Max Richards and Too Much Christmas

Someone has had a little too much celebrating lately.....

After being off our typical schedule for the past few weeks with parties, visitors, and LOTS of extra attention, Max has had some difficulty settling in for a nap. Instead of happily climbing into bed and slipping into a peaceful slumber, he has been playing in his room. Recently, many loud thumps necessitated several check-ins and stern warnings. Approximately five minutes after the last visit, a loud wailing began, "Moooooommmmmmyyyyy! Mommmmmyyyy!" Further inspection revealed one small three year old locked in his closet. Yep, he shut the door and could not get out.

It is definitely time for a return to normalcy.

A Taste of Snow

It was a beautiful, tranquil snowy day.....

...until The Max and his snowballs appeared!

Even the snow elves were not safe!

At last, exhaustion set in....or rather an attempt at snow angels that got him so wet that he asked to go inside for hot cocoa!

Happy Snowing!

Christmas Magic

'Twas the night before Christmas and Max had a full house! Mimi, Babba and Aunt Stephanie spent the night on Christmas Eve to share the magic of Christmas morning. As we read "The Night Before Christmas", Max looked at his stocking with alarm and asked, "Will a fire truck fit in my stocking?"

Amazingly, the cookies for Santa disappeared as Max was being put to bed...guess Santa needed to refuel before he left the toys....

Santa tried hard to show restraint this year because his sister, The Spring Fairy, will be delivering a playset to our backyard in a few months.

And besides Santa's gifts there were also all of these from family who cannot help going overboard....

Max's one request from Santa...a fire truck!

Max's own kite!

An injury sustained during "tackle football" led Max to ask Daddy for a helmet. However, the helmet might make the game more dangerous for the other participants!

And we needed to add a few trains to the collection!

Aunt Deanna, Josh and Darin arrived in time for a huge Christmas breakfast and more presents!

No sooner than we had cleared out all the wrapping paper, boxes and bows than the gift extravaganza continued with the arrival of Nana and Papa Mike and Max's first bike!

And Mommy's favorite gift to treasure each year! Thank you, Mimi!

It was a very special year as Max truly came to understand and believe in the magic of Christmas. He was enthralled by the decorations, the Advent calendar, the events, stories, and of course, Santa Claus. Watching him enjoy the holidays brought us immense pleasure and made us all feel like children again! And snow on Christmas evening made our first White Christmas one to remember!

Preparation

Dear Baby Girl,

Being pregnant with you during Advent has been a beautiful gift. The speaker in our Advent study actually compared the period to pregnancy - full of hope, anticipation, and preparation. Naturally that sentiment spoke volumes to me! I find it hard to describe in words the closeness I feel to God when you move or kick inside me or the deeper understanding I have gained regarding the anticipation another mother felt before the birth of her son, our Savior.

In preparation of your arrival, we have been trying to explain the changes to your brother. He felt you kick for the first time and glowed with happiness. He insists that he is thrilled to share his books, blankets, and toys with you, and even offered Pelt! We told him that was not necessary. We have discussed what babies can do and how many things he can teach you. Max asks 938 times per day, "What's the baby doing in there?" He has even bought you a special gift. Max had been eyeing a Lightning McQueen sippy cup at Publix on the baby aisle and told your Daddy every week for months that he wanted to get that for you. He and Daddy finally bought it before Christmas and put it in a special place until you are ready for it.

Mommy has also been getting ready and I have a confession to make. A few years ago I purchased a needlepoint stocking for Max that featured a little boy hugging a striped cat. It was not from a store or a chain, so I was amazed when a short time later I came across a similar stocking with a small boy and girl looking out a window together. Even though we did not have a daughter yet, I purchased the other stocking because I was unsure if I would be able to find it again in the future. This is definitely not something I would usually do. When we got the stockings out this year, I showed the other one to Max and explained that it would be his sister's stocking. He wanted to hang it along with the others in his "family". (Of course, he also wanted a stocking for Pelt since Frank and Bean have one).

Little girl, we are very excited about the other upcoming preparations - readying your nursery, buying clothes and supplies, finding a bigger car (!), and dusting off all the baby gear! Most importantly, we are eagerly anticipating knowing you as a person and celebrating our beautiful gift from God.

Much love,

Mommy

A Holiday Affair(s)

The Christmas season was party, party, party! We hosted Jason's company Christmas party for the first time and all I can say is that Christmas decorations really help to fill in the empty spaces in one's house!

Our first artificial tree - Max LOVED having 2 trees and insisted this one was "his" because he helped put it together, decorate it, and was in charge of turning the lights on each morning.

Max's school party was canceled due to inclement weather. But luckily we still had several more opportunities to celebrate with his friends, including...

Annual Christmas Breakfast

Play date with sweet Henry, son of our dear friends Meredith and Keith

The camera did not make it to any of the other holiday festivities. Maybe next year!

Christmas Card Fiasco

It is never a good sign when you receive an email that starts, "I'm sure you've already heard this from a bunch of people, but...."

This is how we discovered there had been a slight problem with our Christmas cards. The problem being that half the card was a Christmas greeting from our family and news that we were expecting a baby girl. The other side of the card was a Christmas greeting from the Deidrick family of Rancho Cucamonga and news that their baby boy had arrived. Not exactly what we intended.

Further investigation revealed a "printing error" of which the Deidricks and ourselves were not the only unfortunate recipients. The company promised to refund our money AND re-send all our cards a few days later. Some of our cards were correct. Some were shared with the Deidricks. And some people have not received a card at all. After my initial frustration (read: fury), I was able to giggle about the mistake. Yet my irritation is resurfacing since the second batch of cards has still not been delivered and Christmas is a week away. Therefore, here is a digital sampling for all those up to date on the Deidricks instead of the Richards family!

Christmas 2010

At least I can blame the card company for any accidental omissions this year!

And congratulations to the Deidricks on the birth of their son, Heath.

Winter Quacks

On the day that I went into labor with Max, I went shopping and purchased a pair of blue flannel pajamas covered with ducks. We have always teased Jason about walking like a duck and I thought they would make him laugh. After Max's unexpected arrival the following day, my kind sister rushed to my home to wash several sets of pajamas, including the ducks, and brought them to me in the hospital. Thus, the duck pjs have been part of Max's life from the very beginning.

Recently, Max has grown quite enamored with the duck pajamas. He insists that I put them on every night. He has even been waking up during the night and asking if I have them on! He cries, I stumble sleepily to his room, and he asks, "You have the ducks on, Mama?" I answer affirmatively and he rolls over and goes back to sleep. He also declares that my duck pajamas and his penguin pajamas "match". Although they are both blue with water fowl, I'm not exactly aware of the correlation.

Max was delighted when I came home recently with a NEW pair of duck pajamas. These are pink flannel and we discussed how the blue ducks were for Max and the pink ones are for his new baby sister. He was quite pleased and pronounced that I could commence wearing the pink ones as well. No sense wasting duck season waiting on another baby to arrive!

'Tis the Season

For choosing the perfect Christmas tree

And creating Gingerbread Houses

Notice the intense scrutiny that Max gave the placement of each piece.

He also used the picture from "Corduroy's Christmas" for reference.

The finished product!

Max's house had to have a chimney and door like Corduroy's.

It also looked a little better before he discovered he could eat the candy!

Candy Cane Mania!

After eating a cherry one, Max proclaimed that peppermint candy canes taste bad.

Christmas Lights with Jayne Grace

Max liked the balloon snowman more than the strange Santa Claus.

Our two soldiers!

We are looking forward to more holiday festivities!