Part one of Christmas is over. Heath's family left today after spending four days with us. We had a very nice time together. I am always so sad when my company leaves, but this time I have something to look forward to and distract me from my sadness. My mom will be here tomorrow afternoon for Christmas part two!


Ethan let Jacob help him unwrap his bike.

Samuel was very excited about all the wrapping paper.

we need Him

We watched The Nativity a couple of days ago. Jacob watched most of it with me, but Ethan only watched a little bit since it was pretty intense in parts (and pretty slow and dull for a 3 year old the rest of the time).

The first scene is particularly intense, as it shows the Romans going into Bethlehem to kill the boy babies under 2 years of age. It doesn't show much, but enough that Ethan knew they were killing the babies. He said, "They killed baby Jesus? Oh no! But we need Him!"

Such a sweet, sincere statement, such a precious understanding. Out of the mouths of babes...

public service announcement

(I should probably warn you before you read this post that I'm kind of a nerd about this sort of thing...)

We just moved Ethan to a booster seat. He is turning four in February and had reached the top of his harness straps in his harnessed seat. We moved Jacob to a booster when he was three and a half and reached the top of the harness straps, so I figured we were doing well to make it almost to age four with Ethan.

However, someone mentioned to me that the car seat laws had changed, and that I should look into it. Lo and behold, the law now says children must remain in a harnessed child seat until they are four years old! Not only that, but children age four through seven must be in a booster seat (unless they are 4'9" or 80 lbs), and all children under 14 must wear a seatbelt. I think the old law was that children under age four were to be restrained in a child seat or booster, depending on their size, and then children between four and a certain age had to at least wear safety belts. But maybe I never understood the law correctly... Although I thought we were following what was required at the time for Jacob.

If you don't have kids in this age range, I know this is probably irrelevant to you, but maybe it will be helpful for someone. :-)

Here's a link to the car seat law: http://www.kansasboosterseat.org/download/Booster_Bill_Major_Dailies.pdf

I guess another lesson from this is if you are purchasing a forward facing seat for your child, get one with high harness slots so it will last until they are 4! I inadvertently purchased one that did not have high harness slots compared to some of the others out there - some have harness slots a couple of inches higher, which would have worked for either Jacob (tall for his age) or Ethan (short for his age) until their fourth birthdays.

We went to Samuel's 6 month appointment today (a little late, I know). He is 16 lb. 4 oz. (20%) and 27" tall (63%). His head circumference was in the 45%, but I don't remember what it was exactly. In honor of over 6 months of life, I compiled an album of pictures to show how he's grown and changed so far.

Feeding Samuel

Samuel is 6 months old now, so we have started solid foods. He loves the rice cereal with formula. You might be able to tell in the pictures that he is lunging forward for more bites, and pulling my arm with the spoon toward himself.

The green beans provoked some funny faces, but he kept taking more bites anyway.

3 hours of preparation, 10 minutes of snapping, one picture worth sending :-)

(and still Samuel wouldn't look at the camera!)

p.s. the one you get with your Christmas letters should be better quality than this - I just did quick fixes to color and light and lower resolution for the web before posting this one.

I am thankful for...

my sweet, smiley baby
my loving, energetic preschooler
my bright, eager-to-learn kindergartener
my faithful husband who is my favorite person in the world
amazing friends and church family
the opportunity to be part of the body of Christ, together one with Him forever

my...
dishwasher
washing machine and dryer
comfortable bed and recliner
computer with internet access
cell phone
van and automatic doors
medicines and access to the best health care in the world
my own and my family's good health
a comfortable, spacious place to make our home
husband's job, even on 50+ hour weeks


chocolate
coffee with cream
sunshine
snow
books of all kinds and the opportunity to learn
indoor toilets and showers
technological advances
supermarkets and preserved foods
electricity and trash service


I got tagged to do this post a long time ago and just got around to it this morning, after feeling so grateful to see my sweet baby's huge smile upon awakening, and to feel his soft skin and pleasingly plump little body.

Here are some other posts recently made by thankful friends:
Chill
Jill
Matches
Karmen