Planning For Christmas

A quick pre-holiday post as I scrape dried food off my space bar. This is what happens when I leave my laptop at the kitchen table.

I'm in the middle of Christmas shopping. Normally I'd be done or nearly done, but not this year. I've pledged not to get all stressed out about it - I have great gifts already for Jamie and Micah - and the rest are falling into place. This year Micah's big gift from us/Santa is an "early engineers" train set. He's also getting a neat puzzle/train toy I found at the Holiday Show and some crayons. We're only doing three gifts this year (it was good enough for Baby Jesus ;-). Plus, with 7 grandparents, we have to actively engage in toy control.


We also like to get Micah a Christmas book every year. My goal was to always select a book that tells the real meaning of Christmas. We did that last year with What Is Christmas? by Michelle Adams, but this year I could not resist Llama Llama Holiday Drama by Anna Dewdney. We are in love with this series and all things llama. In fact, Nana Santa told me Micah might be getting the stuffed llama toy from the series.

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One thing I've learned through my Motherwise Bible study this semester is the power and importance of praying for my children. I've always prayed for Micah, but not in the ways this study has challenged me. It never occurred to me to pray that he would become a Christian early in life; that he would desire the right kind of friends and be protected from the wrong friends; that he would be protected from evil - spiritually, physically and emotionally; that he would be kept for the right mate and saved from the wrong one. There are so many things to pray for, and I just love doing it! It's a humbling reminder to me who he really belongs to, and it's also such a simple thing I can do for him that makes an eternal difference.

First Year Book

This is Micah's Christmas gift to all the grandparents. I'm so proud of how this book turned out. I'm not a scrapbooker, and I don't take as many pictures as I'd like. But, thanks to our wonderful friends and family who DO take lots of pictures, we got some really great ones of Micah's first year. I hope to make him a book every year...we'll see ;-)

Click here to view this photo book larger

Pumpkin Patch 2010

We planned several trips to Briley's before we actually made it. We originally planned to go last Tuesday during Jamie's fall break, but then we found out "the patch" is only open to the public on weekends. We had a great time when we finally made it yesterday - in addition to pumpkins, they also have hayrides, farm animals and lots of outdoor toys. I know it'll be even more fun next year when Micah's running around (hint, hint kid ;-).

We let him choose his own pumpkin

Daddy and Micah

He knows what he's supposed to do when Mom pulls out her camera ;-)

Micah is a friendly ghost :-)

Family photo...with Micah sticking out his tongue

It's the Climb! #notamileycyrusfan

I entered into a valley experience around the time Micah was six months old, and I finally feel I'm heading back up the mountain! My everyday experiences haven't changed - no big news or changes to share - but mentally I feel refreshed and renewed. I started feeling this way over a week ago. I feared it would only last a few hours, but here I am now, continuing to feel better every day. I don't think my "valley" was particularly unique - I've found that many first time moms hit a wall after the newness of the baby wore off. I will just say that nearly everything felt out of whack - my marriage, my decision to stay at home after working full time, my parenting skills - just everything. But then I read this blog post, and a light bulb went off. I know that Satan hates marriage (among other things) and that he tells us lies to steer us off course. But never had this become so real to me as it did in the last six months. Once I realized what was happening - DUH! - and called the sucker out, my life changed, or at least my perspective on my life. True story.

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I don't scrapbook and rarely take pictures (although I have good intentions). But thanks to the photographers in our life, we have some really good images of Micah's first year. So I decided to put together a "First Year" book for him on Shutterfly. I'm so excited with how it's coming together and can't wait to give these as Christmas gifts. The book includes lots of pictures, some of my favorite quotes, and a special letter to him from me and Jamie. This is all part of my clever plan to re-invent Christmas this year: I'm aiming for personal, meaningful, and for many people, hand-made gifts over the usual expensive and meaningless crap.

Micah Turns 1

This post is almost 2 weeks late...I was waiting on my father-in-law to mail me the CD of pictures.

Weight: 19 pounds, 6 ounces
Height: 31 inches
Diapers: Size 3
Clothes: 12-18 months
Sleep: 7pm-6:30 am, 1 nap
1 Year Checkup: Doctor has no concerns about his development!

