The Spirit of Giving Through Regifting

This year we have taken a new approach (at least for us) on the idea of regifting. We have been here in Namibia for less than a month. There are all sorts of expenses associated with moving into a new home. We have been stocking up on food basics (flour, sugar, salt, spices, pretty much EVERYTHING!), cleaning supplies, pool toys :), outlet adapters (I HATE the stupid plugs here), bath mats, door mats, and a million more little things that add up. Everyone thinks of Africa as a cheap place to live, but let me tell you Namibia is NOT a cheap place at all. So anyway, our focus is on getting the things we need to try to get settled in.
BEFORE we came out here, we also spent a lot of money on things like a wii and some games, a bike for Rob, some food from Costco, toys for the boys, clothes, upgrades to Windows 7 and some other software, and heaven only knows what else. It isn't like we haven't bought anything. Some of the things could have been Christmas presents if we had waited.
So now Christmas is going to be here in a couple of days. The boys are taken care of, but Rob and I did not buy anything for each other. My mom and dad got us some things from our Amazon wish list (Thanks, Mom!), but other than those three gifts we have nothing under the tree. No big deal for us, but I suddenly worried about what Justin will think. Big three year old that he now is, he might actually be upset about that. He doesn't let a thing get by him. This is where the regifting comes in. I found some earrings and a bracelet in my jewelry box that Rob will help Justin wrap up for me. I grabbed a book, swim goggles, and a new comb from one of Rob's unpacked boxes and Justin helped me wrap those up yesterday. My sister sent me a book that she just finished reading and I will have Rob give that to me. (You don't mind, do ya Mer?) I need to grab something small that I can wrap for Rob from me. Justin and Tiny each have a present to give to each other too, but theirs are actually new things.
Silly, it might seem, to wrap things that we already own. Rob and I really don't care. I mean do you think he will be excited to get the goggles he bought before Justin was already born? Well, he might be if he forgot he had them, but that isn't the point. Justin was so excited to wrap something up for his dad. He will be thrilled to see Rob open the present and oooh and aaah over it. I guess in our regifting the real present we will receive is seeing the smile on Justin's face and enjoying the excitement of our kids. Cheesy, perhaps, but true.

Christmas

We got the tree decorated. Justin was able to help put things on the lower branches. Ryan was able to take things off of the lower branches. It became a race to see who was faster. My busy little boys! Justin wanted to climb on a chair to reach higher, but we nixed that and forced him to stay within his reach. Parents can be so mean. The first ornament on the tree was one that Justin made at the Embassy Christmas party. He was so proud of the ornament. It is, well, let's just say that it is a treasure because my 2 year old made it. I don't think we have to insure it or anything. He had so much fun with his "project" too. My mom got him started on the idea of doing projects. Projects can be a variety of things involving glue, paint, markers, crayons, etc. I need to be better about getting projects for him to do. It isn't like I don't have anything. A lot of my teaching stuff is here and I have several things that Justin can do. It just gets to be a pain with Tiny helping all the time and Justin needing help but not wanting to have help.

Okay, back to Christmas. Yep, in that picture Tiny has something small in his mouth. Justin makes it nearly impossible to keep things even close to baby proof. Actually, since Tiny is over a year now I guess it is 'toddler' proof. My baby is so big! Ryan loves to stick anything and everything in his mouth except when I want him too. He will eat ants, paper, rubberbands, and the like, but will turn up his nose at new foods. Why is it that kids do that? Don't say that those things taste better than my cooking. At the Embassy party, Justin was a bit shy of Santa. When the gifts started coming out of the bag, Daddy was able to persuade him that maybe approaching Santa was not such a bad idea. It took awhile, but Justin did warm up enough to get his present and talk Santa's ear off. Probably better when he was shy. Ryan, on the other hand, was very different. He cried even getting near Santa. The picture of me with Tiny and Santa was the happiest Tiny was during the whole Santa time. Isn't it strange? I know it is common for small children to be afraid or shy of Santa, but my kids are generally so outgoing and love everyone. Justin was already blabbing about Santa non-stop, yet seeing him in the flesh was another story. Probably even stranger than kids being afraid around Santa is the need we parents feel to push our kids onto the lap of this stranger (don't we usually say DON'T go to strangers?) and try to get a picture. What are we thinking? Beats me.

Justin Turns Two!

Justin had a good birthday. Pizza and chocolate cake for dinner. Yum! He had more presents than he needed. He would have been happy with one. Of course the day after his birthday he figured he should be allowed to open the other presents that he saw. Why wait for Christmas? We forced a lot of presents on him one day and deny him the next. So confusing.