Happy Christmas!

Hello and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I hope that you all have a blessed, blessed day!

And... amidst all of the hustle... the gifts and the paper, the tree and the treats...

... please keep in mind that the reason CHRISTmas exists is that our Savior, Jesus Christ, was born this day to Mary, the virgin mother... and he was sent to be the Savior of the world! What a blessed, blessed day!

This last weekend, as I read Scripture in church and opened the service during our worship time, I felt led to think on Mary... and what she must have been experiencing! I cannot think of a better way to explain it to you other than to quote the words of "Mary, Did You Know?" I never used to like that song very much... I don't know why... but then I listened to it sung by "Go Fish" and then heard it again in church Sunday morning... and I was seriously moved. Maybe it is motherhood...?

But... the words of the song are amazing:

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will one day walk on water?

Did you know
That your baby boy will save our sons and daughters?

Did you know
That your baby boy has come to make you new?
This child that you've delivered
Will soon deliver you

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy will give sight to a blind man?

Did you know
That your baby boy will calm a storm with his hand?

Did you know
That your baby boy has walked where angels trod?
And when you kiss your little boy
You've kissed the face of God

Mary, did you know?

The blind will see
The deaf will hear
And the dead will live again
The lame will leap
The dumb will speak
The praises of the Lamb

Mary, did you know
That your baby boy is Lord of all creation?

Did you know
That your baby boy will one day rules the nations?

Did you know
That your baby boy is heaven's perfect lamb?
This sleeping child youre holding
Is the great I am

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL and merry day!

Love,
Erin

Who doesn't love Secret Sister gifts?

This is what I received for my Secret Sister gift... beautiful stationary, a handmade felt little purse, and postcards... I LOVE IT!  :)

Rachael was my Secret Sister... how fun!

It's been quite a blessing to belong to my online friends board (all of our babies share late October/November birthdays). 

Merry Christmas, my friends!

erin

Sunday Ritual

(Almost) every Sunday when we come home from church, Julia takes a nap and Adam and I hunker down with lunch and watch some afternoon football.

This last Sunday, Julia wasn't wanting a nap, but in keeping with tradition, I still made lunch for us to eat while watching football.

What to do with Julia?  Ha, well, I brought her booster downstairs, set it on the couch, strapped her in... and we ate lunch and watched some football.  :)  She seemed very interested in the game... maybe more so than her lunch. 

 

erin

Feeding Frenzy

If you know Adam and me at all, you will know that our darling child Julia doesn't really get too messy during dinner. Maybe it's the Type A in us; whatever. But, while she gets "finger food", she rarely eats anything that isn't on a fork or spoon, and due to that, she has come to dislike picking up anything slimy or wet WITH her hands. Yikes! (Whoops! We messed up a bit there, eh?)

Last night, however, Julia threw a FIT and refused to let Adam feed her applesauce... so we caved. He tried to help her direct the spoon... and finally she just took over and figured out for herself how best to stuff her face.

And, it really wasn't even that messy. She didn't get any on the floor or on her shirt. So, I guess she has learned from us after all. ;)

erin

Hanging Out

Julia and I "hang out" quite a bit at home together... it is a good time!  I do so love being a mom!

 

Julia especially loves to "hang out" in one of her two rocking chairs.  She loves to rock... stand in her rocking chair... etc.  And she's very good getting in and out of it!

 

erin

GiGgLeS

Julia is SOOOO cute when she gets the giggles...!

Julia's Hideaway

Julia has discovered the "open" area of the entertainment center where I normally keep her toys.  She had a wonderful-fun time one night crawling in and out of this little hideaway, playing peekaboo with us, and laughing quite heartily.  We had a hard time not laughing back at her, especially when her hair started to stick to the tops and side due to static.  She has so much fun with "every day" things... who needs toys!? 

erin

Playing on Mommy's Lap

After decorating the tree in early December, Julia and I were hanging out on the couch.  She started getting giggling, laying in my lap, and having a time of it.  I thought to snap a few pictures. 

 

erin

Oh, Christmas Tree...

We have a very small tree this year.

