Celebrating Christmas in the desert

We are staying home for Christmas. Although it's terrific not to have to travel at this busy time, it is sad not to "go home" for Christmas and be with our families. Thanks to web-cams and the miracle of "the internet" we'll at least be able to Skype for the holidays.
We've been taking the kids out for a walk after supper to look at the Christmas lights in the neighborhood. Lots of Santas, snowmen, and inflatables. A pretty nice series of displays, which still seem a bit out of place with saguaros in the background. No snow, obviously. But that also means no ice, no scrapers, no winter weather advisories, no treacherous winter driving, and no sub-zero temps. We don't miss that part of the mid-west. Luke and Anabel love the light-walks. We sing Christmas songs and point out every Santa. Luke especially loves the Santa in the choo-choo. He likes to sing "la la la la la" (Deck the Halls) and "hey....horse" (Jingle Bells). Sometimes when we start to sing other songs, he cuts in with "Sop, sop, sop" (stop), and then instructs us to go back to a 6th round of Jingle Bells.
Luke made cookies at Miss Etta's (his daycare) yesterday, and brought them home on a little foil-covered plate. Walking in the door, he pronounced "Sah, eat" (Santa, eat). When asked, he replied that no, they were not for mama, or dad, or Zach, or anyone else to eat. "Sah, eat." He then moved them all over the house. Under the tree, on the counter, next to his toys, back to the tree... Eventually, the foil was off, the cookies were spilled, and baby sister was sitting in the living room munching on a little corner of one of the cookies. We now have red cookie crumbs mashed into the carpet waiting to be cleaned up. We're hoping Santa doesn't notice that the cookies have already been sampled when he stops by.

Aah, finally, the beautiful weather that makes one appreciate living in the desert southwest. Eighties during the day, 50s-60s at night. Lovely. A. is now 7 months, and is loving the intro to food that she's gotten over the last several weeks. Lucas is thrilled to be able to spend as much time as possible outside, and we are thrilled to be able to get the kids out of the house to burn off some energy! We had a busy 3 weeks--a trip to Iowa to visit Grandma Becky and the family, a visit from Grandma Joan while Zach was gone, and a trip to Chicago (I went to a conference while Aaron and the kids socialized with Grandma Becky, Aunt Mel, and Jason's family. Fun times, but nice to be settled back in at home for awhile.

August already?

I didn't realize it had been THIS long since the last post! I was just reading Anna's blog (margaret mead...) about her Facebook addiction. I did actually create a FB account a couple months ago but have done ZERO with it. Right now I'm holding A who has decided that it's gonna be a no-nap day...just one of the reasons for my immediate abandonment of FB. A is 5-1/2 months now. She's babbling a little, trying to get up on all fours, and enjoying an evening meal of rice cereal. Luke just turned two, and we've now experienced about 4 tantrums since that landmark. Luke and I are going to a Guatetot get-together this evening. Aaron will spend some quality time with baby girl. He's nervous, but I think Zach will be around if he gets in trouble! Aaron spent 5 weeks in DC this summer. We got to travel and visit, and stopped in Nebraska too.

That's all for now...crossing fingers for a nap here.

4 months

A. turned 4 months yesterday...she's doing great, and is generally a happy baby who loves to laugh and watch her brother Luke. I am still trying to figure her out from a nap standpoint, and realize I need to just LET IT GO;)

Luke is having a good summer. He's using more words and sounds, and we are encouraging him to let us know what he wants with more than just pointing and "Mmmm--Mmmmm" noises!

It's HOT summer here now, so we are trying to stay in and cool off in the pool when we can. The staying in can drive mama crazy sometimes, though, so we'll probably head out to Barnes & Noble later so Luke can play with the train.

We just got an update from IJM (see left bar), an organization we support. The IJM Guatemala team reported these amazing stats: 50% of all arrests in cases of sexual violence against children in the last 2 years in Guatemala City were facilitated by the IJM team; 50% of all convictions in cases of sexual violence against children in the last 2 years in GC were made with IJM assistance. Exciting to see what their diligent work can bring about, but also heartbreaking to imagine how dysfunctional the justice system there can be at baseline. I remember a BBC documentary called "Killer's Paradise" noting that in Guatemala, only 1% of homicides when the victim was a woman were ever solved. Few are investigated. The poor and voiceless in Guatemala are in desperate need of an advocate, and I am thrilled to be able to promote justice by supporting IJM.

Happy 4th, all!

16 weeks soon

Baby girl is almost 16 weeks. Seems like she's been with us for longer than that--I guess the chronic sleep deprivation messes with your judgment of time;) Summer is settling in this week here; 100 degrees plus for as far as the forecast goes...