"I Believe in Santa Claus"

I just love this story, so I wanted to share it.  It's written by Diane Adamson.

I believe in Santa Claus.

Imagine Santa.

What is he like?

He wears red.

His hair is white.

He comes in the night.

He loves little children.

He wants us to be good.

And he brings gifts.

Now imagine Jesus.

What is He like?

He wears red.

His hair is white.

He comes in the night.

He loves little children.

He knows we are good.

And He brings gifts.

Santa Claus is a symbol of Christmas.  The symbols of Christmas can remind us of the true meaning of Christmas. 

The symbols of Christmas remind me of Christ.

So, I believe in Santa Claus.

- Diane Adamson

 

Then in the back of the book, it gives scriptures that support her words and then lists all the other symbols such as the wreath, candle, gifts, candy cane, star, etc. 

The reason that I've been thinking about this is that I have a few friends who, for whatever reason, feel that they are not being truthful to their children when they try to describe who Santa Claus is (or they're not sure how it relates to Christ, the true meaning of Christmas).  And I think this book does a fantastic job tying the two together.  As a child, I had a great experience being a believer.  I think my parents probably sat me down around age 9 or maybe even 10 - my brother was two years younger than me and they talked to us about it at the same time.  I had heard children at school telling me that he wasn't real, but I just thought that maybe it was because their parents didn't believe, so their kids didn't believe or something like that.  

 

Just one more excerpt from the back of that same book by Diane Adamson ... she says, 

"Psychologists have written of the healthful benefits of encouraging children to believe in a kind and generous Santa.  Strong beliefs in Santa Claus in the tender years are said to foster traits of goodness, helpfulness, and the desire to bring joy and happiness to others.  These are all attributes of the Savior and espousing these traits inour own lives not only contributes to healthful living but also helps us to become more Christlike.  Parents are counseled to connect the modernSanta Claus with the Christlike St. Nicholas who secretly gave gifts to the poor.  By keeping the notion of Santa alive in their family traditions, parents help children learn the spirit of giving to others. 

"During the Christmas season the spirit of Christ is evident in the cheerful way people greet each other, in the generous donations to the less fortunate, in the many hours of service given, and by the increased shopping as we select gifts for others.  There is a spirit of giving and sharingin the very air that comes with no other holiday.  Santa Claus represents giving and loving and thoughtfulness to others.

"All human beings have a basic need to love and be loved.  Fantasy is a helpful way for children to feel loved and comforted.  Believing in SantaClaus brings happy feelings of love.  Children are able to transfer these feelings to the Savior who loves them more than anyone.  "We love Him because He first loved us" (1John 4:19).

"When I see the light in my grandchildren's eyes at Christmas time, when I hear stories of past Christmases fondly remembered by my children and when I see family and friends doing act of kindness without being found out, then I am very thankful that I Believe in Santa Claus."

Our family believes!  

p.s.  Brandon sabotaged my sweet, little, innocent 2 year old into thinking she wants a full-size trampoline for Christmas from Santa.  And we're going to be in Utah for Thanksgiving.  Thanks, honey!  

My week in one word: POOP

It's hard to escape it as a mother, but last week was just excessive!

1.  Rachel, Andrew and I were on a walk down the street and around the corner.  I was carrying Andrew in our baby bjorn facing forward.  We ran into the missionaries on their bikes.  They stopped to chat - Rachel just loves the missionaries.  Andrew made a big rumble in his pants (and I knew he had been saving it up for me), but I didn't think the Elders heard, so I didn't even make a face.  Then one of the Elder's looked down on the ground and said, "Ummm".  I stepped back and Andrew had quite impressively shot it out both legs and made a very large puddle of newborn, yellow-seedy poop on the sidewalk.  Then it kept dripping, once on my leg and once on my foot.  Awesome.  My favorite was when one of the Elders said, "Can we help you with anything?"  The answer is no.  I'll clean off my child's poop off the sidewalk, but thanks.

2.  Rachel and I picked out lots of toys/activities at the Dollar Store and put them in her "poo-poo prize" basket for if she goes on the big girl potty.  (Note: hoping potty training won't start until after the holidays, but I'm getting ready just in case she is)  This week she went twice (so teeny, it shouldn't have even counted) and got to pick out two poo-poo prizes.  Later in the week we were at the mall and SANTA was there and there wasn't even a line.  So we hurried up to Santa and Rachel told him that she wanted a trampoline for Christmas and then she quickly said to Santa, "And I went poo-poo on the big girl potty!!"

