A Beautiful and Amazing Christmas!!!!

Our Family shared a beautiful and amazing Christmas this year!  Little baby Jesus was so generous to us.

Interior Peace and the increase of Faith and Hope seem to be the theme of this Christmas and upcoming year!!!

God desired for us to spend some real quality family time on Christmas.  We had to cancel Christmas Dinner plans with friends and were so disappointed.   The reason being that Andrew caught the stomach bug and vomited from Midnight Christmas Eve until about 5:00 am Christmas morning.  Pool little guy.  However, because of Andrew's sickness and our having to cancel dinner plans, the entire family stayed in our jammies all day long.  The boys absolutely LOVED this since one of their gifts were Transformers jammies, which they see as costumes in which they actually become Optimus Prime and Bumble Bee.

All in all, not the Christmas we planned, but God certainly made it into something even more than we could have imagined.  Isn't HE continually doing this in our lives?  If we allow Him into our hearts, He can transform us into something (or someone) beyond the hopes and dreams we could ever have for ourselves.

Merry Christmas and May be Peace of the Christ Child Control your Hearts!!!!

This last one is a video so it won't show up in the book.  So sorry guys!  It's mostly to share with family!!

Mark's Birthday photos

Icing the birthday cake.  

Homemade maple cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Recipe courtesy of Pioneer Woman. I love her recipes!!!

The long awaited and anticipated BATCAVE!!!  Later that day, the boys were playing quietly and  I couldn't resist taking a peek.  To my surprise, Andrew was playing with the batcave and Mark was playing with Robin and the box.  Andrew's response, "we talked about it and he let me play with the batcave."

I didn't bring the camera to Chuck E. Cheese, but that is where we went for dinner. The boys had a blast.  All three of them.  After Chuck E. Cheese, we came home and ate cake.  It was a fantastic day for everyone, especially the birthday boy.  

It's Beginning to Look alot like Christmas!!

The excitement! The anticipation! The Tree!  The baking!  The longing!  The Photos!

This has been a tough, but great Advent for us.  We spent the first two weeks trying to focus on Advent and preparing for Jesus to come.  We tried to light our Advent Wreath every night for dinner and sing "O Come, O Come, Emanuel".  We celebrated St. Nicholas Day with candy in the boys shoes and a new DVD about St. Nicholas.  We celebrated the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.  All the while "Christmas" is raging all around us.  Advent is always a very confusing time for me.  My soul longs to prepare my heart for "the one my heart longs for", but my flesh can't help but get caught up in the secular "Christmas".  I then become depressed and cynical which is completely counterproductive to what Christmas is all about.  AT least those who are celebrating and preparing are filled with Joy!  But I think for me, this is all part of my struggle in preparing myself for Jesus and the graces He's bring on Christmas morning.

The third week was a little stressful when the the reality that Christmas is almost here sets in and we prepare for the celebration of Mark's birthday.  This year we discovered the O Antiphons.  How beautiful!  Where have they been all my life?  The longing, the anticipation in those Antiphons.  Another family tradition has begun.  Bruce and I prayed the prayers together each day while the boys helped us by singing  "O Come, O Come Emanuel".

The boys are counting down the days until Christmas.  Andrew, especially is so very excited.  The other morning I was laying in bed, enjoying the peace and quite of the day and the sound of the the shower in the bathroom while praying my morning offering.  All of a sudden, Andrew came running into the room and jumped into bed with me.  He snuggled up next to me and asked, "Mom, what do you want for Christmas?"  "Peace and Joy", I responded.  "I would like Baby Jesus to fill my heart with  Peace and Joy.."  "OH, so baby Jesus can bring gifts, like Santa Claus."

Andrew and I made an Advent Chain to help give him some idea of when Christmas would get here.  He asked almost every day of December, "Is it Christmas today?"  until we finally sat down and made one.

We cut down our own Christmas tree this year at a Christmas tree farm.  The boys had so much fun.  It it sure to become a family tradition.

Christmas Photos of the boys this year!

So, now we wait in anticipation for the night of Jesus' birth and all the graces of peace, hope, joy, and faith he will bring!!!!!!

My Little Markie is 3 years old!

I can't believe my baby is 3.  He has been such a joy to our family.   Mark is every bit as energetic and bouncy as any average 2 almost 3 year old.  He especially loves to jump off of and onto anything and everything.  He also loves to be upside down.  I previously posted about this.  

There is, however,  a quiet, determined side of his personality that we are starting to see more and more of as he gets older.  We saw a glimpse of it when he decided that Christmas Eve 2008 was the day he was going to walk so he practiced all day long and by Christmas Day, he was walking all over the house.  He just recently started to love putting puzzles together.  He will spend 30 minutes putting together a 24 piece puzzle on his own, patiently trying all of the pieces every which way until they all come together.  He practiced and practiced until he learned to put on his socks all by himself.  Andrew is still quite content to have me put his on every morning.   I know that 2 was the "I do it myself" stage, but Mark took it to a level Andrew never did.  Not only does he want to do everything himself, but he wants to figure out "how" it is done.  He is eager to "learn from his mistakes" and is often willing to practice until it's perfect.  Not that he's a perfectionist, but he doesn't mind the effort it takes to learn a skill.

Of course, the best part is that amazing smile that comes with that sense of accomplishment.  I wish I had a photo of that.  

Mark just adores his brother Andrew and his Daddy.  For a while there I worried if he had an original thought all his own since EVERYTHING he said and did was an imitation of something Andrew had done or said.  He's growing out of that more as he is approaching three and developing more of his own language and personality.  

He is a Daddy's boy.  Although, he has started to want to cuddle more with Mommy in the last few months.  At least twice everyday he will curl up in my lap and want to be held for no more than a minute or two and then he's off to defeat the bad guys.  I LOVE those moments and treasure them in my heart.   

 

At least 4 out 7 days during the week, Mark's preferred choice of clothing is either of his two Superhero costumes (Superman or Robin).  He wears it To the store, school to pick up Andrew, meetings at church, and park outings.  Bruce and I draw the line at wearing it to church.  

Markie, we love you so much.  Your Dad and I thank our Good God that He chose to gift us with your life and make us a family.