Baughman Family Christmas

Ten of us made the round trip drive to Dayton today to celebrate Christmas with Greg's family. Lauren was excited to introduce Austin to the farm and it's tractors. He loved it. The rest of us enjoyed Carol's sweet treats and watching Austin adore cousin Lexie. She is pretty cute and was so very good with Austin.

Sibling Christmas Sleepover

Recreating old family snapshots was hilarious and listening to them reminisce while we planned was the highlight. Throughout the seasons of my parenting journey, I hoped they'd choose to be friends as adults and count it a serious win they are so close. 

Ty drew Kate's name this year and has been beside himself with excitement over the gift he selected for her. Kate loves it as much as he knew she would. I love watching them all process what to get each other every year. Our budget has been $30 and Makenna proposed knocking down to $10 next year to make it more challenging. I am not sure everyone will be in board but they always work the details out on their own.

Country Song Lyrics

Monday Makenna's knee was suddenly painful and a massive bruise formed internally. She has needed a knee brace for support since. The surgeon who replaced the ligament three years ago only works with kids so she has been referred to another orthopedic surgeon in the area to verify all is still okay with that ligament. That appointment is next Monday.

On Tuesday Greg lost his job due to downsizing within Cummins and then we found out our dog has a very aggressive cancer. So despite the sudden income surprise, we have scheduled surgery for the dog to insure a better prognosis. It was in the vet's office I asked Greg if it felt like we were living out someone's poorly written country song lyrics.

Today we took Kate to see the neurologist who specializes in concussions. She has not made much progress in her recovery, still battling daily headaches and extreme fatigue. She has yet to make it through a full school day and we were growing more concerned. Knowing she has access to the best of the best for her injury gives us hope. Her prognosis is still good despite the lengthy recovery and we left with a plan for therapy, medication and scans.

So despite the tough week, and believe me this one was hard, I am grateful for the way I can see God at work in our life. I have been proactively working to respond rather than react for a few years and that distinction has made a huge difference in my life. My type A personality (with every I dotted and T crossed six months in advance, please and thank you) still collides with my desire to be a bit more like Pollyannna. Spending time daily thanking God for simple blessings has shifted my perspective. My heart was aching early this year, as it's usually December before I wrestle with the season but in October I started noting how God is working through my brokenness. I want Ryan's heavenly Sweet 16 to be the sweetest birthday yet and that goal starts with my heart. I have been working toward getting  it properly aligned.

In counting blessings this week, my list includes health insurance that continues while we navigate our daughters' health, a ministry team that lets me serve our tiniest members during a month I crave their particular brand of joy, the peace I feel and faith I have God will redeem this mess as only He can, the connection Greg and I have invested heavily this year for our twenty-fifth anniversary so we are holding firm together and finally, of course the timing of having our grandson in town to offer the needed humor and best belly laughs. God is still good and very much in control.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Uncle Ty is his favorite because he plays with him. Epic Nerf wars were fought, including casing bathrooms for not so quiet "sneak" attacks on Pops as he emerged. Ty faked death repeatedly to the delight of one very busy Austin. His belly laughs are the best and Ty can almost always guarantee delivery of giggles.

We celebrated Black Friday at home decorating for Advent. Greg and I ventured out to Aldi for groceries but had the place practically to ourselves. How the fridge was so bare after all the cooking on Thursday is beyond me but we needed food, none the less.  All ten of us gathered again for dinner and then our grand dog and his human brother stayed for a sleepover while their parents connected with friends. The only thing sweeter than our grandson, is cuddling with our grandson in pajamas.

My Christmas decorating was scaled back further again this year. I was content with just the table top tree and natural stockings but there are people living here with strong opinions so two used pencil trees were purchased a few weeks ago from a neighbor and one was placed in the corner with fewer ornaments. It's slightly shorter companion tree was set up outside the front door with the hand carved ornaments I still enjoyed and the table top tree remained in the attic. Only two of the five nativity scenes are displayed and it may be that I am using one too many after all. A search to replace fifteen year old bright red stockings lead me to order replacements from Target for a softer look. As it turns out, I can only handle so much merriment this time of year.

Lauren's birthday request this year was brunch with me and her sisters during her visit because she spent her actual birthday with movers again this year. We took advantage of small business Saturday and accomplished the last of our Christmas shopping together. I wore Greg's OSU hat to show support for the biggest game of the year. They say a happy wife equals a happy life but I beg to differ. The way college students play a football game dictates what kind of evening we will have in our world. Insert eye roll here. Thank you Buckeyes for your cooperation. It was a sweet Saturday night after all.

This game of Uno (with two kinds of M&M's) is actually a business meeting. Our famous youtuber needs start-up funds to have "merch" made for his fans. His tee shirt and hat designs will include a tag encouraging purchasers to wash before wearing because Ty doesn't want his fans to get a rash like he did one time wearing a new shirt. This boy amuses us without trying.

Sunday after church, the crew once again descended upon the house and laughter continued. This was a perfect weekend.