The spirit didn't really... hit me... I guess, and when it finally did, I had already resigned to putting up a small tree. After all, we don't spend Christmas here and we had a mere three and a half weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

But, I still pulled out my favorite ornaments and went through extra tubs to find Julia's one year ornament. She has been really good with the tree, but really enjoyed looking at it especially after I pointed out her ornament to her (she tried a few times to pull it off, once resulting in the whole tree falling over, but that's to be expected!).

We are looking forward to spending the holidays with our families this year... amazing that we are leaving for WI in four short days!

And, next year, I know that I will put up the big tree regardless of time cruch, travel plans, or how I am feeling... I really DO love Christmas!

erin

Julia's Thanksgiving Fun!

Julia had a lot of fun over Thanksgiving too!

She received a really neat bench from Grandpa and Buscha that she loved to play with and sit on...




... and fall off of. (I am amazed that I got a shot while she was in the process of fall off the bench onto the floor... too funny!)


And... she had plenty of "Daddy Time" too, which she loves!


erin

Packer Picture Fun!

Tailgating at Lambeau Field.


Adam, Mark, and Larry


Adam, me, and Larry


A beer in one hand, breakfast in the other.


Fun tailgating -- that's right, it is 30 degrees out and I do NOT have a coat on. Ha.


Outside of Lambeau


Packer House across the street from Lambeau


"Favre" & "Rodgers" together


Game Warm-Up


Welcoming Packers to the field



Neat screen shots



Tundra Thunder Drum Line


Snowing hard at Lambeau as we are leaving the game


I also managed to take a picture as the ball was in the air for a touchdown, but the shot is a little fuzzy, so I'm not posting it here.

We had a great time... too bad they lost!

erin

Thanksgiving and Fun with the Packers!

I'm testing out my ability to email my blog and to post pictures.

I haven't updated my blog for a while; mainly it is that I haven't had time to go through our pictures from Thanksgiving yet... ugh!

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Anyway...

Adam and I went "home" (to Spencer, WI) for Thanksgiving to visit Adam's family and also to go to the Packers game on November 30th.

We drove to Houston, MN, to visit my Aunt Chris and Uncle Steve and Cousins Leigh & Dru. After a yummy breakfast Thanksgiving morning, we left for Spencer. We arrived in time for lunch with the family... turkey, potatoes, and the whole shebang. Thanksgiving at the Draegers also includes quite a bit of TV and movie watching, knitting with the girls, and basically hanging out and lazing around. Julia spent quite a bit of time getting used to her new surroundings and checking the place out as well.

Friday we celebrated Thanksgiving again with Adam's Draeger side of the family at Uncle Rog's. It was good to see so much of Adam's family again and also fun to check out all of the babies close in age to Julia.

Saturday morning we said "Good Bye" to Julia as we left her with Adam's folks and headed to Green Bay. We stopped at the Point Brewery for a few purchases in the gift shop... we stopped at another brewery and brew shop... and then we stopped in Appleton to visit Brian and Shannon and to check out the reef tanks -- they were really cool!!!

After leaving Brian and Shannon's, we slowly wound our way down to Sheboygan. In Sheboygan, we visited one of my "online" friends (Talia -- well, really, we met her for the first time) at her daughter Kenna's first birthday party. It was really neat to meet Talia, Brent (her husband), and Kenna.

We stopped in Manitowoc for a pre-dinner drink and ate at The Black Forest on the north side of Green Bay. We stayed in a hotel that night.

Sunday morning we were up bright and early and got ready for the game. Friend Mark and his friend Larry picked us (and our tailgating gear) up at the hotel and we headed to Lambeau. We parked near the field in a grass lot and proceeded to get out the grill and start working on brats and other yummy snacks (like cheese and beer). We tailgated in the cold (~30 degrees... not too bad) for about two hours, and then we headed to the field around 11 am. The game began at noon. If you are a follower of the Packers at all, you know that they lost to the Panthers that day... and it was a close one. It was sad to see the Pack lose again, but fun to attend our second Packers game. Adam said, "three outta five?" Guess we're going back to Lambeau AT LEAST three more times! :)

We headed back to Spencer that night, but it was snowing and that slowed down the driving. After some discussion, we decided to stay another night at Adam's folks' and then head back to Pella on Monday. Good thing too... on I-80 between Iowa City and Grinnell, there were at least 20 cars / trucks / semis in the ditch. Glad we stayed an extra night!

Erin