Lately

Things have been predictably busy around here between the holidays and Stuart's work schedule!  I've got Christmas and Samuel's 4 month updates in the works, and we're headed to Arkansas for a visit with the Pierce family tomorrow... but in the meantime, enjoy these photos!

James: 2 Years

I can't believe we've been parents for two years.  Or that this little person has been in our lives and filled our hearts for two years.  I can't remember my life without him (and I'm glad).  The last few months leading up to two were rough on this guy (likely because his brother joined our family, and that was confusing to him), but things have sorted themselves out and he is mostly back to being his sweet, silly, smart little self.

Favorite books:

Richard Scarry's Best Wordbook Ever (English/Spanish)
Dinosaurio Danielito
Even Monsters Need Haircuts
Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
Any book about Jesus

Favorite activities:

- Standing on the step stool in the kitchen and cooking (measuring out water or coffee beans, or actual ingredients if we're really cooking something, and mixing and pouring and stirring and transferring from one container to another).
- Playing outside or in the garage (when it's cold) - received a Tball stand and little basketball goal for  his birthday, and he loves to kick his big ball around.  He loves to collect leaves and play in the dirt.
- Coloring with markers or painting (doesn't love crayons right now).

Some things that stand out to me about James' personality right now:

Compassionate: sometimes he hears another kid crying at the library or playground, and he looks at me and says "sad" and will go over to the kid and give a little hug.  Sweetest boy ever.

Silly: He loves to tickle and be tickled and to play silly games.  This may just be the toddler in him, but I hope it's a trait that he never loses.

Curious/Studious:  Loves to sit at his little table, or the couch, or the floor, or in his car seat (anywhere, really) and look at books.  His books, our books (no pictures, just words), it doesn't matter.  He loves to flip the pages back and forth and study them.  He also likes to study things like leaves outside.

Celebratory: gets excited about life!  Says "yay" and "whoa" and claps his hands... celebrating all the time!

Interests:

Working with his hands:  the boy loves to build.  He could play with his Duplo blocks all day and all night.  He loves to stack things, work with paper and glue and match his animal magnets.  He loves to pretend to cook in the kitchen (as mentioned above).  Even when we play outside, he usually ends up with his little shovel in the dirt somewhere.

Colors: James enjoys any colorful, artsy activities.  Currently he loves to color with markers.  And even beyond craft time - he just loves to go through life naming colors and pointing out the beauty he sees.

Music:  He recognizes melody and voices like no other (or, at least better than me).  A friend was over a few weeks ago and played Stuart's mandolin, and James is still talking about it.  He remembers songs after only hearing them once.  I hope he is talented like his daddy!

We fall more and more in love with this little person every day.  Thank you for starting our family two years ago, sweet James!  We are super proud of you, little dude.

2nd Birthday Celebration for James

December is totally packed for us this year!  Stuart is on a super busy rotation for work, and between interviews for the new intern class, preparations for the Pierce & Reagan Christmas show, multiple birthdays in late November and early December and the usual holiday busy-ness, we had to squeeze in a little celebration for our first baby a week before he actually turned 2.  It was a small family party with the Reagans, Merricks and Millers (all who are family to us).  It was delightful and low key and perfect.  James thought so, too.

A trip to Kroger to pick up birthday balloons.  James picked his colors and loved watching them get blown up.

Simple birthday table of balloons and cupcakes with ice cream sunday supplies (and a few noise makers from past birthdays).



Little brother with cousin Canaan, who joined us for the celebration.



Emerson, Becca and Ezra with James.



Brenden, Maja and daddy with James.



James doesn't really like baked goods or sweets, but he does like ice cream (in small portions... before his mouth gets too cold).  So, I made chocolate cupcakes with buttercream for everyone else (James wouldn't even try one) and had cookies and cream ice cream for the birthday boy (with whipped cream and sprinkles and even a candle to blow out).







Mema (MawMaw?  That's what James has started calling her...) with Samuel



Mema/MawMaw with the birthday boy



Aunt Mere, Canaan and Ezra (these guys are 6 days apart - fun to watch them grow up).



Aunt Jill with Sam



Balloons with presents (which we weren't expecting, but what blessings!  We received several art supplies, which James is totally into, and a Duplo tractor - a perfect fit with the blocks he loves).

Happy birthday party to our sweetest 2 year old!

Lately

We've been hunkered down quite a bit lately, due to cold weather and cold viruses.  Samuel has been congested on and off the last few weeks, and has had some night wakings (really I still can't complain much - the worst night was when he woke at 3am for 1 hour... Mostly just early morning wakings around 5am, and only a few of those).  Either way, we've spent a lot of time at home lately.  Here's how we've passed the time...

