baby check up with silver nitrate. It didn't do anything except really tick her off. So, we went to see a pediatric surgeon yesterday and got it taken care of. First we waited an hour in the waiting room. I hate that! After we got in I debated on whether or not I should feed her. We were about 30 minutes over due. I decided to wait knowing that she would be really upset after the procedure and nursing her would be a sure way to calm her down.

The doctor shared his plan of attack with us. First, a shot in the belly of Novocain. If you've never seen a baby get a shot, be glad. It's the saddest thing. Especially when they are asleep or happy. They're in their own little world and then the needle comes and punctures their precious little skin. Then, they get that confused look which quickly turns into sheer pain and screaming. After the shot he clipped the growth and then stuck a giant Q-tip with silver nitrate in her belly button. My poor baby cried and cried until her face and head were sweaty and red. Thankfully, the crying stopped as soon as I got to hold her and love on her.

Now her belly button looks somewhat normal. It should heal quickly. I do have a picture of her granuloma but I thought I'd just put up an internet stranger instead. I'm warning you, it's not pretty.