3.  On Sunday at church during third hour, I was invited into Elder's Quorum to see Brandon set apart.  I brought Andrew, of course, and right during Brandon's blessing Andrew let out the most disruptive noises a baby could make!  I made it through two more setting-apart blessings and then realized that this was a serious blow out and snuck out.  It was by far, the worst diaper change I have ever experienced (good thing our mother's lounge had a sink).  And then we had to go back in to hear their testimonies and all I had for Drew was a clean onesie, so we came back in - me sweating bullets and Drew in a different outfit, and with no pants or socks.  Sweet.

Pictures

Brandon made this mobile - he had something in mind that he wanted, so he busted out the sewing machine and TA-DA! The balls even come unattached so that he can play with them. 

Love this picture of my two boys

If Andrew looks concerned, it's because he probably is - although Rachel says they're best friends, Andrew's still not so sure

Rachel still talks proudly about her bed that daddy made her DAILY ... on this particular day, I found her sleeping with shoes on

My handsome little man

Just a glimmer of his double chin and fatness!  

We've been making all sorts of pumpkin desserts this month - yum!

I have about a hundred pictures of Drew with this look - yikes!  

Good Days & Bad Days

We all have them!  That's how I would describe the last couple weeks - some days good and some days, not-so-good.  It's mostly determined by Rachel's emotions/behavior, except for that couple day stretch where Andrew somehow randomly got his days mixed up with nights.  Let's be honest, I'm sleep deprived and forgot how dysfunctional I become - also forgetful, irresponsible, airhead-ish, and I even say dumb stuff - how awesome is that?!  Remember back when I only had one and could sleep whenever she slept ... wow, that seems so easy now looking back.

In some ways having two kids has been easier than I imagined - like getting out of the house isn't as difficult as I thought.  We still go to the park lots and I have even ventured into a few stores.  :)  I also have worried a lot less about Andrew than I did with Rachel (I was worrying about Rachel even when she slept it seemed).  And in some ways it has been harder - like dealing with Rachel (and trying to be patient with her) and staying awake in the middle of the night while nursing (so I'm getting creative and usually nurse in front of the computer watching shows on hulu or checking blogs).

Enough about me, here's some updates about the kiddos.

A small miracle occurred and Rachel is sleeping almost 11 hours a night (up from 10) - the thought occurred to me to turn off her nightlight and it has made a world of difference (I already had black out curtains to keep the sun from shining in but I didn't think a nightlight that had already been on all night would make a difference).  Something funny she says lately is "last-erday" which is anything that happened in the past.  She is a sponge and repeats everything and is learning so much, and her memory is incredible!  Lately, I often hear the question, "... does that sound like a good plan mom?"  Usually it's something like, "After I wake up from my nap, I can watch a movie ... does that sound like a good plan?" or it might have something to do with having a treat or popsicle.

Andrew is a little tank!  He's approximately 14 pounds at six weeks.  He has a double chin that makes me smile ... oh he is definitely getting enough to eat!  I think he looks like Brandon (so does his mom), but I think he has some similarities to Rachel at this age as well.  He really is a good baby so far!  But any idea when these kids start taking a binky?!  He has no interest, and it's fine now that he's so little, but I know I'll want him to have one in a few months.

We also had to have Andrew bilirubin checked again since he was still a pumpkin at one month, and sure enough it was back up to 17 (so confusing, all of this jaundice stuff) so the doctor told me to stop nursing for 3 days and then get it re-tested.  Andrew was a trooper with the formula and I'm giving myself a pat on the back for pumping - it was pretty miserable but I shouldn't complain because I know a lot of other moms do it a lot longer than I had to (shout out to my buddy, Kristen!).  Sure enough the level went down, which indicated that the jaundice was still in his system because of my milk - and that means it isn't harmful to the baby so I got back to nursing.  We're finally done with the jaundice drama.

The last couple weeks my mom has been in Australia and we (Rachel and I) have missed talking to her everyday!  Her sister's family lives there and they paid her way so that she could help them remodel and redecorate their house.  Lucky for us, she had a layover in Phoenix and so I packed up the kids and we made our way through security to go meet Nana at her gate.  Good thing I didn't tell Rachel about this adventure until that morning because she was ecstatic and talked about it ALL morning!  We were so excited to see Nana, even if it was only for 15 minutes or so.  Nana had a shirt, stuffed kangaroo and koala for Rachel and chocolates for me and Andrew.  She showed us her pictures and videos and cuddled with the kids for a minute and then she had to get on her next flight - it was totally worth it to see her.
(FYI - Southwest's policy is that they usually don't let people in past security to see Grandma, but I think it just happened to be the right time with the right worker and she let it slide - whew!)

