Tuesday Thoughts

I thought I would share a few birthday week thoughts today. Not all of them are birthday related, but I felt like blogging about a few different things, starting with.....
1. My birthday party! My college friends came over to our house Saturday night to share a wonderful birthday meal with me. We grilled burgers and ate cake and laughed a lot. I love each of these ladies so much and am so thankful for their friendships. I have been friends with Ashley and Marianne for over 10 years now! And Erica is working on catching up to that number with me :) Thank you, friends for life, for making my birthday special. 

2. Snow! On Sunday night Ryan and I were out at a youth event and got home late. Even though Eva was already snuggled in bed in her pajamas we wrapped her up in a few blankets and took her outside to see the giant snowflakes. The look on her face was priceless. I am so glad we took her to see the snow. It would have been easier and probably more settling to leave her in bed, but seeing how magical the snow was to her was the best moment of my day. 

3. Snow...the next day. The next morning when we were sitting together at breakfast I asked Eva what we should to that day. Her exact response was, "Well, at some point we should play outside in the snow." Ha! What 3 year old starts a sentence by saying "well at some point"? I need to start a journal of all the funny things she says. The other day in the car she had been telling an imaginary story to me and Ryan as we drove. When she stopped Ryan turned and said something to me, then she piped up from the backseat "I am still talking!" And today she had her hand on my belly to feel Jensen move. When he pushed a hand/foot/knee/whatever up against her hand she said, "High-five little buddy!"

4. Christmas. The holiday season is quickly approaching and it is around this time that I start to think about obsess over how much stuff Eva already has. I feel this deep conviction to not let her life be overwhelmed by tons and tons of toys. This turns me into some kind of mommy-grinch that wants to tell everybody not to buy her anything because she has all of everything that any three year old reasonably needs. I want her to appreciate and actually play with a smaller amount of toys rather than have a playroom that is so packed she can't even find the toys she likes. When I think about having two kids next year and all the "stuff" that accumulates for two kids it kind of overwhelms me. At the same time, of course I want her to have a wonderful Christmas. I want her to enjoy the splendor of presents under the tree Christmas morning. I want grandparents to have the joy of buying her whatever their hearts desire. So, this is always really a struggle for me. I believe that Christmas is all about Jesus and that is where the focus should be. After that comes time with family and special traditions and then presents should be more of an after thought. When she looks back at her childhood Christmas mornings I want her memories to be of enjoying time together, because in reality, she will forget about most of the toys she receives over the years. To make this happen I have already purged the play room and organized it so that we can see all the awesome toys she already has. I also have bags of things to give away and a few things I am setting aside for Jensen to enjoy later on. I think all the grandparents are on board with not completely spoiling her, and for that I am so thankful. Also I am very excited about the few things we actually are giving her because they are things she has mentioned and wanted for at least a few months. There is one special present already hidden away that I am sooooo happy to give her, so maybe I'm not a complete grinch.

5. Pajamas. Eva probably spends 90% of each day wearing her pajamas. She will put on "real clothes" when we go somewhere but as soon as we walk through the garage door she heads to her room to put on her pjs. There are times when I wish she wanted to dress up more in the closet full of cute girly clothes she has, but at least she can wear them when we go places....and on the bright side, this has helped her get really good at putting on her own clothes!