Christmas Eve

In the interest of having the energy to actually celebrate Christmas, we try to keep most of our Christmas activities actually during Christmas, which means for most of December we focus on Advent. The last week of Advent, we put up our Christmas tree but decorate it only with lights. They we sing the O Antiphons each evening and add one ornament for that antiphon to the tree. Finally on Christmas Eve we finish decorating! The anticipation is really a beautiful thing.

So is sitting on the couch snuggling the baby watching the big kids decorate the tree completely by themselves. They did a great job! (And they were clearly moving around a lot given how many weird in-motion faces I caught with my camera.)

Gussie kept running over to me insisting I take pictures of ornaments before he could put them on the tree. I'll spare you and only post the picture of his favorite: a lego santa sleigh from Daddy's childhood.

And then Michael wanted me to take pictures of his ornaments.

And then Catherine joined in...

When they were all done I asked them if they wanted a picture in front of their tree, but the boys refused so I only got the girls (actually, I think Teresia technically refused as well but Mary overruled her).

They the boys decided they wanted in the picture afterall, but not with the sisters, only with me. I thought, what fun! a picture with my boys. And this is what I found on the camera:

Best Christmas photo ever.

After we finished decorating we got ready for an evening at Mamo and Papa's house. More fun family time and more gifts!

Gussie and Michael commandeered this chair and declared it was a truck. They couldn't agree on which end was the driving end of the truck, so I think they decided one boy could drive from each end. Until they started doing somersaults off the foot end; that activity trumped the driving altogether.

Uncle Tommy managed to snuggle Teresia and entertain Olivia at the same time.

And then all the kids banded together and wrestled him down.

But never fear; Teresia had plenty of other snugglers at her beck and call.

Any time Gussie was not opening a present, he would find whoever was opening a present and offer, "I can help open that for you!"

Mamo and all six great-grandkids (not a single person looking at the camera, but hey, at least they're all there).

The Newborn Comps

It seems to be a common obsession with a new baby to try to pinpoint which one of the siblings she most resembles, so here is a compilation of pictures of all the kids at 2 weeks or younger (in no particular order).

Christmas Prequal 2

Due to various family schedules, we celebrated Christmas with Grandma and Grandpa a couple days before Christmas. Once again, my photojournalism is spotty at best; I do not have pictures of dinner or all the gift opening or all the presents or all the fun times, but here is a little smattering for you.

New hats from Uncle Tommy and Aunt Jena! The red you see on Michael's face is a heart that Catherine made for him with her new face paints.

Gussie was a lot happier about his hat than this picture shows. He has worn it every day this week.

When Olivia saw me taking pictures of the boys in their hats, she jumped in front of the camera and insisted on her own picture in her new hat.

Chris's reaction when he opened this was so enthusiastic that I swung around to see what all the fuss was about.

Gussie wore his new head lamp most of the evening, and he and Grandpa read a lot of books.

Michael's big present from Grandma and Grandpa was a new bike!

Grandpa took off the training wheels for him before we went home, and we have had a few lucky warm days this week so Michael got some riding in already. It's a bit bigger than his old bike so he's a little wobbly with the start and stop, but he really likes it. So far he has asked to bring it back inside when he's done riding "so it will stay shiny."

Catherine and Mary each got a set of Piggy Paints and have spent a little too much time painting and repainting their nails this week (after some lessons from Aunt Jena).

More reading. More head lamp.

Teresia was once again happy to be cuddled once we arrived and got settled in.

I didn't get a lot of pictures of opening presents, but here are some pictures of the kids playing with their presents the next day.

The kinetic sand has been a big hit with all the kids.

I don't know if you can see, but Catherine was on chapter 29 of a new book that she received the night before. She finished it before the end of the day.

And more showing off of painted fingernails, but I happen to think eyes are more interesting so the nails are blurry. Sorry, Mary.

Unfortunately Daddy and Uncle Tommy are not wearing the new biking sleeves and bibs they got for Christmas in this team photo, but Thomas is wearing his new cap. If this was a social media site, and if I used hashtags, this one would be #skinnystrong. That would be a good team jersey; it should just say #skinnystrong across the front.

Many thanks all around for the dinner, the gifts, and the company!

Christmas Prequal 1

Our first of several Christmas celebrations this year was with family at Gigi's house. Teresia still screams a good portion of the time she's in her car seat, so three trips to Saint Charles this week were a little tough on her (and me), but once we arrive and I can get her settled, she's pretty happy to be cuddled.

Michael and Gussie used much of their time enlisting new wrestling partners.

The kids thought Gigi's got everything off to a great start in the way of presents. Michael and Gussie shared a huge conglomerated pile of all things trucks: giant giant dump truck, smaller trash and dump truck, even smaller various vehicles, truck books, truck blanket. I wish I had a picture of Michael's face when he saw the shrink-wrapped truck mountain being carried into the room.

Meanwhile, more cuddles.

And more playing with trucks.

Catherine and Mary shared an equally large mountain of all things princess. The puzzles and books and notebooks and tent have seen non-stop action since they opened it. Somehow I have no pictures though!

Meanwhile, more cuddles.

The girls also each got a patchwork quilting starter kit and quilting lesson from Aunt Ann. They have been toting their little quilting boxes with them everywhere. I think Catherine already has about 16 squares sewn together. Again, picture fail. But thank you so much to everyone for the gifts and the meal and the lovely afternoon, and especially to Gigi and Papa for hosting!

Baby Wearing

If there's one thing I wish I would have know about/been good at from baby #1, it would be baby wearing and knowing the myriad options for comfortable carriers. The kids are now used to seeing me wearing the little babies for a large percentage of the day, and Catherine and Mary have been itching to wear Teresia. So when she fell asleep while Mary was walking around with her the other day I carefully arranged the ring sling around her. I had to help rearrange Teresia's head a couple times, but Mary carried her for almost an hour. It made for one happy big sister and one happy baby.

It also made for one jealous big sister, so Catherine was determined to have Teresia fall asleep on her for her afternoon nap. She managed to make it work, and of course I was happy to get out the ring sling and go about other tasks while these two happy sisters had some quality time.

Then Gussie wanted in on the baby wearing. I'm not that desperate for free hands, but he kept insisting he was big enough so I helped him put his baby in the sling so he could take care of her and be a worker man at the same time. He took his job very seriously. 

Of course, with Dema and Grampy T here, the baby wearing devices are mostly getting a rest.

Wide Eyes and Circle Skirts

I haven't weighed Teresia in the last couple weeks, but she is clearly bigger and older. She has a lot more awake and alert spells.

And she often gets a little half-grin on her face that is probably just a reflex but super cute anyway.

Mary made this baby circle skirt a couple months ago and picks it out every time I ask her to gets clothes for her sister.

And every time she picks it out she finds a way to hold Teresia until she falls asleep and then puts her utmost effort into getting her to lie down while still sleeping so she can take a picture.

I will admit, it's a practice I don't discourage.