{ Merry Christmas, Mr. Oliver }

Oliver,

Tomorrow is Christmas, and even though you celebrated your first one last year, we're feeling like this one counts more, because its magic is coming to life through your little eyes this year.

You are 14 months old today, and at least once a day I look at you and wonder how you could have changed so much in just over a year.  You are all boy, a little rough and tumble, and oh so sweet.  You're a charmer.  We just love your giggles and we love to get them going as much as possible.  It's even more fun that you're getting our giggles going with your impish grin, grunts at difficult jobs like exploring boxes, sing-songs in the car, and how you laugh at your own jokes and we have no idea what's in your little head, but we can't stop laughing.

Now you're a big brother and we just can't get over how sweet and loving you are to your baby sister Katy Grace.  You're already working hard to be a helper:  handing me a diaper, responding to her fussing, whimpering when she cries, and helping to burp her.

I miss having as much time to snuggle with you and I can't wait until I am recovered enough to pick you up again, but you've been very understanding.  I am loving that you and your daddy are getting lots of special time together these days.  I love that he plays on the floor with you and how you help add resistance when he does push ups!

Tomorrow you're going to wake up to a stocking and all those presents you've been playing with under our tree.  You're going to go to church and help celebrate the baby Jesus.  It's such a wonderful time of year.  I am praying that this year marks just the beginning of wonderful Christmases all through your life, and I will be praying that you will come to know the story of Christmas in your heart as real and wonderful and that Jesus will come to live in your heart every day, not just at Christmas.

Merry Christmas, Mr. Oliver.

I love you,

Mommy

{ Kathryn Grace }

Our beautiful little blessing 

Kathryn Grace 

arrived safely into our arms on December 15 at 9:06 p.m.

She weighed 6 pounds 13 ounces, 19.5 inches long 

 Being mother to a daughter is so incredibly special.  I can hardly believe I am so blessed.

{ Meeting her daddy for the first time.  He is just smitten with her.  So happy he got his little girl!  Seeing them together just melts my heart.  He's helplessly wrapped around those little fingers.  }

 { Big Brother Oliver.  Grandma and Grandpa brought him back to meet his little sister the next morning.  He'd just woken up from a nap so he was totally low-key and not too responsive.  Once he woke up, however, he discovered he is taken with her.  He LOVES her so much.  It is the sweetest thing to see him give her kisses in the morning.  He is learning to be gentle with her.  Nothing makes him smile like being with her.  He talks to her and somehow, I think they understand each other :) }

 {  Happy Birthday, Katy Grace.  We are so happy you're here and a part of our family forever  }

 {  Meeting Grandpa Forest and Grandma Linda  }

{ Christmas at Our House }

Last Saturday our little family set off to find our Christmas tree. We've gone to the same farm the past three years and it has become a special tradition. We listened to Christmas music and had a good time visiting while we drove. We were a little disappointed there was no snow, but when we got to the farm, it started to snow a little and it continued until we got home and had trimmed the tree before bringing it in the house. It was a special surprise straight from Heaven! This was technically Oliver's second time to get a tree, but he was barely 2 months old last year.... this year... this is how he enjoyed it! He fell asleep right as we pulled into the farm. It did make finding a tree easier since we could leave him in the car!

{Getting ready to take it home }

{ See the little face in the window?  He was absolutely beside himself with excitement watching his daddy prepare the tree to come in the house! }

{ Wow!  Here it comes! }

{ I love Tim's expression in this picture, "What did I get myself into?"}

{ Sooo excited }

Here are some more festive touches going on at our house.  Tim has done a lovely job on the outside of our house and inside we're loving how merry and bright it is.  Merry Christmas from our house to yours!

{ Shared Secrets }

This is a rather random post, but I was asked to post it after this dear friend's visit.  It included a very unfortunate but funny and memorable mishap.  You can read about it over at her blog.  The short of it is, we ended up sharing laundry tips, things I've learned but have taken for granted.  Maybe you have more secrets.  Feel free to add them to this list!  I'd love to hear them. I've learned all of these tips from my mom or friends so I can't take the credit, but here goes:

To remove fruit juice stains, including grape juice YEAH!:  boiling water applied directly to the stain
To remove ink pen stains:  hair spray
To remove grease stains:  liquid dish soap, applied very generously, rubbed in well, followed by a good stain remover
To remove pitch:  rubbing alcohol.  This also works well to remove it from your skin as well as a Christmas tree after clipping the branches.  (My husband discovered this!)

I'd still like to know how to remove coffee stains.  Anyone?  Last weekend we attended a wedding and shortly after arriving at the reception, I offered to get hot drinks for Tim and I.  I very casually stood in line and waited my turn.  They had provided pretty clear glass mugs.  As I was filling the first mug, it literally fell apart in my hand!  I felt this sort of "pop" in my hand and hot coffee at my feet!  The bottom had just dropped of it and exploded.  Thankfully it didn't land directly on my foot and I was wearing black pants, so even though I had a wet leg the rest of the evening, it wasn't obvious!  A little embarrassing, but good for a laugh in the long run! 

{ Christmas is Coming }

 source

My house is decorated for Christmas!

Well almost.... we are getting our tree on Saturday.  This year my goal is festive, not fancy, so it's pretty simple.  Just getting the decorations up from the basement had to wait for Tim's lunch break today so he could carry everything, and by everything I mean about three small boxes.  That is about my energy level these days. 

I am 4 days away from my 9th month of pregnancy so I am doing a minimal amount of everything this year.  I am kind of enjoying it.  I think that's what everyone is looking for at Christmas:  simplicity and the chance to enjoy family and the festivities.

It has been next to forever since I've blogged.  It's just been one more thing to do and hasn't made it to my priority list, obviously.

