Merry Christmas!

We were very blessed this year that Erich was off work on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. It was fun to have time together at home before we packed up and headed out for our annual "tour of Ohio" to celebrate Christmas with the Piland and Kelley sides of the family. We had a wonderful time in Perrysburg, Stow, and Marysville and I think the girls were in heaven!

Christmas morning we got Avery and Norah up.  When they walk out their bedroom door they are on a landing directly overlooking the living room and they have a great view of the Christmas tree and presents below.  We love capturing their reaction on camera each year.

Before presents we read the story of Jesus birth. When they are older we will read it straight out of the Bible. For now, a board book holds their attention a little better.

Poor Norah got caught opening some presents that were wrapped and hidden in the basement the week before Christmas (thankfully they weren't hers!).  We gave her a stern talking to about "no opening presents!" and I think it traumatized her because from that point on when she was given presents she would look at Erich and I before every gift and say, "Can I open it?".  At least she learned a lesson, but I feel bad that she was afraid to rip off any paper without permission.

Avery's most hoped for and favorite gift - a Merida dress and bow and arrow set (from the Disney Princess movie "Brave").

No babies were harmed in the taking of this picture (and we quickly directed Avery not to point the arrows at people).

Daddy and Paige. Paige slept through much of our Christmas morning festivities but woke up just in time to get her presents at the end (with some help from big sisters to open them).

3 beautiful Piland girls

After spending Christmas morning at home, we packed up and hit the road for Stow, getting there in time for an early Christmas dinner at Aunt Nikki's house. Nikki did a great job hosting and we enjoyed a wonderful meal.  Her house was decorated beautifully and I'm proud to report that none of her decorations were broken by the time we left (I was holding my breath the whole time!)

The girls in their matching Christmas outfits from Aunt Nikki. They were adorable.

No Piland family event is complete without one of Aunt Nikki's famous cakes. The girls thought this one was particularly hilarious... Santa fell down the chimney! Avery ate Santa's legs and feet which were made entirely of frosting. Her teeth were black for the rest of the night.  She thought that was great.

Aunt Sue and Nana reading to Avery and Norah.

The next day we opened gifts at Nana and Papa's. Here's Aunt Nikki helping Avery into her new Sofia the First dress.

Erich caught Norah in a sweet moment singing "Hush Little Baby" to her Baby Izzy.

Daddy and his oldest girls

We were sad that Evan, Passa, Cara, Jacob, and Abigail weren't able to travel to Stow this Christmas.  We had a great time though when everyone gathered around the table to play a game of Rook (a Piland family tradition) and thanks to modern technology (and Nana holding the hand of cards up to the computer camera), Evan was able to play cards with us in Ohio while he was in Texas via webcam.  It was a ton of fun... and he won!

The next morning we left Stow and headed to Marysville to visit the Kelley side of the family.  We barely got into town and I took baby Paige straight over to the nursing home to meet her Great Grandma Staley (Paige Ruth is named after her).  

That night at the house Paige was giving Grandma and Grandpa lots of big smiles

Avery loved Grandpa's train under the tree. Norah was afraid of it, so we didn't run it much.

Avery loved her Princess Tiana dress from Grandma and Grandpa. Merida dress from Santa, Sofia dress from Nana and Papa, Tiana dress from Grandma and Grandpa... are you noticing a theme? The girl loves to dress up!

Norah got her own Pillow Pet and Sleeping Bag (she'd been coveting Avery's for a while) and a Doc McStuffins dress up outfit. Here she is giving her pillow pet a thorough check up.

Paige loves her Sofie the Giraffe teething toy. It's perfect for her little hands to grab.

The next morning we headed to Great Nana K.'s house for a visit. The girls loved that she gave them each candy canes.

Great Grandpa Staley had a fall the day we got into town and spent some time at the hospital. One afternoon Erich took Paige to the hospital so he could meet her and they had a great visit.

On our last night in town we went to the Upton house where we had a wonderful dinner with the Uptons, the Kelleys, and Grandma and Grandpa to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. Avery and Norah had a great time playing with all of their cousins and they especially loved seeing Spencer, Karly, and Oliver's Christmas presents... a guinea pig named Reece and two hamsters named Kevin and Marshmallow.  They were the hit of the evening!

