Christmas 2009

Here's a recap of Christmas at the Pearce house.....Wednesday night we celebrated in Bahama with Marty's family. We had some good food (I mean good!!) and opened presents.
Thursday night we went to my parent's house. We ate, talked, and listened to my Maw Maw recap her and my Paw Paw's wedding day. It was such a cute (and funny) story! Their 61st anniversary was the day after Christmas.
Marty had to work Christmas Eve but another fireman graciously offered to work for him that night so he could wake up with the kids on Christmas morning. We had a great time that night wrapping presents and getting the room ready for the Little P's.
Then Friday morning was just plain fun! It gets more fun every year watching the kiddos rip into their presents. I love it!! Hudson got a dirt bike. Yes, we lost our minds and bought him one (used on Craigslist). He loved it even though he refuses to ride it before we buy him a helmet. (smart kid!) Addison got a kitchen set, a few stuffed animals and some furniture for her baby dolls. Hudson's already wants to know when Christmas will be here again!

The "before" picture.

As soon as he sat on it he tried to do tricks like he sees on tv. Oh my!!

Addison with her "baybeeee."

Organizing her kitchen.

The most played with toys that morning were the .25 super balls they got in their stockings!

Merry Christmas!

Our greatest wish for all of you is that you have a fun filled day celebrating the birth of our precious Savior.
Love to all,
Marty, Laure, Hudson, Addison

"Unto you therefore who believe, He is precious."
1 Peter 2:7

*I would like to point out that Addison's toy of choice on Christmas morning was an empty paper towel roll :)

Santa vs No Santa

As I peruse my friend's blogs and other blogs that I stalk, I've noticed a common post this month is the Santa vs No Santa debate. I thought I'd give my 2 cents to my 5 readers who frequent this blog :)

I grew up in a "no Santa" house. I never really felt bitter about it. I knew there would be presents under the tree for me come Christmas morning. However, my brothers and I were the obnoxious kids in the neighborhood who told everyone else there was no Santa. Shame on us!!

Marty grew up in a "Santa" house. He knew how to play the game but he really didn't have strong feelings one way or the other when it came to our kids.

So...we decided we would be a "no Santa" house. To some people this is a terrible form of child abuse and we get many weird looks when we share this with others but, well, we just don't care :) The biggest reason for our decision was that we just didn't want to keep up the lie. There's the initial lie (Santa comes down the chimney....) then you have to follow up that lie with more lies when questions start being asked. And believe me, Hudson has plenty of questions!

Then the argument is raised, "It's not a lie. It's just make believe. Kids love to pretend! It's just part of childhood." Our kids do like to pretend. Hudson pretends everyday that he's a dirt bike rider. Addison is already pretending she's a mommy/princess/ruler of the house. At the end of the day, Hudson realizes he's not a dirt bike rider. It's a clear cut line between reality and fantasy. With Santa, parents go out of their way to make their kids believe he's real. Kid's can't destinguish between reality and fantasy when there is no clear cut evidence of the reality.

The next question that is asked is. "Do your kids still get presents?" Of course they do!! And, might I add, more than they need. Our kids know that Mommy and Daddy buy their presents but they also know why we buy them. If you ask Hudson why we give presents on Christmas, he'll tell you it's because it's Jesus's birthday and he was the best present of all. We want our kids to know that gift giving has nothing to with whether they've been naughty or nice. Jesus didn't come to earth just to save the nice. He came in spite of our naughtiness (is that a word?) and we should in turn extend that same grace to others.

Oh and FYI, we do not judge others when it comes to the Santa vs no Santa debate. I know how fun it is for kids believe in Santa and it's just as fun for parents to play along with them. I'm sure there are plenty of things we do in our family that others find odd. We don't want to be juded because of our convictions and in turn we choose not to judge others for theirs. We are going to teach our kids to respect other's beliefs and not ruin the fun for them. Hudson actually asked me the other day if Santa brought him presents too (we've been watching a lot of Christmas specials this week). I told him that Santa was a fun story about a man who brings presents but that Mommy and Daddy were the ones who bought him presents. I also told him that some boys and girls believe that Santa does bring them gifts and we need to let them believe that because it's fun. Then he asked me if he was going to get a dirt bike so he got over that topic pretty quick!

Which ever side of the debate you fall on I hope that the center of your Christmas doesn't revolve around gifts. Come February, all those nice new presents will be old news to your kids but the real meaning of Christmas goes far beyond what you can buy them. Instilling the truth that Christ came to earth to reconcile the worst of sinners to himself and to give us undeserved grace and love is a far more precious gift than anything you can find at Toys R Us. Our biggest challenge this year is convincing Hudson that the gift of Christ is more precious than dirt bikes!

Preparedness

Undies: Check
Snow Boots: Check
A weather forecast cast calling for snow: Check!

Look Who Got Her Glasses Today!

