My family all joined us this year for the holidays and we are blessed to be able to celebrate this important day together. So many members of my extended family are celebrating alone this year and many friends are celebrating without their husbands, so I feel especially blessed to have more than my share of family to revel in the joy of Christmas with.
And now, without further adieu, the clan Mac Christmas letter...
December 13, 2009
HA! I’m doing it! I am writing this Christmas letter AND sending a picture. THAT is a true Christmas miracle. Considering the demographic of our ever expanding family, the fact that we even took a picture in matching clothing should be enough to elevate us to superhuman status. So enough patting myself on the back and on to the more important things in life!
2009 has been a year that will live in infamy for the clan mac. I feel like I just survived a war or something. Well, I guess we sort of did! Deployment, promotion, 2 babies, 3 moves, stolen jewelry, 6 new teeth, solid feeding, cloth diapering and a whole list of other crazy stuff! But in the midst of all that craziness, I find myself extremely grateful and blessed this Christmas season as we celebrate with our bigger, better and soon to be expanding clan! Yep, in case you hadn’t heard yet, clan mac mini #5 is due June 17. I was reassured today by a mom of TEN that it all kind of runs together after #3, so I think we might survive. We are (finally) very excited and praying fervently for a healthy, happy baby… nope we don’t know yet! And yes, we will find out, since I must be high to think I can possibly wait. I am WAY too impatient for that!
The kids are amazing. I can’t believe how much they have changed in this last year.
Eva...
My 1st baby girl, is now a 1st grader, learning like a maniac and loving (almost) every minute of school. Her new school is wonderful so far and she has settled right in, making new friends and becoming an expert on all things Queens Creek. Still in gymnastics, She has now taken up horseback riding and loves her weekly time with Mr. Butch and Becky. But, I have to say that by far, Awana is Eva’s favorite activity each week. She loves learning her verses and spending the extra time at church. I really get the riot act from her when we miss Sunday service! Ever the social butterfly, she adores playing with her new friends and going on (rare) outings with Mommy. Over the last few months, she has really turned a corner and really loves to help me with the babies, the house and... CHORES!! How do I perpetuate this attitude into the teen years? If you have the secret, I'll pay dearly for it... :-)
Charley...
has grown like a weed in this last year. And not just physically! She has gone from toddler to preschooler in the blink of an eye. Sometimes I just plain forget that she can conversate with me on the level of her first grade sister and am surprised at the compound sentences she spews at me randomly. While she may have left toddlerhood in the dust, she has certainly not left Mommy in the dust and prefers to spend most of her time with me. Although, She has finally decided that a weekly 3 hour gymnastics/craft program and a standing playdate with Haley are an acceptable break from the Mom, she still has not ONE ounce of desire to spend her days at school. And she certainly doesn't need the instruction, since she has managed to teach herself just about any skill you can think of, to include ABC's & 123's (by sight, almost written and definitely phonetically,) how to work my camera, Charles' phone and the overly complicated dish network remote (just to name a few!) She adores helping Mommy and Daddy, playing with her sibs and jumping like a bean all over the house (to include the furniture...ARGH.) She and Eva are obsessed with Scooby and fill their limited tv time with the adventures of Scooby and the gang. And finally, what would Christmas be without a funny from Charley..Last night as we left the church proper and headed over to pick up the bigs, Charley came tearing down the hallways with her big sis and cousin. When I had the audacity to instruct her to put on her coat, she promptly told me to "put a sock in it!" While I'm pretty sure I don't say that regularly, I must have uttered it at least once. Oops.
Mercy...
by far the most social, most demanding, loudest and quickest of all my kiddos. That child has a set of lungs that could blow out an opera house. And she is SO not shy about using them. All the time. Whenever she feels she needs attention, whenever she wants Mommy, whenever she's hungry... well pretty much all the time. That child is such a stinker punk. Too smart for her own drawers, she is a bit frightening in a not fully babyproofed house. (which is definitely the downside of renting...) She is constantly in motion, whether she is on the move after something or someone or just dancing around. And I do mean dancing. It is the cutest thing I swear I've ever seen. (well maybe not cuter than Max bouncing like tigger on his butt...) If there is music in earshot, she is a movin'! Tiny, she weighs a full 6 lbs less than her (big) little brother. You'd never know how much food she manages to shovel in and how often she "doth protest" when she is hungry. She also likes to snatch Max's toys and thinks his hair is a pull toy. That poor little man...
Speaking of
MAX...
man. my big little caveman. Man of Max. The Maxster. The stay puff marshmallow man. My little brick house. Oh that sweet little man. He is, by far, the happiest and sweetest child I have given birth too. His smiles could melt the heart of the devil. And definitely of every one he meets. He's a bit of a doppelganger for MY "big" little brother, right down to the lewis eyebrows and the silly sideways smile. He taste tests everything in his path and scares the crap of a momma of girls who LOVE toys with VERY chokeable parts. So far, I've popped out a chewed up tag, a rubber ball, a letter dice, and a grape. I REALLY need to update my CPR/First Aid certs. The hazards of parenthood... He loves to snuggle, ADORES his dad, loves to stand up (now that he has finally hauled his chubby butt up) and is, oddly enough, a VERY neat eater!
As for both of them in this last year...
6 teeth for Max
Almost 6 for Mercy
Speed crawling (Mercy)
lumbering slowly with rest stops in between (Max
tried and rejected baby food (both)
LOVE real food
1st visit to library storytime
ear infections
baths in the big tub
BIG wet kisses, sweet huggy snuggles
pumpkin pickin, trick or treating, visits with Santa , a few road trips, 3 moves... and finally...
a new little mini mac to pick on come June.
As for me and the man...
we are tired, happy, blessed, busy, and more in love today than ever before. On the worst of days, I am happier now than I've ever been. I don't have time to read, sew, blog, work out, hang out or even take a shower some days. But I'll get there. And the four (soon to be five) little macs that fill my days with love and wonder make it all worth it.
What a year it has been...filled with wonder, love, turmoil, change, and not a little bit of angst. But as it draws to a close, I am amazed at how it has all wrapped up.
A baby bean.
A wedding ring
the joy my family brings
A simple poem that says it all. I hope this season of joy finds all of you blessed and grateful for what the Lord has provided. I am thankful for each and every one of you that reads this, as you have touched my life and my family and continue to do so. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to each of you! And to the Saperstein Family, Happy Hanukkah!
With Love,
The Incubating Pregopotamus and Clan Mac Mama
