Preparing for Christmas

Gearing up for Christmas is definitely an ordeal. I pack my calendar with so many to-do's, traditions, and family outings that it can be overwhelming. That being said, I do it every year and can't imagine stopping any of these fun activities.

One tradition that I have incorporated from my childhood is picking out a Christmas ornament each year for the kids. Ethan's ornament was a little difficult to find as there weren't many boyish baby options. I ended up settling on this adorable giraffe for his "baby's first Christmas" ornament. For Claire, I hit the gold mine. I happened to find the cutest polar bear ornament with a little child. I've said before that her favorite animal is the polar bear so it was perfect.

I don't recall making gingerbread houses every year when I was a child, but this is a fun activity that I have started for our family. Claire enjoyed placing all of the candy on her gingerbread house and of course, eating a few (or a lot) in the mean time. I'm excited for next year when Ethan can join her in the fun.

Claire also made snowflake art with the end of a celery stalk, helped me make scones (a Johansen family tradition), and enjoyed a little bonding time with Ethan and Erik. There are so many fun things to do during the holidays!

To sum up our Christmas preparations, I've included a short video of Claire reciting a song she performed at her preschool program. It's so adorable! Enjoy!

 

Christmas Crafts

About a week before Christmas, Claire and Ethan went to their Aunt's house (Liv Moffat) for some fun Christmas crafts with their cousins. We love getting all of the kids together, even if total chaos ensues.

All eight of them thoroughly enjoyed singing Christmas songs, listening to Aunt Liv read The Christmas Story, decorate cookies, and make Christmas cards. Liv always plans the cutest activities to entertain them.

While Claire was being a little busy bee, Ethan hung out with Roman and Evelyn (his two youngest cousins). Ethan loved taking all of their toys, especially Roman's baby necklace. By the looks of it, Roman probably got the scratch on his face from being mauled by Ethan. Poor guy. Ethan is obsessed with babies and  constantly tries to grab and poke at them.

All in all, it was a fun-filled afternoon and the kids can't wait to do it again.

(Photo on left: Vivian Moffat, Sophia (a cousin to the Moffat's), Roman Moffat, Claire,
Evelyn and Emma Lane, Soren Moffat, and Ethan)

Serving Others

Every year at Christmas time, we seem to be more willing to give. If only we all had that desire during the other eleven months. I wish I did.

One year, we chose to donate money to Outreach International. It is a wonderful organization that provides "sustainable solutions to help end extreme poverty around the world". This year, we wanted to help those who typically go forgotten: shelter animals.

I have such a passion for animals and it breaks my heart to hear/read stories about how poorly some animals are treated. So, to teach Claire by example, our family gathered some dog food and other supplies and took them to our nearest Humane Society. We dropped everything off and spent an hour or so walking dogs. At first, my thought was that these dogs were probably in great need of exercise so I began to jog. But then it dawned on me, that what they might not be getting is love. So, we slowed down and began petting the dogs and expressed our love for them. I don't know if they felt anything, but I sure did. Claire enjoyed picking out the dogs to walk and helping me carry their leash. She thought it was so silly how they pulled on the leash and wanted to get outside so badly. That is, until one of them pulled her into the snow. :)

 

Cry From a Lonely Dog

(http://www.compassionforcamden.org/cry-from-a-lonely-dog/)

 

I wish someone would tell me what it is that I’ve done wrong.
Why I’ve had to stay chained up and left alone so long
They seemed so glad to have me when I came here as a pup.
There were so many things we’d do while I was growing up.

They couldn’t wait to train me as a companion and as a friend.
And told me how they’d never fear being left alone again.
The children said they’d feed me and brush me every day.
They’d play with me and walk me if only I could stay.

But now the family “hasn’t time”; they often say I shed.
They do not want me in the house, not even to be fed.
The children never walk me. They always say, “Not now!
I wish that I could please them. Won’t someone tell me how?

All I had, you see, was love. I wish they would explain.
Why they said they wanted me, then left me on a chain.

I hope that I can remember the feeling I had that day and commit to more acts of service throughout the year. On a happy note, we witnessed one dog get adopted while we were there. Yay! Hope he has a wonderful life with his new family.

Sleigh Bells

The kids got a special treat from their Farmor and Farfar this year: a sleigh ride at The Homestead Resort just a few days before Christmas. It was a great way to celebrate the Christmas season with the kids.

We bundled up the kids in as many layers possible and the horses were off. It was a wonderful evening.

Farmor provided jingle bell necklaces for the kids to shake while we sang Christmas songs. It was a lot of Jingle Bells and We Wish You A Merry Christmas. :) Boy did they enjoy it. They sang at the top of their lungs and thought it was hilarious.

The Christmas lights were beautiful and the company was perfect. Claire loved being with her cousins on such a fun excursion.

I say it was a hit!

 

Afterwards, we stopped for dinner, which is where I captured this adorable shot of Claire hugging Ethan. We sure do love these kids!

