But who can resist this?!? He's going to be such a doll when he's older!!! WAIT - he already is! We all love our little guy sooooo much!!
I think the cutest part is Emily introducing him to people. Even her little 3 year old friend, Jensen, calls him Mitchell Michael Maas in conversation. It's just so fun!
We all slept in the basement. Ben woke up in the middle of the night with croup. Joy - no, we didn't get much sleep that night!
Christmas morning. Poor Mitchell, I made him stay in my arms all morning. Such a special holiday with a little baby. :) Thought I would hate a winter baby, but a Christmas baby is something sweet!
Months before we were at Toys R' Us, Ben found a Lego set he realllly wanted. I told him the only way for him to have that it would be his only gift from Mom and Dad and Grandma and Grandpa Doerk and maybe even Aunt Jamie. He said that was fine - it was what he realllly wanted! It went on sale a few weeks later, and I was able to snag it, so he did get a few other little gifts. This big box didn't get put under the tree until after the kids went to bed on Christmas Eve - just in case there were little fingers that opened packages (which a few got torn). He had to wait until the VERY end of the morning to open it...see a happy Ben!
Christmas was so incredibly delightful! We didn't rush; we didn't have to be anywhere, there was just us, and we had fun! One aspect that made a bit of a difference was Ben - he lost his voice. So just there, the volume was much lower than normal. Add to that, the girls had one less person to talk over and the volume went down even more. Everyone was just happy. We played games all during the break, all worked together to get the house in order each day, ate mostly healthy things (with a few little peppermint egg nog shakes thrown in the mix), and just enjoyed being a family! It was incredible! I remembered why I loved my husband again...I might need to look back at this in March when he is neck-deep back in law classes and work!
Love my cutie kiddos!!!!
Mary
Baby Jesus all swaddled in his white dish towel. (It's a good thing I have so many white dish towels!)
The sleeping shepherd.
The beautiful angel!
And Mom? I was the replacement Mary. I was going to be the wisemen too, but we didn't make it that far this year. Andy and I decided to cut our losses and call it good after the angel came because those shepherds just couldn't travel to see baby Jesus this year (who was moved when the original Mary had to make a pit stop). The shepherd was tired and not feeling great. Nor did he have a voice... Alas - still fun. Maybe next year I'll make real costumes - but the kids quite like putting their own together. We'll see...
Mitchell wasn't much help...slacker!
The finished product! (Disclaimer: I'm absolutely positive that both Annie and Emily consumed at least twice the amount of candy displayed on the houses. However, I decided I didn't care for two reasons: first, I was the only parent and could in no way enforce a limited amount and second, we used the rest of the Halloween candy to decorate houses. At no other time do I let them go free on candy - except decorating houses. No wonder this is something they want to do every year!)
It was amazing the amount of detail B and A put into their 'house.' This was George Washington's army and battlefield. There are soldiers with guns, cannons exploding, bullet-proof walls, barricades and more that I can't remember. I just felt so important because Ben let me eat George Washington - a star burst with frosting; it doesn't get much better than that!
Then we trooped downstairs to watch The Little Drummer Boy, which I have never seen but really quite liked! Andy walked through to get a drink (I was a little bit busy and couldn't get it for him.) and caught my 'most-evenings balancing act' with the 3 youngest children. Personal space issues, me? Why do you think... Good thing we have a big recliner!!! And, please, if I don't always answer the phone, even if it's right next to me, don't take it personally
This big guy was too - he'll do pretty much anything for Emily. If she says she wants Dad to sit on Santa's lap too, he'll jump on!
After cookies and Santa's visit, we went into the classrooms for some awesome age-appropriate crafts. These are Annie's teachers: Miss Brenda and Miss Stacie. LOVE them! Emily only goes two days for her IEP (speech), but next year I have to figure out how to get her into this program everyday. It is the most amazing preschool class I have seen! Emily quite likes it too!
