2011 Eve.

We are in our last hours of 2010, and I'm feeling reminiscent.  Look out, Bloggy World, you are about to be thrown the entire year of 2010 in photos!  {Since we've had our first child within the year, I'll be picky and narrow my choices down to a few favorites, okay?}

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

Birthday.

     Well, it has happened.  I am 26 years old today...which means that I am now closer to 30 than I am to 20.  I'm not going to go into to some long rant about feeling old now because I don't feel much different than I did yesterday, but, man, time sure is flying nowadays!  This past year of my life has changed me in so many ways.  Most importantly, I became a mother.  Less importantly (but still in the Big Deal section of Life), we bought a house, I quit my job, and we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary.  Yes, I'd say that life is going quite splendidly...and, while I'm not thrilled to be checking the 26-30 section of surveys, I am confident that these 5 years will be much more fulfulling than the first 5 of the decade.  {Wait, does narrowing your life down to decades make you officially old?}

     We celebrated my birthday in a simple fashion, by staying home and having my parents and brother over for spaghetti and birthday cake.  I am a true homebody, and I cannot think of a better way to spend the day than at home with my most loved family members.  {Having both brothers home would have been great, but I'll take either one when I can get him!}  Nathaniel was his sweet self all day, and my wonderful husband even got up early and braved the icy roads to bring me a red rose and some strawberry ice cream!  {Seriously, now do you understand why he is the best husband ever?!}

Christmas in review...

Mommy's favorite gift!

     How was your Christmas?  Ours was wonderful!  You know how every single year, you think, "Oh, this is going to be the best Christmas ever"?  And then, it may or may not be great, but it just never quite reaches that goal of being the best ever because you always remember that one year when you were 10 and you reallyreallyreally wanted a Bundle Baby, but weren't sure you'd get it....then on Christmas morning, you rip open the most Bundle-Baby-sized package with your name on it, and there she is, with her plastic baby doll head, her authentic Bundle Baby birth certificate, and her carrier that really kicks when you push a button!  Oh, that was a fabulous Christmas!  And, up until now, that was the year that I always considered my "best Christmas ever!"  This year, I had my very own REAL bundle of a baby to enjoy all day long!  {And, while I might have finally topped the Bundle Baby gift with a real baby, I still give my mom credit for searching the stores for weeks for my Bundle Baby!  And, when she couldn't find one anywhere, my aunt finally called her to let her know that a store 30 minutes away had just a few left, and she could give her girl the best Christmas ever if she hurried.  She did, and I am still grateful!  Thanks, Mom!!} 

     Anyway, back to Christmas 2010 around here!  We slept in a bit, then finally got ourselves up and moving for our traditional gingerbread breakfast.  We opened our gifts, and, of course, Nathaniel made out with lots of loot!  My parents and brother arrived, and, soon thereafter, my entire extended family on my mother's side.  We had a great day with lots of laughter, hugs, cookies, presents, and ham!  It was a long day for my little man, but he was a champ!  He missed a few naps, but was content to snuggle with me and his binkie when he needed a break.  After all of the excitement was over, he slept for almost 12 hours!! 

Nathaniel's very first gift...

"Okay, Mama, I've got this one!"

"What, Dad?  Can't you see that I'm very busy here?"

My best Christmas ever {thanks to these two!}!

"Oooh, trucks!"

Nathaniel with Grandpa and Nana.

Nate checking out one of his new books.

 Hope you all had a blessed holiday with family!

Merry Christmas!

Hope you all have a very blessed holiday with family and friends!  Merry Christmas!!

Christmas Eve.

  After a 2-day-long "last minute" rush of cleaning and baking, we have finally settled down to enjoy our Christmas Eve around here.  We have an assortment of 8 different kinds of cookies in the kitchen, a living room bursting with twinkle lights and wrapped packages, a freshly mopped floor, a peacefully sleeping baby, and a weather map predicting a white Christmas!  What more could I want?!  We will be hosting Christmas dinner tomorrow for 16 people, and I cannot wait!

My handsome men.

         We spent our evening with some of our favorite people, and now it's just time to relax and enjoy the magic of Christmas.  We had dinner with Eric's grandparents, where Nathaniel opened his very first Christmas gift!  He received a baby gym, which he absolutely loves!

