Christmas Eve, then the Big Day

Ah, Christmas.  

Christmas Eve is our big celebration day, and we started it off with a trip to Cleveland's West Side Market for lunch....and we also may have picked up a few desserts along the way....We met my aunt and uncle and cousins there, and by a serendipitous chance, also ran into my good friend Jacquelyn and her family. That was ridiculously awesome, considering how big the Market is, and how many people were there, but you know, great minds think alike, right Jacq?! 

We returned home to prepare a Mexican feast for dinner.  For most of our lives, we've been Christmas ham people, but Robyn, being a southern desert girl, has been of the Mexican food persuasion, so at her suggestion we cobbled together a delicious, south-of-the-border celebration.

After eating a wholesome amount of assorted cakes, the time for our Christmas pageant had finally arrived! Everyone gathered this and that, and tied scarves here and wrapped fabric there, and voila! Costumes!
The roles were as follows:
Mama- narrator
Dad- innkeeper
Shane- sheep, donkey
Robyn- shepherd
Jeff- wise man
Rachel- angel
Sawyer- Joseph, wise man
Elouise- Mary

Fitting, no? We all thought it was pretty perfect, and absolutely hilarious, and completely wonderful. Maybe the only Christmas moment that topped it was the next morning as we all waited at the top of the stairs with baited breath, Sawyer cheered and excitedly snatched up Shane and Robyn's hands and directed everyone else to do the same. So in one great, big long chain, we fumbled down the stairs.

When Sawyer saw his gifts he covered his mouth and jumped up and down and tore through presents one at a time, playing with each before moving on to the next.

Lula was quite content to open three gifts, play with them, then left the rest for me as she made her way to the brunch table.

  

Let Her Eat Cake!

Nearly everyday I squeeze Louie tight and say to her, "Oh Elouise! What would we ever do without you?" because we absolutely love having her in our family.

She is sweet as sugar.  She has smiles and giggles and kisses for everyone, solicited or not, she'll hand them out.  She loves to snuggle and cuddle in close and enjoys being held.  She'll stick her chubby cheeks right in front of your face and will look earnestly into your eyes, hold out one hand and then start gabbing.  Occasionally, in the midst of her jabber, she'll throw her head back and give a hearty laugh.  Or she'll do one of her many noise making tricks, like "doy-doy-doy" while wagging her tongue, blow raspberries, click her tongue, or sometimes she'll just fart on you and laugh.

That's where the dervish comes in.  You see, while LouLou is sugar, she is also spice.  I like to call her my Zesty Angel. Sweet Fire.  Sassafrass.  She's the kind of girl who, when she hears the word "tub" after dinner, will take you by the hand and lead you sweetly to the bath, but when you take her away first to get her towel, she'll hit you the whole way to her room.  When she takes something from your hand, she snatches it deftly.  She likes to kiss Sawyer and pat his back, then whack him on the head.  If you lay on the floor, she'll pounce on you.  And if you cross between her and what she wants, she'll let you have it. She's a great communicator about her needs.  She doesn't really throw tantrums, but she will stomp her feet and yell at you, or she may dance around angrily.

But she also dances around happily. To nearly ANY beat.  Fast or slow.  At church or at dinner.  Give her a note and she'll get to shakin'.

Elouise loves reading books. Throughout the day I find her sitting in a chair or legs out in front of her on the floor, flipping through the pages of a book. She adores bubbles, and the only thing cuter than seeing her dance around in them is to hear her say try to say "bubble." She also tries to say bird (she signs it whenver she hears the faintest tweet, or whenever she looks out the window), fish, yes, and makes the "ssssss" sound for snakes and "mmmmmmm" sound for cows.  Her most oft said word is "Dada" and she completely loves her daddy- shouting his name and running to him with her hands in the air when he walks in the door.

She's eating more variety of foods and is just about done nursing, we've worked her down to pre-bed and mama-needs-a-few-more-hours, pre-waking, and we're both fine with that schedule.  She has 6 teeth, is in the 97%ile for height and head and 84%ile for weight, and we still have her riding around rear facing, though we upgraded her to Sawyer's old car seat a few months ago.  She doesn't just walk, she runs, and giggles while running.

That sums up Lou quite nicely, I think.

Queen Louie the First

I have a miserable confession about this crown .Well, not this crown exactly, I made this one with metallic paper and vintage pearls. The one I had planned on using was a beautiful, stiffened lace, gold crown, ordered especially for my sweet Louie in anticipation of her first birthday.  I agonized for a few months over whether or not to purchase it before I finally did, not because it was expensive, but because it's just the sort of "unnecessary" I'm trying to de-clutter from our lives. But old habits die hard, and when I unwrapped the lace crown and set it at a jaunty angle on Elouise's beautiful head, I was so glad that I had caved.  I set it up high- you know, so as to be out of reach- for safe-keeping.  When I walked into Lou's room a few weeks later to grab it for pictures I got doused with a bucket of ice water.  Not really.  But the out-of-reach spot where the crown was displayed was empty, and I felt pretty empty about it. I guess I had been really excited about that little crown.  I searched high and low, played good cop, bad cop with Sawyer, dug through everything, got furious, got sad, got discouraged, called everyone who had been in the house to ask if they had seen it, and then I called in Jeff. He has the finder power.  He couldn't find it though. My silly little splurge, the crowning detail for my little Queen, was completely lost.  I was sick about it.

I knew it was ridiculous to care about such a thing but since it was important to me I decided to pray.  I pleaded that I would be able to find the crown, or know where to look, and then I sat and waited for inspiration to hit.  I felt really strongly, as I had at several other quiet moments that day, that I needed to look in the boxes out by trash in the garage. I did.  I found the box it was mailed in, snatched it up, and with my heart pounding and feelings of faith surging through me I knew, before I even opened it, that the crown was there.  I peeled back the lid and- the box was empty.  Dejected, I turned back inside to make a back-up paper crown. I was sure I was being punished for my bad behavior and caring so much for a stupid little crown.

So I learned my lesson. I repented of my children for being so crazy the day before, and from then on I focused not on the party, but on the reason for the celebration, my darling, dreamy Elouise. We had the most beautiful day for her. I resolved to never lose focus on what really mattered, and to tone down the parties in the future to allow more room for simply enjoying existence together.

 And do you know what? The day after the party as Shane was breaking down boxes, he found the little lace crown, in a box, by the trash, right under the box I had looked in.  If I had spent as much energy following my prompting as I had tearing apart the house mindlessly all. day. long. I would have easily found the crown.

That's two lessons learned (the hard way) from one tiny lace crown.