 

Christmas Portrait

Perfection! Almost. (I critique everything about my photos.)

This photo shoot was one of the best ones I've ever experienced with my kids. It had been just under a month since my surgery and I was still not feeling 100%. That being said, I knew I had to get this done asap. Thankfully, my parents were home from their mission so I finally had my trusty assistant back; my Mom. She graciously accepted my call for help (she always does thank goodness) and we ventured off to Wheeler Farm.

It was freezing outside. I got out of the car, walked about 10 yards onto the side walk and started setting up. Moments later, my Mom brought over the kids and put them into position. It could have gone horribly wrong because Ethan wanted to chase the ducks every chance he could get, but despite the animal audience and Ethan's new mobility, I was able to capture this adorable moment.

It took all of about ten minutes and we were done. YAY! Wish they were all that easy.

Merry Christmas!

Santa and his Reindeer

For Santa photos this year, we visited the jolly old man at South Towne Mall with a couple of our friends (the Drage family).

Beforehand, I discussed with Claire that she did not need to be scared or nervous and that Santa was a very nice man. I was prepared with a bribe and told her that she was not allowed to cry. If she did, we would not go see Santa's reindeer afterwards.

When it was their turn to sit on his lap, Claire didn't want anything to do with him. There weren't any tears, but you could tell she was very unhappy. Ethan couldn't have cared less. I did my best to get the kids to smile but to no avail. Oh well. 

Once we were done visiting Santa, we had a quick lunch at JCW's and drove to Thanksgiving Pointe to see the live reindeer.

Claire was extremely excited!

She had never seen a reindeer before (I think we took her prior to this but she was too young to remember) and thought it was pretty neat to look at them in real life.

Ethan was captivated by the large animal as well. He didn't take his eyes off of them. It was so cute watching our little dude discover something new.

I love traditions during the holiday season and I think this is definitely something we may continue.

It was fun for the kids and for me as well (not so sure about Erik). I'll do almost anything to get in the Christmas spirit. :)

Christmas at Challenger

December 10, 2013

Challenger School Christmas Program

Loved watching Claire sing all of the Christmas songs she learned at school.

We were definitely proud of our little girl!

So happy to see I captured her "nervous faces". :) When she gets a little nervous or embarrassed, she makes these faces. It's too cute!

 
Here is a video of her singing one of her favorite Christmas songs: Jingle Bells. Her other favorite was We Wish You A Merry Christmas.

We all applauded our little Claire Bear (Erik, Me, Morfar, Ethan, Mormor, and Farmor). Can't wait for her next performance.

 

(Right: Her teacher Miss Anna, Claire, and the teacher's assistant, Mr. Josh)

Catching up with Claire - December

Claire was a busy bee in December, despite my being sanctioned to the couch. She spent quite a bit of time playing with Mormor and Farmor. Coloring, running errands, playing, etc.

Thankfully, I was still able to do some things with her. She likes to do to the free craft on Saturday's at Lakeshore Learning and was especially excited to make a polar bear mask one day.

We also went to Whole Foods, which she loves. She picks out her very own child-size cart and fills it with our groceries. Then, before we leave, she never forgets to pick out a snack from the kids area.

Probably her favorite thing to do is go with me to the makeup store. One day we went to Ulta Beauty, and she sat on the floor trying on every lip gloss she could find. She is definitely a girly girl.

 

Every weekday (that she doesn't have school), I put her in her room for quiet time. She is supposed to sleep or read, but I most frequently hear her talking to her bears and dolls. Upon re-entering her room, I'm always greeted with a mess. She also likes to change her clothes multiple times a day, which doesn't help with the cleanliness of her room either. I've since made a rule that she has to clean her room before bedtime in order to watch shows the next day and that if she wants to change, she has to hang up the clothes she had on earlier. Let's just say it's a work in progress.

 

Claire also enjoys stealing my camera and taking pictures. Usually, they are of herself. Below is a picture of her legs. At least she got it in focus.

 

 
The biggest event that took place in December was at the Moffat's house on December 7th. Her Farfar believes she probably went into vasovagal shock. She fell down a few stairs and hit her bum or back pretty hard. She got up and looked at me, started to cry, and then seconds later fell to the floor and started shaking. Her eyes rolled back and she shook for what seemed like forever (it probably only lasted 10 seconds). It was one of the scariest moments of my life. Thankfully, she came to pretty quickly and seemed to be okay. Hope that never happens again.

