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each year since we were dating, eric and i have made a gingerbread house. we usually cheat and buy a kit that we just have to put together...but we still have fun. this year we got our kit and it just sat on the counter for a few weeks. last night i decided that we should get it put together and decorated. so, i began. shortly after i got the walls together and the roof on, i lost my inspiration. eric didn't feel like decorating either. so it sat. i felt bad for wasting the money, so this morning i decided to get it decorated. (just eating the candy wasn't really an option because it was pretty gross...i tried). here's the finished product. not too bad, i think. at least we didn't just waste the $9!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

~janell

o, christmas tree

we got our christmas tree yesterday and got it up and decorated last night. it's always fun to get out the ornaments and remember who got them for us and for what occasion. eric has a lot from "elf day" and i used to get one every year from my grandparents. eric and i give each other one for elf day each year since we've been married and now we get to start jackson's collection. my grandma bought jackson his first ornament (i got to pick it out). it's a mini see-n-say...and it really works! we still have to pick up jackson's "baby's first christmas" ornament. eric and i both have ours on the tree. oh the memories we have and will make!

~janell

he did it!

jackson just took a 2 hour nap in his crib! i did have to help him get back to sleep after 45 minutes, but then he kept on sleeping. my friend, lauren, said she heard that a baby's sleep cycle is about 40 minutes so maybe jackson was waking up after the 1st cycle but wasn't able to get himself back to sleep. this makes sense, especially since we still rock (or rather rock/bounce gently on our exercise ball) him to sleep for his naps and at night. also, aj mentioned the same thing about a baby's sleep cycle being 40-ish minutes and that maybe i should go in as soon as i hear him stirring and try to comfort him back to sleep. so, that's what i did...i just had to pat his back for a few minutes and wah-lah, back to sleep with my baby. i didn't even have to pick him up. hopefully i'll be able to continue to have the patience to help him get back to sleep if he wakes up during his naps until he can do it on his own.

~janell

40 minutes

routine...i'm a fan of it. however, i'm not sure i really like jackson's new napping routine. for the past week or two, he's been taking 40 minute naps while in his crib. now, that's not necessarily a problem, except that he's not done sleeping after 40 minutes. in order to keep him asleep i have to hold him. i've tried everything i can think of to get him to sleep longer in his crib, but to no avail. i just can't figure out what the deal is...he sleeps in his crib at night for 5 to 7 hours, so why not during the day at nap times? what is a mommy to do to get her son to sleep for his whole nap in his crib?

~janell

Living with a German builds character!

Tonight we are putting our shoes out in anticipation of a visit from Knecht Ruprecht. He is a happy, little, german elf that visits on December 5th and fills all the shoes left out with goodies! My (Eric's) maternal grandparents are german and did not immigrate to America until after WWII, so our german heritage has always been prevelent in our family. Usually, Knecht Ruprecht leaves some candy, a small toy and a Christmas ornament in our empty shoes that we put out before bed. When we wake up in the morning our shoes are full of great stuff. The American-Germans in our family sometimes refer to this event as "shoe day" and to the elf as "Connector Rupert". Among other things, we all have an inherent love of meats in a tube, like salami, knackwurst (kuh-knock-vurst) and liverwurst.

On Christmas Eve, after church, we all go to Oma and Opa's (grandma and grandpa's) house and eat knackwurst, pickled things, and potato salad for dinner. After dinner we usually open gifts and get our buntenteller. A buntenteller is a festive holiday tray full of traditional German cookies and candies. Every child gets their own, every unmarried person gets their own, and married couples have to share.

Other holiday traditions we have are advent calendars for the kids. We never had the ones with chocolate, just a picture a day for the 24 days before Christmas. The 24th one was always Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus. We also light an advent candle on the four Sundays before Christmas and get together with family to eat and read the Christmas story together. Janell and I also throw in the last chapter of "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" when it is our turn to host advent.

LIVING WITH A GERMAN BUILDS CHARACTER!

~Eric

it happened!

every now and again eric and i are both in one of those moods where we find everything funny. so it was tonight. we were sitting on the couch with jackson (12 weeks old), laughing and having a good time. jackson was also in a good mood, smiling and cooing. when all of a sudden it happened...he giggled for the 1st time! then he did it again! it was so precious. it actually brought tears to my (janell's) eyes.
with the lack of good sleep we're experiencing and all the other changes that come with having a new one around, we sometimes find ourselves getting pretty stressed. we're thankful tonight for laughter :)

~janell

Jackson's Stocking

so, i guess i'm pretty proud of myself...i made jackson's stocking yesterday. eric and i both have handmade stockings (mine by my mom and eric's was done by his aunt), so we knew we didn't just want to buy one for jackson...but what would his look like? eric came up with the idea of using a pair of his old carharts, which i thought was a great idea. so, we came up with a pattern and i went to work. we think it turned out great! the only thing left is to get his name embroidered across the top.

~janell

going to costco

we're going to costco because eric wants to get "the dangerous book for boys" to begin planning awesome things for jackson and him to do when jackson gets a bit older.
we'll also pick up some chicken and kirkland brand sport drink. we love costco and can hardly wait to get out of the house. just got to get showered and wait for jackson to wake up.

~janell