Christmastime!

In the words (or lack thereof) of the Vince Geraldi classic, "Christmastime is here!" It's a sweet time for us, although it always reminds us how much we miss our families back home and the traditions we've built with them. But the best way to walk through that is to create traditions of your own. How, you might ask, are we doing that? There are a few things, and we seem to develop them more each year.

Music

It really is interesting how our entire culture switches to a special type of music for Christmas, but we're not complaining! In addition to listening almost entirely to Christmas music, we just plain listen to more music this time of year. Between a few Pandora stations we've created, the Christmas music in our iTunes, and an ever-growing Spotify playlist, the sounds of Christmas are filling our home all the time. We tend to stick to songs about the celebrations ("It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas") or the true nativity story ("Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,") and avoid the Santa Claus songs (more on that later). Later on, we also hope our children will sing with us!

Church and People

Whether we like it or not, our children will surely grow up thinking that in December, we see a lot of people, we to go church a lot, and Daddy goes to church a whole lot. And, yes, we like that. It tells us that something special is afoot. All this bustling and busyness creates an anticipation- it often makes me feel like someone is coming. That's perfect, and I hope it feels that way for our children also.

We also spend a lot of time with people, which reminds us of how nice it is to have someone near. That's a wonderful thing to have on your mind when you consider the God who came near to us. God truly is with us!

Skip the Mythology

Most of the people who know us well enough to read our blog know by now that we don't do Santa Claus with Sarah. I don't completely remember how it came about, but we actually decided before we were even married not to do Santa in our home. So far, it's turned out very well for us.

Imagination is a beautiful and powerful thing, especially in a child. Things like the Tooth Fairy, the Boogeyman, and whatever else Dad and Mom make up are healthy parts of childhood. But as parents who are trying to use a story and a holiday to teach a deep and vital truth to our children, we decided it just isn't a good idea to mix that story with a mythological one. So there is no Santa, reindeer, elves, or even Frosty around here this time of year. There are several reasons for this, but the greatest is that a far better story is already being told.

January is really the start of winter on Cape Cod, so we do plan to sing the story of Frosty the Snowman after Christmas, when there is snow on the ground. And we'll tell them about Santa (both St. Nicholas and Santa Claus) when they start realizing what's going on in their friends' houses- we just won't act like the latter is real. And eventually, when they're old enough, we'll watch fun movies like "Elf" together. Until then, we'll give them gifts, tell them we love them, tell them the real story, and skip the Santa songs when they come up on Pandora. 

Candy!

There's often a bowl of hospitality candy in our house, which we rarely ever eat from. But not at Christmastime! Not only does Christmas get its own special candy, but we actually enjoy it rather than just having it there for guests. Andes mints, Candy Cane Kisses, fudge- it all lives here during Christmastime. And then there's this ever-growing pile of cookies and other goodies just a few feet away! Why? So we'll remember, and our kids will learn, that it's the most wonderful time of the year. 

Decoration, Tree, and Ornaments

Yet another way many people make Christmas special is to decorate, and we're no exception. New England has a tradition of putting candles in the window to signify an open house, and we've adopted it. But our favorite tradition comes from our families: trimming the tree together and telling the stories of ornaments while we put them up. What a great way to remember our family, and for us to tell our children more about our own mommies and daddies.

Gifts!

We have a Father in heaven who knows how to give good gifts, and we try our best to model that to Sarah.  But we never expected to be showered with so many gifts from others! In the following picture, for instance, one present is from Emily and one is from me- the rest came from outside our home! I get a sense of the love and generosity of our church and family every time I see that mound of gifts that has grown too big for the tree, one that I hope our children will get as well. In the future, I think our plan is to put all the gifts we receive under that tree until Christmas Day, just to remind ourselves of the generosity of our loved ones. Perhaps that will point us all to the generosity of God and the good gifts He's given us.