At 1 year, Micah enjoys:
bathtime
swinging
exploring the kitchen cabinets and dishwasher
waving
dancing (rocking back and forth)
strolling
playing with ball popper and balls in general
playing in the grass
feeding himself and drinking from a cup
playing with mom's cell phone

At 1 year, Micah does NOT enjoy:
diaper changes
being separated from mom (church nursery, Mother's Day Out, etc.)
two naps
being told "no"
mom taking her cell phone back
getting out of the bath
wearing shoes
letting mom and dad eat a meal in peace

Modeling Grandpa Orr's hat

Sitting in my new recliner

Enjoying one of my favorite birthday gifts, a new swingset!

Everybody but me thought this cake was so YUMMY!

Happy birthday to me!

Not a fan of cake :-( By this point I was ready for a bath and bed.

#justbeingreal

One of my blog goals (yes, I have them) is to move beyond just sharing Micah updates and happy bits about our family. I also want to be real about some of the things I'm thinking or feeling or struggling through in my life. When I think about the qualities in my best friends, the word that comes to mind for each of them is authentic. They are the real deal, as I strive to be as well. So here goes...

Many years ago, I think I said a prayer that went something like this: God, if you would just bless me with x, y and z, then I would be complete. I would spend the rest of my life giving you thanks and just enjoying and nurturing my blessings. God's response shocked me; afterall, that's a pretty immature prayer. But He said, yes. To x, y and z. So here I am, a very blessed woman, whose life is far from perfect. Maybe I didn't consider that, while basking in my blessings, I'd still battle bad habits, insecurities and other sins. Maybe God is trying to teach me that only He (and not His blessings) can fill me. So I'm trying to figure out what that looks like, from a day-to-day, practical perspective, to look only to Him for complete fulfillment. I have not figured it out yet. What I do know is that sometimes, Satan's tracks are so much easier to see in my life than God's, and I don't like that.

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We celebrated Micah's first birthday Sunday. I am so proud to be his mom! The party was a perfectionist's nightmare...food came off the grill 1.5 hours late, a stray pit bull wandered into our backyard while babies were playing, Micah screamed when the crowd cheered over ECU's final touchdown and win, and he never quite recovered...but that's just life I guess. We had a great time seeing everyone, and some really sweet friends helped us cook and then stayed until late washing all my dishes (yes, you want a friend like that ;-) Micah has his 1-year physical Thursday, so I can't wait to hear the report. We've already pronounced him awesome, so I'm not sure the doctor could tell us any different ;-)

Jenn's Fall Preview

For the first 2.5 years of our marriage, Jamie and I led a couple's small group through our church. Due to scheduling conflicts among the members - and a little burnout - we took a break last semester. Since then, we've sort of been sitting on our fannies wondering, "Where should we serve next?" When I was pregnant with Micah, we went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and have since become extremely passionate about our own financial fitness and about sharing what we've learned with others. At different times, we've both said, "It would be fun to serve in THAT ministry," but I guess we were just waiting for the opportunity to fall into our laps (read: lazy). Well, this week it did. A leader from our church called and asked to meet with us about serving in the financial ministry. I am so proud to attend a church that values financial fitness so much - it is of huge importance in people's lives simply because it's the source of either much stress or much peace. So anyway...lots of opportunities to choose from in that area. We are super excited to see what God will do through us!

I kind of forgot over the last year that, in addition to being a mom, I'm also a lot of other things. And after a year of pouring myself 100% into my new family, some of my interests and passions that have laid dormant are waking up. Last week, I starting sewing again. The stars must have aligned just right because I made a complete baby tag blanket in 24 hours. I had so much fun...can't wait to make another one. This is not to say that my family is getting less of me; I've just figured out how to balance things better. So I'm probably stupid for considering having another child soon.

Speaking of children...I'm also helping this fall with MotherWise. My role is mainly organizational, which I used to be really good at before I had a baby ;-) Mainly I just love building relationships with other moms. Last week we had dinner with our neighbors and their two kids. My child was throwing his typical "mom and dad are trying to eat and can't give me 100% of their attention right now" tantrum and banging his toy against the table. If we had been eating with people who didn't have kids, I would have been totally embarrassed. But I wasn't, because I knew our friends understood.

So there's a little update on me (and not Micah this time ;-). He's still my most favorite baby ever though, in case you're wondering.