Cold outside, warm inside

I thought it'd be really cool to start traditions with Lux, since it's her first Christmas...

She may not get the concept of it all, or even remember it, but still, i think it's all fun to have her do this stuff and take pics. Then when she's graduating from high school or getting married or whatever, she can look back to these pics and remember that she's been doing traditions from the start.

Ryan used to deliver Christmas treats with his daddy while he was growing up.

It's one of those memories that he really cherishes about his dad and Christmas. 

I thought it'd be cool for him to start that tradition with his own little one.

When I mentioned that the two of them could go and deliver the treats to our surrounding neighbors on our street, he was excited to continue this tradition with her!

I thought we'd do something simple, but fun this year, especially since Lux was not totally into the Christmas project. She was in a very snuggly mood and did not enjoy sitting in her playpen peering through the mesh at her mommy who was singing and dancing to One Direction. She preferred to be held and wanted to see what I was doing up close and personal. 

So we did muddy buddies.

Simple but fun...and super yummy.

I think I gained like five pounds just from testing it.

Someone was really curious about what was going on.

This is one of the few moments that day that she would let me set her down.

excuse the excessive drooling...she's teething.

Finished product...

This is what made it into the tins...the rest I ate.

I had help though, ryan and one of his mentees did some snacking too!

then i made a second batch...and a third...and a fourth.

Lux was beyond thrilled to play with the tins full of treats.

She thought she should cover the tins with kisses before delivering them. 

Here she is all bundled up and ready to deliver treats! 

She got a little too warm and let us know how she felt.

and i know that it's a tradition for the two of them, but i couldn't resist following along to take pics...which didn't turn out too well on my phone. but i captured the moment anyways!

So here's to many years of sweet family tradition-especially this one that involves a daddy and little girl!

they only made it to four houses cuz it was cold, but we've got two more tins to deliver to be done! 

Merry Christmas neighborhood!:)

Mullet mo mo.

My child has a mullet…

it's growing LONG on the sides…

and growing UP on top.

But with a face like this, 

and a grin like that,

I guess she can pull it off for now, right?

[but just so you know, as soon as possible, her hair is going up into cute little pigtails! i guess, after her mullet grows out.]

Thanksgiving in Kansas

We spent this girl's first Thanksgiving with her Grandma and Aunt Kate in Kansas.

It was wonderfully filled with family time and lots of eating, shopping, movie watching, and of course, Lux-snuggling.

The trip to Kansas was less than eventful…Lux used to be comforted by car rides.

No more.

Ever since she realized the world is a much better place when she can see it, sitting up or standing, she has HATED her carseat.

The only time she wasn't screaming to get out of her carseat was when she was eating, sleeping, or briefly playing and/or watching the one song on High School Musical 2.

Needless to say, it was a relief to get to Grandma's house.

Ryan enjoyed doing some project at his mom's house and helping her out with some things.

Putting up outdoor lights on her house was one of them, and Lux and I snuggled on the porch while we watched them work hard.

On Wednesday, we went to the airport to pick up Katie, which Lux wasn't terrible happy to be woken up to go the airport, and then when arriving there, someone she did not recognized squealed in happiness and scooped her hug for a huge hug. 

As you can see on her face, she did not approve.

However, her unhappiness with this new face was short-lived, because she became well-acquainted with her Aunt Kate and ended up LOVING her.

They snuggled together many times, and Aunt Kate was the chosen one to nap with during the Macy's Day parade and on various occasions during our stay.

Thanksgiving day involved lots of eating, playing, snuggling, and family picture taking.

I can see future Thanksgivings where Lux will help her grandma in the kitchen with preparing the meal. 

Whenever we visit Kansas, Lux sleeps in her daddy's old crib. 

She kinda just made herself at home and loved the new atmosphere and things to look at in the room. 

Sticking her legs through the bars happened a lot.

The first couple nights I slept in the room with her.

I moved out of the room after two sleepless nights-She realized I was sleeping on the floor beside her crib and all she wanted to do was talk, talk, talk. She was thrilled to pop her head up and see me down there. 

When I moved her to my bed, thinking I'd get more sleep if we snuggled, she was more than ecstatic and her talking only escalated. 

I think she inherited her mommy's love for good ole conversation...

And after putting this sweet lil girl to bed, Katie, Ryan, and I started out Black Friday shopping on Gray Thursday.

