December 2008 Archives
Merry Christmas Everyone!!! I have been a little busy lately and although I had our Christmas letter all typed up about 2 weeks ago, I don't think there is any way I'm actually going to be able to print, address and mail them all. So I've decided to post it on the website instead. If you'd like a printable copy I can email one to you (it won't have all the pictures on it, but the text is more colorful).
The Lance Family
Countdown to Christmas
2008
Countdown to Christmas
2008
10: Jacob has used the big-boy potty TEN times now and he is getting ready to be potty trained. Woo Hoo!
9: Jacob also played dress up with at least NINE different outfits this year. He has been a cowboy, a pirate, Bob the Builder, a knight in shining armor, a fireman, a policeman, a transformer, Buzz Lightyear, and an Army guy.
8: Miekka re-upholstered EIGHT chairs for our dining and living rooms. (The green one is the one I did, the purple material was stained and nasty.)
7: Seth played in SEVEN T-ball games and had a great time learning about teamwork and good sportsmanship.
6: SIX new sets of Shelves now fill our expanded storage room.
5: We took FIVE trips to Disneyland this year. It was great to be there with almost all of our extended family and to have a couple of trips with just our immediate family too. Hooray for annual passes!
4: Seth has learned FOUR new poems by heart in his Kindergarten class. He loves going to school!
3: James had THREE different jobs this year. The ups and downs were stressful, but everything seems to have worked out okay so far.
2: Our TWO wonderful Boys are growing up so fast. They are getting to be good friends and they love their new sister.
1: We welcomed ONE new Baby into our family. Lia Marie Lance was born on November 13th at 4:59 p.m.. She weighed 7 pounds and was 19 1/2 inches long. She's super cute, has a full head of beautiful black hair and is a wonderful baby.
9: Jacob also played dress up with at least NINE different outfits this year. He has been a cowboy, a pirate, Bob the Builder, a knight in shining armor, a fireman, a policeman, a transformer, Buzz Lightyear, and an Army guy.
8: Miekka re-upholstered EIGHT chairs for our dining and living rooms. (The green one is the one I did, the purple material was stained and nasty.)
7: Seth played in SEVEN T-ball games and had a great time learning about teamwork and good sportsmanship.
6: SIX new sets of Shelves now fill our expanded storage room.
5: We took FIVE trips to Disneyland this year. It was great to be there with almost all of our extended family and to have a couple of trips with just our immediate family too. Hooray for annual passes!
4: Seth has learned FOUR new poems by heart in his Kindergarten class. He loves going to school!
3: James had THREE different jobs this year. The ups and downs were stressful, but everything seems to have worked out okay so far.
2: Our TWO wonderful Boys are growing up so fast. They are getting to be good friends and they love their new sister.
1: We welcomed ONE new Baby into our family. Lia Marie Lance was born on November 13th at 4:59 p.m.. She weighed 7 pounds and was 19 1/2 inches long. She's super cute, has a full head of beautiful black hair and is a wonderful baby.
Where did December come from? I was just getting used to the idea of November being here and now it's gone.
LIA'S UPDATE
Lia will be three weeks old tomorrow. She's been suffering from a mysterious eye infection that antibiotics don't seem to be able to cure. I'm starting to suspect that it's not an infection, but maybe that her tear ducts are blocked or something. I had James give her a blessing on Monday and in it the Lord promised her eyes would get better in due course, so maybe we just need to wait it out. At her two week appointment she weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and had grown a half inch. She is starting to fill out a little, her cheeks are getting chubby and she has some small rolls on her legs. The good thing about all this growing is that her newborn size clothes are starting to fit her instead of drowning her. She had her first real bath which she absolutely hated, she screamed the entire time until I wrapped her back up in her towel. She does not like to be exposed at all, she screams every time we change her diaper too. She has also given us a few smiles that don't seem to be gas related. She is so adorable.
