preparations

The countdown is on . . . 5 days till Christmas (actually, more like 4 now).  For whatever reason, this year it took me a little longer to get into gear with holiday preparations. (Maybe blame it on being pregnant?  I will take full advantage of that excuse while I can!)

Last weekend I finally started baking/making sweet treats.  Braden was very eager to help with this task! Here he and Grandma Jane are making snickerdoodles (one of Billy's favorites).  

On Sunday afternoon I made a few more of our Christmas "must haves": double chocolate mint cookies, PB cup cookies, and Mom helped me dip oreo truffles (of both the mint and regular varieties).  Braden napped during the making of these treats, but was happy to sample a "white cookie" (oreo truffle - which he requested that I wash off -- apparently he was not a fan of the chocolate drizzle on top).

I also (finally!) wrapped gifts.  Last year I was reluctant to put gifts out under the tree for fear the Braden would try to unwrap them early, but he paid them no attention.  This year he was very aware that our tree had no presents under it . . . and he noticed right away after his nap on Saturday that presents had made an appearance.  It actually may have been a mistake to put them out this year, as we now get to have variations of the following conversation repeatedly:

B:  Mom, there's presents under the Christmas tree.

Me: Yes, there are!

B: Let's open the presents, mom.

Me: No, we have to wait to open them until

B: CHRISTMAS!  We open them for Jesus's birthday.

Me: Yep, we will open them on Christmas.

B: When is it Christmas?

repeat, repeat, repeat

I've felt a bit scattered this year in our holiday preparations, and while I know Braden is still very young and won't remember a lot of things anyway, I do want to maintain/start some family traditions.

Some things that we have done this year include:

• putting up our tree Thanksgiving weekend (after Thanksgiving)

• hanging stockings (or big socks, as B calls them)

• making our favorite sweet treats, as mentioned above

• hanging outdoor lights (though we really didn't put up many this year, since last year's outdoor lighting experience ended up being sort of "Clark Griswald-ish" and I didn't have the energy to deal with finicky strings of lights this year)

• purchasing a new ornament of the year for our tree

• reading holiday children's books to help explain the Christmas story to B

• counting down to Christmas using our magnetic countdown calendar (B really doesn't "get" this yet)

Some things I'd like to do, but haven't (partially because I am not sure Braden would understand anyway, and partially because I have no energy to spare):

• make an advent activity countdown of some sort to do with B (I love this one and want to pick up socks on sale after the holidays to make it for next year):

Source: modernparentsmessykids.com via Jill on Pinterest

• make a gingerbread house (we may still do this with graham crackers if I get motivated)

• get an Elf on the Shelf

• doing some sort of giving project as a family (our church collects for the Samaritain's purse shoebox project, which we did contribute to this year) to convey that the season is about giving, not getting

In other non-holiday related news . . .

• I can definitely tell I've reached the 3rd trimester in this pregnancy - I can't sleep.  I had insomnia with B too. No fun.  And the heartburn has arrived too. Boo.

• We were chatting with a friend the other day, and he told us about his sister who is expecting at about the same time we are.  She is having a girl too -- or that's what they told her at her first ultra sound. She just had another, and guess what - now it's a boy!  That is one of my biggest fears. I remember quizzing the u/s tech with B and asking just how sure they were that he was a boy.  We have our second u/s scheduled in January, and I am very anxious to "double check" that baby girl really is a girl. :) We did go ahead and buy girly bedding and some clothes, so I am hoping that is the case (although really, we'd be happy with a healthy girl or boy -- it's just we've been thinking pink for the last 12 weeks!).

• I think we've settled on a name . . . or 2.  Maybe this time we will wait to meet the baby before deciding for sure?

• Any advice or suggestions on car seats?  We were lucky enough to borrow an infant seat from trusted friends for B, so we didn't buy one then.  I think I've narrowed it down to either the Chicco keyfit 30 or the Graco Snugride 30 or 35 . . . either one will fit in our jogger stroller that I love.  I am leaning toward the Graco simply because it is less expensive to buy an extra base, and we sure found it handy to have a base in each car when B was in an infant seat. 

• We have a showing on Thursday! Any positive thoughts/prayers are welcomed . . . Selling our house really would be fabulous Christmas gift.