Old snow, beautiful snow

As it turns out, I was terrible at taking pictures during Christmas break, with the exception of these above: wearing my papa's boots out into the snow to catch this magical sky and magical house. I'm also becoming more okay with this falling in and out of things (it helps having talented photographers on both sides of the family. My brother-in-law took the most captivating photos of the boys on Christmas morning. Thanks, Kurt!). Life ebbs and flows, and right now, taking pictures, blogging, and a whole host of other things are waning in importance. I blame moving. I overheard a new friend say to someone, "Moving is traumatic." It's true, and I know it. So I'm okay with living months of my life in a weird sort of normal-not-normal cloud, and taking each day as it comes. We are slowly but surely making this little corner of Texas home, and enjoying the unseasonably warm weather. It's bizarre wearing a tank top in the sunshine while many of our friends are hunkered down after a blizzard. I don't think the Texas weather will ever lessen in it's strangeness to me, but I've at least made my peace with it this winter because we enjoyed a couple lovely days surrounded by snow while in Ohio. I even scooped some up in a cup and ate it as we drove away, 17 hours of road in front of us, from my childhood home.

Thanks, Jo, for taking these beautiful pictures (below).

Advent then and now

Goodness it's been a long time since I've posted any updates in this wee little space (but that photo up there probably makes up for it, right?). Since then, summer is really gone, fall is here, and winter might never come (I hear that's kind of how it goes in Texas). Seb, Bruno, and I enjoyed a two week visit in Ohio with our family, brought back a beastly cold to remember them by, and got our health back just in time to savor the magical time of Advent. When we lived in Durham, we went to an Anglican church. Our first time going to a church that follows the liturgical year closely. During those two years, I began to like Advent. When we spent last year in Germany, that like turned to love. And for the astute of you, yes I'm loosely quoting The Wedding Planner, you're welcome. Advent is such a rich time in Germany, and it was so refreshing to live in a culture, not just in a church, where Advent was celebrated by all. If there was any push for consumerism in Germany, it was to buy all the advent calendars. I've never seen so many advent calendars in my life. But the advent wreaths... a large one hung in Sebastian's Kindergarten, where St. Nicholas came to fill stockings on December 6th. The Christmas markets spread the joy of Advent and the coming of Christmas with hot mugs of Glühwein, lights, fresh greenery, and delightful crafts and ornaments. And oh the cookies. So many cookies were made! I don't know if you can be German and not make oodles of cookies, you guys. Here are the boys from last year:

Let me tell you, I needed a moment after seeing Bruno's baby chub and curls from last year. And then here is of course documentation of this year on instagram, and more below when I realized he's just as cute and chubby as ever hashtag cheeks:

Our decorations last year:

And this year:

Before I sign off, we really need to have a chat about Christmas lights. We are neither a firmly white or colored lights family (yet). We've done both. Normally I like the tidiness that comes with white lights, but whenever we use them on our tree, I just feel disappointed by the tidiness. Maybe colored lights just remind me of my Grandma's intensely fake tinsel covered tree that we would pull out of her upstairs every year, and decorate with glittery, vintage, and homemade ornaments? Or our family tree that always had a mix of both colored and white (which now that I think about it might have to do with my moms crafty, deep down folk-art-loving soul). I keep so many parts of my life tidy and simple, but a Christmas tree, to me, needs to be the opposite. When it comes to Christmas trees, one shouldn't hold back. So I'm curious... if you are firmly in the white lights camp, why? And if you're firmly in the colored (or at least sympathetic) I'd love to hear from you because I keep looking for your colored lights on Instagram and I'm not seeing them! Cheers to my brother-in-law and sister-in-law for the colored lights solidarity.

Happy Advent, friends!

Home | Just words

Hello dear friends,

You may have noticed that I haven't been around lately. It's for a rather silly reason. You see, I ran out of space to upload photos, so I have to figure out if I want to upgrade, or how to upgrade my space, so that I can continue to post photos (and I have sooooo many!!!). Any easy, inexpensive solutions to this?

