Christmas Carols

 

Here are a few of our favorite Christmas carols Ian can sing. Enjoy!

Silent Night & Angels We Have Heard on High

 

Hark, the Herold Angels Sing

 

Go, Tell it on the Mountain 

 

Jingle Bells

December Fun in Houston

Sorry we've gotten so behind on blogging. :) Enjoy these pictures from before Christmas, while we were still in Houston. COMING SOON ... our fun time in Albuquerque as well as what we've been up to in January! :)

Some friends told us about Santa's Wonderland, an amazing Christmas light exhibit near College Station, TX. We decided to check it out!

Ian thought it was very fun to take a hay ride through all of the lights!

They even piped in Christmas music for us to enjoy while taking in the festive lights.

The tour ended at "Santa's Town," where we got to warm up by the campfire (yes, it was actually a chilly night!),

walk through a "light maze" (this was possibly Ian's favorite part of the entire night. He probably walked through the lights 8 times!),

meet Frosty,

and even "see snow."

These Texas kids were easily fooled into thinking that the bubble globs were actually snowflakes. :) Thanks for the great idea, Lueckemeyers! What a fun family evening!

A few members of our small group, plus one of Matt's coworkers and her kids, went caroling at a local nursing home.

The residents sang along on most of the Christmas carols but seemed most excited about the hugs and high fives from the children after we finished singing.

Of course, we took a little time to be crafty in December. My friend Aliceson had seen a neat idea on Pinterest that used handprints to make a Christmas tree.

Ian got the hang of it very quickly and, of course, was excited to do it HIMSELF!

Later, Kim added a trunk and a star to the tree.

 

Finally, Kim added some sequins as garland and some pictures of Ian throughout the year as ornaments. I think the finished product came out pretty well, and we'll certainly enjoy looking at it for years to come! 

Kim also had fun sewing a couple of gifts for Christmas -- some tooth fairy pillows for two precious girls! Hope you enjoy them, Melissa and Hannah! :)

Ian was a HUGE fan of starting Advent boxes this year. He seemed equally excited by the candy in every other box as he was by the family activities in the other boxes. Some of his favorites, though, seemed to be looking at Christmas lights in a local neighborhood (Prestonwood) where every block is decorated according to a theme and going with Daddy to the doughnut shop to choose (and then eat!) his own doughnut!

We had the privilege of meeting a very kind lady from our church this month, Mrs. W. She is a former 3-year-old Sunday school teacher who still has a huge heart for kids! Kim and Ian plan to make monthly visits on her in the nursing home. The first visit included singing Christmas carols and getting to know each other. Ian was thrilled that Mrs. W. gave him a small stuffed monkey before we left. He slept with that little monkey for days afterward!

Matt and Ian did a great job of helping Kim celebrate her birthday a little early. We went to Bullrito's for a yummy lunch and then each chose our own dessert at RJ Goodies bakery. Kim went with a chocolate brownie cheesecake, Matt tried the normal cheesecake,

and Ian went with the double-decker cookie with TONS of icing! What a fun birthday celebration!

Stay tuned for some videos ...

Our ultrasound!

 a side profile of the baby (face on right) with his/her hand in the air

another side profile picture, this time hand up by baby's face

We were excited today to have the chance to see our little one 

again!  The ultrasound tech said that we have "a mover" since 

the little one kept changing positions and moving his/her 

hands and feet. 

Kim still can't feel the baby moving much but has felt a few 

"flutters" here and there.

The baby (who weighs 10 oz.) is measuring 19 weeks, 3 days, 

which just means that he or she is a few days bigger than 

what would be expected. 

The doctor is still saying the baby's due date is around 

May 14 or 15.

The baby's heartbeat was 136, and the tech was able to 

capture some really cute ultrasound "pictures," especially 

some profile shots. She had to move really fast to capture 

the pictures when the baby was in the right position.

As many of you know, this 19/20 week ultrasound is known 

as the anatomy check, and we were grateful to hear that 

all of baby's body parts were present and looked normal. 

The tech WAS able to find out the baby's gender but she 

didn't tell us or write it in our chart since that's what 

we requested. :) 

Thank you for your continued prayers for this little one's 

healthy growth and development. 