It is amazing how time flies by and what happens in just a short amount of time.  I am so thankful for many things this season:

• So excited that Oliver has learned to walk and my, oh my, how he loves it.  He is just so proud of himself and so are we!  
• We spent a good day with my parents for Thanksgiving.  We went to their home this year and I so enjoyed the break from hostessing.  I have loved doing it the past couple of years, but this year I just didn't have the energy.  
• I am finally learning to let go and even accepting not having a tidy or particularly clean house.  I fought this one, I still have my days, but I'm finally listening to those who love me who have encouraged me to give myself a break.  
• Tomorrow my mom is coming to help me make and freeze meals for after the baby is born.  So looking forward to the help that will be!  
• Tim and I are going to the "Nutcracker" on Sunday while my parents watch Oliver.  Tim has never seen the ballet and I'm simply giddy to be the one introducing him to it.  
• Most of my Christmas shopping is finished and that this year I got to do a good part of it with a friend and another day all by myself! 

 source

{ Veterans Day and My Own Captain }

It is fitting, I think, that Veteran's Day should fall in November, the month we are most likely to be thinking about what we are thankful for.  I know I am extremely grateful for the men and women who serve today and who have served in the past.  Today I am thinking about my grandpa who served in WWII, my dad who served in Vietnam, and my husband who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as many, many more that I know who have served.  I want to stop for a few minutes today and say "Thank You"! 

 { One of Tim's photographs }

It was an early morning for us today.  I have been sick this past week and just couldn't sleep anymore so I got up and helped Tim prepare for the speech he is giving this morning at a local school assembly.  I am hoping he enjoys it and feels honored as the guest speaker on this day of recognition.  I've heard his accounts from service before, but they struck home in a new way today.  I realized just how important it is to have a perspective of gratitude throughout the year.  I so often take for granted what is behind my ability to be thankful for simple things.  

There are no doubt arguments on both sides, but I was thinking this morning about how our military is completely volunteer.  For the most part, those who serve want to be there and want to do a good job.  I know Tim was glad to go.  I also know and see everyday the toll it took on him.  Every soldier comes back with wounds, physical or mental.  When he talked in his speech about returning from deployment  to American soil and being met by protesters while exiting the plane, it just made me so sad.

A few weeks ago, our pastor preached on the account of Jesus and the ten lepers.  They were all set free to once more live a normal life.  Of those ten, only one came back and thanked Jesus.  Jesus asks him where the other nine are, but the Bible doesn't say they were punished in any way for not coming back.  Tim used this account as the close to his speech and I think it is very fitting on a day like today.  As he said, "turning around to say thank you is just the right thing to do".   

{ Leaf Play }

Playing with Oliver in the leaves lately has been so sweet.  

He is loving his world

and

I am loving watching him discover it.

{ A Very Happy Birthday }

On October 24, our baby turned 1 year old.  I still can't quite believe that we have crossed over into saying "year" and not just "months".  In the past week or so it has been amazing to me how much more like a little boy he is than a baby.  It is a very bittersweet transition as I cherish this increased interaction and development and really begin to see him taking on his world, but also see that baby stage passing away.  There have been several times where I've found myself not wanting to put him in any of his clothes that make him look more grown up.  I just want to hold on to the baby look a little bit longer.  Everyone always says kids grow up way too fast.  I thought I was prepared for it, but it's so true.  Cherish each moment or they pass by and are gone!

On that note, birthday party pictures are further on, but I just have to include a few reminders of those precious few hours and days when Oliver Forest entered our lives one year ago.

{ A few minutes after he was born. }

We began the happy birthday celebration with the arrival of my sister Bethany, now Auntie B, the Saturday before the party. It was so very special to have her here and to see her and Oliver bond in a very special way.  We hadn't spent good, quantity time with her since Oliver was 6 months old, so it was well overdue.  I appreciated having her help in the last-minute party preparations, and of course having her tremendous artistic abilities available was an added blessing!  She added lovely details to the appetizers, candy dishes, made the cake and hung streamers.  I miss doing things with her more often!

We had a wonderful amount of guests to help us celebrate.  The guest list ended up being small, and I was concerned there wouldn't be enough people, but it was perfect.  God blessed me so much in that capacity.  Everyone was able to visit, I was able to keep the food simple, and Oliver had a wonderful time and wasn't overwhelmed by any of it.  Unfortunately, I didn't end up with many pictures of our guests, but they are remembered in our hearts.

I was so excited, I started planning and preparing for the party at least two months ahead of time.  I didn't exactly have a theme.  I knew I wanted animals, puppets and lots of color.  It all came together wonderfully and Oliver was so happy when he got up from his nap and saw the room transformed.  Seeing his eyes light up was exactly the effect I was going for!

 

We had a cake, but also an ice cream bar with waffle cones and all the toppings.  That was so much fun.  I think everyone had the child inside come out because there were many happy trips back to add more toppings made by everyone!

{ The happy Auntie B and Grandma Linda }

 

Then of course there were presents.  He enjoyed opening the first couple of boxes and then once he got to a new toy, he was ready to put the rest aside and play with it.  (I finished them for him!)

Because his birthday was on Monday, we celebrated with his party on Sunday.  I wanted to make his real birthday special, though, so we all enjoyed Monkey Pancakes, which I had found over here.  We call him our little monkey, so it was perfect.  Yum, yum!

He snuggled so sweetly with his grandpa that morning. 

Tim and I are so blessed to be the parents entrusted with this precious boy.  My heart is very full as I consider the ways Oliver has enriched our lives and how we have grown as individuals and as a couple because of him.

Happy birthday, Oliver.  May you have a wonderful and happy 2nd year of life!