December highlights {basketball, Ellie is 4, St. Nicholas Day, ER visit, Christmas preparations}
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1) Basketball. the season got into full swing with the developmental Turkey Shoot tournament over Thanksgiving and then the regular league games for both developmental and JV. I have so many photos and videos from last year's basketball season -- this year, I was much more judicious with photo-taking but was still able to capture some fun moments. even though it's hectic with practices and games, we sure do love basketball season, and as I type this at the end of February, we just have another week left.
Greta and Cece both excel in defensive positions, and although their overall personalities are so different, on the court they have an identical tenacity that is really fun to watch!
Greta going for the rebound
not the best picture -- Cece in the white jersey jumping to block a pass
faithful spectators
2) Ellie is 4! she was so excited for her birthday and made lots of plans for her "party" -- but didn't seem disappointed with the fact that it was just our immediate family gathered for dinner, presents, and cake. her two favourite presents were her Toniebox (with an Elsa figure and a blank "creative" Tonie to record her own songs) so she can listen to her own music, and a VTech toolbox that the birthday bird managed to procure via Walmart+ delivery the day before when she mentioned that she really wanted "tools like Daddy" for her birthday.
the epitome of 4-year-old fashion
she requested pasta and meatballs. the Frozen decor has been stashed in our basement ever since Greta turned 4!
she immediately put on the toolbelt so she could carry around her tools for anything around the house that needs fixing
I would never have predicted that they all would be so interested in this toy!
believe it or not, this cake came from Walmart! they did a fantastic job!
seriously impressed with the detail
a few days later, with her new Angelina Ballerina doll from Grammie
Cece tied the gift ribbon in her hair
3) St. Nicholas Day. this also happens to be Elizabeth's birthday, so her whole day was exciting from start to finish! the girls used to receive their Christmas pajamas on Christmas Eve, but for the past few years, St. Nicholas has been bringing them so they can wear them for the whole Advent/Christmas season. Nick and I have matching pairs too, but somehow I never managed to get a photo of all of us wearing them -- you'll just have to use your imagination.
"thank you, St. Nicholas!"
4) ER visit. in the wee hours of the morning on Sunday, December 21, I woke up to hear the distinctive sounds of stridor coming from Victoria's crib. she had been absolutely fine the day before without any sign of congestion. when I checked on her, she felt slightly warm. she didn't seem to be in any distress, but I knew because of her previous ER visit and admission for observation in July that if she was demonstrating stridor at rest, she needed to be seen. I told Nick what was going on, and we headed out into the night. just breathing in the cold air on our walk out to the car helped quite a bit, and she wasn't nearly as tachycardic as she had been in July. I was just praying she would turn the corner quickly this time and we wouldn't be spending another overnight in the hospital!
somewhat confused about what was going on, but in good spirits!
fortunately, all of her vitals were stable and her breathing remained quiet. I asked the attending if I had really needed to bring her in this time since the cold air helped so much, and she said that that is always a good tactic to try to reduce the airway inflammation but that if things are so inflamed that she is having stridor at rest, she always needs to come in for a dose of steroids. they got her the meds (no breathing treatment needed this time!) and the nurses loaded her up with toys that had been donated to the ER specifically for the Christmas season. after a few hours, we were headed back home!
5) Christmas preparations. we bought our Christmas tree from the local high school marching band sale -- not quite as evocative as traipsing through a farm to cut down our own, but much more efficient and pleasant with children (especially since Victoria and Elizabeth were both wailing about how cold they were at various points of our fifteen-minute adventure).
"it's a Vickie-sized tree!"
an amalgamation of Little People, ancient and new
a liturgically appropriate sign at the fellowship hall for post-mass coffee and donuts
we were brave enough to pull out the Italian presepio (nativity scene) with all its terra cotta figurines (we didn't dare display it for the past few years). shockingly, the littles left it alone for the most part. see the Angel Gabriel flying overhead?
hygge, indeed
my practice manager gave the girls these precious bonnets that her daughter has outgrown
I literally cannot even
finally got the ornaments on!
I always love seeing this display near the girls' school. Santa and the nativity -- more apropos than most people probably know!
the best photo I could get while stopped at the red light
it's not really Christmas until I break out the Geiger family Christmas CDs that my mom recorded of us when we were young. my girls love trying to identify individual voices and are perpetually amazed to hear Uncle James and Auntie Krista sounding like toddlers (because they were!).
our neighborhood volunteer fire department drives around on a Saturday morning before Christmas, blasting the siren to alert all the families that Santa and Mrs. Claus are on their way, and then hands out candy to the kids. this year it was full size chocolate bars from Sarris, our local chocolatier!
Santa and Mrs. Claus in the golf cart
the school hosted a family movie night to watch The Grinch -- I had never seen the newest animated version from 2018, and it was super cute!
Cece and her BFF all snuggled in for the movie. Greta and her friends did NOT wish to be photographed ;)
another photo op after the movie
at work, we did a Secret Santa gift swap and my practice manager drew my name. she knocked it out of the park with a whole basket of my favourite things!
a whole bag of turgid grapes (we both agree surface tension is a critical element in the quality of a grape), the photo of the girls in the bonnets printed and framed, a candle that smells exactly like one of my favourite words and smells (petrichor: the smell just after rain), and a bag of my favourite brand of gummy bears! not to mention the shredded paper in the basket is from an old copy of Little Women. I just loved it!
