the christmas must-do list.

Having kids now makes me get out there and do more Christmas activities than we didn't do before. I've also been thinking a lot of what Christmas activities to start making into a yearly tradition. Here's what makes my "definitely-do-every-year" list, my "maybe" list and "need-to-do-next-year" list.

Here's what makes my top 5 "definitely-do-every-year" list

(5) NCVH (aka Neufeld-Cummings-Vandegriend-Hawker) Christmas Party
For the last few years, we have a Christmas party with my close friends. Isn't it fun to see how over the years, there are more babies in the photo. This year, we didn't even get any pictures of us (adults). We all had our hands full with the kids!

Dec 2011

Dec 2012

Dec 2013

 It's fun that the kids are actually old enough to enjoy some Christmas activities like decorating gingerbread cookies. We also did a grab-a-book-of-your-kids-bookshelf exchange which was awesome since we were able to gift some well-loved books and get some new ones. Any tradition that recycles things instead of buying more stuff is a tradition worth keeping!

 

 

 

(4) Trinity Street Lights - every year the houses on the block go all out with their Christmas decorations. Last year it was pouring rain so we didn't get out of the car but this year we were able to walk all 3 blocks of lights. Simon had Natallie in the hiking backpack and I had Noah in the baby carrier and they both loved it.  Natallie was squealing with excitement! Fun and Free!

 

 

(3) Pictures with Santa

A bit cliché but it's fun to compare from the years before. This year she was super excited but then burst into tears when it was actually her turn.  I had to bribe her with a candy cane and chocolate before she let me put her on Santa's lap. We even went on Mondays where pictures are for free because no picture with a fat dude with a beard should cost $16!

2011

2012

 

2013

(2) Early Choi Christmas

We usually spend Christmas in Enderby on the farm with my in-laws so we usually do Christmas early with my family before we leave. This year we went to the Burnaby Village museum at night, had a wonderful take-out Greek feast and opened presents a week before Christmas! I don't think Natallie quite understood why she got so many presents that day, she knew it wasn't her birthday. I told her that it was Jesus' birthday. She must be thinking "I like this Jesus guy! I get so many presents on his birthday!"

 

 

 

(1) Big White dream vacation

And last but not least is our family trip up to Big White. I think our family has been going to Big White  or at some ski resort during the holidays for over a decade now and I truly pray that this is one tradition that never, ever stops. What is not to love? Eat, sleep, snowboard, hot-tub and repeat. I'm really excited about teaching Natallie to ski this year. Hopefully, both her and Noah will grow to appreciate and treasure the Big White family trips as much as I do!

@ Big White 2010 (about 9 weeks pregnantt)

@ Big White 2011 (Natallie 4 months old)

@ Big White 2012

 

And the things on my 'maybe' list would be:

 

 Santa Clause Parade

The weather was actually cold but not rainy and Natallie loved it, especially since her friend Emily was there too but getting downtown with all the crowds was a bit nutty. There was no-joke a line up for at least 40 moms with strollers trying to get on the one elevator from the sky train station. To by pass the line, Simon carried one kid in each arm while I carried the crazy heavy double stroller on the escalator and heaved it up the stairs! A bit of a gong show but Natallie loved getting all the free stuff that was handed out and still talks about the parade so maybe it's worth doing again next year....just definitely no strollers.

sitting on the sidewalk waiting for the parade with Emily

after the stroller fiasco, all smiles on the skytrain

 

 

 

 Bright Lights at Stanley Park
My mom and I both have memberships to the Aquarium so we decided to do the aquarium in the morning and then do the Christmas train before we left the park. It was definitely nice to not wait in line and fight the crowds, but it was also 3:00pm so it wasn't really dark yet and I think the lights would of looked a lot nicer if it was actually night time. Natallie still liked it but I have to say the Stanley Park train is way over-rated. I think the $2 carousel ride at the Burnaby Village museum made her just as happy than the $12 train ride. It was great day nevertheless of dolphins, belugas and Santa!

I have to admit, I'd do anything to make this girl smile

 

One thing I regret not doing this year was starting an Advent tradition. December just kind of snuck up on me and I wish I had planned something crafty where Natallie could open an envelope and get choclates or a sticker up until Christmas. I also want to incorporate some Bible readings as each week of Advent goes by. I found a great resource in the Thriving Families magazine called "ADVENTures in Odyssey" and there is a kid-friendly guide to do Advent. This year, all I managed to do was get a magnetic nativity scene and Natallie plays with it on the fridge. We talk about "mommy Mary" "daddy Joseph" and baby Jesus. She mostly just like making the animals walk around on the fridge. Oh well. Next year, I'll be more on it and hope that Natallie will understand Christmas is more than bright lights, parades, gingerbread cookies and presents. Hopefully she will understand that

 

"For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The might God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace"

 

 

But for now she just knows we're having a happy birthday Jesus party and opening all his presents. And apparently Jesus likes Finding Nemo and Monsters Inc.