Until I figure it out, I thought I'd jot down a little of what's been going on around here. Right now Cody is holed up in his den working on a take home final. We just got Seb to bed—at 10:45 gahhh—and I'm about to get back into wrapping gifts. I have a decent amount of wrapping and gift-making to do before we travel home for Christmas, but I do so enjoy it. If only I had more time! Man, one thing is certain: finals with one child is hard, but doable, but finals with two children is a whole different game.

Each day I pump myself up to do all the cooking, cleaning, christmas planning, and child-care so that Cody can spend oodles of time studying, and then it becomes very apparent, very quickly, that it's impossible to help him as much as I did the last two semesters. Bruno is very clingy, which is very sweet, but also makes it difficult to keep things together, and Seb engaged, without help from Cody. He's marvelous though, and has willingly and joyfully sacrificed a lot of study time to help me with the boys. I'm certain that all the other Div. students would be shocked at the amount of time he helps me, despite the work load that he has. Cody always says, "Mary, I'm going to help you as much as you need, because we have to trust that God is going to take care of us, and help me finish my work." And you guys... Cody hates it when I brag about how well he does in school, but you should know, he does really well. In fact, I had Cody proofread this post, and he said I needed to take that part out. But I'm not going to!

So basically, I'm very thankful for him these days, and thankful for a lot of things, really. Cody was hit by a car while riding his bike to school early Tuesday morning, and came out with only a few bruises and other minor injuries. Praise God.  Our neighbors came to the rescue, barely awake, and watched our sleeping boys while I drove to pick up Cody. They then went to the store to get some big bandages and antiseptic ointment for a cut Cody got on his leg. We are so blessed.

In other news, we started potty training Seb on Saturday. We took today off because with the number of accidents he had on Saturday, we felt it might not be such a good idea to inflict that on the nursery workers. Tomorrow we'll start again, and I'm excited to see him tackling and mastering this new skill. I've been so hesitant to start because it's such a scary thing, and in so many ways, diapers seem much easier than having to race your kid to the bathroom at the mall, and clean up accidents in the grocery store. But maybe I'm being a little dramatic about what happens during potty training? We shall see, won't we?

Bruno is nearly 6 months old, which means that I really need to start him on some solids. I have been dragging my feet on this one basically as much as I have with the potty training. I mean, can't I just exclusively breastfeed this kid until he can eat a burger? The truth is, just in the last few days, he seems a little hungry after each time I nurse him, which means that he would likely benefit from a little something extra. I dug out my copy of Cooking for Baby to get me geared up for the baby food thing, but sadly, it didn't work. You know what I think would work?? A food processor! Making baby food is the worst without a food processor.

Also, I'm going to start writing. I have an idea for a book. You probably won't hear a word more about it for at least 5 more years, but suddenly I have this excitement and eagerness to do something I've been dreaming about doing since I was a kid. You know the question, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" My answer was always, "A writer."

Maybe this is the beginning.

In conclusion, life is hard and life is exciting, but God is faithful through all of it, and Advent is here. Isn't this season glorious? We are so enjoying singing Away in a Manger and Silent Night to Sebastian before bed, and Cody and Seb sing the most adorable Jingle Bells duet.

Who says you need photos for a blog post, anyway?

Home | Christmas tree

Boys in plaid & the smell of a fresh Christmas tree filling your home. Mmm I love Christmas.

This is the best time of year.

Seb | Christmas Toys in Action, Part I

Vintage Fisher Price is where it's at, friends.

Christmas | The Family Photos

Sorry, no more Seattle photos yet. I've been ridiculous and have completely forgotten to take my camera with me both days we've been here. Epic fail. So to tide you over, here are some family Christmas photos. Strecker family pic, compliments of Papa Strecker.

Christmas | The two best gifts

This Christmas brought me an Ergo Baby carrier from my mom and dad, and a week in Seattle from Cody's parents. (Did the complete awesomeness of that sentence make you fall over?!) Pike Place Market, baby! We're having a great time, hence the silence around these parts lately. I hope you enjoyed a beautiful Christmas and are enjoying time with your families! More updates to come soon.

