Merry Christmas!

Our family has been so very blessed this year, and as we wrap up this year and chapter of our lives, we are so thankful for all of our family and friends that have encouraged and supported us along the way.  We are thrilled to turn toward 2013 and see what adventures are in store for us!  Life is so very, very good.

Where's My Baby?

First time in blue jeans...

Awesome bed head...

Super cheeser smile..

I held a very newborn baby today.  He had those cloudy gray baby eyes and kept smiling at me, clearly aware of heavenly secrets that he couldn't share with me.

My heart ached a tiny little bit when I held him.  Our family isn't complete yet (hopefully) and there is no denying the absolute wonderfulness that comes with holding a new baby in your arms.  Especially when you've done it before you and you know just how fleeting those sweet baby days are.

I think I would like to be due with a baby tomorrow- not the actual tomorrow, given that it's Christmas Eve, but the hypothetical tomorrow.  To be done with the many months of pregnancy and all the pain and wonder and worry that come with it.  To be so ready for that baby to be here that nothing- not even the fear of childbirth- can stop him or her from coming.

Leah told me yesterday (as she has a few times before) that she thinks we shouldn't have any more babies in our family.  That 3 is enough and any more would be So! Loud!  Then today she told me that she wants to name her next little brother Junior.  Or Alexander.  Given her persuasiveness with naming her little sister, I can't 100% claim that those names will not be considered, but I am 100% positive that they will never be used.  Sorry, Junior!

Holiday Highlights

We have been loving every day of this Christmas season.

At the living nativity-

At the "Midwesterner's Temple Square"- this friendly man decorates his house with thousands of Christmas lights, play Christmas music, dresses up as Santa Claus and hands out candy canes.  The kids loved this so much, we drove through twice.

At the church Christmas party- I was involved in putting together the nativity portion of the evening, and it turned out quite well.

At the candy cane factory-

And the baking.  Oh, the baking.  I think our regular diet these days consists of three small meals sandwiched between cookies, candies and delivered goodies from friends.  What a tastesless letdown January is going to be!

And all of the everyday-ness of life in between-  The kids have been adorably diligent with keeping our advent calendar and 12 Days of Christmas nativity up to date.

Some days there is nothing more fun than a sink full of bubbles to make a potion in!

It's Christmastime!  Every day has been a great one!

So Much To Say

Emma has started chatting up a storm.  Most of what she says is nonsensical, but Leah can get her to parrot just about anything she says.  It's adorable.

Some of her favorite sayings are

Ahh-oooh?  (Hello into the phone)
Oooey Goey (What we call out when we see Christmas lights)
Lah-Lah (Leah)
Ahhh! (I want some! always in unison with her brother and sister)
MMMMMM!  (Me! also always in unison with the others)

And on more mellow days, she sounds like this-

But most of the time, it's, "Ma!  Ma!  Ma!  Uh!  Uh!  Uh!"  The girl definitely knows what she wants.

Moving On

As our time here comes to a close, I've started feeling more and more nostalgic about Indiana, the memories we've made, the friends we've gained and the ways we've grown as a family while we have been here.  I tried to deliver a little speech to the kids one day about how much we loved Utah when we lived there and how we weren't sure if we would love Indiana, but we do!  And how it will be the same way when we move to Iowa and that we can be brave because we know we will love it there, too. 

I got as far as, "Remember how much we loved living in Utah?" before Leah cut me of and (very non-offensively) said, "How could I remember Utah?  I was just a baby when we lived there!  I don't remember anything about it at all!"

Well then....

Never mind.

Taking the Leap

We are T minus 9 weeks to Jason's thesis defense.

The end is in sight.

The reality of The Leap is upon us.

The transition from graduate student life to real life has been weighing on my mind quite heavily lately.

Once they know the end is near, people always ask, "Are you excited?"  Not only because, hello, it's IOWA and they really want to know how we might possibly be excited about it, but also, I'm assuming, because they want to know if we are excited to be finally getting out of school and on with with rest of our lives.  To be tax-paying, contributing members of society.  To get to buy a house, to start paying off old student loans that have been deferred all these years, to finally start buying and doing the things we've been "denied" all these years in the name of getting the degree.

And the truthful answer is, I'm terrified.

