Story of Jesus

Luke 2:1-20 New International Version (NIV)
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society

The Birth of Jesus
1In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. 2(This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3And everyone went to his own town to register. 4So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. 5He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. 6While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, 7and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

The Shepherds and the Angels
8And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ[a] the Lord. 12This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." 16So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

Grammy's Stocking!

Merry Christmas EVE!!!!!!!! I can't beleive it's finally here! And since I'm a week away from 11 months old, I am the perfect age to really enjoy opening gifts. Problem is, I don't know which ones are mine and which are for others. So I open any I can get my hands on... So you are opening a gift that has a ripped corner with tape over it, that's my fault...

Tonight we are going to open more presents, but last night I got to open everything that Grammy sent me!! For so long every time I've tried to touch a gift I heard, "No touch Daphne!" So when Dad sat stuff in front of me and told me, "Go ahead, open it!" I sure didn't hesitate! I tore into those gifts! Only later did I find out, there is more to gifts that ribbons and paper! (It took me some time as I had to play with those for a long time first!)

After a while (and after all the paper was shredding into tiny pieces to get ground into the carpet) Mom and Dad showed me all the toys that was inside that wrapping paper! THANK YOU GRAMMY AND GRAMPS!!!!!! I love my hat, bathtub toys, Cheetah purse, John Deere Tractor (technically I got it before you left), hair stuff (Mom has already put some in my hair!), hair brush (I love how it makes my hair really soft!) And then Mom took me out shopping and spent the money you sent on some new long sleeve shirts for me. I guess it turned out I don't have many long sleeve shirts and I need more!

Dad also says thank you for all his stuff! Mom loves all her good smelling stuff, but she has issues with the clothes. She said she'd call you tonight Grammy...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

White Elephant

My parents Bible Study has this tradition called a "White Elephant" Christmas Party. I don't get it... White Elephant? I kept waiting for an elephant to get there and one never did! I'll have to ask Dad later why it's called that.

But then listen to this... Instead of giving their friends the perfect gift, everyone went through their house to find the tackiest item they could! Some could even these items trash... And they all got to open a gift. I would have been embarrassed if I had to open them... But instead they all just laughed! My mom had the best gift of all. I think Andrew opened it up... It's a GIANT pair of ladies underwear!!!!!! Yes, that's right... Devon, Rachel and Charity all climbed inside the giant underwear. That's one big pair! So of course, I had to get in on the action!
I think Nate ended up taking home the underwear for a work White Elephant exchange he had the next day. I wonder if his co-workers laughed as much as we all did?

Three More Days!!!

Three MORE days!!!! Oh I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Is it here yet?

No Christmas Cards....

Well, it's only a few days before Christmas and my mom still hasn't sent out her Christmas cards! Can you beleive it? She asked me to ask you all for her forgiveness.... She said she would make up for it by mailing out big letters in January with a First Birthday letter about me instead... So if you are reading this and wondered where your card was from us...that's why.

My silly mother!

Happy Teeth

What a "Happy Teeth" weekend I had! Over the weekend, I had two more teeth break through the skin! So that brings my final count to SEVEN! I have four on bottom and three on top! Yeah!!!!

Dear Santa,

Dear Santa,

All I want for Christmas is my very own Laundry Hamper!!! It's so much fun to play with! But I have to share this one with the old people of the house. Let me explain to you why it's so much to play with!

First: Locate Hamper in Room

Second: Prepare to Tip Over Hamper

Third: Fill Hamper with Favorite Toys

Fouth: Crawl Inside, Retreive Toys, Toss Outside Hamper and Repeat Steps 1-4 over and over!

Trust me Santa, it's the funnest thing in the world!! Thank you!

Love,

Daphne

(PS... Today I was at home all day just with Daddy. He took these photos and when Mom got home he excitedly told her of my playtime and how he took photos for my blog! I don't think I've ever seen my mom so happy before! You would have thought she won the lottery or something!)

Il pleut!

