Thanksgiving

I realize this Thanksgiving post is totally late, that most of you have moved on from the holiday, and that I've already uploaded our blog's Christmas decorations.  However, since we're still enjoying Thanksgiving leftovers :) I'm going to backtrack a little and write the Thanksgiving post that has been rolling around in my head since last Tuesday, but which I was too busy cleaning, shopping, and cooking to actually sit down and write!

We have so much to be grateful for ... we are surrounded by so many blessings, it's hard to even comprehend.  But here are some things I'm especially grateful for this year ...

- I'm grateful for holidays, for the sense of tradition and rhythm they give to life, for things to look forward to every year like homemade cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving and wreaths on the door at Christmas.  I'm grateful for the opportunity that holidays give us to sit back and reflect on the year gone by - last Thanksgiving, Benjamin was 6 weeks old and he slept through the whole meal in his little bouncy seat.  This year, he sat in his little booster seat and ate sweet potatoes, pumpkin, and broccoli just like the rest of us - crazy!

- I'm so so so grateful for Benjamin.  I'm grateful for how his eyes crinkle when he smiles, for the little curl on the top of his head that sticks straight up in the air, for how he squeals when we tickle him.  I'm grateful that he's growing and healthy and learning to walk and talk.  I'm grateful for the precious mix of courage, curiosity, and caution that's coming out in his little personality.

- I'm profoundly grateful for the family of God, that even though we are so far away from Grandma and Nana and aunts and uncle and everyone else, we have real and true brothers and sisters just down the street from us.

- And I'm also grateful for planes and cars and blogs and facebook and free long-distance and all the other things that allow us to keep in touch with our family and friends scattered all over everywhere.  We had a marvelous time with Aunt Mattie, who flew from balmy Florida weather to snow and temps in the 20's to celebrate Thanksgiving with us ... and help us eat the 12 pound turkey! :)

As you can tell, Benjamin found his new best friend...

He keeps toddling to the guest room with this look on his face like, "I know she's gotta be in here somewhere!"

 So, Happy late Thanksgiving, everybody!

All Hallow's Eve

So, i think i'd better get the last holiday blogged about before the next one comes!  Plus, Will has commandeered our laptop for writing a paper over the Thanksgiving holiday, so i'd better get this post written before he wakes up!

(On a random note: graduate school has stolen my husband's opinion!  His brain is so tired from dealing formulas and radars and whatnot, that there's no energy left to give me an opinion on, say, Thanksgiving menu, Christmas card design, or holiday decorations.  I used to view it as a negative thing if he expressed an opinion different than mine on any of these "household" issues ... "What do you mean you want macaroni-and-cheese for Thanksgiving - don't you see all the starch on the menu already?" or "How can you prefer colored lights to white for the Christmas tree?  White lights are so much more classy!"  Now, his response to everything is a slightly exhausted, "It doesn't matter to me, sweetie, just do whatever you think."  And the ironic thing is that I really miss hearing his opinion :(

But anyway, we were in a quandary as to what to do for Halloween this year.  Benjamin is old enough to look really cute in one of those little costumes, but not quite able to appreciate trick-or-treating and such.    But, some sweet friends gave him an awesome costume for his birthday, and we decided to go visit his "Syracuse grandparents" - a dear couple from our church who love Benjamin (and us :).  Anyway, we had a lovely evening, with the cutest little lion you ever did see...

Just a little grin...

Though there are still several things to recap from the past month, I need to skip ahead for a minute and share this little gem ...

We went over to a friend's house yesterday for a little Christmas card photo shoot ... I am just in love with this picture, though it probably won't make the Christmas card :)

In case you're wondering what he's doing, Benjamin's very favorite game right now is peek-a-boo - he even knows how to go hide and pop out at you, or put a book in front of his face and then pull it away with the exact little grin on his face as in the picture above - its so precious how proud he is of himself!  but anyway, one his favorite ways to play peek-a-boo is pushing himself between Mommy or Daddy's knees, so that's what he's doing here.  Happy Monday all!

Enjoying the Fall

We have tried, in the midst of crazy-busy life, to enjoy the fall this year.  Last year, it seemed we missed quite a bit of it while we were in the midst of, ya know, having a newborn, not getting any sleep, and trying to figure out how to get pajamas on a wiggly infant or give him baths without drowning him.

