The Stingeries

Friday, December 20, 2013

Chicagoland

We've been in the States for over two weeks now and I'm pretty sure I've gained at least a pound a day, haha. America is quite delicious! I'm just getting a chance to go through TONS of pictures we took in Chicago and Houston, the first two stops on our tour across the States.

Madi and I flew into Chicago on Sunday, Dec 1. We had a 9 hour flight from London that Madi did great on. I "tricked" her and kept waking her every three hours rather than let her sleep a large chunk. She was a little grumpy as a result, but it worked because once we landed in Chicago around 7:00 pm, we got home, ate, took a bath, and went to bed. She woke once at 4:00 am and went back to sleep with the paci until 6:00 am. Considering she usually gets up at 7:00 am, I call that a success! She was back to normal the following day. :-)

We spent time in Chicago with my dad, his wife, and the rest of our family on my dad's side. It was so wonderful for Madison to meet her Grandma!! We spent the time hanging out with everyone, attending a Christmas party, and just enjoying family! :-)

We celebrated my birthday with a delicious cake and Chinese take-out.

Lots of hanging out! Madison loved looking at the Christmas tree with Grandma and scooting around on the floor with Papa.

We took Madi to a Bohemian restaurant. She loved her dumplings and veggies!

She also decided that it was a good time to get her first tooth. But it was hard work growing it and she was a little cranky.

However, she loves brushing her teeth! Especially with Daddy's toothbrush... :-)

She was visited by St Nicholas on Dec 6 and had a stocking full of presents!

She attended the Czech's Christmas Party on Saturday and got to meet Santa and enjoy some delicious food! She loved the cantaloupe.

Afterwards we headed back to Grandma's and had dinner with all of the family and opened some more presents!

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Christmas Gifts

Music, decorations, lights, time spent with family - I love all of these aspects of the Christmas season. But it seems like this day and age things have gotten a bit carried away. While all of the above-mentioned things are wonderful and truly enjoyable, they aren't what the Christmas season is truly about.

The true celebration of Christmas is the gift of Jesus Christ, given by the Father to live on this earth and die so that we may live. It's the celebration of the birth of a baby, born in a stable.

As new parents we've talked a lot about how we are going to handle Christmas. We want Madison to know what this holiday is truly celebrating. We don't want her to be focused on Santa Claus (which we honestly still haven't decided if we are even going to do in our home) and receiving tons of presents.

That's why we've decided to adopt the Christmas-gift motto below. We know Madison is going to receive presents from family and friends and we don't feel it's necessary for us to spoil her with a ton more gifts. So for Christmas (and maybe even birthdays) she will receive the following: Something you want, something you need, something to wear, and something to read.

I created a festive picture to go along with the poem that others can download and adopt for their families if they chose. Feel free to save this picture and implement a similar gift-giving idea in your home.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

London with the Ricketts!

Last week Madi, Jason, and I flew to London to visit Chelsea, Ryan, and Cole. Chelsea is one of my best friend's from college and we were excited to see them across the pond!

Madi and I flew out on Wednesday so we could spend a little more time with the Rickett family. Since Jason and I have already been to London (and Madi doesn't contribute much in the way of things to do), we had a relaxing time just walking around the city and visiting.