Preparing for Christmas

Before Christmas day arrives there is a lot to be done....

There are cute Christmas outfits that need to be worn to church by the cutest little boy I know!

There are lots of errands to run. :)

Christmas goodies to be made! 

Canon was such a fun helper. He really got into it. We made fudge and chocolate covered pretzels.

Pretty lights to be seen at Opryland Hotel.

More trips to see Santa. 

This time we were just going to wave again, but he wanted to sit on his lap this time.

A birthday to be celebrated.

I had a birthday on the 23rd. Jess and Canon went over and beyond to make my day special. Jess made french toast for breakfast followed by a morning and afternoon of letting me relax. I got to have my favorite lunch. For dinner he surprised me by taking me to a restaurant where some of our friends were awaiting to surprise me! It was a wonderful dinner hanging out with friends followed by GiGi's Cupcakes! I even got a pinwheel necklace I have been wanting, a gift certificate to the spa, a travelers cup, and a sewing machine from Jess and Canon! What a wonderful birthday!

And lots of food to be eaten.

This afternoon we had our Christmas lunch. Since we are on staff at a church we will be spending our Christmas Eve and Christmas morning/early afternoon at church, so this afternoon was our day to have our Christmas lunch. We will be eating yummy left overs for lunch after church on Christmas. 

We also let Canon open up some Christmas pajamas to be worn tonight. He was at the least bit interested. ha! 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Christmas without Will

Last year around Christmas we talked about how much fun it would this year with two little boys. So of course this year, it looks a lot differently then what we had expected. I have gotten sad every time I have gone Christmas shopping, wrapped presents, when I received our Christmas cards (wishing Will was in the picture with us), and talking about all the plans we have over the Christmas holiday.

I am thankful through this experience that the Lord has continued to lay people on my heart that are also hurting this year due to divorce, losing a parent, child, or spouse, ect. I have spent a lot of this Christmas season praying for people and just having an overall awareness that even though this is a happy season for many, this is also a very sad season for many. I don't say this to pat myself on the back, I say this because I am glad the Lord has opened my eyes and given me more compassion toward others. I unfortunately have still gotten caught up in the busyness, selfishness, and anxiety that tends to take over people's hearts during the season. I do feel like more than ever the Lord is convicting me of this in my own heart and teaching me through my sin.
I challenge each of you to think of someone that may be having a rough time this Christmas season and commit to praying for them and possibly reaching out to them. We have been blessed by the people that have done that for us these past few weeks.

We have been thinking for a while what tradition we could start this year in memory of Will. We bought a stocking for Will that is very similar to Canon's and we will be filling each year with gifts for a family in need. We know of a family that is in need and they have three boys. Jess and I went out the other day and bought gifts for the family. We hope to share Will's story with each family we buy for in Will's honor each year. We also want to tell each family about the hope of Christ and what His birth means! This year we will wait to fill up the stocking until Christmas day as we want teach Canon about giving to others. We of course will also visit and decorate his grave each year! I am really excited about these traditions.

This past Sunday we were able to share Will's story at our church. The church did a video of me sharing our story and this video was shown during the service. Until Sunday we had not publicly shared with the church. I feel the Lord really giving me a peace and a push to share about Will, how the Lord is enough, and how much the Lord has grown me and continuing to grow me. Making the video was harder than I thought it was going to be. That evening I was teary eyed all night because I feel like I didn't say everything I wanted to. I feel like Jess and I are Will's only voice and I wanted to give him the recognition that I feel he deserves. I ended up being pleased with the video. I have gotten quite a few positive responses and I pray that the Lord will use me for His glory the way He feels fit.

Will will be missed this Christmas and every Christmas to follow.

We are thankful we have the hope of Christ!  

ICE and Santa

Going to Ice and seeing Santa

This past Friday we headed to Opryland to see the ICE exhibit with Jess's parents. I didn't quite know what to expect, but I thought it was really fun! It was the Madagascar theme this year. Canon loved it, but had to be carried around the entire time since the parka he had on made him waddle like a penguin. He was the cutest penguin I have ever seen though! He didn't seem to mind being carried either. They also had slides toward the end of the exhibit. I wasn't sure Canon would go down them since he wasn't allowed to go with Jess or me, but he braved it and seemed to love it.

Our little penguin.

Canon slid so fast it knocked him backwards everytime. He couldn't get up on his own due to the parka, so this lady had to drag him up from the floor every time and he would give her weird looks. ha!

After the ICE exhibit we headed to the Opryland Hotel to eat and see the Christmas lights. Santa was also there, so we decided to go and just wave at him. Canon had not been a fan of santa, so we were just going to wave from a distance. Well he saw all the other kids sitting on his lap, so he asked for a turn. We took him up there very slowly and told santa he was unsure. Luckily santa was very nice and did not try any fast moves on Canon. Canon first stood at his side, then gave him a high five, and then agreed to stand in front of him. Santa tried to get him to sit on his lap, but Canon said no. This was Canon's first experience and picture with santa.

After all the activities we headed back to my in law's. We left Canon there to take a nap and hang out while Jess and I went on a little date. We headed to the mall and then ate at Pei Wei. We had a really good day! 

Catch All - Part 2

Catch All Continued...