 

 

 

Noah in Neverland.

I think all of you have probably seen the creative mom's photos of her son called"Wengenn in Wonderland" by now. I think the photos of her son posed as everything from a circus clown to a babushka doll have been viewed a million times. If you haven't, you should, check this out.

So I have the greatest and also the most creative friends in the world and they were inspired by this creative mom's photos and threw a baby shower for Noah and me with this theme. I was pleasantly surprised that Noah was so cooperative and let each person set him up for the photo scene they had planned for him. He didn't even protest when he was posed as a baby merman with a pink glittery tail. It was such a fun idea for a baby shower. Which photo is your favourite??

Noah's ark

Picking apples

Merman in a fish bowl

Snowboarding

black, white & pee.

One of the perks of having a newborn is that they can't run away or whine when you want to a take photo of them. My favourite newborn photos are the black and white shots of a newborn in their birthday suit being held by daddy's big strong arms. So since you can learn to do anything on the internet, I read a few blogs about tips for getting good pictures and it said to make sure the baby was fed and asleep and in a warm room and something about lighting but I'm not a photographer so I omitted any technical advice. So yesterday morning, I made sure Noah had been fed, he had been asleep until I took his pajamas off and I figured I'd be done the pictures before he knew he was naked and cold. And as for lighting, well the lights were on in our bedroom. I figured that was as good as I could get. I got Simon to hold Noah in his forearm and before I could even snap a photo, Noah started peeing all over his arm. I actually have a photo where you can see the pee dripping off Simon's arm. The blog did not say what to do when child starts peeing and I was laughing too hard to take pictures but managed to compose myself to take a few good ones.

this is one of my favourite post-pee pictures

So far it had only been a 2 minute photo shoot and since he peed already I convinced Simon to just wipe off his arm and put Noah against his chest and again literally 5 seconds after Noah was on Simon's chest, he peed again! This time the pee didn't stop for almost a minute, I had to run to get reinforcement towels to save our carpets.  So between giggling and mopping up pee, I managed to capture a few more daddy and son moments. I think if Simon wasn't soaked in pee, it would of been more a lovely bonding moment. Ha ha.

So thank you Simon for being such a good sport about it and enjoy these black, white and pee-stained photos.

hello little monkey.

Hello little monkey!

You are 11 days old today. It's been awesome having you here. Thank you for coming a million times faster than your sister did and waiting until we were at the hospital to make your grand entrance. I think Daddy was worried for a bit that I might break his wrist in the car ride to the hospital.

Friends with multiple kids tell me that the second baby is usually easier and so far I think they are right. Not sure if it's because we have more confidence as parents, if we're distracted by your older sister to worry as much or if you are actually an easier baby. Either way, we are glad that you are a pro eater and are putting on the pounds quickly. You are starting to figure out that you should be awake during the day and sleeping more at night but you still get confused with that one and want to eat all the time at night. I'm glad at least you go to sleep right away after your tummy is full and I don't have to soothe you to sleep. You have a much bigger appetite than your sister at this age. We call Natallie our little "Nallie bear" and we joke that you are no little bear, you are more like a giant panda! If you keep eating at this rate you'll be bigger than your sister in no time. You're just about 10 pounds now, your sister is 2 years older and only 15 pounds more than you are!

I'm so glad you are here, little monkey. I've been sitting in your room in the last weeks of being pregnant wondering what it would feel like to bring you back into your little jungle room. Hope you like lime green because we've decided it's your signature color. Your grandma quilted you the most adorable monkey quilt, it matches your room perfectly. And hope you like the monkey decals, I stayed up til midnight one night working on it.

You are a chubby little monkey, I love you so much already.  I know it's only been 11 days but thanks for making them awesome.

Love you to the moon and back!

XOXO
Mama

Dinosaur-sized bubbles.

Baby is due in 2 days and honestly, I really thought that I would of been in labour by now. But I'm not, so what do you do when you're waiting for baby? Make 10 foot gigantic bubbles of course. If you know Simon you know he is a creative guy and once he has an idea there is nothing stopping him. So with a trusty YouTube how-to video and a recipe from the internet, we set out to make dinosaur sized bubbles for Natallie. If you're wondering how to make the bubble solution it's just 3 simple ingredients: dish soap (we used Dawn), water and light corn syrup. Then Simon made his bubble blower contraption with 2 ski poles, cotton rope and a weight. The results were AMAZING! Unbelievably huge bubbles that Natallie LOVED!  Just a word of caution that the bubbles are really sticky and don't let the solution get in your eyes. If you are doing this with kids, you should have them wear sunglasses. We learned that the hard way with Natallie sobbing and now she says "bubbles, no eyes, no eyes!" But other than that, it was an spectacular! If you have kids (or not), you should totally try it:

And now some artsy, edited ones:

This is my favourite one:

 

 

 

So what do you think???  I know you are all waiting for me to blog about the new baby but since it hasn't happened yet, the next best thing is giant 10 foot bubbles right????