{Being Thankful}

Since I last blogged, we have received 8-10 inches of snow. Apart from a little bit of cabin fever, I've been loving it. It started snowing a couple of days after my sister arrived for the week. We felt a little like young girls again, remembering how excited we were about snow while growing up.


We ventured out one afternoon and walked downtown for window shopping and coffee, while Daddy stayed home with our little guy. It was a wonderful week of catching up. I loved seeing Beth as an auntie. She loves her new role, as I'm sure you can tell!

{Just after meeting Oliver for the first time}

{Auntie kisses.... lots of them}

We all enjoyed our Thanksgiving together as a family. It had been several years since Beth was able to spend it with us. We were very sad Tim's parents weren't able to make it, but with the weather the way it has been, it was for the best. We look forward to a later visit, hopefully.

Sunday morning we dedicated Oliver at church. Other than a case of the hiccups he did very well up in front of everyone. It was a blessing to have my family with us.

~ That afternoon the church blessed me and Oliver with a shower. ~

{ I was so surprised and amazed to open this beautiful quilt,
made by the ladies of the church }

{ I can't close without a picture with my precious son }

{Pastimes}

This past week Tim and I decided, on a whim, that it was time to become a little more technologically advanced and join the world of Skyping. We were sitting together a few evenings ago, enjoying our much more rare just -the -two -of -us times, discussing our holidays plans, and Tim decided he should run to Walmart and get a camera for our computer. Yes, our computer is "old" enough not to have one built in.

We were prompted to take this step because we have been so excited for Tim's parents to meet their new little grandson. We are super excited that they are planning to join us for Thanksgiving. With the weather the way it is, though, there is the unfortunate possibility that they will be unable to make the drive. Skype has been a tremendous way to fill the gap. It was so sweet to see Tim's sheer joy as he showed his parents Oliver for the first time. There's just really nothing to top moments like that in life! Oliver has since met two sets of aunts and uncles this way, which was very special as well.

Speaking of aunts, tomorrow Oliver will meet his Auntie B. for the first time. We are super excited to see her! We have been anticipating this visit for a long time now. I am looking forward to sister time for a week. We plan to pull out our projects while Oliver naps. I realized this morning as I was thinking about what I would like to work on, that it has been YEARS since we have had an opportunity to create together. Years!! Growing up it was a daily pleasure. Such fun.



I will be working on Oliver's baby quilt. I have given up hand-quilting it and am resorting to my machine. I want him to be able to use it this winter, if you know what I mean? Beth will no doubt be buried in cards. I know I'm biased, but she is a master in my mind. I was recently tickled pink to receive a "just because" package in the mail of cards she'd made with me in mind. There is always a dilemma with her cards... I want to send them to special people in my life because they're so beautiful, I also want to keep them because they're so beautiful. I usually break down and send them, and am happy I did, but there are a few I've not been able to part with, and I've had them for a couple of years!




My sister has become enamored with owls lately. I thought it was just her, but I've since discovered owls everywhere I go. They are very cute, but I have to ask myself what made them popular all of a sudden? Trends are a great mystery to me! Does someone at the top of the fashion industry keep a hat on their desk with little folded pieces of paper in it? Did they pull out "owls" at the beginning of 2010? Regardless, Oliver and I are going to welcome her with a little owl party tomorrow. I can't wait to surprise her with this cookie project! Which reminds me... I need to get almonds and chocolate chips.



Speaking of grocery stores, I was at WinCo the other day and was getting positively giddy in the bulk section. Christmas candy, nuts, fruit, chocolate is everywhere, not to mention pumpkin filling, cream cheese, sugar, sprinkles, and frosting. I wanted to take it all home with me, turn on Christmas music and bake, and bake, and bake! It didn't help that we woke up to snow yesterday with another skiff this morning. Tim and I already decided this morning that we can't wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start listening to Christmas music. I'll let you in on a little secret... (we already have some of our Christmas bows hung outside).

While I was at WinCo, I restocked our supply of tea. It was such fun. I am hosting the Christmas tea for my mom's group the first week of December! I'm so excited! I had to find a tea that would be perfect. As I was finishing my perusal of the shelves, I found "Constant Comment", a Bigelow blend. With orange and spices it sounds like the perfect Christmas tea and with a name like that I couldn't pass it up for a group of ladies.




