Christmas

On Christmas Eve, we did the usual minus church.  Our church was having a 4:00 service and that was still during naptime so we decided to skip that and planned to go to church on Sunday morning.  Those plans got nixed since we weren't able to put Hannah and Kate in class due to runny noses and coughs.  Are my kids the only ones who catch a bug as soon as they get over another one?  Frustrating.

 George & his cello making its annual appearance

 Our Christmas tree (which has already taken residence up outside)

George hid my present in the tree.  Little did we know, that we each got each other Bibles for Christmas.  I got George a brand new bible to replace the one he lost a couple of years ago.  He recovered mine with leather and stitched it by hand. 

 On Christmas morning, we woke up and opened up presents with just the five of us.

 Daddy reading the Christmas story

 Reagan's gift from her sisters.  She got a lot of toys but when placed in the middle of them, she goes for the one thing in the room that is not hers.

 Daddy reading a story to Kate

 Reagan got what she wanted for Christmas: her two front (bottom) teeth!

 We spent lunch and the afternoon at the Schaefer house.  It was extremely crazy with 3 preschoolers and a baby opening gifts and trying to teach them to wait their turn!

 We hosted the Lantz side for dinner at our house.  George fried up some delicious chicken sandwiches.  And round #2 of craziness took place. 

On Monday, we went out to the park in Lakeland again.  My grandmother and her friend were leaving on Tuesday so we wanted to spend some time with them.  It was much cooler than forecasted but we made the best of it anyway.

Now that all the Christmas decorations are taken down, I'm hoping to get back to some normalcy.  These past several months have just been SO busy for us.  I'm going to do my best to get us back on a not so hectic schedule so that we can hang out with some of the people we haven't seen in a while. 

Happy New Year!!

Using the Weak

We made our 4th (can you believe it?) annual trip to the NICU to bring the babies and their families a Christmas gift.  This year there was a whopping 16 babies so my work was cut out for me.  This is probably the thing that I get most excited about at Christmas time.  It's great shopping for our families, but I love being able to give gifts to these precious families who have no idea it's coming.  And since we are celebrating Jesus's birthday, it's only fitting that we give Him a gift.  It says in Matthew 25:34-40 that when we clothe, feed, and care for the least of his brothers, we do it for Him.  I hope that it is something that Hannah, Kate, and Reagan use to remember that Christmas is really about Jesus. 

This year, each family received a stocking decorated with foam craft stickers, some preemie clothing, a letter from us, a New Testament, a Babies R Us gift card,a little Christmas ornament, and a NICU support group flyer.  Yes, you heard me right.  I am starting a NICU support group!  The butterflies are turning in my stomach as I type.  The idea was planted in my mind many months ago and I feel like God has been cultivating that seed.  Through much watering by the Holy Spirit, I am taking the final steps of obedience.  I have no idea what to expect, but I just know that the need is there and people need to hear the hope of Jesus Christ!  Our first meeting will be in a couple of weeks so I have a lot to get done.

 I also did not want to leave out the wonderful NICU staff who graciously cares for these precious babies.  I made a gift card wreath.  Each card had $5 and they got to pick from Dunkin Donuts, Publix, or Chick-fil-a.  It's not much, but hopefully they know how much they are appreciated!

P.S. Thank you so much to those who generously supported me in this giving.  I won't name them publicly, but we received a very generous donation a couple of months ago and someone else who faithfully gives clothing every month!  Although, George and I set aside money every month so that we can do this, your generosity has blessed us and more importantly is blessing others who receive these gifts.

Christmas Lane

I am on a roll with these posts.  It may be deceiving because it seems like I have a lot of downtime, but that is quite contrary to reality.  I know that if I get behind on blogging, that's one more thing I will have looming over my head. 

These couple of pictures were of yesterday morning.  She was wearing her Minnie Mouse pajamas.  I just thought it was cute that she was snuggled around her lovey.  I lowered her crib mattress and took off the bumper pads.  Sniff sniff.  She can sit up by herself now and was starting to pull on the pads so I figured now would be a good time to take them off.  She's getting so big!

We also made our annual trip to Christmas Lane in Dover.  It was much more crowded this year as we usually go a little earlier in December, but our vacation kind of got in the middle of that.  We still had fun and they even got to see Santa.  We missed our annual trip to the mall since my mom is working at home.  We usually would go out to lunch with her at the mall by her work and then go see Santa.  This Santa line was much quicker though!

 Waiting in line for the train

 The back of Kate

 Rachel

 Hannah

 Rachel attempting to jump off the train

 Hannah

 Reagan & Nanny

 Rachel & Kate catching "snowflakes"

 Reagan & Grampie

Next stop on the Lantz Christmas train...NICU gifts!