School life is familiar.  Career life is a great big question mark.  I've heard from more than one of my recently graduated friends that life isn't really all that different than it was before.  Still trying to pay for all the needs and some of the wants. only in a higher tax bracket.

I recently read the Christian ministry book Enough, which is all about (not surprisingly) having enough.  Not 'more than enough' or 'not enough', just enough.  And that is how we have been living the last eight years.  Many times I've said, "We have everything we need and most of what we want.  We have enough."  Some might argue that we have more than enough (plenty of house, a working car, and a very nice job on the horizon), others criticize that we are severely lacking (cupboards in the perpetual Mother Hubbard state, clothes that have more holes in them or wrists and ankles showing than I'd like).  But either way, this book got me thinking about how things might change when we have 'more than enough'.

What will life be like when we can choose which restaurant to go to for this week's date night, instead of looking forward to the one monthly splurge?  When we can travel and plan vacations?  When we can start donating money to our alma mater and contributing to mission funds (our immediate family's and others)?  When we have the funds to be far more generous with giving than we have been in the past?  Will we do it?  Will we use our blessings to bless the lives of others?

Or will we get caught up in keeping up with the Joneses?  Will we worry about the latest fashions, electronics, cars or vacations (things we can't really think about right now, whether we'd like to or not)?  Will we spend more time picking out paint colors and furniture than we do playing hide-and-seek or taking family walks?  Will we get fatter because we can finally afford to keep Oreos, fruit snacks and chips on hand?  Or will  we be thinner because we can finally afford a treadmill, a gym membership, new bikes?

We like who we are as students.  Will we like who we are as real-lifers?  These are the things I worry about.  They sure are first-world problems, aren't they?  I recently told a friend, it's kind of like complaining that your pants don't fit because you've lost so much weight- not a problem anyone wants to hear about unless it's their own.  I just want somehow know that the people that we are innately will not change just because the circumstances we live in are changing.  Is there any way to guarantee that?

And I want to remember my fears and thoughts at this time.  I started our blog when I was finishing up a chapter of my life- making the transition from breadwinner to homemaker at the birth of our first daughter.  I had so many fears, worries, excitements, concerns.  Some of them very founded, some of them completely unfounded.  2012 Melanie would like to reach back and give 2006 Melanie a hard shake and a big hug- of course everything would work out okay!  I would tell myself.  You've got chutzpah!  And a hard-working husband, and an iron will, a testimony of Jesus Christ and an understanding of the things that matter most.  It will all work out okay.

Oh!  The late nights are getting to me!

So, are we excited?  Of course!  This is what we've been working toward for years.  I emailed this quote from Gordon B. Hinckely to Jason tonight-

"Get all the education you can.  Society will reward you according to your worth as it perceives that worth.  Now is the great day of preparation for each of you.  If it means sacrifice, then sacrifice.  That sacrifice will become the best investment you have ever made, for your will reap returns from it all the days of your lives."

I'd like to think that the years of sacrifice we have made will absolutely be worth it.  I'm just getting curiouser and curiouser about what exactly the future will hold.... And a little anxious to realize that it's almost not the future anymore- it will be the present in no time!

They Say It's Your Birthday...

I love that no matter how old I get, I just can't seem to catch up with Jason.

This year we had a classic birthday celebration, including a surprise lunch at the lab-

 Hidden presents with stumping clues-

Chocolate cake with cherries on top-

Fun!  This year in the form of a Mario Kart Wii party!

I even threw in a twist this year by waking up super sick the morning of Jason's birthday, which allowed him the chance to make his own birthday breakfast and take the kids out to buy some birthday dinner.  Thankfully we celebrated at the best steak house in the Midwest the weekend before.

Happy birthday Jason!  We love you forever!

Snippets of Christmas

The moments I love best.... making clove-studded oranges.  Adam was rolling his eyes and fluttering his eyelids with every deep breath.

 Emma Grace enjoying an early Christmas present.

 She was even kind enough to share it with her brother and sister.

 Decorating our house with snowflakes- marveling at the different creations our snips made while listening to The Nutcracker.