That's French for it's snowing!! Over the last couple of days we've gotten a couple inches of snow. Then today we got about a 1/2 inch of ice! How beautiful!!! Thank you Lord for the beauty of it all! Such a shame that so many people are without power though... Including my Great Grandpa! But we can't convince him to come up to our warm home!

But I sure love checking out this snow!!!!! It's so pretty!
And then of course the presents under the tree distract me....

Christmas Cards?

Do you all really want a photo of me in your Christmas cards? Naaaaaaaa. Mom tried on two occasions to get the "perfect" photo of me and as you can see I just didn't cooperate with her. Our first attempt was at Zona Rosa. We were going to sit on Santa's lap, but Santa wasn't there!!!! They had a Fairy Princess instead (but my mom said something about it just looked like a teenage girl in a wedding dress and a tiara - and they were charging almost $8 to get a photo with her!)

Across the way, some Dickens Carollers were strolling and singing. I really wanted to listen to them, so Mom and I went over and bounced along to several songs. The four singers kept smiling at me, but I was in shock by their unusual outfits and beautiful songs I didn't remember to return their smiles. Later, Mom said she wished she took my photo with them. Oh well, live not on regrets!

So then we tried out in the Pavilion in front of the huge Christmas Tree... But it was really cold! And I don't like the cold!! And I think I was too caught up with my mittens to remember to even LOOK at Mom...

So the next day, Mom tried to take a Christmas Card photo at our tree at home. Problem there.... There are TOYS under the tree!!!! How distracting is that?!?! Of course I am not to look at Mom, I'm busy here with these new toys!!!

So finally Mom called in the calvary... Miss Alison. For a sneak peak at those photos, check out her blog at www.alisondemski.blogspot.com There are three of them on there. I didn't really want to smile this day either, but at least I look really cute! (And Miss Alison was able to photoshop out the big rugburn on my nose!!!)

I got elfed!!!

I just made a total elf of myself!!! Check it out by clicking on this link:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1315648392

Bumbo Growth Chart - 10 Months!

I'm TEN MONTHS OLD!!!!!!!!!!!! Yeah!!! And that means time for the Bumbo Growth Chart! So here my tenth month photo....

And here is the monthly guide... You can click on it to make it larger. Then hit the "back" button to come back to the post.

TH and Click

I learned two new sounds today!!!! I can now move my tongue up against my three top teeth and make a "TH" sound. I've been practicing all day!!!

And I also learned how to push my tongue to the roof of my mouth and then slam it down to the bottom of my mouth making a very distinct CLICK noise. Try it, you know the noise... So I've been practicing this all day today as well.

When my dad got home from work and my mom was cooking some yummy pancakes for dinner (which I loved by the way!) I was sitting at her feet just clicking away. Dad sure got a kick out of it, I think I'll do it more!

Christmas in the Park

Last night, I dragged my parents to "Christmas in the Park!" A little town close to home fills the entire downtown with festive holiday attractions! I couldn't miss out! Plus I heard my friends Matt, Alison, Max, Myles and Meyer would be there too, so I wanted to go hang out with them. Little did I know how COLD it was going to be!!! I was all bundled up, even had a quilt my Great Grandma Betty made for me before I was born wrapped around me. And then Meyer didn't show up, he was a ninny and said at home with his Grandparents. But I braved the cold!!!
I got to see two reindeer!!! I think they were Prancer and Vixon!
According to all the ads, a 1,000 voice choir was supposed to be singing Carols... Now, I didn't take the time to count them all, but that stage area was sure packed with kids from local schools! I was most shocked when they announced, "And now for the director of this chior, let me present Melany Smith!" Melany is my friend from church!!! I love her and her daughter Reagan! (It might be spelled Regan, I will have to ask Miss Melany...)
Then the fireworks started! But by the time they started, I was just too darn cold. I tried not to cry, but I did... So before the festivites concluded, I had to drag my parents away from our friends back to the warmth of my bed at home...