Playing airplane

Napping and thumb sucking



Smiling and laughing



Lunch time outings to Foster's (when we get tired of eating leftovers for lunch... again) - this particular outing was with Mema on a Thursday that I was scheduled to work but was cancelled (not complaining!  Bad for our budget, but good for my soul!).





Holiday crafts - very simple felt Christmas tree (a Pinterest idea that actually worked out - James loves it) and strumming his new Christmas guitar from Nana and Pop!

Oh Christmas Tree 2014

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we went out to get our tree from Trosa.  It was fun this year because James was old enough to walk around and give us his opinion (which mostly consisted of wanting any and all of these reindeers!).

We went for a short tree this year for budget and simplification purposes.  I'm grateful we did - it even fits into our crowded living room, with all the toddler toys and furniture, better than the larger trees we've had the last few years (because we have 12 ft ceilings in here and they just scream "giant Christmas tree!").









We only put a few ornaments on this year - keeping it simple.  The breakable ones are higher up where James cannot reach them.  Around the middle and bottom of the tree are ornaments that James is free to play with - so we often un-decorate and re-decorate that half of the tree!



Without a topper... still in progress!

Samuel's Baptism

Yesterday was Samuels' baptism.  It was a little bit of a last minute plan... We started looking at upcoming weeks that we knew we would all be at church, and it was either this Sunday Nov. 30, or possibly not until April!  So we went for it... We pray for Samuel to know the Lord and be a peace maker (Matthew 5:9, James 3:18). Byron Peters (one of our pastors) and Dave Stepp (our elder) administered the sacrament to sweet Sam.  It was also my daddy's birthday, so my mom and dad joined us during the service, and then we went out for a delicious brunch after at the Weathervane at Southern Season in Chapel Hill (sadly no photos of brunch or the birthday boy).

After lunch, James went down for his nap, and Stuart and I had a mini photo shoot with the baptism boy.  This little outfit was Stuart's when he was a baby.  I'm a sucker for special family heirlooms.  Enjoy these photos of our sweet babe!

Thanksgiving 2014

My parents and brother/sister-in-law/nephew are up in West Virginia today, Thanksgiving proper, to celebrate with extended family.  We weren't able to go due to work schedules (mostly mine, surprisingly - Thanksgiving was my holiday to work this year, but the hospital just called and told me not to come in due to low census, so now I'm on call from home until 11am.  Barring any massive group head and neck trauma coming through the ED, I likely won't have to go in since no one is really operating today.  Yippee!).  Knowing that we wouldn't be together today, we celebrated Thanksgiving with the Acree family a few weeks ago (minus Katie - we miss you terribly, sister... Come home!).

On Tuesday, instead of our normal Community Group meeting, we had Friendsgiving Potluck.  It was actually very impressive and pretty much an entire, legit Thanksgiving meal.  We hosted at our home, so we did the turkey.  Not sure what happened with the skin there (my mom says the turkey looks like it had a thoracotomy).   We used a dry brine this time, and it was pretty great.  Totally easier than doing a wet brine and just as delicious.  So, we've had two Thanksgiving meals this year, and since I was supposed to work today, we're laying low this evening... But tomorrow begins the Christmas season and we'll be getting our tree!

Anyways, since I was up early anticipating going into work, and since it's Thanksgiving, and since I don't stop quite as often as I'd like to do so, I thought I'd take a moment and be grateful for my most prized possessions...

This one's obvious.  He's my hero and best friend and I'm grateful for him every second of my life.  Also, he's quite handsome.  Thankful for that.

And he's the best dad anyone could ever hope for.




These two are my heart.  It is fascinating to see little humans grow into bigger humans, with hearts and minds and personalities and hands (something about their little hands growing bigger and bigger every day just tugs at my heart strings).  Just yesterday, we were headed into Whole Foods to grab a few Thanksgiving goodies and have lunch, and James suddenly exclaimed, "YAY!" and clapped his hands when he realized where we were (he loves that he gets to choose his lunch items from their huge hot/cold bar).  I had tears!  Who taught him to say "Yay!" ??  He's such an adult.

And oh, how being a mama has changed me (cliche, but true).  I have never so clearly known how self-focused and self-reliant I am, seeking my own good and comfort, usually above most others, and counting on my good works to get by.  Sometimes husbands allow you to continue in that... but not so, these little people that you bring into the world.  They're so needy, and I watch them, and it's like I'm looking in a mirror and realizing how needy I really am.  I am not self-sufficient at all! And I certainly cannot do motherhood (or wifehood or nursing or life) on my own, and I'm not expected to!  The Lord wants me to lean into Him and into His Church.  This, I'm learning.  And grateful for.



And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.  Colossians 3:17