What a Christmas!!!

I'll share about Zeke's first Christmas in another post, but in other news, my brother Daniel and his girlfriend Sam are now engaged! My understanding is that the wedding won't be until 2011, but I'm still way excited for them! They got a new kitten, too, and I'm totally jealous :)

SO BLESSED!!!

We are so incredibly blessed beyond belief! We have a beautiful baby boy who is completely healthy and happy, warm and loving families, secure and fulfilling jobs, a cozy home in an area we love, friends who are always there and, of course, a Savior we'd be nothing without. For some reason I always think more at Christmas about the things for which I'm grateful rather than at Thanksgiving. Maybe it's even more appropriate because the thing for which I'm most thankful is the Gift we remember, sing about, and worship during this time of year.

I read a blog post a few days ago about Santa and whether we, as Christians, should teach our children his myth or historical story. I thought the comments were interesting (and spanned the entire spectrum). Some people thought that if their children found out they had lied about Santa Claus being real, they might not be certain whether they'd lied about God, too. Others planned to go along with the "Santa is real" tack for their kids, either because it's just a fun, harmless story or because they don't want their kids to feel left out when everyone else talks about Santa. Many took a middle road where they would discuss Santa's historical past and identify him more as a spirit of giving than an actual person who delivers presents every year (and, of course, making sure to tell their kids not to rain on anyone else's Santa parade!).

I think we'll probably go with the third way, partly because I don't like the idea of lying to anyone and partly because I'm a little too lazy to put out the extra effort to maintain the Santa illusion :)

Getting ready for Christmas...

This will, of course, be Zeke's first Christmas. Since I already LOVE this time of year I thought it would be hard to make me love it even more, but I was wrong. As Exhibit A, see the feet on Zeke's pants:

Zeke isn't getting a huge ton of presents for us since he'll probably like the paper and bows better, anyway, but I did get him a couple of things. Some clothes, naturally, and also a few toys from Nova Naturals:

Snail Teether

Rainbow Tumbler

Teething Doll

O Christmas Tree...

Adam (farthest), Jack (middle), and Patrick (nearest) taking our tree to the pick-up point

The tree barely fitting into the living room

We finally went to get a Christmas tree yesterday afternoon. We drove up to Sherwood Pines with Adam's parents and his youngest brother, Patrick, and picked out a nice spruce for the living room. It turns out the tree was A LOT bigger than we thought and, despite the VERY high ceiling, we still had to cut off the top to get it to fit :/

Zeke was a little fussy during the trip (I'm sure his nose and chin were cold, and I've always wondered if babies' gums can freeze), but a rousing game of Peek-a-boo with his daddy helped a lot and got the smile back.

Here I'm wearing Zeke in a borrowed GypsyMama (Wrapsody) batik wrap
and a Peekaru vest to keep warm :)

GoodMama, Kiwie Pie, and Thirsties, Oh My!

Another great giveaway from Kelly's Closet:

indiscreet breastfeeder

I'm tired of modesty. There, I said it. I'm fine with keeping my belly covered, my rear end well above my skirt hems, and my necklines appropriate for school, but if anyone EVER tells me to cover up while feeding my child I might very well lose my cool. People don't ask a bottle-feeding mother to put a blanket over her child's head or to move to a "more private" area or bathroom (yuck!). They don't stare or point at bottle-feeding mothers and their babies, nor do they make rude or condescending comments ("That is inappropriate or disgusting or unnecessary", "You have no business flaunting yourself that way", "Why don't you just make him a bottle for when you go out?", etc.).

Just for the record, I've personally never been harassed in any of these ways. Reactions at every place I've nursed publicly have ranged from indifferent to admiring; never have I been hassled (though some people probably DID stare or point when I wasn't looking). I don't make a point to emphasize what I'm doing or "flaunt" it, but neither do I cover up or try to hide anything. My baby eats when he's hungry or needs settling regardless of where we are or what we're doing, and I will NEVER apologize for doing the best thing I can possibly do for my child.

And, by the way, it's not my (and definitely not Zeke's) problem that our culture has hypersexualized breasts to the point that their intended purpose is completely masked by their perception of being available to and used by men. *Rant over*

See From Bashful to Brazen: The Indiscreet Breastfeeder's Manifesto