The Parenting Solution

It's getting late.
Baby needs a bath.
Parents want to watch a show before bed.

No problem.

Who says we can't have it all?

Christmas Day

As recently mentioned, this was the first Christmas that we have really been on our own...to do our own thing as a family. It was glorious. Absolutely perfect.

We woke up early. Not crazy early, but early. We got dressed, woke up Ammely and got her dressed,  headed downstairs and read the Christmas story out of Luke, and then tried to take some family pictures.

 It didn't go so well. Ammely looked bored. Ammon's head was cut off. The coloring looked like we were using film in the 70s. It was blurry. I have shining eyes.

 But we were too excited to try again for better. So we dove into our presents. We were excited. We'd been talking ourselves out of opening them for a week.

First up - Ammon's Christmas present from Dad. Even though Mom and Dad had already been here and we had already done gifts with them, Dad's present to Ammon had not yet arrived. So when it did, we saved it for Christmas day.

 As always, Dad's gift was extraordinary. Useful. Amazing. Needful. Exciting. Manly.
Thank you Dad!

Next up - Ammely baby on her first Christmas. We opened her three gifts.
(Our family gifting tradition is giving three gifts to each person on Christmas - one needful, one meaningful, one joyful. This we do as a sort of symbol of the three gifts Christ received from the Wise Men. Myrrh [needful] an incense used for cleaning and burial, foreshadowing the importance of His death. Frankincense [meaningful] an incense used in the temple represented His divinity. Gold [joyful] a gift for a king.)


Needful - baby gates for the stairs.
Meaningful - A picture of Christ gathering the children around Him (as seen here).
Joyful - Fisher Price Ring Stacker
 

And, I suppose, this is her gift from Santa this year...

 Ammon and I then took turn going through our three presents. I feel as if we did GREAT with each other this year. We both managed to get gifts for the other significantly on sale, which means we both got dream gifts. For instance, Ammon's joyful present:

 An X-box 360 with Kinect!

And Brelynn's meaningful gift:

 "I would gather Thee" painting for my kitchen! I have wanted this painting for years. And this year I have a house to hang it in! It is beautiful. It is a depiction of one of my favorite scriptures (3 Nephi 10:5, the voice of the Lord before He visits the people in the Americas). It is spiritual without being obviously "churchy" (though I certainly have a few of those on my wishlist too) and it goes perfectly in my country-themed kitchen. So so so happy with this gift!

After we had finished the gifting, we headed to Mama and Daddy's house to take part in the delicious pancake/bacon breakfast that is famous at the Baysinger household. So yummy! So nice to feel the fire going and spend a few hours with the family.

And then we headed to Christmas "dinner' (lunch) at my Aunt Tammy's house where the spoiling continued. Just look at those kids.

 And spoiling for me too! (Another winning decoration for my country kitchen, thank you Aunt Tammy!)

 The food and decoration here was incredible. It tasted like home to me. Ham, potatoes, green bean casserole, rolls, cider, etc. Sigh.

And then we went to meet up with the Baysingers to partake in another long-lived Baysinger Christmas tradition - going to see a movie! We saw this:

  while sweet Amber watched our baby (not an easy task for our mommy-loving baby).

We ended the day at Mama and Daddy's again...unwinding with loved ones is the best. Plus, Grandma Baysinger (Mama) introduced Ammely to oranges. She. LOVED. Them.

Oranges are her new favorite. Merry Christmas Ammely.

 

A perfect day. A perfect Christmas.

Hallelujah.

Shepherd's Night

Even though this was our third married Christmas, I considered it to be our first. This was the first time we spent Christmas in our own home. The first year was spent traveling to different states to see our families (since we were living in Wyoming) and last year we were living with my grandparents while waiting for our house to come through (sooooo thankful to them for that).

But this year was our year to really do the things we wanted, the way we wanted. A Christmas tradition that we are endeavoring to incorporate into our family is that of taking seven nights during the holiday season to focus on each character in our nativity (Mary, Joseph, Angels, Shepherds, Wise Men, the Lamb, and the Christ child). I must admit that I was not as determined as I should have been to get them all done - who knew it took so much dedication and hardwork to make memories happen? Well, I'm learning. So we got four of them accomplished, maybe five if you stretch it a bit.

