Kostyn's First Christmas

Kostyn's first Christmas present, actually...

Shhhhh

Of all the Christmas traditions I hold dear, the one I get the most joy from is attending Mass on Christmas Eve, preferably a candlelight service where everyone in the sanctuary gets a candle to light for the singing of “Silent Night” near the end of the service.
This year we attended the 6 p.m. candlelight service at our church. It was standing-room-only when we arrived but we managed to squeeze into a pew in the last row, thankful that we’d be near the exit if Kostyn started to melt down.
He actually did great considering it was the time of night when he’s hungry and getting sleepy and winding down from the excitement of the day. He was a bit squirmy but overall very quiet and wide-eyed. He loves all the singing and collective praying that goes on in church.
Anyway, about halfway through the service there was a moment when the sanctuary was pretty quiet, and Kostyn let out a noise that I can best describe as a coo...not a cry or a yell, just a baby talking -- “aaahhh.” Not even I flinched, and I’m pretty sensitive about him making noise in church.
But the little boy seated in the pew in front of us whipped around, scowling at my 6-month-old and, in a stern voice, hissed “BE QUIET.”
Kostyn just stared at the boy, an open-mouthed half-smile on his face, drool pooling on his bottom lip. The adults within earshot of the reprimand chuckled.
I can only imagine how many times that little boy had been shushed in church. It was written all over his face -- “If I have to sit here and not squirm or talk or even color on the bulletin, then by God everyone else must be silently miserable too.”
You should have seen the same kid craning his neck to glare at a 2-month-old who started crying later in the service. And I was reminded with a smile of all those squirmy days my sisters and I spent on the hard wooden pew in the Lutheran church of our youth, my mother’s finger wagging at us just below eye level of the adults in the pew behind us. She could say, threaten and promise more with that one “tsk, tsk” of a finger ...
But somewhere along the way — miraculously, it seems — we all stop squirming and start listening. We feel the Holy Spirit move inside us. We no longer have trouble sitting still. Instead we don’t want that stillness to end. We revel in it, breathe it in, hope it sustains us through the coming year, until we get to light our candle again.
Anyway, the rest of the service went off without a hitch, Kostyn was able to dodge any further scolding by the 8-year-old, and the candles were lit in the still, darkened sanctuary for the singing of “Silent Night” — a moment that always brings me to tears and I have trouble choking out the words to such a simple song I know by heart.
This year was different. Better. More moving. It hit me in a way it hadn’t before, and trust me, it hits me every year. I consider myself to be a pretty empathetic person, but to now have a son, and feel the way I do about him — that “I would crawl to the end of the world on my bloodied hands and knees for you” feeling — and to think of how God gave his son to us ... For us. ...
It’s just an amazing gift is all. One I couldn’t give.
“Holy infant so tender and mild.” Wow.
Awe-inspiring, isn’t it?

Cheer(s)

Still having trouble getting into the holiday spirit? Try this recipe:

Easy Jazzy Holiday Cheer

Ingredients:
2 servings of your favorite holiday beverage
Recommended options: Disaronno on the rocks; mulled wine; ice-cold (it really should be ice-cold) Frangelico; spicy winter lager; or, if you don't drink (in which case you might need more than this recipe to muster up some holiday cheer), try the peppermint mocha from Starbucks
1 "Cool Yule" by Louis Armstrong
1 "I've Got My Love to Keep Me Warm" by Billie Holiday
1 "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" by Dave Brubeck
1 "Blue Christmas" by Harry Connick Jr.
1 "Baby It's Cold Outside" by Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan
1 "I Bought You a Plastic Star for Your Aluminum Tree" by Michael Franks
1 "Linus and Lucy" by Vince Guaraldi Trio
1 "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" by Diana Krall & The Clayton-Hamilton Jazz Orchestra
1 "Sleigh Ride" by Boston Pops
1 "The Christmas Waltz" by Harry Connick Jr.
1 "Blue XMas" by Gil Evans
1 "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" by Louis Armstrong
1 "Skating" by David Benoit
1 "I Believe" by Frank Sinatra
1 "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" by Ella Fitzgerald

Optional stir-ins:
1 "All That I Want" by The Weepies
1 "Song for a Winter's Night" by Sarah McLachlan
1 "Someday at Christmas" by Stevie Wonder

Directions:
Download, pour, enjoy. Merry Christmas.

outtakes

from Kostyn's Christmas card photo shoot. These didn't make the cut, but they're cute enough to share...






