Claira's Dedication Service

Christmas Cookie Day 2008

Every year, my mom, Shannon and I get together and spend an entire day baking Christmas cookies. It's such a special tradition. I always look forward to it.

This year was really fun, because my girls (and Jake, too) really got into it.

We started with Peanut Butter Blossoms and my girls were in charge of taking all the Kisses out of the wrappers. They did great. But every time I turned my head, J would sneak a Kiss!


We took a break in the middle of the afternoon for my parents to take their Christmas card picture. Here are a few of my favorites.


I like this one, because Jake has his arm around Em. Too cute!

Poor Baby C!

This one was the winner!

We did sugar cookies and the kids really enjoyed it. I would roll the dough and then let each of them choose a shape and press it out. After the cookies were baked, they all were able to shake the sprinkles on.

Needless to say, it got a little messy. Here's J putting the cookie cutters on like bracelets.


Sprinkles!
All together, we made PB Blossoms, sugar cookies, turtles, Cream Wafers and Shannon made some Cherry Mash (shout out to our hometown proud, St. Joe!). A delicious and calorie-rich mix of Christmassy-goodness.

Prayers for a Beautiful Friend

My beautiful friend, Beth, is amazing. (Pictured center here, with the other amazing women in my Life Group.)

Today we celebrated her and her journey towards motherhood. It wasn't your typical baby shower, because Beth's pregnancy has not been typical. You see, Beth's baby was diagnosed early in the pregnancy with Trisomy 13. It's a chromosomal abnormality that the doctor's say is "incompatible with life."

It's been nothing short of horrific and petrifying for their family. Beth and her husband Aaron are in our Life Group. And I have to say it's been amazing to share this journey with them.

Even though they are facing a very uncertain outcome, their faith has been unwavering. Beth has been blogging. I can't tell you how much her insight into scripture and her personal thoughts during the pregnancy have blessed and challenged me.

Can you imagine such a prognosis for your son? I certainly cannot.

So, I write this post to celebrate my beautiful friend. But, also to heed your prayers. Beth is 37 weeks today. Her belly continues to grow and baby Jeremy is very active.

We believe we serve a miracle-working God and ask that you pray for a miracle in this situation. Pray specifically for the growth of his heart. Pray for strength for Beth and Aaron.

They are an amazing couple and I have no doubt that God will be honored and praised regardless of how this story unfolds, but they have a difficult road ahead.

The photos below are from the nursery at Beth's house. They will paint the walls this week, but before they do that, they invited friends and family to come over and write prayers and scripture on the wall.

It was really cool to read what people had written. (Click on the photos to view them larger.)

Our Cotton Candy Girl is Dedicated

Baby C is about the sweetest baby in the world. And Saturday was all about her. We had C dedicated at our church. The ceremony was special. I teared up as they read about her and showed her pictures. I was so proud.

She is such a gift. And truly a miracle. I am so grateful that she is here.

Afterwards, we had dessert at our house with family. It was a really special time and it felt good to just focus on our baby girl for the evening.

My beautiful family. I'm stinkin proud of this group.

Andy and I during the dedication ceremony. Check out the family on the left. She had twin boys younger than my twins and a baby, older than my baby. If I had to guess, it looks like she had 3 boys, in 12 months.

Needless to say, they had their hands full. I so wanted to reach out to them and say, can I help you?, hold something?, somebody?

I remembered that I had seen this mom while at a work meeting in Capstone, before C was born. I was so distracted watching her out the window. She whipped out her triple stroller and was loading kids into it from the back door of her mini-van.

I remember during that meeting wanting to run up to her and say, "I have twins too, and I'm about to have a baby! And I'm scared out of my mind! It looks like you're doing it! Let's be friends!"

I didn't get to meet her that night, but I'm gonna look her up. I'm sure we'll have some stories to swap.

Christmas with the Colts

We had a really busy weekend. It started Friday night at the Colt's Christmas party. It's such a nice event, totally for families.

We ate some food... you know, the healthy stuff. Mini hamburgers, mac n cheese, chicken strips, egg rolls. And of course, you can't forget the dessert. Mini donuts for the girls. They came in these cute little individual cups, all warm and delicious. And while I wasn't looking, Lo ate all 6 of her donuts. I was a little stunned. That girl was wound up after that!


So, it's a good thing she could run it off on the Colts' indoor practice field... (look close. the girls are waving at me!)


As usual, J was a little more adventurous than Lo. J jumped on the inflatables and got a snowgirl painted on her arm.



And these weren't your average carnival facepainters, these ladies were really good...


This photo just makes me laugh. Lo is proving with age that she is a clone of her daddy, often in her own little world. She was in the middle of the endzone and decided to squat down and enjoy her sucker from Santa. Such a lady, I tell ya (she's a lot like her dad, but her lady-like ways are probably an accurate reflection of her momma).

The party was complete with a visit to daddy's office, to feed Baby C (yes, she was there, too, although there are no pictures to prove it). They got to try on his Lucas Oil Stadium hard hat, play with the nerf basketball and write on daddy's white walls.


Merry Christmas and Go Horse!

Friends

The girls go to MMO two half days each week. I'm always amazed at the things they learn at school. But, I think what I love the most is that they are developing friendships for the first time.

They both love their new friend, Avery. Avery's mommy just had a new baby and since we know adding a baby to the family can be a bit stressful, we offered to let Avery hang out with us one morning to give her mommy a break.

We've only had her over once, but I'm sure it was just the first of many playdates.

This picture is adorable. I loved watching them play. They were such little girls. They were eating popcorn, talking and coloring at the table.

Guilty (again)

I'm guilty (again) of bloggy neglect.

We've had a bit going on. Family in town, friends in town, huge party for hubby, Christmas party (already!) and new work project.

I'll have some picture proof of all the fun, real soon.

So, here's a little pic to cheer everyone up and hopefully keep you coming back for more!

Sweet Baby C will be 5 months old on Wednesday! I can hardly believe. She keeps living up to her cotton candy reputation, by sleeping 11hrs at night and smiling at anyone who talks to her.

Here she is in her ski hat, ready to hit the slopes. Or for a quick ride in the car!