 Hot chocolate with marshmallows... so magical, someone took a picture to memorialize it.  (Adam, my shutterbug)

The crazy weeks of Christmas are coming.  We have something planned all but two days from now until  Christmas, and I like it that way.  I want to fill our days with joyful Christmas experiences and not think too much about the family moments and memories we will be missing out on in the weeks to come.  I want to be busy doing good, but I don't want to miss out on small moments that allow us to serve others.

Jason and I were driving downtown during our weekly date night.  It was raining pretty steadily.  We drove past a little girl carrying a kid-sized umbrella and a woman carrying at least 15 grocery bags.  While we were waiting for the light to turn green, I watched her set her bags down, readjust, and hoist them up again.  I told Jason to turn around and we offered them a ride.  It didn't really matter where they were going or how far we had to drive- nothing we had planned for the night seemed as important as helping this woman get her child and her load of groceries home.

She seemed too tired to politely decline our offer.  Instead she allowed us to load her groceries into our car, buckle her daughter into Leah's booster seat and settled into the seat next to her.  We only drove for a few minutes, but we got her home at least 30 minutes than she would have arrived otherwise.

And then we were on our way.  I don't know that she thought much of it, but my heart was warmed at the experience.  And those tiny snippets of service are what I want Christmas to be all about.

Perks

Being a "farmer's wife" certainly has it's perks.  

Like the bowls full of farm fresh eggs that we receive in exchange for the corn that we give to chicken owners. 

Or the freezer full of pork that we received for the same reason. 

Or giving away 35 1-gallon bags of popping corn- the best you'll ever taste- just because we have too much left over from the field of it Jason grew for fun last summer.

Or this little beauty- the car Jason picked out for work.  They'll hand over the keys on his first day! 

When I Grow Up...

Leah was the Cool Crab at school last week and she got to make a poster all about herself.  She worked really hard on it and was very proud of the finished product.

Last week was also Community Helper Day at school.  Leah wanted to dress up as a violinist, "because they play beautiful music for the community".  I would have also added cultural refinement and a sense of community camaraderie, but I didn't think she would want to spout that off as part of her oral report.

 We borrowed a real violin for her to take to school, and she was so thrilled to have one in the house for a few weeks.  She has been interested in the violin for a few years, and I think she is old enough now to be introduced to some formal music lessons- either piano or violin.  I'm hoping to find a great teacher for her in Iowa.

And just because this picture prompts it, I have to mention that Leah is getting more particular about her hair.  She likes it done with pigtails and a swoop, or a side ponytail and a swoop, or braids and a swoop.  Always with a swoop.

Deck The Halls

We waited a full 10 days to after Thanksgiving to pull the tree out this year, but had just as much fun as ever decorating it.  We will be staying home for the holidays this year so Jason can finish up his thesis, and we are really excited about it.  It will be so nice not having to coordinate with Santa Claus to get the right presents at the right house in time, packing up the car or even making the 24 hour drive.  We will miss our families, of course, but we're trying to find the joy in staying home as best we can.  Plus Jason's mom will be coming out to visit us after Christmas, so we'll still get a bit of family at the holidays.

Leah was insistent that it was her year to hang the star- a privilege that the other kids didn't seem to care much about this year.

 Most of our new ornaments this year reflected our wonderful Disney trip- a cruise ship, a shell, Cinderella's castle, even Mickey and Minnie ornaments arrived by mail yesterday.  We also added a wise old owl from our weekend getaway to Indy and a mini Gateway Arch from our new year stop in St. Louis.  My mom also sent us some fancy, glittery ornaments to add to the tree.

Something about the glow of the Christmas tree makes the house seem warmer and happier, although not exactly more peaceful.  We have three kids this year- instead of two kids and a baby- so life is generally lived at full energy and full volume.  The first ornament broke at 9:21 the morning that we pulled the decorations out, but that is just the stage of life we're in right now.  Our tree has bare spots, 4 or 5 ornaments grouped on one branch, and half of it is stringed up with some gold beads that we received from our Chinese Indiana grandma.  And I love it that way.  It's certainly not the most fashionable tree I've seen, but it's a great representation of our lives and all the things that are important to us right now.

Our traditional hot cocoa in front of the tree picture was a marginal success- mostly because we didn't let the kids have their mugs until they were sitting at the table!