Little Angel

When I picked B up from school today, his teacher gave me this little footprint angel along with a couple Christmas tree ornaments that have B's photo, hand print and finger prints...

Who would have thought that something so simple would make such an incredible gift? I honestly don't think that I could have picked out a sweeter or more special gift at any store. I can't wait to hang the ornaments on our tree each year and be reminded of this special Christmas season with B.

B has and continues to be such a gift to C and I...we marvel at the miracle that his little life is...it is so fun to watch his little world expand, it feels like he is changing by the week. As we anticipate Christmas and Christ's birth...it really does make us wonder what it was like for Mary and for Joseph and even more for God...to experience Christ's birth and to watch him grow up...to coo, to crawl...what a gift!

Merry Christmas!

The Manger

C and I have talked about wanting to create traditions for our family to enjoy...C came up with the idea of having a manger to place Christmas gifts under to help us remember that Christ is our ultimate gift and that all gifts and provision come from Him...

With that said, C set out to build our family manger about a month ago. He came up with an idea to have removable slats that can be changed out each Christmas, so that we could each paint some of our favorite memories/blessings from the past year on the removable slats... After the manger was finished, we got ready to paint...B's painting gear included a diaper, his Bumbo chair and his hands...

B was pretty indifferent about the paint...he wanted to try to eat it more than he wanted to play with it...

Bath time came right after paint time...it was hysterical, B had paint all over his face, ears, hair, tummy... it was everywhere!

Here is the final product...

It really was fun to paint the slats together and talk about some of our favorite memories from this past year...some of C's included B's arrival, a kayaking trip, our Maine trip & golfing in California. Some of mine included getting ready for B, B's arrival, walks & runs around our neighborhood with B and Ella, our trips to see family and friends, the glimpse that we have gotten of our church's children's ministry & B's dedication.

We hope this will be a tradition that we can continue for several years to come!

Merry Christmas!

My Cup is Full...

C and I are creatures of habit...we have a routine and we like to stick to it, we don't know where the routine comes from...but when we fall into one, we are committed!

We typically do our weekly grocery shopping together after church...I like the company and these days C pushes the shopping cart while I push B in the stroller and pick items off the shelves. Before we start tackling our weekly list, we usually get lunch at the little concession/deli stand at the grocery store (not real healthy, I know!) Today, while we were enjoying our DELIcious lunch, I mentioned to Chad that my cup was full...

Let me explain...

We set this weekend aside to enjoy Christmas at home with each other and friends...we really didn't have any firm plans in place...

On Friday, we had the opportunity to visit some dear friends who just had a baby...it was so fun to hold their little one and try to remember B being that small...he looked like he was ready for college in comparison to our friend's little guy. It was so sweet to hold a newborn this time of year, I was flooded with memories of B's birth and found myself wondering what Mary & Joseph must have felt like holding Jesus in the minutes and days after he was born. Later we enjoyed dinner out with B...the people watching was fantastic...in fact, so much that we ordered desert just to stay at our table a little longer...then we went home and cleaned some drawers and cabinets out in effort to utilize as many square inches of our little house as possible...most people would say that this activity may be like pulling teeth...but it really was fun to discover items that had been lost in the abyss of our accumulated clutter...I found my learners permit card with a photo from when I was 15 (we enjoyed some good laughs)!

On Saturday morning, we woke up, bundled up and headed to the bakery for breakfast. While ordering our sweets, we discovered a doughnut shaped ornament and decided to purchase it to commemorate our Saturday breakfast tradition...(we can now say that we have a chocolate frosted doughnut hanging from a branch on our tree). We enjoyed our sweets and coffee and then headed to help C's cousin take their Christmas card photos. After lunch, B and C watched football while I wrapped Christmas gifts. Later we met some friends from our Bible study to go shopping for some precious kids in need and then enjoyed a fantastic meal and finished the evening by enjoying some cider & cocoa while wrapping the gifts we had all purchased.

Then this morning, C woke up early and got B's breakfast ready. He proceeded to get B up, feed, bathe and dress him all on his own (it was a treat)! Then we headed to church. We decided to bring B with us to "Big Church" to enjoy the Christmas concert that our church has each year to kick off the Advent season. We were able to sit in the first row of the balcony so B was able to see what was going on without much distraction...he loved it! He sat still on my lap for almost a half our, wide eyed, impressed and not wiggly. At this point, my cup was overflowing, I can't describe the feeling I had in my heart of being at church, listening to some of my favorite Christmas music, sitting next to C and watching B be completely mesmerized! We later enjoyed a truly thought provoking lesson in Sunday school about Old Testament prophecy & Christ's birth. Since this morning, B has enjoyed a nap, we have taken our Christmas card photos with some dear friends and now C is watching football while I bake some cookies (with Christmas music playing and the Christmas lights on our tree glowing).

