Christmas cramming and jamming

Around this time of year, people like to ask the question: "Are you ready for Christmas?" I'm never sure exactly what this means--I suppose it means something different for everyone. At any rate, for me personally, I have felt an increased urgency to be "ready" this year . . . because in addition to the standard December 25th deadline, I also have a more ambiguous deadline surrounding the unscheduled events of labor, delivery, and new baby. Although it's hard to feel truly prepared for the birth of a new child, I have made an effort over the last week to get most of the holiday preparations squared away so they don't get left hanging if I for some reason pop earlier than expected.

As a family we've also tried to cram in some other activities to celebrate the season and thankfully I've found time to keep my fingers on my cello as well. Last Friday I got to play some Christmas tunes in a string quintet, providing background music for our church Christmas party. Then my friend Paige and I kind of flew out the door to make it to our orchestra concert shortly thereafter.

It was a frigid night, but we still had a respectable number of audience members, and pulled off the performance despite being short a rehearsal. Before our final piece, Maestro Silvestri decided to call attention to the two visibly pregnant women on stage, who happened to be the concert master and me. (How embarrassing). Sheri is due December 24th, just four days behind me, so we are both up for possible "Christmas babies." Here we are below with our baby bumps popping out of concert attire following the performance:

The next day was "Date Day" for Daddy--Forest got to spend some one-on-one time with each of us girls in the house. Mika accompanied him on a trip to Lowes (pretty lame, I know--but she didn't seem to know any different and was happy to drive the blue car cart). After Ramona and I attended a Ladies Christmas Breakfast hosted by my lovely neighbor across the street, Forest took her to see the much anticipated movie "Frozen." It was Ramona's first time experiencing a movie theater, and it all seemed to be quite magical for her. I'm glad she enjoyed herself--she had earned this privilege through improved behavior and dedication to house chores the last week and a half.

Then it was my turn--Forest took me out for dinner that evening and we got a chance to appreciate some quiet time together (when I wasn't making trips to the bathroom).

 

Last night we were invited to another Christmas party--this was at the home of my friend Marian who is the stake Relief Society president at church and my current "boss." We were asked to bring a dessert to share, and Ramona was eager to make another batch of snowflake-shaped cookies, so we came up with a platter of finger-food type treats.

 

 

After dinner, we all gathered in the living room and Marian passed out some chimes and Christmas carols for us to (attempt to) play. Even Ramona and Mika were included in this activity (when Mika wasn't busy playing with the nativity set). Next, Judy and I got to play my favorite arrangement of "O Come O Come Emmanuel," and Judy performed "Sleigh Ride" for solo piano. She let our girls add some percussion by playing the jingle bells together.

 

Then Marian read us a Christmas story and shared a spiritual thought while the little ones colored pictures. For a finale, Ramona got up to plunk out part of "Jingle Bells" on the piano. It was all a very special and Christmas-y evening.

Yes, the countdown is on, for both Christmas and baby #3, but I think we are finding ways to enjoy this time as well. If nothing else, it is probably the relative calm before chaos. As I type this, I realize  I should probably be in bed right now, capitalizing on that "calm," instead of being up writing a blog post. Maybe I'll go back to sleep after one more trip to the bathroom . . .