Maimie's first Christmas at home

Six Mondays

What a nice Christmas we had this year! It was so special to have all 6 of us together for the holidays finally. Last year Maimie was just a tiny bald baby wearing stripey socks in a photo to us. We were disappointed to not have any information on when we would get to meet her. Now she's such an important part of our family. We don't know what we would do without her. It has been so fun to include her in some of the family traditions we do at this time of year. One thing the kids enjoy is making gingerbread houses with graham crackers, frosting, etc. This year Mikaela made a nativity scene. Jacob made a barn with animals. Joe had made a mansion at school, and tried making a big tower at home. Unfortunately he tried to make it too high and had a collapse. Maimie didn't help make a house. I ended up making a little house for her while she ate frosted grahams and teddy grahams.

Making Gingerbread Houses

Maimie probably enjoyed the Christmas calendar the most. She would hop and yell, "Yea!!!", everytime I mentioned putting stickers on the calendar. It was fun to watch her finger all of the stickers until she chose the one she wanted. She'd peel it off, and I would show her which square to put it in.



We had a great time watching the kids open their presents on Christmas morning. Joe loved the accordian he got more than anything else. He was playing songs before we even made it to church that morning. He also got a new Mario game for the wii. Jacob has been creating neat origami animals and listening to his ipod penguin. Mikaela has been reading her book, "The Diary of Ma Yan" and listening to her idog. Maimie isn't afraid of her Hokey-Pokey Elmo anymore and dances with him. She also plays with her Dora dollhouse. The kids got a game table from Grandpa & Grandma / Mom & Dad to use in the room above the garage. We worked this summer and fall to insulate the room and put in a gas heater. The room is in very rough shape, but it's a great place for the kids to hang out and play.

Kids with Grandpa and Grandma

Christmas Ham

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a very blessed 2008!

Christmas programs

Well, 'tis the season for Christmas programs--and colds and flus. Unfortunately, this is the third week that someone in our family has been feeling under the weather with the respiratory flu. I've had to miss all of the Christmas programs this year. Mikaela sang with the Peoria Civic Chorale last week, this week Mikaela and Jacob had band and chorus programs and Joseph had his grade school program.
Sunday I managed to make it to church long enough to see Joseph and Maimie in their church program. Joseph sang so nicely and looked very hansome (even with the untucked shirt). Maimie had never attended any of the rehearsals, and had only been to Sunday School one time since December started and she was old enough to attend. Well, she did fine. No singing, but we did see a few motions during "Away in a Manger". She got to hold some bells during one of the songs, but she only shook them until the song started. After that she just held them. Mostly she just stood there like a deer in the headlights, but she did look adorable. All of the still photos are kind of blurry, but maybe Steve will include a video clip later. It's hard to believe we waited for 3 years to see our baby in her first Christmas program.

Elves!

Check out our "elves" at http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1589128394. Saw this on a friend's blog and had to add my little elves, too!

Lifelink Holiday Breakfast

Laura (our awesome social worker) and Maimie

For the last couple of years we have been invited to our adoption agency's holiday breakfast. We always chose to pass on this opportunity since we hadn't actually adopted yet. This year, due to our newly adopted status, we decided to attend. It was such a great chance to meet with other Lifelink families and see some gorgeous kiddos. There was a nice selection of delicious foods, and two long tables set with fun crafts for the kids.

Joseph's snowman creation

We got to hang with some older friends and also finally met some friends we had made online.





Santa made an appearance to read a holiday storybook to the children. Maimie and I sat on the floor listening to the story while she patted the back of the man next to us awhile. Then it was time to sit on Santa's lap. We have never taught our children to believe in Santa, but, I did always get their photos taken with him when they were little. Mikaela used to throw such a fit that I had to sit on Santa's lap with her. Jacob and Joseph weren't too keen on Santa either.

Maimie had no problem with Santa. She went right up on his lap and sat for a photo. Later, she went back for another hug when Santa was standing up and ready to leave. We had a great morning!




On Sunday the kids made some Christmas sugar cookies and decorated them. They had a lot of fun (and a lot of sweets!).




Maimie got in on the action, but should have been given a tutorial on decorating with sprinkles. She managed to dump the entire container on one cookie, and then proceeded to munching.