Holiday Traditions

I love this time of year, especially all the holiday traditions that we celebrate or participate in as a family and/or extended family. What do you and your family do to make the season special?? I was reading about one of my friends on facebook and her and her children practice the 25 days of giving starting December 1st. To them it doesn't have to be financial giving, but giving of simple gifts, time, etc. I think this is a really great way to celebrate the meaning of Christmas with your children and is something I'm considering when our kids are old enough to comprehend the idea.

Part of our Christmas traditions is getting together with my larger extended family on my moms side. Last year it was hosted in Calgary with dinner and a fun gift exchange that included 26 people. We are loud, boisterous, and merry and I love every minute of it. This is something I experienced growing up and desire to share with our kids as well. I love that we always include everyone, in-laws, friends, it doesn't matter, the more the merrier! I will be missing out on these festivities this year because we'll be celebrating the delivery of our daughter! What a wonderful Christmas gift!

Speaking of Audrey, I have my first appointment with the OB tomorrow and since I am only 3.5 weeks away from delivery I am sure that we will discuss the actual date. I am getting anxious for her arrival because each day I am in more and more pain/discomfort. Night time has become very uncomfortable for me and nearly always sleepless. I am so glad that I have Mike at home right now to help manage Harrison during the day so that I am still able to get a little rest here and there. All part of preparing me for the newborn experience I am sure. In some regards it does not seem like it was 19 months ago that we had Harrison but in other ways it feels like only yesterday. I am so excited to see how he will be and how he will interact with Audrey. My instincts tell me that he will hardly notice her until she can "do" stuff with him, but I am a bit leary about the jealousy factor. I hope that he can remain the sweet boy that he has been so far and that "sharing" mommy won't be much of an issue.

I am looking forward to spending some time with my very good friend Jill before she heads off to Tahiti to spend 5 glorious weeks with her husband. Some of you will be thinking "must be nice" but let me reassure you that those two have earned every minute together in paradise. Jill and Jaco were married in Namibia this summer but then had to spend months apart before seeing each other again briefly. She is also winning the fight against lymphoma right now and has been a complete inspiration to me with her positive attitude. They deserve all the happiness in the world and I'm sure being together in Tahiti won't hurt!!

Tonight I am trying to do the impossible task of picking out only a few Christmas baking recipes so that I can get my ingredients tomorrow. Everything looks and/or sounds so good that it's hard to only pick a few to make. I am sure whatever I make will be appreciated right? So how can I go wrong!

I'll let you know about the delivery date and the selected recipes soon! Thanks for reading!

Much love always,
Jenn