Another lovely Christmas season is in the books! This year was so special—we had three under the tree!
Here’s how our first Christmas as a family of five went!
Dakota, the Queen of Ear Infections 👸🏼
December 23rd found us… at the doctor’s for another ear infection for Koko. When we took her to the ENT the previous week, the doctor told us to watch the the fluid in her right ear didn’t become infected and true to form, it did.
So far, Dakota has been on amoxicillin, Augmentin, and cefdinir. The doctor said the next step would be antibiotic shots, but she would have to return 48 hours after the first dose for another shot. 48 hours from December 23rd was December 25 so we opted for the most “mild” oral antibiotic—amoxicillin—instead of the shots.
I was thankful that the office squeezed us in before the 25th! We didn’t want a feverish, sick baby on Christmas! She is such a trooper with her ears and hardly puts up a fuss when she has an infection. We usually know she has one when she wakes up waaay too early, which she did the whole week before Christmas, lol.
She spent some time showing her bumble bee the Christmas tree at 5:00 am!
And Jimmy snapped a picture of her joining me for my early morning Bible study time!
‘Twas the Night Before Christmas 🎄
Christmas Eve was a big night for us—both Sadie and Mordecai were in our church’s live nativity play. Sadie was an angel and the prophetess, Anna, and Mordecai was a shepherd.
They both did such a great job and had worked so hard at all the practices leading up to the big night. It was a joy to see them on stage. They loved being able to perform with their cousins, too! Sadie was delighted that my mom gave her and her cousins flowers for their performance!
We went home and relaxed before bedtime. Sadie and Jimmy played Battleship and a new obsession was born. I think she played that game three times within 12 hours of receiving it! That was one of my favorites as a kid, too.
I crawled into bed with this book and fell asleep excited to spend the next day with the kids and Jimmy!
Celebrating Christmas 🎁
Dakota and I were the first ones up on Christmas morning! It was special spending a little bit of one-on-one time with Dakota on her very first Christmas. I had coffee and read my Bible while we waited for everyone to join us.
Hi from Niva in the background! And yes, Dakota slept in her church dress 😂
Once everyone was up (before 7:00 am!), we exchanged gifts!
Mordecai was very excited to get his very own shovel!
And Sadie loved her new stuffed animal!
And Niva loved her new stuffed animal.
And mama was excited about a 30 pack of hot sauce!!
We bummed around the house for most of the day, just playing and enjoying time together. It was perfect. In the late afternoon, we got ready and drove to my brother’s house to spend time with my siblings and sister-in-law’s family.
All ten of the grandkids played and played and played! We managed a family photo, enjoyed delicious food, and the fun chaos of family time.
We went home with some tired and happy kiddos!
Other Notes and Thoughts 📝
- My mom and dad gave Dakota a book titled My Special Mark, which is about a girl who has a hemangioma (just like Koko!) and I can’t read it without crying. It’s so special! 🤍
- Is anyone else lost on what day it is? I am so thrown off! 🤔
- My sister in law makes spicy stuffed banana peppers every year at Christmas and this year was no different. They were so delicious! 🤤
- Sadie and I made homemade bath bombs on Christmas and had a spa session where we used the bath bombs in the tub to soak our feet and then we painted our toenails. It was such a sweet moment of togetherness that I’ll always cherish. 🧖♀️
That was our Christmas! It was so special and I am beyond thankful to the Lord for our sweet family, and most of all for Jesus—the greatest gift!
I have a lot more to share, but I don’t want this post to be too long. I’ll be back again soon with more snapshots… as soon as I dig myself out of crumples of wrapping paper, laundry, and small toy pieces. 😉
Living My Full Life 