Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from Team Meyer!  It was a small Christmas miracle that we were able to get at least one family photo with all of us kind of looking in the right direction.  

Dressed up for Christmas Eve service at church.

Baby Asher is not so sure about cuddles from his big brother.

Christmas morning!

Baby Asher's first Christmas!

Christmas day at Granny and Gramps' house.

Brother love.

I saved the best one for last! 

We hope you have had a great day celebrating the birth of Jesus! If you asked Everett why Jesus was born he would tell you it's because He loves us, He rescues us, and He is our superhero! Amen.

Saint Nicholas Day

A tradition we inherited from Tom's family is to celebrate Saint Nicholas Day on December 6th.  We leave our shoes outside of our door and Saint Nicholas fills them with a new ornament.  In year's past Saint Nicholas also brought candy, but Tom and I decided we had enough sweets at our house for now! 

Baby Asher's first Saint Nicholas Ornament.  Everett received an E ornament last year so now we have somewhat matching ornaments for the brothers. 

Tom and I's were still wrapped up so they could stay hidden until we woke up in the morning. 

I searched for a Thomas ornament in so many stores until at the last minute I found one at Hobby Lobby! 

E checking out his goods.

We are a family that really values traditions, but ever since Asher was born our family has been learning to let go of expectations and be flexible. This lesson began Asher's first few days of life when he had to spend time in the NICU rather than in a room with us.  I had these dreams of the two brothers meeting in our hospital room with family around to capture the moment. Instead it happened briefly in a small corner of the NICU with only Tom and I because we could only have three visitors for AJ. Sometimes I feel a little bummed that I couldn't capture and experience their first meeting as I had hoped, but it was still special in it's own way.  

Then as we mentioned in our previous post we had to adjust our expectations for our Christmas tree tradition.  Saint Nicholas Day experienced similar adjustments. We arrived home from E's stay at the hospital on December 5th, the night of Saint Nicholas day.  "Saint Nicholas" only had ornaments for two out of the four family members because shopping couldn't happen all week with a sick little man, so we decided to push back Saint Nicholas day to the 7th.  We had also planned on getting Everett and Asher dedicated at our church's child dedication ceremony, but because of E's sickness we had to opt out (hence, Saint Nicholas brought a Bible and CD that were meant to be child dedication gifts). Another family tradition that needed adjustment was making chili on the day of our first winter snowfall.  We adopted this tradition from the Ward family, who are some dear friends from Korea. The first snow occurred the day Everett was in the hospital so it wasn't going to happen.  We ended up making chili a few days after the first snow, and at least snow was still on the ground.  

I don't mention all this to warrant pity. I mean really, none of these adjustments are that troublesome.  That being said, over and over, the Lord has used these small events to remind us to let go of our expectations and surrender to God's plan for our family.  Ultimately we want what He wants, so we pray that He could have his way with us (and with our traditions). 

Christmas is coming! 

O Christmas Tree

We have a family tradition of cutting down a real Christmas tree at a Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately this year, that was the day Everett woke up with a fever.  We were bummed Everett was sick but wanted to keep our tradition somewhat alive so we put together a little Everett-friendly felt tree instead.

We had intentions of cutting down a tree once Everett felt better, but he got so sick we realized we wouldn't get out to cut down a tree anytime soon. Therefore, we decided to be flexible with our Christmas tree tradition and buy a tree from a parking lot.  I have always scoffed at doing this because if you're going to get a real tree why not go all the way and get it from a farm?! It's such a cool experience.  But I was humbled and I realized that there are perfectly legitimate reasons why one would purchase a pre-cut tree.  My dad ended up going with me while Tom was at school and my mom was with the kids.  Home Depot actually had a nice selection and we quickly (because it was SO COLD) scored a decent tree. 

I was worried about all of the trees being damaged (like how this one is flat on one side), but my dad informed me that once it warms up in the house the branches fall back into place.  He was right. 

Although the Christmas tree tradition didn't play out as I thought, it was fun to get the tree with my dad and experience something new.  My dad even set it up for us so the tree could start to defrost and fall into place.  What a guy!  By the time the evening approached we were ready for the much anticipated event of decorating our tree.  

 I was a bit nervous about having Everett help with a lot of fragile ornaments, but he did an awesome job.  We all had so much fun, maybe with the exception of Asher who was grumpy and sleepy for the event. 

E pulled up the chairs to the tree by himself so he could help hang more ornaments. 

This year we also opted for a new tree topper.  Previously we had one that was multi-colored and flashed a lot so it drove us nuts.  This one is much better. 

I also set up my small "Grammy Jo" tree of ornaments from my grandma's tree.  I use to love looking at her tree full of these awesome glass ornaments and so I'm thankful to have a few at my house to remember her by.  

This year got Everett a little Christmas tree for his room!  It is decorated with none other than Thomas the Train ornaments and Angry Birds.  

