Christmas scenes

I hope everyone who celebrates Christmas had a joyous holiday! Ours was the busiest we’ve ever had, but all the visitors, noise and merriment meant we made even more memories.

Tinsel Christmas tree - Ten Thousand Hour Mama

A glimpse into our Christmas

My family always decorates the Christmas tree with packages upon packages of tinsel—so much that visitors have said they can’t see the ornaments beneath. This year Peeper joined in the Christmas Eve tradition.

She tossed handfuls of silver strands onto the tree, making “spiderwebs” on the branches. The lower boughs still bear thick clumps of tinsel—I couldn’t bear to redistribute them more evenly. After all, having wads of tinsel is a family tradition, too, dating back to when my younger sister was about Peeper’s age.

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This was Kiwi’s first Christmas. She was more interested in the wrapping paper and boxes than opening presents, though she did love the Christmas tree and its tinsel.

Kiwi had changed so much since the last time most of our loved ones saw her. The holidays are all about being with family, so it was even more special that we got to spend uninterrupted time together.

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Christmas memories

On Christmas morning, the kids dug into their stockings first. Peeper pulled out trinkets and little toys—and glitter glue.

She couldn’t be persuaded to open presents until after she’d emptied a half-dozen tubes of glitter glue on her art projects. Forget toys and surprises; give this girl some Dollar Store glitter glue!

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All the anticipation, excitement and breaks in routine took their toll, though. Peeper threw more tantrums than usual, ate hardly anything and skipped naps four days in a row.

At least she worked on her Christmas song repertoire in bed.

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Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer from Catherine Ryan Gregory on Vimeo.

Christmas is one of my favorite times, but it’s probably good it comes just once a year. This holiday’s cheer will be plenty to get us through until next year.

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‘Twas the night before Christmas

IMG_4769“Tis the season of lowered expectations,” I recently texted a dear friend and fellow mom of two. Because in this month of hyped-up hopes and dreams of how you’d like to celebrate, the reality is it’s hard to keep up—especially when you have a few kiddos in the mix.

So this year I tried to scale back what I planned to do at Christmas with my girls.

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Peeper really, really likes Christmas jammies.

Lowering Christmas expectations

It was hard to minimize expectations because Peeper is so into Christmas. If she’s refusing wind-down time before bed, I mention Christmas jammies and she sprints to her room. I bribe her not with candy or TV time but with the privilege of putting an ornament on the tree. She literally jumps up and down when I return from the mailbox: She wants to open “Christmas mail.” I’m pretty sure I could call asparagus Christmas trees and she’d dig in.

(Hey, that’s actually a good idea. I may try that.)

Yet when the day we’d planned to cut our own Christmas tree turned into a deluge, I said we could go to the lot instead. And when Kiwi was having a hard morning—and therefore I was having a hard morning—I suggested Eric take Peeper. And when the day got later and we were approaching Peeper’s nap time, I agreed that he should go by himself. And when it took the entire day to get the darn tree into the house, I didn’t mind (too much). And when we put up ornaments piecemeal throughout the week instead of decorating the tree as a family, I sighed but realized I could live with it.

See? Lowered expectations. Read more

Kiwi is five months

DSC_1046The other morning Kiwi woke up from a nap and I startled when I looked at her.

“You got bigger!” I exclaimed.

I swear she grew in the 45 minutes she was asleep. She has changed so much in the five months since she was born.

Yet some things have stayed the same. Kiwi entered the world talking—not crying—and she is even more of a chatterbox these days. She squeaks, coos, gurgles and squeals all day (and, ahem, night) long. She clearly has a lot to say!

DSC_1210Kiwi is rolling over both ways, trying to sit up on her own and laughing up a storm. She has become remarkably intentional in her explorations of the world. She reaches out her hand to bat at a toy or the Christmas tree, and she turns over or contorts her body to get a better look at what Big Sister Peeper is doing.

IMG_4276The two girls are interacting more. One day while Peeper was sitting on the potty, she yelled “ha!” for some reason. Kiwi giggled, so Peeper did it again—and again—and again, eliciting bigger belly laughs each time. And the other morning, Peeper saw me tickling Kiwi by nibbling her cheeks, tummy and armpits, so she copied me. “Nom nom nom!” she said as she gummed her little sister’s side.

IMG_4325At the same time, I haven’t wished for time to stop or even slow down. The last five months have been among the most challenging of my life. Kiwi is napping much better and starting to sleep more at night, but the ongoing lack of rest has been brutal on me. And my transition to mom of two has been less than graceful. So I smile when I look back on newborn pictures of Kiwi, but I don’t want to transport myself back to those days.

Plus, why stop time when every day brings something new? Kiwi is changing by the minute, or at least by the nap.

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Rest in peace Uncle Paul

To say Uncle Paul was all heart is completely accurate—and a bit ironic, considering he received a new heart a year and a half ago. It’s with a heavy heart myself that I say rest in peace, Uncle Paul.

Eric’s sweet, thoughtful, loving uncle passed away last week. He was buried in the Quantico National Cemetery yesterday and today is his memorial. Family flew in from across the country, though the girls and I had to stay home. I hate to miss the celebration of his life and seeing our loved ones, but I am remembering Uncle Paul from afar.

As a celebration of his one-year anniversary of the heart transplant—effectively his one-year birthday—he and Eric’s parents hopped in an RV and took a road trip to the West Coast. Uncle Paul hadn’t met Peeper yet, and Kiwi had just been born.

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The spirit of Christmas

DSC_0980The other day Peeper and I shared a rare morning just the two of us: Eric and Kiwi were napping, so we headed downstairs to play out of earshot. It turned out to be the perfect time to get into the true spirit of Christmas.

After some jumping on the couch, reading books to dolls and building towers (then knocking them down, of course), I suggested we wrap some presents.

“These are for a little boy who doesn’t have any presents,” I explained to her. We are sponsoring a child whose parent is incarcerated, and I had bought him action figures, shoes and pants—his wish list items—earlier in the week. “Some children don’t have as many toys as you,” I added.

Christmas lessons in toddler-sized packages

Peeper chattered and jumped back and forth over the wrapping paper tubes as I cut, folded and taped. I unpeeled the backing from shiny bows, and she stuck them on the boxes.

I wanted to involve Peeper in our family giving this year. We have so much while others have so little, and I don’t want her growing up expecting that  abundance is the norm. Providing for others so their holiday is a little brighter is a family tradition, and Peeper is old enough to learn some of these lessons. Read more