Stories (One Day)

When Emily was pregnant with Sarah and Christmas came around, it came upon me to start writing bedtime story adaptations of the Christmas stories in the Gospels. I wrote one called "John is Coming!," and another called "Jesus is Coming!" Then Christmas came and they went into the vault until that little baby would be old enough to understand them. One day she will be, and I look forward to sitting with her before bed and dramatizing the stories of my Lord's birth. Stories teach so well, especially to children. I don't know if I'll keep writing them, but I do hope to sit down and learn the fine art of storytelling before my children some day soon. 


Surely more festive fun will develop as our young family grows in wisdom and number, but that's what we do for now. It really is the most wonderful time of the year!

First Snow!

The front yard when we first woke up.

This was sometime mid-afternoon, just before it started getting dark. We were so surprised that the flurries lasted all day.

The next morning it was still there! The day continued to be cold so it lasted for a while, but by sunset most of our dusting had melted.

We have experienced an exciting thing...winter's first snow! Sunday morning we woke up to a light, unexpected dusting. The drive to church was beautiful- we were reminded how picturesque the village we live in really is. Throughout the afternoon the flurries surprisingly continued. This time last year the ground was already solidly frozen and covered, so it is nice to have enjoyed a long, warm fall. We do look forward to this new season, though, and are so thankful for the exciting change that the Lord regularly brings.

Trip to Florida

Well, life has finally calmed down enough to tell you a little about our trip to Florida, in which we got to see so much of the Cook side of the family!

It all started the Sunday evening after Thanksgiving, in which we rode up to Boston and spent the night in a hotel. Although we (especially Emily!) love staying in hotels, this was really so we could avoid driving up from the Cape to catch our 6:00 a.m. flight. By 4:20 the next morning, we were out the hotel door and on our way to the airport.

Wrap a couch cushion in a baby blanket, stick it between the hotel bed and the wall, and what do you get?
A toddler bed!

The sun rising over our beautiful Cape Cod

After landing, we spent the afternoon and evening with our family, having lunch at Chick-Fil-A and a dinner of my Mom's hamburgers. The next day, we took a trip to the Regional History Museum so Emily could be briefed and I get a refresher on Florida history.

A little playing in the car while we waited on Auntie J.

I was NOT going to let this stone alligator eat my wife!

Sarah picking oranges with Grandma Vicky. I think I was up in the tree at this point.

Wednesday was a real treat, as we went to Dunnellon to see my Uncle Jerry and Aunt Faye. We all took a trip together to Rainbow Springs, a beautiful part of what I call "the real Florida."

Rainbow Springs

Somewhere it turns from Rainbow Springs into the Rainbow River

On the way home, Sarah got to meet Molly and Amanda.

The rest of the week had some great plans attached to it, but instead the strangest thing happened. By Thursday morning, Jacki and Sarah were the only people who hadn't come down with a stomach bug! So we all spent a day or two at home in recovery- fortunately it was a quick one. By Friday evening, everyone was well again and a dozen or so of us had a nice dinner together before we flew back home.

Panorama of sunrise on Lake Louisa

Sunrise the next day

Playtime!

Reading with Great Grandma B.

It was a great and refreshing trip. Although we were sad to miss out on a few days of fun, especially on seeing our good friends the Kerrs, I think the easy rest of a sick day may have been just what we needed.


Epilogue: you may be thinking, "it's a good thing Sarah didn't get sick." And you would be right . . . if. As it turns out, she only managed to fight it off until the day we flew home. I don't suppose the details are internet-appropriate, but let's just say that plane ride involved several outfit changes and ended with a diaper-only baby and some stewardesses I feel very sorry for.

Sometimes, rather than just giving us patience, the Lord teaches us patience.

Halloween: Better late than never...

We had a full and fun Reformation Day (a.k.a. Halloween) this year, highlighted by some fun times with the neighbors. A sweet, young couple who lives around the corner is also expecting this spring. Early in the day we were pleased to run into them at the doctors' office. They knew the doctors really well and were able to encourage us in our choice of practitioners and hospital.

Their son was walking in the Osterville Halloween parade in the afternoon and they invited us to watch the fun. Dave regrettably had to run to an evening meeting, but I got to see all the cute kids excited about costumes and already hyped up on candy. I ran into our neighbors again in town and they invited us to trick or treat with them.