The cards should be going in the mail tomorrow! You'll have to let me know if you like the one we picked better than these...

A breakthrough

K, since I put it out there that I was sick, people have been asking me how I'm doing. So I feel like I should put it out there that I'm finally feeling better! Last night I finished up my work by 12:30 a.m. and Kostyn, miraculously, didn't so much as whimper or stir or fuss until 5:30 a.m. to eat AND I didn't wake up once with a coughing fit or a huge headache. So I got a heavenly FIVE CONSECUTIVE HOURS of sleep. I cannot remember the last time I got that much sleep all at once.

I feel like a new woman. Just in time for the mad holiday rush, and this looming deadline on a huge freelance project I'm working on.

Also, Kostyn met Santa last night. Specifically, a jolly old guy with a Southern drawl who was perched on the front bumper of a firetruck that was slowly making its way through our neighborhood, beeping its obnoxious horn to get kids to come out onto their front porches to be greeted by Saint Nick. He gave Kostyn a tiny Rudolph stuffed animal and tousled his hair (what hair he has) with a "ho ho ho!" Kostyn was wide-eyed the whole time; he didn't know what to make of that white beard. And I'm a lameass mom who didn't even think to run inside and get the camera. (As it was, I was standing on the front porch in my pajamas at 7:30 pm. Even my 6-month-old son was still dressed...)

Anyway, that's the latest. Time to make Christmas cookies....

oh to be there

Been living vicariously through this Web site all afternoon, which keeps updating with the songs that Led Zeppelin is playing THIS VERY MOMENT on a London stage. Trying to guess the encore. Hoping it's not "Stairway," or at least not Just "Stairway"...

Why it sucks to be sick

Because when your husband's at a gig and you have to put the baby to sleep by yourself and he's being fussy and will only fall asleep if you rock him, you end up having a coughing fit (as much as you hold your breath and pray and swallow repeatedly) every time he's just about asleep, which wakes him up and makes him cry and you have to start all over again.
That's why.

*Cough*

I'm sick. I'm talkin' coughing-up-a-lung, head pounding, feels like someone's sitting on my chest sick. Lost my voice over the weekend too, which made my mom think I was on my deathbed when I spoke to her on Sunday. Chris got really good at understanding what I was trying to say by studying my face and hearing every third syllable coming out of my mouth. "....you........some.......-ease?" "You'd like some ice cream?" "...essssss!"

So I finally cave and go to the doctor (if you know me you know this means I truly must be feeling pretty miserable) today.

What I got: An invitation to a "killer" party my doctor and his brothers are hosting at his uncle's sweet spread on neighboring Cane Island this Saturday. It's a "pig pickin'" (you have to be from the South to know this term), with 300-400 guests expected and a live band will be playing. The invite has been extended to Kim and Amy (and of course Chris and Kostyn).

What I didn't get: Any form of medication to relieve my symptoms. Because I'm breastfeeding he said my best bet was to go to the pharmacy and ask the pharmacist what cough medicine is safe to take. This seemed odd to me, since I was paying him, not the pharmacist, but hey ... I don't tend to question doctors. I just listen and nod and get the hell out of there.

So I stopped at CVS on the way home and asked the pharmacist to recommend a cold/cough medicine to take while breastfeeding. "Oh no," he said, "I can't do that. You have to get a recommendation from your doctor."

"I did get a recommendation from my doctor. He recommended I ask you."

He didn't seem to find this amusing. Trust me, buddy, neither did I. *Cough cough cough*

Home

Some of you might recognize my column this week to be a bit of a flashback from a blog entry I wrote about a year ago. And when I say "some of you," I mean my most loyal fans. The die-hard readers of "I'm Just Sayin'."
In other words ... Kim might recall it. Perhaps Sheila, too. :)

Six Months Already?

I can't believe Kostyn is 6 months old. This picture was taken earlier today, to mark the milestone and document his mama's new 'do.
Don't let his smile fool you, though - we think he's teething (again! Can't he just enjoy his first two teeth for awhile before the agony of getting more??) because he's been quite a little crabcake. I tell him all the time, "Good thing you're so cute..."

So you can see how long it was...this was taken on Thanksgiving...