Merry Christmas Y'all

Not much has changed these last 32 Christmases.

Except maybe my hair. And I don't have to wear bars on my shoes anymore. Oh, and I grew up, got married and had 4 kids.

Other than that, the ears look the exact same.

Merry Christmas from the now Akins family. Party of 6.

Attention Coach Richt

Starting linebacker for the '09 Independence Bowl: Buster Boy Akins



Also known as "Hershel Walker the Goal line Stalker" in tiny man formation.

3

Since you started your journey like this...



And continued through your first year with a few stays here...



I thank my God for each day I have with you. For your healthy lungs. Your somewhat incoherent vocabulary. Your made up songs. Your Tigger-like bounces. Your adventurism. Your high volume decibels. Your snuggles. And, of course, your stinky feet.

You bring into my life

LOVE

WILDNESS

LAUGHTER

SWEETNESS

and most especially

JOY.


Happy 3rd birthday, Buster Boy.


Love,
Mommy

Step in my shoes a moment...

I was reminded tonight after getting prepped for a couple of babysitters (yes, I said COUPLE of 'em) to come over that our schedule, as normal as it seems to us, is kinda crazy to the outsider(s). So I thought I'd write it out, more so for me since this has proved to be a much easier place to keep up with the daily (monthly, yearly) shenanigans of my little squirts. I'm not so good with the baby books.

Also, because schedules change. And this will too. Probably sooner than later. And I'll look back on this at the same time next year and think, "Now that was the life." With one waking up to go to school, the ENTIRE day will look very different, and I may just have to wake up before the sun does...and that's a travesty.

Judge me not on this. I wake up later than most Americans I know. But I also work harder and deserve it so BOOYAH!! Or, at least let me think that I do. Please.

8:00 Buster arrives in my room - we watch Curious George and I get lots of snuggles
8:30 Get out of bed, fix breakfast for big kids, feed babies their morning bottle
9:30 Breakfast for babies, big kids do their chores (get dressed, make beds, brush teeth, take dirty laundry to laundry room)
10:00 Playtime (outdoors if weather permitting)
10:30 Morning nap for babies, I take a shower, big kids watch Bunny Cakes
11:00 Playtime with Mommy
12:30 Lunch for big kids, babies wake up and get bottle #2
1:00 Nap time for Buster, free time for Big Sis
1:30 Lunch for babies
2:00 Babies playtime with Mommy & Big Sis - then school time with Big Sis while babies play together
3:00 Babies afternoon nap, Reading time with Big Sis
3:30 Buster wakes up, afternoon snack for big kids
4:00 Prep for dinner with help from my sous chefs
4:30 Babies wake up and get bottle #3
5:00 Clean up before Daddy gets home
5:30 Daddy gets home and MOMMY SINGS THE HALLELUJAH CHORUS!!!! He jumps on the floor for human jungle gym time with all 4, and I get on dinner duty.
6:00 Babies eat dinner
6:30 Dinner for us
7:15 Get babies bathed, ready for bed and final bottle of the night; Big Kids clean up their room and have reading time together
7:45 Babies go to sleep (in a perfect world) and we bathe big kids
8:15 Big Kids go to bed
8:30 Clean up kitchen
9:00 Fall asleep somewhere
11:30 Wake up from wherever we fell asleep to officially go to bed

You'll note I left out the 15 diaper changes, the multiple times the babies awake to get rocked, and anytime I sit at the computer or crash on the couch midday. That's because I'd like you to continue thinking this house runs perfectly at all times.

Because it does.

That is, until tomorrow...

ism's of the season

Life with 4 under 5 is downright hilarious. I am just as entertained by the conversations I have with the 3 and 4 year old as I am watching the Mighty Duo rockin' on all fours trying desperately to get from point A to point B. They are all inquisitive in their own way!

And now on to the conversations that happen around our house...

Buster: "I want to be Jesus for Christmas!"
Mommy: "Well, Christmas is not like Halloween [to say the least]. We don't dress up in costumes. We're celebrating Jesus' birthday!"
Big Sis: "Do we even have a Jesus costume?"
Buster: "No, but we have dragon so I can be Jesus in a dragon costume."
Mommy: "Did anyone hear what I just said??????"

************

There was much hustle and bustle behind the wall ledge.
Big Sis: "Where is he?"
Buster: "I don't know. I can't find him."
As the puppet show began, we see a head pop over:
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we're going to start the show without Baby Jesus since he wasn't there in the beginning anyway."

