Christmas Happenings

Last Saturday we had a Christmas filled day. We started off the morning by going to our community "Santa and Donuts" event. The building it was held in was not huge, so when we arrived with all 6 of us, (2 of which were babies in big carseats), we had to get creative about standing in the long line. Ben took the babies over on the side to get them out of the carseats and I took the 2 big kids and stood in line with them.

Ben then found a comfy chair and sat with our two immobile sweeties. This is a great shot to show how we typically hold both babies at the same time- one stacked on top of the other. Ben was almost more popular than Santa Claus- everyone who passed by him stopped and commented on the babies, but also on how they were positioned. People have wondered aloud to us if this hurts the babies- obviously from this picture, it does not bother them at all. This is how they spent 9 months in the womb! Someone even asked me once if I had learned this holding trick from another mom with twins. I told her no, that we just really did it out of necessity and ease- it's much easier to hold them stacked like this to transport them upstairs or downstairs when there is only one adult available.

The two Sleeping Beauties

The funniest story of the morning involving the babies was when a mom and her little girl walked past Ben and saw the twins. In the picture above, both babies are in matching outfits and both have their headbands on, but when this story took place, Leah's headband had fallen off and Ben had left it off. The mom turned to the girl (Ben said she was probably 5 or 6) and said, "Look! 2 babies! Do you know what that is called?" The girl replied, "Twins." Then the mom asked the little girl, "Is one a girl?" The child replied, "Yes." Mom asked: "Is one a boy?" The child said, "Yes." And the mom replied, "That's right, one girl and one boy!" I thought this was hilarious, as she assumed one was a boy because she didn't have a headband on, even though both were in identical PINK and brown outfits... (How many boy and girl outfits can you find that are identical?? And pink??) And Ben did not correct them because the mom wasn't even talking to Ben. She was simply giving her child a crash course in Twins 101.

I had high hopes for getting the kids to sit on Santa's lap individually this year. Chloe had been looking forward to this day all week and even told me, "Mom, I think I'm going to be brave enough to sit on Santa's lap this year." Well, as the line got shorter and as we got closer and closer to our turn, Chloe got more and more scared and threw a small fit when it was her turn to get on his lap. I think Mitchell would have sat on his lap, but when he saw Chloe freaking out, he started freaking out too, even though he had no idea what she was freaking out about. But the picture above shows our outcome- neither Chloe nor Mitch would sit on his lap. They wouldn't even get near him unless Ben and I got in the picture too. Oh well- it wouldn't be Christmas without kids throwing fits about sitting on Santa's lap.

Lexi and Leah had no problem with it though. And this was one of the nicest Santa's I've ever met. He was so tickled to get to hold the twins and told us, "Getting to hold twins is what makes this job all worth it."

Even after seeing my kids throw fits about sitting on his lap, Santa was still kind enough to give them candy canes and talk to them. The kids had no problem talking to him- Chloe told him what she wanted: "A tea set" and Mitch jabbered away to him as well.

And the babies waited patiently in their carseats, in their fabulous "Bundle Me's." We LOVE them. The babies stay so warm and cozy in them and don't even know when they are outside. Thanks Aunt Amanda!!

Later that night, Ben and I got a babysitter for the older kids, then headed off to a nearby stake center here (Maple Valley Stake), as we had been asked to participate in a live Nativity scene. We didn't really know what to expect, but we ended up absolutely loving it. What a wonderful and neat way to start off the Christmas season. Ben and I were Joseph and Mary and the twins were baby Jesus. No, Jesus was not a twin... the girls took turns portraying him in the manger.

"Joseph" with our first baby Jesus, Leah

"Mary" with our second baby Jesus, Alexis

We sat in a beautifully decorated stable. We laid Leah down in the manger, made out of real wood, and Ben and I sat on bales of hay. We didn't know how she would react and were prepared for tears and thought we'd have to hold her, but she laid in that manger the entire length of her shift. The bright lights above kept her attention and she made such a beautiful little baby Jesus. She stayed awake the entire time and was bright eyed the whole time. I was talking to my mom before we went and was telling her I wasn't sure how Leah would do. She reminded me that "the little Lord Jesus, no crying he made..." ("Away in a Manger.") Leah played the part perfectly and did not cry! We were so proud.

No one brought us gold, frankincense or myrrh, it but we must have made one young mother's night- she must have come back and visited us 5 or 6 times during our shift and learned the twins' names and called them each by name and even took out her camera at the end and took our picture multiple times.

Half way through our shift, we switched babies. Leah was doing fabulous and Alexis was dead asleep on the side in her carseat, but I wanted both of them to be able to participate so that we can tell them that they both got to be baby Jesus.

Mary and Joseph with baby Jesus Alexis.

Alexis was, of course, the perfect angel as well. We laid her down in the manger and within seconds, she was drifting off to sleep.

It was such a fun evening. The stable was set up in the middle of the gym and tables were set up on the perimeter of the gym all with craft nativities displayed. People could walk around and view the nativities on the table and then could walk by and see the live Nativity. People were so excited to see a real baby in the manger and would come up and view our baby Jesus and visit with us. We even had someone thank us for doing it because, as she said, "Having a live Nativity just really adds to the spirit of this." I was really touched by that and was so glad that we did this. It was Ben and I who were touched, really. As people came up to see the little babe in the manger and to see the excitement and joy on their face to get to look at "him", it made me think of the joy and excitement that must have been present when the shepherds and wisemen and others came to visit the real baby Jesus. I was a very proud mom that night, as I'm sure Mary must have been as well. What a privilege it is to share your baby with others and Mary was "sharing" her son, the Savior with the world. I was filled with Christmas spirit that night and we got a small taste of what it must have been like that first Christmas night so long ago. What a beautiful and wonderful experience we had and we are so grateful for the opportunity.