Now that we have the pajamas and the baths well in hand (most evenings), we've done quite a few more fall-ish activities this year, and it has been so fun!  (Especially since it gives us some precious time with Daddy in the midst of his intense work/school schedule)  In addition to apple-picking, we had a campfire one evening with some dear friends.  (Though I know of some moms who have gone camping with a child in diapers, I am just not that brave, so we just stuck with an evening around the campfire and then came home to our comfy beds :)  It was chilly enough to make you want to drink hot cider and be close to the fire, but not so cold as to preclude Little Man's involvement...

Doesn't he look just thrilled to be there?  And isn't that hat the cutest thing you've ever seen?  Got it at a yard sale for like 50 cents!  In that second picture, it kinda looks like horns, but it doesn't look like that in real life ... but I digress...

We've taken lots of walks around our neighborhood and at area parks, just soaking up the colors of the fall leaves and those blue eyes ... uh, i mean blue skies :)

I love Fall, but it seems the most fleeting of the seasons ... the leaves fall so soon after they've changed color, and before you know it, the days have turned dreary, snowy, and really cold!  (It snowed on Halloween here ... yahoo).  A lesson in seizing the day, I suppose.  Hope you enjoyed your fall!

Birthday Fun, Part 2: The Party

Planning Benjamin's first birthday party was so much fun... I'm pretty sure I started thinking up ideas in July!  At first, I thought we'd invite lots of people, have music, food, games, etc ... maybe even make a craft with all the kids who would be there!

Yeah, I was totally out of control.  It was at that point that I remembered that my child doesn't like crowds.  When confronted with a large, noisy group of people, his MO is to curl up in a ball against my chest and peek out for the briefest of smiles when he's feeling particularly brave.  So, if this party was going to be any fun for Benjamin at all, then it was going to be small, and pretty low-key.  Nix the group craft. :)

But I printed cute invitations anyway!

I did attempt a couple of crafty ideas for decorating ... Here is the mantle in the living room (my favorite part)

and the cupcake toppers (which, I just have to point out, matched the invitations :)

I finally found a cupcake/frosting recipe which, while not being full of healthy things, was at least not completely full of awful things, and which Benjamin seemed to enjoy...

He also was a fan of the opening presents part, though, predictably, he was far more interested in the wrapping, ribbons, and packaging, than he was the actual contents. But it was sure fun to watch.

So, Benjamin's first birthday party was a resounding success.  He genuinely had fun with his sweet little friend who came - they looked at books, played with toys, and smeared icing everywhere :)  Will and I had a great time too, celebrating our first year as parents and the incredible gift that God has given us in this amazing little boy.

And so, we'll end this post with the lesson that Benjamin learned at his party ... 

BEWARE THE SUGAR SHOCK!

Birthday Fun!

Benjamin's birthday was just a hoot-and-a-half all the way around.  To start with, Uncle Daniel and Aunt Hannah made their first visit up to these Northernmost parts :)  Though their visit was short, we made the most of it and went apple-picking, Central New York's distinctive fall activity ... it was too much fun!

I'll take this one right here!

Plus, we came home with 20 pounds of the best-smelling apples I have ever ... well, smelled.  I was thinking of making apple butter, but we ended up just eating them all!

You mean there's more apples over there?  Maybe I want those instead...

The farm where we went apple picking also had pumpkins, animals, tractors, and all kinds of fun, so after picking our apples, we just lingered and enjoyed the gorgeous day...

And then, to top it all off, Uncle Daniel and Aunt Hannah gave Benjamin birthday gifts perfectly fitting their role as the Tennessee Uncle and Aunt ... a camo jacket and a pop-gun!

So, that was Benjamin's birthday ... his party was actually the next day, and I'm gonna have to save that for the next post, because remembering all this fun is making me tired.  Thanks so much for your visit, Uncle Daniel and Aunt Hannah!  What a wonderful memory of Benjamin's first birthday!

We're Back!!!

We're back!  and so sorry for our long absence from the blog ... I know we've probably lost most of our readers - not that we had that many to begin with - but here we are, back with all sorts of cuteness, as you can see.

After our computer died, we purchased a Mac, which has been great, but has presented me with quite a learning curve in the photo/video department, thus the long delay in getting Benjamin's birthday pictures up, along with all other happenings of the past month!  I think we're finally on the way though, so I promise a post soon with all those cute photos (plus, someone I know was a pretty ferocious lion for Halloween)

Anyway, just wanted to say a quick hello to reintroduce ourselves.  Hopefully, all the technical difficulties are behind us, and it'll be pure blogging bliss from here on out.  Happy Monday, all!