3 - My mom came into town the second week in December to do some Christmas shopping. We got quite a bit done in a few hours while Canon was at Mother's Day Out and then we picked him up and took him shopping with us. I cooked dinner that evening and then my mom watched Canon while Jess and I went to a Life Group fellowship. Mom and I stayed up so late watching the weirdest movie and we completely regretted it the next morning. We were pretty tired, but we hit the stores again and then we had to say good-bye. It was a successful time with lots of fun too. Canon was super cute and sweet with his Mam-aw! I hadn't been Christmas shopping with my mom in four years, so it was really nice. 

4 - Christmas Parties.
We have been to quite a few Christmas parties in the last few weeks. We first went to a Christmas party for all the life group leaders of our church. They had an amazing meal and delicious desserts and the company was even better!

A little photo shoot before heading to the Life Group Leader's Christmas Party.

This is Canon's new face he likes to make when taking pictures.

In this picture he is saying, "mommy see, mommy see" . He always wants to see the pictures right after you take them. :)

Then, Jess and I hosted a Christmas party at our house for our life group that meets at our house. We had appetizers and desserts. We also did a dirty santa exchange. It went over very well and we had some good laughs. We really love our life group and are really enjoying getting to know each person.

Jess and I also helped organize and put on our first Christmas Bash for our church. Whew. Jess and I really learned that we plan things a lot differently. I am sure people got a good laugh at Sam's Club when we had an argument/ "discussion" over cheesecake. ha! It turned out great and everyone had a wonderful time. We had around 100 people show up and we also had enough cheesecake!! :) I may or may not help next year. That is up for discussion. 

5. LifeWay Christmas Program.
Canon and I headed to downtown Nashville the 14th to see the Christmas program and LifeWay. It was so good!! I am very impressed! Canon went on stage with Thom and Nellie Jo as they welcomed everyone. I thought he would freak out when he looked up and would see hundreds of people looking at him, but he was only concerned about taking the microphone away from Thom so he could talk in it. :) Canon was the entertainment for a while as well as he air drummed (very hard I might add) through the first 4 songs. Everyone was pointing at him and the choir was very amused. Most of you know Canon loves music and lives for it most days. He sat through the entire program (1 hour and 15 min.) and was happy as could be.

We have had a wonderful and busy December already and it isn't even over yet! I am very thankful we have the ability to be busy and that we get to enjoy so many things! 

Catch All

I have not posted in so long. Like everyone else we have been very busy. Tis the season.

What has been going on in the Rainer's house hold?

1 - We celebrated Thanksgiving with family. This was the first year in four years that I was able to be with my side of the the family for Thanksgiving. The days before Thanksgiving we were able to hang out with Jess's side of the family. His middle brother and family were in town from FL, so we did a lot of visiting with them before his oldest brother and family were able to come. On Nov. 22nd we had a big feast with all of the Rainers and Jess's grandparents. We had such a great time! The kids had a great time playing and the adults had a wonderful time catching up and visiting.

On November 23rd we headed to IL to celebrate with my family. We always celebrate with my dad's side of the family. I hadn't seen many of them in a few years, so it was nice to see them. Thanksgiving was also my dad's birthday. We had a wonderful meal full of my Me-maw's recipes (she died a few years ago). The next day was a full day of visiting and celebrating my dad's birthday with a wonderful pork chop dinner. Canon woke up that Friday with a fever, so we took him to get a strep test at the hospital where my mom works since our niece on Jess's side had strep throat. Canon was such a trooper at getting his strep test. He just opened right up and they didn't even have to use a tongue depressor. He tested negative, but was still very sick. Which leads us to number two.

2 - Canon continued to run a fever all day Saturday and Sunday. I obviously stayed home from church and took Canon to the pediatrician (they have a walk in clinic on the weekends). They tested him again for strep and this time he tested positive and he also had croup. On Monday he was worse, so I took him back to the dr. They gave him a shot for his croup and the dr. promised he would be better by morning. Well he wasn't better, so we went back to the dr. and this time we saw our pediatrician we normally see. He said he was wheezing, had strep, croup, bronchitis, and most likely a touch of pneumonia. He changed his antibiotic and prescribed an inhaler. He told us if C were to get an worse to take him on to the ER and if not we would see him (the dr.) on Thursday. Canon was so pitiful. For those of you that know him he is a very active child and doesn't lay around and watch TV, well that is all he was doing. He just wanted to lay on us and he wouldn't eat either. Thursday we went in for our appt and the dr. sent us to the ER to have a chest x-ray done. Pneumonia didn't show up on the x-ray, but they were pretty sure that he had it, but was at the tail end of it. His sickness continued a few days after his ER visit. Jess and I also got sick, so needless to say we had a rough two weeks. 

He got very restless after a while, so Jess and Canon walked the halls a few times.

To be Continued...

Fun activities

I have not posted in so long. 

We carved a pumpkin the Monday after Thanksgiving! Canon loved it! He played with the seeds in a bowl for 45 minutes. 

November 25th we went to the local fire station (right next to our house) with our MOPS group. They showed a video and and talked to all of the kids about fire safety. One of the firemen dressed in full gear to show the kids what they look like if they ever have to come to your house. Canon freaked out. He really does not like when people have something on their head. We then headed to the fire trucks. They let each kid sit on the truck. Canon wasn't too sure, but he sat in it for about 30 seconds. 

He does not look happy in this picture.

I love doing different things with Canon!