Norah didn't want to go home. She wanted to spend more time with "the fuzzy fuzzies"... the new pets.  

As another year comes to a close, it's fun to look back and reflect on all of the changes and happenings that took place in our lives.  Of course, the biggest joy of all was the arrival of our darling baby Paige.  We praise God for that little bundle who has blessed us so greatly.  We welcome 2014 with open arms and can't wait to see what is in store for our family!

Christmas time is here

Having a baby right before the holidays meant we scaled back a little bit this Christmas.  Thanksgiving fell unusually late in the year, leaving only 3 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was running on little sleep and feeling overwhelmed by the "to-do" list that accompanies the holidays.  When I sat down and really looked at the list, I realized that much of it was unnecessary and was only due to pressure I was putting on myself to provide the perfect holiday season for my family.  I embraced the theme of simplicity this year and decided to let go of many of the "must have" traditions that were clogging up our schedule and robbing my joy instead of filling me up.  The neighbors did not get cookies or treats. The house only got the "essential" decorations (Christmas tree, nativities, and deocrated railing - my favorites!) while the majority stayed boxed up in the basement.  I skipped a couple social events in favor of staying home and watching Christmas movies with my girls.  We let go of several things that I thought were mandatory for making Christmas happen, and what do you know... Christmas came anyway.  We slowed down, embraced time as a family, and made great memories together.  I hope that next year all of the decorations go up and cookies get made, but this year was a great way to keep my heart in check and be reminded that the busyness of December can sometimes get in the way and take my eyes off Jesus.  As it is with a newborn, I was up at all hours nursing my sweet baby in the dark and quiet, by the light of the Christmas tree.  I will look back on those late night moments with Paige with such fondness, as every sleepy session looking down at my baby brought my mind and heart into focus... thinking of Mary's first moments holding her newborn babe, the one who would eventually save the world.

With all of the things we cut out, there was still certainly plenty that we did to celebrate Christmas around the Piland home.  Below are a few pictures of some of our fun

We have a tradition of building a gingerbread house each year as a family. This year we invited our friends, The Hafers, over for the fun.  Grace and Avery had a fun time decorating while Norah and Luke had fun trying to eat all the candy.

Avery and Norah had a Hello Kitty gingerbread house which of course meant it was their favorite color... pink! Erich is such a great sport.

Avery putting the star on the tree with Daddy's help

Norah getting some instruction from a seasoned pro

The bottom half of our tree was decorated entirely with "unbreakable" ornaments, mostly felt ornaments made my Great Grandma Staley to minimize the amount of trouble Norah could get into. She liked to move the ornaments from branch to branch and thought the whole thing was very exciting.

Avery is such a big girl she got to stand on a stool and help hang some of the fragile glass ornaments on high branches. She loved that!

Paige's first visit with Santa

Paige was totally cool with Santa, Avery was a little shy, and Norah was downright scared.  Just getting her to be in the picture was a trick. Sitting on his lap was not going to happen.

Norah and Mommy waiting for Avery's preschool Christmas program to start

Singing at her preschool performance about being a jolly snowman.

Avery had a small speaking part in the program this year and was very excited. She practiced for weeks and would recite her line to anyone who asked.  She did a fantastic job!

Grandma and Grandpa came up for a visit to see Avery in action. She loved having them in the audience and we are so thankful they were able to come!

Like I mentioned earlier, we didn't "do" Christmas cookies this year.  On Christmas Eve I realized that not making any treats meant we had nothing to put out for Santa by the fireplace.  Pillsbury "break and bake" pre-made cookies to the rescue!  They were nothing fancy, but the girls didn't care (and I'm sure Santa didn't either). 

