this Christmas

This Christmas we 

            Eve:
. started the day with some exercise then went home for a big breakfast of bacon, eggs, and toast
. we baked Christmas cookies
. constructed our German Gingerbread house!
. shared a simple Bethlehem dinner, eating things similar to what Mary and Joseph may have had on their trip to Bethlehem 
. watched a Christmas Eve service online from back home
. received our gift - Christmas jammies - and wore them all day long!

         Christmas:
. big breakfast day 2!
. read the Christmas story together and watched a Christmas movie in the morning
. open our 3 gifts & play all day
. fast during the day - giving up a meal to pray for the poor, hungry, and spiritually lost in the world. 
. enjoyed some more Bethlehem food for lunch
. went to a friend's house and celebrated the birth of Christ with our friends-turned into-family here 

     

-------------------------------------  The 3 gifts:  -------------------------------------------

Narrow down the focus of your gift giving. 

Enjoy Christmas. 

Celebrate the true meaning.

"The year I found a garbage bag full of wrapped presents hidden under a blanket on the washing machine four days after Christmas, I knew. I knew we were going overboard with the gift giving, because the girls hadn't even missed those lost presents. As I looked back on pictures of Christmases past, I realized that the girls were dazed by present-overload, not knowing what to play with first and just sitting there in the midst of the jumble of gifts and wrapping. This was not good." - Amy Wagner, Crosswalk.com

"Our children love this tradition and share with others the special way we do Christmas. Never once have they felt neglected or that it was unfair that they each receive only three gifts. They have become great at tweaking their own lists for Christmas under the "three gifts" guidelines and have made my Christmas shopping much easier and less stressful. "  - same article by Amy Wagner, I LOVE THIS! 

* one “gold” gift, the big item they are longing for; Gold is precious and expensive, so is this gift. It's something that child really truly wants and/or is the most expensive gift on her list.
* one “myrrh” gift, myrrh was one of the ointments used to embalm the dead and was said to have been one of the spices carried by Mary to the tomb to anoint Jesus' body. So this gift is for their body, such as clothing, special soaps or lotions, perfume; 
* one “frankincense” gift, for their spiritual growth, is a gift that will draw the recipient closer to God * - 3 gifts for Christmas


-OR-  need, read, want-OR-  Body (clothes), Mind (toy), Soul (devotion)-OR-  Need, Want, From Sibling (so they learn to give gifts to others)

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Starting family traditions

 It may sound strange, but Christmas traditions don't have to be … well … traditional. You can start new activities that bring meaning to your holidays and build a legacy for your family. Perhaps you came from a family of non-believers, and you have never celebrated traditions that were based on Christ. Or perhaps you have found that your current traditions have no meaning for your family. This year, we have compiled 10 ideas for new traditions, some from FamilyLife and some from our readers.

1. What Does God Want for Christmas? The Christmas holiday is really just a part of the gospel story—God came as the man, Jesus, in the flesh to be the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Jesus' birth signifies God's grace and love for His people. FamilyLife has developed an interactive nativity set that not only tells the story of the birth of Christ, but also presents the gospel to children.
This resource, What God Wants for Christmas, can be used in your own family, in Sunday school classes, or as an outreach for neighborhood Christmas parties. 

2. Use decorations to tell about the entire life of Christ. Christmas is a time that usually emphasizes the birth of Jesus, but decorations can also celebrate the remainder of His life on earth. In addition to the basic nativity set, angels, and stars, you may want to include crosses and verses that talk about the life of Jesus. 

3. Fast a meal. In America, Christmas includes a large focus on food. This year, during the week before Christmas, give up a meal and pray during that time for the poor, hungry, and spiritually lost in the world. 

4. Watch a movie that remembers the life of Christ. There are several good films that focus on the birth, death, and life of Christ. We recommend Jesus of Nazareth, the film, Jesus, or for mature audiences, The Passion of the Christ. Or for a change of pace, try Ben Hur, a movie that begins with Jesus' birth and ends with His death, and tells the story of a man who was transformed by His love and forgiveness.
By watching movies that focus on other aspects of the life of Jesus, the Christmas celebration of His birth is put into proper perspective. This can be an excellent opportunity to talk to your children about why Christ had to come in the form of a child. 

5. Share stories about how God has worked in your life. Have you ever told your children the story of your salvation? How about your spouse? While the family is together during the holidays, use the time to share your personal stories about faith, redemption, and life change. Also, reflect on the previous year and talk about how you have grown in your faith individually and as a family.

Caleb's 10th month of life

Sorry we've missed a few months updating the blog, it's been a very busy summer of travel for this Babyman! We're back home for a while now so we thought we'd show you all what he's been up to....

The last time we posted Caleb was on the verge of crawling, these days he's a speed crawler, pulling himself up everywhere and even standing without holding anything for a few seconds. This little Babyman will be walking before we know it and closer to man than baby than ever before!

He's learning how to be gentle with Autumn and share things with his baby friends. He's also getting better at communicating with his voice as well as understanding and obeying us. Just today he figured out how to begin taking off his own shirt, he's cutting his 7th tooth, and he's down to 1 or 2 naps each day. Caleb is constantly in motion- investigating everything, tasting everything that he can fit in his mouth, and squeaking at all the right intervals.

 Making friends and playing drums in the park by our house.

Hanging out with one of Mommy's best and oldest friends when she came to Germany to visit!!!