72-HOUR KITS
James decided that it was time to get our 72-hour kits in order. He did a lot of research and we spent Monday night shopping for stuff and then put the kits together a few days later. There are still a few things we want to put into them, but it we had to use them now we'd definitely be able to survive for 3 days. If you are interested in what all went into them, James has a page on his blog that has pictures and info on it. James' Blog
THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving was nice this year. There were about 12 people at my parents house for dinner. Marrisse and her family celebrated with Aaron's sister so my boys and Lia were the only kids there this year. Dinner was a little quieter than normal because of that. We had a great spread of Turkey, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans and a Jello salad. Everything was delicious. My mom had only assigned one dessert to be made and apparently everyone else thought it wouldn't be enough. We ended up with 4 desserts instead. They were all good.
BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING
The shopping tradition continued this year. Some of the stores opened at 4 in the morning, but we decided that there was nothing we needed that badly. We ended up at Kohl's at 6:30. Even though the store had been open for 2 and a half hours, the lines to check out were still super long. We go to Kohl's for the 50% off toys and we all found what we wanted there. We also skipped the 45 minute wait to check out by buying something at the jewelry counter. We were out of there in 5 minutes. We spent the rest of the morning hopping from store to store and meeting up for breakfast around 9:30. It was crazy but fun.
GEARING UP FOR CHRISTMAS
The Christmas holidays are fast approaching. I've nearly finished all my shopping and I plan to have the house decorated by the end of this week. Seth is pretty much counting down the days until Christmas break. He's got his Christmas list all written out and is thinking about all the fun things we should do to celebrate.
LIA'S UPDATE
Lia will be three weeks old tomorrow. She's been suffering from a mysterious eye infection that antibiotics don't seem to be able to cure. I'm starting to suspect that it's not an infection, but maybe that her tear ducts are blocked or something. I had James give her a blessing on Monday and in it the Lord promised her eyes would get better in due course, so maybe we just need to wait it out. At her two week appointment she weighed 7 lbs. 11 oz. and had grown a half inch. She is starting to fill out a little, her cheeks are getting chubby and she has some small rolls on her legs. The good thing about all this growing is that her newborn size clothes are starting to fit her instead of drowning her. She had her first real bath which she absolutely hated, she screamed the entire time until I wrapped her back up in her towel. She does not like to be exposed at all, she screams every time we change her diaper too. She has also given us a few smiles that don't seem to be gas related. She is so adorable.
72-HOUR KITS
James decided that it was time to get our 72-hour kits in order. He did a lot of research and we spent Monday night shopping for stuff and then put the kits together a few days later. There are still a few things we want to put into them, but it we had to use them now we'd definitely be able to survive for 3 days. If you are interested in what all went into them, James has a page on his blog that has pictures and info on it. James' Blog
THANKSGIVING
Thanksgiving was nice this year. There were about 12 people at my parents house for dinner. Marrisse and her family celebrated with Aaron's sister so my boys and Lia were the only kids there this year. Dinner was a little quieter than normal because of that. We had a great spread of Turkey, potatoes, stuffing, sweet potatoes, green beans and a Jello salad. Everything was delicious. My mom had only assigned one dessert to be made and apparently everyone else thought it wouldn't be enough. We ended up with 4 desserts instead. They were all good.
BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING
The shopping tradition continued this year. Some of the stores opened at 4 in the morning, but we decided that there was nothing we needed that badly. We ended up at Kohl's at 6:30. Even though the store had been open for 2 and a half hours, the lines to check out were still super long. We go to Kohl's for the 50% off toys and we all found what we wanted there. We also skipped the 45 minute wait to check out by buying something at the jewelry counter. We were out of there in 5 minutes. We spent the rest of the morning hopping from store to store and meeting up for breakfast around 9:30. It was crazy but fun.
GEARING UP FOR CHRISTMAS
The Christmas holidays are fast approaching. I've nearly finished all my shopping and I plan to have the house decorated by the end of this week. Seth is pretty much counting down the days until Christmas break. He's got his Christmas list all written out and is thinking about all the fun things we should do to celebrate.