So far so good. She's kept them on her face and I think she's a little awe struck by what she can see. We walked in the house and she took her time looking around the room. She was so happy to pick up her baby doll that she started dancing in place and singing to it! Poor girl. She must have been blind as a bat. I put them up to my eyes and wow! Those are some thick lenses! I think she looks adorable and very studious :)

Hudson, The Library and A Funny Looking Man

I took the Little P's to the library today for a change of scenery and to scope out some dirt bike books. Everything was going well. Hudson wasn't running around like wild man. Addison managed to pull only half of the books off the shelves and we even found a great book about dirt bikes. We were headed to the check out counter when all of a sudden Hudson let out the loudest ear piercing scream I had ever heard. I stopped in horror thinking his skin was melting off his body when I looked over and saw a group of disabled adults. "Oh no," I thought to myself. "Please tell me he's not going to...."
"A funny looking man!!" "I'm scared of the funny looking man!!"
That's what my 3 year old yelled out for the entire library to hear. He was screaming so loud, it scared poor Addison and she stared wailing right along with him. Not only was Hudson screaming, he was so scared of that poor man that he was trembling from head to toe. So...I proceeded to do what any other rational mother with 2 screaming children in a quiet library would do. I dropped my books and ran!! As soon as we got to the door, Hudson got himself together and asked to go back in and get his dirt bike book. I put aside my embarrassment and calmly walked back in like nothing had happened. As we got to the end of the lobby, Hudson saw the entire group of disabled adults walking towards us. Yep. You guessed it! More terror filled screams, tears and pointing. I pulled him into the bathroom which, thankfully, was only 3 steps away from where we were standing. I thought we could hide in there until the group made it out to the parking lot. I also took the opportunity to explain that God made everybody different and that just because somebody looks different doesn't make them scary. As I was handing out my words of wisdom, a blind lady from the group walked into the bathroom with one of her caretakers. All my wise words must have fallen on deaf ears because Hudson let out a blood curling scream along with the words "A funny looking lady!! Oh, how I wanted to curl up and die. If looks could kill, the blind lady's caretaker put me 6 feet under. I mouthed a heart felt, "I'm so sorry" and ran for the door. Of course as soon as we opened it, we were standing right in the middle of the group of people I was so desperately trying to avoid. I told Hudson to close his eyes and we ran for the checkout counter. I thought that if they were out of sight, I could distract Hudson with his dirt bike book long enough for the group of adults to make it out the door. Not the case. We picked up our books where I had dropped them, sat Hudson (who by the way was still bawling) on the counter, and tried not to notice everyone in the library staring at me. From the way Hudson was acting I was so sure they all thought I told my children that disabled people ate small children. The sweet librarian told me I could take the kids out the back, through the employee entrance. As soon as we got the parking lot, guess who we saw? Yep! The same group. For their sakes, I hope they were all deaf or at least out of their minds enough to not notice that my child was screaming and pointing at them. As we drove away, Hudson told me that he never wanted to go back to the library again. I happily agreed. I don't want to show my face there anytime soon!

By the way: I'm laughing to myself as I'm reading this. Oh the joys of having a 3 year old :)

Happy Birthday Cameron!

Happy 1st Birthday to my cutie pie niece, Cameron! Cameron was born a year ago today (obviously) but she came in her own special way. Can you believe this big girl was a premie? You'd never know it! She's a perfectly healthy little girl full of personality! We love you sweet girl!

Oh...and did you know I'm going to be an aunt again? That's right. Grant and Andrea will be welcoming their first baby in June! Yay! We love you too Baby L and we can't wait to meet you :)

Addi's Eyes

I took Addison to the ophthalmologist yesterday to have her eyes checked. This was a very new experience for me since neither me or Marty wear glasses or have any type of vision problems. The doctor dilated Addison's eyes and by using a special light and some lenses determined that she accommodative esotropia. Oh my goodness! Is it contagious? No, it is not :) Please take out your pen and paper and take notes on my optometry lesson for the day... Basically, Addison can see things far away and close up. Her eyes work like a camera lens. She can focus her eyes but it takes her a little extra effort to do so. That extra effort is what is making her eyes cross. The solution? Glasses. She may grow out of this but for now and through most of her childhood, she'll have to wear them. I was a little bummed when I heard this but I decided to put on a happy face and find her the cutest pair of square frames I could find. Then I saw the choices of frames for an infant. Bummer!! I guess no one takes into account that a 15 month old may want to look fashionable. Sigh. We went with the oval, mocha colored wired frames. I tried to put my happy face back on when they told me her prescription was so strong that it would probably magnify her eyes and make them look huge (hello coke bottle eyes) and I really had to work for that happy face when I saw the bill for glasses. I hope she was wanting to pair of glasses for Christmas this year! Her glasses will be in next week so the next challenge is getting her to wear them. The lady who helped us fill her prescription said that once young children realize that they can see better with glasses they'll want to wear them. We'll see. Stay tuned.