This little man takes after his Mommy's love for cleanliness. This broom is his favorite kitchen toy and the washer is a constant source of entertainment.

 Caleb is constantly exploring and trying new things, like stair climbing. Oh my gosh!

Playing drums with Daddy at church on Sunday is the best.

Pool time!

Caleb popping bubbles

7 months and 3 days old

Caleb is 7 months old and quite the big boy! His last month was pretty busy. He got back to sleeping through the night, napping three times a day, and basically being the best baby ever! 

Easter was a nice excuse for him to really dress up for the first time: check out his snazzy sweater vest!  (Still we couldn't forget his bunny.)

Caleb is *this* close to crawling. His is getting ready to
explore the world, scooting his way around.

And tasting it's many varieties of
orange vegetables:
carrots, sweet potato, squash...
As well as avocado, apple, banana, peaches,
peas, green beans, and yesterday (randomly) a pinto bean.

We tried some solids for the first time in the last few weeks, experimenting with different baby-feeding techniques and foods. We pureed our own vegetables, stirred up some baby cereal, cut huge chunks of steamed vegetables for him to handle on his own and even gave him some baked potato off our own plate while were out to eat!

He's been hanging with his buddy Tucker and telling him all about the things 

Tucker has to look forward to as his grows!

This weekend Caleb was really enjoying the beautiful Spring weather of Wiesbaden at the park with Daddy on the swings

and with Mommy on the slide.

One tooth has popped out, but I'm sure he is still teething considering Caleb will gnaw on everything these days, even Daddy's favorite ball cap.

Caleb is 5 months (almost 6) old!

Sorry this month's post is a bit late. February and most of March have been really challenging with Caleb's new affinity for multiple night wakings. The last week or so he's slowly transitioning back to his old 5+ hours of sleep at night, which we are extremely grateful for, and can now begin to get back to life-as-we-once-knew (with bebe).

This month Caleb seems to have grown leaps and bounds! No longer does he seem like a baby-baby but a teeny tiny little person who is a part of the world, has opinions/ curiosities about it, and an ever-growing personality! This stage of his life has been SUCH FUN that we are just trying to soak up every single second of it.

The thumb sucker

His own sense of style

splish splash, this boy loves the bath!

Rolling over everywhere!

Testing everything in his mouth.

Cheering Daddy on at his first softball tournament of the season!

4 months old & making friends

This month Caleb has experienced a lot of firsts, has really begun interacting with and discovering the world around him, and IS MAKING FRIENDS! It is so cute to watch, I can hardly take it. Teeny babies holding hands is the cutest thing ever, whether or not they really understand what they're doing :) 

Maxwell & Caleb - BFF

hanging with Tucker while their mommies hit the gym

He is rolling over back-to-front, front-to-back, up to twice in a row now! Sometimes it's just the wall that stops his movement. Surely, this little baby man will be on the go in no time!

With all of his new interacting skills we're currently on the lookout for toys/games to help aid his development, any suggestions would be more than welcome!

Caleb is starting to recognize Autumn and interact with her more. He isn't very gentle with the "petting", but thankfully Autumn is tolerant of her little brother's hair pulling shenanigans.

"Mom, why does sister have so much hair? It's so soft, I like it."

 

flying free!

He got his first cold this month also, resulting in this boy's first night of being up every two hours. Not fun. After this experience I have to major reflections:
(1) A new incredible respect for mommies who endure this on the regular.
(2) I now understand why God made babies so dang cute- purely for their survival. If not for their immense cuteness I wonder at their survival rate the morning following these episodes :)


Overall, life as mommy, daddy & babyman is wonderful! More and more each day we love this little blessing more than we knew possible. We are so grateful for God's gracious gift that is Caleb Uriah.

January 2014 - Caleb's 3 months old and traveling internationally!

These days Caleb is much more aware of the world around him and loves to interact with it, making being mommy and daddy so much fun! Every day there is something exciting, something hilarious, something gross to clean, something impossibly adorable to report. He is such a joy to share life with and to learn more about.

At three and half months old Caleb is discovering something new seemingly every day! Most recently he became a professional roller: front to back, back to front, this babyman is on the move! Also, he has become infatuated with his feet. First it was just finding them...

Now it is tasting them! Infant flexibility astounds me.

Autumn is still adjusting to having a little guy around taking most of her snuggles and just takes her preferred seat, regardless of the amount of space there is... poor old girl.

Mr. Caleb has mastered head control and is a happy, smiling, upright sitting little babyman these days! Now we're on the look out for a exersaucer or jumparoo or something so that he can practice playing and begin discovering while seated/standing, instead of just swatting at toys and rolling around on his playmat.

In the middle of this month our family went to Barcelona, Spain for 3 nights when Jason had a long weekend at work. Caleb's first flight was a total success, he certainly is his travel-loving father's son!

We wore him in the airport to help speed things along, who knew that a 16lb. infant could pack more luggage than two grown adults combined?!

Daddy had a blast showing Caleb the ropes: how to buckle his seat belt, how to explore local markets, how to pose on city park animal statues, how to take funny pictures with large architecture, basically general sight-seeing do's and don'ts.

Happy 3 month birthday Caleb!

I can't believe he's already (or only) been in our lives for 3 months. 

He is such a sacred blessing to us.

There has never been a more pure source of joy for us on this earth and we are so grateful for the privilege of being his mommy and daddy.