Blogger Bug

There is currently some sort of blogger bug which is making all my photos slightly blurry, just wanted to apologize for that! I hope that the powers that be are working on it....

It was POOtastic!

Well, today was interesting.... It was my last day to go to Miss Diane's for daycare and I went out with a bang... I think she'll always remember me. I had a POOtastic day...

I went down for a nap as usual. I woke up a little early, well, beause I had a to poo. So I did... And I did some more. And a tad bit more. Needless to say, I had quite the full diaper. So, I did what every baby should, I tried to empty the diaper. I had to work at it, but I finally got into my diaper and pulled out as much poo as I could. But once I got it out of the diaper, I wasn't sure what to do with it.

So I wiped it anywhere I could. A little on the sheets, some on my blanket. My shoes got in the way, so I decided to paint them brown.

Then I had an itch on my head, so I ended up smearing poo on my face and in my hair. Then my binkie got in the way, so I used it to wipe up a bit. Before Miss Diane heard me, I literally had my entire body and my bed covered with poo. It was pretty fun! It was POOtastic!!

Oh Christmas Tree

After Thanksgiving...comes Christmas! No wonder they call this the "Holiday Season!" This month it's Thanksgiving, next month is Christmas, the next month is my FIRST BIRTHDAY, then the next month my cousin will be born!!!

Mom and Dad spent some time together on Sunday decorating the living room with Christmas stuff. They put up this big tree in the middle of the living room. A TREE INSIDE?? (I told you my mom was daft!) But it didn't stop there. They put LIGHTS on it. Then they put all these little decorations, too. Oh my...

Then they put these giant socks above the fireplace!! Maybe they are trying to get them warm before they put them on or something. But they are sure big socks... And none of them match. One has this man walking through the woods in a blue cape with a bag of presents. It must be Dad's because it says his name at the top. Mom has one with her name, too. It has a lady with red hair wearing a really pretty red dress. Mom said something about Grammy cross-stitched them. So I wondered if one would have my name.... I didn't see one yet, but there is this pale green one with a baby giraffe on it. It reads, "Babies First Christmas 2007" at the top. I guess that means me... Maybe next year I'll have a fancy one like the old people.

But anyway....Here's that tree that sits in the area where my toys used to sit....

And I laughed when I saw this next picture, I thought mom messed up with her camera like the time she had me surrounded by Zombies. But she kept talking about how she did this photo on purpose. She has a similar one like this real big on the living room wall with the Plaza Lights. I guess she likes this style of photo...
Remember how I told you they put all these decorations on the tree? Well, I was looking at them and I'm quite surprised! This one says "Marlene 1966" on the back! That's my Grandma! 1966!! Wow, that's a really old ornament!

And there are a whole bunch of these snowmen... My mom said her friend Mica showed her how to make them. She said she made several dozen, but people kept buying them from her, so there are only about six or seven left for our tree.

And this one is a Polar Bear and it says "Ian 1987" that's my Dad!!! 1987??? Wow, my dad's old. Xbox wasn't created yet, I wonder what he did back in the Eighties?
Then another one to note I tried to play with, but my mom grabbed it and said "Don't touch." So I haven't touched the tree since. But I was confused because this one looked like a baby toy. Except there is a photo glued to the side of a little red head girl. I looked closely and I think it's my mom! I asked her and sure enough, she said she made it in Kindergarten when she was five years old!
The tree is loaded with sentimental ornaments. I saw a Giraffe wearing a tutu, an trumpet with a photo of mom in college with Jackson's mom and Selah's mom, two kissing snowmen with a sign that says "Our First Christmas Together 2002," and a bunch of wooden German ornaments that I guess my Grammy had from the 70's. I wonder what type of ornaments I'll be adding to Christmas trees over the years to come???

Two little pigtails

Some call it Black Friday....I called it GRANDMA DAY! Since both my parents had to work and my daycare was closed, I got to hang out all with just Grandma! In the afternoon, we tried to drive from our house to my Grandma's friend house. Kansas City has a highway called 435 that makes a complete circle. Grandma was supposed to get on 435 going one direction, but he actually got on it going the wrong direction..... So we took the LONG route to her friends house. That's okay, I enjoyed the extra moments alone with Grandma!

