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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

A Christmas Story...


"You'll shoot your eye out!"

Andrew has a new favorite Christmas movie..the same one as mommy (and mommy didn't have a thing to do with it, I swear!  Ha!)  It matches his "shiner" he got at school last week (he did it to himself this time).  It cracks me up- I brought out the Christmas movies tonight because it is a tradition for me to watch "A Christmas Story" while putting up the tree every year.  Then I pretty much watch it daily from then until Christmas!  Sometimes multiple times a day!  There is just something about a cheerful Christmas movie to put you in the spirit!  Anyway, Andrew got really into it!
 
Andrew loved watching those boys press their faces against the window!  I suppose he'll be doing that soon enough now!

On Saturday we put up the Christmas tree.  Andrew was beyond excited.  He kept saying "Christmas tree!" over and over.  He was so happy he gave daddy and I a hug, then hugged the tree!  He loved the lights and kept saying "pretty."  We saved the decorating for tonight.  I made a special supper and we put up decorations.

Do your Christmas ornaments evoke memories for you?  That is one of my favorite parts of decorating the tree- talking about each memory as we unwrap the ornaments.  It is a tradition in my family that on each Thanksgiving, my grandma gives each of the grandkids an ornament.  She's done it since my first Christmas.  I have so many special ornaments, one for every year of my life.  Each one brings back a memory from that year.

This is my "Annie" ornament.  This was my favorite movie when I was a little girl.  I've seen the musical a bunch of times.  I used to scrub my dad's garage floor with all my neighbor friends while singing "It's a Hard Knock Life" and wearing my grandma's old dresses.  My dad always said he had the cleanest garage floor in town!
 
This is my favorite Christmas movie of all times; "A Christmas Story."
 
This one is from the year Craig and I got engaged.
 
Bought our first home together...
 
Had an incredible Honeymoon in Maui...
 
And were blessed with our first child.

I just think it is so special to be able to look at our tree and share those special memories together, year after year.  The tree sort of tells our life story, and I just love it.
 
This year I put so many lights on it, it is almost blinding!  I had forgotten that I recycled most of my strings from last year, since half of each string went out.  So I had to purchase some new lights.  I bought a few boxes, thinking I'd take back what I didn't use... well, I went ahead and used them all!  I love lights!  There is just nothing like shutting off all the lights in the house and having only the Christmas lights on.  I just love this time of year so much!  I can't wait to decorate the rest of the house!
 
This is one of my favorite ornaments. I hope to get one each year and put Andrew's picture from each Christmas in it.  I love hanging pictures on the tree as memories, too.
 
Andrew hung up his special ornament from his 2nd Christmas, Thomas the train!
 
He was so funny, when we started hanging things on the tree, he found they "stuck" better when he threw them in the branches!  He was getting so excited because he'd just toss them in and they'd stay!  I had to do some rearranging later!  Ha!

Andrew was climbing up to peek in the boxes to see what ornaments we'd pull out next!  He had a blast!
 
Little stinker...I was trying to get his picture by the tree, but he wanted to sit here!  Go figure! (Can you see his shiner??)

I realize it isn't even Thanksgiving yet and our tree is up...but if you think about all the work that goes into putting up the tree, and the number of days between now and Christmas, it really doesn't seem that far away.  Time goes so fast.  I want to have time to enjoy the decorations and I just hate taking them down.  The house seems so empty afterwards somehow.

Many of you have been asking about Andrew's results from his scan last Friday.  I have been putting off posting, simply because we don't have all the answers yet and I hate to say too much when I don't know everything yet... Dr. M called us and said the results weren't what we had been hoping for...there was 69% flow to his left lung.  He thought Dr. D (the one who performs the caths in Iowa City) may want to do the cath sooner than we thought (he even breathed the word...surgery...which I promptly ignored.)  However, I know the last scan he had done the flow was 75%, so it seems like it is better than it was then.  Dr. M and Dr. D need to discuss the next step, and they haven't connected yet.  Iowa City has the results and we are just hoping and praying we can put this off until after the holidays and his birthday.  I'll be sure to update when we have a plan.  Until then...thanks for your prayers!  Please pray we can put it off and enjoy the holidays together.
 
I'd love to hear about your Christmas holidays and traditions!

8 comments:

  1. I love getting all of the ornaments out, and putting the Christmas tree up.(Looks like Andrew had alot of fun too)We will br praying for the lung perfusion to improve. Great pictures!


    ~Stephanie and Braeden(HLHS)

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  2. We'll be waiting for the final report. Hopefully everything can wait until after the holidays. I am anxious to get our tree up too...maybe this weekend. I have to say, I was cracking up reading about how excited Andrew was about putting up your tree. I was just remembering last Christmas and a certain little boy who was just as excited about tearing things off the tree :) What a difference a year makes!

    Jess

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  3. We will be praying that everything can wait a little longer so you can get through the holiday and birthday season.

    I cannot believe how fast Christmas is coming! Last year Andrew was TERRIFIED of the Christmas tree... this year I think the tree will be scared of him! Oh how things change in one year... as you well know!

    Continued prayers... Erin

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  4. Your tree looks gorgeous Jen!! I am so glad to see that Andrew is playing nice with the tree this year. LOL!!!

    We always put ours up following the big Thanksgiving feast. That has always been our family tradition but to be honest....this year I am REALLY feeling some sort of urgency to get it put up. Maybe I am just so excited to get into the spirit of the holidays!!

    Praying you hear some news from IC soon and that it is GOOD news!

    Stef, Ryan, Wyatt and Logan
    http://www.whenlifehandsyouabrokenheart.blogspot.com

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  5. Sounds like Andrew had a blast putting up the Christmas tree. Your tree looks beautiful by the way. I can't wait to get ours up but I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to keep Carter from tearing it apart. We'll be praying that you guys can hold off on the cath until after the holidays.

    Have a good Thanksgiving!

    Erin, Jeff and Carter Lamka

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  6. We will be praying for things to hold off until after the holidays, if not longer. We anxiously await the final report.

    I love your tree. It is gorgeous! It's so fun decorating for the Holidays. I always get this warm, fuzzy feeling sitting in the living room with nothing but the tree lit.

    Take Care

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  7. Hey Jen! I just wanted to let you know that I have a blog award for you on my blog.

    http://www.whenlifehandsyouabrokenheart.blogspot.com

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  8. Jen,
    Your tree looks beautiful. I seen the shiner on Andrew!!! I put up the tree (a very fake one) the night before Thanksgiving. Then Thanksgiving night we decorate the tree together. We only put on one box of bulbs the rest are all ornaments that are special to us. And we have a train (Oh Andrew and Logan would love it) that circles the bottom of the tree. Not sure what we will do this year. But I am really enjoying hearing how happy everyone else is about it! When you get a chance call it would be great to catch up with you. Heart Hugs, Love, and Blessings, Jessica

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