This year, Robby and I invested in a manger scene for our front yard. We thought, it'd be great for our neighbors to see, plus, we didn't put my Grandpa's hand crafted manger out this year so the kids wouldn't destroy it! Well, every day, multiple times a day, Abby loved to see the manger scene. In the morning, afternoon and night time, she'd look out the window to see if the wind had blown Mary, Joseph and Jesus over. We'd go get the mail and she'd have to run over and give these life size statues kisses and say hello. When we'd leave the driveway, Abby'd wave and excitedly say "bye Jesus!"
It was exciting to see Abby learn about Jesus this year. We'd read her the story of Jesus being born in a manger, Mary riding a donkey, there was no room in the inn, angels shouting glory in the highest! We'd fish reading and she'd say "again, read again please".
We put Mary, Joseph and Jesus away today but I had to take a picture of them to help remember this special Christmas moment :)
I'm taking a few minutes away from my non napped toddler to write a blog about what's been going on this week at the Millsaps :)
This past weekend, Robby and I took the kids up to Ikea to invest in a new "big girl bed" for Abby. That involved painting Christian's bedroom, disassembling Abby's crib for Christian's room, reassembling the crib, assembling the big girl bed and washing sheets for both bed and crib. We also moved out the entertainment cabinet from Christians room to put in the playroom so the kids can watch DVDs. We still have yet to put the TV and DVD player back and move Christian's dresser.
This has been quite a challenging week with Abby since we're trying to get her to sleep in her new bed. The first night (Sunday), we didn't have her nap in the afternoon and it took her 90 minutes before she fell asleep. The next day, she fell asleep at nap time in 30 minutes. Last night, she went to bed in 30 minutes, no complaint at all. Today........NO NAP! She stayed in her room for almost 2 HOURS and no nap. :( Hopefully it won't be this challenging tonight. It's been cute hearing her wake up in the morning though, she won't come out of her room until we say ok :) She just stands at her door and talks to me till I say, you can get up now :)
Christian will be 3 months old on the 10th. He's getting so big and so much more alert! He's still sleeping through the night (8:00pm to 6:00am) which I am SO thankful for. I have yet to transfer him into his own room. Robby says he's an easy roommate ;) Abby will be 2 on Saturday the 12th :)
It'll be nice to be back in a routine this week. Women's Bible Study resumes tomorrow and Thrive Thursday! For now it's back to watching Abby who's entertaining herself quietly in the playroom next to me. She loves to put her toys away in the new entertainment cabinet :)
We're home! The Millsaps have been on an extended vacation! We visited my parents, sister Holly and brother Phil Christmas Eve and Christmas Day then came home that evening! I enjoyed all of my favorite homecooked meals, potato soup and sausage biscuits and gravy! Abby packed her toys in the cute new bags my sister Rose sent from Germany!
Wednesday, we washed clothes, cleaned house and packed our bags for a trip to Bakersfield. The kids were SO good! We left Thursday morning and came back home Sunday afternoon. We enjoyed visiting so much family over the holiday! Check out some of the pictures below :)
We're still adjusting to being back home after being gone so much! I'll catch up later :)
Robby and I had a big talk last night about Mommy getting some time off! My outlet these days is my kids. A Mothers work is never done. My job is not a 9:00 am to 5:00 pm job. Robby really saw how busy the day is when he had both kids on Monday! There are dishes to keep up with, 2 kids diapers and clothes to change, plus the general upkeep of the house to consider. What do Mom's do for a break? My kids won't always be home with me. I need to find some hobbies. I have girlfriends that run and swim, I have girlfriends that go to the gym. I have girlfriends that read. I'm looking for a hobby. Any suggestions? :) What do other Moms do?
This weekend, I get to go out for a Pamper Mom Day! Robby had purchased a spa gift certificate last year for Christmas and I haven't used it yet! I thought, OH, I'll use it after Abby's birthday. OH, I'll use it when we get back from Paris! OH, I'm pregnant, I'll use it once the baby arrives! Christian is now two months old and it's time to cash it in! Also, my savvy internet skills found a great bargain too where I can get a manicure, pedicure, haircut and 1 hour massage for the use of my gift certificate! Awesome :) Looking forward to Sunday! ;)
You'd think that since I haven't been out of the house in FOUR days that I would have found plenty of time to update my blog! Not so! Life has been a little crazy here at the Millsap household!
Saturday, we went to a really fun birthday party at the park! Notice the pic of Abby hitting the piniata! Saturday night, we toured "Candy Cane Lane", saw the lights and snow and visited Santa. Notice the pic of Abby crying on his lap!
