The BIG Christmas Post

christmas always seems to be a lot of work and buildup, but when you're celebrating it with your kids it all seems worth it. ely had been looking forward to opening presents for sometime now. opening presents on her birthday has whet her appetite. i have been trying to explain to her that christmas is so much more than opening presents; that it's about jesus being born and what that means to us. one of her favorite bible stories is the birth of jesus. i listened to her a few days before christmas, reading the story of jesus' birth to one of her babies. it warmed my heart to see her being to internalize and share (as much as three year old can) her understanding of christ. she came out of her room one morning, after i had wrapped some presents and out them under the tree, and she exclaimed:
"more presents?! that not what christmas is all about! it's about jesus!"

on christmas eve, we went to g-mama's house (preston's grandma) and hung out and ely helped mama sassy make pies. ely mostly like to sprinkle flour on the dough, on her dress, on the floor...anywhere that needed to be floured.

we haven't really made a big deal about santa with ely. she knows who he is, but mostly that he wears a red suit, had reindeer and brings presents. our neighbors dressed up like santa for their kids, and then scared me by knocking on the door at 12:30am! we convinced him to come and take a picture with ely. we showed her that santa came to see her the next morning!

we opened presents with our little family on christmas morning...

josiah's first christmas

my other sweet

this was the first present ely opened. it was wrapped in a disney store box. when she got the wrapping paper off she said " OOHH! a box! thank you!" and then put it to the side and was ready for the next one!

keeping josiah busy, while we open presents. he got kind of bored!

we then went to my mom's house to open presents with mama maida and aunt bapa...

we went to gmama's house for dinner, like we do every year. this is where we see family that we haven't seen in awhile. preston's unlce jon got a new puppy for christmas and shared him with the family at g-mama's christams dinner. needless to say, he was a big hit!

Dinner Entertainment

this is how we spend our dinners lately. me, holding josiah, ely being silly and josiah laughing at her. she really is his favorite! i can't get him to laugh like this for me!

i love that my two babies get along so well. we do have the occasional biting him, pulling his fingers or hitting him with a toy, but i think it's all done out of love. the love of a three year old who doesn't know her own strength!

here's my two kids getting along! ely has memorized most of her books, so she's actaully reading to him! :)

How Cute is My Kid?!!

my friend has an amazing talent and agreed to take some picutres of my beautiful son. she did such a great job! thanks so much rachel! these pictures make a wonderful addition to our collection!

josiah rolled over tonight! many of his friends have already rolled over, but he's on his own time table. i put some toys next to him and it took him like 20 minutes to roll over, but he did it! he's such a big boy!

oh, and he also has like 6 teeth coming! one of the unexpected joys of parenting!

Rainy Day Schedule

for those of you who are not here in california, you will probably have no sympathy for us, but it's cold and rainy here! At noon it's 50 degrees! for us california folk, that's COLD! i took ely out for a little rain play and splashing in puddles. she got a new pair of rain boots this year, so we had to try them out!

Happy Birthday, My Sweet Ely!

today my first baby turned three! last year on this day i sat here and marveled at how much she grew the previous year. well, this year is no different. ely has learned, grown and matured so much over the last year. i am so proud of the little person she is becoming (despite my parenting sometimes :)). god has graciously given me a caring and empathetic daughter who will one day grow into an amazing woman. god has been so faithful in our lives. he has sen us all through some tough times and has blessed us with more wonderful times. ely has taught me how to be a more patient and loving mother and person. i owe a great deal of my own maturing to her. she makes me laugh, cry and dance. i thank the lord for letting her be a part of my life and allowing me to watch her grow up.

some of our favorite memories with ely...

we love you so much, ely! mommy and daddy are so proud of who you are growing up to be!

Christmas Spirit at the Nesper House

we got into the christmas spirit this week and put up the few christmas decorations we have. ely helped decorate the tree. needless to say, the bottom half of our tree is decorated beautifully! the top half is lacking a bit! we put the stockings on top to fill it up (and we have no other place for them!)

organizing the ornaments. that's josiah in the back, doing nothing, as usual!

he's supervising!

putting the angel on top

preston and i used to do volunteer work at our church with the junior high and high school ministry. every year they would have a tree lot where the students and leaders would work. one year preston made me an angel out of twine for my apartment and that angel now sits on top of our tree as it has every year we've been married.

the finished product!

our cats have found a new home under the tree.