Christmas Season 2011

Christmas family photo...Reina almost 3, me 8 months pregnant

We stayed home this Christmas season. I was 8 1/2 months pregnant so traveling wasn't an option anyway. We were lucky to have Thanksgiving with Paul's brother Bryan and his family at their beautiful home in Brush Prarie with Grandma and Grandpa Guinn. Reina doesn't see these cousins too often so she thoroughly enjoyed all the attention and toys they shared with her.
Christmas was a little shaky this year because an ultrasound appointment just one week before Christmas showed that my amniotic fluids dropped to a critical level and could prove the need to be induced even earlier than expected. We chose to try rehydrating with IV fluids which did show drastic improvement the next day. But just a few days later had dropped once again. Christmas eve came and I had to get my fluids checked once again to determine if this would be a Christmas baby or not. Luckily they were just high enough to wait until the day after Christmas to recheck. I didn't want to be Mary this Christmas. So as expected, I was a little nervous this Christmas season. I tried hard not to exert myself too much (this was VERY hard for me), as my fluid levels needed to remain high. So no working out, no running around too much doing errands. With amazement, my fluid levels continued to stay at a reasonable level until the doctors chose to induce in January. Yippee! I just wanted another January baby like Reina....even if we didn't get the tax break.

I love Mummi and Papa Will

Family prayer

Jumping on the bed at Grandma and Grandpa Scarborough's...oops!

Reina with cousins Riley and Heleena

Christmas Sunday dresses with cousins Kaija and Miia

Family hug after prayer with Uncle Richard

My brother Teem and his family came for Christmas this year from Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. This was a treat since they stayed for nearly two weeks. Most days were spent just hanging out and playing games. One afternoon we took all the kids swimming at Firstenburg. This was fun for everyone. Even the very pregnant lady! We also took the kids to see the new library that opened up downtown Vancouver which includes a discovery area for children to tinker around in. We did have one "date night" with the adults in which we went to a great Thai/Laotian restaurant and to see "Sherlock Holmes 2". Paul and I had just seen this a few nights earlier when I learned my low fluid level and needed a little stress reliever. So we saw "Mission Impossible 4". Definitely liked the Sherlock movie more, but fun to be out with my babe.
One of the big Christmas items this year is remote control helicopters. These little things were EVERYWHERE. Age didn't matter as I saw little boys getting them, big boys getting them, and old boys getting them. Almost all the boys in our family got one except for Paul, so he had to order one on Amazon which is in transit now. Since the guys had time off work and there was no snow on the mountains to go play in, they made a pretty awesome obstacle course with landing pad and all for the helicopters to fly through!

For Christmas, the little girls got an extra special gift this year- doll beds! These are extra special because Grandpa Scarborough made them and Aunt Tarja made the bedding. They are perfect size for American Girl dolls which Reina will get in a few years when she can really appreciate their quality and expensiveness.

Another great treat this year was the traditional Finnish dinner that Uncle Teem made. When he and Sanni were on their missions in Finland, they enjoyed this meal as part of the Finnish Christmas tradition. The meal includes: cured ham, liver casserole, rutabaga casserole, a carrot/rice casserole, potato casserole, and lingonberry sauce. I liked most of the dishes, except for the liver casserole. I really tried hard to enjoy it's uniqueness, but the strong flavor and aftertaste was too much for my palate. Probably my favorite was the ham that is naturally cured and cooked with a rind of rye bread to infuse into the meat.

 Spending time with family just hanging out and playing games was a great way to enjoy this Christmas as we anticipated the big bang of a new addition to our family for the new year! Next post will of course be the newest member of our family...