Celebrations
Gigi’s Sweet Shop
This post is just a tad late, but I seem to do a better job keeping up on Instagram. Follow us over there for your “daily dose of vitamin E”. Lots of Eden updates and snapshots into our crazy little life!
What to do when its 110 degrees outside every day for over a month straight?
Host an Ice Cream Social of course!!
Gigi served up a sweet shop party for her friends to celebrate her 5th birthday.
(Well ok, her fairy-Grandmother brought all the party-fixin’s in her suitcase from the US and corralled half a dozen sugar-crazed kids.) Me with a brand-new-nursing baby did little more than “pin” some ideas and let Abi and Britain help Grandmoni execute all the implementation.
As is the tradition in our family, Gigi got to invite 5 friends since she was turning 5. In addition to 5 cutie pies who donned their party apparel, we had one very dapper little gentleman who was also on the invite list because Gigi insisted that Peter had to come too!! He’s 1 and quite the little ladies-man!
Table lavishly laden with sugar sprinkles, sweet syrups, cookie crumbs, frothy whipped cream and a cherry for the top, we handed each child a bowl and let them create their masterpiece. (I did apologize to the parents for the excessive amount of sugar – especially Anya’s mom who told me this is the first time she has had sugar – ever. (gulp!!) Im so sorry! …… it could be worse I assured them…Ive been known to host parties and send home live animals!)
Oh these sweet days of pink and sugar sprinkles and pigtails and chapstick! My sweet baby girl. Always a bandaid stuck somewhere. Chewing gum connoisseur. Future negotiator for the UN, present persuader of everyone in our house. Loves nail polish and dresses that twirl. Eats rice like a proper Asian. Has been known to request an “omelet with no egg” and “spaghetti with no sauce”. High maintenance diva but willingly relinquished her position as baby-of-the-family to a little brother she adores! Loves naptime with books and M&M’s every afternoon. Eats hummus with a spoon and drinks lime juice from the bottle. Contagious giggler and affectionate snuggler. Can you please just stop growing now?!!
Hope your day was as sweet as you are little monkey!!
A Different December
Our Christmas holiday has been a bit nomadic and untraditional. I spent the first half of December in China with my best friend helping to support her in adopting their precious baby from China. Such a special thing to be apart of and beautiful reminder of God adopting us as sons and daughters and His unconditional love for us!! So blessed to get some heart-momma/soul-sister time as well with this gem!
Fortunately, I got the tree up before I left, but we had to forgo a lot of our advent traditions and I feel Ive been playing “catch up” ever since arriving home to kids getting off school and 4 clients I was on-call for over the holidays. Thanking God that no one went into labor ON Christmas…..and for a fake tree which I intend to leave up until mid-January because it isn’t shedding needles and I haven’t gotten my fill of it yet! We savored a few uneventful days as a family between Christmas and New Years before welcoming a stream of houseguests which we’ll have with us for the next 2 weeks.
For someone who comes from a long line of “Tradition” (picture Fiddler on the Roof devotion to the concept here!) Ive had to go back to my post from last year as a reminder to myself. We didnt get the candy cane cookies baked this year and we used a kit gingerbread house instead of creating a customized Whoville gingerbread village. We’ve taken shortcuts and streamlined a lot this year….and Im learning to be “ok” with that.
After the Christmas-Eve tradition of all the children building a tent in one room and camping together, the kids were allowed to come into wake mom & dad up and watch The Grinch in our room early on Christmas morning (because we are lame and this was the only way to stall them and get a cup of coffee and wake up slowly before the Christmas morning craziness) 🙂
C’s sister was visiting from Shanghai and his parents joined us for the day. So grateful to have family around this year when we’re so far from home! Stockings, brunch and a morning in pj’s reading the Christmas story and opening gifts…..and the obligatory Christmas morning picture with puffy morning eyes and no one wanting to smile!!
Tristan begged for a puppy for Christmas!!
We got him a gerbil which we said he could name “puppy” 🙂
Sorry buddy, but this definitely isn’t the year to add a canine to our tribe!! But, this cool kid is pretty easily pacified with anything living and loves his new charges! (his second choice to a dog would’ve been a python…..which will probably happen sometime……
….when he’s grown and out of the house!!)
Tristan and Evie are the proud new owners of “Snowball” and “Oreo” which we sincerely hope are the same gender and that we are not going to be breeding dozens of baby rats!! In the event that we do have a surplus of gerbils, I have a plan. Anyone remember the birthday when we passed out goldfish to guests? Kids loved me….moms, not so much!!
So…..who wants to come to Evie’s January birthday? Ive got a great favor idea!
May the awe and wonder of the season be not lost on the fleeting joys of this world. Because of Him, we celebrate and anticipate!! With love this Christmas from our family to yours!
~ The Smith’s
It’s A……..BABY
Well, its official………
…kinda.
6 weeks ago, I had a fetal echo of our little “bubbles” and got to see a healthy, 4-chamber, fully developed, beautifully functioning heart!! What a relief to be told that your baby’s heart looks perfect!!
We asked the cardiac ultrasonagrapher if he could tell what baby’s gender was. He wrote down his answer in a sealed envelope which we intended to open as a family on Christmas.
Confession here:……moments after pulling out of the hospital parking lot, I had my iPhone flashlight out trying to get a read through the envelope and distinctly saw GIRL written neatly on the 3×5 card. Shortly thereafter, I confessed my embarassing “moment of weakness” to C. So, we’ve been holding this little secret and thinking of girl names for the past few weeks.
Then the day before Christmas Eve, I went for my first proper doctor visit and got an ultrasound scan of baby by an actual obstetrician, who contradicted the first answer and assured us that she is 100% sure that it is a BOY!!
So…..we are going with…….BLUE BABY!!!
(we think)
Lots of happy squeals and jumping up and down from our girls….and big brother Tristan is completely in denial. After this many sisters, its hard to believe you’ve got a shot at a brother. He says he’ll believe it when he sees it, but the assumption is…….we will have bookend boys to balance our family!!
With all my pregnancies, we’ve never had a 3D ultrasound before. C and I were in awe watching this tiny person looking so complete and beautifully formed. Getting excited to have him in our arms, (tho with all these eager, helpful older siblings, I wonder how much snuggle time momma’s actually gonna get!?)