Then on Saturday we decided it was a good day to go shopping. So Mom, Grandma and I loaded up and off we went. But my mom decided to try and make my hair look all cute... So I got two little pigtails!!!!!! Aren't they just the cutest thing you've ever seen??

All day while shopping people were commenting how adorable my little pigtails looked. I think they were more shocked to see three redheads shopping together... Red head babies get all the attention!

Second Thanksgiving!

On a happy Thursday morning a week ago, I woke up and was surprised to find out that even though it was Thursday I was not going to daycare. My mom woke me up and started to tell me of a wonderful day of gluttony we call Thanksgiving. She tried to tell me a story of pioneers and Native Americas around two hundred years ago who grew corn and hunted or something like that. Then she tried to explain to me several Thanksgiving traditionals including watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade and football on TV. My mother is insanely daft in my opinion.

Only hours later did I realize the good part of Thanksgiving... the part I cared about... FOOD.

Since Dad was at work, Uncle John came up to help Mom and myself with the turkey frier. (Mom saw too many of those insurance commercials showing the % of people who burn down their house on Thanksgiving because of friers and got freaked out) So Uncle John and I braved the cold and the construction men next door mouth's were watering as our turkey's aroma wafted over to their building pads.

Meanwhile, Mom was inside doing what she always does... Taking pictures. Well, that is what it seemed like to me. Actually, she was cooking her tail off, too. But here are two Thanksgiving bibs I got this year!

When it was almost time to drive up to Uncle John's house to eat the big dinner, Mom got me dressed up all cute (with a pigtail up on top if you look close!) I was sitting there cheesing for her to take a photo, and then she admitted that the turkey we were getting ready to eat weighed more than ME!!! So I have a shocked look in the photo....
Before we ate, I got to hang out with my Cousin Ethan a bit. I like hanging out with him!

Between carrying food out to the table, Mom and my cousin Katee shared a photo op.
Then soon it was food time!!!!!! Aunt Kathy pulled out the wooden high chair that she used for both Katee and Ethan for me. It still looked brand new! Every night I sleep in their old crib, so it only makes sense to use their high chair, too. I sat next to Dad and he shared bites of almost everything! I spit out most of it, I prefer to feed myself.

Ethan sat on the other side of me and tried to give me a bite of Stuffing. He put it in my mouth..... Hmmm, I wasn't sure what to think. I turned it over a few times with my tongue then decided I didn't like it so I spit it out with a funny face. Suddenly the room erupted with laughter, and I became well aware everyone was watching me...
Just as we were pulling out desserts Grandma showed up!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I like Thanksgiving... Good food and Grandma! Maybe next year I'll actually listen to the whole pilgrim story...

My first JOHN DEERE tractor!!

Just before Grammy and Gramps left on their snowbird adventure to Arizona for the entire winter, they decided to give me one of my Christmas gifts early since they won't be here with me on Christmas morning.

Can you take one wild guess what Gramps would have given me? I think he reads my blog because just last week I asked for it......my very own John Deere Tractor!!!

I love it Grammy and Gramps!!!!!!!! I love to sit on it and have one of the old parents push me around. Or I try to stand up behind it or in front of it and walk. But since it's on wheels, it rolls faster than I can walk, so I normally end up giving the carpet a faceplant. The seat opens up to reveal a farmland with several animals that make sound! And the red button on the steering wheel makes the distinctive "putt putt putt putt" John Deere sound! THANK YOU GRAMMY AND GRAMPS!!! Look how much I love my Christmas gift!
And I just had to post this photo to prove I finally have hair coming in! I think I am going to have wavy hair...

These boots are made for walking...

These boots are made for walking, and ONE OF THESE DAYS they're gonna walk all over you! I can't wait until I can walk!!! I'm so close! So far I can "cruise" which is the term for being able to walk using items as crutches. For example, I can walk all around the coffee table and back and forth along the couch edge by myself already! I can even switch from the coffee table to the couch! And I love to walk while holding adults hands!