This couple knows almost all the neighbors, so making the rounds with them was a great way to introduce ourselves to the neighborhood. Sarah and I still had tons of fun! She, of course, turned on some serious charm and I greatly enjoyed getting to better know our neighbors.

She was a bag of Cape Cod Potato Chips! I used my minimal sewing skills to make arm and leg holes, while Dave used his superior graphic design skills to create an iron on design. The result: still a cute little girl!

Recent Pictures

We've got a few nice pictures as of late that haven't made it into any particular posts, so we thought it would be a good idea to share them with you this way.

There's much more to come about our recent trip to Florida and this year's Christmas presents. Stay tuned! 

I went with the OBC leadership to a retreat on Newfound Lake, NH. This is the fog rolling away that Sunday morning. For once, I used the HDR technique to make something look more real, rather than less real.

Sarah eating her first bowl of spaghetti.

On top of Mt. Monadnock, where I took a group of OBC men hiking one weekend this October.

A tree from a different hike on the same trip.

The sunset from the Eversons' boat, on which we took a ride very late this summer.

A true Cape Cod sailor, the same day.

Ultrasound: Where We Go From Here

Today I saw the nurse practitioner for a regular monthly appointment. She found the baby's heartbeat quickly. We then spent the rest of the visit discussing what comes next.

Her take on the situation: The 18 week ultrasound is technically an "anatomy ultrasound" not anatomy and gender like we thought. Insurance companies are somewhat picky, I guess, and don't allow technicians to specifically look for gender. Most technicians love the hunt, but some, like the one doing our ultrasound, choose to not really try. The NP was super sweet and understanding.

Where she suggests we go from here: Our nurse practitioner will get the results in the next couple of days. If she sees anything that isn't perfect, she will order another ultrasound. This time we would schedule it at the OB office with their loving ultrasound tech. We will find out about this at the next regular appointment. If everything is perfect, we praise the Lord! At that point we could choose to do an independent ultrasound, hope to have another ultrasound late in the pregnancy, or decide we would rather be surprised at birth!

Next appointment: Tuesday, January 3, 2012 (!) at 3:45pm

And we're having a...

...baby! Still a baby of unspecified gender, albeit what appeared to be a healthy baby. There were several factors that contributed to our lack of certainty, but we hope to get another sneak peak before all is said and done. And if we don't, we will just be extra surprised on D-day!

An intern in training was the first to take measurements. About an hour in an ultrasound technician came in to get final measurements. All in all, I was on the table for exactly an hour and a half.

Leaning toward girl: (1) The intern initially thought girl. (2) The technician said she was 80% sure it was a girl during her first look.

Leaning toward boy: (1) Upon further examination, the intern couldn't tell if she was seeing cord or "turtle," but she clearly saw something. (2) At second pass the technician said it looked very much like a boy, but again, could have been cord. She didn't put odds on this observation after telling us it was a girl 20 minutes earlier and didn't do any further investigation.

Appointment: We received a call this morning to inform us that our nurse practitioner was out today and we rescheduled for tomorrow at 3:30. Hopefully, she will have the ultrasound "results" by then and I will have a chance to talk to her about where we go from here.

Praise the Lord for those wiggly arms and legs, a beating heart, eyes with lenses, a working bladder, and for the 6...I mean 5 toes we were able to count!

Mischief...

Since the addition of a bowl of Halloween candy to our living room coffee table, Sarah has loved taking the pieces of candy in and out of the bowl. Occasionally, she examines the differences in, say, a square of shiny Giradelli and a round white piece of taffy. This morning she was interested in a purple dark chocolate Hershey Kiss. There was normal play, some interest in unwrapping it, a gentle reminder that we don't unwrap the candy, and I left the room to brush my teeth. I came back to this overly innocent face:

I then went digging and found this in her cheek:

It seems from the remains of purple foil that she must have sucked the chocolate out of the wrapper. Sarah never really acknowledged the deed, never asked for more. Thus far. she hasn't tried to eat any other pieces of chocolate. Maybe she prefers milk chocolate? :)