We enjoyed our scaled back Christmas, store bought cookies and all.  There's one other thing we did to simplify... When we put up the tree and got out a few decorations, we also got out the tub of Christmas themed toys that only come out of hiding for one month a year. We packed up all of the other toys that usually reside in the living room and for the entire month of December the girls really only had one main toy to play with by the Christmas Tree - the Little People Nativity set.  Because it was "new" and exciting, they didn't really notice that all of the other toys were gone. We didn't get any photos, but I loved watching them play and pretend together with the nativity.  There were also a couple other small nativity toys (a finger puppet one that Norah really loved) and many, many Christmas books about Baby Jesus.  In the midst of all the Santa fun and presents, it was a joy to see our kids focusing their play time on the One true thing that matters.  Simple is good.

"T is for the Tiny Baby, Sleeping in the Hay. His name is baby Jesus, born on Christmas Day".  

Snapshots of Life

Just a few little pictures and videos of life around the house with Avery, Norah, and Paige.  We love watching them together.

Baby Paige started smiling at about 7 weeks old and hasn't stopped since. 

We had started decorating for Christmas with our many nativities and talking about the Christmas story. Avery observed, "Look Mom! She's just like baby Jesus... wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger!".  I love her little heart.  I think Paige might be a bit more comfy and cozy than Jesus was, but I can definitely see where she got the correlation.

I could stare at this little face for hours.  In fact, sometimes I do just that.

One night Erich heard noise coming from the girls' room long after they should have been asleep. He went upstairs and found Avery sitting on a step stool next to Norah's crib "reading" her a story while Norah sat attentively with her legs through the slats.  It was so sweet that rather than scold them, he grabbed the camera.  We were nervous about them sharing a room and it took a while for them both to adjust, but now they wouldn't want it any other way.  I love their sister bond.

Norah was upstairs playing in her room and came downstairs wearing jammies, Avery's underwear (sideways), and tap shoes.  She will do anything for a laugh and loves to be silly.  Future class clown in the making.

Oldest and youngest, sharing a cuddle

Norah reading a book to her Baby Izzy.  

A rare quiet moment from Norah, enjoying her baby sister

Typical dinner time shenanigans at the Piland house

Daddy Daughter Date

If there is anyone in our house that has endured the most change and handled it with the most grace, it is sweet little Avery Ann Piland.  She adjusted to the arrival of a new baby in the house wonderfully and accepted the redistribution of mommy and daddy's attention without complaint.  She had a few rough days in the very beginning, but settled into the "new normal" much more quickly than we expected. Norah took a bit longer to accept the change and required a lot of our time and attention as we tried to balance discipline and grace. Add onto that all of the time and attention required for a newborn... 4 year old Avery amazed us with her ability to understand that this was a time of transition for our family. Although she's not without the occasional meltdown or tantrum (what preschooler is?), for the most part she is a helpful, sweet, blessing to our family... playing with Norah and holding Paige like it's her job.  Erich set aside some time on his days off from work to make sure that Avery was being reminded that she is special to us and every bit as loved as the younger two by taking her on a couple of Daddy Daughter Dates.

out to eat for breakfast... complete with "minnie mouse" pancakes

blowing on daddy's coffee, one of her favorite jobs

our sweet friends, Dave and Mackenzie, own a salon that Avery loves to visit. A girly girl to the core, she loves to get her hair done and her nails painted.  Erich made an appointment for Avery to get her nails painted and she was in heaven.

pink sparkly nails courtesy of Mackenzie's sister, Sagan, who is always so great with Avery and makes her feel very grown up and special.

Avery's preschool hosted a "Father's Feast"... a day for all the dads to come spend a day in the classroom with their kids.  Avery loved getting to introduce daddy to her preschool world.

Another daddy daughter date came a few weeks later when Erich and Avery went to see Disney on Ice in December.  It was a surprise for her and she was so excited!

There are no words for what this does for my heart. I hope she never stops holding his hand.

Soaking up an afternoon with her dad while the younger two napped at home.  She loved it!

Erich feels that it is very important for him to not only date his wife (lucky me!), but also to "date" each of his daughters.  We have heard the sermons and read the books that say a woman's view of men is shaped in large part by her view of her father and the relationship she had with him growing up.  It's safe to say the bar has been set high for any men who might pursue our little ladies down the road.  Their daddy has already stolen their hearts...