It's a tradition for me personally and I can't get enough of the crowds, chaos, people, coffee, shopping, and REALLY great deals.

I LOOOVE it. 

My mom and dad have taken us since I was a little little girl, and I plan on doing the same with Lux and her future siblings. 

She lasted a 12 hours of shopping with naps in between:).

What a trooper.

I think having a kid makes holidays more fun.

Having Lux and thinking of the many traditions we may have with her for holidays to come, gets me excited.

I'm so thankful for our little girl.

For family, and food, and the fun times we have when we're together.

It was so special getting to celebrate Lux's first Thanksgiving with our Brandenberger side of the family.

She definitely got spoiled (every time we saw something cute, her aunt wanted to buy it for Lux!), and got lots of snuggles. It was fun seeing her playing with her Grandma and with Ryan's old toys too.

All in all, it was a very special time.

Looking forward to the next time we see them again! 

5 months of "Light" in our lives...

 We can't believe how many changes this little girl has gone through this month.

We see such a different little girl, so many skills that she's mastered and so many that she is working on.

Her laughs and giggles come much more frequently now, and she easily cracks a gummy smile at mommy's dance moves, daddy's funny voices, or alexio and his funny tail.

She is officially tall enough to use the walker and she loves the ability to stand on her own! She has a blast bouncing up and down and moving backwards, which is a skill she figured out this week while working at the church with her daddy. 

 This month, she learned to blow through her lips and make funny sounds.

She does it a lot when she's hanging out in her jumper or walker. Here are some of her silly blowing faces.

One of the most exciting things about this month was starting her on solids.

I was trying to wait til 6 months, but she went through this LONG growth spurt and would eat every two hours (even through the night-sometimes she'd eat every hour!) and she grew 12 ounces in two weeks! And a whole inch. She knew just what to do when we fed her and was so excited to be eating from a spoon. 

Here are some pics from her first time trying solids-daddy got to feed her!:)

 Since then, we've tried lots of different foods, and her favorites are oatmeal with pureed peaches, apples, peas, or carrots and her favorite fresh food are avocados and bananas. (she especially loves avocados though! She has those in the middle of the day as a snack:)) We have a lot of fun trying different stuff and giving her little bits of what we're eating. 

 Lux knows how to travel from point A to point B now, from scooting around on her tummy and rolling from place to place. She is extremely mobile and is never where you put her down-she's always on the move - usually after a toy or Alexio's stuff.

 Whenever she makes it off her blankets, Alexio decides to take over her spot and lounges there for a good long while.

 But this time, Lux made her way back to her blanket and toys and Alexio was still sitting there.

So she tried to get the blanket from under him.

Unsuccessful.

Lux went through a couple days that freaked me out.

She refused to nurse and would only take a bottle.

sitting up.

and watching Xfactor.

For some reason, being a big girl those days were important to her, and laying in mommy's arms and nursing was beneath her!

Fortunately, she forgot about it a couple days later, and now we're back to snuggling and nursing again.

I promise, I'm not a horrible person…i just found her reaction kinda funny.

She has developed a strange fear of the vacuum.

Which is funny, because, the first three months of her life, she was totally soothed by the vacuum.

Now, whenever the vacuum comes close, she kicks and panics and makes screeches noises. 

However, I vacuum every day, because well, between me and the dog, it's just better if i do.

 Lux loves this thing. 

I fill it up with whatever I'm eating or fruit or a veggie and she chews away and gets the yummy flavors.

She has a blast sticking it in and taking it out, sticking it in and taking it back out. over and over and over again.

 She's wearing her bear outfit more and more nowadays. I had used it as a halloween costume, but it's actually her winter outwear. One day i took her out of her carseat and carried her around in her bear suit, and so many people stopped me to tell me they thought i was carrying an actual teddy bear.

hm.

didn't quite know what to thnk of that;).

Although, the teddy bear I did have in my arms was pretty cute and cuddly.

Lux has been doing a lot of fun practice steps around the house. She can take big steps and toddle around while we hold her up. She still hasn't figured out how to do that in her walker going forward.

 Alexio has been reverting back to being a baby.

Lol, just kidding. 

But sometimes, I feel like he is. Like he wants to do the same thing Lux does because he's seen her do that.