  Next, we attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service at church.  {Remember how special I knew it would be with my baby boy?  It truly was!} 

My brother, Tim, is home for Christmas, and he finally got to meet Nathaniel!

     When we came home, I gave Nathaniel his bath, then he got to play with his little gym for a bit.  He has such a blast with it!

Then we settled down to read The Night Before Christmas....

Nate is asleep now, and Eric and I are enjoying a movie together.  I cannot imagine a better way to spend a Christmas Eve!

   Merry Christmas!

nativity.

     After having my own first baby son this year, I've been doing a lot of thinking about Mary this holiday season.  I supposed I've always tried to relate to her in some way--c'mon, she's the only girl in the Christmas story!  I've been thinking about Nate's birth in a pristine hospital room with medical personnel surrounding us...I was scared, and I worried about him.  How much do you think Mary worried about birthing her own precious baby on the cold, dirty floor of a barn?!  Nate is four months old, and I still obsess about germs; I cannot even begin to imagine giving birth in a stinky barn.
     We think of Mary as the mother of Jesus, but we often forget about her as her own person.  Yes, I know that bringing the Savior of the world into the world is a much more important role than...well, anything!  But, still.  I cannot even begin to imagine the emotions that must have been running through Mary from the moment that angel appeared to her, while she traveled to Bethlehem enduring contractions, when she realized that the baby was coming now in a less than comfortable environment, when she first caught a glimpse of her son--the Messiah!  I could go on and on.....how would it feel to watch your baby learn to walk, while knowing that he's walked among angels before?  How would it feel to raise a son from birth to adulthood, knowing that he would be "wounded for our transgressions, ...bruised for our iniquities...."? (Isaiah 53:3) 
     Even though we seem to stick a frail little Mary next to the manger in our nativity scene, I'm pretty sure that Mary was a strong, strong woman.

     Is there any way that Mary could have even begun to understand to significance of her baby boy?  Maybe, just maybe she did. 

     Mary, did you know?

     The following is a link to the blog It's Almost Naptime. She writes a beautiful observation of Mary's experience that truly touched my heart.  I know that it's long, but read it; you'll be glad you did.

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2009/12/birth-stories.html

4 months.

     My baby boy is four months old today!  Yes, it's cliche, and, yes, I probably sound like a broken record, but he is growing up so quickly!  {And, isn't it ironic that he will probably never know what a broken record really is--let alone what it might sound like?}
     Nathaniel is right on schedule with the books as far as his development goes.  He can hold his head steady when upright, and he loves to be pulled into a sitting position.  He likes to lay on his belly and raise his head up to look around (he used to hate tummy time!).  He smiles all the time--at everyone!  He laughs and squeals with excitement (cutest thing ever, I might add!), and can reach for and grab at his toys.  He sucks on his fingers, and has started bringing toys to his mouth to explore.  He likes to watch Grover run around the house, and he loves to cuddle with Mommy or Daddy to read stories.  He loves his rattles, and really likes to look at the lights and sparkles on the Christmas tree.  He is starting to resist falling asleep sometimes, especially at night.  But, once he's out, he sleeps for a good 6 or 7 hour stretch, wakes to eat, then sleeps for another 4 hours.  He is still exclusively breastfed, and loves it (we aren't planning to start solids until closer to 6 months).  I'm so proud of my baby boy, and cannot wait to see what exciting surprises he has in store for us this month!

Cranberry Muffins.

These muffins are phenomenal!  I'm not crazy about cranberries (though I do love me some cran-grape juice), but I had three bags in the freezer and no other fruit in the house when I decided to make some muffins for a friend...so cranberry it was!  And, wow!  These are so delicious that I am suddenly glad for an overstock of cranberries because I might be making these babies again tomorrow for us!  And, as an added bonus, these muffins are as pretty as they are yummy!

Cranberry Muffins

1 and 3/4 cups flour

1/3 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons applesauce
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup cranberries, coarsely chopped (I chopped mine frozen)

     Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line 12 muffin cups with paper cups (or grease).  {I only made 10 muffins because I like to make my muffins a bit bigger.}  In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar (1/3 cup), baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.  Make a well in center of mixture; set aside.

     Combine applesauce, milk, oil, vanilla, and almond extract.  Add all at once to the flour mixture.  Stir until just moistened (batter will be lumpy).  In a small bowl, mix chopped cranberries with sugar (2 tablespoons) until berries are coated.  Reserve a tablespoon-full of the berries.  Fold the rest of the berries into muffin batter.

