Sat 26 Jan 2008
Christmas was such a special time for our little family. Experiencing it through a child’s eyes is for some reason so much more fun. From decorating the tree, to singing Christmas carols to talking about baby Jesus and yes, even the guy in the red suit made this Christmas with our two year old and seven month old very special.
We flew to South Carolina the Thursday before Christmas, and surprisingly we didn’t have a single problem. Unlike last Christmas, all of our flights were on time and our luggage actually made it!
We spent the weekend before Christmas playing outside, spending time with family and friends and letting Papa and Babka spoil the kids. Andrej and I did a lot of last minute Christmas shopping, and vowed to never ever wait that late to do it again.
Mom took Kaiya to the mall one morning to ride the “Christmas train”, but it wasn’t there so they visited Santa instead. From that moment on, much to Andrej’s dismay, Kaiya was Santa Claus obsessed.
Andrej and I had decided as parents not to make a big deal out of Santa Claus. We weren’t going to ask others to join us in our decision or completely dismiss Santa, but we weren’t going to actively talk about him either. In our multicultural family we are trying to blend our family traditions and decide what is most important and what isn't to create our own traditions. We both whole heartedly agree that Christmas will be about Jesus. Since Santa Claus doesn't bring kids gifts on Christmas morning in Slovakia, we decided to forgo the whole idea that if you are a good little girl and boy then Santa will come down the chimney and bring you lots of toys. We didn't take into account that we do live in America where Santa Claus is overcommericalized and of course our two year old was captivated by the bearded man in the red suit.
After Kaiya sat on Santa’s lap she was a believer and from then on all we heard about was Santa Claus. The following conversation happened many times leading up to Christmas and still comes up often.
Kaiya: Mama?
Mama: Yes, Love bug?
Kaiya: Santa Claus!
Mama: What about Santa Claus?
Kaiya: Santa Claus is at the mall. (or) Santa Claus is at the North Pole.
Mama: Yes, Kaiya. He is.
Kaiya: Mama?
Mama: Yes, Kaiya?
Kaiya: Santa Claus!
Mama: What about Santa Claus?
Kaiya: Santa Claus says, “Ho. Ho. Ho. Merry Kiss-mas!”
Mama: Yes, Kaiya that is what Santa says.
Kaiya: Mama?
And on and on the conversation goes. Even Andrej has gotten a couple of good laughs out of our little girl’s number one conversation topic. She has also continued to thank God for Santa Claus during her bedtime prayers ever since.
The Saturday evening before Christmas was spent celebrating with my dad’s side of the family. We missed the party last year when our flights were all delayed so it had been quite a while since we had seen my aunts, uncles and cousins. It was everyone’s first time meeting Tobi and experiencing our rambunctious two year old. Kaiya was wired because she hadn’t napped that day and would not sit still. She ran around like a crazy girl belting out Jingle Bells at the top of her lungs. The picture is my Aunt Terri loving on our little man.
My brother, Paul, arrived by the end of the party. Both Kaiya and Tobi loved seeing their uncle, but more so loved what he brought with him; his Boston terrier, Ike. Tobi cackled non-stop when Ike was around. Kaiya was a little more cautious, but would giggle and scream, “Ike’s trying to get me! Ike’s trying to get me!” as she ran to hide from the ferocious beast.
We went to church on Sunday and then tried to get some Christmas pictures with the kids all dressed up in their Christmas outfits. Some of the outtakes are really funny. You can clearly see the peanut M&Ms in Kaiya’s mouth as we bribed her to sit still next to her brother.
That evening we attempted our family’s Christmas present for each of my parents. It was a good idea, but my help was, well, a bit uncooperative for such an undertaking. We bought two kits to make stepping stones with each of the kids’ handprints and their names so my parents could replace some of their current stepping stones in their flower gardens with some that have their grandkids’ precious handprints.
My brother helped me mix the cement, and the instructions said to give it 15 to 20 minutes to set and then make the imprints. Kaiya was up first and she very excitedly said she wanted to help. However, on the first try she pushed her hands way down in the wet cement leaving a big blob as she pulled her hands out. On the second try, I tried to get her to barely lay her hands down so I could then press them gently into the cement. This worked for a moment and then forcefully she sent them plunging into the mix. At this point I may have gotten a little frustrated and made the situation worse. Kaiya refused to try again and only wanted the cold wet mess off her hands. Immediately! I begged her to try again and pretty much forced her to give it one more go. Yet again we were unsuccessful and I was angry and Kaiya was in tears so I decided to wash her hands and give it another try later.
Tobi was up next and after he refused to open up his tightly drawn fists, we moved to plan B and off came his socks. Andrej and I were able to get pretty decent imprints of his tiny feet on the first try. I was glad because he sure didn’t like the cold wet cement on his feet and he loudly told us so. I wrote his name and the date and although it was far from what I imagined when we decided to do the project, it wasn’t the ugliest thing I had ever seen.
Just before dinner, we tried to get Kaiya to do it one more time. She reluctantly agreed. Andrej helped me and through Kaiya’s tears we were able to get two handprints. Her right hand turned out really good, but the left not so much. Seeing that she was almost in the meltdown stage, we called it good. I wrote her name and the date and our gifts were complete. Thankfully grandparents overlook imperfections from their grandchildren and Papa and Babka liked their gifts and did actually add the stepping stones to their flower garden.
We woke up on Christmas morning around 8:00 am, to Tobi talking away in the pack-n-play. While I nursed him, Andrej got Kaiya up and we joined my parents, brother and grandparents for a delicious breakfast. After breakfast, the present explosion began. We all exchanged gifts and had fun watching the kids enjoy their new loot.
After a quick nap for Tobi, we loaded the car and headed to Hendersonville, NC for lunch with my mom’s side of the family at my Auntie M’s house. It was great to catch up with everyone, eat yummy food and celebrate the birth of Jesus with family. The picture to the left is my beautiful cousin Celeste holding Tobi. She is getting married in June, which gives us a great excuse for heading back down south this summer. As we were driving back to my parents’ house that evening, I watched both of my kids sleeping soundly in their car seats, and I was overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for not only the birth of his son, but the two little blessings He has given me.
Andrej spent our last day of vacation visiting a friend in Atlanta, and the kids and I relaxed, packed and played with Papa and Babka. We met up for dinner at a yummy new restaurant in downtown Anderson called Maddy's (if you live anywhere near Anderson you must go!) and our good friends Jeff and Dee Dee joined us.
As always, it was hard to say good-bye as our time in SC came to a close. It was a great week and a very merry Christmas. When we returned home, Kaiya helped take the decorations off the tree and pack everything away. She was sad to see Andrej drag the tree out to the curb and kept asking where our Kiss-mas tree was going. That was the hardest thing about this Christmas. We prepared and talked about it all month, and then just like that it was over. Just like Kaiya, I too was sad to see the holiday season end. I guess we will just look forward to next year. The rest of our Christmas pictures are located here.