Here we have a frequent happening of his: I'll sit there with Lux and a blanket, and Alexio plops down on Lux. Which makes me scream and try to get him off of her, but she's also taking things into her own hands and has kicked him off of her.

 Her favorite toys this month are this monkey that her Auntie Ash gave her when she was born and a fun musical french cell phone that my aunt gave her. She takes the monkey with her when she goes down for naps, and it's sweet watching her hug him and snuggle with him. With the cell phone, she pushes it away, then scoots up to it, then pushes it away, then scoots up to it. 

Well, this was a short preview of Lux and Her wonderful 5th month. Each day is so much better than the last, because of her newfound abilities and skills that she's figuring out! She's such a blast, and both her daddy and I rush over to spend as much time with her as we can.

Lux Ann, You are the most special little girl in the word to us. We love those gummy smiles that you flash at us all the time and those giggles that come out of you. we love how chubby your legs are, and how yummy your cheeks are! We could just nibble on you all day long!

Love you so much little one.

Love, 

 Mommy and Daddy

Operation Christmas Child week!

This week is Operation Christmas Child week. 

If you haven't ever heard of it, it's a very simple fun and impactful way to give and show love to others during this Christmas season. 

You pack a shoebox full of school supplies, toys, toiletries, and hard candy, maybe put in a letter or picture of you and your family, and drop it off to be shipped around the world.

This little elf has been keeping busy going to work with her Daddy and helping fill the boxes full of goodies.

She, myself, and Alexio hung out at the church today since it's collection week and our church has the fun job of collecting and packing these shoe boxes into bigger boxes.

This year is really really dear to my heart, because the shoeboxes from Storm Lake and the surrounding areas, will be sent to the Philippines, where the typhoon had hit and thousands are going through a dark and difficult time.

Operation Christmas Child is an amazing way to contribute to those that lost everything in the Philippines, but also, it's a way that the child that you pack a box for, will hear the gospel, receive a Bible, and learn about what Jesus Christ did for them. 

Here's the story of Ralph, a little boy in the Philippines that received a shoebox in the past:

these boxes are life changing, and you can be involved, simply by packing a shoebox!

I encourage you to consider filling up a shoe box this Christmas!

This is drop off week, where hundreds of shoe boxes will be collected from the surrounding areas of Storm Lake, and will then be taken up to the Operation Christmas Child Warehouse, where they will then be shipped off to the kids that will receive them.

Drop off location is at First Baptist Church of Storm Lake and will be open to collecting boxes until Sunday evening at 5!

Please consider sharing the joy of Christmas to these kids that need it! 

 Not to mention, that when you drop your box off, this little elf will most likely be there to greet you and your shoe boxes!:)

On a cold halloween night...

On a cold halloween night,

a little bear cub was lost in the middle of the woods.

She searched high and low for a place to belong.

But she didn't know where to go or what to do.

She wished for a place that would keep her warm on cold nights,

a place where someone would snuggle with her,

a place where someone would love her.

She was sad, but kept looking.

The little bear cub met a little lady bug.

She found a friend!

The ladybug comforted the baby bear cub and told her that everything would be alright.

 They spent a few moments together and then the lady bug went on her way to her own place she called home.

 On her search, she came across a scary group of people.

They frightened her and she ran away.

But a big friendly bear stopped her.

She felt so much better because he looked a lot like her.

He had fuzzy ears like her and had a bushy tail.

His nose was black just like hers and he had paws too!

He told her, 

"Little bear cub, I know a place where you could call home.

It's a very nice and safe place.

You'd be taken care of, snuggled with, and kept warm."

The little bear wanted so much to go to that place.

The Big Friendly bear showed Little bear cub the way to a man and woman with friendly smiles.

The man held little bear cub, smiled at her, and said, 

"I'll take good care of you. I'll be your daddy."

Little Bear Cub felt so safe and secure in his arms.

The woman gave her a huge hug and said, 

"I'll snuggle with you and keep you warm."

The man and woman's name were Daddy and Mommy and the Little Bear Cub was so happy to be with them.

Daddy and Mommy promised to love her, snuggle her, keep her safe and warm, and to love her with all their hearts.

She was so happy to have a family.

She even had a brother named Superman.

Finally, the Little Bear Cub had a place to call home.

She finally had a place to be loved.

Her daddy held her and said, 

"You belong right here…in my arms."

Happy Halloween from Lux to all of you!:)

Her first one was an absolute blast!