Sunday morning, about 10 minutes before we left for church, Abby threw up, twice! I wasn't present at the time. Being Mom, I'm the last to get ready after everyone else is dressed and ready! I hear Robby saying "It's ok, it's ok" and I'm thinking, did she hit her brother, what's going on, why is he saying "it's ok"? I walked out of my room and found the answer to that question really quickly!
I stayed home with Ab's on Sunday. Notice the pic of her sad face. She asked me to take a picture of her. We've learned a new phrase here "throw up". I chased her around the house most of Sunday morning with a trash can in hand! Poor baby! Once she woke up from her nap Sunday afternoon, all she wanted was "Grammy soup". My Mom makes this awesome potato soup which makes everything in life all better :)
Monday morning, 6:30. The whole family is awake and Mom is now sick! Robby, who's behind on work stayed home and took care of both kids ALL day! This is no easy task! He was even able to get both kids to nap simultaneously AND took them to the mall for cookies! Great job Robby!
Tuesday, I still wasn't 100% but was able to entertain the kids all day using my good friend, TV. :) Also, since food didn't sound appealing whatsoever, I survived on plain cheerios till Robby made dinner that evening :) Mmm, chicken and fried rice! Nummy!
Wednesday morning, Robby and Abby have the sniffles. We'd been invited to a cookie making party but due to the sickness going around the Millsap house, I opted we should stay home! Abby napped for 3 1/2 hours today, catching up on lost sleep from the past few mornings. She woke up to a nice treat too! Since we weren't able to go make cookies, cookies came to us! My friend Chiara and Abby's best buddy Carter brought cookies by! She also got manger stickers and a blowup snowman ball! That was so sweet and totally made her day! See the photo of happy Abby holding her cookie plate!
Well, I need to get to bed! I'm off to a cookie exchange party tomorrow and just finished baking 3 dozen cookies! :)
I'm on a mailing list for a church in Aliso Viejo (it's right off of Alicia near Crown Valley?) that donates used children's clothes to families who are in need. Below is an email I got from her, requesting items! I try to hand down most of Abby/Christian's clothes but they also accept items like formula, wipes, antibacterial lotion, whatever families can spare for other families! I'll post the email below! It's called "Kids' Closet"
I keep a Huggies box in Abby's room and when the kids grow out of something, in the box it goes! They are great for holding things and less flimsy than a bag!
This has prompted me to take all my maternity clothes out too and start sorting through the pre-pregnancy clothes I own! Looks like I'll be going to Goodwill this week too!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Are you up for a challenge?
See if you can fill a bag with your kids' too small clothes and shoes (infant to size 14). Start simple - do one drawer (or if they're big enough, have them help you).
Bring that bag, just one, to Kids' Closet at 30071 Ivy Glenn Dr 92677 (LNPC parking lot)
The reason I'm challenging you is because yesterday a Head Start preschool director came and "shopped" for several families in Buena Park. Our stock is nearly wiped out, praise God! We have helped so many families have a blessed Christmas season. At the same time, we ought to fill it for the other families who are still in need and who are still finding us.
Please, don't wait until your ENTIRE kids' clothes have been sorted through. We need clothes now. Do a little at a time.
OK! Both kids are napping, an opportunity for me to update my blog! Amazingly, I'm not craving a NAP right now since I've been awake since 6-! I'll crash hard tonight I'm sure!!! :)
Busy morning! I'm becoming more and more forgetful! We were invited to a "Happy Birthday Jesus" party this morning which I completely forgot about! Thank you Chiara for reminding me! Here are some fun photos of the day! We made little craft books (reminded me of "Pat The Bunny") where we felt the hay from the manger, a piece of blanket like swaddling cloth, aluminum foil like the shiny star and a cotton ball like the fluffy sheep! Then, we decorated a manger page with stickers, sang Christmas carols and had birthday cupcakes where we sang Happy Birthday Jesus! We also had a felt board where Paula read the Christmas story :) It was a LOT of fun!
Also, Christian is 2 months old today! He's such a sweetie! As I mentioned in my blog earlier, he slept 9 hours last night, 9:00pm till 6:00am! Let's hope he repeats that tonight! Here are some pics I took of him today in his Christmas light outfit (thanks Laura!)! He's beginning to talk a lot more and looks around a smiles a lot! He follows our voices around the room too and enjoys it when sister is near :) A little girl at the party this morning was looking at Christian and Abby got very defensive! She started telling her "MY BABY"!