Our Little Guy - 10 Months

Ethan was pretty active this month. Now that he was mobile on his feet, he was quite the explorer. Some of his new discoveries were:

• the Tupperware cupboard: he loved dumping out all of the lids
• crawling through the play tunnel (and having Claire drag him around the kitchen while he was still inside of it)
• the lights on the cable box (somehow he always turns the cable off, which gets really annoying)
• playing peek-a-boo with his sister and anyone else who will take part in it
• napping like a champ (he only has his binky while he sleeps)
• crawling up the stairs (he learned how to do this very quickly)

• the buttons on his play phone
• lots of playtime with Farmor and Mormor (I couldn't lift him for 6 weeks post surgery)
• the princess's eyes on Claire's book (he loved pointing to them and trying to scratch them off) 

On December 5th, I happened to catch Ethan on video taking a few steps. I was so delighted to have it on film. During the month of December, he could take 3-15 steps on his own before falling over.

 

These are two of my favorite images from December: Ethan playing with his Daddy, and a his hand print on our garbage can (I left it there for weeks because I thought it was so cute).

 

Ethan's 10 Month Bear Picture

 

 (I altered the photos to black and white because they were all taken indoors with ugly lighting.)

First Glimpse

While I was recovering from surgery at home, Erik took the kids to a family Christmas party (on their Farmor's side). From what I heard, they had a lot of fun. Ethan got his first glimpse of Santa Clause and I was pleasantly surprised to see from the pictures that he didn't cry. Claire appeared to happily tell Santa what she wanted for Christmas and was delighted when he gave her an early gift: an animal puzzle. I wish I could have been there to witness it first hand.

November Instagram

Here are some of my favorite images that I captured on my phone and posted to my Instagram account (http://instagram.com/tanyajolaf#) during the month of November (I took out the photos that I've already including in various blog posts):

Below are the written remarks that were included with each picture (beginning with the top left image):

1. Khloe woke up to one of her most favorite things in the world: snow! Happy 6th birthday Khlo Khlo. #cutestdog #bestfriend
2. So proud of my Claire Bear today for earning her alphabet crown. #lettersandsounds #firstoneinherclass
3. This girl is pooped! #doggybirthdayparty
4. #mystrength
5. The tunnel may be long and dark but I can still see the light. #hopingforthebest
6. Rough housing before bed. #ethanvictor
7. Having fun with my hospital supplies. #sohappytobehome
8. Love having my mom here to entertain the kids while I recover. #claireshavingablast #doinghair
9. Mommy-Claire time before bed. Have missed her snuggles! #lovemygirl

Catching up with Claire - November

On November 14th, Claire earned her "Alphabet Crown" at preschool. We were all thrilled! For a child to earn their Alphabet Crown at Challenger they have to recite all of the letters and their appropriate sounds to their teacher and the headmistress (their principal). Claire was the first one in her class to earn her crown, which made it even more special. We were so proud of her accomplishment!

Below are four of my favorite images that I took of Claire in November:
 

Love you Claire Bear!

Our Little Guy - 9 Months

November was a big month for Ethan as he took his first steps. We were delighted to witness this new breakthrough in his development, but completely shocked that it happened so early. His first step was on November 30th. Technically, he was nine months when he started walking, however it was only three days away from his 10 month birthday.

 

 Some other turning points in Ethan's life during the month of November were that he stopped nursing (because of my cancer testing) on November 20th and he wouldn't drink a bottle (so I put the formula in his food). Other than that, he was the same little guy. Just as adorable, fun loving and giggly as ever.

 

Here is a look at Ethan Victor's bear photo that was taken on December 4th, one day after he turned ten months old:

 

 

A More Meaningful Thanksgiving

As one might expect, Thanksgiving had a lot more meaning for me this year. I had so much to be grateful for: my life, my husband, my children, my health. I could go on and on.

Since having cancer, I have tried to be more loving to Erik, more patient with the kids, and more grateful for all that I have. I never thought that my good health might be taken from me, but I quickly learned that anything can be gone in an instant. Even the things you least expect.

Thanksgiving day was the first time I had enough strength to make it out of the house since having surgery. My Mom came over the day before to curl my hair so that I could feel beautiful the next day. In the morning, I retouched my hair, put on my makeup and high heels, and from the outside, I looked like my normal self. But inside, I was an emotional wreck (in a positive way). Every time I would look at the kids, I wanted to cry. My eyes welled up anytime I looked at Claire's beautiful smile and Ethan stumbling across the room. They (including Erik) are the light of my life and I never want to leave their side.



(Instagram pictures taken on Thanksgiving)

I held my family extra tight that day and hope all of you did too. We are blessed with so much and often forget what life would be like without it/or them. This was a very special Thanksgiving for me and I hope I will always remember how grateful I felt.

 

 
I love you all, with everything that I have. You have blessed me in more ways than you know.

Ethan's 9 Month Portrait

Ethan may look adorable in this photo, but behind the scenes it was a complete nightmare.

I took it the night before my surgery because I knew there was no way I was going to physically be able to take it later.

Ethan was sick and his face was snotty, red and chapped.

The lighting wasn't great, Ethan would not get into the crawling position I wanted, and I was freaking out.

Somehow, between all of that and my average Photoshop skills, one decent shot resulted.

"Sorry Dude. This isn't my best work but it had to do. I was going through a rough time." ~ Mommy