A Name and a Blessing (and a Birthday)

Wow -- it's been a month since I last posted! The past few weeks have been busy yet manageable all at the same time. Dare I say we're finally hitting our stride?? The highlights of the month were a visit from Grandma and Grandpa, blessing the baby, and celebrating Grace's birthday for almost the entire month. Or at least it felt that way. Hahaha.

Scott's parents flew out at the beginning of the month to be here for Alexander's baby blessing. As it has been well-documented, I'm a bit particular when it comes to names. I have not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4 different baby name books in my possession. Each of our kids' names were chosen for their meanings and with the hopes that they would live up to and embody what those meanings are. Alex is no exception. Alexander is a name that we have loved for a long time. Basically we've been waiting for "Baby Alex" to come since I was pregnant with Sophie.

Alexander -- Latinized form of the Greek name Αλεξανδρος (Alexandros), which meant "defending men" from Greek αλεξω (alexo) "to defend, help" and ανηρ (aner) "man."

His middle name is of special importance as well. Not only for the meaning (although "victory of the people" is quite apropos) but because it's the name of one of the best and brightest I've been privileged to know. Captain Nicholas Bourgeois was a marine, a husband, a father, and my favorite cousin. He was killed in a car accident last summer while moving across the country with his wife and two small children. A true hero, he had just returned a few months before from a deployment in Afghanistan. In short, "Nicholas lived according to his priorities: God, family and country. He exemplified Christ in his words and deeds while humbly striving to allow God to mold him into a better servant, husband, and father." Nicholas was a truly remarkable person. And even though my little Alexander Nicholas won't ever meet his namesake in this life, I hope that he will one day be able to follow in his footsteps and live up to the name he's been given.

Please excuse the fact that this is the worst lighting possible -- outside would have been better, but it was too windy and Jane is a runaway.

A few days earlier in the week Grace turned 7! As has been the case since her very first birthday, she managed to stretch her celebration out for much longer than the actual day. The big day fell on a Tuesday this year and the thing she wanted most of all was to bring a cookie cake (or two) to school. Check.

I ordered a dress for her birthday picture and it actually came that very day! After school I coerced her into dressing up and to sweeten the deal I let her put on the make-up that "Jane" picked out for her present. Thankfully Grace loves to pose, and the photo shoot was not too painful as a result. Here are some of the jewels:

These two are such kindred spirits.

The winner for the mantle!

We postponed the actual cake and ice cream and singing of the birthday song until Saturday when Grandma and Grandpa (and Dad) were there to help celebrate with us. Grace made my life a bit easier this year by choosing a cake from Costco rather than having me make it. And Grandma officially made Grace's day by getting her a pinata when we were at Walmart earlier in the day.

Practicing blowing out the candles.

The real deal.

The pinata was put off until Sunday evening because Ethan wasn't feeling up to it on Saturday. The poor little lamb was up all night the night before throwing up. Unfortunately for just about everyone else he passed that bug on. First to Grace and then to Grandpa and finally to Grandma the night before they were set to fly home. :( Thankfully, it was pretty much a 24 hour thing for everyone and we were still able to enjoy the majority of our time together.






One of the fun things we did in between the bouts of sickness was a mini-Thanksgiving and then an early Christmas. Fun, fun, fun! The kids loved opening presents this early in the season and I loved having someone else cook for me. :)

Jane is so unfortunate looking. She likes to go around in just a diaper these days.

Grace and Ethan singing Christmas songs...

...and then with 2 more members of the whole motley crew.

This little cutie was just a spectator. Sophie kept calling him Harry Potter all night long because of the scratch on his forehead.

We were sad to see Grandma and Grandpa go, but were glad they were able to make the trip out to see us. Once they left, the next big event in our household was Grace's surgery! Which will be documented in a separate blog post. Hahaha. Scott took the day off so he could be there with her and she actually handled it like a champ. It was kind of adorable the first few days after her tonsils were out when she was recovering and couldn't speak in much louder than a whisper decibel voice. I really miss that voice. Hahahahaha.

Last but not least in our month was our first Thanksgiving at home in a LONG time. We made the executive decision this year not to go to Indiana like we usually do to spend it with Scott's sister and her family. We were all quite sad about this, but with a baby not sleeping through the night and knowing how the rest of the kids are (especially at bedtime) when we're at the cousins house, I just realized it would be a bit more stressful and overwhelming than I could handle right now. So what did we do? We invited some friends over from church and I cooked my very first Thanksgiving dinner! Because cooking a turkey for the first time isn't stressful or overwhelming at all. Hahahaha. It actually all turned out well and we had a really fun time with our friends.

Overall, the whole of last week was a really nice and relaxing vacation. Scott took Wednesday off from work and the kids had no school. We managed to do lots of fun stuff -- movie nights, game nights with friends, outings for Christmas lights, and finally picking out our tree (and decorating it, too). It was precisely what we all needed! And with the Christmas season upon us it was the perfect break before all the craziness begins.

We even managed to get the Christmas card picture done! And without the shedding of any tears (or blood). Hahahaha.

And that's about it. I'm getting really excited for Christmas even though we are not going anywhere and I don't think anyone is coming here. I just love this time of year, though, and if our Christmas vacation is anything like our Thanksgiving vacation then it will be practically perfect in every way! Happy holidays! :)