I am by no means trying to romanticize our life or paint our family time as perfect...we are far from that! On Friday, we didn't have much planned for the weekend, we just wanted to enjoy being at home and being together and were pleasantly surprised with how the weekend turned out. I am so humbled to sit back and think about our weekend and all the little blessings we were able to enjoy. It makes me wonder how many little blessing fly in and out of each week that I don't see or am not able to enjoy because I let them slip by. As Christmas quickly approaches, and as life flies by...I hope to be able to savor and relish in the little blessings & gifts that the Lord sends our way! My cup is truly full...nothing exceptional or out of the ordinary has happened...but when I really do examine life, my cup is full...I am so thankful for the small things, for the challenges...for everything!

Merry Christmas!

Its Beginning to Look a lot Like...

We decided to avoid the threat of getting caught in any snow storms while chopping down our family Christmas tree this year, we have heard that the forests of Fort Worth can be especially dangerous... So we drove to The Home Depot to pick out a tree that had already been cut...of course we had to capture B picking out his first tree...please notice C's foot attire (only in Texas) and the look of excitement on B's face as he rides in the orange shopping cart.

My mom sent this advent calendar for our family to enjoy each year...since we haven't picked out a stocking for B yet, we decided to hang the calendar from our mantel...it will be fun when B is really able to understand the meaning of Advent. We counted down the days till Christmas when I was growing up...I have some sweet memories of different Advent traditions our family made together...it is so fun to create new traditions for our little family...

This is our humble little tree all decorated...I decorated the tree while C and B cheered me on...really, C wrangled B and prevented him from putting ornaments and lights in his mouth. C made some cider to enjoy as we decorated...the night provided some sweet family time. C is working on a making a manger to place next to the tree. We really want Christ to the focus of our family's Christmas traditions. Our hope is to place all of our gifts under the manger because Christ is our ultimate gift!

(The lone gift is actually C's gift to me...I want to give him props for having the gift purchased and wrapped before December 1st! The anticipation of what is inside will only continue to increase!)

B

I know that most of our photos are of B...but here are some recent photos that we have taken that seem to capture B's most recent smiles, moves, quirks and interests... B's smile continues to be contagious...if you smile at him...he smiles back...though this smile makes you wonder if he is thinking "Dad...another photo?"

B continues to be on the move...he is still crawling with three legs as opposed to four...but he is remarkably quick...he is keeping us on our toes!

The "Ella" gate has recently been re purposed in our front room...with the Christmas tree up...we decided that we may need occasional reinforcement to keep our little explorer safe...I love the stare down happening between B and Ella...

Peek-a-Boo! I see you with your bottle!

B has really gotten quite confident in his ability to pull up on furniture and people...he isn't moving around while standing...but instead totally content just to stand and pound his hands up and down on the surface that he is holding (while smiling of course!)

Thanksgiving

We headed down to Salado with C's family to celebrate Thanksgiving...Chad's grandfather was gracious to provide the time away for our extended family...the guys enjoyed playing some golf while the girls (and B) wondered through the little boutiques on Salado's main street...

Our whole group...minus "Uncle Brian" who had to go home early to work...

We celebrated an early Christmas...B enjoyed the boxes, bags and tissue paper that the gifts were wrapped in...

B and his cousin "Em"...Em is almost one year older than B...there is a lot of playing and fun to be had between these two kiddos in the future!

There is so much to be thankful for!

one more photo

I accidentally forgot to post this photo in my last post...this photo makes me laugh...B finally found someone who takes feeding him as serious as B this eating to be! I think my dad's face and B's face are priceless in this photo!

Quick Trip

C was gracious to let B and I sneak up to Minnesota for a quick trip to celebrate my mom's birthday before Thanksgiving... The flight up was awesome! The flight attendant offered B and I an entire row in the back of the plane that was empty...B played and explored to his heart's content!

We bundled up on my mom's birthday and walked to one of our favorite places to eat breakfast...it was fun to bundle B up in clothes that he doesn't get to wear much in our neck of the woods!

Not quite old enough for birthday cake...but a smashed up banana was the next best thing!

It was another quick trip...but time that we are so grateful for!