Christmas 2010

We hope y'all had a very Merry Christmas! We sure did! Here are some pics from the last week:

My loves before Church last week.

Dressed for summer in December- something is not right!


Sweetpea's Christmas outfit:

I cried in the store when I saw this onsie. When you get our Christmas card, (yes, I still have them in my living room), you will see how fitting this really is). :)

We don't do santa, so to improvise, we did a photoshoot at Memorial City Mall:

And she is not happy...

Mom in the shot makes it all better. ;)

We Keierleber's started a new family tradition this year. Every Christmas Eve we will go to the zoo where we can share the Creation story which leads very nicely into the first sin- the Fall of man. So when we celebrate Jesus's birth the next day, the kids will understand why we needed a Savior in the first place. Christmas morning we have a birthday party for Jesus, complete with cake, (come on, cake for breakfast- what kid wouldn't want that), and we save gift giving for later that day. We do not want Christmas to be all about gifts because that is NOT what this day is about!

There were baby elephants. Umm- to quote one of my fav movies, "Wrap him up, I'll take two!" {from Disney's Meet the Robinsons}

Sweetpea insited on making a PSA. What a thoughtful girl. ;)

Christmas day, Bolt also got into the gift giving fun:

Look at the size of that thing!!


Like I said, we do not go overboard with the gift giving aspect of Christmas. Bolt got a bone, Sweetpea got things to decorate her room, (pics to come), Mr. Incredible got a new tool, and I got these:

At first I wanted a locket or something mommy related. Definitely a necklace, but I just couldn't decide what I wanted. You see I wanted something to symbolize my children, the only problem is that I only have one baby home with me, while my other babies are out waiting for me, (whether in orphanages, foster care, or in a womb somewhere). Then I decided I really wanted something with Starfish on them. Why starfish? They are our symbol for orphans. Where did I get this from?

The Legend of the Starfish

A vacationing businessman was walking along a beach when he saw a young boy.
Along the shore were many starfish that had been washed up by the tide and were sure to die before the tide returned. The boy walked slowly along the shore and occasionally reached down and tossed the beached starfish back into the ocean.

The businessman, hoping to teach the boy a little lesson in common sense, walked up to the boy and said, "I have been watching what you are doing, son. You have a good heart, and I know you mean well, but do you realize how many beaches there are around here and how many starfish are dying on every beach every day. Surely such an industrious and kind hearted boy such as yourself could find something better to do with your time. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?"

The boy looked up at the man, and then he looked down at a starfish by his feet. He picked up the starfish, and as he gently tossed it back into the ocean, he said, "It makes a difference to that one”.

Now everytime I wear my gift, it reminds me of my waiting babies, and of course my sweet pea who is home forever. :) She is such a gift and we are so thankful for her!! Adoption Rocks!!

Candy ONEderland

I am FINALLY posting about Sweetpea's birhtday party, 17 days later. Below are pictures taken by my camera and my firend, Stacy's, camera. She selflessly took tons of pics- acting as the photog for the day. What a priceless gift- thanks Stace!

Before we get to the pics, I have two highlights to share:

1. While opening presents, my mom told the kids that if they stayed on the rug that, "Mrs. Tricia has a present for you." {the party favor} Little E, (pictured below), kept looking at me saying, "Mrs. Tricia, you keep giving the baby all the presents." Yeah, ok, whatever. lol After a few repeats of this she says to me, "Mrs. Tricia, you keep giving the baby all the presents. Your mom said you would give us a present." OH!!! She thought my mom meant that I would give them one of Sweetpea's presents. Needless to say I was quite tickled.

2. My stepdad would move the presents into the hallway while we were opening them and little Abigail asked, "Whys that man taking all Annie's presents?" lol



Without futher adieu, I give you the Candy ONEderland:








I didn't have all her pics to do her 12 months growth chart, so I improvised and did her many faces- because you may have not noticed, but she has a 'tude! :)
She cried her whole first birthday photoshoot with traci-marie photography- I made lemonade people. ;)

The party favors, "candies" with candy in them. :)

I had planned a 4 tier wedding cake design with candy as the decor. Well, I used white cake which is much to fluffy and after breaking a few layers I settled for this:

{not what I had in mind for her cake, but it fit the theme so I'll take it as a W}

Some more details:

My grandma adopted my dad and my aunt, (pictured below). Talk about a legacy of love! :) See also 4 generations: My grandma, my mom, me and Sweetpea. :)





Sweetpea and some of her guests:
Above: Isn't this a great pic of them? Below: Some Fun Friends!

Cake time! Mommy totally got choked up!

She cried the whole time and could not have cared less about her cake. Notice little E- she sat on my lap. :)

Present Time! She even got Sweetpea Beauty dishes!!

One

When I started this post, it had been one week since Kaitlyn joined Jesus in Heaven. Her parents are mourning but at peace with God at the same time. Praise God for that! Please keep praying for them!!!

It is hard for me to transition from Kaitlyn to something less meaningful- which is why I haven't posted much this week.

Today however, marks one year since Sweetpea went to the hospital, (to spend 3 months there). We are so thankful for what the doctors did for her, but selfishly I am thankful for this: She was alive for last Christmas, (her technical first), but she was in the hospital. SOOOOO THIS Christmas is really her FIRST! :)

This is her first Christmas and our first Christmas with her! We are busting at the seams!! I will post a little more later this week- we finally left the stone age and got smart phones so I haven't turned on my computer in days. ;)

Last week my mom and I got Sweetpea's ears pierced. Enjoy. ;)

She cried the WHOLE time- like when they cleaned her ears and put the dots on- little turkey!
I usually don't hold my daughter's face like this, but she always moves right before you take a pic- so the piercing was no different. It is one thing for her to move when I am trying to get a pic- it is another when there is a gun on her ear...
The second they were done piercing, I stood up from the chair and she immediately stopped crying. Did I mention she has the manipulative cry down? See my phone? About 30 seconds after this pic was taken she dropped it- hence why we have new phones. ;)

Posts to come- Our First Annual Christmas Eve Tradition and Christmas of course. ;)