Well, I have lots of company to prepare for and my house isn't ready. I wish you a blessed Thanksgiving!

{Baby Blues and Rainbows}

This week I'm experiencing what I hear is referred to as "baby blues". I mistakenly assumed I was out of danger, as they didn't really seem to hit until now. Maybe they were stalled because I had such wonderful help and company those first two weeks. Oddly enough, the blues like to hit me when I'm nursing. Makes me wonder if they can be linked to a drop in blood sugar. Thankfully there is always a little rainbow that comes out when I look down into the peaceful and beautiful eyes of my little boy. At the morning feeding I have been enjoying spending that time doing my devotions. I have begun reading Matthew and am also enjoying "Meditations for the New Mother" by Helen Good Brenneman. It was loaned to me by the leader of the mom's group I attend and it has blessed me very much already.

I love this prayer at the end of day one:

Dear God, I thank you with all heart for the beautiful experience of
motherhood and for the infant at my side.
Just as you have helped the mothers
of all ages, guide me in my new task, bless my precious baby,
and bless the baby's father in his love and concern for both of us. Amen.

I find it so comforting to remember that I am "joining hands" with the mothers of the ages, that every worry, each sleep-deprived night, all of the questions, concerns, joys, tears, and the entry into a new normal is territory charted before me.

I'm thankful Oliver and I were able to join the mom's group for the first time in three weeks this morning. Now I am dreaming up hostessing the Christmas Tea at my house. It sounds so lovely!



We met a friend for coffee afterward and I was so blessed to get out and have girl time, looking at her wedding pictures and just visiting. I'm so thankful for this friend who has made a point to arrange a visit with me each week since Oliver was born.



Now we look forward to the visit of another very dear friend, newly engaged, who will visit us later this week. We can talk weddings now to our hearts content. I never tire of this, I confess.

I hesitate to end by talking about the weather... it makes one think I don't know what else to say... but I have to because the snow level is dropping to 2500 ft. tonight. Snow excites me! Christmas excites me and snow assures me we're getting really, really close!

{Quiet Afternoon}

This is a quiet Saturday afternoon as I putter around the house, washing laundry, putting things away, thinking about cleaning the bathroom. Cleaning the bathroom is clearly my least favorite chore. It is shameful how long I will procrastinate before doing it.

I am enjoying the company of my little man. He is sleeping sweetly right now, and just seeing him curled up near me melts my heart.

~I took this one a few days ago~




We are waiting expectantly to hear Oliver's daddy on the radio in a few minutes, at the Vandal's halftime. I have officially become a college football fan, apparently. Who would have thought I'd spend a Saturday afternoon alone, listening to football on the radio, or reading the sports page in the newspaper, or making sure our son is wearing football wear on game day? I surprise myself, but I'm okay with it!



I am so overwhelmed by the blessings each day brings as I settle into the fulfillment and dream-come-true of being a mother. Although it is hard, I don't mind getting up for feedings in the middle of the night, or having a messy house, feeling hungry and letting Oliver eat first, or going to the grocery store without my make-up on, because he is so much more important than all of that. I get a little lump in my throat when I reflect on this blessing. It's still a little hard to believe he is here and healthy and growing, a precious responsibility from heaven.

There are so many seasons of life going on around me, just as we are experiencing the change from fall into winter. This is a sweet and precious season for us, and everything is going well right now. God has been lavishing us with blessings.

During our devotions in the morning, Tim has been reading through Job. He is reading through the Bible and was just starting Job when Oliver was born. It has been a very rich and convicting reading. Here was a man with "everything" who was chosen by God to suffer great loss and tragedy following his season of richness. We have been praying that we will react appropriately when our time of challenge comes. We know this present season can't last forever. Life isn't like that. If only we react as Job did, not questioning God's wisdom!

We have also been praying that we respond with wisdom to the seasons in the lives of those near and dear to us. It is easy to rejoice with a dear friend in new-found love. It is much more difficult to walk alongside our other precious friends as they battle cancer with their little son and watch as clouds gather and their skies turn dark. How difficult a season, and yet God is as much of a presence in both. One is just easier to understand.

My little Oliver is stirring and I still need to clean the bathroom! I hope to see my blog less neglected in future, but I won't make any promises!