     Spoon about 1/4 cup of batter into each prepared muffin cup.  Drop a few of the reserved berries on top of each muffin, then sprinkle generously with sugar. 
     Bake for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a wooden toothpick inserted into centers comes out clean.  Cool in muffin cups for 5 minutes.  Remove from muffin cups and cool on a wire rack.

cutie.



Check out those baby blues!  And, the cheeks--oh, those cheeks make me melt!  Loving my boy.

silent night?

     Last night, we had what some folks would call a "bad night" at our house.  Nathaniel could not sleep, so he cried.  And cried.  And cried.  This was not a game of "I'm not sleepy, so let's stay awake and play"; this was more of a "Mommy let me stay up too long this evening, so now I'm overly tired and can't get to sleep" sorta night.  We're not used to nighttime crying around here (or much crying at all, for that matter); Nathaniel has been a champion sleeper ever since he was born.  To date, there have only been two nights that I've not been able to get him to sleep within minutes and have resorted to the living room rocking chair.  Last night was one of those nights.  After about 15 minutes of inconsolable wailing in the bedroom, I came out to the living room and flicked on the Christmas tree lights.  Like magic, the crying immediately stopped, and we snuggled up together in the glider.  We rocked and rocked.  I sang every Christmas carol that I could think of.  We rocked some more.  And, we snuggled in a cozy warm blanket, gazing at the colored lights of the tree.  I could tell you that my sweet baby was happily asleep within minutes, but that's not what happened.  What really happened was that he still didn't fall asleep for another hour and 15 minutes.  And you know what?  I didn't mind, not even a little bit.  He wasn't upset; he just couldn't fall asleep.  He needed lots of loving, and that's what mommies are for!
     As I sat there rocking, humming, and nuzzling his sweet face, I realized that this was it!  This was exactly what I'd dreamt of last Christmastime.  Last year, just around this time, Eric and I got pregnant.  We didn't know it yet (not until 2 days post-Christmas), but we hoped.  I spent the holiday season dreaming of chubby cheeks and baby coos.  I couldn't tell you how many, many times I thought, "If we're pregnant this time around, we'll have a baby that's 3 or 4 months old around Christmastime next year."  I wanted that 3 or 4 month old baby so badly that it hurt!  I thought about that baby every single day throughout December.  And, maybe I shouldn't even admit it, but I cried during the Christmas Eve service at church because I couldn't stop thinking about the possibility of going to church this year on Christmas Eve with our every own baby.  {And, maybe, just maybe, I cried because of those pregnancy hormones that were already hard at work in my body?}  I wanted a baby more so that I've ever wanted anything in my entire life.  But, as much time as I spent daydreaming about my own baby, I didn't really think it could happen to me.  What if I couldn't get pregnant?  It was my worst fear.  When I woke up Christmas Day feeling nauseous, I really, truly thought that I was sick.  When we found out that we were pregnant, it was surreal, and I felt like I was dreaming.  {I think that feeling continued throughout most of the pregnancy--until I actually held my baby in my arms, it was like I was just playing a game.}  When our baby was born, we named him Nathaniel (which means "God has given") Isaac ("he will laugh").
     This year, I will have my 4-month-old baby boy in my arms on Christmas morning.  Was it a mother's intuition, or just sheer want that made me envision this Christmas so vividly last year?  I don't know.  But, what I do know is that I love being a mother!  I love holding my boy, and I love taking care of him.  I would do absolutely anything for him, and he is my pride and joy.  What a perfect Christmas blessing he is!  I wouldn't change a thing in this world about him.  Even when we have the occasional night where we're up until 2 am--but that's what being a mommy is all about, right?

Decking our halls...

I woke up to a fresh coating of snow on the ground, and fluffy white flakes continued to fall all day long...

I want to bring a little of the white stuff inside...but decided to settle for this little fellow!



I turned on some holiday tunes,




And we got work!



Filling the tree with old and new...

We hung up cherished memories of love,

And memories of babies that are all grown up,

And ornaments that nobody remembers!

We share the beauty with our newbie...



It's  the most wonderful time of the year!



We start wrapping and ribboning surprises....

And thinking about delicious holiday treats!

But, let's remember who we're truly celebrating this time of the year!

Have a wonderful Christmas season! 
...from our little family to yours!