What a sweet gift. It's so fun to receive "specialized" things that someone has picked out specifically to match your interests/likes. Those bonnets are adorable. I bought a Little House-style sun bonnet when my daughter was younger and it was THE CUTEST THING. Gah. I just love looking back at those pictures of her. Also, I cannot believe she was ever small enough to wear it. I think I handed it along to someone else. I don't keep kids clothes, but I kinda wish I had kept that as an heirloom. I think I bought it off Etsy? Eeks. A trip to the ER is never fun, but I'm glad she was seen promptly and didn't need to stay for an extended time. Christmas must be so fun in your house <3
The best part about the Secret Santa gift was that she was just as excited to give it as I was to receive it, because she KNEW how much I would love everything in it!
Oh my goodness. Those pictures of Belle in the bonnet must be absolutely adorable. I still have bins and bins of baby clothes (because, apparently, we keep having babies!) but there are a few outfits I will definitely have a hard time parting with, including the little elephant sleeper with matching hat WITH ELEPHANT EARS that all my winter babies have come home from the hospital wearing).
I love your Christmas posts too and how abundantly you embrace it! I feel that every moment of magic we can find in this world is worth the time and effort!
All your girls are so seriously cute! It looks like you had a grand holiday- even with the ER visit. My kids are also defenders on the basketball court- I love seeing them stick close to their opponents and get in the way. My son also strategically fouls for his team - playing kids much bigger him makes it easy for a foul go one way or another. Great foul shot, C! Getting those points can win you the game!
Thank you! Of course, the photos shared on the blog are the cutest ones... my camera roll is full of weird faces/awkward angles ;)
Your son has a great strategy for defense. It is really fun to watch them "see the court" and predict where the ball is going to go. So much of basketball is being in the right place at the right time!
welcome to the world, George Nicholas! our fifth baby was born two weeks early, completely upending my previous delivery pattern -- all of his sisters were born just before or up to 10 days after their due dates, except for Victoria with a scheduled induction at 39 weeks. a 39 week induction was the plan for baby boy too, and our dear friend Amy had requested the day off work to come doula for us again, bless her! my coworkers kept telling me I was going to go early with him and I kept confidently responding, "oh no, my babies like to stay cozy in here!" as I left the office on Friday (at 37 weeks 2 days pregnant), I told them, "see you Monday!" they all looked at me and said, "well... maybe!" and I reassured them that I would be there. the last "bump" photo I have, on July 4, just 9 days before baby would make his appearance! Amy texted me that weekend to see how I was feeling. baby boy was definitely sitting lower and I was having some inter...
for as long as I can remember, I've envisioned having four kids. to me, it seemed like a sufficient number of kids to emulate the big family feeling I so enjoyed about my own childhood. plus, I like the symmetry of even numbers. having grown up as the oldest of six, however, I thought I might not be cut out for being a mother of six, so four seemed to be the magical solution. the Geiger six at the wedding reception my parents threw for us back in Washington state. there is a 14 year gap between oldest (me) and youngest (Krista). do you see why we used to call her Pink Baby?! this is such a classic photo I had to include it, even though it was before Krista was born. I sewed my own dress if you couldn't tell. #homeschooled all that to say that after our fourth child, Victoria, was born in 2023, I felt quite at peace with our family size ... but not to the point of giving away all of the baby stuff. after all, I was "only" 37. we did feel strongly though that we should ...
over a year ago, we had made plans for Greta to go on a trip to Paris over Holy Week 2026 with her elementary school choir (pinch me now!). since Cece was going with Nick on an epic European pilgrimage in the summer of 2025, we decided it was only fair for me to accompany Greta. ;) also, Holy Week is Nick's absolute busiest time of year as a church musician and he definitely would not be able to take the week off to travel. a few months after sending in the deposit, we learned that not enough families had signed up and the trip was canceled, so our deposit was refunded. we both were quite disappointed! then Nick said that she and I should pick another place to go for a mother/daughter trip in its place. after much deliberating over various options, including a trip to NYC for shopping/shows, a visit to North Carolina to visit my sister and hopefully see one of the shows she and her fiancé are involved with in the local theater they run, a trip to the beach, or a cruise, Greta fina...
What a sweet gift. It's so fun to receive "specialized" things that someone has picked out specifically to match your interests/likes.
ReplyDeleteThose bonnets are adorable. I bought a Little House-style sun bonnet when my daughter was younger and it was THE CUTEST THING. Gah. I just love looking back at those pictures of her. Also, I cannot believe she was ever small enough to wear it. I think I handed it along to someone else. I don't keep kids clothes, but I kinda wish I had kept that as an heirloom. I think I bought it off Etsy?
Eeks. A trip to the ER is never fun, but I'm glad she was seen promptly and didn't need to stay for an extended time.
Christmas must be so fun in your house <3
The best part about the Secret Santa gift was that she was just as excited to give it as I was to receive it, because she KNEW how much I would love everything in it!
DeleteOh my goodness. Those pictures of Belle in the bonnet must be absolutely adorable. I still have bins and bins of baby clothes (because, apparently, we keep having babies!) but there are a few outfits I will definitely have a hard time parting with, including the little elephant sleeper with matching hat WITH ELEPHANT EARS that all my winter babies have come home from the hospital wearing).
I love your Christmas posts too and how abundantly you embrace it! I feel that every moment of magic we can find in this world is worth the time and effort!
All your girls are so seriously cute! It looks like you had a grand holiday- even with the ER visit.
ReplyDeleteMy kids are also defenders on the basketball court- I love seeing them stick close to their opponents and get in the way. My son also strategically fouls for his team - playing kids much bigger him makes it easy for a foul go one way or another. Great foul shot, C! Getting those points can win you the game!
Thank you! Of course, the photos shared on the blog are the cutest ones... my camera roll is full of weird faces/awkward angles ;)
DeleteYour son has a great strategy for defense. It is really fun to watch them "see the court" and predict where the ball is going to go. So much of basketball is being in the right place at the right time!