My Grammy found some red boots at a garage sale, they are WAY TOO BIG right now, but my mom thought it would still be fun to do a quasi photo shoot with me and the red boots. She doesn't have any backdrops, so she used the back side of a quilt that Grandma made for Dad! Look close and you'll see my little ponytail, too!

Look! I have boots for a head!

First Thanksgiving

Every year for the past five years my parents have had a special Thanksgiving dinner with their bible study group. It's become quite the little tradition and this year I was able to join in!! We enjoyed a nice hearty meal of turkey, green been casserole, homemade rolls, spicy corn, cheesy potatoes and about 50 other things! I tried as much as my mom would allow, but some things I spit out. I'm getting to not like green beans, which is horrible according to my parents since they cook them a lot.

After eating, it was nice for dessert! There was also about 50 kinds of desserts, but before we enjoyed them, we went outside to Andrew's deck to enjoy his built in firepit for s'mores! Here Mom and Laura might be enjoying them a little too much!
And here was a test to see how many people could fit into one of my mom's traditional "hold the camera yourself and shoot" photos. Six people attempted, but as you can see, only five are truely in the photo. (Nate, Amy, Laura and mom in middle, Dan up high and Lori [or Lora - mom just met her that night] is down low)
First I chilled at the firepit with mom....
And then later with Dad!
After we all had our fill of s'mores, we moved inside for pie and Amy's apple cider brewing in the crockpot! And then it was game time! I hung out with my fellow red head Julie!

Extreme Makeover Home Edition - Day 6

Friday marked Day 6 of the Extreme Makeover House.... And listen to this - my mom went without me!!!!!! How dare her? And it was probably the best day of all!! She had to go way down south of town for a work meeting, and on her way home stopped off at the house. So I wasn't with her. And what happened? Well, she saw TWO designers and one of them she actually got to meet and talk to him!!! Do you see the progress on the house? My favorite is the copper gutters!

And here is the designer John Littlefield! And this is the builder Kevin Green! He's been the brains behind three local Extreme Makeover's!
While Mom was standing at the fence, she met two lovely ladies named Jennifer and Connie. Jennifer was there with her three children. Together the whole group thought that the keys would switch hands from Kevin Green to the designers and that furniture would get unloaded soon. The flatbed trailers holding all the rugs and couches was just up the street, so it was just a waiting game. After two hours, the trucks weren't pulling up. The three kids were starting to get anxious to head home, but Jennifer was sure something would happen soon.

And boy was she right... Jennifer's daughter soon noticed the newest designer emerge from the food tent. She yelled out to him, "RIB!!!!!!" He noticed her yelling and crossed the street to come meet her! He stood at the fence and talked to her for a few moment, as well as talking to my mom, Connie and Jennifer! Jennifer's camera batteries had died, so my mom offered to take photos for her. Only later did she realize that she didn't get of herself with Rib! But she wasn't too disapointed though, because those three kids were so excited to meet Rib. The daughter, my mom didn't learn her name, couldn't wait to get home and get the email with the photos so she could print them off. She couldn't wait to brag to her friends of her famous new friend!!
And Rib was so sweet, not only did he talk to her and take a photo with her, but he signed her shirt. My mom was very impressed with Rib and his attitude. (and I think she said something about his very muscular arms, too!)
Connie and her children were so excited and thankful that my mom was with them to take photos, they bought her one of the t-shirts the builder was selling to raise money to pay off the Gilyeat's mortgage.

On the shuttle ride back to the cars, my mom met another family with children who wanted to see my mom's photos from meeting Rib. My mom said that meeting all these people at the house that day was such a blessing from God. And even though I wasn't with her or she didn't get her photo with Rib, meeting these wonderful people made it all seem like her best day out there. The entire show has been set up to help make better communities, and she felt she made some wonderful friends this day!