Please praise our God along with us for His handiwork!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas ...

 Ian was very excited to help set up the Christmas tree!

 After the lights were up, Ian was also very excited to help unpack the ornament boxes ...

 ... and find just the right spot for each ornament!

 This is the first year we've done Advent boxes (with little treats inside) for Ian. One of Ian's favorite treats so far was getting to watch "The Grinch that Stole Christmas" on TV while eating popcorn.

 We took time last week to cut Ian's hair using the new hair-cutting "cape" that Grandma and Grandpa gave him for Christmas. Ian seemed very relieved to not be as itchy, and Kim was very grateful that Ian didn't have to keep stopping to look down and wipe hair pieces off of his arms and legs. :)

 On Saturday, we went to John Wesley United Methodist Church's "Walk-Through Bethlehem." We had gone last year and enjoyed it, so we decided we needed to go again! Ian liked it last year, and LOVED it this year. I think it just might become a family tradition. One highlight (that will certainly make our northern friends chuckle) was seeing (fake) snow (that had been brought in). Ian loved picking it up, throwing it,

 and, of course, eating it.

 The church had many "stations" where kids could experience the different sights and sounds of Bethlehem. Ian touche a goat and sheep,

 tried to grind grain,

 and sampled some bread.

 He loved seeing 7-week-old "baby Jesus"

 

 Ian made a few crafts, like this beeswax candle. (He also made a coin, a coin bag, and a clay candle holder.)

 It was fun to press olives and sample olive oil ...

 ... as well as "go shopping" for lentils and beans at the market.

 The wisemen stopped for a quick picture.

 Another highlight for Ian was riding the camel -- first with Daddy,

 

 then with Momma, too!

He also got to ride a donkey all by himself.

While Momma and Daddy took turns waiting in the ride-an-animal line, the other parent watched Ian play on the church's fun playground.

The last station was "the inn" where we got some lemonade and a snack. What a fun morning!

 We're thankful that our pregnancy continues to progress well. At our doctor's appointment on Dec. 1, the doctor immediately found baby's heartbeat using the Doppler device. We'll go back in for our "big" ultrasound on Dec. 19, when Kim is right at 19 weeks along. We don't plan to find out this baby's gender either since we so much enjoyed being surprised with Ian.

 Ian absolutely loved looking at the fetal models Matt brought home from school (which Matt had used while teaching biology). Ian attached himself to the 32-week-old fetal model and took "her" everywhere. It was endearing to see him rock the baby, "tickle" and cuddle her, and sleep right beside her. It was a little scary, however, to hear him ask if he could put the baby inside the dryer! Turns out he has a few things to learn before being a big brother. Ha ha!

 For a long time, Ian has been intrigued by his Play-doh scissors. He was thrilled to learn a few weeks ago that his Play-doh scissors could cut paper, too. A few days ago, I finally decided to let him experiment with "real" (kid) scissors. He made the fringes for these fun Christmas thank-you notes and absolutely loved it!

The next day, while I was cutting coupons, I asked if he'd like to "help." Boy, was he excited about that! :)

 Daddy and Ian made a caboose from a Lowe's Build and Grow workshop kit. (The Lowe's room was too full to do it there, but we happily brought it home.) Over the next few weeks, Daddy and Ian will go to Lowe's to make a coal car and then an engine. How exciting!

 

On Sunday, Kim and her friend Aliceson hosted a table for our church's Advent by Candlelight. Neither of us had ever been before, but we were excited to give it a try. 

 Thanks to Aliceson's creativity, our table turned out very nicely. :)

It was such a blessing to have a "girls' night out" with great friends -- Julie, Martha, (Kim), Tanya, Jenn, Aliceson, Carole, and Kati.

One of my favorite parts of this Christmas has been hearing Ian sing Christmas songs. In this video, he sings the "Christmas bells" song that Grandma taught him while she was visiting. He knows at least seven or eight other carols, too -- some of them, he surprised us and knows multiple verses of! We'll see if we can get some of those on video, too. For now, enjoy this one carol, courtesy of Ian. :)