Happy Halloween 2010

We had a fun holiday weekend!  Rachel got to wear her costume lots!  On Wednesday we went to Lore's Halloween party for all the kids and she did such a cute job entertaining them.  On Thursday, we went to the Library for storytime and the costume parade/trick-or-treating.  I told Rachel we were going to be in a parade and she kept thinking that we were going to see a parade, "Mom, where's the parade?"  "Rachel, we are the parade," I kept telling her as we were walking around the library in a big line.  Nope, she didn't ever get it and was disappointed since she loves parades.  And just to be sentimental for a second, I met Lore a year ago at the library just after the Halloween storytime!  I am so grateful that we met!!  Shortly after, she introduced me to Mandy and the three of us and our kids became great friends.  We do so much together and I think of them as my sisters - they're the best.  

On Saturday, we attended the ward party and Rachel loved the trunk-or-treat.  Afterwards, we went to Mandy's amazing Halloween party and let the kids stay up late and run around all crazy and sugared up.  On Sunday night, I got Rachel dressed up to trick-or-treat to some of our non-member neighbors since I knew they'd want to see her.  Our favorite neighbors are Jim & Pam across the street and Jim always gives Rachel little toys on holidays - he gave her a little stuffed orange witch and Rachel was thrilled and has been carrying it around all day.  (Surprised about the Sunday thing?  This is not Utah, folks! The only trick or treaters we got were on Sunday night.  We got three knocks with about 12 trick-or-treaters, then Brandon aka Scrooge decided we were done so he turned off all the lights and we watched a movie.)    

Happy Halloween from our family to yours!

Rachel as Dorothy

Love the skin tone difference of these two (since he's still fighting off that darn jaundice)  and what a cute Halloween onesie!  He's definitely our little orange pumpkin this year.

Preston Ward Trunk Or Treat Party

Does this make you a little nervous?  :)

Andrew had two costumes that were given to us, a peapod & a tiger

Roar!

Hale Grandparents with the Cousins in Utah - Mason, Brynn, Chase, Kennedy & Cannon

Rachel and her friend, Macie

Rachel with her friends Sami & Janie

Life with two kids - one month already!?

I think Brandon and I are doing pretty good adjusting to two kids.  I have tried really hard not to complain, but the hardest part for both of us is probably the lack of sleep.  Especially since Rachel wakes up early and keeps me busy all day (she currently only needs 10 hours of sleep each night with a nap in the afternoon - I wish she slept more!).  Andrew's eating every 3 hours during the day and every 4 or so at night.  He is the NOISIEST sleeper ever - he grunts and is so loud in his sleep - wow!  The only other hard part is staying at home more often (Rachel and I aren't really used to that).  We've ventured out to the park a lot and even gone to the zoo and some playdates, but very few errands since I'd just rather do them by myself when Brandon can watch the kids.  Or I don't even mind just taking Rachel, but taking both of them is way to unpredictable - anything could happen - no thanks!  

Rachel's adjustment is going ok.  Her behavior is getting a little better and she's not acting out so much, but she's still a little emotional and occasionally asks to be held (conveniently right when Andrew needs to be held/fed).  She loves to run to him when he's crying in his bed to see what's wrong, and she loves to hold him.  She also likes to throw things at him sometimes or will "burp" him a little harder than I'd like or jump on our bed when he's laying on it or push him "high" while he's in his swing.  YIKES - she's had her fair share of timeout this month, that's for sure.  It drives me crazy when she isn't as soft as I'd like with him or when she acts out, but then I try to remind myself that she's two years old and her world has been completely turned upside down.

I wanted to post some pictures of Andrew with his eyes open, but he's still got that concerned / scowl / bug-eyed look, so they might not be the best.

First Sunday - one month old (tie onsie was given to us by the Relief Society President) 

She looks so big to me!  And she's not even two and a half yet!!  (she picked out her outfit in this picture and I told Brandon not to go over the top and tell her she looked great or anything like that .. rude, right? .. I just didn't want him to encourage her to pick out her outfit everyday, I'm not ready for that.  Although I must admit she did a pretty good job!)