Next year we hope to rekindle our Christmas tree tradition, but I have to say the parking lot tree isn't so bad! It was affordable, convenient, and looks pretty nice.  It's not the same as cutting one down yourself, but it was a good alternative for this crazy winter season of sickness we are having. 

Brothers

Everett and Asher are two unique individuals and we can already start to tell some big ways the two boys are different from one another.  That being said, there are also some striking similarities between the two.  I tried to find some pictures with the boys wearing similar things or posing in similar ways.   What do you think?  More similar or more different? Can you tell who is who?

 

Answer key: 

Blue outfit: E is on the left, AJ is on the right.

Smiles: AJ left, E right.

Black and white: E first, AJ second.

Sleeping: E left, AJ right.

Pacifiers: AJ left, E right. 

Some fun statistics for you: 

Everett at 2 months old was 14.1 lbs and 23.75 inches long. 

Asher at 2 months old is 14.3 lbs and 23.75 inches long.  

How crazy is that?! Their sizes are right on track with one another so far.

And just for kicks I'll end with this picture of all of the boys together.  This is a typical weekend morning scene.  How can a two year old be so ridiculously good at iPad games?! It's baffling to me.

Thanksgiving

There is so much to be thankful for in 2013.  We are especially thankful of our new addition, baby Asher!  We were able to have two Thanksgiving celebrations.  The first was a few days early with just my (Bonnie's) immediate family and the second was on Thanksgiving day with my extended family.  Here are some snapshots from these two great events.

Gramps, the turkey cutting pro.  Tom said this may have been the best turkey he had ever had in his life. No joke.

The cards in the centerpiece were from my Grandma's house and were around 100 year's old! 

Dinner is done...time to relax (or in Asher's case have a funny look on your face!). 

On Thanksgiving day we watched the Macy's parade and dressed our baby like a turkey. 

We also made and delivered acorns to a few folks we are especially thankful for this year. E was a really good helper!  

Baby Asher rocked his Gobble Gobble shirt and his new smile. 

The great spread at my Aunt's house!

The awesome desserts.

We did have turkey but it is a tradition in our family to also have beef brisket, which is a huge favorite of many but is especially loved by my brother.  James spent this part of Thanksgiving with his wife's family so my dad took this picture to taunt him about what he was missing. Haha!

Time to pray and reflect on all that we have to be thankful for.  

My Aunt Jina (Thanksgiving hostess) has two college age sons that use to love trains just like Everett does now.  She busted out their old train set and Everett had a BLAST!!!! He seriously played in this room for hours.

My cousin Claire getting to know Asher.

Family photo time! Matching flannel! 

Gramps and his little buddy. 

Brothers. Oh how I love them. 

We had a great Thanksgiving but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that we did miss spending time with our "Korea family."  Thanksgiving was always such a hard holiday for me to miss while living in Korea.  I think for that reason we really valued spending time with our community in Korea trying to make Thanksgiving day special in a country that doesn't celebrate this American holiday.  I would attempt (only somewhat successfully) to make things as delicious as my mom would and we gather together as friends for some really special time together.  It's funny that now that I am back in the States and I get to fully celebrate Thanksgiving with family and friends here like I dreamed about while living overseas there is a small part of me that now misses our Korea Thanksgivings.  I am thankful that we have been able to have these varying experiences and now we can be thankful for friends and family both near and far.

Life from Halloween to Thanksgiving

I am not going to even try to make an excuse for why we have become terrible bloggers, but in attempt to chronicle the life of Team Meyer I will offer a massive photo dump of snippets from our life from Halloween to Thanksgiving.  Ready...Set...Go! 

Baby Asher is growing like crazy and learning to become more content.  From weeks 2-8 he was a bit fussy. :)

Everett loves hanging out at Granny and Gramp's house.  In this pic Granny let him empty things out of her pantry and organize them on the table.  After he pulled out each item he would say, "I like this one Granny." 

Forts at home! 

Now this is as "real life" as it gets. Grocery store on a Saturday night as a family. 

Halloween was over so we let E play with the pumpkins.  He chose to haul them around in his wagon (while wearing a helmet...). 

The boys got to hang out with Great Grandma Johnson!

Uncle Jim, Aunt Jen, and cousin Claire came to hang out and meet baby Asher!

Hi Daddy!

Barber Ron and Gramps make a great team so E can get his hair cut. 

When did my little toddler start looking so old?!? He melts my heart. I love this picture.

Aunt Jen rocking her apron from Granny.

Tom was asked to speak at the University of Missouri about international education.  We took a day trip to Columbia with baby Asher (E stayed at Miss Patti's) and Tom did awesome at his presentation. It was such a special day.

Baby Asher snoozed all the way through the presentation so I was able to listen to it all.  I was so thankful!

Mr. Meyer in action.  

Life has been full lately.  We are really soaking in all this time together while I am on maternity leave.