Even so, I was very happy with what we did accomplish. I can speak only for myself when I say that I felt the Spirit much closer to my heart all season long. I felt the nativity history come alive to me, more than it has before. I learned new lessons from these faithful people from so long ago. My heart was full with the joy that this season brings. And I look forward to many more years of learning and loving as we continue on in this tradition.

We were particularly excited about our Shepherd's night because we were having the Baysinger family over in its entirety. We made some Shepherd pie and everyone brought lots of good things...salads and meats and cheeses. We did a spiritual thought on the Shepherds (the character that taught me the most this year as I studied and pondered on their part in the story). We decorated sheperd's staff-shaped cookies. People brought lots of goodies for that too...frosting and jelly beans and marshmallows and m&ms. We had rich hot chocolate and holiday nog. We had family. And love. And all of this goodness was in our house! I love these moments, when your house is full of love and goodness and has fully transitioned into a home.

Here are an array of pictures. Some I took. Some the kids took. Some Ammon took. I think they show the night off pretty well.

We also used this occasion to tell the "Apple of Love" story - a rich family history that reminds us of our heritage and the importance of loving and forgiving one another. I love this Baysinger tradition. Each year I learn a little more. Each year it's told, I understand it a little better. Each year it's told, I feel closer to the family that came before us.

But that's not all!

There was also some gift-exchanging that went on! All of us kiddos got more gifts from Mama and Daddy (they had already given each family tables at Thanksgiving - awesome). We got puzzle boxes and movie tickets and a HUGE roll of packing tape and, most importanly, a sheet of geneaology. This was to be used to help us in our quest to know and name our ancestors hanging on the wall in Mama's piano room. (Each face named correctly on Christmas Day was to be reward monetarily as yet another Christmas gift - wow!)

And Mama and Daddy got to open their gift from the kiddos as well - which has turned out wonderfully as well.

Overall, I think it was a success. We are so glad for everyone made the drive to come see us...in the dark...in the rain. We are so glad to be surrounded by such warmth and love - all year round. We are so grateful for the generosity that exists between each of us.

Hands-On-Christmas

Last Christmas, my mother gave us a kit so that we would be able to make Ammely a  handprint ornament this year.

I anxiously waited all year long to be able to do this. I was going to do it with my mother while she was in town...but time slipped by us and it just didn't get done.

So during our Angel Family Home Evening - a night devoted to learning about the angels in the nativity story - we read the parts about the angels, and then listened to/sang some Christmas carols while doing our angel's handprint.

Everything went perfectly the first time.

Hahaha.

Okay, it was the second, third, FOURTH time.

But we got it.

An Early Christmas

My family came for Christmas! Well, kind of. They came before Christmas, which I think was even more awesome. This significantly lessened the pit-stops and running around that inevitably happens on the holiday.

Which means that the holiday was extraordinarily enjoyable.

Plus, it made the Christmas spirit in our house come alive in full force for much longer.

On a Sunday morning we did presents. Can you tell that Ammely is the first and only grandchild on this side of the family?

Just look at all that loot!

She was very intrigued by the whole experience. The lights. The paper.

 

The being allowed to touch rip the paper. In fact, for her first present-opening experience ever, she did absolutely great!

Ammely was not the only one getting spoiled though. We truly got so much good stuff! This is just a glimpse. Spoiled is truly the word. Above and beyond.

We did some giving too. Our most brilliant gift? To my brother, the Chem Ed major.

Front:

(several weak acids listed)

Don't Be a Weak Acid

Back:

Breakall

(And a strong acid listed)

Our mostly happy, Ammely girl.

Aside from gifting, we also did a lot of spending time with family -- which is the best gift anyways.

We spent most of our days just lazing about the house. We spent a lot of time at my mom's parents house too - playing games, catching up, eating awesome food.

Awkward Family Photos (the game - not the picture, haha). Hilarious game.

And of course the usual, intense, biting game of spades for the men folk.

PLUS, having Mom and Dad around means that lots of odds and ends get taken care of...
...like a fridge full of groceries...
...or a fixed car window...
...or an added electrical outlet in the laundry room...
...or buying an air mattress...
...or filling the tank with gas...
Can you say awesome? I can...awesome! I can also say thank you. Thank you!

I'm pretty sure Ammely had the best time of anybody though. Gifts and attention. Here she is taking a stroll with Uncle Jared, just the two of them.

And playing with new toys with Grandma...

And going out to eat.

Heaven.

We were so blessed this season. So much love and generosity. So many memories. We are so glad we got to start the holidays off with family!