P.S. If you're three months preggo, don't try to carry your 19 mo. baby in the forward-facing position. It made me so light-headed with his big bottom sitting on my stomach. Sometimes I forget that I'm pregnant...

Merry Christmas!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful, 

But the fire is so delightful.

Seb has learned to help build fires around here. He's such a big man now and has learned so many new things this week. Wishing you all a Merry Christmas! How blessed we are that our savior came to this earth as a little baby.

Seb | Grandpa's hat

Just a glimpse of the complete wonderfulness of being home.

Home | Heading North & Being North

We were supposed to leave at 4 this morning, but after hearing our alarm go off at 3:30, I suggested that we aim to leave at 5 instead. Poor Cody is still recovering from far to many all-nighters. We finally got on the road at around 5:30, walking out into the 60 degree darkness to get to our car. Sebastian in nothing more than his dinosaur footie pajamas. During our long drive, filled with laughs, flaring tempers, and droopy lids I began to think of all the things that I love about being North, and what I am looking forward to during this trip. We hadn't seen family since October, and Seb has changed so much.

Oh, and before my little list, here's a video of Sebastian as the sun was coming up through the mountains of Virginia. What a gorgeous morning. The music is Genesis 1, by Folk Psalm.

One.

Watching the faces of our family members as they see Seb again. And of course seeing Seb interact with his aunts, uncles, and grandparents after so long. I love that he knows them even though he doesn't see them very often. It's also funny how comfortable he is with my mom, and I have to think it's because she and I talk the same way, have the same intonations in our voice, and call him the same silly names. It's true, you will be your mother some day. Seb is also completely intrigued by my dad. I can't wait to see them working outside together. We see Cody's parents tomorrow (we talk to them on Facetime frequently), and I feel that if Seb could talk, he would say, "Hey! Why don't you guys ever take the ball I try to give you through the computer!?" And maybe Paw Paw will show Seb the Motorcycle...? Tomorrow is going to be fun.

Two.

Sneaky Steps. Okay, I hadn't thought of this one before tonight, but my little sister Joanna noticed it and can't get enough. Seb has this silly walk where he kind of bends at the knees and then scoots his feet along the floor. We call him Mr. Sneaky Steps when he does it.

Three.

The chance for Seb to learn new words. He has a few... Bird, Bath, Dog, and Ball. All of which sound like "Baw." And the only one that he will say on-demand, if you will, is ball. He loves anything shaped remotely like a ball. Show him a Christmas tree, and he will point out each ball individually, and have to say the word for each one. I love this, but I do so want him to learn a few more.

Four.

Food! Okay, this was a given. It is Christmas, after all. However, I am going to try to enjoy all the Christmas treats with moderation. I gained 5.5 lbs. last month, and am pretty sure that it would be very bad to repeat that this month... I need my new jeans—my awesome jeans—to fit me through this entire pregnancy. More on the complete fabulousness of this pair coming soon.

Five.

The chance to have help with Seb, and for Cody to get good rest. He shared with me some of the things that he wants to do over break, and I'm glad we'll have a slower schedule so that he can do a few things that he enjoys, and never has time for. Did I mention that he finished his first semester of Div school with an incredible 19 page paper? That's right. I read it, and understood it, and thought it was awesome. Oh and it will be so nice to have a little company above the age of 18 months for a couple weeks. Although I do just love my little man. How are his cheeks still so edible!?

What are you looking forward to this week before Christmas?

P.S. This evening I'm linking up, albeit a little late, with E Tells Tales. I love E's blog, and think her weekly Ten Little Ivie Things is the most darling idea. 

Christmas | Let's hear it for the Films

As promised, albeit a little late...

Best for Tree Decorating/Crafting:

White Christmas

Holiday Inn

Best Tear Jerkers/Romances:

It’s a Wonderful Life

While You Were Sleeping

Best for a Laugh:

Grumpy Old Men

Grumpier Old Men

Elf

Bet you never knew While You Were Sleeping and the Grumpy Old Men movies were Christmas movies. Well, they are; a recent happy discovery of mine.