************

The lunch conversation.
Big Sis: "Why did Mary have her baby in Bethlehem?"
Mommy: "Because the angel told Mary she would have a baby, and that it would be God's child."
Big Sis: "I know, but why did they have to have him in Bethlehem?"
Mommy: "Because Joseph had to go there to pay his taxes and she was really pregnant when they went so she had to have her baby there."
Big Sis: "But why couldn't she just ride the donkey back to their house?"
Mommy: "Because they were fulfilling prophecy that the baby would be born there and lay in a manger, and that was in Bethlehem." [so I'm using non-4 year old words, so what]
Big Sis: "So the donkey was just too tired to take her back home?"
Mommy: "Well, maybe, but it was already laid out in the Bible how and where Jesus was to be born."
Big Sis: They should've gone home. What about the camels? Why didn't she just ride a camel home if the donkey was too tired?"
Mommy: [with a huff] "Her water broke."
Big Sis: "Oh. Okay."

************

In reading The Night Before Christmas, Mommy proclaims excitedly:
"A bundle of toys he had flung on his back
And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack..."
Cutting me off, Big Sis asks, "What's a peddler?"
Mommy: "Someone who asks for money."
After reading the next passage, the deep in thought 4 year old interrupts again:
"I know!! So the people at Publix are peddlers? They always ask us for our money!"

Yes. Yes, they are.

Advent Conspiracy

I've never really had a hard time with leaving the "Christ" in Christmas. Yes, I'll occasionally, in shorthand, substitute and "X" but find no heresy in that since X is the first letter for Christ in the Greek, an actual symbol for Christos. All good.

It's actually the "me" in Christmas I have a hard time taking out. Ok, so there's not officially an "m" and an "e" together in the word, but there sure as heck is a "me" in my Christmas.

Fear not, I am not about to rant and rave about the awfulness of gift-receiving or last-minute shopping or making Santa requests because goodness knows those 3 things send my adrenaline into overdrive and make me smile every twelfth month of the year.

It's a different kind of mind shift.

And not just in December.

For about the last 10 months, I have spent a considerable amount of time inside my home. For a couple of months I was too large to go into public since the crane wasn't always available to remove me from getting lodged in the front door. After that, I had 2 tiny munchkins, who, along with their 2 siblings, required ENORMOUS amounts of time getting out the door. Though we do get out and about a couple of times a week, it's not near the daily excursions I was used to in bygone years.

So that's left me with a lot of time inside my head. A lot of "How can I maximize my purpose on earth while spending the majority of the next couple of years inside with the same 4 tiny people?" type questions.

I have made a lot of specific goals in regards to my home, my wifely attributes, values I teach my little ones, daily routines, etc. A laundry list really.

But all of this spills out from my main life purpose on this earth: to love Jesus and strive to live a life that exemplifies Him - whether that's to the 4 tiny people I see everyday or to my favorite Publix cashier (and I WILL stand in line an extra 7 minutes just for her) or to a neighbor that drives me bonkers.

It's a mind shift of taking not just the "me" out of Christmas, but taking the "me" out of my life. Because it's not mine. It's Christ's. And when I can fully grasp that this life, this Christmas, is not all about me, it becomes a MISSION to live it for Him.

The Advent Conspiracy we've been talking about this month at church has really opened my eyes to the theme that's been residing in my head for many months now.

I don't at all see it as just a December thing.

to worship fully

to spend less

to give more

to love all

How those 4 things look to each individual is what makes it beautiful. The potential for changed lives - breathtaking.

Look who's sitting up!

7 1/2 month milestone and proud of it! We've been waiting for this for a while, but have to remember that their adjusted preemie age is only 6 months. They're growing up sooooooo fast!



Hunk is still teeter tottering a little bit, but Tiny Miss is strong as an ox. Guess she doesn't have to hold up as much head weight as Chunk.

Jesus is the reason for the season

That said, we have ourselves a bit of an issue.



We've hunted high and low for the missing head. Nobody's claiming the SIN on this one, and I can't say that I blame them. I would be scared of the repercussions too.

Hopefully by Christmas morning, we'll have the important things sewn back into place since He didn't show up until December 25th anyway. Whew. Makes me feel a little less blasphemous at least.

The human head weighs 8 pounds.

Uncanny.