11 Months

Oh my heart, you are my 11-month-old baby who is hardly my baby anymore! There are still moments that I can steal a snuggle, a head laid on my shoulder, or brief times of sleeping in my arms. All the other times you are on the move! At 11 months:

• You are a crawling machine. You are not really even close to walking-you don't need to because you can get everywhere on your knees!
• You do stand for brief periods of time and you are good at pushing your walking toys around-no independent steps yet.
• You are still a good eater. You still love the avocado/banana combo but your new likes are Spaghetti-Os, blueberries, Goldfish, pretty much anything on Mama's plate.
• You love clapping for yourself and your accomplishments.
• You LOVE music. You love the drum at Granna's house and can be found dancing and nodding/shaking your head to your favorite beats.:)
• You are figuring out toys/shapes/pieces. For instance, you can figure out how to put the triangle into the triangle hole in the shape sorter, and you know that the cookies go in Cookie Monster's mouth.
• You are loving books, especially the ones that you can touch/feel/lift the flap. You sit independently and turn the pages of books the right direction (even though the book is sometimes upside down, haha).
• You love being chased by Mama or Daddy. It's such a fun game to you.
• You have 6 teeth!! Whoa. I wouldn't say you have had a terrible teething experience, but I know you have been uncomfortable.

You are happiness and joy and fun and laughter. You have so much ahead of you and I find it hard to imagine that I will be able to love the 1, 2, or 3 year old you as much as I love the you right now-although I know I will figure it out.:) I get you up in the morning and you look out the big window in the front of our house with eyes wide open and we say "Good morning world!" Your eyes light up as if you are imagining all the day has in store for you. I would love to be able to fill those eyes up with only good things-love, kindness, peace. I pray that God keeps you in His hands always and protects you, cares for you, and comforts you. We love you, Baby Boy!

A Christmas Open House

  My earliest Christmas memories were always centered around my Grandparents. We lived with them for a time and they were practically my second parents. Christmas was always such a big deal at their house. Everyone-aunts, uncles, and cousins would pile into their house on Christmas Eve because Santa always came to Grandmother and Granddaddy's house. I have such good memories of Christmas and its preparations. Trays and containers of baked treats would start to appear not long after Thanksgiving. The wreaths and bows would come out and the handmade stockings would be hung on the mantle. The tree was the centerpiece and always had a glamorous flair-my Grandmother was a glamorous lady! I hope to keep many of those Christmas traditions with my family and I decorated this year with my family on my mind, especially my Grandmother. She knew how to make it special.

This is me, days old, underneath the Christmas tree.

 3 or 4 years old?

I would have loved to have every single one of you over to our house this Christmas so I decided to invite you to a "virtual open house". My decorations aren't expensive or necessarily impressive but they are special to me and it's much more fun to share!

Come on in!

Here is one most recent addition:

This little guy is going to have a fun first Christmas! He can be found pulling ornaments and lights off the bottom of the tree and even getting stuck behind it occasionally. Christmas is so much more fun with him!

We can't wait to make our own family's Christmas memories and I hope that our kids have such good memories of their early Christmases.

Thank you so much for stopping by our open house and indulging me in some Christmas memories.:) I hope your Christmases are wonderful and your time with family is special!

Burdened

Burdened--that is how I would describe my feelings and my heart over the weekend and today. I have turned off the news but those details and images are hard to get off my mind. I cannot even begin to imagine how a loss like that would feel. I can hardly even think of words to say. All I know is that I try to grasp onto some kind of peace in my heart that this was not the end for those children. We know that He holds the future.

Birthday Blessings

I have all the birthday gifts I need right here at home. I can't help but have other children and families on my mind and in my prayers today. Thank you all for the birthday wishes. My day was already beautiful when I woke up with my husband beside me and a cuddly baby's sweet smile!